A day at Petit Racing
07-27-16, 04:01 PM
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A day at Petit Racing
I do a lot of work on my cars (even have a lift in my garage) and after much debate I decided to bring my car to Petit Racing for a small intake manifold leak rather than trying to fix it myself. There isn't much information on exactly how to fix most issues on FD RX7's (most DIY threads say get the Mazda manual and the rest simply list the steps with no pictures or a couple but limited instructions) and even though I read and read and read how to go about doing it I ultimately said NO.
Conclusion: best decision I have ever made.
All I can say is that after spending the day with Cam I realized that there are probably only a handful of people left in this country who truly know the ins and outs and quirks of these cars. He pointed out (and fixed) issues that only Mazda knew about back in the 90's and diagnosed all sorts of other small things the car needed to get it running perfectly. I must add that virtually none of these cost any additional money as they were small adjustments or updates that required no parts.
With that in mind my car is beyond perfect and I could have never done this alone. There is no information out there at all discussing what he went over and it will be a sad day when shops like these are gone.
Conclusion: best decision I have ever made.
All I can say is that after spending the day with Cam I realized that there are probably only a handful of people left in this country who truly know the ins and outs and quirks of these cars. He pointed out (and fixed) issues that only Mazda knew about back in the 90's and diagnosed all sorts of other small things the car needed to get it running perfectly. I must add that virtually none of these cost any additional money as they were small adjustments or updates that required no parts.
With that in mind my car is beyond perfect and I could have never done this alone. There is no information out there at all discussing what he went over and it will be a sad day when shops like these are gone.
08-01-16, 04:06 PM
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I honestly do not remember them all and the ones I do I can try to explain. What is interesting with him is that because he raced the RX7's and had factory backing (guidance?) he was aware of internal information directly from Mazda and understands why certain things in the car exist and why they may be totally unnecessary. I want to just say that before I brought the car in I changed the tranny and diff oil, changed the brake fluid and bled the brakes/clutch, changed plugs and wires, changed brake pads and some other small stuff. I had a small intake leak that was picked up on my PPI a long time ago and figured it was time to fix it.
So off my memory:
1. Transmission oil. Before I brought my car in I changed the tranny and diff oil to to Amsoil. When I did this the car shifted WORSE. Cam explained that due to the synchros in the FD gearbox the full synthetic oils out there are too slick and do not provide enough viscosity. He changed to partial synthetic oil (it's on his site) and the car shifted like it had a new gearbox.
2. Behind the passenger side headlight is a gangle of wires plugged into each other. This was some sort of Mazda last minute solution to a US concern about the cars catching fire. If you disconnect the wires they are 100% of the time corroded and they can cause the fire! So he removed the entire bunch which did nothing to begin with.
3. The PPI on my car said it needed new control arm bushings due to noise in the rear. I heard it at low speeds. Cam drove with me and showed me how the noise goes away when you pull the e-brake. Turns out the wires that hold the pads on tight don't do their job very well at all. So he pinched down the wires (using pliers) and the noise was almost gone. Saved me at least $2k. Cost $0.
4. FD RX7's had a recall for the paper gasket under the turbo under the manifold. Most cars never had the recall performed and mine was one of those. Because he had to remove the turbo to address my intake leak he changed the gasket and showed me the crappy remains of the original.
5. Some noises under the car were eliminated by tightening and bending some of the heat shields around the exhaust system.
6. PPI on my car said it had an oil leak. And when I bought it I noticed a lot of oil on the driver's side of the motor. I cleaned it up and never leaked again and was verified as just being sloppy oil changes.
7. I changed the plug wires and he pointed out that if you don't follow the factory pattern when reinstalling the plug wires you can get an arc and destroy the motor. Mine was, of course, not done correctly even though I thought I followed everything to a T.
There were about 3 or 4 other things that he walked me around to show me. I think the PCV valve is unnecessary (this has been covered elsewhere) and some other things he showed me.
All in all I was very happy I didn't try the manifold leak on my own if for no other reason than to have him look over my car and give it his look-over and approval. I do not know these cars at all it seems.
So off my memory:
1. Transmission oil. Before I brought my car in I changed the tranny and diff oil to to Amsoil. When I did this the car shifted WORSE. Cam explained that due to the synchros in the FD gearbox the full synthetic oils out there are too slick and do not provide enough viscosity. He changed to partial synthetic oil (it's on his site) and the car shifted like it had a new gearbox.
2. Behind the passenger side headlight is a gangle of wires plugged into each other. This was some sort of Mazda last minute solution to a US concern about the cars catching fire. If you disconnect the wires they are 100% of the time corroded and they can cause the fire! So he removed the entire bunch which did nothing to begin with.
3. The PPI on my car said it needed new control arm bushings due to noise in the rear. I heard it at low speeds. Cam drove with me and showed me how the noise goes away when you pull the e-brake. Turns out the wires that hold the pads on tight don't do their job very well at all. So he pinched down the wires (using pliers) and the noise was almost gone. Saved me at least $2k. Cost $0.
4. FD RX7's had a recall for the paper gasket under the turbo under the manifold. Most cars never had the recall performed and mine was one of those. Because he had to remove the turbo to address my intake leak he changed the gasket and showed me the crappy remains of the original.
5. Some noises under the car were eliminated by tightening and bending some of the heat shields around the exhaust system.
6. PPI on my car said it had an oil leak. And when I bought it I noticed a lot of oil on the driver's side of the motor. I cleaned it up and never leaked again and was verified as just being sloppy oil changes.
7. I changed the plug wires and he pointed out that if you don't follow the factory pattern when reinstalling the plug wires you can get an arc and destroy the motor. Mine was, of course, not done correctly even though I thought I followed everything to a T.
There were about 3 or 4 other things that he walked me around to show me. I think the PCV valve is unnecessary (this has been covered elsewhere) and some other things he showed me.
All in all I was very happy I didn't try the manifold leak on my own if for no other reason than to have him look over my car and give it his look-over and approval. I do not know these cars at all it seems.
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