DECADE build and my RX-7 ownership diary!!!!!!!
12-06-13, 05:32 PM
#53
On one particular day a friend of mine had a buddy come down to visit. We usually take visitors out to the parks and waterfalls since they are awesome and that was the plan this time. He was driving an older celica but I guess thought a little bit too much of it because he was trying to keep pace with me through the roads going there and lost it. Completely totaled the car....luckily everyone was ok and didn't flip as it was a convertible....crazy!
kinda ended the fun of the trip for him there but we made sure to take him out on the town to drink away some of the pain
kinda ended the fun of the trip for him there but we made sure to take him out on the town to drink away some of the pain
12-06-13, 05:43 PM
#54
Now since I could really only have one car away at school I had to daily drive the thing as well as make the 6 hour trip back and forth throughout the year when I was returning home. This always made me nervous however the car was 99% reliable throughout all those trips. I knew if I had any issues while I was on campus I could easily take car of them in the automotive labs and I did on a few small occasions.
I'll now get into a few stories of a couple of crazy road trips home with the FD. One time I was about 5 hours and 45 minutes into the drive....about 10 minutes from home when one of my rear tires blew out. Pretty scarey and the tail end instantly got loose as I was approaching my exit. Not having a spare I towed it home which thankfully was only a couple miles away..after driving around 350 miles straight.
I'll now get into a few stories of a couple of crazy road trips home with the FD. One time I was about 5 hours and 45 minutes into the drive....about 10 minutes from home when one of my rear tires blew out. Pretty scarey and the tail end instantly got loose as I was approaching my exit. Not having a spare I towed it home which thankfully was only a couple miles away..after driving around 350 miles straight.
12-06-13, 05:55 PM
#55
On GRADUATION day there was a freak "derecho" weather system that was brewing heading straight for town. I had already planned to drive the 6 hours back up to Chicago and headed out just as things started picking up. Honestly, I shouldn't of probably been driving, but I did NOT want my baby to just be sitting getting the brunt of things as Tornadoes were a common occurrence in these parts.
I must have left my apartment MAYBE 10 mins before **** started to hit the fan. The storm was basically chasing me and once I got clear enough North I had to pull over as the winds and rains made it impossible to drive any further. I had maybe 3 feet of visibility and I was going like 15 miles an hour because of the massive rains with people FLYING by me on the highway.
The town got hit HARD!!! Upon seeing all the pictures popping up on facebook from friends....one area looked familiar. It was my apartment complex and my entire roof had been ripped off and crumbled up like tin foil. Upon returning a month or two later I discovered my ceiling had collapsed in and ruined a bunch of ****. I was on the top floor.
shot of my roof
here's what I didn't want to happen...car getting SMASHED
this is basically what it looked like as I was trying to escape in the FD!!! OMG!!
I must have left my apartment MAYBE 10 mins before **** started to hit the fan. The storm was basically chasing me and once I got clear enough North I had to pull over as the winds and rains made it impossible to drive any further. I had maybe 3 feet of visibility and I was going like 15 miles an hour because of the massive rains with people FLYING by me on the highway.
The town got hit HARD!!! Upon seeing all the pictures popping up on facebook from friends....one area looked familiar. It was my apartment complex and my entire roof had been ripped off and crumbled up like tin foil. Upon returning a month or two later I discovered my ceiling had collapsed in and ruined a bunch of ****. I was on the top floor.
shot of my roof
here's what I didn't want to happen...car getting SMASHED
this is basically what it looked like as I was trying to escape in the FD!!! OMG!!
12-06-13, 06:14 PM
#57
So the only positive vibes I had around this time were that my FD was safe and I was heading out to JAPAN!!! I had secured a limited spot on a National study abroad group to japan to learn the "Latest Advancements in Automotive Technology"
EASILY one of the best experiences of my life!
I have assloads of pictures but this is a thread about the car as I could easily fill a whole thread about the experiences I had out there.
Brand new GT-R V-Spec chilling inside an underground mall I came across...it was 2009 so these things were FRESH still
EASILY one of the best experiences of my life!
I have assloads of pictures but this is a thread about the car as I could easily fill a whole thread about the experiences I had out there.
Brand new GT-R V-Spec chilling inside an underground mall I came across...it was 2009 so these things were FRESH still
12-06-13, 06:18 PM
#58
And although I didn't get to visit everywhere I wanted ( I was going to school out there) I did manage to sneak a train ride to the closest shop....which just so happened to be RX-7 HEAVEN as I call it....better know as Total 7
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=2057804b4d
video I shot while I was there
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=2057804b4d
video I shot while I was there
12-06-13, 07:11 PM
#64
jumping back a few years I had once incident with vandalism on the car. My GF was having a party and I had the car out front....it was your typical parents not home high school bash. People everywhere. So it's maybe around 2am when some people come inside and start mentioning something about some random kids walking out front on the street. They were acting pretty sketchy so some people confronted them and they replied with "Oh is this John's party?"
There was no John and words were exchanged and they were told to leave. Upon them getting into their car somebody noticed that they had like bricks and cinder blocks in the car before they left. I would not find out about this until the next day about the blocks but when I did hear there had been sketchy looking people outside I bolted out the door to check on my baby.
I was mostly concerned that they didn't break any windows or scratch the body or anything like that. It was pretty dark out so everything looked good and I returned to the party but kinda stayed in the front room to make sure nobody returned. No one did.
The next morning I get in my car to leave and I got maybe 5 feet before BAMMMMM! Front passenger side of the car smashes down onto the ground.
OH HELL NO
I get out and see my wheel completely off the lugs wedged on top of the rotor smashed into the fender.
Apparently they were in the process of trying to steal my Stock wheels (which were on at the time) and only got as far as removing all the lug nuts on the front passenger wheel before they were scared away. I had not noticed this the night before or walking up to the car in the morning as it was on the far opposite side away from the house. $1400 in damage that thankfully my insurance covered.
I was freaking out when it happen and just ran to the closest house I saw to ask for a jack to get my baby back up off the ground. Story spread to friends and that's when I found out about the cinder blocks in the car. WISH I would of known that at the time when I went out to check things out.
Sways bar mounts bent, rims scratched, fender fucked, tie rod damaged and some issues with the rotor.
I took the opportunity to upgrade to the widefoot swaybay mounts which are awesome.
this happened wayy back when the car was still automatic and I was still in HS.
There was no John and words were exchanged and they were told to leave. Upon them getting into their car somebody noticed that they had like bricks and cinder blocks in the car before they left. I would not find out about this until the next day about the blocks but when I did hear there had been sketchy looking people outside I bolted out the door to check on my baby.
I was mostly concerned that they didn't break any windows or scratch the body or anything like that. It was pretty dark out so everything looked good and I returned to the party but kinda stayed in the front room to make sure nobody returned. No one did.
The next morning I get in my car to leave and I got maybe 5 feet before BAMMMMM! Front passenger side of the car smashes down onto the ground.
OH HELL NO
I get out and see my wheel completely off the lugs wedged on top of the rotor smashed into the fender.
Apparently they were in the process of trying to steal my Stock wheels (which were on at the time) and only got as far as removing all the lug nuts on the front passenger wheel before they were scared away. I had not noticed this the night before or walking up to the car in the morning as it was on the far opposite side away from the house. $1400 in damage that thankfully my insurance covered.
I was freaking out when it happen and just ran to the closest house I saw to ask for a jack to get my baby back up off the ground. Story spread to friends and that's when I found out about the cinder blocks in the car. WISH I would of known that at the time when I went out to check things out.
Sways bar mounts bent, rims scratched, fender fucked, tie rod damaged and some issues with the rotor.
I took the opportunity to upgrade to the widefoot swaybay mounts which are awesome.
this happened wayy back when the car was still automatic and I was still in HS.
12-06-13, 07:19 PM
#66
While parked at work I had one of the idiot parts delivery guys ( I ran a Firestone) back into my car
still waiting to get it fixed. I'm debating on a paint job soon as the car is still rocking the original, faded, clear coat pealing factory paint job from 1992.
still waiting to get it fixed. I'm debating on a paint job soon as the car is still rocking the original, faded, clear coat pealing factory paint job from 1992.
12-06-13, 07:47 PM
#70
Had some bad luck with coolant related failures over the years. After the first radiator failure during the slipping automatic trans episode I had the replacement radiator fail. A huge gash was found upon removal....this was the side facing the engine. I have to guess that something got into that area, and while the fans were running, slingshot-ted into the radiator. I couldn't find the culprit anywhere when I took things out though.....weird.
This could have EASILY caused me an engine but even though I was in traffic...the SECOND the low coolant buzzer came on I shut her down and coasted to a safe spot. Car was towed and the repair ensued.
Painted the fans while I was at it because they were all old and faded looking
This could have EASILY caused me an engine but even though I was in traffic...the SECOND the low coolant buzzer came on I shut her down and coasted to a safe spot. Car was towed and the repair ensued.
Painted the fans while I was at it because they were all old and faded looking
12-06-13, 07:58 PM
#71
another failure I had was with the line that comes off the t-stat housing and runs to the AST. This was a crazy incident as I think I had just returned from a drive and after I shut things down I could hear the fainest noise from the engine somewhere.
So naturally I start sticking my face around all over and sniffing things out.....I keep hearing this hissssssss but can't seem to pinpoint it. As SOON as I remove my face from the blast area this hose BURSTS instantly spewing burning hot coolant ALL OVER.
It originally wasn't completely gone so I grab it and tried to stop the spewing but my hands were getting burnt so I dropped it and RAN into the garage to grab a full roll of shop towels and went back to dampen the ensuing volcano of coolant....all the while taking one for the team and enduring the pain. I had JUST recently cleaned things all up and now this happened...damn!
So naturally I start sticking my face around all over and sniffing things out.....I keep hearing this hissssssss but can't seem to pinpoint it. As SOON as I remove my face from the blast area this hose BURSTS instantly spewing burning hot coolant ALL OVER.
It originally wasn't completely gone so I grab it and tried to stop the spewing but my hands were getting burnt so I dropped it and RAN into the garage to grab a full roll of shop towels and went back to dampen the ensuing volcano of coolant....all the while taking one for the team and enduring the pain. I had JUST recently cleaned things all up and now this happened...damn!
12-06-13, 08:07 PM
#72
now ANOTHER time I was driving when I had my driver's side heater hose fail on me. Up until this point the ONLY hoses in the entire car that had not been replaced were the heater hoses. They seemed in ok condition and I didn't want to mess with them and risk damaging possibly the heater core if it was all corroded.
I was just out driving the car and had a nice highway race with a newer (at the time) C7. It was all blacked out, tinted windows, rims, ect. It was pretty impromptu and I remember hanging even with it from a 3rd gear roll. I was pretty happy as I was still on the stock ECU running 10 psi. But the car got worked pretty good and as soon as I pulled off the highway I heard that dreaded coolant buzzer again. Pulled over and saw a nice stream under the car. It was pitch black out and towed the car home to wash her off and repair. All was well
I was just out driving the car and had a nice highway race with a newer (at the time) C7. It was all blacked out, tinted windows, rims, ect. It was pretty impromptu and I remember hanging even with it from a 3rd gear roll. I was pretty happy as I was still on the stock ECU running 10 psi. But the car got worked pretty good and as soon as I pulled off the highway I heard that dreaded coolant buzzer again. Pulled over and saw a nice stream under the car. It was pitch black out and towed the car home to wash her off and repair. All was well
12-06-13, 08:19 PM
#73
As if I didn't survive enough close calls with the engine over the years my most recent one was probably the worst. Of course it had to happen this time when I was all the way downtown Chicago with a bunch of guys going out for a cruise. I effectively ended the cruise before it even started with the incident. It sucked too because there were some people I didn't know and it was a great first impression of me RX-7 for them, ha.
LONG story short, I had installed some aftermarket radiator hoses and though they did hold up for quite sometime....eventually the upper hose just BURST while I was driving it. No hard driving...just got up to temp and went downhill from there. By this time I did have a nice Koyo N-flow.
While the car was stranded in some random area....the whole group just stayed with the car while I went on a crazy hunt to find a new hose....YEA RIGHT. Went to a few nearby stores and no-one had anything. I really didn't want to have to pay for a tow all the way home as it would be really expensive so I threw on my thinking cap and just started browsing the parts store. I thought about those viagra commercials about "being at that age to know how to get things done" and just thought this bandaid up.
Limped the car all the way home without issue and immediately called Ray for the new hoses.
I don't think I overtightened the clamp originally but rather the hose when really hot just expanded to the point where the clamp started digging into it before it completely burst.
LONG story short, I had installed some aftermarket radiator hoses and though they did hold up for quite sometime....eventually the upper hose just BURST while I was driving it. No hard driving...just got up to temp and went downhill from there. By this time I did have a nice Koyo N-flow.
While the car was stranded in some random area....the whole group just stayed with the car while I went on a crazy hunt to find a new hose....YEA RIGHT. Went to a few nearby stores and no-one had anything. I really didn't want to have to pay for a tow all the way home as it would be really expensive so I threw on my thinking cap and just started browsing the parts store. I thought about those viagra commercials about "being at that age to know how to get things done" and just thought this bandaid up.
Limped the car all the way home without issue and immediately called Ray for the new hoses.
I don't think I overtightened the clamp originally but rather the hose when really hot just expanded to the point where the clamp started digging into it before it completely burst.
12-06-13, 08:26 PM
#75
haha me and my friends had a good laugh with this after all was said and done. Exactly what happened with the huge puff of smoke out at the beginning although I had to do a little more than just add some water to get back on the road....damn FDs ;-)