Loving the updates dude! That Sikky brace is worth considering for sure based on weight savings alone. I wonder about the new mounting solutions vs the PPF over extended time and hard driving.

 

to be honest its nice to lose 10lb just like that but at the end of the day i wanted to get rid of that ppf and i didnt really care about the weight savings. I have cracked a few and it is not as strong. we shall see whether this is actually better but from what i am reading online i have yet to see a long-run complaint about the sikky diff brace.

 

i pulled the trigger on the Sikky too. Weight savings is great, and once you upgrade the trans, you've gotta ditch the PPF anyway.

 

I have decided to pull the trigger and finally do a proper transmission swap.
I have been very happy with the upgraded OEM transmission but at this point i think i am going to be benefit from a transmission especially at the current price point of this swap

A friend had called me to tell me how much he enjoyed an FD he drove with a CD009 Transmission swap. I was asking for information but he didnt know the owner and he couldnt ask.
I did an initial research when i was considering other transmissions (DCT and T56 and others) but i didnt get too much into detail and the initial cost app

Nonetheless , black friday comes, Fisch offered the bell housing for the CD009 swap with a 20% discount... so i am thinking this is a very good starting point. It's not like i need to dump 13k into a complete kit in one shot.
I started to search for a CD009 transmission and see what they go for. They are reasonably priced for a used one and it appears that there are A LOT of options out there. With these many options there are different variants of the same transmission (CD001 CD002 etc etc); only with minor differences in appearance but substantial internal differences.
I dont know enough about these transmissions where i will see it and be like, i know exactly what it is.
In reality, I don't have the slightest clue to tell them apart and i am not interested in spending time to figure out what's what and what car it came from, what year etc.
And then of course The big question mark... lets say you find the transmission you need, best version, the right one for the application; How do you know how it is internally? How many miles does it have and how much abuse did it go through in its lifetime...

At the same time, the price of a brand-new transmission from Nissan is not prohibitively expensive. Black friday deal from Z1 motorsport was probably the cheapest CD00A (newest variant) nationwide just under 2200$ while now is a couple of hundred bucks more.
And then the search to see the best way to get a CD009 Transmission to Cyprus. My only issue with buying it from Z1 motorsport was the shipping and the sales tax . 250$ for shipping from GA to me in NJ and then another ~7% for sales tax. and then load it up drive to NY, ship it to Cyprus for another 200-300 by sea, wait for it for 3 months or so, deal with the customs in Cyprus etc. Getting stuff out of the port in Cyprus, and i am sure in other countries too, is a major pain in the ****. Countless fees and a whole bunch of a**hole bureaucrats that they are simply placed there to make your life difficult. So all in i am probably looking to spend well north of $3k , probably closer to $4k

I tried a couple of local junkyards where they bring low mile half cut cars from Japan and they dismantle them where you more or less know the condition of the item you are getting. A 30 day warranty is offered even though it is not enough as swaps like these could take months to complete. a few used options but almost for the price of a new transmission, i abandoned that idea quickly.

@RHDJapan comes to the rescue with the lowest price of the CD00A transmission probably on a global scale and on top that, the cheapest AIR shipping by DHL. A service that will significantly decrease the headache in obtaining the transmission. Transmission cost was around 1500$ and then another 800$ for shipping which is a steal... the transmission should be shipping from Japan in the next few days.

The Fisch bell housing is really nice





I also got the transmission mount and i opted for the multi disc flywheel option but i have not chosen the clutch to go with it yet. One thing that i would hate is to ruin the drivability i currently have with the Os giken R2CD,which i absolutely love

Many updates coming soon.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...025-a-1168601/

 

i did see your post, it sounds great.

would you happen to know what disc diameter setups will they have? The Fisch kit requires a 7.25" clutch (or 184mm)

 

225 mm

https://www.advancedclutch.com/artic...8i_sCnMJBe-nFi

 

This may be helpful for those considering the transmission conversion

 

Can you attach a link to the purchased gearbox ?

 

Nissan OEM 32010-cd00a - RHDJapan

 

I just caught up on this build and I have to say it's insane. Incredible props to you @R-R-Rx7 for taking the enormous time to document and share your journey with us, as well as sharing your hard earned wisdom. As always it's also great to see @Howard Coleman still taking the time to post here.

I don't have anything meaningful to contribute, I'm in the midst of house-shopping as if I don't buy a house before another FD I'm going to end up a divorced and lonely man so I don't even have my own project. Just wanted to say how impressive it is and that I hope you continue doing what you're doing and sharing it with us!

 

Thank you for your kind words. They are appreciated and they sure brighten my day.
Sorry to hear about your divorce. Currently going through one myself so i know the struggles.

@Howard Coleman will finally be happy to hear that i have made a solid plan to change my intake and it is currently in the works ...

 

I haven't been too active on the forum and for my build . not too many things to report.

Other priorities took over and I have not done anything yet.

The transmission swap will be starting next week

All pieces have been collected

I have been collaborating @ArmenMAxx and we have traded some ideas about the shifter and the driveshaft situation . I cant thank Armen enough !

Armen and I had a similar situation with the driveshaft and the flange mix up between the Auto and the Manual.
I ended up getting the Fisch Branded driveshaftshop driveshaft. The flange was wrong even though it was confirmed with Fisch. I will say though that Fisch went above and beyond to solve the issue. Fisch is a great company and their customer service is just phenomenal. Despite the issues they were there to rectify the situation and I am happy about that

So after back and forth I decided to source a different driveshaft. I will not go into the details. I don't see a reason for it
I ended up with this gorgeous piece in my hands.




I used a local shop called the axle exchange. As soon as i walked in with the other driveshaft in my hand, Mike , ( i am assuming he is the owner) knew exactly what it was for and explained all the issues that I would be having.
This guy knows his stuff. He has told me he has built several driveshafts for other shops making kits , including other rotary guys doing the same swap.
Extremely knowledgeable guy and super laid back. A true joy dealing with him. Highly recommended!!!!

So, this is a carbon driveshaft, that fits on the CD009 transmission with the Fisch Bell housing, and the rear end is for the stock FD diff.
Weighing 12lb as opposed to the already very light Aluminum one from Fisch at 13.5



I ended up with a Serial9 shifter as recommended from Fisch.
Supposedly the ultimate shifter. I have not used it but I did not want to cut the shifter opening. I figured it shouldn't be too difficult to reverse engineer the mounting bracket and the shaft adapter and make it work
I reached out to serial9 and see whether they would be interested to collaborate with me in engineering the FD specific bracket and they straight up said no. After getting some negative feedback from Armen, I said I don't think I should proceed with it.

So in my search of a different shifter I first had to figure out what would the right distance be in the stock form. I had asked a friend of mine to go to my house and measure one of my transmissions there (terrible pictures I know )
The Stock transmission to the center of the stock shifter is ~ 83cm
I should be able to find something that could work or modify it make adaptor brackets and make it work..



After chasing my tail figuring out which shifter should work I came across this.


GKtech from Australia? Never seen or heard anything about them but it drops the shifter exactly (minus 1cm) where the oem shifter is..





After discussing my findings with Armen, he decided to purchase one and try it out.
Armen performed some modifications to improve it but he seems to be very happy with it.
So instead of the same one, i decided to proceed with their fancier version











I have not tried it or installed it yet obviously but it looks promising...
I do like the reverse lockout button at the top of the shifter even though i have read a complaint that it may get stuck. not much feedback on them online.

More updates coming soon

 

Oh my lord Kostas...,..

Woke up this morning earlier than normal and i thought to check my phone.
Saw that you had dropped a reply on the other thread with the Ring video.... checked your comment.... checked your singature.... jumped here..... and it all went sideways from there!

There i am sitting in the darkness in the living room, not even having made coffee, kids and wife are waking up to find no breakfast, me having unresolved issues because i am halfway your thread and i am now having problems thinking of ways to come up with funds to materialize all the cool ideas you have implemented

I do well to stay away from forums damnit! I should have know better!

Amazing thread, great build, i find your thinking and reasoning very like minded and i am looking forward finishing reading the thread later and coming back with all my questions.
Hang tight!

 

@ptrhahn

 

I just started checking out your build. You are definitely putting a lot of work into your car and it's cool to see the progress!

Do you have any ducting from the front bumper to the 25-row oil coolers? If you have air-tight ducting, the fans and shroud on the back will probably become a restriction even at lower speeds. If there is no ducting, then your fans will probably be helping a lot but will not cool as well as a properly ducted cooler.

Ducting is HUGE for the cooling efficiency and ability of a heat exchanger. 20-50% improvement in cooling can typically be found by having good ducting that is air tight that makes a pressure differential across each heat exchanger.

Air follows the path of least resistance and for the center opening in your bumper, there are massive holes for air to bypass your 3rd thin oil cooler, radiator, and go around the sides and bottom of the radiator and heat exchangers and not contribute to cooling. The positioning of the leading edge of your radiator is wasting 2"x24" of the front opening, where air just slams into the end of the radiator. It's hard to see how much room is above your 3rd central oil cooler but from this angle it looks like there's not much area for air to enter all of your heat exchangers, and the biggest visible path for air to flow is around all of the coolers.

You put so much work into your build. I would focus some of that energy into ducting and tilting the front of the radiator down if possible (if there's room where it does not stick below the front bumper). Keep up the awesome work!

 

Hey ​​​​@Billj747 thank you for your kind words.
I dont have ducting on the oil coolers. they are not 25row. they are actually 34row but i brought them as close to the bumper opening. its not sealed around even though this has been in the plans for years. i am just never long enough there to get to these details especially since my oil runs cool. i am trying to do more drastic changes for the 2 weeks or so of the year that i am there.

my third cooler is a transmission cooler, not an engine oil cooler .. at the track i am seriously cooking the transmission and it does not last. so i may or i may not reinstall it with the CD009 swap.
It was the only feasible way without blocking the airflow from any other heat exchanger (condenser included ). it was sort of a last minute decision because my original plan did not work so I had to improvise with the new transmission cooler

I have been wanting to do a new intercooler kit with the radiator to be covering the whole front end. Well now my car is officially 25(and 10 days old according to the title) so i am considering bringing it over . This may allow me to do stuff at my own leisure without being pressured by time

 

its been a while since i posted updates.

I am working on changes on the car but nothing really major. Life has gotten in the way . New job, Issues at home, health problems and the list goes on and on and admittedly i have spent most of my summer spare time riding... I do have a soft spot for 2 wheels ...

I will try to make smaller posts every few days without too much babble even though i dont think people actually read posts anymore anyway.

So, for the longest time i have been using the Ferodo Ds2500 brake pads for the Front (and the Endless Mx72 for the rear) and to be honest i haven't had too much of a complaint from them EXCEPT the slow speed stopping, in traffic, they squeal like a ****.
Over the years people recommended different things including titanium backing plates. I don't think the backing plates will make them stop but people swear by them. I have seen terms used such as "phenomenal results" and other similar garbage I tend to read online.. While i do not doubt that the titanium backing shims actually work, as a heat insulator, i doubt that they will magically make the brake pads quiet.
Nonetheless I do have a pretty expensive Laser cutter at work so it wont hurt to buy a titanium sheet and cut a few pieces and give it a try. I found a picture of the shape online but i wanted to have the actual pad to compare. I didnt quite care for the compound at first, but having a set of actual race pads wasnt a bad idea . The reverse engineering of the correct pad shape was the task

Essex Parts provides the following list for the compatible brake pads by manufacturer . So i figured the easiest one to find, just to get the shape would be a hawk branded pad through ebay or so
Hawk HB521.800 IT IS!


For whatever moronic reason on my end i was under the impression that the pad shape was the same for both D43 and the D50 but the pad material was just shorter ...
So for the shape i found online, it didn't match by quite the margin as the D43 is significantly shorter than the D50. Well it is obvious now LOL

GREAT! now i need another set of pads.. Well i figured i might aswell get a pad I could use and upgrade the Ferodo Ds2500..
I let one of my friends drive my car at the track, he is much faster than me and he told me that he didnt like the brakes .. I did not see what he was saying because i never managed to push the car to that level. he practically lives at the track ... so I thought to take his feedback and adapt it and i think a dedicated track pad may be necessary but me personally i have not ran out of brakes with the DS2500...

so going back on the Essex pad list, i came across the Carbotech and looking further i have found that the XP10 has a lot of potential to be a great pad. .
While it is a true track pad, people claimed that they have used it on the street with no squealing and with great success.. time will tell...




I called Carbotech, and a prebedded set of pads were shipped to me a few days later. Awesome Customer service !
So will this be hybrid pad for street and track or will i have to replace them at the track? It is to be determined !

So using the Carbotech pads, (now with the correct size pad), I reversed engineered the shape

Carbotech VS hawk HB521.800

PLA backing plate and Grade 5 Titanium


In a group chat i had mentioned that the XP10 may not be the right pad to be used as a hybrid pad and someone mentioned that i should give the MX72 Plus a try and i wont be disappointed... much better than the Ferodo DS2500 in both the street and the track. Up to that point i only knew of the regular MX72. I did not know about a more track oriented variant. I referenced the Essex pad list again ,and the Endless shape is mentioned .
Upon checking. you can order any compound you want from endless... and given the exchange rate , the endless option is a VERY financially attractive option.
So Mx72 plus joins the group ....and this may open new horizons for different pads from Endless

 

I read all your posts. And I'll be really interested to hear how the Carbotech's work out.

 

I know you do Pete!
it will take a while to give them a try. I would probably say i wont know until maybe September…I do have a few things cooking … mostly small things but i am making a big plan.. more details in the next few days

 

What kind of tires do you use? I have a lot of experience with the Carbotech and G-LOC 10 and 12 heat range pads racing Spec Miata. I ran 10s when we ran Toyo RA1. Switched to 12s when we went to the Toyo RRs since the tires are grippier.

I did drive to/from the track a few times on the 10s and they weren't too noisy. The 10 pad compound does not have a very aggressive bite. Takes more pedal pressure to get them to bite. The 12s have a more aggressive bite and upper heat range. I like them with the grippier RRs. They are noisier though.

 

I never tired the RA1 ones but the NT01 is one of my long time favorites especially as a hybrid tire and from what i was told, NT01= RA1 ... I did not like the RR one bit... not at all forgiving and they overheat very easily... but with that being said my RRs were 255 as opposed to the 275s...the 275s were only available in the States and i had bought my tires from the UK ...

My most recent tire was the Good Year Supercar 3R which i absolutely loved but it does not last .. i think i need more seat time to get the most out of that tire. I did not use the tire's potential properly

I think my next track day tire will be a Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R or preferably a Hankook Td221 or if i can get my hands on a set of A052. I will see when the time comes... A radial tire and more frequent visitations to Cyprus will probably result in a better outcome...

As a side note, I am considering that my next tire will be a radial tire because i am planning a very long trip with the car.. stay tuned for more

 

The road trip...




If all goes well, i expect to make this trip in August/September of 2026...

On a ~13 year old motor....

 

That is a helluva road trip! Truthfully it looks fun though. I would ship my car and join you if work allowed.

Funny I just ordered the XP10's for another car after being disappointed with the Wilwood BP128. (I have the Aeor6 caliper on my old Trans AM). I also came to the conclusion that it is a decent hybrid pad. Other alternatives included Hawk Blues and DS2500 (which I also hated on street and track when I ran it on my FD)
The DS11.1 I am running on my FD work excellent BUT they are super noisy at low speeds


I wanted to mention here is that the new Tilton twin disc option offered from FISCH did not work well for me. The engagement was just terrible. Tried swapping to a bigger bore master etc. FISCH was kind enough to allow me to return the clutch and ended with the trust ACT extreme XTSS. It feels great.
Costas you are making more power than me so I do not know if this will be an option however.

 

I am very happy to hear about the XP10s ... as long as its livable on the street without being too annoying i will be happy.

It is very disappointing to hear about the new Tilton twin clutch. i was seriously thinking to order the new system FISCH.... that sucks!


Thanks for letting me know.

I really hope that the 7.25 twin tilton system i got is livable but i have a feeling i am going to regret it...
The ACT single Organic seems to be a good option but i dont think it can handle the power and at the same time I really do not want to go back to a single clutch...
I am sure that is the one thing i will miss from my previous setup. that OS giken R2CD was the best clutch I used in terms of handling the power and the comfort was just phenomenal.