i just purchased a rx7 and am trying to speed up my 1988 Convertible.. I think its little bit on the slow side... Is there any thing i can do that is somewhat inexpensive to increase its acceleration? Everything is stock. I am new with rx7's.. so can you all help me out? What are the basic things that rx7's need? Greddys, mufflers, boosters.. whats essential? =P (and anyone near the NYC area... where can i get a list of Rotary or RX-7 specialists? )
THANKS!!!

 

I gt a 88 vert also and yes they are a little slower but there cooler in the summrtime i got mine i the shop now im getting the full racing beat exhaust from header back putting a 90 intake on mine and a K&N air flter and replacing the injectors i think the most important thing is to make sure your car is running its full potential stock mine wont and i never even knew it but other than that just feed it and give it air and it will run ill let you know what it runs like when i get it back good luck ,Dave

 

Don't bother trying to build the N/A motor. Go ahead and buy a TII and swap the drivetrain and engine into it.

 

I second the "full OEM potential" idea. Have it dynoed and if it's more than 8-10% below OEM HP & Torque #s, then think about the performance exhaust, intake, cold air box, fresh air headlight scoop, ignition system, etc...

 

The Racing Beat header/presilencer combo, along with a cat back exhaust, should give a good increase. So will a good intake. An ECU upgrade could also help. I'm a fan of the RB exhaust parts.

The only rotary specialist in NYC right now is T&R Racing, http://www.rx7s.com, 718-725-0179.

 

A little bit on the slow side? Hmmmm... you must have a DIFFERENT 88 convertible than I do. Mine isn't a little bit on the slow side... it's as slow as Christmas.

Now... what to do about it. Exhaust will make the biggest difference. How tough are the emissions laws where you are? What I would do (and what I DID do) on a budget is the following:

I had a muffler shop make me a 3" single exhaust from the manifold back. I put a 3" high-flow catalytic converter on there. Note: It's loud enough to set off people's alarms in their cars, even WITH the cat...
If you can get away with running without the cat, do so. Keep your stock exhaust and cat to put on for emissions testing. LOL

I put a cone filter on there. About $30 for a generic filter, and about $25 for the HKS adapter for the airflow meter. I also built a box around the filter to keep the hot air out... cost me about $20 for a roll of aluminum roof flashing, some aluminum tape made for home A/C ducts, and some foam insulation. (I used "art board" which is a foam core with posterboard on each side...)

I also wired my 6-ports open... you only need to do that if they aren't working. (If you run a really free-flowing exhaust, they won't work any longer...) You lose torque on the bottom end (so? It doesn't have any to begin with!!!!) but if they aren't opening you lose a LOT of power on the top end. It's a good trade off. Removing them is even better (taking the sleeves out of the motor entirely) but it's a pain... have to pull the manifold off, etc.

That was enough to gain me a FULL SECOND in the 1/8... more than that in the 1/4.

Brad

 

I've got an '88 that I've done about everything you can do. Four issues issues to focus on for better "go":

1. Help the engine breath in (ie improve the air intake capacity)
2. Help the engine breath out ( ie less restrictive exhause)
3. Replace the rear differential with one with higher gearing.
4. Have your injectors backflushed and tuned from someone like RC Engineering in Torrance, CA.

Suggestions:

Inhaling:

1a. Easiest approach which I did with goal to keep noise level down so I can best hear my "tunes";
a. Retrofit a 89-91 "snorkle" to the air box. It's bigger and pretty easy as its a direct fit with only two bolts to deal with. Easiest if you have a round radiator cap instead of one with ears.
b. Drop in a K&N air filter replacement.

1b. Most effective approach;
a. Replace airbox with a K&N type cone filter. Will be noiser, but best free flow of air. But, to get full benefit, you'll need to fabricate a "box" around it to keep the counter productive hot air from the engine away.

Exhaling:

1. Just buy the Cat. Converter replacement Pipe and Power Pulse presilencer from Racing Beat. Might be better if you also get the header also. But, per Racing Beat the performance difference of adding the header with the pipe and presilencer is negligable and header is noiser. So, I went with no header.

2. Replace the stock mufflers with either RB's Power Pulse TURBO Mufflers or T2 mufflers from a wrecking yard. Either are more free flowing due to the bigger can design.

Rear Differential:

Better;
This is the most important thing for an '88 Vert. The '88 rear diff has 3.909 ratio, same as an automatic. Every other NA has 4.1 (including the '89 and later Verts) which is better except for gas mileage. Get a 4.1 from a wrecking yard and replace. However, when I replaced mine gas mileage actually seemed better.

Go for a (Icemark, if your out there, correct me if I'm wrong) 86-88 GXL rear diff. for the advantage of posi-traction.

Best;
Buy a 4.3 third member from Racing Beat (or whoever) and have it retro-fitted into your current diff. housing. This would be the same as retro-fitting a diff from a GTUs. But good luck finding one of those in a wrecking yard.

Injectors tuned:

I noticed a serious seat of the pants improvement when I did this. Also a good fix for the dreaded leaky injector flooded engine......

Thats about it and still maintain daily driver reliability save for the previously mentioned retro-fit of a drivetrane from a '87-'88 T2.

Enjoy