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Let me start this thread off by saying I didn't think this was actually going to happen. In fact, I had assumed I'd be making a build thread in the 2nd Generation forum.
I've been shopping for a turbo II for about 6 months. I'd even bought plane tickets to fly to Arizona to pickup a really clean 91, but i missed my flight and things fell apart. In my feverish searching on craiglist, autotrader, ebay and facebook marketplace multiple times per day I'd seen FDs and the pricing on them heading into 2021 seemed like I was being priced out of ownership. I wanted one badly, but i had put my lust aside knowing that the JDM classic car that i knew i COULD afford was likely a Turbo II and I was falling more in love with them as I sought them out. But ironically, it seems they too are destined for the stratosphere in pricing and finding a clean variety is becoming extremely hard to come by. I'd owned a 1988 GXL back in 2007 and LS1 swapped it. At the time I had absolutely no love for the rotary, as LS swapping was all the rage, and pooing all over the rotary was like a meme, before memes were actually a thing. I then graduated into a SUPER clean 93 touring that I again LS1 swapped. I look back in serious regret having sold that car. I now know just how valuable and rare these cars are becoming and pictures remind me just how stupid I was back then. As I get older, and hopefully wiser, I have begun to appreciate the rotary for what it is: a unique, sometimes misunderstood, often mistreated engineering marvel. The engineer in me badly wants to sort this problem child out, preserve and enjoy it. Pictures before i further digress...
My 93 touring, swapped, circa 2010
OK so stage set, I'm still in my mad dash searching every nook of the internet for the elusive Turbo II that fits my bill. Facebook marketplace search is absolute trash, and anyone who's used it knows your search terms don't really mean anything. Unrelated items will pop up higher in the sort than the term you'd actually searched! I paid little attention to notifications Facebook also sends me because, again, their algorithms are just trash. However this morning I had decided to click the bell and sure enough, 23 mins ago, an FD had popped up in California for pre-covid, hell, pre 2018 prices.
The story goes, as the title alludes, that this car was purchased by the owner in 2001, right when The Fast and the Furious had come out. He had decided he wanted a way to bond with his boy. They bought this car from a wrecking yard after being totaled out. I was told it had a fender and a hood replaced, and that there was no frame damage. The car more or less sat for the following 19 years in a garage, as it turns out his son wasn't really into cars. The ad said it ran until one day it didn't and the fuel pump had died. They dropped the tank and it was clogged with rust. In my rush to get to the words "I want to buy it" I was dying to blurt out I didn't get much more information.
I dropped everything and made arrangements to buy the car sight unseen and purely on the good faith of the kind people on the other end of the phone. I knew that despite any issues with the car, just securing A CAR before the dogpile of offers came in was crucial. A phone call to a friend and we were set for heading to central Cali, pickup the car, and head back in one stint. Begin the adventure. I secured a U haul trailer and we left at 4am the following morning.
Driving nearly non-stop but for fuel and a bite, 12 hours later we arrived. The cars tires needed air, we had to remove the bumper to clear the trailer, and it had to be winched. Luckily I'd prepared in my head all these scenarios so I came prepared with the right tools. What I HADN'T prepared for was 106 degree heat, and the tight timeline of getting back home as quickly as possible. We mad rushed the car onto the trailer, threw the cash into her hand and we were out of there. I barely even got to survey the car I'd just bought. I just knew much longer pushing a car around in that heat and I'd be dead.
We bombed it all the way home in another 12 hour stint, rounding out one of the longest and exhausting days of my life. OK so my silly story isn't why you're here, but I wanted to document this chain of events before i forget it all.
So here's how the car stands:
1993 Black R1
Cwest style kit all around
Painted flat black (F&F era)
2 20" wheels, 2 G35 wheels (2 lug nuts holding these wheels on!)
Steering wheel with NOS BUTTONS (not hooked to anything)
Front mount intercooler
Silicone hoses (not finished)
Battery relocated
Some kind of hybrid s2000 exhaust?
No gas tank - I didn't know this until we made it home!
Interior is 90% there, trunk had some funky stereo system that needs torn out.
So it isn't the pristine, clean FD I'd love to have, but it's the one that came to me and I know i can fix it. I plan to get a fuel tank back into the car first, do the general maintenance and see if the engine runs. The body kit is coming off, and I plan to do a 99+ look for the most part. I've removed the front mount and plan to redo things into a Vmount. I have a lot more researching to do since it's been so long since I've dealt with these cars. Just looking the car over, and sitting in it is flooding me with memories from 2010 of my old car. Now it's time to take this car out of the time machine, Un-FastandFurious it (that's a word) and make it just how i want it. This is going to be a fun build.
I think you have to share what you spent for it . I have a feeling you scooped up a good deal!
Do you know the mileage on the car?
I'd do the following to start getting it in shape -
- check oil and coolant. If both are full up you are good. If not, find out why. Go ahead and change oil and filter.
- Hook up battery and check over general electrical stuff - see what the odometer says.
- Get some oil into the engine. Pull the plugs and use the plug holes. I'd also put some new plugs in.
- Pull EGI fuse and see if the engine will turn over. I'd also think about doing a compression test if it will get that far.
That will give you a good baseline as to what the car will need to run. No sense buying a gas tank and everything when you first have to do something about a blown engine.
I'd also figure out what all the car has mod-wise. I can see it had some sort of intake and the obvious (really crappy) front mount. Does it have downpipe/midpipe/cat-back? Does it have a stock ECU or chipped ECU or PowerFC?
Oh FYI the AC dryer is laid down flat - it isn't designed to work like that, that will cause problems with the AC working. Of course that's like step 532 and you're on step 2 .
If the battery was re-located go over that wiring carefully. 90% of the relocation jobs I've seen have been crap.
Good luck with the project! You have a good base to start with - the car is pretty much all there, body is relatively straight, and it's a no-sunroof car. Just be realistic with your plans, and GET IT RUNNING AND DRIVING before going off the deep end.
I think you have to share what you spent for it . I have a feeling you scooped up a good deal!
Do you know the mileage on the car?
I'd do the following to start getting it in shape -
- check oil and coolant. If both are full up you are good. If not, find out why. Go ahead and change oil and filter.
- Hook up battery and check over general electrical stuff - see what the odometer says.
- Get some oil into the engine. Pull the plugs and use the plug holes. I'd also put some new plugs in.
- Pull EGI fuse and see if the engine will turn over. I'd also think about doing a compression test if it will get that far.
That will give you a good baseline as to what the car will need to run. No sense buying a gas tank and everything when you first have to do something about a blown engine.
I'd also figure out what all the car has mod-wise. I can see it had some sort of intake and the obvious (really crappy) front mount. Does it have downpipe/midpipe/cat-back? Does it have a stock ECU or chipped ECU or PowerFC?
Oh FYI the AC dryer is laid down flat - it isn't designed to work like that, that will cause problems with the AC working. Of course that's like step 532 and you're on step 2 .
If the battery was re-located go over that wiring carefully. 90% of the relocation jobs I've seen have been crap.
Good luck with the project! You have a good base to start with - the car is pretty much all there, body is relatively straight, and it's a no-sunroof car. Just be realistic with your plans, and GET IT RUNNING AND DRIVING before going off the deep end.
Dale
Everyone wants to know - $8k
Thanks for the comment Dale. As a quick side note I'm bittersweet on how forums have turned out. I was into car forums in the early 2000's. The stickies, the build threads, the tech information was all so well documented and people were sharing and collaborating. Since everything has moved to Facebook it's all gone completely to crap. I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon but the facts are the facts. Facebook is terrible for archiving data. It's just a regurgitation of the same posts over and over since there's no way for archived info to be researched. Having said that, it's partly why I'm returning to make a build thread and also why I'm glad to see some long time and dedicated members still around contributing.
I hooked up a battery and tested most of the circuits without trying to start the car. High beams do not work. Odometer reads 117k.
Engine has oil, proper level. Looks ok. There was very little coolant when i removed the radiator. AST port is also not plugged on the fill neck.
I turned the engine by hand with a 19mm on the crank, and it spins very freely. I will pull the plugs next and oil the chambers down
The car doesn't appear to have any tuning, but i haven't cracked into the ECU area yet. No PFC. There was a set of BOVs that they tried installing and also sort of gave up. Car has some off brand intake setup that again, was unfinished.
I do see a downpipe, into a cat and muffler. I don't recall what the factory setup looks like so not sure what to reference.
The AC was upright from that silly front mount arrangement. I plan to revert this to Vmount and luckily it looks like the lines will bend back down to place it correctly.
So the body kit came off, and i found the rogue fender
There are a few holes to fill where rivets were used, but at this point the car needs a full repaint.
I'm trying to track down an OEM rear bumper. I've decided i want a 99 front bumper. Who has the best price for the front bumper plus the rebar?
The car came with Stanley 99 front lights (keeping those) and JDM tails which is a plus.
Congrats on the find. Not sure if it's the best price but I bought my 99 front bumper from rx7.com. I checked prices including shipping before I decided.
Last edited by Lupin3rd; 07-16-21 at 02:53 PM.
Reason: Missed a word
Thanks for the comment Dale. As a quick side note I'm bittersweet on how forums have turned out. I was into car forums in the early 2000's. The stickies, the build threads, the tech information was all so well documented and people were sharing and collaborating. Since everything has moved to Facebook it's all gone completely to crap. I feel like a bit of a curmudgeon but the facts are the facts. Facebook is terrible for archiving data. It's just a regurgitation of the same posts over and over since there's no way for archived info to be researched. Having said that, it's partly why I'm returning to make a build thread and also why I'm glad to see some long time and dedicated members still around contributing.
Could not agree more, and I'm hoping there is a bit of a forum / build thread renaissance going on, as you're spot on, social media is crap for archiving things to refer back to later!
Looks like you've scored a great project for a great price, looking forward to following your progress :-).
Not a ton of progress on the car, been working some other projects, but they will aid ultimately in getting this FD fixed faster.
For the longest time I've wanted to have a lift, and after months of waiting after ordering it's finally here and in. I have a few hydraulic leaks to chase down which is frustrating, but hopefully i can get it in use soon.
I also tracked down a fuel tank in France, of all places, and received it quickly. Happy that it is 100% complete and I'm not chasing a lot of the ancillary parts that are NLA.
I'm lucky enough to live about 30 mins from Atkins Rotary, so i took a little trip out there in the FB to pickup some parts. Cool seeing their operation in person.
A couple of parts for the FB.
For the FD:
Headlight lid
Drivers door sill
Outside window trim clips
Still trying to hunt down some seat belts, and a rear OEM bumper.
Next steps are installing the fuel tank, cleaning out the lines, changing the fuel filter and trying to start the engine. We'll assess where to go from there.
The gas tank install was very straight forward, the previous owner didn't make it difficult by monkeying too much up, and the seller of that tank included absolutely everything.
We went through all the vacuum lines, validated they are plugged into the right solenoids and ports. At this point i need to find some of the chrome domed nuts and intake bolt. Need a few gaskets and should be able to put the top end all back together.
I was able to find a rear bumper, and a short 6 hour round trip later:
It is missing the drivers side bracket, but luckily those are still available through Mazda.
I also got a very exciting shipment in
99 bumper, support, undertray and lip.
The one difficult part holding up the install of these parts are all the bumper brackets. It looks like there are several and most are available from Mazda, but I'm hoping to find a part-out, or someone selling a factory bumper with all the brackets that i can take from first, before spending the big coin on the OEM parts.
Quickly mocked up, excited about making progress
So what's next?
Well, wheels seem to be on permanent covid-blamed unavailability. This has been extremely frustrating, but still checking inventories as often as I can. Some lesser wheels I'm not excited for are in stock, and maybe I'll have to compromise for the time being until what I really want is back in stock.
Speaking of budgets and delays/waiting for parts, I've decided I'm going to put together my own V-mount kit, rather than the Greddy. While I know that kit is really well made, the cost is eye watering for what you get, and I'm confident i can fabricate well enough to save some cash. I'll likely get a universal style intercooler and make work with some tubes and couplers i already have. A radiator shouldn't be too difficult to figure out either, so more to come on that front.
Great progress, I bought all OEM body parts too in terms of the 99 spec front bumper, the wing I bought from graamotoring. Just waiting on that, the prolite flywheel and the greddy v mount. If you can fab it yourself, definitely not a bad idea. I ordered mine over 2 months ago and still am waiting on it with no estimated ship time in sight...
Really holding back the finish process but hopefully will be worth it.
Just FYI the Greddy kit wins because it's plug and play. A good weekend or less and you can have it all installed and the car running. Fabbing your own setup will eat a LOT of time and frustration. That kit is fairly priced for what you get.
I have a Blitz front mount on my car that I bought used with most of the brackets missing. I spent a good month installing that setup - hell, I remember one Saturday spending the whole day just to fab 2 brackets. But, all that work paid off -it's been a dead reliable setup since it's been installed.
Well, wheels seem to be on permanent covid-blamed unavailability. This has been extremely frustrating, but still checking inventories as often as I can. Some lesser wheels I'm not excited for are in stock, and maybe I'll have to compromise for the time being until what I really want is back in stock.
I had the same issue last year and ended up getting wheels used from Japan. Used BBS RGRs. Even with the DHL shipping it was not too bad and I didn't have to wait any longer.
I third the jap wheel dilemma. Took me a few months of hits and misses on the dumpster fire that is facebook marketplace to realize I should just buy new ones, then I find everything is on back order for 6 mos+. Just recently managed to snag a set of new FD fitment Weds. Last set in the US I was told. Good luck with this build, interested to see where things go. Reminds me a bit of where mine started. Sub'd
The gas tank install was very straight forward, the previous owner didn't make it difficult by monkeying too much up, and the seller of that tank included absolutely everything.
We went through all the vacuum lines, validated they are plugged into the right solenoids and ports. At this point i need to find some of the chrome domed nuts and intake bolt. Need a few gaskets and should be able to put the top end all back together.
I was able to find a rear bumper, and a short 6 hour round trip later:
It is missing the drivers side bracket, but luckily those are still available through Mazda.
I also got a very exciting shipment in
99 bumper, support, undertray and lip.
The one difficult part holding up the install of these parts are all the bumper brackets. It looks like there are several and most are available from Mazda, but I'm hoping to find a part-out, or someone selling a factory bumper with all the brackets that i can take from first, before spending the big coin on the OEM parts.
Quickly mocked up, excited about making progress
So what's next?
Well, wheels seem to be on permanent covid-blamed unavailability. This has been extremely frustrating, but still checking inventories as often as I can. Some lesser wheels I'm not excited for are in stock, and maybe I'll have to compromise for the time being until what I really want is back in stock.
Speaking of budgets and delays/waiting for parts, I've decided I'm going to put together my own V-mount kit, rather than the Greddy. While I know that kit is really well made, the cost is eye watering for what you get, and I'm confident i can fabricate well enough to save some cash. I'll likely get a universal style intercooler and make work with some tubes and couplers i already have. A radiator shouldn't be too difficult to figure out either, so more to come on that front.
Build looks awesome so far. Where did you source the rear OEM bumper and brackets and also that 99 spec and parts? My build has some aftermarket ones I am looking to put back to OEM style soon.
Looks awesome. Ari from RX7 said that you can get anybodyshop to find the brackets for you. I remember finding the non-OEM ones off Amazon, but forgot what they were called.
Someone with more knowledge can share, and he stated the non-99 spec front bumper's brackets should work on this too.
Build looks awesome so far. Where did you source the rear OEM bumper and brackets and also that 99 spec and parts? My build has some aftermarket ones I am looking to put back to OEM style soon.
-milly
The rear bumper was OEM from a guy i found from facebook. It's still missing one of the rear bumper brackets but i believe they're still available.
Originally Posted by Jatt
Looks awesome. Ari from RX7 said that you can get anybodyshop to find the brackets for you. I remember finding the non-OEM ones off Amazon, but forgot what they were called.
Someone with more knowledge can share, and he stated the non-99 spec front bumper's brackets should work on this too.
I bought all the 99 stuff from rx7.com (ari). Came pretty fast, so I'm impressed.
There's an OEM front bumper in California that i wish i could snag for all the brackets, but shipping it isn't economical, and it's just too far to drive. That would be the plan, to strip the brackets off a 93-95 bumper and just reuse them.
Looks awesome. Ari from RX7 said that you can get anybodyshop to find the brackets for you. I remember finding the non-OEM ones off Amazon, but forgot what they were called.
Someone with more knowledge can share, and he stated the non-99 spec front bumper's brackets should work on this too.
Originally Posted by GtiKyle
The rear bumper was OEM from a guy i found from facebook. It's still missing one of the rear bumper brackets but i believe they're still available.
I bought all the 99 stuff from rx7.com (ari). Came pretty fast, so I'm impressed.
There's an OEM front bumper in California that i wish i could snag for all the brackets, but shipping it isn't economical, and it's just too far to drive. That would be the plan, to strip the brackets off a 93-95 bumper and just reuse them.
I feel bad. I haven't disappeared or scrapped this car. I meant to finish up another project, then come cranking on the FD. I've been neglecting my projects entirely due to the holidays, weather etc.
Things have been hectic, so what do i do? Buy another car.
OK, so at risk of my wife completely killing me, I couldn't pass up on the 5 letter. It just begged to be saved. But as you can imagine, this isn't helping my situation finishing anything.
I actually had to go buy wheel skates for the FD, so i could shoehorn another car into the garage. This further frustrated me as you can see, in that i cannot walk around, or work on any of the cars. The white FB now is outside, so let's get back to the FD.
I finally did get some wheels, and I'm pretty happy with the look. Always loved 5 spoke.
So diving into finding out if this car will run.
This has me a little concerned. The previous owner left the coolant cap off, and years of sitting, corrosion set in. For those that have watched Rob Dahms' video on his Turbo2 that sat for years, I fear I'm in for the same nasty surprise.
I think I'm going to be doing several flushes, and carefully run the car in case there are blockages. I'll take it slow, because i really don't want to yank the engine and tear it open. We'll see how it goes.
Onto trying to start this thing. Key on, no fuel. I hit it with a little starting fluid and BAM, it came to life. Feeling really good about that!
Started with replacing the fuel filter. It wasn't as bad as i was reading about, thankfully. However, the filter was mostly dry, so it lead me to believe the pump was not running. I checked the voltages, and we're getting 10ish volts on crank. OK.
Started back tracing and it seems like the fuel pump is dead. I had a spare Supra TT pump that is a direct drop in, luckily, so that was swapped.
Fire extinguisher on hand, tried starting the car. After a few attempts I'm getting sputtering, but no light off. I'm guessing this goes back to the story from the previous owner where it "just stopped running one day". I'm suspecting since it runs just fine on the spray that the injectors are likely clogged.
I'm pausing here to do some research tonight. I'd already spent about 3 hours verifying the previous owners hose routing job (actually not bad, despite the dreadful color scheme). I'm really not looking forward to undoing the rats nest to access the fuel injectors to get them sent out for cleaning, but I don't think there's any way around that. Any advice on this would be appreciated. My goal is to not change too many things all at once, so i can hopefully get this running and fix things as I go. I know if I do the "while I'm in there", I'll end up full single turbo, blah blah. Slippery slope.
07-15-21, 11:12 PM
. I have a feeling you scooped up a good deal!
