After a number of years away from the import scene, I've managed to pick up not one, but two limited run RZ's. One is a 98 roller that'd been molested with a 1JZ (great motor - wrong chassis) and a 2000 RZ that'd met its demise courtesy of a recent single turbo conversion, wet road, and a culvert.

The plan is to bring the performance up to date with some "mild" mechanical enhancements, all the while retaining the timeless OEM lines the FD is world renowned for.

The subject:-

 

The donor:-




2000 RZ - one of only 175 made (assuming the interweb is correct).

A VERY rare car that I had real reservations not repairing, but that would have required 2 chassis rails, 1 strut tower, door and a right rear 1/4....and that's without investigating the thin layer of filler along the left hand side as well - so unfortunately this wasn't the result of its first excursion off road, and was already missing loads of correct parts.

So with that aside, I've set about bringing another one back in the form of the ex-1JZ'd black roller above.

 

Here's the base for the motor build.



It was originally done some years ago, and a lot the parts are old tech now. So I'm mainly looking to use the long block and the gearbox and part out the other single conversion parts. The Masterpower will be switched for an IWG EFR8374, the Microtech LT10 is out for a Haltech Elite 1500 and the FMIC will be binned in favour of a custom V mount with Garrett core.

 

Maybe I'm just getting old, but IMO you can't beat the FD shape as Mazda intended.

I've picked up a new 99 Spec front bumper, headlight covers and the original hood. I may end up running some form of vented hood, but once its up and running we'll see where the temps are at.

 

You may be getting old, but that has nothing to do with the timeless design of the FD. I'm back and forth on the vented hood as well. I like the idea of air flow but the stock hood fits so nice. The 99 spec front end looks good. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks for the kind words (except for the old bit haha - I had that coming).

I've admired the FD for over 20 years now, but for one reason or another never ended up getting my hands on one. In that time I've watched tri spokes, harlequin paint, and the early Veilside kits all come and go. The moral of the story is to not mess with it! Whatever I do, it'll be a subtle as possible.

 

I had a few days clear in Osaka, so I jumped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) and headed down to Hiroshima for a Mazda factory tour. For anyone that's interested, it's free and you just need to book in advance here MAZDA: About a reservation Mazda Museum

Was a great way to fill in a morning, my only complaint would be there wasn't enough time to indulge in the motorsport/history area. I managed to catch a few snaps along the way...

 

 

That's awesome, looking forward for pictures of this build.

 

Thanks - I'm couple of months ahead of my last post, so just playing catch when I get a free moment to post. More to come soon!

 

I plan on using this car for regular track days and driver training, as well as the odd run to the shops to get milk.

So for cornering ability, getting as much rubber to the ground - particularly at the front - was going to be a priority. I spent literally days reading, and re-reading this forum for wheel options to hit this goal. I've got a set of Forgelines for another build I've got underway, but the budget on the 7 wasn't going to stretch that far and there was no way I was going to tack on a fibreglass widebody kit and ruin the FD shape (just IMO lol).

For a square set up 10's seemed to be the gold standard, but a few members had managed to stretch to 11's or even wider with pulled fenders/guards (albeit with narrow tires - what's the point?). I toyed with the idea of custom offsets but a lot of the styles I came across looked fantastic, but with the various disk options it meant it was difficult to narrow down what would provide the maximum caliper clearance for future brake upgrades, and often this extra "style" came at the expense of a kg or two per wheel. There's also the issue of suitable rubber and its availability.

So I settled on the Advan GT 18 x 11 (+30) with 295/30R18 Toyo R888R (for now). They are forged, and tip the scales at 9.2kg ea - which for an 11 is on point if you ask me. They're not my number one choice as far as styling goes, but they definitely achieved the other targets of light weight, maximum caliper clearance and only a small increase in scrub radius. The 40mm increase in track width should help however - everything is a compromise!

 

There is some metalwork required to tuck the wheels under the body. On a limited run car like this I usually would be dead against cutting anywhere, but the previous 1JZ loving owner also liked big wheels...just not making them fit before driving. So both fenders had heavy damage, and the rear guards looked like they'd been rolled with a 2 x 4.

 

So I was going to be repairing the damage anyway, so the next step was to have a talented friend of mine get out the hammer and dolly and make things fit again, and keep it subtle enough that only an FD enthusiast would notice the additional width.

 

Cool project, damn those tyres are wide! Might need flares to get that road legal. I'm keen to get mine looking like this one day, with as much rubber tucked in the stock guards as possible.


Oh that RZSPEC car used to look so good :-(
Where in NZ are you based? I'm in Auckland.

 

Yeah if you check out my avatar, you'll see the early phases of a subtle widening of the guards/fenders - flares aren't my thing.

Getting the fitment you're after should be pretty straight forward with a set of custom offset 10's. There's heaps of good info in the maximum tyre width thread. I just wanted to push it a little wider, get better tyre options in the 285/295 range, get them on the correct width rim (within the scope of the tyre stretch rules here), and fit big brakes should I wish to later on. The Advan won out at the end of the day.

It is a real shame about the RZSPEC car. Firstly that someone bastardised it, and then someone else stacked it! At least no one was hurt.

I'm down in Tauranga, in Auckland all the though. Loving your car, clean and unmolested - don't see them often these days. Will see you a Hampton's sooner rather than later....hopefully!

 

I pulled the donor 13B and with the manifolds off I noted some porting had been completed. The work looked pretty good, and I was tempted to just run it, but my OCD kicked in so I sent it down to Gareth @ PPRE to be torn down and given a diagnosis.

As it turned out, it'd been apart at least once before. All the internals were in surprisingly good shape. 3mm seals had been fitted, along with a moderate street port. I'm not targeting maximum power, but I am looking for good response and power under the curve, so we opted to touch up the exhaust ports, install a dowel stud kit and leave it up to the EFR8374 to do the rest.

It was a good opportunity to clean everything up, bead blast and paint.






I took two of my boys down for the road trip - nothing like getting them started early haha.

 

cool car and good choice of ecu. just curious as to why you went to ppre given all the bad press lately and the selection of other workshops to choose from?

 

Thanks - I have a scope creep habit so hopefully this one will come together pretty quickly!

On the PPRE thing, I’ve known Gareth for over two decades now (he sold me the Haltec BTW). I have all confidence in this build going forward. I’ll document the results here.

It’s not my place to get involved, but as we all know with disputes there is always two sides to every story. I’ve been in the unfortunate position of binning thousands of dollars worth of parts I had fabricated in the USA, and the vendor wasn’t forthcoming with a resolution given the distance involved - so I feel the pain on both sides.

It’s a **** outcome.

 

Pulled the trigger on an Exedy ZM022SD. Should handle the target TQ numbers and still be easy to live with. Very nicely made kit.

 

Early phases of the front all-metal OEM style fender flare. There's obviously a lot of finishing work to do but the general shape that we're trying to achieve is apparent.

 

Totally agree about watching the fads come and go. I must have built my fd a hundred different ways over the years (thank god I had to hold off on the build for a couple of decades, (ya its been a long road). Your updates and pics are awesome. Keep up the good work.

 

Good times ahead

 

While trying to work out clearances for the 18 x 11 Advans, it became apparent that there was a lot more rack travel in one direction than the other which had the tyre making contact with the upper a arm at full lock. First up I figured I'd just loosen up the jam nuts on the tie rods and it sort out......except I found that they were already even and centred....

There's no evidence of the car ever having a major frontal, but I measured up the front end anyway.....all was good.

After some head scratching we worked out that the previous 1JZ fitment attempts, in addition to making some gaudy engine mount pads, they'd also moved the rack across about 1/4 inch. This was of course was amplified through the steering arm and radius of the wheel resulting in the tyre contacting the upper a arm (in one direction only) at full lock.

Should have picked it up sooner but nonetheless I'll be binning this subframe in favour of one that hasn't been hacked up and that I've had blasted and painted.

 

Here's one I prepared earlier... A few hours with a wire wheel and followed up with some metal polish - looks almost new again,

 

Two about to become one...