Well I was starting to fill my intro thread with Tech details so I figured it was time to start a separate build thread.
Let this be the record of my naivety.
I'll try to keep a list of what's been done in this first post. but don't expect too much from this bulid. I respect what the Mazda engineers were trying to do and have no plans to go far beyond a working version of the FD.
this is my first RX-7 and my first time working on a rotary. there is nothing like learning a new car. you get to pick up so much stuff so fast its exhilarating. we'll i'm knee deep in this rotary stuff now, so far this is what I've found and what I've done.

August 2013:
-Bought the car
-drove it home (overheated on the way)
-checked compression to find two bad seals in the front rotor
-removed poorly installed inactive alarm
-removed HKS turbo timer that doesn't work
-installed proper front air directing pieces for 99 front bumper (under tray brake ducts etc.)
-replaced worn rear pillow *****
-fixed broken passenger side door pull

Here is the car the day i bought it.

 

Nice 7 what are your plans?

 

Please tell me those headlights are in a garbage dump somewhere.

 

Sharp looking FD otherwise, but the frog lights are like a huge wart in the middle of Scarlett Johansson's forehead

 

Yeah, hood and headlights are gone as soon as i can find some stock ones. the paint and body are just flawed enough that i don't have to feel bad about leaning on it or setting my bag down on it. all in all decent. wheels don't suit my taste or needs either so they will be replaced soon.

As for goals. I bought it to be a track toy and to run some errands around town. most of my modding resources will be aimed at beyond OEM reliability and durability. as far as I'm concerned it had just about all the performance it needed from the factory so if i can make stock power and not blow it up i'm happy. Maybe down the road I'll look at some of the 99+ updates, 16bit ecu, simplified vacuum, 4 channel abs etc. but for the time being I just want to drive a healthy car that i'm not afraid to put through its paces regularly.

I'm loving my Mazda Motorsports account. its been really easy to start checking things off the list.

 

You sound like you've got your head screwed on right Thats the best game plan I've heard in a while on here. No huge aircraft turbos. No space shuttle billet fuel system, no clunky aftermarket Ebay parts to fail. Just reliability and durability.
You get a thread a week about people's big single turbo cars having this problem or that, or some aftermarket part failing, and some catastrophic event related to a wildly modded car. Meanwhile you almost never hear about the cars that are built for reliability and durability ever being a problem.

My car has followed the same path as you described, and because its not wild and anodized billet everything, it doesnt get the love that the big single turbo cars get. But it also doesnt get all the problems either, and I can daily drive it with no issues, and I dont remember the last time I asked for help about the car, because its been very good to me. I just want 99 spec turbos, OEM rebuilt engine when the time comes, stock ECU and stock boost. A few additions for reliability, and some handling work to make it fast in a corner. And thats all I'll ever need.

Sounds like you got a winner and a game plan. I'm interested to see what she turns out like

 

Thanks SA3R. I've been a big fan of the FD for years and I admire and respect the engineering that went into them, I'm mainly interested in correcting the compromises that may have been made in order to mass produce such a potent and unique car.

Well, I did some more work (if it can even be called that). I've been frustrated just staring at the car when i want to be fixing it, but parts are slow to arrive and some vendors are slow to respond, so i do what i can with the knowledge, tools and parts i have available.
I've been reading a lot of threads about engine fires and it got me spooked, so i got down to biz on the engine bay with de-greaser and washed of any oil I could reach. I did the best i could until the engine comes out. I now keep a fire extinguisher in the diver side storage bin, so my mind is slightly more at ease.
I also tried cranking down the idle just to see if I could get it low enough to even consider a Smog check. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all the adjustments on the TB. by just turning the Air adjustment screw under the intake arm i got it down to 1500 steady. Not what i was hoping for, but better than 2300 and searching.
I'm currently trying to source a new (used) engine that will hold together while I learn to rebuild this one. ordered about 60ft of nitrile vacuum hose. hings under the UIM are pretty crispy so I'll go over that when i get the motor out. I'm starting a list of everything wrong with the car and things to fix, it's getting kind of long.

-Engine: low compression on two chambers in front rotor, high idle, hard hot start, coolant overflows into resevoir, stalls below 900rpm
-Transmission: 3rd gear grinds on fast shifts, second and fourth are hard before warmed up
-Brakes: ebrake cable is loose, RR caliper ebrake mechanism is seized, Faded pink paint on front calipers, needs flush and bleed
-Wheels: 18s rub front fenders during cornering, fenders have been "modified"(pulled, think oposite of rolled) to accommodate oversized/wrong off set wheel tire combo, wheels have locks and I don't have the key (yet)
-Interior: missing driver's door armrest pocket cover, some fitments issues with plastic panels, needs A/C service
-Body: Horrible hood and headlights (must go), drivers side fender has a small tear( cut?), rust spot in floorboard, oil cooler ducts don't fit 99 front (might be doing more harm than good)

 

started in on the linearization water gauge mod today. so far i've got this

20130911_015516_zpse3e90d59.jpg?t=1378890281

 

Front end ducting kouki compared to zenki





Even thought the engine is coming out, I decided to freshen up the cooling system a bit and see if it helps alleviate any symptoms.



I have a bad habit of getting too curious when I'm doing tear down for an install, this is what my car looked like an hour before i was planning to drive it to work.

I opted to take another car.


In the time I've owned it, the car has done one lap at an auto cross, the tires rubbed, the coolant overflowed, and the battery leaked.

I fixed the battery issue with an Optima and the rubbing issue with these



weighed the car out of curiosity, I was quite surprised to see both the weight and bias were pretty much as advertised.

 

I'm interested to see how this comes along. Good base to start though.

 

You've got good taste!
Change the turbo coolant lines while you're in there.

 

What size RG-Rs? Keep the pics coming

 

17x8 +40
17x9 +42
my first set of new wheels.

no pics today, but hopefully some more coming soon, front clip is coming this week with any luck and i can get some stuff checked off my list.

 

looks like you are going in the proper direction! Love the new wheel setup

 

and how was before transfer?

 

the coolant coming out when you autox is common. the filler neck that goes into the overflow reservoir just sits in it. It happens to my car when I autox as well. maybe some plastic cement would help but i havent worried about it.

 

if the only issue were the cornering forces splashing the coolant out of the reservoir, I'd be less concerned, but the reservoir will overflow just about every time i drive it in boost for more than a few miles. I'm pretty sure the issue is with the water seals letting exhaust gas pressurize the cooling system.

 

not sure I follow. the car is pretty much stock with a 99 front bumper but no bumper support, the headlights and hood are aftermarket, i'm not sure what the weight difference is to stock, but when i get the aluminum hood and OE headlights, i'll compare the weight. since i weighed it, I've put on lighter wheels and a different battery,not sure if there is a significant difference in overall weight.
total was around 2806-2808 with 3/4 tank of gas and spare, cross weight was 48.4%

 

it does sound like coolant seal failure

 

today was full of fail. I decided to replace the right rear caliper since the e-brake engagement lever was broken, After waiting 10 days for the re-manufactured part to arrive i find out that it is warped and i'll have to return it and probably wait another 10 days and probably endure some BS hassle along the way. i also kinked one of the stainless lines i was installing while I was fighting the caliper, so i ordered another set. spent about an hour trying to talk to a human on the phone who could tell me where the hell my front clip is and why its been sitting, for almost 2 days, 3 hours from the shop it was supposed to be delivered to five days ago. unsurprisingly no answers were had.
well with that out of the way tomorrow should be a better day.

 

finally got the brake lines installed, caliper replaced and air bled out. I ended up bleeding the brakes thrice, since the first time was unsatisfactory, and the second time accidentally got air in the MC, so the 3rd time around I bled the MC by itself then the rest of the system. brakes feel the same as before, not bad, but not great. I think I'm going to have to rebuild the master. now I've got an ABS light that comes on when i start moving, I'll have to check the sensors tomorrow.
The clip I bought is still sitting on a loading doc in LA just a few hours from me, so close yet so far. Apparently the shipping company was not OK with a clip being shipped without a crate or some protective barrier. The owner of the company I hired is now making a half assed attempt to convince the 3rd party he pawned it off on to complete the shippment by submitting a waiver of liability, I remain un-amused.

 

Damn those RG-R's look mighty fine!! Good luck with your build

 

Very interesting to see the physical differences between the early and later plastic engine bay undertray. Valuable info there.

 

yeah, I did a search but couldn't find anything conclusive about which bits were functionally different. in a pinch the older under tray and upper air dam can be modded to work, the brake ducts a pretty different though.

 

Still trying to get the shipping fiasco with the front clip sorted, apparently the carrier that was supposed to bring it the rest of the way didn't like the idea of moving something packaged in shrink wrap and floor mats.

In the mean time I am keeping busy with smaller jobs.
the brake lines are on and the new caliper lets me finally set the parking brake.


i greased the hinges on the door handles, I highly recommend this, it takes about 10 minutes to do and the handles no longer feel like they are going to break off when i open the door.