Ive finally worked out the quirks on my car and have everything running smoothly for the most part.
Its an 87 T2, Full 3in exhaust (RB mid and ypipe to KnightSports mufflers), KnightSports FCD, Rebuilt stock motor with roughly 3k on it. has treated 2 piece seals to handle some abuse at higher rpms.( i stopped counting after break-in lol), cleaned and flow tested all injectors, plugs, wires ect.

I recently purchased a cheap Mechanical Boost gauge and have been keeping my foot away from 10psi since fuelcut is 8.6psi. and even though i have a FCD, im unsure that the stock 550's can maintain 10psi.

ive been doing alot of reading and am looking around for what to look into next and need abit of guidance. Ive been looking at prosport gauges for oil pressure seeing as the stock unit doesnt read correctly as well as half the rx7's out there, possibly a SAFC and Wideband tho im still trying to convince myself i dont need that yet.

As far as "safety and reliability" go, what should i start looking into?
As is, i do not plan on any big numbers. my goal is 220hp~250hp but power isnt my main goal atm.

 

Having a wideband is actually a great idea... Have you ported the wastegate on your turbo?

 

The FCD is a piece of garbage, it will get you by for your current goals. The FCD tricks your computer similar to how a S-AFC does. If you plan on adding power in the future I would consider investing in a good standalone ecu, instread of wastin $ on cheap piggy-back systems that only trick the stock ecu. As for a Wideband I would reccomend one even on a stock car. It's a good indication as to what's going on in your engine. Your 550's should be able to handle the 10psi. but again a W/B should help you here. Prosport gauges have a good rep. I hope this helps a bit

 

you know.........i never looked at the wastegate. The turbo was purchased off a member of the forum who was reputable. he said he ported it but i have yet to check lol.

I understand that the FCD only tricks the ecu, but my goals arent very high. When the time comes ill be picking up a Power FC from a coworker off his spare fc. for the time being ive gotta do it the hardheaded way haha.

So from my understanding, 550cc is enough fuel to support 10psi, and using the wideband and SAFC is more so to monitor the motor than gain performance out of it or is it both? ive been reading bits a pieces of the Power FC forum to get an idea on how that tuning works and its quite a bit of info..

 

If you don't want to completely pull the turbo, you can remove the downpipe and the turbo backing plate to see if there is porting and a washer welded onto the flapper door. I'll also mention an upgraded fuel pump and rewire just because it isn't in your list above.

550's can and have supported 10 psi. Personally, I feel it is too close to their max output to run safely. But the next step is upgraded injectors, which you'll probably do with the PowerFC.

You can gain some performance with the SAFC, but you'll be spending a bit of time tuning it. Probably a waste since you're just going to a Power FC soon and you'll have to do it all over again. Either way, you will want a wideband.

 

I agree with RXSpeed16, a stronger fuel pump and rewire are really important once you start going above stock power levels. Aside from the rebuild, I ran basically the exact setup as you for a couple of years. I ran 10 lbs of boost and never really had problems. I recently upgraded and rewired my fuel pump because I felt it was time, but when I pulled the old one I discovered I already had a Walbro 240 lph the previous owner installed. Since I had no idea how old it was, I still upgraded to an Aeromotive 340 lph. But I think the reason I didn't blow my engine over those few years is because it was getting enough fuel. I just thought I was lucky somehow that the stock system had enough power.

I have an SAFC-II on my S4 TII, but as soon as I rebuild my engine, I'll be selling it and moving up to a Haltec. It worked ok, but it doesn't do enough in regards of control and tuning. And it's more difficult to adjust things than with a full standalone. Yes a standalone is more money, but you will only need to make the purchase once and you'll be able to make easy adjustments as you progress with your upgrades. Just find someone who knows how to tune a rotary and use the system they're most comfortable with. I had a reputable DSM tuner do simple dyno tuning on my SAFC-II. Only to find out a few months later by a very experienced rotary tuner that it was the worst tune he had ever seen for a rotary.

A wideband would also be a good investment. I can't tell you how many times I was at full boost when all of a sudden it started leaning out and I backed off because I saw it on my gauge. I'm sure I would have blown my engine if it wasn't for that gauge. I got the SAFC-II to fix the leaning out issue, but it's just not working as I had hoped.