I've grown a habit over the years to document what I work on. If you want to (and are bored enough to) read more thorough commentary, I will be updating everything in-depth on my personal blog site:

RX-7 | Grand Mighty

In the interest of not duplicating information, I will simply post quick highlights in this thread.


Now onto the car... I picked it up a few months ago from a venerable member here on the forums (anyone recognize the car?)



My ultimate goal was to find a low mileage and preserved R2, preferably in stock form. Unfortunately finding such a car that meets every criteria is hard/near impossible. This particular R2 had all the right stats, with the exception of body mods that I did not favor and thus required addressing.

Within three days of receiving the car, I took care of the smog + registration and then dropped it off to a body shop. At first I just wanted to remove the spoiler and wing:





But it turned out to be a rather complex affair and the whole car ended up being repainted/recleared.

Epoxy was gratuitously used to install the sideskirts, and this is where things was just starting to get expensive.




Fast forward 6 weeks after a LOT of work and a small fortune later... the car looks exactly the same, just with a different spoiler and no sideskirts! I am speaking only semi-sarcastically because I think a GOOD paint job should not throw off any alarms that the car was actually repainted in the first place.

My camera can't really do any justice to show the results, but here is the car when I brought it back home yesterday.






That's all for now, stay tuned!

 

Great blog setup

 

Wasn't grandmighty the name of a previous blog where the owner built and chronicled the epic MB build? Are you the same guy?

Great start, super clean.

 

Thanks guys... and projectfd.com was mine. It expired on me and someone else bought the domain name, otherwise I would have continued on it.






I have ambitions to do this Black R2 to a much higher level, although it will more "sedate" than my old MB

 

So stoked to see you back into an fd. Your blog had a huge impact in convincing me to take the plunge on one myself. Welcome back!!

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sold your last FD because you were tired that modding became who could buy the nicest parts? No disrespect....I'm curious, what brought you back? Looking forward to your new build.

 

Thanks buddy, good choice on getting an FD and good luck with yours

I don't believe so, but who knows, I've said a lot of things Cars have been a rollercoaster ride for me, an extreme case of trial and error. I don't think that way now, because even buying the right nice parts requires skill LOL

The main reason why I sold my last FD stems from my neurosis. I was never quite happy with some of the little things on it, and they were enough to add up. I tried to make it work, but in the end, didn't feel like it was worth keeping. For example, the tan interior, the sunroof, etc.

And also because I wanted to try something new and got into motorcycles. When I realized you can't have just a motorcycle, I got a Miata which sucked and I lost a lot of money on that. Then I became jaded and decided to depart from the whole JDM thing and tried out a newer BMW, which was cool at first but just didn't feel right.

Finally, after going through 10 cars, I realized that the FD is the car that just feels "right" for me. I guess I'm not really the type to drive a fancy European luxury car, so Mazda it is


I've been away from FDs for 2 years, and have done my fair share of experimenting. I'm done playing around and I think I've finally figured out the right combo with this R2, now it's all about the execution

 

Very nice project so far!

One thing to consider would be finding the '99 spec stock intake setup. The intake snorkel wraps around the hood latch and draws air from behind the front license plate. Stock, clean, and fits what you're doing.

Keep up the good work! BTW, your garage makes me DROOL - I'm crammed in a 1-car garage!

Dale

 

I appreciate the feedback! And Dale, good suggestion with the '99 intake, at the moment I just have a K&N filter shoved into the stock air box. My garage is not as wild as some, but I do love it. Although painting the epoxy floor was a huge pain, I'm finding it to be very, very useful now

Here's a quick recap of things...

Changed some oil



Threw on a Dimple magenetic drain plug




A couple glamour shots of my Type-II spoiler. It is a complex piece so props to Ken for producing this.





Center section lowered to the lowest setting:



I think this spoiler will be the one exterior item that stands out the most on the car. I originally had a carbon street diffuser on the car, but after taking it off to remove the exhaust last weekend... I've come to a decision to actually leave the diffuser off. Quite a hard choice to make (don't worry, I'll pull through... I've made harder choices in the past), but in the end I think it will be the right choice based on how I'm approaching this car


'99 Tail Lights

 

Looking clean, did you convert the stock tails or buy the 99-spec pieces (looks like the latter)?

 

They are authentic


Time for an update... next I installed blah blah blah blah blah blah FAST-FORWARD >>>







/end build thread

 

Great looking car!

Since you have a single turbo kit on order, I think this thread should continue.

Looking forward to progress pics.

 

Great build hope I can get mine looked that clean.

 

was your old forum name farkel? any pics of the yellow caged miata? ever since i saw it on your driveway with the MB FD parked in front of your driveway i knew one day i will get a caged miata haha


looking good, excited to see whats going to be done. as far as your garage, its insanely clean, but id expect nothing less after seeing your previous fd!

 

Beautiful car. I saw it when it was in VA and remember hating the wing, sideskirts, and wheels(at the time). I really like the direction your taking the car.

-Austin

 

Thanks All

Since Alper was kind enough to bump my thread up, I guess I can no longer bask in my laziness I'll try to get some updates in here and there...

Yes, that was me. That yellow Miata was jank... haha. Did its job, even though I drove it with no coolant most of the time since the radiator was busted. After going through so many Miatas, I don't think I'll ever get one again.

It was a major gamble to buy the car as it was. Unfortunately the bodywork ended up costing far more than originally anticipated, but no turning back now. As they say, you have to take big risks to reap big rewards.

 

really nice car ! I wanna know the sizes of your xd9 and tires.

 

They're 18x10 +38 and 18x10 +18 with 255/35 RS-R's all around (and currently for sale).

 

I LOVE JANKY.


but serious, can you pm me some pics of that miata lol I really do love it ahhaa

 

Eric

I am local in the Bay Area and would love to meet you sometime soon to see the car, maybe you attend some meets or are going out for drives, whatever works.

I am looking to formulate my own idea about FD, and your car is like a rich prototype of fabolous ideas.

Perhaps you could PM me, if you are open to meeting. I am in Campbell area.

 

No they are not

 

I think the investment is well worth it, considering how low the mileage is on it. Keep up the good work.

-Austin

 

Sorry, I only had maybe a handful of pictures of that car and they're gone now. I thought the car looked like an eyesore so I didn't want it saved on my computer

Cool, I'll get in touch. To be honest I've been a recluse from the car world these past years, but would like to see it more soon.

Fingers crossed it all goes to plan and they fit well. I'm excited to see the results. I know we have a bet of some sort going on, I can't lose it!!

Thank you sir



In other news, I forgot to dial down my swag and ended up with this thing.





Should make for a decent, cheap (price of a used PowerFC) daily beater, while the RX-7 sits in the garage and does nothing but suck up money, as usual


Going back to the RX-7, I had an ACT HDSS clutch + Prolite flywheel installed recently. The clutch pedal feels nice, it's stiffer but not overly so. I prefer it over the stock feel.



Am I the only one that thinks the Prolite flywheel did not make an immense difference? The revs do climb and drop faster, but not significantly. Starting from a stop felt about the same, in my opinion.

I guess I was hoping for even more, I would love it if the throttle response of the car could become almost telepathic.

 

Hey all,

Quick update. I've been busy this Winter.

Before:



Now:



And of course, a more in-depth look here :
Grand Mighty

 

Hey Eric, I need to check out the finish product on your ride! lol. As well as see what its like to be single turbo lol. I now work in Fremont so we should meet up sometime.