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That's an impressive amount of cutting and grinding!
Regarding the trans tunnel heat - I really like DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield mounted on the underside of the transmission tunnel. I have it on my FD and my Spec Miata. Works incredibly well. https://www.designengineering.com/fl...ld-ii-21-x-24/
What's the overall diameter of the wheel/tire package he was using? I've seen FD race car peeps have similar interference issues when trying to run a larger than stock diameter package.
That's an impressive amount of cutting and grinding!
Regarding the trans tunnel heat - I really like DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield mounted on the underside of the transmission tunnel. I have it on my FD and my Spec Miata. Works incredibly well. https://www.designengineering.com/fl...ld-ii-21-x-24/
What's the overall diameter of the wheel/tire package he was using? I've seen FD race car peeps have similar interference issues when trying to run a larger than stock diameter package.
Thank you gracer7-rx7!!
Yes it was my first time doing something like this, but I did some research, formulated a plan and pulled it off.
The DEI 100% yes!! I did that to my car in my build thread as well post #273 - https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread.../#post12447800
I already have everything for C.Wan's rebuild which includes a ton of DEI shielding.
I believe it's a squared set-up. 18x10 +0 offset, 275/35/18.
Calvin Wan’s Drift FD3S Period Correct Refresh By Rotary Extreme
C.Wan FD3S Refresh – Update 06
Now that the car is off to the body shop I was able to spend some time on cleaning up some pieces and inspecting others. Link to body shop delivery seen-
"ZPG Spring Meet prep. After 29 years, the 93-spec satin black finish on my FD3S dash panels have deteriorated to the point the black OEM coating became sticky to touch, leaving finger print impressions behind.
Since my RX-7 was a ‘93, I wanted to stay with that original 1-year only, smooth satin black finish instead of the more durable textured style of the 94-95’s. That way my FD can keep the correct OEM dash look.
Rotary Extreme went above and beyond with the restoration of these original panels to match the ‘93 only smooth satin finish.
The OEM paint first had to be stripped and then wet-sanded down in multiple grits in order to be properly prepped for the repaint.
On the first try, the paint that was used came out unexpectedly textured and was not matching between the panels. R.E. wanting to make it right, stripped off the new paint, re-prepped the panels again, then used a different type of satin black paint for the 2nd respray.
The final outcome looks great and very close to the smooth OEM satin finish. Really appreciate the effort Benjamin!" - C.Wan
The forums are filled with awesome info and again they did not disappoint. Since the panel coating on the 93 FD's are known to deteriorate there is a ton of threads documenting addressing this issue. The outcome will be a result of your paint choice and graffiti skills. I asked off all areas that I did not want any chemical to touch and also to be free from paint. I used Goof Off to break down the coating and the blue paper towels to wipe most of it away. The Mr. Clean Magic eraser worked wonders for the final touches and removing any remaining Goof Off residue.
02 - Damage
After the panels were stripped I found a lot of nicks and scratches. I did my best to sand them down. The abrasions from the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser look very noticeable, don't worry its smooth to the touch.
03 - Unexpected Paint
I used some interior trim paint others used on the forum, forgot what it was but it came out like the 94+ textured look. It wasn't that bad but the texture didn't match between panels, this is a hard no go. I had to strip it all down again and prep it for re-paint. The positive thing about this was that the paint filled in some of the nicks and scratches that were too deep to sand out.
04 - Beautiful Paint
I researched paint specific to the 93 look and found that SEM Satin Black 15243 is the best match. I fogged about 4 coats 5 minutes apart. I painted everybody together with the same can of spray to reduce any differences between the pieces. I let them dry for a day and I was so happy with the results. The look really clean, uniform, and the most important thing is they look like the stock 93 FD coating.
05 - Panels Assembled
Now that the paint has cured it was time to assemble the panels. I installed the gauge cluster, buttons, ashtray, and placed them all together for photos. I'm doing my best to do this car justice.
06 - Center Damage Fixed
C.Wan's center console has a nasty tear on the lower corner that is usually hidden by the seat. I wanted to try the Tear Mender on it since it worked for my seats. I cut the fabric to place in the hole, filled it with the tear mender, and then painter it black with the rubber paint. I cut off the over flow once dried.
07 - Center Camouflaged
The repair was really shiny and I wanted to tone it down a bit. I fogged it with the SEM satin black paint, let it dry for a few hours, and then put some armor all to give a uniform shine. Now when you look inside the car, you won't be distracted by a torn center console.
Enjoy the Pics.01 - Strip Panels
Last edited by rotaryextreme; 06-02-23 at 09:54 AM.
Calvin Wan’s Drift FD3S Period Correct Refresh By Rotary Extreme
C.Wan FD3S Refresh – Update 07
I continued to strip down the engine to document everything that needed some attention. I can tell some parts were damaged from heat and old age, while other from abrasion. The engine was covered with engine fluid and dirt like a proper drift car should be ... lol.
For the none RX7 / Car people / or people who do not use acronyms
UIM - Upper Intake Manifold
LIM - Lower Intake Manifold
TB - Throttle Body
OMP - Oil Metering Pump
PPF - Power Plant Frame
EMI - Electromagnetic Interference
01 - Tranny Sensors / Cracked Nipples
02 - Dirty Wet Engine
03 - Spark EMI
04 - Fuel System Woes
05 - Cracked PPF
06 - OMP DOA
01 - Tranny Sensors / Cracked Nipples
Since C.Wan's FD was a track only car some things were not essential like back up lights and ultra smooth drivability. The challenge here is to repair everything so that the car can be driven in traffic and at the same time tear it up at the track. 2 of the 3 trans sensors have had the harness pulled off of them. Let me know if you guys recognize them and have some for sale before I try to re-attach the wires. Under the UIM was some more easter eggs. There were 2 cracked nipples causing vacuum leaks. I'm sure this was masked with the higher idle and 850cc Primaries.
02 - Dirty Wet Engine
C.Wan did tell me the car was running a little rough the past few events and after pulling stuff off the engine it's easy to understand. The solenoid rat's nest connectors are still grouped together and exposed to the elements. This could easily cause signal interference if even on a minute scale. It also looks like there may have been some fuel seepage.
03 - Spark EMI
Yet another area of concern. Many things can cause a misfire, even EMI. When I was taking off the UIM I noticed the lower coolant port of the TB was resting on one of the sparkplug wires. You could see the discoloration from the heat and rubbing. I do not see any burns from arcing but it looks more like a focal point of heating and abrasion. If you look closely at the coolant port you can see the dirt rising in columns like debris on a magnet. This is the result of EMI. The pins on the coils also had corrosion on them. Moving forward I will place the coils where the A/C used to be. The engine harness is a dirty mess and will be dealt with at a later time.
04 - Fuel System Woes
C.Wan's set-up is 850 pri and 1300 sec. This has worked great for his set-up and we will stay with these sizes since his car is track 1st, street 2nd. It looked like the fuel lines and the primary fuel rail were seeping, even the secondary fuel injector filter screens were torn - crazy !!!. The primary diffusers were ok but one of the secondary diffusers broke off. I read that when you go to larger secondary injectors, the diffusers become less effective or not needed at all. The fuel injectors were sent out to RC to be rebuilt. I will replace the primary seals and diffusers with new parts. I will do the same for the secondary's but I will cut off the lower diffuser section and use the top part for a spacer to seal the injector into the secondary rail.
05 - Cracked PPF
The PPF was reinforced but it cracked near the weld. The heat may have weakened it, but the clutch kicks don't help either. We will be replacing the PPF with a good used one and using Banzai's transmission brace to help reduce PPF flex.
06 - OMP DOA
The OMP was bypassed and thus pre-mix was the method for lubricating the seals in the engine. I noticed the harness and a black box missing off the OMP that was on C.Wan's car. The larger plug goes to the OMP motor and the smaller black/blue/yellow harness goes to the stepper motor which is screwed onto the OMP. The stepper motor was removed and not blocked off. It looks like a small amount of oil was seeping out of this hole.
Calvin Wan’s Drift FD3S Period Correct Refresh By Rotary Extreme
C.Wan FD3S Refresh – Update 08
C.Wan's FD made me a believer that the stock twin oil coolers are good enough for drift and track. If you want more cooling, put some fans on them. If you have one oil cooler and can't find dual oil cooler parts then sure get a dual oil cooler kit, still get fans lol. My car came with a single oil cooler and I just made myself a dual oil cooler kit. I did a lot of learning in my driveway with the car idling figuring out other things and noticed the oil temps rising to like 230f. After I added fans the temps stayed around 200f.
Unfortunately my fan controller took a crap and I put together a more robust set-up that will also go on C.Wan's oil coolers, more on that later on. Back to the oil coolers, these things were hurt from bent fins to bent brackets. From doing VM kits I developed a good technique for repairing bent fins, also helps with my OCD. I did my best to restore the twin oil coolers, I can see through the fins again.
01 - Driver Side Damage
02 - Passenger Side Damage
03 - Clean For Repair
04 - Repair Back Driver
05 - Repair Back Passenger
06 - Repair Front Driver / Lost Front Passenger Photos - Whoopsies
07 - Paint Oil Coolers
01 - Driver Side Damage
The driver's side fin were heavily damaged and many had to be removed. The top support panel and outer bracket were tweaked as well.
02 - Passenger Side Damage
Almost all of the front passenger side fins were bent. I was able to straighten most of them without pulling any out.
03 - Clean For Repair
I power washed all of the debris out of the fins so they can do their job, and to also clean all the oil residue off.
04 - Repair Back Driver
The top support panel and bracket were bent on the back drivers side oil cooler. I placed it upside down on a 2x4 and then tapped it flat. I removed the damaged fins and made some homemade filler fins with a thin aluminum strip I bought for things like this. I make them a little oversize so that they have to be tapped in to stay in place.
05 - Repair Back Passenger
The back of the passenger oil cooler was in good same and just needed a touch up.
06 - Repair Front Driver / Lost Front Passenger Photos - Whoopsies
The front drivers side oil cooler fins took some serious beating. Probably from the base of the Spal fan moving around on the front of it. I fixed most of the fins but there were 2 sections I had to remove the fins from. I made a little tool to wrap the thin aluminum around to set the fin height. I tapped in the new fins and called it a night. Lost the in process pics of the front passenger side, I just remember it was not as bad as the driver side.
07 - Paint Oil Coolers
I wanted to give the oil coolers a light fog in flat black to hide all the paint chips. The before and after photos show you what can be done with enough patience. These things are a pain to store and I can't wait to get them back on the car ... lol.
06-01-23, 10:21 AM
