I've been wandering around the RX7 scene since 2005 when I got my first FD. Fast forward since then and I now own two of them and have since sold an FC. When I bought my CYM, I read around on these forums for about 3 years before I decided to get brave enough to work on it. Being in the military doesn't really help as I always feel that I'm crunched on time and the feeling of being rushed makes me feel as though I performed substandard modifications.

Now that I have this FD; with only 44k on the clock, I want to keep it as original as possible but attempt to create something that Mazda should have from the factory. This car is in wonderful condition and I don't want to destroy it but as I finally have a garage, I can start a project and feel comfortable with the timeline for my goals.

The Goal: (which will probably change, who's doesn't?)

-A nice clean 300hp on the stock twins (or BNR stage 3s if it comes to that). I've noticed a bit of oil blow by on my intake tubes before the intercooler but I'll address that as necessary. I will also get the wastegates ported while I have the engine out.

-I will only upgrade the intercooler if necessary to meet my goals...granted to meet any set hp, lowering the intake temps is desired nonetheless, but I want to limit the upgrades to merely only bolt on products or those necessary to produce motor longevity (think I answered my own question there)

-I will run my PFC w/ datalogit for engine management and make the appropriate fuel upgrades to meet my goals (not sure if I really need to due to the goal only 300hp)

-Ignition will be an HKS twin power and I'd like to upgrade the coils to the AEM ones that SGB sells, however, I'm not sure if they will fit in the stock locations.

-Gauges....need input as to what manufacturer you guys can suggest but I'm leaning towards Prosport as I've heard good things about them. (Water Temp, Oil Press, Oil Temp, AFR, Boost) will need recommendations as to what brand of wideband to use

-Slight but tasteful exterior modifications to include a handful of Shine Auto parts (feed sides, street diffuser, 99spec spoiler, 99spec tails, perhaps SBG headlights.)

-As for the wheels I'm not sure what I have decided on. I took the car to a local autocross event and had an absolute blast so in the back of my mind I kind of want to build the car for the occasional autocross.

-Exhaust: I would like to get ahold of another Greddy Ti like I have on my CYM but considering they don't make them anymore I might settle on the HKS carbon Ti. The car already has a downpipe but original cat and catback. I plan on going with a resonated midpipe. After the autocross I blew out a pretty big hole in the original exhaust so it sounds like a beater right now, ugh

-Finally, general cleaning and replacing 20 yr old parts....which should cover anything I've missed that someone is going to mention to me that I MUST replace before my engine explodes....

Keep in mind that this is my WIFE's car....considering I already have my CYM, I decided to make this one her playtoy (hence the limit on 300hp )

The Budget:

-This is always the hardest part of the build. While being in the military provides a guaranteed paycheck, I still need to take into consideration that I can't stop saving for my retirement and my actual savings. This build will be done solely on actual financial standing and not credit. And that next year I plan on purchasing a 52' enclosed gooseneck trailer for when I relocate due to orders.....

The Car:



The Classic "what am I going to do" picture:



The Engine: all original with all plastics....yes I have the airbox and I actually plan on getting another battery cover.



The Goodies I bought today: (I don't know if a 2-ton engine hoist will be enough )



This will be a long, drawn out build as I don't want to rush myself into anything.


Advice, suggestions, comments (the nice ones) are more than welcome. I'm going to eventually need the forum experts because, lets be realistic, I'm going to break something Ray Crowe on speed dial!

#SuperSlowBuild-----SSB!

 

i wonder what percentage of FD owners are military guys. there is a strangely high number of military guys on here.

 

I've noticed quite a few myself however, here in NC, the FD community is quite scarce.

 

Because the FD is a weapon! Air Force here

Op, good luck on the build. You definitely have the right mindset. Clean and methodical.

 

The car currently runs fine, and you want to pull the engine for mild bolts on's?
What am i missing here?

 

Congrats on the low mileage FD!

 

While I did fail to mention that I'm not boosting entirely after the transition, I still want to pull the motor to clean everything up, replace the motor mounts, do a proper vacuum job, repair the turbos if necessary....this car has been sitting most of it's life, this is more of an inspect/replace build if you will.

 

*UPDATE*

After a brief spell of wanting to sell the car and get a different one that had no accident history, I found that it would be cheaper for me to keep this one and just be happy with what I have and repair what I have.

Now, when I initially bought the car in 2010, I knew it had been in an accident but the extent of the damage, I was unaware of.

I took it to a local bodyshop today (recommended by quite a few people I know and the owner used to roll sheet metal for NASCAR) to see what they could do about the visible issues (the only real issue I have with the car). The owner quoted me around $1k to repair what he saw. After having budgeted myself for much more than that, I was ecstatic.

Come to find out, this was a little presumptuous. I just go the car back from the dealer today having fixed the things that were posted in my FS thread. After getting it back from the dealer I drove it down to the bodyshop.

When I got home tonight, I was just having a little look see (and installing my new battery cover from Ray) and noticed that the drivers side frame rail was twisted....super sad face!!

Needless to say, I had to close my FS thread because I just don't feel comfortable selling this car to someone even if they are aware of the above mentioned issues. So, to me, it is cheaper to keep this car and repair it than it is to find another one like it. For what I initially paid for the car (which it is now paid off!!), the cost of this repair will not exceed that of buying an equivalent one that has no damage.

So, this weekend I will begin the tear down of the engine bay to determine the extent of the damage and basically save myself a bunch of money instead of paying someone to do it. I will document what I find and also get a bunch of before, during, after pics of the work done by the bodyshop.

Wish me luck, lol.

 

So I got a lot done yesterday. It is difficult to type this cuz my hands are still a lil achy so if I misspell something, I don't really car right now.

I made some good progress before having to go to the hospital for getting rust in my eye and scratching the **** out of it. I was seriously about to pull the engine and BAM, garbage in my eye.

So....this is how I started yesterday:





I'd like to point out the damage that I could see:





And the damage that I found:




Notice how the frame rail is just a little twisted and the cross bar isn't kinked before it attaches to it.



Right now the engine is still in so I will be able to get better shots when it's out....obviously. It shouldn't take me much longer today, I just have to build the lift I have.

This is where I left off yesterday:



I'm going to take the tranny out at the same time so I have everything under disconnected already so she's just about ready to give a tug.....


Just a nice shot of the 7, my wife's Tahoe and my Duramax in the background, lol

 

Got it out:



Now pics of the horrible repair of the accident!!

 

MORE!:

 

I think I've worn myself out doing this so....

It's turned into a call of duty and pizza kind of day

Tomorrow I'm going to call the body shop and let them know it's ready for pickup.

 

And the only time I cut myself was.......dun dun dun



Taking off the cowl (really?)

 

This is where I left off tonight:

 

I've been in the same boat. It's a lot of work to get the engine bay torn down but once it's got a fresh coat of paint you will like it so much more.

 

For mine though, its a lot more than just a fresh coat of paint

 

Update...

Body shop can't take the car until Monday so I'm just gonna strip out the front harness and put the body back together so she's ready to go

 

I'm going to be following your frame repair very closely because my car has a similar issue although it doesn't seem to be quite as ugly even though it has about the same extent of damage.

 

I saw that on your thread, where they welded that piece to your frame rail/metal fender liner

I will agree with you though, my damage is pretty bad and extensive. ...we'll see what the shop can do

 

your body panels looked to line up quite well opposed to mine that didn't fit at all so in the right hands I think your pretty well off. My driver front wheel is back a bit and not centered in the wheel well so that's my main concern.

 

So she went to the body shop today and they put her on the frame machine and.....

the drivers side frame rail is 20mm back too far (towards the rear of the car), and that is honestly the worst of my concerns

I'll be going back later this week but let's just say, it's pretty bad

 

sub'd. Good luck man, hope they fix that frame rail damage.

 

I'm probably in the same boat with the frame rail but you have significant damage to the strut tower and other areas. By "20mm back too far" do you mean relative to where it should be or 20mm too far past the point where they can fix it? That might be a stupid question.

Hopefully they can work it out to an acceptable point for you. I would suggest a whole new frame rail but I have already talked to Ray and he did some searching but they are no longer available.

 

Ray told me that I need a wreck to fix my wreck, lol

Of course they only still make 3 of the 6 parts I need but I guess i'll have to rely on my body shop to work some magic

 

Sad face:



What we found today:





Notice how the firewall isn't even lined up with the lower cowl.....



Torque box all jacked up:






There's a couple more pics that just make me depressed so I didn't feel like uploading them.....

I have confidence that the body shop can get it almost perfect, but I won't be disappointed if they just can't do it...I know it's substantial damage