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Advice for putting car back together after 15 years
So about 15 years ago I bought a roller that had almost everything to put it back together minus the motor. I bought a bunch of stuff to make it a single turbo years ago, and have a zero mile motor that I put in. Fast forward to today and I've finally decided that I have the time and money to finish it, however, I'm going to put it completely back to stock so that I can hopefully pass emissions (colorado), before changing it over to a single later down the road.
My question is two fold. I've included pictures of what is together right now, but what is a good order of operations to install what's left. Lower and upper intake manifold, the twins (I'm going to switch them to a simplified parallel setup), all emissions equipment, simplified rats nest, etc.
Is there anything I should consider replacing? I already have all new gaskets, and going to to get a full hose kit. I also have a new fuel setup (injectors, rails, pump), and haltech 1500.
Are there any good resources for this part of the install with some tips and tricks (beyond the fsm).
Thanks in advance!
I don't know how things have changed in Colorado, but I've passed emissions on singles with many different cars (Supras, RX7s, swapped 240's etc, all depends on the tune and quality of Cat to run clean enough to pass their sniffer. If they now have a visual like California, then you will run into issues, they did not have visual when I lived there.
if the air pump will fit with the turbo, then the car should pass, or be able to be made to pass emissions. the HKS kits were actually CARB certified back in the day.
second, i usually start a project by stripping everything down like how you have it. then i will clean. check the function of each part. wax/paint as needed. then everything gets put back with a torque wrench. so far so good, they really turn out nicely
there IS a lot of research, if you get the car in the box, you need to figure out what goes where, and if you're missing stuff. i spend a lot of time in the parts catalog, and service manual.
both are here Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals
its a big project, and space is also an issue, so i will kind of work my way around the engine bay, or a section at a time or whatever
I don't know how things have changed in Colorado, but I've passed emissions on singles with many different cars (Supras, RX7s, swapped 240's etc, all depends on the tune and quality of Cat to run clean enough to pass their sniffer. If they now have a visual like California, then you will run into issues, they did not have visual when I lived there.
The biggest issue with going with my single setup at the moment is getting the air pump to fit, that's the main driver behind putting the twins on for emissions. I plan on running e85 for emissions too (that's how I got my old gc8/sti swap to pass the sniffer).
if the air pump will fit with the turbo, then the car should pass, or be able to be made to pass emissions. the HKS kits were actually CARB certified back in the day.
second, i usually start a project by stripping everything down like how you have it. then i will clean. check the function of each part. wax/paint as needed. then everything gets put back with a torque wrench. so far so good, they really turn out nicely
there IS a lot of research, if you get the car in the box, you need to figure out what goes where, and if you're missing stuff. i spend a lot of time in the parts catalog, and service manual.
both are here Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals
its a big project, and space is also an issue, so i will kind of work my way around the engine bay, or a section at a time or whatever
Thank you for the suggestions, I really should take invintory of what I still have before moving any further. And you're right, it might be a good idea to go ahead and clean everything up while it's apart... it's mostly a ton of dust from sitting.
The biggest issue with going with my single setup at the moment is getting the air pump to fit, that's the main driver behind putting the twins on for emissions. I plan on running e85 for emissions too (that's how I got my old gc8/sti swap to pass the sniffer).
No lie, the last emission test I did for my Turbo II while I was there, I rigged up a cigarette lighter bicycle air pump to run with key on, zip tied it in the engine bay in place of the cold start coolant reservoir and ran the hose into the cat pipe for the air pump so it was just feeding air all the time with key on. I wasn't sure if it would be enough volume for the cat but I passed and it was fairly clean test results. Testers may question that further these days.
Last edited by boostin13b; 08-04-23 at 01:45 PM.
Reason: Add picture
Lol, nice! I'm surprised that worked! Yeah, Colorado is becoming pretty strict... but I highly doubt they would know the difference between the stock air pump and some other make shift air pump. I've heard of using a corvette electric air pump, but they don't survive very long.
Lol, nice! I'm surprised that worked! Yeah, Colorado is becoming pretty strict... but I highly doubt they would know the difference between the stock air pump and some other make shift air pump. I've heard of using a corvette electric air pump, but they don't survive very long.
I literally only used this to pass, then pulled it off along with the Cat. So its a good temporary hack (though most likely not legal) I just wasn't sure if Colorado was getting to the point of California to where you can't even have a cold air intake. I've passed large single turbo cars and cars on standalone (pre OBDII of course.)
My recommendation would be to pull that engine back out and install everything on it before dropping it back in. The hour it takes to pull and put back in will save you months of sore back.
My recommendation would be to pull that engine back out and install everything on it before dropping it back in. The hour it takes to pull and put back in will save you months of sore back.
I was afraid someone was going to recomend that. I remember that thing was a pain in the *** to get aligned with the trans and installed the first time... but you're probably right. I was hoping that it would be easy enough to put everything together with the motor already in.
Man I feel your pain. The person who painted my car blew my engine and my car sat for over 10 years as a roller. Feel free to reference my build. The title is 93 rx7 improving a great sportscar. Feel free to ask me anything. You can also see how it drives after all the work on my youtube channel. Either way it is a journey that is well worth it and driving it afterwards is very rewarding. Nothing drives like a well sorted Fd.
Man I feel your pain. The person who painted my car blew my engine and my car sat for over 10 years as a roller. Feel free to reference my build. The title is 93 rx7 improving a great sportscar. Feel free to ask me anything. You can also see how it drives after all the work on my youtube channel. Either way it is a journey that is well worth it and driving it afterwards is very rewarding. Nothing drives like a well sorted Fd.
Thanks, I'll check out your build and channel!
Yeah, I've actually owned 7 RX7's (2 FD's and 5 FC's) everytime I try to get away from them, they suck me back in. They're just an amazing all around sports car.
Thanks in advance, I'll probably hit you up at some point
08-03-23, 09:56 PM
