so for the bumper it was an easy choice. I went with an OEM 99 spec with an OEM lip. Now that the front of the car was mostly spoken for, I wanted the rear end to have a bit more character. The car looked great wingless, but I felt like a small wing would add so much more character. So I secured an R1 wing. Also the rivets on the overfenders always bugged me. Sort of an incomplete look, especially since the fronts were smooth, so the plan was to fill in the rivets and make it smooth. But not too smooth, i didn't want the fenders blended in with the qtr panels. With parts on hand, the work began.

 

Promptly removed and sold the entire front end of the car. No more fenders, hood, bumper or frog eyes...in this picture lights were being test fitted..ill let the pictures tell the rest of the story


Overfenders filled in and primered






Older picture from before i sold the front fenders. the 99 bumper came with the autoexe lip which I plan to sell. I prefer the OEM lip. Everything is just literally sitting on the car

test fitting the bumper


Rear spoiler also primered and sitting on the stand

 

I wanted to make sure the front body lines match up as best as possible

 

prepping the trunk for spoiler mounting holes


starting to come together..


Well final step was paint, reassembly and then some quick photos. Keep in mind, i still need to add proper spacers to the front wheels and id like to tuck the car a little bit to have a more clean look, but for now this is how she looks. Also..yeah the wheels need to be cleaned up. Its been years since they were properly polished. Let me know what you guys think! I think it came out wonderful...i love it!! it looks like a proper FD RX7 now.







I still have a few parts in the mail...99 spec underbelly pan from Ray as well as a headlamp retract relay and a few other odds and ends. Im still looking for the hood stop/adjuster for the driver side also, it was broken. Hopefully over the next few weeks i can get the ride height perfect then ill resume on the mechanical aspects of the car.

 

Guys, the exhaust has always been extremely loud on this car. Its practically a straight thru canister. The silencer helps but it sounds awful. I have a borla xr1 muffler sitting around, was thinking to get it welded in somewhere in the midpipe of the exhaust...or should I ditch the canister in the back and put the muffler out back and weld on dual tips? Thoughts? I feel like with the 335's out back and wide fenders it almost needs a big muffler out back. Dual tips although i prefer them myself, would look too small and possibly out of place. pictures would help. Thoughts?

more pictures from different angles

 

It looks good right now with the widebody and angled tip.

I do have a spare FEED Sonic Ti I can let go with a good offer, will be a lot quieter than these straight through canister

 

Thanks for the offer, I think that Feed Ti exhaust may be out of budget for me at this time

So you're indirectly saying, weld the muffler in the midsection of the exhaust

 

Yeah, a resonated midpipe will help if you don’t already have one on.

 

So I did get around to getting a muffler for the midsection. I do sort of regret not getting the vibrant ultra-quite resonator. The car is very bearable now, pretty drastic difference from before, but its real bassy. I have a resonator sitting that i haven't put on yet, not sure if i should take the borla xr1 off and get a vibrant or just weld the resonator on and live with it.




I got the wheel locks taken off, so now ill go ahead and proceed with installing the new tien flex z coilovers and new endlinks. Slow, but progress regardless. Really hoping the new suspension makes the car a lot more enjoyable to drive. Also had a friend come over and take these beautiful shots, enjoy!

 

Wow, that exterior was really a transformation, looks way better. Kudos for fixing all that...

 

So it looks like the exhaust manifold has developed a crack. It sounds horrible. Worst part is it became apparent after I welded the new muffler into the midpipe. So the next plan is to remove turbo and manifold.

On a more positive note I got the new Tien coilovers installed. Car is definitely riding better. Need to do alignment and set ride height. So glad I'm finally making progress on this thing. I've never been in a proper sorted fd.

 

 

took a day on and off working on it with my brother. Next step is to undo the turbine housing and then send it off to get fixed then coated. BTW, anyone know what type of turbo manifold that is? its definitely old school, that wg has gotta be late 90's


Also found this ancient relic in the dashboard. I was planning on having a friend retune the car for better driveability, is it worth wasting his time with this ECU or would I be better off getting a new ecu and more modern injectors. I'm trying not to snowball this into a large expense all at once. I would like to eventually redo the engine harness cause its such an eyesore and get a more modern ECU with failsafes but I'd like to take things a few steps at a time.

 

cracked all around the perimeter on the inside. Gonna get this fixed and reinforced. Stay tuned.

 

 

going forward..
-fix manifold
-get dp/manifold/wg pipe coated
-weld resontator
-install mild spacers on front wheels and set ride height
-rebuild shifter(its so stiff side to side) more than likely, rather than rebuilding, im probably going to service it. It feels tight and gear shifts are precise.
-wire radio in and properly mount it
-reinstall heater core hoses
-attempt to tune car for better driveability
-new rear tires

 

Just got word from my friend that he has finished fixing the manifold! looking forward to getting it and sending it off for coating. Had him reinforce all the existing welds to ensure this doesn't happen again anytime soon.

 

Love the exterior transformation. May I ask your thoughts on the hood? I have been looking at different hoods (RA AD9 and yours). Does the front hole help keep the engine and turbos cooler? Keep the updates coming!

 

I got the hood for cosmetic reasons. I never liked how the old hood looked even though it was carbon fiber. As far as I can see per the coolant temp gauge, driving temps have pretty much remained the same. Thank you and i will keep the updates coming. Car still has a ways to go.

 

updated the modification list to reflect the current setup on the car, more for myself than anyone else.

Race ported 2 rotor engine with 3mm apex seals
Race tuned at 24psi @507WHP
HKS TO4R turbo
Apexi GT Spec Catback exhaust w/HKS wastegate and Borla XR1 mid-muffler
Haltech e6k ECU
HKS DLI
Pettit Racing intercooler
Greddy profec B
Dual Nippon Denso Fuel pumps
Dual Mazdaspeed oil coolers
Battery relocated behind driver seat
A/C removed

Mazdaspeed frame
18" CCW classic 3 piece wheels
Tein Flex Z coilovers
Suspension Techniques sway bars
Full polyurethane bushings (very stiff)
Polyurethane motor mounts
Kaaz racing differential
Brembo Calipers w/ slotted rotors

 

Weld work looks nice on the repaired manifold.

 

I'd just keep the old Haltech for now and re-tune as needed and enjoy driving it. That's a project that can snowball real quick.

Nice work fixing the manifold. That must have been a pita for the welder.

 

yeah, ive been looking at threads on how to wire in a wideband into the ek6. I dont think im asking too much for decent drivability from this setup, or am I? I definitely don't want to make this into a snowball project.

 

Just picked up the parts. Time to get to work.

 

Got the car buttoned up. It still seems to have a minor leak at what seems to be the downpipe to turbo gasket. Gonna see if I can get a different gasket for that.

Question for you guys, it looks like the heater core is looped, is it worth getting new hoses and hooking it back up? Car barely gets driven in the summer let alone winter. Thoughts?