Hi.

Finally purchased a red 1993 RX-7 FD3S after months (literally) of hard research and debate on this forum and other sites. I had it thoroughly checked out and smogged at a bodyshop before I bought it. Thanks to Killuminatic for being so patient throughout this purchase process. Some of you guys may remember him since he had just bought the FD about two months ago. Once I got it home, I just stared at it while wiping the excess drool off my mouth.

Planning to start with reliability mods ASAP. Can I get a list of the order and brands you guys went with? Also, how necessary is the vacuum hose job if the car is still running good? I've read that some recommend waiting until something goes wrong.

Oh, one last thing, the rear bushings for the suspension seem to be loose and may need replacing. Anyone with experience on this know how much it may cost to replace these things?

Hope to learn a lot from you guys.

 

From stock in order.

-Get aftermarket water temp and boost gauges (I know he has a boost gauge for sure) The stock water temerature gauge won't start moving enough to notice until 230 degrees at which point you already overheated your motor.
-Do the fan mod or buy a miata thermoswitch or both
-Downpipe (I think he has)
-AST (which his car doesn't have yet for sure, get a pettit)
-If you have some extra cash get a Fluidine radiator but it isn't totally needed. The end tanks are plastic on the stock one and they sometimes break and leak most of the coolant out of the car causing it to overheat. I have 74k miles on my car and mine is okay but that's what the water temp gauge is for. If you have the fans on and see the temps rising fast then you know something is up.

Watch your gauges. Try to keep your car running at 185 degrees all the time and with the stock ecu don't ever let the boost get above 10 psi. If you do that stuff I bet you anything your car will run strong for a long long long time with hardly or no problems at all.

Also, doesn't he have a new motor in the car with just a few thousand miles on it? I think they just did the hose job also. You may want to get with him and get the info and warranty papers.

Good luck bro
these cars are amazing imo
-SNook

 

what's the deal with the smog? kill was having problems smogging the car and dont think he ever told us why. he also had some boost problems, was that fixed? bushings, it'll run you i think anywhere from 700-1000 bucks to get them all done.

congrats....besides the tan interior and the narrow wheels it looked like kill's (your's now) car is very clean.

 

Sell me your rims, they're too small for a FD.. I want them for my FC. =)

 

Snook, you seem to know a lot about the car already.
Any reason why you recommend the pettit AST?

ttb, I got pass the smog problem. I think it may have failed due to the downpipe and RB exhaust. The boost problem has been fixed as well.

neofreak, No. =)

 

Well, they are too narrow, just fyi.

 

im sure snook mentioned the pettit AST since it was really the only one around till just recently. a few months back there was a nice chiny one being made at the rx7 store(really expensive ones were also available through jason/jt-imports). there is also the option of eliminating the AST. get an AST in general or eliminate it.
kris

 

i know who you are, punk!!!

hahaha, will told me you bought a red fd with 18" model 5's, and i knew which fd it was right away. enjoy the car dude. dont let it get you into too much trouble.

 

If you get the Aluminum AST from pettit I would suggest you pressure test the cap. My cap didn't release until I was way above the pressure rating. As a matter of fact I checked all of my local parts stores and only one (out of 4 stores) had a cap that released at the correct pressure. Most of them were Stant caps too, which is usually a reliable brand. Just thought you might want to know that. You should really pressure test the cap regardless of where you get an AST.

I also had to fabricate a bracket to reposition the Pettit AST, just a few inches down, so that it fit securely. On the bottom of the AST there is a small rod. The stock AST is longer and so this rod fits down into a hole below it. The Pettit AST is just a little bit short of fitting in the hole. Seeing as to how small things like that bother me I had to fix it.

Other than those small issues I have had no problems with my Pettit AST. As for eliminating it.......that might not be such a smart idea. The idea of the AST is to release excess pressure in your coolant system. I have heard people argue back and forth about whether this is a good idea or not. Personally I would still get the Pettit AST if I had it to do over again.

- Cody

 

Yes, I was helping kill with a boost problem that he had and I had to find out all of his mods and I was looking at pics of his engine bay.

Right, most people just get the Pettit because that's the main one. It comes powdercoated or with some kind of coating to release heat I'm guessing but I polished mine up really nice in about 30 minutes for free ; )

Enjoy the car I think it's in better hands now...it was too much car for the last owner which you can see by looking at his posts.

Not an insult, just my opinion. Most people aren't made to have this car.

Good Luck Bro

 

Hmm, the pettit AST sounds a little problematic. Anybody have experience with some of the other ASTs?
Also, how do I go about pressure testing the cap?

neofreak, Are you serious about buying them? I know they are a little too narrow and I might consider selling them.

 

yeah dude sell them to neofreak, then buy the rims i have on my car! ill hook you up, will knows how new they are...

 

oh, and most of the aftermarket ast's out there use the same cap, the stant one with the red flip up top. i think most of them use that cap because it is cool and high tech looking. it isnt that troublesome, just make sure the cap works by pressure testing it or testing the spring in hot water. you should be doing that with any regular cap anyway.

 

Thanks for the info rx7speed811. Know a good place where I can get a pressure tester or a place where I can get it done?

Anyone try the Billet AST that rx7store sells?

 

just bring your car into any decent shop after installing the ast, and they can pressure test your entire cooling system, as well as check for any leaks, etc. i dont think it would be worth buying the pump/gauge thingy tool just to use on your own car. if you are close with any mechanics, they will probably even do it for free.

do you know who i am yet???

 

check your pm.

 

Congrats on your new "baby" and welcome to the board. I myself just purchased a 1993 FD this past weekend. I was lucky, the car was stock and only had 50k miles on it.