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Hello, just bought a 95' RHD FD3S in June after selling my S14a for a hefty sum. It is mostly stock with the only modifications being an Apexi Power FC, Apexi Power Intakes, HKS HiPower Catback, AVS Model6 17" wheels, ACT Heavy Duty Clutch & a hideous Weber Sports Bodykit!
A quick picture of my old S14a:
and now for the FD:
Drove it about 600Km/400miles home and it sure did welcome me well with how much fuel it consumed! Its originally a JDM car that was first imported to England, then Denmark before arriving in Norway. The guy I bought it off just imported it and have rebuilt the engine & gotten it resprayed in Brilliant Black. I also got in contact with the previous owner in Denmark that provided me with some more history, it was actually a quite decent specced RX7 before he took off the parts to use on his other FD. https://www.japanerimport.dk/Bil.aspx?BilId=161
The first thing I had to do was to remove the sideskirts. Simply couldnt stand them.
Next thing was to get rid of the purple tint that was bubbling & peeling. Had a go myself but was impossible, so actually got a tip of a local who did could get rid off it and put new 5% tint on for only $80! After 3hrs he was about halfway, before he just said f*** it and went ham with a razer blade. So in total he used 4,5hrs to remove the old tint and lay a new film on! Sadly the defroster doesnt work anymore, but I'd rather have a clean looking window than a defroster that will rarely get used.
Picked up a cheap Brace for the Brake Master Cylinder, actually a big improvement in pedal feel and no more flex in the firewall.
The car didnt come with any headunit, so installed a 1din I had laying around from the S14 until I upgrade for a 2din. Going to get a cover 3d printed for the open slot meanwhile.
Since the car was just rebuilt and the previous owner installed a PowerFC in, he didnt get to fully tune the car before selling it to me. Therefore scheduled a dyno tune for it to go over the tune and get it dialed in. Previously I could only go to about 6000rpm before it got way to rich and bogged down. Sadly the tuner ended up making a big mistake when playing with the turbo transition, he ended up setting it at 8000rpm which basically meant the 2nd turbo never came on. Seeing as I never got it over 6000rpm before, I know I felt the turbo kick in but never knew if it held pressure. So I didnt think that the tune could be the problem then and there. The tuner thought he was making the transition more smooth when he infact just turned it completely off. So after 5000rpm the car would simply die off to 0.3 bar of boost pressure.
I ended up having to read up on everything about the sequential system and started to diagnose vacuum hoses, solenoids & actuators. Actually pulled off the intake manifold too one day without finding any obviuos issues. Luckily I came over a forum post on here about adjusting turbo transition in PowerFC, checked the tune and there it was with wrong settings! Happy I found it out and the tuner admitted fault, so I will go back in when he has time again.
I also picked up the stock JDM rear bumper for the car, the plan is to get that on the car this winter along with a new front bumper if I can find one.
Gave the tail lights a quick polish, turned out pretty good! Plan is to open these up eventually and do the 99spec conversion.
Rear toe arms were pretty sloppy, so picked up a set of upgraded adjustable ones with pillowball bushings. Apparently the OEM ones are fragile to bending, so might as well get more beefy ones! Was still some slop in the rear after changing these, so all the bushings will get changed to poly eventually!Rear toe arms were pretty sloppy, so picked up a set of upgraded adjustable ones with pillowball bushings. Apparently the OEM ones are fragile to bending, so might as well get more beefy ones! Was still some slop in the rear after changing these, so all the bushings will get changed to poly eventually!
Diff bushings were also completely shot, tried taking off the bracket one day but couldnt get enough leverage on the wrench, so ended up taking the entire Diff out of the car. Man what a pain in the a** the PPF brace is, hard to get the diff off it and even harder to get it back in and aligned!
So thats about where the car is now! Waiting for winter to arrive, so it will be put in storage and I can start taking it apart. Plans so far are to get a front mount intercooler kit, upgraded radiator, decat midpipe, upgraded fuel pump and push for 280whp! Also want to get rid of the ugly bodykit like I said. Got the factory rear bumper that will get repainted and go on, also looking to get a "FEED" front bumper for it along with "FEED" sideskirts. I might of scored a set of OG TE37 18" in Bronze that will go on, they are 9.5 +22 with 265/35 Federal RSR all around, so might have to get some bigger front fenders too which will then be "FEED" as well to keep with the theme For a spoiler I was debating between a 99spec one or a more GT style wing. Im leaning more towards the GT style since I see so many with the 99spec and actually enjoy the look of time attack RX7's more. Coilovers are also a must, looking mostly at MeisterR as a friend has recommended them to me. Other than that its obviously doing some reliability mods, so going to replace all the vacuum hoses & check valves. Along with simplifying it. Airpump delete, block off EGR and upgraded AST. A friend also gifted me his steering hub, so just need to get a wheel for it! Progress will be slow until winter, but very excited to see the end result! Its already pretty fun to drive compared to the bigger S14!
Got some white side markers and put in some LED bulbs.
Car is now in winter storage and I've begun the teardown process. First to go was the front bumper.
Then I began tackling the rear bumper. Was on there pretty good since it had some black gooey stuff to hold it on. Got it off eventually and had to put on my JDM rear bumper to get an idea of how it would look. Much better!
Cat was also removed and being replaced with a straight through midpipe.
Safe to say this freed up some room, weight and horsepower! Going to install an Apexi Exhaust Valve so that I can control the sound level of the exhaust, also need to get a bung welded on to fit my AEM O2 Sensor.
Started to cleanup a few exterior details of the car that was bringing the look down on of the whole car.
Repainted the wiper arms & window cowl
Fixed 3 holes in the diffuser and also repainted it, not perfect but it will do until I decide to buy something else
Repainted the door handles
And also gave the exhaust a polish
Lastly I decided to takeout the fuel pump to see if it had been changed already, turns out there was already a Walbro 255 installed, so thankfully saved some work and money there. Did the mistake on my S14a, bought a fuel pump and when I pulled out the old one there was already a Walbro in there too from before haha! So didn't make the same mistake twice
Funny, I just bought a new fuel pump and didnt think to check the one in the car already. That would have been smart. Fun start to your build, looking forward to more updates.
Also got the intercooler in the mail, mocked it up quickly. But didnt know it required so much work to fit, might just use it as a V-mount instead since everything needs to be removed anyway.
Gauges also mocked up. AEM Wideband and ProSport Oil Temp
Decided to paint the pipes black. Also cleaned up the manifold a bit with a scotchbrite pad. While I had the manifold off, I also replaced a vacuum line that was on its last legs.
Did the 99spec conversion and painted my tail lights. Pretty happy with the result, but the other tail light didnt want to seal properly so I will have to re-do it.
Sideskirtes mounted with the fender bolts, just need to stick on the backside with some multibond as I dont want to drill holes into the car. Very happy with how it looks.
Bought a Odyssey PC680 instead of relocating the battery. Less work involved and about the same cost in the end anyway and I dont end up taking half the place in the back.
With the battery mounted, I could finally check out the tail lights & gauges.
Had to take out the dash again as the Prosport gauge didnt want to turn on. I had only wired the switched 12v wire, so I quickly wired up the battery 12v wire and it fired up.
Banzai sells a nice bracket holder for the Apexi PFC. they have RHD versions as well. Installed one and its easy to move under the seat and out of sight if necessary.
Bought back my set of TE37's. Sadly he had plasti dipped them white (who does this to bronze TE37's..). After removing it all, I could finally test fit them. Way to big in the front, so I ordered up some wider FEED fenders.
New coilovers came in, MeisterR ZetaCRD's
Fit great in the back, but the front needed trimming of the ball joints and brake line holder didnt fit with the retainer clip..
As for the ride, they were pretty close to stock feel out of the box. Very comfortable, but still the car sat much better on the road. For the price, you cannot go wrong.
Looks much better now that it is lower to the ground.
First proper drive of the year with some friends.
Finally got the car re-tuned again after the fail last summer. Went much better this time around and ended up at 271whp! Very happy, but had some ignition issues in the higher rpms so a set of IGN-1A or HKS Twin Power is needed.
FEED fenders finally arrived and looks awesome! Could finally put the TE37's on and drive with them.
Also got a set of blanking plates for the rear sidemarkers. Smoothed in and painted over, not a perfect result, but will work until I get overfenders later on. Also debating about a color change, so the car might get a full respray down the line.
And then this weekend, I took a trip to Lysebotn with the car. Beautiful weather and amazing roads. If you ever find yourself in Norway, I highly recommend you to come here. Car did great for the most part, except some slight rubbing of the fender liner on the drivers side and it got a little bit hot when climbing back up Lysebotn. 18 miles to the top and a total of 27 hairpin turns!
Got some Garage Alpha floor mats! Love the simple yet clean look of these with the RX7 emblem.
Also installed a block off plate for the center console.
Decided to repaint the strut bar in silver as I didnt like the red that much. Got the Titanium Emblem from Garage Alpha as well, since the stock one was missing.
And a scenic photo by the beach with my buddy and his Turbo Miata
Since I am going to get the car painted soon, I decided to just order the rear overfenders as well and get it done in time before it gets sent off to paint.
Quick test fit:
Ended up cutting the outer skin and joining the inner skin to the new arch line. Tack welded together, primed, 3m epoxy metal over before primer again and paint over. Lastly did a undercoating to protect against rock chips, but will make a custom wheel liner to protect it from the elements.
Really happy with how it turned out and think it really finished off the car. Looked a bit weird before with a big wing and wider front fenders with nothing in the back.
Was able to dial back the camber, so the wheels fit much better and finally got a proper wheel alignment so the car drives as it should again.
09-10-20, 12:33 PM
For a spoiler I was debating between a 99spec one or a more GT style wing. Im leaning more towards the GT style since I see so many with the 99spec and actually enjoy the look of time attack RX7's more. Coilovers are also a must, looking mostly at MeisterR as a friend has recommended them to me. Other than that its obviously doing some reliability mods, so going to replace all the vacuum hoses & check valves. Along with simplifying it. Airpump delete, block off EGR and upgraded AST. A friend also gifted me his steering hub, so just need to get a wheel for it! Progress will be slow until winter, but very excited to see the end result! Its already pretty fun to drive compared to the bigger S14!
). After removing it all, I could finally test fit them. Way to big in the front, so I ordered up some wider FEED fenders.
