Mission Impossible
 

Why Mission Impossible? Because I own one of the three FDs available in my country. While it is great to own something so unique, it takes 2-3 times as long to source and get parts and cost 2-3 times as much so sometimes it feels like this project will never end.

I bought my RX7 2 years ago and it was in excellent condition with original 30k miles on the clock. Only the engine has been neglected a little due to lack of rotary knowledge of the previous owner and not having the right people work on the car. I have spent most of 2011 collecting parts and finding the right people to do the work and finally the time has come!

Parts list:
Brand new JDM engine (from Ray @ Malloy Mazda)
A-Spec GTX35R kit
2 x Tial MVR 44mm wastegate
Greddy SMIC
Koyo Radiator
Pettit AST
Apexi Power FC
HKS Twin Power
Fuel Injector Connection FIC2000 (Bosch EV-14) injectors
CJ-Motorsports secondary rail
NipponDenso Supra fuel pump
FC Thermoswitch
Pettit Starter Booster
Banzai Racing oil pan brace
Banzai Racing block-off kit
Engine torque brace
Dimple Magnetic Oil drain plug
Exedy Hyper Twin Plate clutch
B&M style short shifter
Pettit Stage 2 coilovers
Enkei RPF1 wheels
EBC Green stuff brake pads
RP solid diff mounts
SS brake lines
SS clutch hose
99 spec bumper & lip
99 spec rear spoiler

It is not complete but this is the list of main parts; more parts will be added soon. I am also mentioning some small parts in the list for reference to others and for shameless plug.

Nice! Good luck with the build and please continue to post up on the progress.

Thanks David. So far the engine and the gearbox are out. The engine bay will be painted to gloss red (VR) this week. I am thinking about doing a wire tuck but haven't decided yet. Even if I don't do a full wire tuck, there will be simplification of some of the fuses and wiring.

http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6...oto1kwp.th.jpg
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My engine bay is now nice and shiny:

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/3049/img2598x.jpg

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/1575/img2596cl.jpg

Bye bye antenna, you will not be missed:

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Test fitting the 99 spoiler, need to cover 2 holes and drill 2 holes:

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/1557/img2621zy.jpg

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/1858/img2622ly.jpg

Pulley kit arrived, along with oem boot shifter kit:

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/5618/img2600x.jpg

Been there before, just collecting a mass amount of parts to put on. The fun part is coming up!

Nice work with the engine bay, looking good!

Thanks. It's going slow atm, I got a little sidetracked with my new car and work but hopefully will pick up speed soon.

It's looking rally nice. Keep up the good work.

authentic 99 spoiler or replica?

engine bay looks supppper shiny!

Thanks guys.

The spoiler is VIS Racing replica because the oem spoiler doesn't come with carbon fiber centre piece. I noticed you can't tell from the pics though. I will take better pics later.

If you look carefully you'll notice a little dent near the passenger side tower. The painter forgot to fix that, so I'll have that fixed and painted before starting the installation. Although I'm not as big of a detail freak as some of you guys in the forum, I am still trying to pay attention to details.

Making some progress with the RX7.... I couldn't find a shop to polish the intake manifolds on time so I had the compressor housing, the LIM, the UIM and the alternator powder coated in chrome. I still have a spare LIM and UIM so I will keep searching for a shop to polish the parts this week otherwise I'll just use the powder coated ones.

Findings:
- GTX35R T4 1.06 exhaust housing is made by ATP and one of the bolt holes is too close to the housing body so we will have to do some machining but there really isn't much room.
- We also had to make some machining on the housing to fit oil feed.
- A-spec manifold's inner diameters are different in each hole of the flange due to welds. Mazda ports are 49mm but 45.5 at front and 43.5 at rear on the A-spec manifold flange.
- I didn't know Mazda stopped using paper gaskets for the oil pan on latest gen engines so I bought a Banzai Racing oil pan brace. It looked like there were 2 extra studs with the kit but will let you know later if they were used or if there were any extra drilling done.
- Definitely not using the Greddy SMIC, we will be doing a custom V-mount set-up.

http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/310/img3001f.jpg

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Electricians trying to decide how to go on about the wire tuck. Initial plan was to do everything when the engine was out since it'd be a cleaner job but later we decided to do the wire tuck after we install the new engine and make sure everything is working fine first. This will make the job harder but less chance of failure. I might chicken out and just do a battery relocation in the end.


http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9978/img3033x.jpg

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I like were this is going

subbed.

I was just thinking of measuring my manifolds inlets as well and comparing them to my exhaust ports because they look much smaller. Maybe this is not the right place for this but since you already noted it perhaps we can get an answer here.

Can anyone answer please, how much will it matter for back pressure and heat escaping that the exhaust dimensions do not line up?

Car and engine are looking great. Keep up the good work Alpsta.

clean whip!

Thanks guys.

Here is a summary of what has been done in the last couple of days:

First of all, I've chickened out of doing wire tuck because of possible future problems and troubleshooting difficulty etc. so I am going with the good old oem RX7 wiring except the relocated battery.

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/564...0724095749.jpg

Newly weds :)

http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/5...0724094724.jpg

Little things like cleaning and repainting parts slows us down but has to be done. Having the calipers repainted to bright red (brembo style). I will also have the centre of the rotors painted black as they look rusty atm.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/8...0724172012.jpg

Pettit TrakPro Stage 2 coilovers. I will adjust them on the car but for now I went with 8 clicks from softest in front and 6 clicks from softest in the rear. Btw I may be wrong but during full turn of adjustment know I counted 23 clicks and if I'm not mistaken these are supposed to have 24 clicks/adjustments.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/889...0724124743.jpg

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/6...0724131413.jpg

We forgot to take a photo of Exedy twin plate clutch installed and since no build thread is complete without it, I had to take this :)

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/1...0724102248.jpg

Up next:

Transmission tunnel will be covered with thick heat barrier/reflective sheet:

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3...0724093557.jpg

Also considering MaxiGauges in the din spot instead of buying too many gauges. Still researching.....

If there is 23 clicks then there is 24 settings. Before the first click is considered an adjustment.

Be careful with those coilovers. Unless they have fixed the design they will make contact with the rear upper control arm under full compression.

Fair enough. You're right I didn't pay attention to that I was just counting clicks.

Thanks. I've read about this in the Pettit coilover thread. My bushings are in good condition if this is a flex issue otherwise if they do touch I'll just trim the bottom of the coilover or the control arm.

Covering the transmission tunnel with a thick heat and sound barrier sheet..... It is not as flexible or easy to apply as thinner ones in the market but I think it'll do a better job.

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/7...0726wa0003.jpg

Better quality pics of the build so far:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/se...4136794&type=3

Please let me know if the link doesn't work.

Small update:

Engine is finally in. We had to shave just a little of the bottom of the coilovers as the fronts didn't seem to fit.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4...0730170422.jpg

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Did you know there is a spacer in the control arm that slides in and out? That's probably why you couldnt get the coilover in.

Oops, didn't know that but didn't look like there was a spacer.