A CYM Odyssey....... Nearing the Final Stages of Operation: Optimize
 

G'day gents :wave:

This is an interesting build, because it comes about via chance and happenstance :peace:

Back in 2011, IRP took in a very nice low-mileage CYM FD3s (1 of only 350 in the USA as we all know) for a performance engine build--- nice street port, single turbo, built to handle 450 rwhp all day erry day. A yellow mica street car to take down the V8 muscle and piston-powered competition lurking the mean streets of NYC and NJ.

The build stood out in my mind because the car was running wonderfully with no issues to speak of. The owner (we'll call him Cesarino) just wanted *ahem* MOAR POWAH.

Here's a basic rundown of the work completed in back in 2011 with a chassis mileage of about 61k miles:

IRP complete engine overhaul including Stage 3 aggressive street porting, RA 2mm Apex seals and pineapple Heavy Duty coolant seals
All new engine seals, springs, o-rings, gaskets and bearings
new metal oil rings and Mazdacomp metal front cover gasket
Apex's Power FC with commander
RX-7 Store turbo kit with Garret GT35R ball bearing turbo
Exedy twin disc clutch
IRP fuel system with 850cc primary and 1680cc secondary injectors
Dual supra TT pumps
Apex'i FMIC, A/C modified to work with FMIC
IRP 140 amp Alternator
Groundzero LIM
AEM water/meth injection kit
Oil pan reinforcement brace
IRP motor mounts
HKS twinpower ignition amp
Defi boost/water temp/EGT
relocated OEM fuel filter out of the depths of hell

.....as you can see, lots of nice parts. The car also came in with some existing goodies like Tein coilovers, basic brake upgrade, a Knightsports HID headlight setup, and FEED carbon fiber overlay exterior door handles :bubrub:

Around 2014, Mr. Ihor (Overlord of IRP) :asthanos:had mentioned to me that the owner of this particular CYM was considering selling the car. Cesarino was too busy to really enjoy the car.

I thought nothing of it, as I don't really *need* multiple FDs. Want, yes :lol:

My Brilliant Black '95 FD (BlackBaron?) had been whispering to me that perhaps that garage spot next to him that was used to store rotary car parts should be used to store a fellow FD instead. One with ice-cold A/C and a rerouted wastegate. One with non-Racecar brakes that don't squeal like a banshee and echo off the buildings of Hoboken, scaring old men out for a walk and young women pushing their strollers alike. A brother...... yes, a brother :beerchug:

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Back in September of this year I made a phone call to a local guy who parks outside my FD bat cave--I planned to use the parking spots outside both garage spots and was wondering if he'd be cool with street parking his Audi S5 for the day.

Wouldn't you know it, but his name was Cesarino, and I accidentally called the other Cesarino---dude with the CYM. He picks up, says "Rich, great to hear from you man! You're calling about the RX-7 for sale?" Thinking quickly, I said to him "Definitely bud, all comes down to price. How's the car been running?"

I learned that Cesarino had barely been driving the poor FD3s, and had put 1350 miles on the whole setup since 2011. He had broken in the motor and gotten it tuned by Enzo out on Long Island where the car made right around 400 rwhp on 15 psi. Then the car pretty much just chilled out under a car cover in his garage for years with occasional jaunts around the neighborhood up in Yonkers NY.

We talked for a bit and Cesarino took the weekend to come up with a price.

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So, the Price was Right all right :D Made arrangements to look at the car early on a Sunday morning, which just happened to be right after my brother Ryan's surprise 30th Birthday party in Hoboken. Many FD RX-7 Luminaries were invited and attended, including the owners of Clunkers, BlueBerryFarms, Mr. 2Rotor and the GreekStreak. It was a late night with much Sour Ales and laughter, and even some dancing---scary for those who know me. I think some crabbing happened at like 3am too. :allcho:

Suffice it to say, I arrived to meet Cesarino for the CYM inspection quite fuzzy and feeling a bit, um, under the weather :rofl:

Car looked good and boosted fine. I could tell it did need some maintenance and work based on my hungover inspection. Cesarino hadn't purposely neglected the car, but it needed some lovin.'

One thing i noted after our test drive was that the brake lights were staying illuminated while the car was off. After some head scratching I climbed under the pedals and saw that the plunger for the brake pedal switch was in the 'out position' because the rubber stopper had disappeared. Rigged up a MacGyver parking lot solution so that Cesarino could park the car without killing his battery.

So what were some of the things I noticed?

*Battery voltage on the commander wasn't quite where it should be while running, 12ish vs 13-14 volts
*Tires were old and probably needed replacing
*some interior plastics in the rear hatch needed replacing
*rear hatch divider used to have a bumpin' sound system installed so was full of holes *and needed to be replaced (no longer available from Mazda)
*taillights had been '99 converted by someone other than Theorie and looked whack
*driver's side rad fan motor was clicking while running and sounded no bueno
*air filter on the 35R looked super dirty, K&N unit that needed a refresh
*many (too many?) yellow interior and engine bay accents that may need to be toned down a bit
*car clunked in the back and probably had the original pillow balls from 1992 :burn:

Some pics of the car as she left IRP after mucho awesome work performed :djcelebra

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(sharp eyes will notice the Sexy Beast :asthanos: lurking just off camera to the right admiring his work :D )

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I think all steering wheels should say "DRIFTING". Reminds you what to do. See a cop? DRIFTING.

Very nice! Miss Frizzle's schoolbus needs to be at DGRR this year!

Dale

All questionable accents easily remedied. As I am a new owner of a CYM myself I will be watching this very closely. You have exquisite taste when it comes to modifying and accenting FD's so we will all be watching.
It's a benefit having you on speed dial ��

Thanks for the kind works boys :bigthumb:

One of the first times taking the car out in the Edgewater NJ area, had a meeting with Godzilla whilst lingerie shopping :lol:

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Had the CYM detailed the other weekend by my friend Bobby 'The Magic Man' Rahim. This dude has done professional paint correction, wet sanding, and all other manners of polishing/waxing on my old VR R1 before the Modified Mag photoshoot, on my black FC vert, every other FD I've owned, and many friend and customer cars too, FD and otherwise.

He's very talented, very reasonably priced, and has a huge passion for rotary cars which shows in his work. Anyone in the NYC area who wants a show-car finish on their car please shoot me a PM to get in contact with Bobby :)

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I've slowly been tweaking the car more to my liking and made some interior changes :nod:

I installed a new Momo Monte Carlo 350mm steering wheel with Daikei hub along with a new shortie 'baseball' style shift knob and sweet black perforated shift boot from my homie Austin/Big100/Turbo'drx7 here on the forum. Austin has helped me often over the years with recovered FD seats, rear trunk mats and now leather boots. If anyone needs anything similar shoot him a PM :)

It's funny how parts seem to circle around and either come back to me, or are affiliated with other FDs I've owned or worked on. Examples? The air filter on this 35R turbo was originally run for years on my old VR R1 track/street car, the Red Baron. Another example, this Momo Monte Carlo steering wheel spent time in the Stealth Bomber, the pristine low mile BB R1 that I owned for a few years and then sold to a local buddy.

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To chronicle all the maintenance and tweaks performed on the car since purchase:

Day of purchase:
Change engine oil, replace with Idemitsu 20w50
Change transmission and differential oil, replace with Royal Purple
Flush engine coolant, replace with standard 50/50 green goodness

Last weekend:
Completely flush/bleed brake and clutch system with DOT4 fluid

Those who know me will laugh, because (a) I run Idemitsu in everything, even my lawn mower, and (b) I'm a big Evans fan and adding 50/50 coolant to the car felt kinda...... wrong :lol:

I've also cleaned up the undercarriage and swapped out some of the 'not so nice' interior pieces. Swapped the 'full of holes from stereo stuff' rear divider with a very good condition used piece, and bought a brand new rear hatch, um, rear piece--- the one that houses the rear wiper filler for touring cars.

Also pulled off the converted '99 tails to send to Theorie for refurbishing and installed a spare '99 set I had laying around. While I was in there I cleaned up thoroughly and installed new OEM mazda taillight wiring harnesses with new bulbs, the parking/brake bulbs are Phillips LED now :)

Looks great Rich - you are one lucky man with your beautiful brilliant black and now this CYM. Cesarino did a pretty good job with it, looking forward to seeing where you take it :icon_tup:

Best of luck!

sweet FD.....good find. Glad it went to a good home and glad the black FD got a brother ahahhaha

Nice find Rich, if I every get a 2nd FD it'll be a CYM, can't wait to see what improvement you'll do to this one.

Thanks Rick much appreciated bud. We all need to get on track together soon :nod:

Appreciate it Simon, how's the 20B pickup rolling?

Thanks!

So, minor stuff to report...... adjusted the clutch pedal pickup which worked wonders for drivability. I do still plan on replacing the slave cylinder as when viewed through the trans inspection plate it looks original and like it could use replacing.

Also went to swap in new platinum 9 spark plugs and was kind of surprised to see Greddy heat range 10 plugs come out, pretty black and in need of a good cleaning.

Yesterday installed a starter booster, which cleared up the intermittent click/click start issue. Also replaced the exhaust gaskets in between the DP/MP and MP/CB. Gotta say this is a very quiet FD on cruising, but makes all the right noises on throttle and especially wide open throttle :D

Next up: replacing all six rear pillow balls, pulling the '99 front to install proper R-magic oil cooler ducts, and relocate/replace the DS oem horn with an RX-8 piece :nod:

Oh, and get summa dat Renna-Tune lovin' :bubrub:

Pics in a minute.....

Helped my brother button up his SSM after lots of hard work by the guys at IRP :nod:

Also snapped a cruising highway shot, man oh man do I love this color :D

That and some underbody shots showing lots of the parts on the car and how clean it is underneath, as well as the custom A/C aftermarket puller fans that Ihor had fabbed up years ago :icon_tup:

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As always, Goodfellas keeps the FD community classy. The car is looking fantastic, and has come a long way. Anything you touch turns to gold...I mean CYM :lol:

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Now send me those headlights and let me see if I can work some projector SBG projector HID magic on them!

-Heath

Nice acquisition, I'm sure it's in good hands!

Thanks guys :rofl:

Rockin' some temporary Fikse 'loaners' and snapped some shots in the sun on a recent road trip up to CT..... would you believe it snowed briefly as we arrived, an hour before these pics :D?

I love how the Competition Yellow Mica paint just pops in the daylight after Bobby's detail work :icon_tup:

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^ Did you find those "loaners" in your garage? LOL

excellent thanks for asking.....love what you have done with the car, but then again, im a sucker for CYM's :nod::nod:. those wheels look great

So does it take long to decide which one to drive on a certain day? :rofl:

^ Rich decides by which set of fikse wheels he wants to show off that day. LOL

That can't be the only deciding factor, at least not to me if I have 2 in my garage, gotta match what you're wearing today! :D

^ Not for rich, Fikse is life.

Looks good with the Fikse, but that generally goes without saying

We'll definitely have to do a track day in the spring

I def need to look into Moar Bigger Wings to hang with you Riko :bubrub:

Hahaha - I don't know about that Rich... don't jump that shark just yet :D