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After a lot of debate and research, I pulled the trigger this past weekend on a '93FD for my first ever auto build/rebuild thread. The goal is for this be a weekend and possible track car. Photos can be found in my post here: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-gene...-myth-1126628/
History (as told me to me by the seller who is part of my wife's extended family (like 2nd cousin's husband)):
I am the 4th owner. The 1st owner was a doctor who had it as a weekend car. 1st owner had it for 10 years and got sideswiped in December of 2003 when the car had approx. 29K miles on it. Insurance considered it a total since it was a 10 year old car. Car was issued a Salvaged Title but was still drivable and repaired. I don't know the extend of that accident/damage.1st owner kept the car for another 4 years and sold it to the 2nd owner in March of 2007. The 2nd owner bought it and wanted to modify the car but ended up selling 6 months later in September of 2007 to the 3rd owner (seller) with approx. 37k miles. The Seller put a lot of money into the car. He claims he put about $20k into the car with all the work being done by Peter Farrell in Maryland of PF Supercars. Current mileage is around around 42k (will know exact when I get a battery in it).
List of mods are:
Full Bridge Ported
Borg Warner 67m Turbo wrapped in heat blanket
Wrapped down pipe
Water/Meth Kit
Apexi FC Commander
ACT 6 Puck Clutch
Lightweight Flywheel
Carbon Fiber Drive Shaft and Diff Cradle
Air/Fuel Gauge
Oil Temp Gauge
Water Temp Gauge
Veil Side Body Kit (VS D1 - GT)
Carbon fiber hood
Greddy Blow Off Valve
Ignition Booster
Boost controller
When the car was running, it was putting about 525WHP. Back in 2013 time frame, the owner blew 3rd gear at the track and not long after his business went under and he fell on hard times. Throw in a wife and kids and the car just fell to the wayside. It's been sitting for 5 years in the grass. No fluids were drained nor was the car prepped at all for long term storage.
Today:
The car will be making it's way to my garage in a few weeks and due to some upcoming surgery, I won't be able to start working on the car for at least a month. It's certainly going to need quite a bit of love and attention (and money).
My short term goals:
Drain and replace all fluids
Inspect/replace all hoses and solenoids
Inspect/replace wiring harness (seller isn't sure if PF Supercars put a new one on there)
Check gas tank for rust
Inspect/Replace Brakes
New Battery
Replace ignition solenoid (seller says it's no good)
All reliability mods
Anything else I need outside of engine transmission work
Engine/Transmission:
Some debate here on what to do. I was speaking with Bryan at Rotorsports Racing (about 2 hours from me) about my options. Most everyone believes that a full bridge and a 6 puck clutch makes for a miserable street car. The seller claims it's not that bad and very livable. Bryan estimates a full inspection and rebuild of the motor (most likely needed) would be in the ballpark of $2300 (there is a chance we get lucky and the engine is fine). For roughly $3200, he's got rebuilt and ready to go Street ports engines. For $5k, he's got brand new Mazda Engines (not remanufactured). He also has a transmission from one of his cars that he replaced with a JDM transmission that I can buy. Part of me says to see how it is with a full bridge before spending the money for a street. Part of me says the engine has been sitting for so long, that a street port might be the smarter move, especially for long term reliability. Def. also replace the clutch if it sucks. My gut says to move away from the water/meth system because if it dies, my engine will be toast. While 525WHP sounds great, having had cars in the past with 500+HP, I know it's overkill for the street. I think with the weight of this car, the magic number is around 300-350 WHP.
Long term goals are simple:
Get the looks as close to stock as possible
Have a fun and "reliable" and restored FD
Keep this car indefinitely (I'm not looking to fix and flip)
I certainly would appreciate any and all feedback and advice if I missed anything. This is going to be fun and frustrating.
First off, I applaud you for saving an FD. We need to keep them all on the road. Some time and some TLC and this will be a fantastic car.
Once you tear into it get some more pics up!
I would probably get it running as it sits first. Being able to simply drive it around as it is will tell you a LOT about what the car will need, what you like/dislike, etc.
I would do new gas (There is a drain plug in the gas tank FYI), oil/filter, coolant, and gear and diff oil. Even if 3rd is broken you should be able to just skip that gear driving the car.
Thanks Dale! I was just reading your FAQ v1.3 on the Apexi FC last night as part of my research. I’m sure I’ll be asking a lot more questions in the coming months and look forward to your wealth of knowledge (and the search button). I wish I could start this tomorrow but alas I have a spinal fusion that’s getting in the way.
Finally got her home today and it's already been "fun"
The first challenge was getting her on and off the trailer. I had to remove the front bumper to get her onto a U-Haul Auto Trailer. My father in law, who lives near the seller, used his ATV winch so that part was easy. Once I made the 3 hour drive home, unloading her was a little more complex. Since the brakes barely worked and my driveway has a bit of a slope, I used a tow strap attached to the front of my buddies Jeep so he could lower me down the ramp. Once in the driveway, we pushed her in. Every time I turned the steering wheel, pieces of the dry rotted tires, which still held air, fell/rubbed off on the driveway. The U-haul trailers are great by the way. Long ramps, good load height, built in front tire straps, and automatic hydraulic braking. My Jeep Grand Cherokee didn't even break a sweat towing the combined 5000lbs. For $55 a day, it's a bargain.
I gave a her a good hit with the pressure washer to get some of the built up dirt off of her. Even with a little pressure from the hose, the seals around the windshield basically fell apart. I then vacuumed the entire interior. There were small rodent droppings in random places so I know I'm going to need to pull the carpet and steam clean the crap out of it. I also found no less than 4 dead lizards, mostly half decomposed, along with 2 Skeltons of what I think might have been a small frog. I should have taken photos but I just wanted it cleaned out. Overall, the interior is in very good condition as you can see from the attached photos. I left her out over night hoping anything calling it home that didn't fall out on the ride home or survived the pressure wash would make a new home outside my house vs. in my garage.
The next step tonight was to put a battery in and see if she'd even power up. As I was putting a battery in, I saw a spider about half the size of my hand, scurry towards the engine. I may or may not have screamed like a girl. I grabbed my household pest spray, went to spray the damn thing, and the nozzle came off the sprayer and it was useless. At this point, the spider knows I'm coming for him and I proceed to chase it around my garage with a shoe in one hand. He's no longer with us.
Now..back to the battery. Got it plugged in and she powered right up. The odometer read 45,429. A bit off from the estimated 42k miles the seller told me but in fairness to him, the car hadn't been started in 5 years. Still, not bad for a 25 year old car. I was tempted to turn the fan on, but then I was afraid of what smell (or thing) would blow out. I'll save the for another day. The power windows still work, but the passenger one is slow/weak. Maybe it needs some lube or maybe the motor is just on its last leg. Also, the doors don't lock. Drivers side door key turns but the lock on the interior barely moves. The passenger side lock has what appears to be broken plastic in the lock. I can't even get the key in.
I was all set to call it night when I saw ants all over the roof. They were crawling up around the front and rear windshield were the seals were. Clearly, somewhere deeper in this car, there is a colony (or what's left of one) as there were quite a few of them. Very tiny guys...had to really get close to see them. I laid out some ant bait traps and as of about 20 minutes ago, they are going to town like it's a buffet. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have less of an ant problem. Ugh.
I have to say, looking at her today, I'm a bit overwhelmed already with the amount of work this will take. I think my next step is to drain the gas ASAP. When I turned on the car, the fuel gauge was on E, but does the car need to be fully running for the gauge to work (if it works at all)? When I was coming off the trailer, I could totally hear a fluid sloshing behind the drivers seat so I'm quite sure there is still a decent amount of gas. I just don't know much but if it's more than 5 gallons, it's going to be a pain to drain 5 gallons, take her to the local chemical disposal place, come back and repeat until it's empty...
For the ugly stories about dead animals, skeletons, ants, spiders, and what not, I was surprise that the interior looks so good! Repaint looks decent from 4 states away. If you're keeping the paint, make sure you know what color it is from PO. Taste in steering wheels is personal, as is speaker grills, and that flying M on the hatch panel. Hmmm. Looking forward to your updates.
Does it turn over? If so, check compression. It may be good enough to run. If it is, put in new plugs and see if it starts.
I haven't tried yet, but I don't think it's ready for that. I went to remove the (totally 90's) subwoofer setup in the trunk to get to the fuel pump access and found a spare tire well FULL of water. I have no idea how long it's been sitting but it was pretty gross. The PO however had the entire car dynamatted and so the dynamat probably saved the trunk from rusting as that dynamat is still stuck on there and ain't going anywhere. I found some videos on YouTube on how to remove it with dry ice. I want to check the tank before I try and start her. Who knows what rust or filth is in there. Also, the PO said it needs a new ignition solenoid so there''s that. I got under the car briefly and knocked on the tank and it sounds empty but I know the previous owner didn't drain it so either it's got a crack and leaked or there is just not much in there.
Honestly, i'm struggling to figure out what needs to get done and in what order. Do I just take every panel off and get everything replaced (hoses, brakes, etc.) and then take her to the Rotorsports Racing for the engine/transmission work or do I do the bare minimum (fluids) and fuel system and then try to turn her over? I feel like I should remove every panel and dynmat to check for rust or hidden leaks.
Also, there are a few small areas around the door edges where paint has come off and there is rust. I can probably sand the rust off or use some baking soda paste, but what should I do to seal that area to stop it from rusting? Overall the paint looks pretty decent but there are very parts that have rust in the engine bay (mostly around bolts) and probably under the chassis. Now that it's garaged, it's out of the elements, but I still want to stop what I can with the rust. I'm having neck surgery tomorrow so I'll be a few weeks removed from being able to touch the car :-(
Surprise!
You can see the areas of that have some rust in the engine bay
For the ugly stories about dead animals, skeletons, ants, spiders, and what not, I was surprise that the interior looks so good! Repaint looks decent from 4 states away. If you're keeping the paint, make sure you know what color it is from PO. Taste in steering wheels is personal, as is speaker grills, and that flying M on the hatch panel. Hmmm. Looking forward to your updates.
The PO bought the car in this silver color but the VIN comes back with it originally being dark blue. I'd rather put an OEM steering wheel (with an airbag) back on there but I suspect that might be hard to come by so I'll keep that for now. The entire stereo will eventually be replaced. I take it the M on the hatch panel isn't supposed to be there? Maybe it came of the hood since it doesn't have a factory hood (which also needs to be replaced)
If the turbo is seized, then I’d take a educated guess and say the motor is seized. She must have starved from oil deprivation. Don’t waste anymore time on the motor, it’s trash at this point. You can drive the car without 3rd gear, you can’t drive it without oil.
If the turbo is seized, then I’d take a educated guess and say the motor is seized. She must have starved from oil deprivation. Don’t waste anymore time on the motor, it’s trash at this point. You can drive the car without 3rd gear, you can’t drive it without oil.
Yeh. The goal is to fix everything I can minus the motor and tranny. I’m going to get a rebuilt street port motor from Rotorsports once I get everything else resolved. At least that’s the plan. That turbo is probably way too big for the amount of HP I’d like it deliver so I’m guessing I would go smaller so there would be less lag.
Honestly, i'm struggling to figure out what needs to get done and in what order. Do I just take every panel off and get everything replaced (hoses, brakes, etc.) and then take her to the Rotorsports Racing for the engine/transmission work or do I do the bare minimum (fluids) and fuel system and then try to turn her over? I feel like I should remove every panel and dynmat to check for rust or hidden leaks.
i would see if the engine spins, if yes, try to start it. if it runs, then work on everything else. if not, start there?
the turbo is lame, its probably full of spiders, or something, it probably would be ok (in the short term) just being cleaned out, and spinning freely. if the turbo is actually damaged, i guess it tells you why the car was parked for so long.
The shitty part, which I’m encountering as well, is finding replacement parts for the interior...especially because you have tan. My advice is to take the entire interior out of the car for inspection/cleaning while killing off any colonies inside. That will be a good start so you know what needs to be replaced and what can be salvaged. Please be very careful because all the plastic pieces are known to break very easily and are hell to replace. That will also give you a chance to pull those speaker wires too.
Good luck with this build! I admire your dedication and I’ll be keeping an eye on this post to see how far along you can bring her. When my FD is done, I’ll be looking to rescue another so I’ll probably follow a lot of your path.
Yeh. I'm going to remove every panel on the interior at some point and probably steam clean the crap out of the carpet. At this point, I think l living creatures inside are gone or dead. I haven't seen ants in days since I put out the poison traps.
The PO owner went nuts with dynamat. Some of those speaker/amp wires are buried under dynamat which will be a pain to remove. I also removed the headlights and found the most redneck wiring job. Nothing was done using connectors. It's wire nuts and electrical tape...ugh.
I just ordered a bunch of PB Blaster from Amazon. Going to soak every bolt before I start removing things so I don't strip anything. A buddy who lives across the street has rebuilt a bunch of cars (mostly Vettes and EVO's) so he's going to be a good asset to help. His buddy rebuilt an FD so we have him to lean on even though he's not local.
Where are you located in NC? I'm from Wilmington and my mom lives in Greensboro. More than likely I'll be there a few times a year...can't say I'll be driving the FD all that way tho.
Where are you located in NC? I'm from Wilmington and my mom lives in Greensboro. More than likely I'll be there a few times a year...can't say I'll be driving the FD all that way tho.
If the story is true that he blew 3rd gear in the trans and parked it, then i would think everything would still be good. I see a lot of just surface rust from sitting, nothing too big of a deal or anything major.
My vote is to pull the plugs, fog the motor with oil, turn it over by hand, put new sacrificial oem plugs back in and try to start it.
I wouldn't worry about the turbo, even with my car sitting for months the turbo doesn't want to move when its first started, it might just need a heat cycle to free it up.
If it runs, then definitely drain the the oil and coolant and flush it several times. Internal corrosion from coolant leaks is the #1 killer of engines that have been sitting.
If the story is true that he blew 3rd gear in the trans and parked it, then i would think everything would still be good. I see a lot of just surface rust from sitting, nothing too big of a deal or anything major.
My vote is to pull the plugs, fog the motor with oil, turn it over by hand, put new sacrificial oem plugs back in and try to start it.
I wouldn't worry about the turbo, even with my car sitting for months the turbo doesn't want to move when its first started, it might just need a heat cycle to free it up.
If it runs, then definitely drain the the oil and coolant and flush it several times. Internal corrosion from coolant leaks is the #1 killer of engines that have been sitting.
What do you mean by “fog the motor with oil”? Also, I still need to check the fuel tank/fuel pump for rust (and holes). Should I replace the fuel tank first before I try to start the car with potential rust in the fuel system?
What do you mean by “fog the motor with oil”? Also, I still need to check the fuel tank/fuel pump for rust (and holes). Should I replace the fuel tank first before I try to start the car with potential rust in the fuel system?
By fog i just mean pour/spray/squirt some oil inside the engine via the spark plugs. You can use motor oil, atf, marvel mystery oil it does't matter, the oil is there to lube everything up and, more importantly, build compression so the engine can start. Also use the starter to turn the motor over to verify oil pressure during this time.
For the fuel you just need to remove a feed line and put it in a clear container, then jump the fuel pump via the diagnostic port in the engine bay. You just take a wire/paper clip/ probes, or whatever and touch the ground (GND) to the fuel pump (F/P) From there you can look at the gas that came out. If it is bad rusty you should stop there and drop the tank. If its just a little dirty or old and smelly just pump the remainder out, put fresh gas in, and flush again until good.
Having a NA rx7 around is the perfect candidate to dispose of smelly old fuel as they will burn it without issue.
So I finally pulled some of Dynamat off and go access to the fuel pump access panel and I see some unplugged connectors. Anyone have any idea what they might be for?
What are these unplugged connectors for?
Having a tough time getting the white connector off...dont wanna force and break it...
Does it turn over? If so, check compression. It may be good enough to run. If it is, put in new plugs and see if it starts.
I got my breaker bar from Amazon and the engine does turn when I put a socket on the drive belt pulley. I haven't tried to start it yet but I least I know it will turn...that's progress...
Pulled the wheel off and what a PITA that was. The PO had wheel locks on EVERY bolt...and didn't have the key. Took me an impact wrench, bolt extractor sockets, 12 point sockets, and a breaker bar to get them all off. Never again.
Anyways, aside from rusted rotors which will get replaced, any thoughts on the how the suspension bits look? I see some rust but I *think* it's mostly surface rust...
That look surprisingly good for sitting in a field. For the rotors you can probably get away with a good sandblast and then hit the other things with a wire wheel or scotch-brite pad and then spray with a rust reforming paint to stop the deterioration for now.
