Hi, I'm making this thread more for somewhere I can track my progress than an actual build thread. The only goal I have right now is to bring it back to a good looking sports car. Going to be doing a lot of reliability upgrades and trying to keep it as clean as possible. It has the stock engine and it sits at 85000kms. It comes with:
Arc Intake
Full exhasust
Coils
Ricy spoiler, skirts, bumper
Cheapest stereo possible

Im hoping to hit 110K before I have to pull for a rebuild. So I am not doing anything crazy until then.

Heres when I first picked it up

Costco Parking lot


Got it home... toys


JDM YO. The interior is actually super clean, just missing that ashtray cover and it has an awful stereo. Also window switch is broken


Pulled the interior out for a good cleaning


Engine bay shot


I planned on only driving it for a few days then parking it while I did some work on it. Turns out I have more fun in the car than I do on my bike. So I transfered insurance and now the bike is packed away in the garage.

I drove around for about 2 weeks before the add coolant like started harping at me. I couldnt figure out why so I did a full coolant flush and everything is great.

I was also getting some crazy grinding noise in the engine bay. I was getting pretty worried my turbos were going (my first turbo car)

Turns out the ac compressor is fucked and unplugging it made it super fab.
- I might be pulling the ac, I havent entirely conviced myself yet. Its friggin hot in there

I then started buying things.

I ordered some Prosport gauges. I was iffy on them but I thought whatever. I'll just return if I dont like them. I ordered a Boost gauge and a Water Temp gauge. They should be in this week.

I never liked my giant spoiler or my side skirts, so today I got bored and tore them off.

Cover off


Spoiler off


Some whicked holes. Im not sure what to do about these. They cleaned up really nicely with a hot soapy rag. I'm thinking of getting them welded. If thats too expensive I'll just bondo them. I'm going to be dipping my car later on


Spoiler off, skirts still on. I also adjusted the Idle screw at this point. If I had the AC off, I would stall at stop signs and stop lights. Idle screw adjustment fixed that


Skirts off


Stock body (besides front bumper)


Aaaand another one


My to do list:
Drivers door handle - Done
Drivers side window switch
Silicone Vacuum Lines
Battery Relocated to trunk
Stereo needs some serious attention
Efini Y pipe
AST tank
Boost Gauge - Ordered
Water Temp Gauge - Ordered
Koyo Rad
Power FC
Change all fluids and plugs
Rear strut bar
Rear struts (I have a clunk in the rear rright)
Ashtray cover
Shift ****
Plastidip

 

I was having some starting issues and some of you very helpful people said it could be low compression. So I went and picked up a basic compression tester and did some checks.

I held relief valve on the tester held open and told the gf to crank it with the pedal floored.

The gauge never read past 50psi on both housings
When I let go of the relief valve the gauge peaked at 100psi on both housings
I'm going to do another compression test in a few days and hope that I was doing something wrong and get some better results.

I'm worried that I'm going to have to do a rebuild sooner than I had planned.

While I was there I also changed the spark plugs. Huuuuuuge difference. Everything is smoother and it fixed my starting issue and also my little idle issue

 

Very cool. It looks much better with out the skirts Imo and the interior does look nice. Out of curiosity, what color do you plan to Plasti-dip it?

 

Anthracite grey, or regular black, or red. Havent decided yet. I need to do a little bit of body work to the trunk and the passenger door and try and find a stock front bumper. Its going to be dipped with the glossifier too so its not completely matte

 

Very cool. I'm interested in seeing the outcome. Good luck.

 

Miiiight have to do a rebuild. So dont hold your breathe or anything

 

The car looks better already.

As far as Plastidip... leave it for riced out Civic's. That stuff id junk and it does not come of nearly as easy as you think. Not to mention if you get it on any seals you better plan on replacing them.

 

It seems like you may need a rebuild. I would hold off on ordering any of your parts until you find out if you need to pull the motor. I'm not sure where you are in BC but you may want to talk to Force Fed about what to do next.

 

Yeah I am still on the fence about plastidip. I need to fill the wholes in my trunk then fix some cracked paint in my door. Respraying 2 panels will look funny, maybe if I get the door and the trunk resprayed then a cut polish on the whole car? I dont know. Still a ways away anyway

 

I am going to hold off on buying things for a while. Im going to do another compression test this weekend and if the results are still low then Im going to take it to mazda to get a proper check done with their fancy little machine. Im in Victoria, I dont think there are any rotary shops on this island

 

Also, funny that you mentioned riced out civic. I just sold my big black spoiler so some riced out white civic last night. It looks terrible and theres going to be a huge gap where it sits that this kid is going to fill with insulation he says

 

lol, there is always a ricer somewhere willing to pick up poor quality parts!

 

Eh, still. In the end it'll be nice.

I've never personally plasti dipped anything but I know 3 or 4 people who are big into it and they said that it takes like 4 or 5 coats to do it right. The ricers probably don't have the patience to do that many coats, so it looks funny and it comes off like crap. But one guy has dipped his Audi like 5 or 6 different colors and he loved it. Another friend did his wheels with like a can each and I took it off one wheel and it came of in like one solid sheet.

Another plus to it imo is that it shields your wheels/car so rocks and uh... small animals >.> dont chip the clear coat or paint. Obviously though it all comes down to opinion.

 

oh man I was happy to see that wing and those skirts gone! phew

Looking better already!

 

Good start with the car. Def looks better without all those add-ons. Good luck with her.

 

Agreed it all comes down to option but no matter how many coats you do, it never comes off the rubber seals around almost everything on your car. I have taken 1k+ off the value of peoples cars when they are totaled for having that crap on their cars or wheels. But to each their own!

 

I have seen some crazy nice plasti dipped cars. if you do it right with a spray gun (compressed air or electric) it will turn out great. Most of my friends who have done it when with https://www.dipyourcar.com/ they are great!!!

Also, I found this: http://www.dipyourcar.com/forums/sho...tallic-FD-RX-7

 

I am not saying that the result can not look great... But 99% of people will not take the time to mask off every rubber seal and it does NOT come off of rubber. All it does is hurt the value of your car (from and insurance perspective).

Saying that it protects your wheels and paint is just stupid because who cares if they are protected... they are always covered in Plastidip!!!

 

Nice progress. Your build is very similar to mine, just starting and getting the car sorted. It's all those small things that will make it awesome in the end.

 

Hey yeah that's the color I've been thinking about. Or red. I was looking at the dioyourcar website but they don't ship to Canada. But I found a similar site from Canada, can't remember the name right now

 

So many small things need to be done. Gonna take it down for the winter I think. Work on everything

 

If you ever come to the Lower Mainland you can ship across the border and just pick it up. I get a lot of my parts sent to Letter Lock in Sumas WA which is the Abbotsford border crossing. I actually have a couple things for my build there right now. I understand being in Victoria its a bit more of a trek but its something to consider for all the goodies I am sure you are planning on acquiring. Blaine WA has a a few of those shipping places too.

 

Yeah I seen that on my way back from Seattle. Definitely an option

 

Just thought Id post a few updates.

I was trying to sell it after getting too many speeding tickets. I posted it for sale and ordered a faster motorbike.

After getting a couple of ridiculous trade offers I had a change of heart.

I went for a very long cruise a few days ago and fell back in love.

Since my last post I have:
Replaced my master window switch - 250
Custom hand sewn trunk interior (spend so many hours on something that looks mediocre)
And today I ghetto installed my Boost gauge because I was bored.

I broke my door handle assembly a few days ago too. Theres a tiny metal tab that my new aluminum door handles hook onto so they can push on the rod to open the door. It broke. Not happy. Trying to get ahold of a welder to maybe tack it back together. Hopefully I wont have to blow 250 on a new one.

I also emailed a couple tuner shops asking for a rebuild quote. Hopefully some of them reply. I really want to try and tackle a rebuild myself but I dont have space for that.

Some pics

I went to a drift event at the local track. It was super cool, first time I've ever been to this sort of thing.





And my new boost guage

 

update, Sold the FD and bought a S2k