Finally finished the car (well...mostly) here's my story .. PICS
07-31-06, 04:27 PM
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Finally finished the car (well...mostly) here's my story .. PICS
I finally finished my project. I bought this car back in October of 2005. It was supposed to have been pretty well built (I wanted one as done as possible because I didn't want a project). Seth from PureSports in Ramona had just installed a rebuilt engine (street ported by RP). It had suspension, upgraded intercooler, ported turbos, RPS clutch...old style greddy exhaust, Jacobs ignition...etc. Seth vouched for the car, told me it pulled perfect compression (fresh rebuild so it should) and upon me asking for the dyno charts of the tuning sessions, he provided me with one showing 330whp at 13psi.
I fly out to look at the car (actual owner's name is Josh) and something just seemed a little off. It didn't have an underpanel, I had little questions here and there that didn't really get answered. I took it out for a drive, but the engine had 0 miles so I couldn't get on it. They were foreign roads to me anyway so I didn't want to take any chances.
I went back and bought the car...big mistake...but, we live and learn. I paid, $17.5K (overpaid by a lot but I knew that, I thought I was getting something free of problems and for that I was willing to overpay) for a one owner 94 with clean carfax, and 72K miles...0 miles on a fresh rebuild.
Got the car home and the problems started to crop up. I had a nasty clunking sound in the rear end. The suspension would 'step out' under even the most docile of conditions, under certain circumstances the car would REALLY hesitate when going full throttle. It wouldn't make anywhere near full boost when I actually completed break in (come to find out the dyno chart provided was a fraud, lifted from this very message board and passed on as his own).
So I contacted a lawyer and ended up getting a very small settlement from the previous owner (didn't have the cash to go all the way, even though I did have a case).
But that's all in the past...
I relpaced, the engine mounts, differential mounts (both polyeurethane), all the pillowballs, the trailing arms and toe links (from Rotary performance). Installed Tein Flex coilovers because the shocks on the car were mismatched. I bought all the OE parts it was missing, and of course put on the single turbo with all it's supporting mods and fabrication. I did my best to recondition the interior and exterior. I powdercoated the wheels, intercooler and UIM/intercooler piping black...
All in all about 3 months of 10-15 hours a week working on this car in the burning desert heat of Phoenix, AZ. It was not an easy thing to get done, but I have finally reached the end. Now I am just wideband tuning with the Innovate w/b and datalogit.
Here are some photos I took last night. I think it turned out well...and even though I have had a very bad experience, I still learned a tremendous amount from searching around, and asking questions of specific board members. There is so much to know and while the engine was almost completely apart I learned a ton. I know have so much more patience and much better understanding of electrical systems...an RX7 will definately teach you patience and electronics, that is IF you have the patience to learn. It definately could have turned out worse.
and my old car...same road...just thought I would post cause it is in the same album...
I fly out to look at the car (actual owner's name is Josh) and something just seemed a little off. It didn't have an underpanel, I had little questions here and there that didn't really get answered. I took it out for a drive, but the engine had 0 miles so I couldn't get on it. They were foreign roads to me anyway so I didn't want to take any chances.
I went back and bought the car...big mistake...but, we live and learn. I paid, $17.5K (overpaid by a lot but I knew that, I thought I was getting something free of problems and for that I was willing to overpay) for a one owner 94 with clean carfax, and 72K miles...0 miles on a fresh rebuild.
Got the car home and the problems started to crop up. I had a nasty clunking sound in the rear end. The suspension would 'step out' under even the most docile of conditions, under certain circumstances the car would REALLY hesitate when going full throttle. It wouldn't make anywhere near full boost when I actually completed break in (come to find out the dyno chart provided was a fraud, lifted from this very message board and passed on as his own).
So I contacted a lawyer and ended up getting a very small settlement from the previous owner (didn't have the cash to go all the way, even though I did have a case).
But that's all in the past...
I relpaced, the engine mounts, differential mounts (both polyeurethane), all the pillowballs, the trailing arms and toe links (from Rotary performance). Installed Tein Flex coilovers because the shocks on the car were mismatched. I bought all the OE parts it was missing, and of course put on the single turbo with all it's supporting mods and fabrication. I did my best to recondition the interior and exterior. I powdercoated the wheels, intercooler and UIM/intercooler piping black...
All in all about 3 months of 10-15 hours a week working on this car in the burning desert heat of Phoenix, AZ. It was not an easy thing to get done, but I have finally reached the end. Now I am just wideband tuning with the Innovate w/b and datalogit.
Here are some photos I took last night. I think it turned out well...and even though I have had a very bad experience, I still learned a tremendous amount from searching around, and asking questions of specific board members. There is so much to know and while the engine was almost completely apart I learned a ton. I know have so much more patience and much better understanding of electrical systems...an RX7 will definately teach you patience and electronics, that is IF you have the patience to learn. It definately could have turned out worse.
and my old car...same road...just thought I would post cause it is in the same album...
Last edited by cozmo kraemer; 07-31-06 at 04:40 PM.
07-31-06, 05:30 PM
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Darkside FD
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BBS RG-R on the BMW...love those wheels too! Wanted to put them on the FD but they really don't make the right size.
Thanks for the compliments. I was a little unsure of Black on Black...but those wheels look SO much better in black than they did in silver...
Thanks for the compliments. I was a little unsure of Black on Black...but those wheels look SO much better in black than they did in silver...
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08-01-06, 10:10 AM
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Originally Posted by cozmo kraemer
Seth vouched for the car, told me it pulled perfect compression (fresh rebuild so it should) and upon me asking for the dyno charts of the tuning sessions, he provided me with one showing 330whp at 13psi....
I took it out for a drive, but the engine had 0 miles so I couldn't get on it....
0 miles on a fresh rebuild....
It wouldn't make anywhere near full boost when I actually completed break in (come to find out the dyno chart provided was a fraud, lifted from this very message board and passed on as his own).
I took it out for a drive, but the engine had 0 miles so I couldn't get on it....
0 miles on a fresh rebuild....
It wouldn't make anywhere near full boost when I actually completed break in (come to find out the dyno chart provided was a fraud, lifted from this very message board and passed on as his own).
I'm glad everything worked out for you though.
Originally Posted by cozmo kraemer
I powdercoated the wheels, intercooler and UIM/intercooler piping black...
Originally Posted by yuichiror
What kind/brand of gauge is that on the steering column?
Last edited by Juiceh; 08-01-06 at 10:15 AM.
08-01-06, 10:44 AM
#19
Originally Posted by Juiceh
Damn man. Just having a Dyno sheet for a car with 0 miles is a big red flag to me. Every tuner will let the car break in a bit and put a few hundred miles on it before putting it on a dyno. They are gonna have to get on it when its on the dyno so you should have been getting on it in your test drive since they already had.
Dave
08-01-06, 11:46 AM
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In piston engines, which is where I came from before this car, there were varying points of view on when/how to tune a car after a fresh build. It seems like everyone has some different idea. One of the camps believed that a propper break in would involve the dyno and various states of load, and then tuning.
Obviously there is a general consensus in the rotary community that breaking in an engine entails at least 500-1000 miles of steady state throttle of varying rpms, and no boost.
I didn't know that going in. I was taking the word of someone who was supposed to be knowledgable in rotaries... I will never make an uneducated purchase again, where I rely on the opinion of someone I don't know.
Obviously there is a general consensus in the rotary community that breaking in an engine entails at least 500-1000 miles of steady state throttle of varying rpms, and no boost.
I didn't know that going in. I was taking the word of someone who was supposed to be knowledgable in rotaries... I will never make an uneducated purchase again, where I rely on the opinion of someone I don't know.
08-01-06, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Juiceh
Engine bay looks nice, wheels looks sweet as well. Did you powder coat the whole IC, fins and all or just the top\sides. I really hope you didn't powder coat the whole thing, the IC might not work so well if you did.
Looks like an Innovate Wideband guage.
The gauge in the steering column is infact the Innovate XD1 wideband gauge. It doesn't fit 'perfectly' but it fits very well, and I like having that info front and center.
08-01-06, 03:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Tim Benton
Great looking car, how fresh is the paint? Glad you stuck it out and got it right...you'll love the car even more now.
Tim
Tim
The paint overall is in pretty good shape. I hadn't detailed the car until this weekend (was waiting till I finished the car...kind of a capstone)...I used Groitt's Garage products with their random orbital and let me tell you, That stuff is awesome!!!
I used the machine polish 3 to take out a lot of little scratches and swirl marks, and followed that up with the Carnuba wax. That polisher is awesome and the products work tremendously together. They even give you a book with specific instructions on how to apply and remove their products. I would definately recommend them to anyone. Their random orbital kit with waxes was a solid purchase!!
08-01-06, 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by cozmo kraemer
I didn't coat the fins...both faces were masked. I only coated the tubing, top, bottom and end tanks. It came out really nice and I only paid $200 to get the intercooler, intercooler piping, UIM, 4 wheels, and both wiper blades powdercoated.
The gauge in the steering column is infact the Innovate XD1 wideband gauge. It doesn't fit 'perfectly' but it fits very well, and I like having that info front and center.
The gauge in the steering column is infact the Innovate XD1 wideband gauge. It doesn't fit 'perfectly' but it fits very well, and I like having that info front and center.
Wow, thats a pretty good deal on the powder coating.I like that location for the wideband. Only seen a handful in that location, it amazes me why I don't see it there more often.
Nice work.
