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Howdy! So this is somewhat of a build thread in the sense that I wanted to take y'all through the journey of me cosmetically "updating" my 1993 RX-7 that I just purchased yesterday. I've been a fan of RX-7s since I was a teenager (I'm 33 now) and have always thought of these cars as timeless examples of perfection. I prefer these over Supras, though those are very nice too and one day I'll add that to my "collection."
Anywho, this is my 2nd FD. My first was also a 1993 but in Montego Blue. It was swapped with an LS1 and T-56, had black leather interior, and was pretty cool. I had it in 2009 but only for a few months before selling it. I had regretted that decision for 11 years until yesterday when I picked this one up after searching for about 5-6 weeks. I had two FDs fall through at the last minute because the sellers decided to keep them and I don't blame them. They were CLEAN examples of a swapped FD.
After narrowing it down to three cars, I found this '93 local to me instead of in another state like most others I found. A guy over in Dallas (I live in Fort Worth) had posted his Craigslist ad 4 days prior to when I first saw it in person. We agreed on a price right then and there and I picked it up the next day (7/15/2020).
So this thread will be my cosmetic update of the car "build" thread. I'm a real estate investor so normally I cosmetically update homes, now I have the chance to update this beautiful FD. Thanks for following along.
Here are the specs of this car per the previous owner:
• 490 WHP & 467 ft lbs torque
• Texas Speed 418CI long block
• T56 transmission with a McLeod RXT Twin Disk Clutch (not heavy, has a great pedal feel)
• Custom dual exhaust with a magnaflow Muffled X-pipe
• JTR 1-7/8" coated and wrapped headers
• Samberg radiator/intake kit, expansion tank and fans that run off of LS1 PCM
• Samberg Front sub frame, transmission mount and Cobra sub frame all powder coated
• Samberg bump steer kit
• Cobra Differential with 3.55:1 gears
• DSS Axles
• Steel drive shaft
• Front and rear slotted/drilled rotors with stainless braided lines
• Apexi N1 coil overs
• Wilwood clutch master cylinder
• Aftermarket working Cruise control panel using GM cruise module under driver headlight
• Factory Fuse box relocated under driver headlight as well
• Battery relocated behind passenger seat in factory bin (bin is not cut up) with custom aluminum mount
• Toyota Supra fuel pump in factory location
• Corvette fuel filter/regulator
• 850cc injectors
• AN braided stainless hose from filter to injector rail
• Motorsports catch can for PCV system
• Poly bushings in trailing arms
• Poly bushings in upper control arms
• Dakota digital speedometer pulse changer
• Aluminum front diff mounts
• Work Emotion XD9 17x9.5 front and rear.
• Front 255/40-17
• Nitto Drag Radials on rear
• Stock front and rear anti-roll bars
• New Oxygen sensors
• MSD plug wires
Since purchasing the car, I have already ordered a 99 Spec spoiler (the previous owner included a 99 spec front bumper and lights), OEM defrost vent dash set, OEM fan speed control ****, LHD passenger handle from Sake Bomb Garage, a steering column clam from molotavman, and Speedhut gauges to mimic the OEM style.
For now, here are some photos of the car as it sits along with the build sheet of the motor.
Car will be dropped off for paint on 7/27 and I'm kind of sad since I won't have the car for 1-2 months, but it will definitely be worth it. I am painting it Grey Black (7A1) from the Porsche GT3 since the previous owner had already sprayed the engine bay. I figured it was more affordable that way and I really like the color. It should be one of a kind.
That looks like a clean swap with quality parts done, cant wait to see it painted. But a different front bumper on before you drop it off, that stock one is cashed with the wrinkles
That looks like a clean swap with quality parts done, cant wait to see it painted. But a different front bumper on before you drop it off, that stock one is cashed with the wrinkles
Thanks! Yeah, I have a 99 Spec front bumper that's going on. I thought I mentioned it? I also ordered a 99 Spec spoiler but now I'm contemplating going with the ducktail spoiler. Decisions, decisions!
Since I purchased the car last week, I've ordered almost everything I needed to get the interior back to 100%. Two parts showed up yesterday and I was so pumped to put them on. The dash defrost vent (here) came in as well as the AC fan speed **** (which I "accidentally" purchased. I meant to buy the **** right above it for the setting. I ended up getting that from Molotovman, which should arrive this week along with the steering column clam).
I've never installed anything on an interior of a car because I've always been terrified I'd break something... which is why I don't like project cars. But hey, after about 10 minutes of figuring out how to make the dash vents sit down, I did it. VERY pleased with how my dash looks now.
And here's the new **** I installed compared to the old one that was on there.
I also ordered a new steering wheel from ZE Power MX6 on the forum that should arrive this week.
Last but not least, I ordered an NRG hood damper kit since my car has nothing on it to hold the hood up. Those will ship next week.
And last last last... lol. I took off the front mud flaps. I'll take off the rears when I get something strong enough to torque those dang lug nuts off.. they are ON there, ha. (Wheels have to come off to reach screws)
So I had the car tuned at AMP (Advanced Modern Performance) in Grand Prairie earlier this week because the fans on the LS3 weren't coming on until around 210 degrees and that was not okay with me. When Sam went to start the tune, he found out the previous tuner had locked the computer. Unbelievable, right? So the previous owner and I kept calling MTI to try and get ahold of someone to send an unlock code. Parker (previous owner) finally did and they wanted me to send the computer in and pay them $100 to unlock it. No thanks. Sam found a used computer in their shop and the tune continued. Fixed the fan issue and cleaned up the tune. Here are the results.
I really want to get over the 500hp mark so we'll have to look into what I need to do to get there. Shouldn't be too hard.
I also dropped the car off at Noble Motors in Dallas on Wednesday to get a few things looked at and fixed. 1) The moonroof was stuck open, 2) the rear was making a bumping sound when shifting or letting off the gas at certain speeds, 3) the car's battery wasn't holding a charge and I wasn't sure if it was the battery, or alternator, or something draining it.
Also, took off the mud flaps while I was there and sold them within 1 hour of posting. Crazy!
So, Landon (owner of Noble Motors), called me yesterday and gave me all the news: The battery was the issue, new one on the way. Moonroof was manually closed and the issue (after pulling the headliner to address the issue) was the motor, so we'll have to order a new one. Rear diff had some bolts loose and 1 was actually broken off and left in so eventually I'll have to have the diff dropped and that taken care of. But for now, it's got 5 of the 6 bolts holding it and he's adding some reinforcement to those to keep it running strong. I'll be picking up the car today! And then I'll immediately install my new wheel, AC ****, and steering column clam:
Next up, Cars and Coffee in Southlake on Saturday then hopefully dropping the car off next week to fix some paint issues, install the 99 spec bumper and spoiler, and it'll be sitting pretty!
So I showed up to pick up my car and was surprised with a freshly painted hood! Can you believe it? That is above and beyond service right there. He said, "I can't let my dude drive around like that." I was so stoked! The car still needs some body work on a fender and needs the roof painted, but since I'm installing the 99 spec bumper and spoiler, I'll just do those at the same time. But for now, I've got a mostly clean car that I won't be too embarrassed showing up at car shows with. ha.
As you can see, we also installed the Nardi wheel which actually took almost a half hour because the NRG hub was reeeeeallly on there. But this looks SO much better, in my opinion, and completely changes the look of the car. I also put on the steering column clam and installed the AC ****. It's coming together!
Even though he had just washed it, I wanted to wash the car with my kiddos my way. Nice and clean.
I had this on my Z06 and now it's on the FD. I was/am a huge fan of Paul Walker and was deeply saddened when he passed away. So this is my tribute to him.
Awesome. I had sent messages to the original owner about this car and almost went through with an offer before changing my mind. It is a very very good starting point to add on too. This car has some cool history to it of some good races too!!
Awesome. I had sent messages to the original owner about this car and almost went through with an offer before changing my mind. It is a very very good starting point to add on too. This car has some cool history to it of some good races too!!
What made you decide against it? :O
Any links to those races? The previous owner only showed me one against a Cobra.
So yesterday I took off the OEM spoiler since I have a 99 spec waiting to be installed when we paint. I'm selling the OEM spoiler to a member here on the forum and will probably ship that out today or tomorrow AM. The removal process was much easier than I thought it'd be.
Man... the body lines on these cars is unreal. Almost tempting to keep a spoiler off of it but after some very extensive research and polling via Instagram, lol, I've decided to move forward with the 99 spec install.
It's just a little past 6am here in DFW and I just got done installing my Sake Bomb Garage hood dampers which was also much easier than I expected. After watching a quick YouTube video, it took me all of 10 minutes to install. Very easy and very well made. No more ghetto hood props holding the hood open for all to see, lol.
Other updates:
Found a moonroof motor from a fellow FD owner on the RX7 Facebook group and that should arrive this weekend.
Bought a Spirit R key from the guy on the forum who was making them via his eBay account (garagealpha).
Passenger interior door handle will arrive in September, per Sake Bomb. Long wait but worth it, I'm sure.
I accidentally broke my exterior driver side door handle so I ordered a replacement on eBay that will arrive next week. Paint is scheduled for August 17th!!! And we're going McLaren orange!! It's going to be SICK!
I ordered some Enkei NT03 wheels in 18x9.5 for the front and 18x10.5 for the rear. They look SO good in person. I'm glad I went with these. The FD I was going to buy before this one was an Anthracite Grey FD with these wheels and it looked clean.
I keep going back and forth on what color to paint my car but if I go with white, this is exactly how it'd look minus the side skirts. I've had 8 vehicles that were white out of 31 so maybe it's a trend?
I got the windows tinted with ceramic tint on Wednesday, 30% on the sides and 5% on the back glass. I'll be tinting the front windshield 70% once I get the car back from paint.
Montego Blue is my favorite color for the FD so I'm torn between painting in MB or going Pure White. The car goes to paint in 3 days so I've got to make up my mind asap.
The first FD I ever saw 17 years ago was an MB with tan leather interior and that's always been my favorite since.
Speedhut Gauges came in today! They look so so clean!!
Got invited to a car show last weekend. Everyone seemed to enjoy the car
Dang I'm jealous of those gauges, they look gooooooood.
Looking forward to seeing what you decide for paint. If I was repainting I'd have a darn hard time figuring out what color to go for. Factory color? Something unique? How flashy do you want to be? But at least these are the kind of tough decisions you want to have, the fun ones.
Dang I'm jealous of those gauges, they look gooooooood.
Looking forward to seeing what you decide for paint. If I was repainting I'd have a darn hard time figuring out what color to go for. Factory color? Something unique? How flashy do you want to be? But at least these are the kind of tough decisions you want to have, the fun ones.
Thank you! I'm stoked to get them installed. It'll be nice to have working gauges for once, haha.
So, I've decided on Anthracite Grey, from the Supra. McLaren orange was going to be about $1,000 more and I started thinking I didn't want a color that wasn't JDM. AG will be unique, factory, and somewhat flashly from the standard FD colors.
New wheels and tires on this bad boy (sold the Work wheels) as well as the 99 Spec spoiler which, in my opinion, completely changes the look of this car. It's so sick! Cannot wait to get my car back fully painted..
Looks great! I've always like those Enkei's.
Specs on the wheels?
thanks!!
rear: 18X10.5 30mm offset
front: 18x9.5 27mm offset (which comes out a little farther than I wanted. I copied another FD on Fitment Industries.. it’s not flush like I wanted but it’s not hideous. Haha. I don’t mind it)
I haven’t seen it in person yet but this is what the shop says. I don’t think anyone will ever notice the few things he’s pointed out. So for $1000 less, I’m happy with it (having not seen it in person on the car yet).
Sorry for the delay in posting. A lot has happened in the last month.
The car should be done with paint today then they'll start reassembling it and bam, it'll be mine again by Thursday or Friday! I cannot wait!
The 99 spec front bumper I had wasn't able to get a perfect fit so after selling my stock bumper (before we knew), I had to find a bumper locally so we could go back to the 93-95 look. Luckily I found a local FD owner who had a mint condition bumper with the front splitter.
Side skirts come in today so I'll rush those up to the shop so they can slap those on when finishing.
SpeedHut gauges are mounted and will be installed as well. Battery was relocated behind the rear bins near the spare tire with new cables that should resolve a starting issue the car was having. Crossing my fingers!
THE COLOR!!!! Maybe these photos don't do it justice but dang! THE COLOR!!!! Anthracite Grey is an amazing color and I'm glad I chose it over orange or MB. My wife thinks it's boring but she hasn't seen it in person yet, haha. Just wait, wife... just wait.
Emblems mock-installed just to see how they'd look. The RX-7 emblem will move over to the left once we finally install but I think these look EPIC against that AG paint. For anyone who may be wondering what I've spent so far on the "build." Here it is.
It's been a hot minute since I've given an update so I'll be somewhat brief.
Yesterday I installed my "new" tan leather seats from a 31k mile FD. I sold my black leather seats and snagged these from an RX-7 group on Facebook. The first RX-7 I ever saw was 18 years ago and it was Montego Blue with tan leather interior. I've now had 3 FDs and this is my first with tan leather seats (one of the FDs I currently own but I only bought it to flip it, so that doesn't count). I really like the way these seats look in my car. It adds some class and gives the interior a pop.
I've decided to ditch the Speed Hut gauges. For whatever reason, two different shops could not get all of the gauges to work. The only one that currently works is the tach. We believe the gauges are bad. $XXX in labor later and it is what it is.Thankfully, Speed Hut agreed to a refund. I'll be going back to stock gauges and have sent them to Canada for Michael to fix.
Since my last update, we added the Shine Auto side skirts and a new RX-7 emblem on the back. I also have new floor mats from Garage Alpha arriving tomorrow. Super stoked about those.
I believe that's it. Enjoy the photos from the last 3 months.
07-16-20, 12:07 PM
1993 SSM (for now) LS3 FD "Build" Thread
Nice and clean.
