ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

My goal is to increase performance without compromising drivability (comfort, noise, smoothness, etc.)., reliability, mileage or my wallet. So no turbo. I've read a bit, asked questions in person, and come up with a plan. Now I'm looking for feedback. Here it is:

Pre-existing mods (last owner):
- Cone intake ("Bosch"??? Not K&N, anyway)
- High performance clutch
- Turbo II shocks/struts/I-forget-which-part-of-the-suspension-you-can-change
- Anodized aluminum shifter ****
- Upgraded sound system (audiophile friends say it's good but not great)

Planned mods:

1. Change all fluids, etc.
- oil to Idemitsu synthetic 20W-50 (DONE): leave the synthetic debate for other threads, I've made my choice. Comments on weight appreciated though.
- oil filter to Mobil 1 (DONE)
- coolant to Evan's waterless:
http://www.rx7.com/store/rx7/fcengine_cooling.html
http://www.evanscooling.com/catalog/C_npg1.htm
- thermostat to OEM
- transmission oil (manual) to Neo synthetic 80W-90 (DONE)
- differential oil to Royal Purple Max-Gear:
http://www.royalpurple.com/prodsa/mgeara.html
- brake fluid to Ford Motorcraft High Performance:
http://www.rx7.com/store/rx7/fcbrakes.html
- NGK spark plugs
http://www.rx7.com/store/rx7/fcengine_maintenance.html
- Oxygen sensor, maybe
- washer fluid to Rain-X :P (DONE)
- power steering fluid: no flush

2. Exhaust
Cat-back only, since I get such great emissions: above average emissions with an RX7! I want to keep my cats since that way I won't have to worry about smog for a very long time. I may switch to a performance cat if mine ever goes. Looking for cheap and not too noisy, but a friend has a full-on racing mufflers and I don't think it's too loud. Any recommendations?

3. Pulleys
RP Main Power Pulley kit for alternator and water pump, 15% underdrive
http://www.rx7.com/store/rx7/fcengine_accessories.html

4. Fly Wheel
Lightened fly wheel. Not super-light since I want to save my idle. Any recommendations? May wait quite a while until my (new) clutch goes.

Andrew.

iTrader: (4)

Thats called maintenance, not mods.

Racing beat catback is nice and quiet

Ah, I saw you want to keep emissions, dual alt belt pulley is for non emissions, its when you eliminate your air pump. Main pulley- basically the same reason.

Racing beat makes a steel flywheel thats less weight than stock and not to heavy and not to light.

matts86fc3s

dont get underdrive pulleys... its not worth it. best bet is to get a 2 belt alternator pulley. as for everything else sounds good. how many miles on the motor? planning on rebuilding/street porting it?

bacek

if you dont really care for power leave everything stock that has to do with the engine....

get new bushings as they are probably worn out......

then save the rest of your money for gas, insurance, and tires....

oh and oh yeah maintenance is not really a mod but its a good investment and always should be done before any type of mod

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

True, maintenance is not a mod, but I would still appreciate comments/help/corrections. Maybe I should have titled this "My 7 plans", etc., though that becomes too general rather than too specific.

Thanks for tips on exhaust and flywheel. I'll go for racing beat, as I have already heard good things about them. Any 2nd choice in case I buy a used exhaust?

I'm confused about the pulleys. Is it not possible to use them without ruining my emissions hardware? What is the reason/benefit for getting a 2 belt alternator pulley?

Motor is 105,500 miles. Not planning on porting it for reasons including legality and cost.

"Bushings" means suspension bushings? Wouldn't the last owner have changed those when he put in the Turbo II suspension?

Jager

iTrader: (10)

Borla, HKS, RP Racing, Dynomax, and a few more are also good exhausts and does what you need.

There is no reason to run a dual alternator pulley without removing the air pump. The entire point of this is to have another area of contact on the waterpump. Since the air pump pulley was ON the waterpump, its gone now, so to avoid ******* up your waterpump, you put on the dual alternator pulley.

Just so you know the stock alternator is already taxed from the factory, with the introduction of underdrive pullies you may tax it more, resulting in electrical problems.

Bushings like the Energy Suspensions kit from http://www.corksport.com. There could be a chance they replaced them. You'd have to check, we can't see it .

Wh1t3 C0m3t

Just a little info the rainx will turn the hood, where it sprays, orange; if the car is light colored. that stuff turned my white hood a little orange where it sprayed. Not even washing would take it all off. I stopped using it after new paint job.

RETed

8<

"Or my wallet" means you're willing to pay no matter what the price?
Or, you want to spend as little as possible?
If it's the later, this purchase doesn't make any sense.

Also, if you want mileage, why run such a "heavy" oil weight?
If you're going synth, you can run 5W30 stuff no problem.
Lighter oil = better mileage


Don't run underdrives unless you're running an FD alternator.
In fact, if this is a street car, don't bother with underdrives at all.
The stock alternator cannot handle the current load STOCK - underdriving the alternator just makes this all worse.


NA?
Run the lightest thing you can.
Racing Beat makes good units.
ACT also offers their version for a little bit less (I think).


-Ted

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

"or my wallet" means I have a limited, though not miserly budget. To be more specific, I set aside $300 a month for my car. About $100-$150 goes to gasoline (17mpg for now, though partly b/c I have fun with my '7). I do maintenance and repairs myself, so that still leaves some room for upgrades.

Yeah, I figured the oil should be lighter. I'll switch it out next oil change or so. I'm in Southern California, though. Will 5W30 give me any problems on hot days, like increased wear? I'm thinking 10W30 otherwise. Gonna switch filter from Mobil 1 to Napa Gold, not that that saves much money. I plan on running extended oil drain intervals. I'm going to send out oil samples to be analyzed to be sure I pick a safe interval. I know even then mineral oil is still cheaper, but I figure synthetic will help mileage (w/ __W30), power and engine life somewhat. Yeah, I know even that's been debated but I'm going to stick with it.

Anyone know if the oxygen sensor change will help anything? I mean, if I get good emissions does that mean it must be in good shape? I'm not gonna blow the $40 unless I'm sure.

Later on I'll copy all these tips into my notes and then I'll see if I can get this thread deleted to keep the forums clean. Thanks for all the tips. They'll save my paint job and they'll save a lot of would-be-wasted time and money.

cbrinega

Look in the archive for the "beefy N/A" thread for some tips.

You might want to reconsider keeping the stock cats. The front one tends to fall apart and clog the second one. The Bonez one from www.rx7.com can be bought with a presilencer for around $300. It sounds good and should still let you pass emissions. Making that change made a huge difference on my car back when I first bought it.

I'd also consider the following:
True cool air intake (heat shield, etc) for that cone filter
Racing Beat engine torque brace
Checking your 6PI system & moding as necessary to work with your exhaust ('86 car)
Brake system maintenance (pads, fluid, SS lines, etc)
Cooling system maintenance
FD alternator
Strut tower bars
Lightweight wheels and tires
Springs???
Save up for a standalone or build one + dyno tune

Oh, it sounds like you don't need a new O2 sensor. A bad one will cause the check engine light to come on, and the engine will run too rich at cruise.

cbrinega

Why bother with the Evan's coolant if it is not a pure track car? It's good stuff I hear, but it can also be a hassle if you get out somewhere and bust a hose. You probably don't want to carry around a bottle of that stuff all the time.

NOPR

why go standalone and tune on a stock block with just an intake and exhaust?

If i were you I'd put it all into suspension, but if you want a smooth ride then maybe not. I think you'll find it more fun to sacrifice luxuries (like your idle, entire interior, kidneys,etc) and have a ***** out performance car than some sloooow N/A which is what yours will unfortunately be compared to cars today.

classicauto

iTrader: (3)

sorry but I just think this whole thread could have been answered by the guy himself during an hours worth of searching and reading

arghx

iTrader: (3)

I don't get why you want to do this... are you going to try and use OEM shocks? Those are going to be mad expensive for new ones. You'd probably be better off just buying adjustable shocks and putting them on the softest setting.

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

[QUOTE=ericgrau]
- oil to Idemitsu synthetic 20W-50 (DONE): leave the synthetic debate for other threads, I've made my choice. Comments on weight appreciated though.
-









On this forum we've already calculated the maintenance scheduling for an Rx-7, In the time that your engine will blow on average(150-200k miles) you would accumulate enough money to do a pre-emptive rebuild by NOT buying synthetic oil for your engine and just tucking the money away into a savings account. With the price Idemitsu costs(around double all other syths i've seen) you could pay someone to DO the rebuild for you.


Food for thought,


And btw regular maintenance does not count as a MOD.

powrdby13B

A lot of that sounds pretty much worthless.. Fluids aren't gonna help much with a car that close to stock.
Lightened flywheel is a rather expensive mod considering you can have new injectors and a SAFC for hardly more...
Why are we keeping the emissions if the car won't need to be emissions tested?
You should read some various (cough..archive..) threads and learn a bit about your car before you make any decisions on what you wanna do.. but one thing I can tell you is that a free-flowing exhaust makes the car drive completely different. It's beautiful.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

And it has. From many, many hours of searching and reading all over the place. This thread is mainly for verification. I've already heard of a number of good exhaust, flywheel, etc. brands, and I already have a plan in mind, which I posted. I'm looking more for verification / corrections of mistakes / etc.. And nobody has to respond. Still, if it weren't for laziness, I could have dug up some of the exhaust/flywheel brands from my notes. And I must say that I still can't tell the difference between the "good" brands I've heard/read about.

Because it will be emissions tested.

No, that's in the pre-existing mod section. I'm not going to touch the shocks. The stiff turbo II shocks aren't too uncomfortable for me. I should mention that my version of comfort is very, very far from a luxury car, and that I could stiffen/"louden"/lighten quite a bit before I minded. I draw the line before tearing out all my upholstery and passenger seat to save weight, though.

Actually I planned on carrying a bottle around all the time. But if I leak more than a gallon it could still be a problem. Do you think that will ever happen? In a situation where I wouldn't have to get my car towed anyway? Main reason is the major benefits to the life of the coolant, radiator, water pump, engine and hoses (in that order). This stuff isn't just for race cars, it also has a big market among diesel big rigs and construction machinery.

UPDATED PLANS (in order of doing):
1. Fluids
Yada, yada, yada, fluids don't help much
No Rain-X
10W-30 or 5W-30 oil
I did not post my maintenance schedule since I don't think I need feedback to help me follow the Haynes manual.

2. Exhaust
Cat-back, whatever I can find used: Racing Beat, Borla, HKS, RP Racing or Dynomax

3. Intake
Aluminum sheet metal plus pop-rivet cold air intake by Yours Truly.

4. Pulleys
Better alternator (FD probably).
15% underdrive pulleys for alternator + water pump

---------- (large time gap) ----------

5. Flywheel (whenever my clutch dies and I replace it)
Racing Beat.

6. Electrical Fan (whenever my fan clutch goes out)
Yeah, I know it does next to nothing. But it's the same price as a new fan clutch. Black Magic, 2800cfm. Had it on my last RX-7 and it performed quite well. At 13.6A it did a number on the already failing charging system, though.

ilike2eatricers

Geez I thought I was ****. just go enjoy the damn car.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

lol. I love my RX7 and enjoy driving it. I'm just a bit... meticulous about things. Everything really. I think it ticks off people around me.

By the way I really appreciate all the help. And don't take it the wrong way if I decide not to use a suggestion.

RETed

If you're going to stick with synth, running down to a lighter 5W30 is not a problem.
Lubrication and film strength is not compromised due to the already superior synth formulation.



-Ted

spot_skater

How about a header... You can probably get one made for you that will still keep the cats...or you can just get the RB one, find an exhaust shop to weld some flanges between the cats and the stock manifold, and swap things out come emissions time. With no cats though the car will be very loud with a free-flowing exhaust, so you may want to look into a presilencer of some sort, or a resonator or something. Food for thought.

And like the others said, don't expect TOO much out of a stock port NA. If you invest a lot into the suspension, put some nice sticky tires on some light wheels, the car will handle like it's on rails. I was able to fit 225's all around on my S4, although I did read that it MAY rub on lock to lock turns, I haven't had any problems. Get a nice aggressive alignment done, too.

I have most of what you have done already, and it is a blast to drive my car. Can't wait to get an SAFC and some dyno time...hehe

Good luck with your car, and enjoy it.

James

Jager

iTrader: (10)

Spotskater:

http://www.rx7.com sells a Bonez cat/kit that can bolt up to a Racing Beat header, there is tuning involved in a header and having a local shop do it might suck.

X-JaVeN-X

well since you're big on maintenance...you should get your injectors cleaned....if they're the originals with 100k+ miles, it's probably worth doing. Could help your mileage as well.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the fuel injector tip. That's one thing I missed on my maintenance schedule. I tried to look for fuel injector cleaning online but I got a bunch of broken links. Can I call up any mechanic to do that or do I need to go to one with special equipment?

UPDATED PLANS (in order of doing):
1. Fluids
Yada, yada, yada, fluids don't help much
No Rain-X
5W-30 oil

2. Exhaust
Cat-back, whatever I can find used: Racing Beat, Borla, HKS, RP Racing or Dynomax

3. Intake
Aluminum sheet metal plus pop-rivet cold air intake by Yours Truly.

4. Roll Bar
Don't worry, I'll find one when the time comes. They're all the same, right?

5. Wheels (whenever my current tires wear out)
"sticky tires"
"light wheels"
225's max
"Get a nice aggressive alignment done, too."

6. Pulleys
Better alternator (FD probably).
15% underdrive pulleys for alternator + water pump

---------- (large time gap) ----------

7. Exhaust II (whenever my emissions are no longer so hot)
Bonez cat

8. Flywheel (whenever my clutch dies and I replace it)
Racing Beat.

9. Electrical Fan (whenever my fan clutch goes out)
Yeah, I know it does next to nothing. But it's the same price as a new fan clutch. Black Magic, 2800cfm. Had it on my last RX-7 and it performed quite well. At 13.6A it did a number on the already failing charging system, though.




I may also try some non-standard things half way through. I don't want to openly speculate on them until my non-standard plans are more solid. I believe my standard plans are solidifying now, and it's only a matter of time and money from here. Which would mean about 3 months per mod. Thanks again to everyone.

spot_skater

Thanks for the info, but I don't really care too much about emissions. I just pay for my inspection sticker...

And you're absolutely right about the tuning being involved in engineering a header. I meant for him to have cats put in between the header and catback, where a presilencer would go. I guess I didn't make that too clear, my bad. At least that's what I would do if I were to run cats...Remove the presilencer and have cats welded together with flanges at each end, and bolt it up to the header and cat-back. I have the full RB system, which I'm sure you've seen. The presilencer is pretty long...I think he'd be able to fit a cat or two in place of it. Know what I'm saying?

James