I just got finished running the car after tearing everything off the engine and performing a load of "reliability" modifications. To back up, all this started when I installed a Pettit column mounted turbo gauge and discovered I was not making 10-8-10 all the time. As I trouble shot using the manual and help from this forum, I managed to snap the nipple of the Double Throttle solenoid. Being that I wanted to keep the car as close to stock as possible...I decided to swap out the solenoid. After asking advice about changing the solenoid; wonderful people like "moconnor" and "degeesaman" piped in and suggest while I was going into the "rat's nest" I ought to change the vacuum lines, change the cooling hoses, change the blah, blah, blah...well, $3,000 dollars and 2 weeks later I am finished. The car gets 10-8-10 and performs better than it ever has. Nothing leaks, caught fire or blew up. This may not be exciting to most of you here...but for me it was quite a feat. Seven years ago I didn't know which end of a screw driver to use, I bought a Russian motorcycle and tore it apart to learn basic mechanical skills (see web site below). Then I decided to jump right from lawn mower mechanics to the opposite end of the spectrum and rip into a RX-7. It turned out not to be that bad. Very educational, and I now understand the car much better.

List of what I did:

1. Replaced all vacuum lines with VITON hoses.
2. Replaced all cooling hoses.
3. Installed fuel line recall kit.
4. Installed fuel damper
5. Installed 185F thermoswitch
6. Installed new thermostat
7. Replaced fuel injector grommets
8. Replaced Double Throttle solenoid (test all solenoids)
9. Replaced all check valves and solenoid filters
10. Replaced PCV valve
11. Replaced all belts
12. Replaced Leading coil
13. Replaced stock air filter (K&N)
14. Replaced fuel filter
15. Changed gear box and Differential fluids (Royal Purple)
16. Tested all valves and actuators.
17. Efini Y-pipe upgrade
18. Changed all pipe couplers
19. HKS downpipe
20. Inspected turbos
21. New spark plugs
22. New plug harness
23. "KINETIK _FD3S" AST upgrade
24. Lots of miscellaneous "stuff"
25. This is for the **** I forgot.

Things I found wrong:

1. All 5 one-way check valves bad.
2. 3 split "rat's nest" vac. hoses.
3. 2 popped off "rat's nest" vac. hoses.
4. Pre Turbo Actuator restrictor pill turned sideways blocking flow.
5. Turbo Control Actuator missing "E" clip (intermittent secondary turbo cause?).
6. #2 Leading plug wire corroded solidly (basically welded in place) in coil terminal (cause of a slight miss).
7. Misc. loose and missing fasteners, none critical.

Folks I did business with:

1. KINETIK_3FDS, makes a beautiful AST if you are so inclined.

2. Mallory Mazda, Ray Crowe, Parts Manager, absolutely the best phucking service and prices on almost anything I wanted was cheaper from Mallory than anywhere else. FABULOUS SERVICE. FAST SERVICE. Ray gives dealers a good name. I can not say enough good **** about Mallory Mazda.

3. Pettit Racing. Good dope given freely. Nice Turbo gauge and go fast stuff.

4. Rotary Performance (rx7.com), Efini pipe. Fast service and even called me to clarify a part order before shipping.

5. Mazdatrix.com, fast service, although pricey.

6. Racerwheel.com, Cheapest HKS downpipe plus $20 off through end of March09. Beware though, order status and "Tracking" suck at this site. Phone call to check up on status was to be returned later in day. Never happened. Customer service kinda of sucked but pipe was delivered in 3 days.

7. Dynamicturbo.com, (Miami), not a great experience. HAD the cheapest HKS downpipe price, E-mailed and got confirmation of price and delivery est. time. Ordered on-line (mistake), received "confirmation" e-mails. Two days later web site "customer status" says, "Order Canceled". WTF? E-mails and phone calls unanswered for 4 days (weekend). Notice that price on web page went up $50. Now I understand why, "order canceled". 5th or 6th day receive e-mail stating, "site was undergoing maintenance" and order never received. BS. **** poor customer service. This lead to some trepidation with #6 above, but all turned out
well.

8. O2 Senors.com, fast service.

9. Dale Clark, forum member who sells VITON check valves, excellent service.

10. McMaster-Carr.com, need I say more? VITON hose, high temp plastic couplers.


Lessons Learned:

1. I will never, ever phucking do this again. This is definitely a young man's car. If you are a beat up, arthritic, crippled up MF like me it is no fun. Have a good masseuse and a "Family size" bottle of your favorite pain reliever handy. From the elbows down I look like I have been in a razor fight with a Puerto Rican prostitute...and then beat on with her shoes. If you ain't got arms like a snake, God help you. Being a contortionist will come in handy...or if you can dislocate your thumbs. Come to think of it, if you are Japanese...you are about the right size for working on this intoxicating machine. Hmmm. Imagine that.

2. Follow the FSM manual religiously. If you don't have a manual...you are a phucking idiot. I can see now why some of you guys get P.O.'d with some of us newbie dork questions. Get it, read it, read it some more and then read it again. It is actually pretty damn good as far as service manuals go.

3. You can't have enough tools. You need tiny pliers to two foot long needle nose (curved and straight) and everything in between. Deep sockets, regular sockets, thin wall, stubby ratchet, open end, box end...****...just have a treasure chest of tools or a really good tooled up buddy. I was thinking we didn't drop enough bombs on Hiroshima by the time I was done. I know them rat bastards that designed this car are sitting in the nursing home and laughing their asses off thinking about me getting some of these hoses and **** off. Devious little bastards.

4. Have a Mityvac on hand for testing all the "make the car go fast" parts. No Mityvac...you're an idiot.

5. I laugh thinking about what would have happened if the car had been taken to a Mazda dealer to ferret out these problems.

6. Take lots of notes and thank baby Jesus for digital cameras. Take lots of both. Takes time, but worth it when assembly time rears its head.

7. I learned not to curse so loud that the neighbors have to come out and remind you that there are small children around. Matter of fact...I ran out of curse words and I can speak 7 languages.

8. Last, as I am not overly mechanically inclined...I learned if a man can build it...if I take my time and get my **** together...I can fix the MF'er. So if you are in the same boat as me and timid about doing some of this stuff. Don't be. In the end it is personally satisfying and you will better understand your vehicle.


In closing, let me thank all of you, especially you wonderfully folks who took the time to colorize the factory vacuum diagram. Jesus...there is a special place for you in Mazda heaven. The FAQ section of this site is a friggin' gold mine. My sincere thanks to those who have contributed those fine threads and to whoever thoughtful person(s) who organized them into the FAQ. If you don't read the FAQ section before you ask your newbie question...you're a ******* idiot. Without this site I know I would have had a hell of time figuring out what (and in what order) to do to make this car right. To be honest, I can't believe I pulled all that crap off and put it back on correctly. I'm going to have to go back outside and start the S.O.B. up again and make sure it wasn't a fluke...I hope in the future I can somehow contribute to this forum to give back some of what I have taken...barf...ah, you know what I mean. I gotta go get some more aspirin...

Apologies for the tome...I'm just happy right now.

 

I'm glad you're satisfied with your work, and now you can enjoy the car for a long time. Assuming you did everything correctly, the car will be all fun now.

 

Congrats on getting the job done, good to see those FAQ links are getting used. Sometimes I think there aren't enough success stories on these forums.

-s-

 

Congratulations on doing all that by yourself. IMO, there is nothing better than driving the car that you just put together yourself.....and have it run better.

My arms and hands end up looking like that frequently, although I have never thought of such a good analogy. I will have to remember it and laugh next time I am bleeding on my FD.

 

The Rx-7 is the reason why I have officially endorsed the Econo Sized Bottle of Gojo as my all purpose hand scrub, shower gel, face scrub, shampoo and hell, I might as well make it my tooth paste.

Not having a car lift and working on my back for countless hours rolling around in dirt and grease, I come out looking like Robert Downey Jr. in the movie Tropic Thunder

 

Glad to hear it worked out for you Bill.

If you really truly got it working 100% the first time you bolted it all back together, well, I'm impressed. I'm no pro, but scarcely do I finish bolting up a job that expansive and not miss SOMETHING.

 

Good on ya Bill! For someone who is in his 7th decade on this planet, I can REALLY relate to your "Lessons Learned" comments. Thanks for taking the time to enlighten those of us who have been stricken with the rotary OCD.

 

I agree. it reminded me so much of myself. i bought the fd with no knowledge of mechanics. i was really educated through the use of the forum faq and members and now im presently tearing down the entire engine down to the block to redo everything to my liking.

 

Wow, very impressive. This is an example I shall have to follow. Lucky for me I'm young, and I have the build of a Japanese man. Should give me a little bit of an advantage haha.

I've been reading the FAQ's a lot too. That's a lot of Information to process through. Thank you RX-7club.

 

Start up a comedy gig and pay someone to work on your FD, GREAT STUFF

 

I love this forum!

 

I bought 2 sets of those Blitz brand 12,000lb ramps ($50 each)...drove the front end up on them and jacked the rear up and slide the other set under them and had ample room to slither under. Jack stands for back up.

I just got back from a 100 mile shake down cruise (AAA RV Plus card on board) and was grinning ear to ear. Car performed flawlessly. No gripes, no drips or leaks. More importantly...no tickets. Love the sound with the downpipe and the whizzing turbos...I never heard them before. I figure if I can put 500 miles on her and nothing falls off...I done good.

Damn this car is fun.

 

i love your learned 1-8.

 

Yeah. I should've added #9...pull the f'ing engine out and put it on a stand. Would've be a little less blood loss...but hey...scars are manly right? I think I would have been less cut up if I had stuck my arms in a blender....

 

So far this is my favorite thread on this forum, thanks mostly to the original post.

 

Bill,

Congrats on (1) having the ***** to tackle such a complex job, and (2) having the brains to complete it successfully!

My hat's off to you! Enjoy the FD, she's a blast to drive.

 

Great Post!! I really enjoy reading posts like this. So glad to know that you are enjoying the car so much again. And #7 under your "lesson's learned" had me rolling on the floor laughing.....

 

I couldn't have said it better! I bought my 3rd Gen 5 years ago stock with 68K. Since then I have performed all reliability mods, pulled the engine for rebuild, rebuilt the tranny, and all the mods in my sig plus a suspension and PFC mod not listed.

I would never have attempted it without the great info and support of this forum. It has been a labor of love that I am not sure I would do again but it is great fun driving it around now with everything working!

 

Awesome thread!! I'm using your list as a rough checklist for my reliability mods.
Thanks for the thorough detail, the websites (vendor list) and experiences with them came in handy

 

These mods/maintenance items are what every fd owner should know by heart. Good job doing it all without messing up anything.

 

Great thread, I got a few things off the list that I need to do now.

 

Love this thread

 

 

No doubt!

 

Lessons learned = Priceless