I just finished installing my Jim Lab bushing set and new pillow ball bearings, so I thought I would wash/wax and post some pics.

 

not bad.I would highly suggest you get an aluminum ast though.I went with the same intercooler setup as you.It works quite well.You do have the duct that goes to the intercooler right ?

 

clean as hell on the outside but i agree about the ast and duct

 

nice pictures

 

Why would you recomend the ast? what will happen if you dont run one?

 

they are prone to cracking and spilling coolant all over

 

^

 

A car is as clean as its engine bay. nuff said.

 

I have the same intercooler and was wandering how the fitment is with the koyo? is it too tight for the duct? Looks nice BTW!

Cyan

 

I ordered my AST before I actually picked up my car! Put it on ASAP. The plastic POS stock AST actually broke apart when we took it off!

Replace it as soon as possible.

 

I still have the plastic ast. WHat makes it crack? because when i open my hood, the ast gets really hot, but nothing as far as cracking or am i just lucky??

 

sweet...you have the same setup as me, pfs smic and pettit intake....get that duct asap though as intake temps must be really hot

 

It just gets brittle and splits at the seam over time because of the constant heat cycling. It's hot because there is 180 degree fluid going through it

Nice car, it looks just like mine! I would clean my filters and get the intercooler duct if I were you.

 

did you a buy a press and do all the labor yourself? how many hours?

 

looks nice

 

Shiny...... Good job

 

Sorry for the delay in replying to all of you. I didn't mean to post and dissappear.

To answer some of the questions:

Yes, I did have fitment issues with the koyo. Alot of people say that they don't though. I made a new billet aluminum battery tray for the Optima 51r battery to clear the fans. I also had to modify a few other things, but nothing major. As for the duct, It wouldn't work anymore without some trimming and I didn't want to do that. I just didn't like the way it looked anyway. I have the material to make a new one out of a sheet of 6061 t-6 aluminum but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. I'll post pics when I get it done.

I would really like to buy the aluminum ast but if I drop another dime into my car right now, I'll end up divorced! I'll have to let some time pass before I invest any more money into the car.

I did buy a press to do my bushings and pillow bearings. Harbor freight - $120 for a 12 ton press. They also have some smaller bench top presses that will probably do the job just fine. Except for the diff. mount bushings which you could take to another shop to do. It was well worth the money. I would recomment it to anyone planning on doing it themself. It will save you hours of yelling and frustration. All together it took me probably about 20 hrs. The most difficult part was the front lower control arm bearings. I couldn't get the lower ball joint loose so I had to press out the bushings with the spindle/rotor assy. still attached and flopping around (it took two people). BTW when doing the bushings I highly recommend installing the grease zerks. It was very easy to do and only added about 45 minutes to the whole job. I just can't imagine someone doing all that work and not being able to lubricate their new bushings.

Thanks for the questions and comments.

Brian

 

I think you need an M2 CAI in there

 

looks good

 

I understand your predicament as my wife is none too happy with the money i've dropped into my car either, but the plastic AST is just a ticking timebomb waiting to explode (literally) and dump your coolant all over the road as you're driving. I'd shell out the $100 asap to replace it, then call it quits for on spending, unless you're not planning on driving the car for a while

 

I think you're right about the ast, but I've dropped about $3k in the last 4 months on it and she almost made me sell it when I found out my pillow bearings were bad. I can't push it any more right now. I'll have to take my chances as it is my daily driver.

 

looks real nice.... man... black FD's look real good when they are shiney~~~

 

No heat shield for the intake and no duct for the IC are the worst things you can do for your intake air temps. The stock air box and IC probably work better than what you've got going on here. I'll stop here...because this will get ugly.

goes back to the good ole saying...if you want to play you've gotta pay. Your wife will have to get along with the new lady in your life...because she IS a bitch.

 

My wife has already started calling herself the "RX7 Widow"

 

FD looks great Mine look the same. I see nobody notice but the tint plate cover looks badass I have one as well on my Black FD sweet car :-)