93' R1 BLack on Black 19K original mile bolt on 350HP build
 

So I have made up my mind after thinking I had a catastrophic failure of the motor (didn't) to go ahead and have some fun with this car and make some bolt on modifications, similar to Banzai racing does, that are totally reversible in the event the car is sold at a later date. These mods are done for and along with reliability mods.

To start, we have a well maintained 93' R1 to work with. Bone stock this car pulled pretty good and currently has the 2800 rpm hesitation when cold. The car spent most of its life in Arizona before moving to Texas a couple years ago and has survived very well. We will be cleaning all grounds while we are under the hood to see if we can clear this up the hesitation before the major mods go on. I'll let you know. Additional plans for the car are HKS downpipe, Apexi intake, Racing Beat dual tip cat back exhaust, Walboro 255 fuel pump, SMIC that will drop in with no mods, HKS twin power and PFC & Commander (not necessarily in this order). Finally, once installed we will take to the dyno.

Realize, many could argue about the approach, parts to use, order in which to install as there are many ways to skin a cat. I took the advice of folks like Banzai racing (my interpretation of posts), availability of parts, quality of parts for my application and looks to keep the cars original appearance (exhaust, battery in original location) etc., hence the list I created and some of the parts I have ordered. This is a car that can sit for a while so until the rest of the parts come in or I have a problem I am not rushed to complete or tune.

For now the only parts I have that have been ordered are Apexi intake, HKS down pipe and RB exhaust, still waiting on the Walboro fuel pump. Santa was good to me! I've got a couple hours to spend this weekend on her so we'll see how far I get on these.

By far the most frustrating search I have had is looking for a Stock Mount Inter Cooler (SMIC), at a decent price I might add. Finding one that compliments the factory look, bolts in (with or without an after market greddy elbow) and is not ragged out if previously used with bent up fins is very difficult. Seems these Pettit or Blitz or RX.com units are hard to acquire. Anybody have the full setup at a decent price??

Here we go! Time to bust some knuckles and have some fun. :nod:

The RB catback looks nice but you will find it really limits power because it is so restrictive. Just finished tuning a car with the RB and all the other bolt ons, it made 315rwhp.

Glad you brought that up before I unboxed it Banzai. I will have to think about it but I am keeping the originality of the car as my main consideration and want to have a non obtrusive exhaust also. I appreciate the heads up cause it may limit my HP goal and be a trade off.

So I got started with the intake today and found out right away with new parts you may need an interpreter for directions. See pic.. Good thing for forum and tooyube. Simple enough really if you have tools and patience, plus a helper with small enough fingers to get in the small places in these cars.

Might as well clean things up while you are in there. Gonna be hard to get there after you put it all back together. Bolting on after pre-assembly is fairly easy.

After assembly of parts on the bench putting it in the car is fairly easy. Make sure to keep the mounting hardware screws loose until the unit is mounted, then tighten them lastly so you can adjust it in the car. Also, if you buy a used unit make sure you get the aluminum restrictor that goes in the top right hose. It almost looks like a plug, but it shoves in the hose and I bet most would not come with it if not looking...

Everything fits as it should, nice and neat. Only problem is finding that darn SMIC that will fit tightly as mentioned prior. No rush, plenty more to do yet. Not sure if I'm up for the down pipe today yet or just get to the New Year!

Happy early New Year just in case all!
:celebrate:celebrate

You will need to remove everything you just installed for the downpipe.

Which exhaust do you recommend for max hp for this type of setup?

Anything free flowing. In this thread we used the Apexi N1 Dual, with the stock cat it was not loud at all

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...added-1104322/

Please don't use the N1 duals. Worst sounding exhaust for the rotary. I agree that the RB duals are restrictive but they sound awesome

Not a problem taking the Apexi intake off at this point. IMO easier now than working with the original air box and changing the filter... look what came in anyway (Walboro)! Probably tackle this next as time permits anyway, any advice before I get started in a few days?

I'm happy to hear others can my trade off for the exhaust note and HP can be apreciated. Really trying hard here to contain myself and not go overboard and I may need help.... so far so good.

There are far worst sounding exhausts. The N1 dual with a cat does not sound bad at all. The RB with a cat almost can't be heard at all.

The RB is a nice enough exhaust, works great to replace a rusted out stock catback, just don't expect to achieve max HP and you will be OK. We have had countless customers sell them off after a year because their cars were so limited.

Have some other chores to do today and not sure I am able to tackle anything yet but I got curious to see if I actually had to dismantle the intake to take the down pipe off. It almost looks like if I can find the O2 connector and reach the top bolt I can just about reach it all from below the car. I figured I would PB blast all the bolts and let them soak anyway. All the exhaust bolts look pretty good, only some of the hanger bolts look slightly rusty (Ahla Arizona).

Hey Banzai, any suggestion n on the SMIC, given what I have here and my goal?

I really like these bolt on only builds. It really shows what the car is capable of with just a few modifications and a good tune. The Banzai Racing thread is great and gives an excellent breakdown for each bolt on added.

For the downpipe, I recommend removing the intakes, charge pipes, and the y-pipe. It may seem like a lot of work but will save you hours of cursing and scraped knuckles when replacing the downpipe.

Down pipe and RB on!
 

So it took me 5 hours... but I got the down pipe on without pulling all of the Apexi out and did it mostly from the bottom with a variety of sockets and patience (mostly cause my fingers hurt twisting those bolts). Three of the four studs came out with the nuts but they all came out fairly easy. Just minor contortionist for a big guy but you would be surprised when you are determined. The lift is a major player, I don't know that you could do like this without as it gave me many looks, up and down - over and around. :lol:

For me the sound is right, the look it right, so for what I am trying to accomplish I am pleased and I did it myself! As others have said though, I may not get to 350HP.. time will tell and more to do. Still looking for the right SMIC, PFC, etc and I have the Walboro in hand.

In the pics you will see more of the install without removing everything and unboxing the exhaust with RB next to the OEM.

Enjoy, more to follow!

Maybe sound if I can upload.

Grounds
 

I also talked about looking at grounds while in here and though I have not focused on it while I was unplugging the O2 sensor which is located on top of the engine I noticed a ground on the fire wall. It is a ground to the motor. It is basically a lifting point on the motor (when complete with fuel injection and intake) on the passenger side of car on top left. It is a braided cable with the fairly cheesy plug attaching it to a copper fitting tied to the fire wall. This will need to be checked, tightened and lubed with dielectric grease I'm sure. Even from Arizona. I need to look for the others...

Job can be done in an hour or less by taking the intake, rear inlet and y-pipe off, but I have done the job more times then I can remember. Have fun with the rest of your project.

Any reason why you didn't just go with a Supra Denso Fuel Pump? It is an exact stock drop in and flows more than you will ever need. The stock pump was fine for your goals, but you need to do the fuel pump "hot wire" mod (10 gauge fused wire from the battery to a Bosch relay). It is probably more important than changing your pump...see post #10

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...l-pump-847009/

There may have been some football and a few cold beverages in the back ground. Best not to get in a hurry if your not making a living at it.. all about the love for our rotars.

Hum, so if the stock pump would be fine for my HP gains or fuel required for it then wouldn't the new Walboro pump be even better with existing wiring? Keep in mind very low mileage car.. Just saying, lots of ways to skin a cat here, that's why I like this forum, lots of advice.

Read that link on the rewire...Irregardless of the pump you put in, you should rewire your fuel pump for the safety of your engine. I've experienced this on the dyno myself. It is a wiring/voltage issue due to degradation over time and not necessarily a pump issue. It could be both too. It's worth doing so you don't lean out your motor and pop it...Back to our AFR discussion.

Went for a test drive today and all went very well. It seemed as though the car was hunting for an idle point for a while. I guess the stock ecu was learning the new exhaust and intake is all I can imagine. The 2800 rpm hesitation was not evident either. I am not sure if this is due to me messing with the ground connection on the motor mount or the upgrades or just an anomaly. Time will tell on another run or two if it comes back...

As for the results. Car does pull harder, sound is good at idle and not to loud on the throttle and great at highway speeds. Couldn't be happier with trying to keep the sleeper look and sound. Once I get the rest of the parts, installed and dyno'ed we will see if she can breath enough or not to get the desired results. Still looking for that darn SMIC!

Hesitation is back
 

Well I took the car to work today and low and behold the 2800-3000 rpm hesitation when cold was back. I guess it is going to take the PFC to correct this issue., that is unless I have something obviously wrong with a ground somewhere... I'll have to do some digging when I get a chance. More to follow.

Ground locations
 

Found the following photo on the forum for ground locations. Should have copied the link but this will get me started looking for ground connections and checking to see that everything is clean and tidy. Given the condition of the car I kinda doubt this is my issue with the hesitation but is an easy thing to check.

I'm not sure if you are still looking but I have an ARC SMIC that I will be selling. I just found out I popped the motor so it's time to rebuild and go another route.

Pm'd.