PeloNZ

I'm copying this from another forum that doesn't get much traffic, each post will be dated

2017-04-20

I've wanted an RX7 since I was about 11 years old. I think the first FD I ever saw was a bright red one parked in a driveway, while I was walking to school. I had no idea what it was, but its beauty stuck in my mind.
One of my classmates was a big car fan, due to his father running a workshop, focused on rotaries, and had an RX2 rally car, and a HB Cosmo, and an RX7 dirt track car...! So my friends influence really set me on the path to RX7 obsession.

20 years later and I have bought an FD. I've daydreamed about it for a few years as my savings grew bigger.
Since 2016 I've been looking seriously, having inspected 5 cars for sale. Then this one turned up.
1994 Type R with 45,000 genuine, verified kilometres. It was imported last year by an old guy who is an old-school rotary fan and serial car collector.
big photo album: https://goo.gl/photos/1KavduxG5q638suD7





The current mod list is short, and were all from Japan.
- Fujitsubo 3" cat-back exhaust, which sounds perfect to me. Quiet at cruise and idle, no droning, and a good sporty tone when pushing.

- 17" x 8.5" / 9" Racing Beat RB-02 wheels. Allegedly made by Work Wheels, they are a nice 3 piece set. I have to measure the offset as the labels have worn off, and the centre caps are missing.

- Apexi RevSpeedMeter mk1. This nifty but useless device shows a digital readout of revs and speed. It can estimate acceleration times and flash speed and rev warnings.

I need to investigate if the ECU is standard. The sills have "Blitz Access Super Computer" stickers, which was apparently a plug-in ECU upgrade from the '90s.

]My current modification plans for the car, after tonnes of research:

water temperature and boost gauges
alarm & immobiliser - mandatory for insurance
aluminium AST
aluminium radiator
full set of tyres (eg. RE003 245/40/17). The current ones are over 10 years old and still have the coloured streaks from when they were brand new... not safe!
auxiliary injection

General maintenance comes first of course. Then, just drive it. I love track days so I'll be getting into those as soon as I can. I don't have any desire for more power, as I drive quite sedately on the street. The car is only a weekend ride so it always feels special to use.

PeloNZ

2017-04-27

Funny how just changing the air filter can lead to cleaning and checking everything in sight.

The air filter appears to be the 23 year old original.


That's better. Why did Mazda make this job so complicated?!? I took the airbox apart too for a clean.


The plugs were from 1994 as well I reckon


Question - where could this oil residue be coming from? My turbo y-pipe joiner is filthy, and might need replacing. It hasn't cracked but might be distorted, as it appears to have let lots of oil spray out. The hose clamps were loose enough to move with a finger, and the intercooler top pipe was loose too. So there is probably a decent boost leak there!

This is the Y pipe connector


The turbo cold side is filthy too


But the turbo outlet is clean as a whistle


And thankfully the turbo exhaust area is clean, as far as I could see.

PeloNZ

2017-04-29

After cleaning up the pipes with degreaser, replacing and tightening some hose clips, I went for nice afternoon drive 80km to the beach.


Before it felt like there was some hesitation, but I haven't driven a "perfectly working" RX7 before so it is hard to tell what the feel should be. Now the motor feels stronger above 5k rpm, and there is less noise, so I'm guessing I used to hear a boost leak. I haven't got a boost gauge yet so couldn't really diagnose anything. Bonus is there is no visible oil residue at the joiner now! I'll keep an eye on it though.

As a preventative measure, I've also replaced the 130 kPa AST cap with a 110 kPa cap. There haven't been any cooling problems, but everywhere on the internet seems to recommend a 90 or 110 kPa cap.

I'll look into the later model Y pipe too, thanks for the idea.

PeloNZ

2017-05-14

This weekend I went to the track.
An unmodified RX7 on track? Playing with fire?! I drove conservatively. Cooldown was just cruising in 4th / 5th on the straights. I still caught up on the corners, as it was a pace car, no overtaking session.

The IC heatsoak was annoying, with noticeable high rpm power drop after sustained full throttle. It also might need new ignition leads, it felt like the motor was missing occasionally.

My tyres are crap, they are well past their use by date. But the car felt pretty good and getting sideways on the hairpin was easy. It certainly bumped around a lot on the straights. compared to the other cars on the video it moved around a lot more. Might need new shocks. Or that is just normal for a light car.

Pukekohe is intimidating with concrete walls everywhere. Very bumpy in some parts, with fast corners. I prefer Taupō or Hampton Downs, which have better sight lines and runoff.

PeloNZ

2017-06-01

I've gone and bought a set of stock wheels. The 17s are nice but I want to see how the car drives as Mazda intended, and I do really like the 16s.
A test drive showed less tramlining, lighter steering, and a slightly more comfortable ride. Which is what I hoped for. Some of the roads I like to drive are not at all smooth!
The tyres are touring spec Goodyear LS2000. So the next thing to buy is a set of Potenza RE003 or Pilot Sport 3.

[/QUOTE]

PeloNZ

2017-06-16

New shoes! Bridgestone Potenza RE003 in 225/50R16.
I also sold my 17" Racing Beat wheels.

PeloNZ

2017-06-26

I got some servicing done (fuel filter and trans oils), WOF, and a fire extinguisher installed on a nice custom bracket so I can do clubsport events.

No problem with legroom as I'm not tall, pics are with the seat right back.

PeloNZ

2017-07-19

On Sunday I went to a proper track day. This was the Introduction to Motorsport event at Hampton Downs Club Circuit. The circuit is a tight 1.2km with lovely new tarmac and massive runoff areas. It's great for road cars as the brakes won't be destroyed on a few high speed breaking zones.

We did dual sprints and had instructors available for advice.



The car ran great all day. Thanks to my new SPA Digital gauge, I know that temps peaked at 101c and averaged around 90c. I do need to move the gauge from the center console to the steering column as I can't actually see it with my helmet on!



Boost peaked at 13.7 psi which may or may not be cause for concern. The motor seemed to surge at high rpm occasionally, so that could have been fuel surge or overboost fuel cut. To be investigated...
My new tyres (RE003 in stock 16" size) were awesome.

Here is my video. At 14:17 there is a fun battle with a flame spitting Toyota MR2 turbo, and 17:41 the instructor drives and shows me what my car can really do!

PeloNZ

2017-08-16

In August I went to a festival style event called "Chrome Expression Session". Basically it is a massive car meet, with all sorts of activities, and the opportunity for many who would normally avoid the track to drive their precious street and show cars.

The event was held at Hampton Downs.



For one low entry fee for the whole weekend, anyone could participate in their choice of these events
Circuit cruising - drive your mates around the track without helmets, casually race other drivers, see some cool cars playing.
Gymkhana - practice drifting and donuts on the skidpan
Drifting - proper drifting on the Club circuit
Burnouts
Drag racing
Roll racing - a drag race from a rolling start
Circuit racing - for race cars only
Show & Shine / Hardpark - youth version of car show



To the average track day junkie it might sound a bit boring, but if you're into modified street cars its great fun.
I joined in the track cruising sessions and the gymkhana. The track was great fun, I treated it more like a speed event than a cruise event where traffic was clear! Before I go on that circuit again I should disable my 180 kph speed limiter!
I was surprisingly terrible on the skid pad. Driving like a tool and attempting to throw the car sideways, on stock LSD and stock suspension with balanced rear grip, it was more of an understeer-oversteer party. Plus I didn't want to be brutal and grab the handbrake, or kick the clutch.
The cars with stiff suspension and lock diffs on the other hand did some spectacular sliding.

Here is a playlist of videos from me and others, starting from the Rotary Only cruise session at sunset. The lighting for this was amazing, and driving amongst some of New Zealands wildest street rotaries was an amazing experience.

Some photos from the event https://goo.gl/photos/wGxQc6mgiC1F5mPe8 and thousands more on the event page
Mods and maintenance this month have been focused on the cooling system, with a pile of OEM bits ready to bolt in. I also removed the stickers from the sills. Pro tip - removing old stickers from paint using a feeler gauge is really easy!

PeloNZ

2017-10-01

In September some friends held a private track day at Taupō club circuit as a 30th birthday celebration. What a great idea for a party!
This track is where I started in motorsport. I began volunteering here at age 12, waving flags and having a ball. It's a fun simple track.
I also managed to crash my MR2 here in 2004 at the Toyspeed meeting!



Here is some video (not just of my car!) featuring a bit of cone slalom and mediocre attempts at drifting.



Other than that, I've replaced the ever so 90s head unit with a basic Sony media player, and tidied up the gauge mounting.
New front brake pads were required, with a hairs width of material left after all these track events. I've gone with Hawk HP Plus pads. They are supposed to be an aggressive track capable street pad. I have yet to see how tolerable they are for dust and disc wear.
My cooling system upgrade parts are still waiting to be fitted. I've had no issues yet, but summer is coming.

The local "Caffeine & Classics" meetings happen once a month which are quite popular and interesting. Here is my little car parked between some boats ;-)

PeloNZ

2018-01-19

In November I took the RX7 to my mechanic to get the hesitation diagnosed. The battery was stuffed. It appeared to be the OEM one from Japan in 1994! The ignition coils were worn out too. This is a common issue, as the coils sit right on top of the motor, under the intake manifold. So they see a huge amount of heat! I borrowed some good coils from the mechanic, then drove to Taup? for Powercruise. The car ran smoother than ever, but still had a shrieking boost leak.




Powercruise is a fun event with cruise sessions, drifting, drag racing, and burnouts. Legally hooning with my friends hooning in our cars never gets old! Here is some video:

Powercruise #69 Taupo 2017 - YouTube














After that I thought it was time to slow down a bit and start throwing parts at the car. I’ve accumulated a bunch of bits waiting to go on, but I didn’t feel like I’d be able to get them all bolted in with only a month between track events. Turns out that was a good plan as I’ve only just finished this week! November to January isn’t too bad for a project to be off the road…



Here’s my list of maintenance done:



Windscreen chip repair

2 x OEM wheel center caps

NGK ignition leads & used good coils



belts

oil & OEM filter

Battery

Front brake pads








New OEM Upper intake manifold gasket

New OEM late model radiator



New OEM coolant hoses, including the bastard hard-to-reach turbo hoses.

New OEM turbo inlet and outlet gaskets and Y pipe O ring.

New OEM thermostat, fresh coolant.

Tested turbo control solenoids and vacuum lines, only a few lines needed replacement.



There were a few upgrades too, I’ve given in to the modification bug, within reason at least!



Used OEM 96+ turbo Y pipe and crossover pipe: This upgrade replaces the leak prone turbo outlet to intercooler joiner. The early cars had a rubber hose joiner which constantly leaked. The newer type has a two bolt flange and gasket, plus the crossover pipe is aluminium instead of plastic.







Trust Greddy SMIC (stock mount intercooler): which is about the largest volume intercooler that can fit with the stock airbox and battery. It is an old kit which isn�t made anymore, but I picked one up for a bargain price via Facebook. It wasn’t as simple to fit as it first appeared, and took a few attempts to tweak the alignment and hose angles. New silicon hoses and clamps completed the job. I do need to build a better duct though, as the factory ducting doesn’t fit at all well.







Blitz blow off valve - I haven’t fitted this yet, but I got it for free with the 96 turbo piping. I’ll give it a go and see if the novelty to cringe ratio is acceptable!





The list of things to do is now slightly shorter, and the car runs even after changing all those parts. The intake manifold is super fiddly to fit and remove, with hidden hoses and connectors that need to be fitted by feel. So I was quite worried that I’d forgotten something essential and would have to re-do stuff!

Once I fix the dribbly windscreen squirters, I can get the car road legal again, and go to the Leadfoot Festival and Rotary Reunion in February. Summer ain’t over yet!

PeloNZ

Today

Wow, I've owned this car for a whole year now. It has been fun, sometimes frustrating, and very expensive.

Since my last post, I've moved out of the apartment, into a house with a garage, and also have a baby due in July So I want to tick a few things off the list before our lives are taken over by a flatmate we can't kick out for 18 years...

After fitting a lot of new parts in the last post, I went to the Leadfoot festival for a friends stag party. I almost didn't make it after a coolant leak returned. Ever since the first track event at Pukekohe, the coolant level sensor has leaked water under pressure. Just a tiny pinhole leak. The sensor couldn't be tightened as its all plastic, and the head had separated from the thread. So I covered it in gasket goo and it gave no trouble for ages. Then going to Leadfoot, there is a fun road over the hills. I stopped at a lookout, smelt coolant, and discovered the leak had returned. It was bodged and I forgot about it. Damn. So back to gentle driving for the rest of the weekend in Whitianga.

Here are the lads cars.



And the stag himself. Skyline drivers eh...



Leadfoot is a fantastic event, don't miss it!

Then I moved house the next week and Rotary Reunion was the next weekend. Did I have time to order and fit a replacement part? No! Lets try the world's favourite bodge, JB Weld!



It worked ok. Got the car back together late Friday night and cruised to Taupo. No leaks appeared thankfully.

ReUnion was a bit of fun, but it rained torrentially all weekend. So no drags, mediocre burnouts, and risky track driving. I videoed a lot of it but the driving footage is barely worth watching. The yellow Bomex FD is currently my favourite car in NZ!



So the car ran like **** all weekend. It turns out the coils I bought second hand were failing at anything above cruising temperatures. Buy cheap, buy twice...

I research upgraded coils, such as the fancy Smart Coil options like this IGN-1A High Performance Ignition System (FD3S RX-7, LHD Mount) - SakeBomb Garage LLC but I ended up buying new Mazda coils locally. A big hit at $900.



Another mission getting the intake manifold off, replacing the coils for the 3rd time. At least I'm getting faster at it. Now the car runs better than ever! Smooth all the way to redline, smooth idle, faster, and better fuel economy. Here's a quick jaunt down a private road.


By March the JB Weld had begun to leak. Now let's deal with this properly. The sensor disintegrated as I forced it out of the thermostat housing.



New OEM sensor and gasket ready to install. Much better!



Another few litres of coolant, another hour spent bleeding the coolant system. This is very important on a rotary, as air in the coolant can cause hot spots, which then destroy coolant seals, which then needs a rebuild. A very expensive thing to overlook! This Lisle funnel is a great tool, it makes the bleeding process much faster and easier.

https://imgur.com/oSuhuKm

The factory spoiler has been refitted, I like it just as much as the smooth no spoiler look, but got sick of the rubber plugs. The paint on the spoiler and mirrors is ruined, one day they'll get resprayed.

Here's the car in front of our adorable white picket fence.



Last week I installed the old school Blitz blow off valve. Now my car goes CHOO-CHOO! It isn't too loud thankfully. In theory it should help with faster boost response, as the factory one is a normally open bypass valve that only closes under boost. I tried running that valve open and it sounded RIDICULOUS. A constant whooshing noise when the turbo isn't boosting, and a very loud CHOOOoooooooooosssshhh sound when shifting on boost.



On the 6th of May I'm going to a track day at Hampton Downs. https://www.facebook.com/events/385654548577468/

Then planning on Chrome again this year, although having a fresh baby may interfere with that...

At this stage I just intend to keep the car reliable and not mod it any further, apart from reliability related upgrades. Oil catch can, water injection, budget intercooler water spray... The list of stuff i WANT to do is huge of course!

So how much has an RX7 cost over one year of ownership? I'm a geek and track every cent I spend on cars in a massive spreadsheet. Here is a breakdown of costs. To be honest it's a shock, and I hope the second year has a better fun to dollar ratio.

Narfle

iTrader: (16)

Cool ride. I like your old-school wheels. Are they racing beat?



Would love to have a set of those one day.

ChaddyP

iTrader: (3)

beautiful car. Subbed

PeloNZ

Yeah they were Racing Beat RB02. A few more photos here from when I sold them https://goo.gl/photos/hPuNLEyw7L1YxGrCA
I'd like to get a set of Enkei RPF1 or BBS LM one day.

newtgomez

Gorgeous car! With how old the car is and the amount of maintenance it looks like it has needed, I would HIGHLY recommend getting your injectors cleaned. I cleaned mine 2 years ago and just had to re-clean them as my car usually only gets driven once every other week. New Zealand looks like it has such a great car community!

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

I have those same Racing Beat wheels, they are REALLY damn rare at this point. They were made for the FD and fit great. I think they are +35 offset front and rear.

The center caps are WEIRD and god help you if you lose one!

Dale

PeloNZ

Track day!

On the 6th of May I went to an HD Auto day at the Hampton Downs club circuit. I went here last year and it was good fun. It is organised by Hampton Downs themselves and more info can be found here https://hamptondowns.com/hdauto/

This time my friend joined me in his 180SX.



There were about 40 drivers and a good range of cars, including a Porsche Cayman, some brand new BMW M6s, a mk2 Escort rally car, a Corolla E70 with a 3SGE, 300ZX turbo, and a Nismo GTR... which got smashed into a wall

A new Impreza and Mercedes turbo thing



MX5 powered by a rotary 13B, na with a carburettor!



This very fast RX7 with a ported single turbo motor, imported from Japan as a track weapon. You could hear it from the other side of the track!



The morning was very wet but it dried up after lunch.



My car with a fair bit of mud on it. I had a high speed spin into the grass (thank the gods!) in my second session. Unfortunately not on camera. I was being chased down by the white RX7 and I was paying too much attention to my mirror instead of my line and balance at 130 kph in the wet... backwards into the grass! There is a lot of run off on this track, the GTR went off at about the only place its possible to hit anything.



I got a new GoPro for Xmas, so of course I've been spamming Youtube with self indulgent driving videos. Here's the one session where the GoPro GPS worked.


And a split screen view of a session with the 180SX


Before the track day I made up some prototype intercooler ducting using foam rubber, cardboard, and duct tape. It made quite a difference. The stock duct doesn't fit the Greddy intercooler very well so to make it work properly you really need to make a sealed duct. I also experimented with an intercooler water spray but it wasn't much use with cardboard ducting!

I figured out last time that my water temperature and boost gauge can't be seen with my helmet on, so I did a temporary cable tie mounting to the center speaker bracket.



Sometimes I take my car too seriously. Why not have some fun with a few stickers?



One of the recently printed club stickers! #notoldschool



And a wee Pistonheads Grin sticker
The car ran perfectly with the new coils, my tyres are still in good health and it was a very fun day out. I'd like to get some semi slicks and sway bars eventually, the RE003 road tyres do a good job but they are a compromise.

PeloNZ

Fun times on the Hauraki plains. Hitting 200+ kph at a Standing & Flying 1/4 mile event hosted by the Thames Valley Car Club.

TomU

iTrader: (11)

Looks like you are enjoying your FD. They are truly a blast.

If you plan to track your car frequently, some things to think about.

- Aftermarket temp gauge and boost gauge.. Ignorance is bliss until you cook your motor (ask me how I know)
- Oil catch can (that oil in the y-pipe is blow-by)
- Aluminum AST
- Get an Apexi PFC and get it tuned for your mods
- Drill some holes in the bottom of your intake filter box. When you removed the crossover, you removed the cold air feed to your intake. Search for poor bastard intake on the forum
- Look into water/meth injection. Water/meth combination cools intake temps and reduces chances for detonation
- If you don't have, get dual oil coolers. OEM R1/2 is cheapest, aftermarket is best
- I run Hawk DTC 60 front and 30 rears. They are great pads for stock calipers and modest HP. They are crappy street pads though (require high temps to be effective)
- Ditch the AC unless you really need it. The condenser blocks the radiator.
- V-mount (the gold standard)
- Wider rims and 255 tires w/o adding weight ($$$s)
- Coilovers (Koni yellows and ground control is an inexpensive option)
- New bushings and pillowballs
- Supra fuel pump

PeloNZ

- Looks like you are enjoying your FD. They are truly a blast.
Thanks, yes it's great fun. I like spending time and money on driving events rather than mods at the moment :-)

If you plan to track your car frequently, some things to think about.

- Aftermarket temp gauge and boost gauge.. Ignorance is bliss until you cook your motor (ask me how I know)

Got that already, first thing I did. It's a combination boost and temperature digital gauge with programmable low and high warnings, very fancy.

- Oil catch can (that oil in the y-pipe is blow-by)

It's on the list, I may even sort one out this weekend.

- Aluminum AST

My stock AST is in good condition thankfully, but a metal one is on the list.

- Get an Apexi PFC and get it tuned for your mods

Also on the list, I'll make sure to get that before any boost increasing mods.

- Drill some holes in the bottom of your intake filter box. When you removed the crossover, you removed the cold air feed to your intake. Search for poor bastard intake on the forum

I'm planning to build or order from the US a M2 copy intake airbox, rather than butcher my stock one. It's a pain that the stock snorkel won't fit with the Greddy SMIC.

- Look into water/meth injection. Water/meth combination cools intake temps and reduces chances for detonation

Also on the list :-)

- If you don't have, get dual oil coolers. OEM R1/2 is cheapest, aftermarket is best

It's a JDM Type R which is the almost the same as an R1, with stock duals.

- I run Hawk DTC 60 front and 30 rears. They are great pads for stock calipers and modest HP. They are crappy street pads though (require high temps to be effective)

I'm using Hawk HP+ at the moment which are effective on the street, although very dusty. They have handled a few track days with no fade or cracking. If I get track tyres they will probably need upgrading again.

- Ditch the AC unless you really need it. The condenser blocks the radiator.
I use AC all the time. This is a street car! Where I live is close to 100% humidity all year.

- V-mount (the gold standard)
Way too expensive, SMIC + Water injection will do for now. I've no plans to build a wild car. I could have bought something "built" for the price I paid.

- Wider rims and 255 tires w/o adding weight ($$$s)
I'm currently saving up for a set of RPF1s in 17x8.5 +40, and I'll probably throw on the widest AD08R or Z2s I can fit.

- Coilovers (Koni yellows and ground control is an inexpensive option)
It's something I've considered but want to keep the car capable of driving on our potholed back country roads. It's already low enough!

- New bushings and pillowballs
With the low kms on this car the bushes are all in surprisingly good condition. I haven't found any that need replacement yet.

- Supra fuel pump
Yeah I've been considering a new fuel pump, at least for the peace of mind replacing a 25 year old pump.

TomU

iTrader: (11)

It's not about being wild, but being able to sustain high temps at the track. For a street car, V-mount is overkill (IMHO).

Doing these cars right is not cheap

Wide, but not over wide. The tread width should approx equal the rim width.

That's the challenge building a street/track car FWIW, you can adjust ride height with coilovers. They don't have to be super low. That said, you can certainly build a very capable shock/spring combo

How old is the fuel filter?

gmonsen

Really enjoyed reading through your experiences so far. I have never been to New Zealand, but feel like its the next best place to America and without the angst we have here. Like the stock-ish build. Preferred it without the wing, but, hey. Nice car and you're enjoying it.

PeloNZ

Wow it has actually been a year since I updated this blog!

July 2018

At the sprint event I damaged the front spoiler, as the road was very bumpy at 200 kph! It had never looked very good, and had obvious fading and plastic welding marks.
I removed the front spoiler, with many rusted mounting bolts breaking. Thankfully there was no damage under the car. I sanded off all the scratches and plastic welding marks from previous repairs, straightened it out, replaced the mounting bolts and clips, and painted it with spray on black Plastidip. It came out quite well for a first attempt. Much better than the very temporary “black restorer” goo. When the Plastidip coating gets damaged again I’ll do some more sanding to get it even smoother, and try to avoid bubbling.





I also cleaned the filthy front bumper with wax and grease remover, sanded off some old overspray, and adjusted the brake duct fitment. The FD has legit brake cooling ducts below the oil coolers, but they do get damaged sitting below the bumper there.


I have invested in a clay bar, orbital polisher, polish and wax kit, as I need to get rid of all sorts of blemished spots. The paint has been a bit neglected because I don’t really enjoy washing cars. Luckily the red looks great in good sunlight even unpolished. Spot the differences with this fully restored RX7!

PeloNZ

August 2018.

We are back at Chrome. It was fun, but not great like last year. Too much waiting and traffic on track. The car ran well and fast. The Blitz blow off valve is puffing blowby oil, directly on to the exhaust manifold, and started smoking. I’ve bought a catch can. It only happens on track cornering. One suggestion I’ve read is to keep the oil level around half full, but that is not a risk I’m willing to take!




On the way home from the track I got a lovely golf ball sized dent in my bonnet from a truck kicking up a stone. It probably would have gone straight through my windscreen, so that was some luck I guess.

The headlights, poor by modern standards, have been upgraded to the most expensive halogen bulbs I could find - NARVA PLATINUM PLUS 130. They are noticeably brighter.