any input on my rx7 build?
 

Hello every one. Let me introduce myself, my name is George and I live in California. I’m 22 years old and I just sold my dd mini cooper:nod:. I’ve already decided:egrin:… FD all the freakin way!! I just wanted your input as to what you thought of my build. I have 22k to spend and my intention is to dd the car as long as it runs fine ( I also just purchased a scooter just in case:lol:). Im only trying to do reliability mods to the FD. I don’t mind the extra power in the process. Am I spending too much money on some of these parts? Do you prefer any other company? I don’t mind to spend top dollar to keep the car healthy. (not sure what brand yet) = **
These are the parts (not in order):

Banzai Racing rebuilt engine
3mm apex seals
Street porting
Greddy boost gauge
Greddy air/ fuel gauge
Greddy EGT gauge
Defi water temp gauge
Defi oil temp gauge
Defi oil pressure gauge
Defi fuel pressure gauge
Apexi power fc
Apexi boost controller
Nippon oil filter
RP fuel filter
Cat back **
Down pipe**
Koyo radiator
Mishimoto radiator hoses
Aluminum AST from Rotary Performance
Rx7 store v mount intercooler
Fan mod
Intake**
DIY air box
Vacuum hoses**
Greddy oil catch can
Hks oil cooler
Radiator cap
Rx7 store Efini y pipe
RP water pump
RP fuel pump
RX7 store oil pump

When I save enough money I would later like to buy some enkei 18in rims, suspension, body kit, and paint job. Well that’s it!! Thank you for your time. Your input is appreciated.
George.:bigthumb:

Have you purchased the FD yet?

lol and a brake system. (the car I'm looking into has a good brake system)
i'll change oil every 2k and check my fluids daily.

George

@ mahjik:
no i haven't I'm checking it out this weekend

Tell you what, you pick up the car first then start figuring out what to do. Over the years, I've seen many "here's my dream list" or "here's my soon to be build" thread which never materialized into anything because the person never ended up buying a FD. So, wait until you get the car then go from there. If you actually do some shopping, you can purchase a car which has a majority of those things already.

^1+ on mahjiks comment.

But on what you listed, you need to do a little more research.
-RX7stores vmount will require you to relocate the battery out of the engine bay. So instead I would recommend you just purchase a good stock mount with a good duct.

-the stock fuel pump is not a fail point and you should not need to replace it.

-stock water pump is not a fail point and should not need replaced

-rx7store oil pump?? what is this? No reason to replace any oil pump unless the oil metering pump (OMP) is failing and then it is best to just eliminate it and premix gas and 2cycle oil (you need to do this anyway, again more research required on your part)

-3mm apex seals are a point of argument on here but in all honesty the factory (OEM) 2mm seals are MORE than sufficient. Most on here actually prefer them.

-Unless you plan on having a very finely tuned car, and you said you only want to do reliability mods, why do you need all those damn gauges? Water temp can be read off of the commander for the powerFC, egt you don't really need and if you do you need 2(front and rear rotor, again search EGT), fuel pressure you don't need, oil pressure maybe but you don't really need either. If you want a nice simple very attractive gauge setup look into PLX gauges multiple readouts on ONE gauge. Very nice.

-mishimoto rad hoses? those will be stock and will NOT work with a vmount b/c you have drastically moved the radiator position. Better off going to local parts store and having to use trial and error getting hoses that are not specific for the rx7.

It sounds like you have done some good research so far but you have lots more to go.

Get the car, it will more than likely already have some of those things on it and JUST drive the car for a few months. It may have problems (they are old cars you know, often now owned by young inexperienced owners who tear them up) that need to be fixed. This will also allow you to do more research and decide what really needs to be changed.

This is not a car you can just throw modifications on and hope everything works out good. They should be planned, thought out modifications and should all be done for a specific reason. I also do not recommend more than a few at a time if you are new to the car. If you have issues after you will have difficulty diagnosing your problem.

Good luck with your car search.

i say buy a car with the Majority of the mods you already want...u will spend way More money modifying the car Urself.... unless u actually want to modify it urself and spend all the Money............:icon_tup:

First off thank you for your response.:nod: I sold my mini cooper in the hopes of buying an rx7. All the cars near my area that I’ve had my eye on have minimal modifications and are pretty much rollers. Growing up my dad owned an rx7 FD but he never worked on it himself. he loved the car but had to let it go... i loved it since then.

this a very helpful response. thank you for your input. :blush:i must admit that yes i have to research more. i'll never stop learning.

i was thinking of replacing the pumps just as a precaution. i was under the mentality of keeping the car healthy. but very good point. if the pumps work why replace them?

i will look for post on the apex seals. i thought thicker seals would make it more difficult for the seals to break? ( i need to research this.)

i was thinking of getting a water temp gauge so i wouldn't have to take my eyes off the road. have it closer to the steering wheel. again another good point. i probably don't need all those gauges. would it be easier to diagnose a problem if i had those gauges? plx gauges got it!

i was thinking of getting the v mount inter cooler based on a thread i read. it mentioned how standard mount intercoolers block air flow to the radiator. is this really an issue? :scratch:
hardware store = check!

thanks again,
george

Either way on the water temp gauge, whether you read it off the FC commander readout or another gauge you still have to take your eyes off of it... FC commander is a digital numerical readout that is simple and quick to read. Others on here have dedicated water temp gauges, but I never saw a point. Waste of money... There is a mount for the FC commander to mount it right near the radio for easy viewing...

Apex seals are very strong and the OEM ones are some of the best quality. Have a COMPETENT ROTARY tuner tune the car and the apex seals should stay in good shape as long as you do not do things to the car to make the tune inadequate. Keep regular maintenance done and no worriess.

Stock mounts do not block air to rad, front mount ic's do.

:lol:

My question is: What kind of mechanic are you?

If you have no FD experience then I have to disagree with the idea of getting a modded FD.
Get a cheaper one that you can purchase new parts for.
1) I personally would only buy a modded FD from someone I knew or has a good reputation on this forum.
2) You may save $$ overall (in buying a modded FD) but knowing you have a brand new motor (from Banzai, for instance) and all the ancilliary components have been inspected (or are new) will give you LOTS of piece of mind.
3) So if you buy an FD and start with a new engine and reliability mods then you can slowly add performance parts while daily driving it.
4) These cars are old... unmodded ones need $$ and modded ones need $$ but are more expensive and can have more complex problems than a stocker.

If you had experience like these fellows on the forum then you'd find an FD in the rarest color you could find, do a compression test on the engine AND test the cooling system for "champagne bubbles" (do a search) and you then would have full confidence that you could deal with any other future problems.

Because you're inexperienced let the fact that that you got 22k to spend and a scooter to ride in the meantime work for you.
Definitely get the car first and ask a forum member (in your area) to check it out before you buy.
Just my .02

a couple things, instead of the greddy egt gauge, get the dual gauge from pineapple
http://www.pineappleracing.com/duale...ryedition.aspx
get autometer gauges instead of the greddy and defi ones, they work just as good for a 1/4 of the price and look good too.
innovate lc-1 wideband and whichever gauge you want, the xd-16 looks great
a loggable oil temp gauge can be a good idea too, there's really no real need for the oil pressure, in-car fuel pressure, and water temp gauges. Especially water temp since it can be viewed via the commander.
wait on the decision to go 3mm or not, let banzai make that call when they build your motor.
greddy profec-b is widely considered the best EBC for the FD, not sure why, but that's what a lot of people, myself included, go with.
no to the pumps, maybe to the v-mount, if you get a good smic, do the t-stat mod and set the fans to come on sooner via the PFC, and have a good ast and hoses, you shouldn't have problems.
get the mazda oil filter from RP
if you plan on upgrading the the fuel pump, get bigger injectors, keep it simple and just get 1600 secondaries, rail, and FPR from wherever your choice is, you'll need clips and resistors too.
I can't find an HKS oil cooler, but I would say just get the dual stock ones from an R1, they pop up in the FS section from time to time, there's various aftermarket versions out there too.
for reliability, get a basic, boost-activated water injection system. Unless the car you're looking at is already an R1, if that's the case, you're good to go until you wanna go really big.
datalogit, no questions ask, do it.
while the motor is out, port the wastegate
most body-kits look like trash on these cars, 99spec or something basic looks good, and most sideskirts and rear bumpers are terrible. But it's your call, however with whatever you decide to do, please keep it clean.
brakes aren't really necessary until you get wider rims and stickier tires.
you'll need at the very least a new clutch, maybe a lightened flywheel.

I think that's it.

wow thanks for info. its all really good. i'll post pictures once i start my project!

My only problems with the pineapple dual egt gauges is they are not digital (instantaneously reacting) and they are not logable. So in my personal opinion they provide little usable information.

hmm... do you know of a logable dual egt gauge? I don't have a problem with it being analog,

By Howard Coleman.. https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/dual-digital-egts-612960/

More recent discussion involving a little different system but on Howard's premises.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ht=digital+EGT
Post #8 I agree with on EGT's not being that valuable for the average person. I am still personally undecided if I am going to add them to my current setup as I am in the middle of my rebuild. I think I may just to see the effects of tuning water (and possibly methanol) injection.

And most recently http://www.plxdevices.com/imfd.html

I am not bashing Pineapple's product by any means. They make great stuff and their dual egt gauge is very well put together. My issues with it are just as I stated above, not as fast reacting, and not logable. So info displayed cannot be easily or accurately related to engine RPM, current A/F, or current place in the timing map. We have better tools available than we had a few years back and why not use them?

Personally I do not believe the OP has a need for egt gauges.

just do it..... ...

Did you get the FD over the weekend or still looking?

i didn't like it. it was beat to s*&#...
i have a budy who claims he found the cleanest fd ever. he says its currently owned by a mazda employee. who knows... im gonna check it out in a week. wish me luck!!:)

good luck.

good luck on your search. it is definitely worth taking the time to find one that you'll be happy with. i just got a FD and the previous owner has had it since '96. he also had extensive records (service, etc). it's not perfect (paint, etc... 17 years old...) but i am really happy with it.

Good luck on your search. If you really want an FD then it is worth the time to find the right car for you. I searched for 4 months before I found the car I wanted. It was definitely worth it. Do NOT get in a hurry.

Good luck, read/research daily on here, all the stickies and such to get the best knowledge base you can. Be sure to keep us updated if you snag one or not. ;)