my first 7, couple of Q's (exhaust, suspension, ATF trick).....
 

Hey everyone! I have recently gotten an 1988 RX-7 Convertible, white, black top, blue interior (no leather :( ) 73,500 miles, 5-speed. I'm new to 7's but not new to working on various piston-powered cars. I've been lurking here on rx7club.com for a while and have learned a bunch of stuff. I haven't posted at all yet, prefering to lurk, learn and then ask questions so i don't sound like a total newb.

so for some questions. I want to do some performance mods and want some opinions. Firist off, Exhaust: I'm thinking Racing Beat dual cat-back (i love the duel config). How does it sound/perform? Also, I am thinking of getting the Bonez Race pipe with pre-silencer. How does this combo sound to you guys/gals? how much HP gain should i expect? will it affect the torque curve much?

Suspension: how are the Tokico springs/struts? I'm thinking of the HP struts (the non-adjustable ones). the stock ones on my 7 are pretty bad, and need replacing.

ATF trick: worth doing on my engine? the oil has been religiously changed every 2000-3000 miles (as far as i know, i got the car from a one-owner who had service records). I think it could use it as it sometimes has a very slight hesitation when cold.

Tranny: fluid change? the shift from 1st to 2nd is a little stiff when shifting in high-rpm applications. what can i do about this?

What gear ratio do i have in my rear-end? 4.10?

Thanks for your help guys. I know its a lot, but whatever advice i can get would help!

A good synthetic like Red Line will do wonders for worn synchros.

Yeah, your rearend s/b 4.10.

I would only do the ATF thing if you think there might be excessive carbon buildup from babying it. I guess I'm not as big a fan as some on putting ATF in the engine.

Hopefully others will chime in on your other questions.

Cheers :beerchug:

Give her the usual routine, new plugs, wires, coolant, oil, fuel filter, air filter, redline tranny & differential oil, never hurts to have the TPS adjusted, new o2 sensor, and you'll be happily on your way. :) Don't bother with ATF until you absolutely need to, and by the sounds of it you don't. :)

:withstupi
I would not even consider putting ATF into my engine unless as a last resort. Like SonicRat said, just the usual full tune-up and you should be good to go. As far as the RB cat-back, the quality and sound I hear is excellent, the only drawback is that it is a heavy system. The bonez racepipe would be good, as long as you dont need to pass emissions (no cats). Why not get the RB header/PS combo?

I put Tokico Blues (non-adjustable) on my 7 late last year and I'm happy with them. :)


And now a word from the Dark Side. :D

Soaking your motor in ATF won't hurt it. If you feel like doing it, then do it.

A recent thread on the subject:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=170294

That is incorrect. The 88 'verts came with the 3.909 rear end.

Re: my first 7, couple of Q's (exhaust, suspension, ATF trick).....
 

No leather is a good thing. Cloth holds you in the seats much better.
You should change all your fluids (including oil, tranny lube, rear end lube, brake fluid, clucth fluid, etc), as well as spark plugs and spark plug cables, belts, and I would recommend also replacing the PD, and coolant/ heater hoses myself.

I too am all for running ATF, I don't think it's nearly as harmful as claimed, but I think at the moment it's not really required, thus why I just suggested the full tune-up route instead of mesquito xenocide :)

great! full tune-up is on the way then. Good place to get Redline? only places i've seen it is online. Do any of the "Parts" stores like Checker, AutoZone, NAPA etc. carry it? I'll probably get NGK plugs, but what type of wires? stock ones that NAPA carrys? what mm?

there is a pretty good thread on type/brand of oil to use, so i won't ask any questions about that, but what about oil filters? have you had good luck with the NAPA Gold filters? they're made by Wix, aren't they?

how hard is it to get under the car to replace the tranny fluid and diff fluid? can i do it with a floor jack and some jack stands? or should i just try to get it in a shop and have them replace it?

how do I replace the fuel filter? again, is it difficult to do? I have no garage :( so i gotta do it all outside.

Last question: how does the Rotary Performance 50mm cat back compare to the Racing Beat one i mentioned earlier? are the performance gains about the same? wieght of it? I want to stay with the dual configuration, even though it is heavier.

Thanks again for answering all my questions, and I hope none of the are total Newb ones.

Re: Re: my first 7, couple of Q's (exhaust, suspension, ATF trick).....
 

For some reason the auto manufacturers have forgotten that, even Porsche. IMO cloth feels much better than leather, period.

What's your source? According to the FSM the 3.909 was on A/Ts. I don't understand why they would gear a heavier car up.

ahh man do we have to go there again???

Okay, all the 88 'verts got the 3.9 rear end according to Mazda's S4 build model list, the factory sales POP, the 88 owners manual, Road & track, Car & driver... I could go on and on. This has been covered countless times.

The factory 88 shop manual was printed before the 'verts were shipped, and was printed with an error, however if you want proof just go check the car or the owners manual in the glove box.

Mazda had to put the 3.909 rear end in because of gas mileage issues. The freeway mileage would have dropped low enough that the combined gas mileage would have put the car into gas guzzler penalties because of the weight. In 89 the regulations were relaxed and Mazda could change it back to a 4.1 for manual tranny versions and started making official auto tranny versions.

Well, FUCK ME for not searching then. It was big of you to reiterate.

Might want to have the injectors cleaned professionally, or at least run some good fuel system cleaner.

Damn, i wish i had the 4.10 rear end. oh well, ain't gonna bitch over what i don't have.

I did clean out the carbon today though. I dropped the top and took a "spirited" drive up into the beautiful mountains of Colorado. that was fun :D

Anyone know how much HP i loose being up at 5400 feet?

ATF is in my opion more fun than the good it actually does.