PhantomMan14

Well Im 15 years old and will be 16 in november. I am looking into getting a turbo II for my first project car. My goal is to be able to beat my dads '96 Ford Cobra that has about 315 rwhp. I want to beat him around a road course and in the 1/4. I am looking to make between 300 and 350 rwhp. Could someone list for me exactly what I would need to do this. Also list the companys that make the products i will need along with approx. prices. What would you say this whole project would cost not including the price of the car? Im thinking that I will need an upgraded fuel system, a fmic, a big exhaust, an upgraded turbo ( I would really be interested in exactly what I can do about an upgraded turbo), and then Ill need the clutch, and what else? Please explain the easiest/most efficient way to reach my goal. Thanks ahead of time for any help.

PraxRX7

Here is a small writeup I did that might help you on your way...just please be careful...
I have also considered modding my T2, if you want to do it safely I recommend the following in order(I am going to explain this like I was explaining it to someone who knows nothing about modding, because quite frankly I am still learning this shnit and think that it is the easiest way to explain it):

For all modding:

Better Radiator
Front Mount Intercooler
Electric Fan (make sure it is set up right or you may overheat)
Proper Gauges (Boost, Air/Fuel, Exhaust Temp., Water Temp, Oil Pressure, Fuel Pressure)

Those are mods to help reliablity and to monitor the enine to stop engine exploding (or prevent anyways..remember those stock gauges suck and are innacurate, but those aftermarket ones are not just for show, you need to monitor them frequently.)

From here you have 2 choices, do you want more HP or are you already a happy camper?

I am going to explain this from 2 perspectives. Now people are saying that the stock turbo's can put out about 12 psi max with proper setup..

This is when the real modification begins, you will want to prepare your car for testing, fresh oil, fresh tranny oil, fresh diff fluid, re-wire your fuel pump and properly ground injectors, check all engine hoses/belts for imperfections, make sure your engine is running perfectly before starting mods(water pump full functionality, aoil circulation good, new filters for fuel/oils) (if you have high milage you should consider a rebuild or a new motor purchase before you decide to do mods (This will allow you to choose a porting if you wish to do a port, I recommend nothing bigger than a street port if you want your car to be living more than a year, but if you are going to port the motor, you should read further ahead, as that is a major mod and you need to make sure your system can handle it....main part to pay attention to is the fuel injection/pump system part of this post, also if you plan on running anything over 18 PSI I reccomend considering 3mm apex seals, which requires machining of your rotors to fit larger seals (I think stock is 2mm on your car), you also have the options here for lighter rotors)

Now that you have the right gauges, you need something to control stuff with...2 options:

Full blown ECU or Piggy-back

If you want full tuneability and know how to tune the ECU of your choice (requires knowledge of all the settings on an RX-7 pertaining to safe levels of pressure/fuel-air mixture etc that the engine can handle (many people do this through trial and error...and lose many engines because of it), also you will need to install the proper sensors for that ECU otherwise it will not get the right kind of signal that it needs and may not be fully tunable that way... if you know all that then a full blown ECU is what you should go for...however if you have no knowledge of that stuff (like me) then you should take the alternative route:

The ECU piggy-backs, ex: Air Fuel Controller, AVC (boost controller)...these are probably a little bit easier to use than a full blown ECU, however you still need to be very careful to monitor your air/fuel ratio's and your fuel regulation and pressure.

Once you have chosen one of these you can move ahead to choosing an Exhaust system, which you are now prepared to handle (the 88 turbo's wastegates are crap so you will have to either port it or go to an external wastegate if you desire more boost and/or bigger turbo).

Now we move to the question: How much HP do you want? well ask yourself, would you be happy with (ballpark figure) roughly 220-300 HP? If so then your Porting choice plus stock turbo should get you there (on an 88 turbo with no porting you might see 235 HP, again a ballpark figure @12psi) Or you could go with a full new turbo for higer PSI (ball bearing I recommend maybe T04 something or other)...you will get significant results the more PSI you achieve )

Now if you chose either one of those you still have to check the following: Is your fuel system running lean at your current PSI (if you go below just a little rich while you are on the gas, I recommend upgrading the fuel system (you will HAVE to upgrade the fuel system with a bigger turbo.) Bigger turbo could mean custom exhaust manifold and/or intake manifold.

Upgrading the fuel system will require a custom fuel rail, bigger injector sizes, and a better fuel pump/filter to meet the higher fuel demands (as well as proper programming of your ECU and/or piggy backs)...

At this point, you should have no more money left..but hey, you have a car that runs safely and for a long time at high HP with a fair bit of reliability (probably crappy gas mileage though), cooling system that can handle the heat, fuel system that can handle the needs, gauges to monitor everything, and one hell of a back ache from leaning over your engine compartment to fit all this crap in there....but... your not really done are you?

You still need a suspension that can handle your HP, tires to handle the insane speeds and acceleration you will have, a clutch that won't slip at those high HP numbers, upgraded brakes (depending on HP) so that you can still stop, better flywheel, bigger crazy tach, huge spoiler, pinstripes and a partrige in a pair tree...and you probably already removed that air-pump and most other accesories like ABS and Power steering (which I am keeping =P stupid ABS never works though...=(

So all and all if you want to mod your car seriously without any drawbacks...this is the way (or part of the way) to do it based on what I have read on the forum and researched on the net. I may not be %100 accurate in what I told you, anyone else that thinks so can tell me what I missed (and please do..I still have lots to learn)

There you go..hope it helps,....Good Luck!

PhantomMan14

Thanx for the help, Ill make sure to do all that maitnance stuff first. But I would really like to know more specificly what I should do. Like what turbo to get, where and what I can expect from it. But I would like a full list of things I need to reach 300-350 rwhp. Any help is greatly appreciated.

ZachSpazz

Before you mod the hell out of the car, make sure YOU can handle the power and responsibility of a 300HP RX-7. You're going to need BIG upgrades in the suspension, brakes, and chassis. The bushings, shocks and springs in a 14 year old car are prolly pretty nasty not to mention the brake calipers.

Just looking out for ya man!

Dyre

If your going to be happy at ~300rwhp you should look at the following mods..

Front Mount Intercooler
Full exhuast
89-91 Exhuast manifold and turbo
Upgraded Stock turbo- (60-1 compressor wheel)
Upgraded Secondary injectors (not sure on the size, i want to say ~850 though)
Upgraded Fuel Pump
Some kind of fuel computer, probably a Super-AFC for $$$ reasons, or you could go full blown Haltech/Wolf/Etc standalone
Homemade 3in TurboInletDuct, with k&N filter
---------------------
You'll also need an E-Fan/Radiator/guages etc that Prax mentioned...

heres a good list of mods:
http://www.k2rd.com/FC3S/MODS/mods.html

Steve_Cappelli

Your 14 year old suspension and brakes are your silent enemy. They're waiting to show you how crappy they are. They'll wait until the first time you hold the throttle open a little too long. You'll probably get lucky and catch it.

Consider your car a restoration project, and you'll have the right perspective. Mod the suspension, bushings, and brakes first! Make the car corner and stop. Then make it accelerate. You're buying yourself some room to make a mistake.

I'm sure others will have other opinions...
See my sig for how I did it.

Steve C.

PhantomMan14

Ok thanks for all the help. I will definantly make sure to upgrade bushings, brakes and suspension first. Now my question is, How fast would a car like this be? I am curious about 0-60 and 1/4 mile times. I am hoping for sub 6 second 0-60s and at least 14 second 1/4 miles. Is this realistic for a 300-350 rwhp car?

Josepi

Well with the before mentioned mods you'll be below a 14. Your starting out close to 15....so 14 isn't that far away after exhaust/intake/AFC...

Evil Aviator

One more vote for suspension first, engine later.

Here are the steps that I recommend (some steps based on my personal mistakes ):
1) Buy the car, and install a K&N cone air filter.
2) Join the SCCA, and enter some autocross events to hone your skills and talk with other RX-7 owners. Always go back to this step after each of the other steps.
3) Upgrade your suspension - everything at once. Trust me, you don't want to just replace the shocks and springs, just to pull everything off the car again later to replace all the bushings. Yes, it's going to be expensive, but you could probably fund the project by working a summer job.
4) Install an aftermarket ECU (with boost control), larger injectors, and high-flow fuel system. Some people may disagree with me by saying that you need to do the stuff in step 5 first, but you are going to need it sooner or later, and I think that it is better at this point. Also, many ECU's come with an AF meter, so this will set you up for steps 5-6 quite nicely.
5) Upgrade the downpipe and exhaust system.
6) Install an aftermarket turbocharger, wastegate, front-mount intercooler, and high-performance radiator.

The stock brake disks and calipers will be just fine (although the calipers may need some minor rebuilding at this age), but some SS lines and good pads are definitely in order.

Don't bother upgrading the clutch or flywheel until the car's current clutch gives out.

My TII with typical "ghetto mods" (catback exhaust, high-flow air filter, CFDF clutch, FCD, and VBC) did 13.6 in the 1/4 mi, so I think that a 14sec 1/4 mi would be rather slow for a 350hp 2Gen.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm getting the feeling that you want people to tell you exactly which brands and models of widgets are best for your car. The truth is, there are many good options, and you will have to figure out what you like best yourself. Besides K2RD and the RX-7 store on this forum, here are some other good sites:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/
http://www.greddy.com/
http://www.hksusa.com/
http://www.racingbeat.com/
http://www.corksport.com/
http://www.srx7.com/
http://www.knfilters.com/IndexH.html
http://www.spearcointercoolers.com/
http://www.turboneticsinc.com/index01.html

PhantomMan14

Thanx aviator, that info really helps. And I definantly like the steps you give and will make sure to do them in that order. Thanks for the help