DECADE build and my RX-7 ownership diary!!!!!!!
12-05-13, 11:59 PM
#1
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 :-)
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 :-)
12-06-13, 12:05 AM
#2
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
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
12-06-13, 12:10 AM
#3
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.
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
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
12-06-13, 12:19 AM
#4
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.
oh and check out that sweet TURBOJEFF 51R battery tray! Got in on that group buy at the time lol
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.
oh and check out that sweet TURBOJEFF 51R battery tray! Got in on that group buy at the time lol
12-06-13, 12:30 AM
#5
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.
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!
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.
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!
12-06-13, 12:43 AM
#7
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!)
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12-06-13, 12:56 AM
#9
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.
12-06-13, 01:13 AM
#12
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
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
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
12-06-13, 01:27 AM
#13
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.
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.
12-06-13, 01:56 AM
#17
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
12-06-13, 02:02 AM
#18
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 ;-)
12-06-13, 02:23 AM
#22
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 **** 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!
So I fixed the wiring and decided while I was in there to upgrade to a Supra pump...no pics of that.
So I fixed the wiring and decided while I was in there to upgrade to a Supra pump...no pics of that.
12-06-13, 02:30 AM
#23
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.
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.
12-06-13, 02:46 AM
#25
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. ******* 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 ****! 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.
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. ******* 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 ****! 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.