The Ace

Hey guys wassup ? Just bought a 1992 RX7 Turbo II, completely stock. Previously had a 1992 Civic ESi, but I loved the RX7 since the day it came to my attention. OK now some questions...:

1) I heard Castrol GTX 20/50 is the best Is that right ? Mazdatrix seems to think so.
2) I plan on using SuperPlus fuel (this is 98 Oct here in Greece). Is this too much ? Should I just use normal 95 Oct ?
3) My future mods include a Blitz intercooler (self-explanatory ), a Coldair intake, a catback exhaust and some rims/tires (still has stock rims/tires). Besides the intercooler, what do you think is the best solution for intake and exhaust ? In my Civ I had a home-made setup of a ram-air, and it was pretty good. Any chance for something similar in the Rex ? How will I do this ?
4) Is a turbo timer and a AFC critical ? Must I invest first on these and then on anything else ? My main concern is lowering the temperatures inside the engine bay. Any other info or suggestion about this ?

Thanks for the replies guys...

rx7_turbo2

Hey there, welcome.

1)That sounds like the right oil for your area.
2)In a turbo II the higher the octane gas the better 98 sounds fine.
3)As for intake, if you do a search for that on the forum you will come up with many results. Everybody seems to have a different way of doing it.
4)I have no idea what kind of smog regulations you have in Greece but if it's possible just gut your cats go with a mid pipe and down pipe and the system of your choice from there back. You will see big hp gains from replacing the exhuast system.
5)A turbo timer is always a good idea, not a neccesity but a good idea,

vaughnc

The Ace,

As always - get some guages on your car before doing any mods including air/fuel, boost, exhaust temperarture, coolant temperature, and optionally oil temperature.

That will tell you if your engine is running lean or too much out of specification.

Turbo timer is just a timesaver, but you always want to wait 3 minuets after hard driving before turning the car off.

I orderd my cold air intake, cold air box, and headlight airscoop from a company called mariah motorsports. These are the same guys that make that $15,000 rx-7 conversion (ie 400-600 HP and TONS of grip). You can get their contact information from www.mariahmotorsports.com

That all helps get the cool air in.

For your FMIC (front mount intercooler), you might want to consider a radiator upgrade as well.

Remember boost can be affected by an exaust system upgrade, cold air intake, TID mod (turbo pipe straightening), etc... and you can EASILY run lean and detonate your engine if your not careful.

There are QUITE a few web pages that have "staged" upgrades and by using their equipment on each stage, you should be fairly safe.

Hope this helps.

BTW - another 1992 owner - sweet. 1992 was the last year they had the FC3S in America and I just happened to find a TII in good shape.

Evil Aviator

I've used Castrol GTX 20/50 in RX-7's for over 13 years and have never had an internal engine problem. Although I like GTX 20/50 best, I think that just about any of the top-selling 20/50 petroleum oils are fine. If the weather gets cold, you may want to go with something thinner though - see your owner's manual for the proper oil weight. I highly recommend synthetic oil for the transmission and differential. I like Red Line best, but once again, I'm sure that the other brands are fine.

If you are talking about isooctane-based fuel, then you would get the most horsepower from the lowest octane that doesn't cause engine knock. I don't think that there is such a thing as "too much octane" in reference to isooctane-based pump gas, as the only things that this would hurt would be your horsepower and your wallet.

Intake is a no-brainer: K&N filter. The exhaust is really up to the individual, but be warned that a high-flow exhaust will cause your engine to run dangerously lean unless you upgrade your fuel system first. Also note that you will need an FCD (the Racing Beat FCD is the easiest to install).

Aerodynamically speaking, the three best places to get high-pressure air on a 2Gen are:
1) Where the hood meets the windshield (or as close to this as possible).
2) The lower half of the front bumper.
3) The rear deck by the spoiler (ala Porsche 911).

No. If you ever plan on getting your car to the point where an AFC is needed (i.e. upgraded turbo), then I would suggest that you skip to the next level and get an aftermarket EMS.

Why bother?

Besides the excellent Mazdatrix site that you have obviously already found, here is another good site for explaining 2Gen mods:
http://www.k2rd.com/

live4boost

iTrader: (2)

hey vaughn how much did the head light scoop set you back, I think Im going to use the Gov. refund to purchase one of those.

fc3s.org

I agree with Evil Aviator on the comments above. I have used 20-50 since I first bought my first RX-7, and I used it in my N/A and Project 86 TII until this last oil change. I spoke with a few people at Royal Purple, and during one of the phone calls, we talked about viscosity's of oils. He gave me this analigy:

"If 2 men are running on the beach in the water, and one is running in knee high water, and the other in ankle high water, who has the easier time running?"

Obviously the one is the shallower water. He stated that this also applies to engines, regardless of piston or rotary. I agree with the statements that he made, but like I said, I have used 20-50 and had no ill effects. I changed to 10W30 synthetic for my N/A and went with Racing21 Royal Purple in the Project 86 TII.

In the N/A (which is a 91 vert) I noticed a better pull, but didn't notice any noticable HP gains. Reving was much smoother throughout the RPM band. I don't have aftermarket gauges on the vert, so I do not have any data to claim good or bad as far as temps go.

On the TII platform, the oil temps went down approx 5-10 degrees under similar driving conditions. The car also noted a slight loss of oil pressure due to the thinner oil viscosity. Normal pressures were 50psi at idle and 80psi at higher rpm's and boost. New ones were at 46psi at idle, and 78psi under higher rpm's and boost.

This is probably more info than you really wanted, but I though you might be interested in some of it =) Congrats on the new FC!

vaughnc

Live4boost,

Just send them your headlight cover and they'll stamp it for you.

I opted to purchase one from them. Good think I did since they decided to re-work their cold air box design for the 89-92 series, and that was 2 months ago. They were'nt happy about the 86-88 fit in the newer series.

I got all the time in the world, so I'm glad their doing it right for me. Can't wait to share how it looks (hopefull OEM looking).

live4boost

iTrader: (2)

$?

vaughnc

I think it was less than $100 for the stamp and the cover.

Call 'em and ask - 805-965-5115

The Ace

Hey guys first mod in: K&N RamAir (filter + scoop). Getting ready for a MP3 player+Amp+Sub, then its catback time!!!

I dont think I'll gut the cats. I want to stay legal. Think I'll just go for a full catback, and maybe remove first cat. The catback will be done in a shop that preps racing RX7s for almost 2 decades now, so I think they'll know what they are doing

Think I'll get the timer just in case, and hold off the AFC for now...although I would like to know whether I'm running lean or rich...

Cause I've heard a lot of horror stories about the temps inside the hood, and I would like some sort of insurance.