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DECADE build and my RX-7 ownership diary!!!!!!!
Alright well this has been a LONG time coming. The main purpose of this is just to somewhat catalog my 10+ years of ownership with my FD. I have close to 6,000 videos and pictures of all my meets, mods, repairs, ect over the years. Obviously it's not all going to be posted but a select portion will be. I don't know about you guys but for me...build threads are about the pictures so I am going to post a LOT. Bare with me as this should take some time.
I have been a member/owner on the forum with my 1993 BB Touring FD for over 10 years. I lurked around the site for a couple years before joining doing my research and just becoming absolutely obsessed with the 3rd gen. I was probably 14 when I started learning about the car and it was just before the "great hack". The car just stood out to me being Rotary and somewhat unique and under the radar. While all my friends were drooling over Camaros, Corvettes, and Mustangs.......I was catching import fever.....fast and furious was just out as well but shhhhhh ;-) I would eventually pick up my FD when I was 16. The car was in pretty rough shape as the interior was all torn up.....the turbos were shot....paint was iffy...AND it was an automatic! No hate though as I did enjoy the automatic while it lasted (but more on that later). For being 16....picking up a car that was in pretty rough shape was almost the goal as anything else was well outside my price range. I had plans to become a technician and so having projects was nothing that scared me. The good things about the car was that the previous owner had just blown the engine so before selling it he purchased a new reman from Ray at Malloy Mazda and had it shipped to KD Rotary where they performed a minor streetport and just kind gave the whole thing a once over. Unfortunately the turbos were going bad but they installed them anyways so the car could be sold. I would eventually convince my Mom to take a one way flight from Chicago to St. Louis to potentially purchase the car. I had basically only sat inside an FD up until this point and I will tell you that I was TERRIFIED to get behind the wheel. Like I said, I had been researching them for something like 2 years and read all the horror stories about them catching on fire, blowing up, people crashing them their first time behind the wheel ect ect. I played it cool though and yada yada yada...the car was PURCHASED! It had just around 100,000 miles on everything but the engine (which had under 500) and so I would finish the break-in on my way home driving non stop from St. Louis to Chicago. WHAT A TRIP....I was all smiles the whole way. THUS began my decade long journey with a car I don't think I will EVER part with. A car that has been with me through the worst and best times of my life. A car I took to my high school prom, accompanied me all throughout college and the road trips there, been through Tornados and freak chicago blizzards and still gives me joy sitting in it to this day. I wouldn't say I was your typical 16 year old as I did fear the car and 10+ years later it's never seen an accident. I would think not getting ahead of myself(with power addiction) was partially to thank as the most power it's ever had in those 10 years was right around 270whp and I wanted to master it as best I could without getting greedy being so young. Anyways that's enough of all that....now I am going to start compiling the pictures....after all I was once known as the "PIC MAN" around these parts haha (seems so long ago and I'm sure some of you remeber). That was back when I was still in my obsession/infatuation stage. I think I'm more in the respect/appreciate stage now. WARNING: My car is nothing special...no crazy body builds...no super custom fabricated parts...not exactly blazing any trails so I will disappoint you now. I've always loved the stock look of the FD and it has pretty much stayed that way throughout the years with subtle changes. Also...there are definitely going to be some continuity issue with these pics as they have all be mixed up over the years so I will probably be jumping back and forth as this progresses. CLIFFS: OWNED CAR 10 YEARS.....POSTING PICTURES :-) |
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So these are the earliest pictures I can find of the car as I had an old hard drive crash containing A LOT of stuff.
By this point the only things I had done was replace one or two of the crappy intercooler couplers and install a ground kit as I had some bad grounding issues being the car had 100,000 miles and had just been molested with an engine swap. I was also 16 so these two things made me proud lol....if only I knew what was to come 10 years later...but we'll get to that https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386309684 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386309684 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386309684 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386309684 |
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I then started getting the mod bug and installed some polished pipes, a stereo system,a strut bar, a cool looking CF elbow and then eventually some intakes.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310092 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310083 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310092 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310092 the IC duct hole was covered...I learned that much from being on the forums for a couple years by this point. Also looks like I had installed a boost gauge and aftermarket temp gauge/sender in the throttle body coolant line as well as the "Fan Mod" as there is an eyesore blue wire heading to the fan relays. Again....important stuff I had learned to do ASAP on the forums |
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Next up was my first run in with the infamous "RATS NEST" I will tell you, as I'm sure you all know, the first time seeing it is a bit overwhelming....especially being 16 and barely having ever worked on a car. I printed out my big vacuum diagram.....color coded all my hoses lol (i didn't have much money to have someone fix it if I screwed something up)...and went to town. I believe I was tracking a vacuum issue and also replacing some of the lines with silicone.
I also can see by this point I had upgraded to an aftermarket AST. So far I'd say I was "doing things right" for being a stupid young dumb 16 year old wouldn't ya think ;-) I have all the veteran club members to thank for that as it was basically pounded into my head during all my researching. https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310742 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310742 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386310742 oh and check out that sweet TURBOJEFF 51R battery tray! Got in on that group buy at the time lol |
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By this time the car was broken in pretty well but the turbos were still blown. And when I say blown I mean "blown" as I think the eventual issue ended being a combination of bad solenoids and actuators. I could only boost 5 psi which was good as it limited the amount of stupid things I could do and let me just get used to a decently fast car....as it was my first car.
My next target was the interior. I had always wanted the Black/Red combo and got it...but not without sacrifice as it was pretty beat up. Seats all cracked and torn to hell and all the dash panels peeling (being a 93). So I went to town to redo the whole interior....first by repainting the plastics and then recovering the seats and getting some nice floor mats that were on an early group buy. again DAUNTING task having never worked on a car before and not having anyone to really help me fix it if I screwed up.....all i had was the FORUM...and damn I was thankful for that. https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311189 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311189 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311189 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311189 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311189 looks like I installed some speakers while I was at it. Being a touring it has the BOSE system but the door speakers were shot so I had to modify the bose enclosure and fit the replacements....talk about TIGHT FIT! |
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oven cleaner, scotch bright pads, a bathtub and LOTS of elbow grease got all the coating removed and they were ready to paint. These are the only pictures I could find from the process.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311587 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311587 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311587 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386311779 |
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Finished the seats by way of a group buy of what i think is leatherseats.com today. The FD was a new addition of theirs at the time and they had never done seats to match the red interior so first they sent me some swatches to best match up...and I'm GLAD they did because the color that they thought was the factory red was horribly wrong and looked pink more than anything. I believe I ended up deciding on Colorado Red....not a 100% match but was as close as I could get without shelling out thousands of dollars for factory covers from the dealer (even though I impulse bought one off ebay thinking I would one day use it.....still sitting in my attic but I think I paid like $50 brand new so no big loss there...msrp is over $500 per section and there are 4 per car...Yikes!)
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312148 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312148 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312148 |
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Finished installed pictures with the refinished dash pieces. I also did a little touch up on the factory door sill and installed the custom floor mats.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312464 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312464 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312464 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312464 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386312464 |
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Now that I was pretty satisfied with the interior I turned my attention to the wheels and brakes. I wanted to go with some nicer wheels but being on a young budget I just went for something relatively inexpensive. I purchased some HP Lightning/EVOs, some low cost tires, new rotors/pads and cleaned/painted the calipers. I got the whole set of rims for less than $500 shipped so I was happy with them even if they would end up being temporary.
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Brakes before...also painted the worn center caps
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313216 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313216 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313216 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313216 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313216 |
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During.....I don't think I'd ever taken a brake off any car before at this point so I opted to save myself any screw up and painted them on the car.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313446 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313446 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313639 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313446 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313446 |
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Finish....sanded down Mazda letters on front caliper...and carefully painted toilet bowl on center caps. The final pic was I believe a few months later after I purchased new rotors/pads and did brakes for the first time
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313805 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313805 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313805 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313805 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386313805 the plan was to run the stock wheels when winter was getting near since they had all season tires( purchased some continentals) and run the 18s during the summer |
So by this time I believe I had started to put attention back towards the engine. Doubting myself for the first time I dropped off the car at A-Spec Tuning to have them diagnose my turbo issues....install a DP.....and racing beat dual catback. The turbos ended up getting swapped with a low mileage set from a local who was going single.
Upon getting the car back this would be the very FIRST time in about 2 years of ownership that I really got to feel what a 3rd gen was capable. Up until this point I had boosted 5 psi MAX in any gear and while I enjoyed it (having never been in anything else in my life before) I lost my breath during that first test drive around the block once getting to A-Spec. I did everything I could to contain my excitement and uneasiness as to not scare Steve who I had been dealing with at the time from A-Spec. This was way back at their old shop in Addison..maybe a week after their grand opening (more on that later). I then learned to get used to the power delivery and overall animal this car had become in the weeks following. Coming up was one of my first meets with the car so I got her all pretty looking. By this time it also looks like I had added a R1 lip, clear corners, and the custom turn signal lights that are so popular these days. I believe I again got them through a group buy on the forum because if I recall correctly they were designed and developed by a member on this forum originally. Forgot but I also had the window tint redone but that was a while before these pictures were taken. Also had successfully converted the rear tails to 99 spec it looks like. |
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some pics of the taillight conversion
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316334 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316334 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316334 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316334 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316334 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316334 |
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bushings were shot so I sourced some local low mileage parts and started making them pretty. Also looks like I had picked up my GReddy elbow with BOV flange by this point seeing as the BOV is laying there. All I did was take a wire wheel to the parts to get the grime gone but they came out looking pretty nice
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316577 |
I mentioned that I took this car to all 3 (yes 3) of my Proms and I felt DAMN good doing it. Went my JR and SR year and again for my GF's senior prom since she was a year younger than me. I'll never forget this day.....car looked good...girl looked good...and I felt good! Too bad those young days seem LOOOONG GONE! haha...enjoy boys ;-)
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316899 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316899 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316899 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386316899 |
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Little cleaning and touch-up on the alternator
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317314 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317314 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317314 |
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had some cluster issues that I fixed ....standard crazy tach issue
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317627 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317627 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317627 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317627 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386317627 |
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So totally lost track of time frame with some of these photos so I might just be making up some things to keep this story moving lol but I'm fairly sure this was BEFORE my prom but it was the first serious issue I had with the car. Car had died on me while driving it....took awhile but I was able to get it restarted and then it died shortly later trying to get it home. At the time I still didn't know shit about cars and ended up getting the car towed home. With some troubleshooting from information I picked up on the forum I tracked it down to the fuel pump. Pulled it and this is what I found....yikes!
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318093 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318093 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318093 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318093 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318093 So I fixed the wiring and decided while I was in there to upgrade to a Supra pump...no pics of that. |
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feeling a little bit more confident in my skills I decided to turn some attention back to the engine bay and did a custom SMIC setup and custom intake and well as some odds and ends here and there. NO rhyme or reason to colors and whatnot at this time....I know it's like a rainbow of colors though lol. I would eventually slowly start changing things down to just Red and polished color theme.
Intake was made with some generic pieces purchased from autozone that I just mocked up in the pics below. Worked out very nicely for years. https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318460 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318460 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318460 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318460 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318460 |
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First mock-up of everything running on a prototype duct that a member on the forum was doing a group buy for.
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318708 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318708 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318708 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318708 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386318708 temp block off on the IC pipe |
So now somewhere around this time is when I started having issues with my transmission. At first the trans started slipping pretty bad but luckily a close friend of mine's dad worked at a transmission shop. So the plan was to get the car there and have it rebuilt. We were riding there together and it was HELL. It was a pretty decent drive and EVERYTIME the car would come to a stop it wouldn't want to move again...just slip like crazy. Eventually I could get it going (after being stuck in the middle of the road with hazards on....on multiple occasions) and then it just got soooo bad when we were literally a few blocks from the shop. Whatever I tried to do it just wouldn't move.
My friend....being the expert he claimed to be (and me believing it) said he could get it there because he "knew" the technique his dad showed him. Skeptical....but out of patience and ideas I let him get behind the wheel. Fucking bad move on my part.....now having the car slip so much was bad enough with the revs going but when he got behind the wheel it was ridiculous what he was doing to my baby. Within only a minute or two I told him to stop as I could see the factory water temp gauge start to MOVE! OHHHH SHIT! Shut her down....got out and see all sorts of coolant dripping under the car. Long story short...we push the damn car a few blocks until his dad showed up and then nudged the car with his truck the rest of the way. Radiator had a hole in it (stock obviously) so it was replaced with a copper replacement (no money at the time for a real upgrade as I was facing the bill of a new transmission). The trans was rebuilt with a shift kit his dad made for it but regrettably I told him to put the old torque converter back in since it still was ok (more on that later). Once that was all said and done the car was driven and enjoyed for just about a year. 6 or so months actualyl since it had hibernated a few months during the winter. |
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By the time nice weather rolled around it was all bout the car clubs and meets.
This was a local group that was called JGTCA (Japanese Grand Touring Cars of America) and was really fun while it lasted. Stipulations were the car had to be Japanese and either be RWD or AWD just to limit some of the civics and random cars from coming and ruining our meets. Good times https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386319810 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386319810 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386319810 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386319810 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386319810 |
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It was cool because on at least one occasion the local Chicago rotary club at the time (R.I.P. RC3) would have a meet earlier in the day and then the guys who wanted to keep hanging would all cruise and meet up with the JGTCA guys for another meet/cruise https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320341 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320341 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320341 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320341 |
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Here's some pictures from the Grand Opening meet at A-Spec's old shop
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320711 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320711 Getting ready for the epic cruise!!! https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320711 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320711 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320885 and unfortunately, as you can tell from the last pic, I was following in a minivan. Followed the group for all of maybe 2 minutes before they were GONE! Like I mentioned earlier....my car was actually in the shop having the turbos,dp, and catback put on. Bitersweet.... https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386320885 |
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Downtown Chicago Meet
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321225 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321225 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321225 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321225 She tolerated my obsession haha https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321225 |
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This MIGHT of been on 7-7-07....if not it was one of the Chicago crew's meets
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321813 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321813 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321813 another random Chicago crew meet https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321813 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321813 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386321813 |
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Now somewhere during these years I started experimenting with editing videos. Now This was still before youtube was a big hit I'm pretty sure and I was using a shitty camera so don't expect 2013 quality and editing ha....but here are some random videos from some of the meets. Most of the time I had my GF or friend recording so I had to use whatever shots they got for the videos...but WHATEVER they were cool at the time haha
http://www.streetfire.net/video/rotary-car-club-of-chicago-bbq-2004hosted-at-as_60177.htm http://www.streetfire.net/video/aspec-grand-opening-2005rotary-car-club-of-chic_60207.htm http://www.streetfire.net/video/aspec-grand-opening-2005rotary-car-club-of-chic_60239.htm http://www.streetfire.net/video/drift-avenue-grand-opening-2005rx7_59770.htm http://www.streetfire.net/video/drift-avenue-grand-opening-2005-mazda-rx7-cruis_60102.htm I eventually lost all this footage...even the original edits on the hard drive that crashed....this is all that remains |
Loiking like you've had a lot of good times with your FD.
So.... she was wearing blue underneath eh? ;-) |
^^^hahahahaha I knew that would be the first comment after the whole intro!
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haha....it actually was closer to a green to match the dress that she and he cousin made from scratch.....I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the final design :-). I couldn't find any shots of the other proms but rest assured those were the some of the better ones.
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SOOOOOO.....all the above was pretty much the first leg of life with the FD. I had graduated high school and was going to a community college while my girl finished up her senior year. At this point I was pretty happy and content with how the car was (didn't have much choice as I didn't have much money) and just enjoyed daily driving it and going to meets.
The RX-7 gods would have other plans for me though and a careless choice would come back to haunt me...but also be a blessing in disguise. One day during a JGTCA meet/cruise, where I had been stretching her legs all day with the group she decided she had had enough. Oddly enough she was fine the whole day until I split off to drive home. On the way home...just cruising (no horseplay as she already had enough that day) she decided to die once again. :-( Going up a nice steep incline I started feeling the car slip until the point where she wouldn't move under her own will anymore. Engine was still running happy...which was a relief....but I suspected the trans again. I was MORE than a little pissed seeing as I had just paid for a full rebuild not even a year ago. Oddly enough...I had documented the whole day as the group wanted me to shoot a little video for the meet which is below. Nothing really exciting...I was doing is as a favor for the group and also was using it to play around with some editing software some more. Again, I didn't do most of the filming so I had to use whatever shots were taken. enjoy lol watching that after so many years almost makes me cringe |
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Now was time for me to really figure things out. Around this time there was lots of talk of people who had done manual swaps on the forum. I just couldn't bare spending the money to just put another automatic back in the car. I was fairly comfortable with the car and power by this point that a 5spd swap seemed to be the most logical thing to do.
Being a HUGE task in itself I opted to have A-Spec do the conversion. By this time they were at their new shop which was maybe a 20 min drive from my house. I purchased a full conversion kit from somebody on the forum who bailed on his swap which made the process much quicker as I really needed to have the car back on the road ASAP. I elected to help my friend's dad rebuild the used 5spd I purchased so there would not be any surprises. I was still a little skeptical about what happened with the automatic but for now it would be left as an unknown. yada yada yada Ended up with a new 5spd, swapped the rear to the standard 4.10, purchased a 9.5lb ACT flywheel, ACT S/S clutch kit, short shifter, and I believe that was it. I would later find out that the torque converter had taken a dump and the automatic trans was good all along. That's what I get for reusing a 100,000mile converter but like I said, it would be a blessing in disguise as I now had a MANUAL TRANS RX-7!!! I ended up selling the fairly rebuilt automatic transmission for something like $1400 which was awesome to help with the swap costs! Not sure how I did it but it sold! While the car was in the shop getting the conversion I had NEVER driven a stick before! Not good...so I scrambled trying to get a few friends to let me try and learn on their cars and things went well but I knew this was going to be a little different with the upgraded parts. I remember Charlie7 on the forums here, who was local, was nice enough to let me get a feel for the setup, since his was almost identical. I was more confident after this. When the car was all said and done I went to pick it up at A-Spec and wouldn't you fucking know that it would be POURING out. Foregoing the test drive this time....I hopped in and made my attempt to bring her home. Maybe the 10th time I had been behind the wheel of a manual car but I had put HOURS into the theory of driving a manual. It's pretty scarey trying it for the first time as I'm sure most of us remember. Good news is I didn't stall it ONCE the whole way home...in the rain and all. I was grandma-ing it though. For the days and weeks that followed I got more and more used to it just driving around my block till I was completely comfortable. The thing pulled like CRAZY too! I thought now THIS is what all the fuss is about. Going with the higher gears (3.90 t0 4.10) and with all the trans/clutch work made this feel like a completely new car! https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386367739 Looks like I got some redline goods as well at this time. The second din guage thing was also a temporary thing as I had plans to remove the switched and light for 2 more gauges. |
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The years after this start to blur as I would leave for college and not have much happen or go wrong with the car. I was studying to get my BA in Automotive Technology....which was awesome! I went to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
The positive was that I was no longer around crazy Chicago. I was now in a mostly rural country area with lots and LOTS of twisty roads that went to national parks and forests. I was also surrounded by young gear heads who all had their own flavors of cars and bikes around so there was never a dull moment. I also now had direct access to like 7 full buildings of every type of tool and product (including a dyno) known in the automotive industry. While learning in class I was always able to use my own car to do whatever labs and assignments needed which made going to class a LOT more tolerable....at least the auto classes that is. I tidied up the interior a little bit more and then just enjoyed all the togue runs, meets, cruises, bbqs, threesomes..(wait..whut?)..and parties...at college! https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369123 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369123 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369123 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369123 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369123 I wanted to have/keep a clean looking interior and these gauges were a perfect fit. They were fairly inexpensive but quality gauges. The back lighting matched the factory gauges and they had the chrome rings. Couldn't ask for a better gauge set. They are VDO vision chrome series. |
That's an awesome looking car
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Now a little pic dump from the years I was at school
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369747 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369747 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369747 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369747 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386369747 Now a little bit on that last picture. Being at school I no longer had a garage and had to park outside for 4 years. NIGHTMARE i tell you. I was thankful that noone ever messed with my car but I also made a lot of friends and if I wasn't keeping an eye on it...chances were someone else was, including a campus police officer who had a FD. He said he always kept a eye on it when I lived in the dorms (SWEET!) But when I moved to an apartment I didn't have that luxury and I was pretty much near the ghetto area of the city. On this particular day some idiot I guess had parked in the wet grass the night before since there was no other spots and got stuck trying to get out. So he decides to just rip em to get out causing all kinds of shit to go covering that one car. I come out the next morning in shock of what I'm seeing. HOW CLOSE WAS THAT!? My car had 2 dime sized drops of mud on the hood and that was it. Talk about a close call |
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It was around this time that I started experimenting with photography on my crappy little $80 camera. The abundance of beautiful areas around Southern Illinois just made me want to explore more and more. It also gave me an excuse to take the car out on the back roads and really enjoy it. There are a couple mixed in when I was home in Chicago for various holidays and such.
The power of photo editing to make up for a super shitty camera! Love it Shame I can't put up the high-res due to size restrictions....kills the pictures in my opinion but it's better than nothing I guess https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386370778 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386370778 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386370778 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386370778 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386370778 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386370778 |
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https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386371358
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386371358 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386371358 https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1386371358 ok ok I'll stop there. I have tons more but I think it's getting repetitive. How bout a few meet and actions shots? |
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