alexpatrick86

Hello all. Following on from my Introduction thread here - https://www.rx7club.com/introduce-yo...ey-uk-1077098/

I thought I'd post a little update on things...

Last year, AMT had the car and gave it a positive report so that's a big thumbs up! :thumbsup:

Whilst he had it we took the Blitz boost controller and the water/oil temp gauges out. It's back to standard boost now which is actually a relief as the boost controller was set to off and so running a bit under. Throttle response is sharper now and seems much nicer to drive. I'll be listing those bits here for a few days before I bung them on eBay so pm me if anyone is interested.

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I have received my Stoptech Discs and the Ferodo DS2500 pads now. I don't know if many are aware, but the DS2500's aren't actually road legal in the UK. I didn't realise till they came through. Box says it and if you look into it, all cars from 1999 need to have R90 certified pads, which the Ferodo DS2500's aren't. I'm going to send them back and get the Stoptech pads instead. Knowing my luck, something will happen and I'll get penalised for it one day lol.

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I had to send my clocks off to the calibrators to be re-looked at as the speedo was reading miles out . 80mph was indicated at 180mph which made acceleration look really exciting!

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I have also sent off my handbrake / gear stick gaiter and Mazda steering wheel for re-upholstering so once they're in it should tart the interior up a bit. Hopefully I'll have them back shortly.

The car was looking like a bit of a wreck inside.


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I purchased a Pioneer MVH-560BT headunit which is going to go in the glove box ,whilst the center console DIN hole is going to have a Nexus 7 put into it. Hopefully this should all be in and done in a week or so. I was umm'ing and rrr'ing between the DEH-80PRS, X9600BT and the 560BT. The 80prs looks to be best for sound, but didn't have Android USB compatibility. The 560BT swung it in the end as it uses the parrot chip, its only half depth as it doesn't have a cd drive, and it pretty much works with everything. Behind the dash this can charge and play music from the Nexus, and isn't very deep so will be perfect.

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Following the above, we went to Wilton Supercar & Classic in Salisbury last summer which was fantastic. Few shots of our cars in the car park

alexpatrick86

I had planned to implement a second generation Google Nexus 7 into the car. This will be going in the DIN slot. So, I need to make up a custom holder for said device so that I don’t have to butcher the center panel and all can be returned to stock if required.

So I need to get this, in here….





Template..


Shaaaaaaating


Mark out where circuit boards are going


Rough idea…



I thought I would also share with you some very special bits. I discovered a chap who re-trims car parts on a Celica Forum I used to be a part of. I finally got round to getting him to make some stuff for one of my cars, and where better to start than the steering wheel and gear/handbrake gairters! The wheel was one I bought form eBay at Christmas. Before buying the car!

So the wheel at the beginning..


And the wheel now..


Gaiters..






To say I’m chuffed with them is an understatement. They look fantastic and the smell of the leather is wonderful. These should certainly spruce the interior up no end. These with the added pleasure of a 7” media device in the middle is going to make such a change from how I received the car.

alexpatrick86

I finished the Nexus install off, fitted the new leather bits and got the Discs and Pads changed all round.

Here is the rest of the nexus install



I knew I kept those old cassette tapes for a reason..










And finally in…




I’m very pleased with it for an initial install. Over time I will tidy it up a bit and improve the implementation, however as a first draft attempt I think it looks great!

Then in went the lovely new leather..

alexpatrick86

And then to change those horrible rusty discs!




To these new grooved shiny ones…




I’m chuffed with the transformation the car has taken in the last 3 days. I’ve already learnt a lot about taking it to bits. The brake change was bliss compared to some cars!

So things that are still to be done before setting off on a 3 day Welsh road trip next Friday are:

• Mount Pioneer headunit in passenger footwell. Wire all up tidily.
• Wait for new Pioneer TS-E710ci speakers to turn up, probably Tuesday.
• Install with speaker mount brackets purchased from the States which luckily arrived yesterday.

Thanks again for your eye time, hope you enjoy the updates. If anyone has anything to suggest or ideas that might make improvements, anything might be considered!

alexpatrick86

Well I did a bit or re-jigging to the nexus before a trip round Wales which involved everything coming back out again.



I also had to open the dials as following their KPH -> MPH conversion the speedo was reading wildly out. There is a small screw under the actual casings and the dial itself which allows for a bit of calibration.





This procedure involved me driving with the whole lot dismantled and just resting on the steering column up and down the main road outside several times and tweaking it millimetre by millimetre as I went. I got there in the end and it now reads spot on! :thumbsup:

Whilst changing the brakes the week before, I noticed that my brake fluid cap was ruined so had another one shipped from Jimmy’s RX7 / Mazda bits on eBay.



I also received my front speakers the night before I was due to go to Wales at about 17:30, which didn’t leave much time to get them fitted so unfortunately no pictures were taken. They are only Pioneer TS-E1701ci’s so nothing special, but not bad.

The interior currently looks like this..

alexpatrick86

This is how the car looked just before we set off ..



I’m part of a car club on Facebook which is basically just for a bit of fun for like minded petrol heads. The idea being it doesn’t matter what you drive, as long as you are suitably entertained by a spot of tom foolery, banter and a good drive, you’re in! We headed from Chobham in Surrey over to Bridgend in south Wales on the Friday, and then from Bridgend to Bangor at the top of Wales on Saturday, then the long trip down and home on the Sunday. It’s a pretty special route which takes in some of the best driving roads available, mixed with some spectacular views.



Along for the ride we had a BMW M3, BMW M135i, Audi RS5, the RX7, Mazda 3 MPS, Subaru Imprezza WRX, Subaru Imprezza Wagon, a Mountune Fiesta MR200 ST and a Porsche Boxter S.











800 miles of driving bliss.

The only sore point was that a chap from Devon managed to reverse into my car in a car park whilst away, so unfortunately my original RX7 is a little dented at the rear currently.



He gave is details over so will be sorted, but it’s just a PITA!

So, the media stuff is done now and the car has a slightly tarted up interior form when it first came. Next I think I’ll be looking at an Apexi ECU and a tune to aim for the 300bhp mark, then some BBS wheels and a set of sidesteps.

alexpatrick86

Here are some recent snaps,

Following my last post, I had a friend of mine take on the insurance job to repair the rear of the car from where it was reversed into during our Wales trip. He spent 5 hours clay baring, moping and polishing it before I final collection which was awesome. I’m still waiting for Mazda to get hold of the rear badges, but they should be back on, on Friday.





I managed to get to a couple of the PistonHeads Sunday Services at Brands Hatch and Silverstone in the last month following the repair to show off the motor.











So, the back end is currently de-badged. Which I’m not really a fan of, so the badges will be going back on. Hopefully the repair isn’t noticeable. It’s still the original rear bumper so luckily the cars originality hasn’t been too affected.

I hope all is well in the FDUK world! I’m enjoying the Facebook group and seeing /joining in with the FD banter going on. I’ve still only come across one other FD on the road since owning it. I tried to make some effort to engage the driver, however sadly I got nothing LOL.

And now to future plans.

• Apexi Power FC and a tune. I have a HKS 3” downpipe ready to go so this will go on when the ECU goes in. The Apexi is looking at around £700 from Australia. I haven’t had any luck with 2nd hand ones for the 99+. When the car came it had the Blitz Boost controller and it apparently has a sports CAT. It’s back to stock boost system now but I think the car is probably running short of the 280BHP stock output. (Possibly due to the high flow CAT?) The boost gauge on the cluster never reads more than about 6kpah or whatever it is. My plan isn’t to go huge power with this car. I’d be happy with 295hp or so. Seems plausible from what I’ve seen.

• Suspension. The suspension is a bit clattery and squeaky so would like to have it replaced. I’m thinking the Bilstein B6 dampers, new top mounts and springs of some variety. Suggestions welcome.

• Brake caliper rebuild. I got a quote from BigRedd brakes for a full rebuild and high gloss red finish on all 4 calipers. I’m happy with the price so will likely have them done over winter.

• New wheels. I really want a set of the 17” BBS’s from the Spirit R or BBS RG-R’s / RX’s. Again they are not easy to find lol.

• Side Steps. This looks to be the only easy purchase.

• Re-trim of the front seats. I had the wheel and gaiters redone at the beginning. Now I want to have the seats redone. Probably looking at Black leather bolsters, then red alcantara in the middle.

• A good service. The car hasn’t had any service work done since it hit the UK. So a full fluid and filter change for everything is in order. I was also thinking a new battery, recon the alternator, new coil packs, leads and spark plugs. Again, suggestions welcome.

I think that’s about it for now. If anyone has any opinions on the above, advice or suggested preferences then do please jump in and let me know. I don’t know a great deal about the cars, so am just picking it up from places like here.

alexpatrick86

The car went in to Andy at AMT here in Surrey. The car under went
• Full service including Oil, filter, spark plugs, fuel filter, gearbox oil, diff oil and brake fluid.
• Fit the HKS Downpipe
• Fit and map the Apexi PFC

The above didn’t go as smoothly as anticipated unfortunately and it ended with Andy having to hold onto the car for a while. 2 of the threads off the turbo snapped when the original downpipe came off which required a specialist to come out and drill / re-thread the turbos.
Following this, we took the car to the Dyno..



We discovered that the car didn’t actually have a stock ECU. It is running a 4Beat FD Knight Sports ECU. The first run brought back a horrible wobbly power line which we really hoped would be due to the ECU..


Unfortunately this wasn’t the case and the Apexi produced and identical run..


Andy was convinced this was due to an ignition problem and so we bought a new set of Magnacor leads. These took about 3 weeks to get hold of as they are apparently made to order. Luckily they went on and cured the problem. One of the old leads was essentially a stick of rust with an 8ohm resistance. It just goes to show, it’s the little things!

So then we ended up with this....

320bhp on a strict Dyno. I’m pretty please with the outcome. I was hoping for 295bhp ish, but obviously the car was already making nearly that anyway.

So then the car was at last back and it was time for JapFest!


This was my first meet with an RX7 crowd and it was a great opportunity to meet some of you. The parade lap was brilliant too. Managed to smash a tonne under the Silverstone bridge, not even realising we were meant to be driving at 40mph!

The car is still looking pretty clean..






So, what’s to come?
• I have a set of Feed replica side steps which came from someone on here. Sadly they weren’t in great nick and I should have just spent an extra £20 on getting them new, but hey ho. I’ll fibre fill them up, smooth them down and paint them in matt black to match the front lip.
• I still need to fit the Series 8 front fog lights. I’m hoping this will be a simple task and that the wiring already exists in place, but I’ll have to see as I go through.
• I need to strip the centre console down and fit my double DIN Pumpkin Android stereo. I ripped out my Google Nexus 7 build as it wasn’t practical. Instead I bought one of these 7” android headunit jobbies. It needs a facia surround mocking up and a cage adapting to hold it in properly.
• I need to fit my driver’s side tweeter properly and enclose the speaker in the door pod.
• I have 2x 6.5” woofers coming to replace my rear speakers as they sound like they are ripped to shreds.
• Since I bought the car I wanted to do something with the dials, however I also don’t want to take it too far from original. As a start, I have got myself a chrome ring fascia to replace my black ones...


• Since I bought the car I have also wanted to replace the stock 16” wheels. I have always loved the Spirit R wheels, but after a year or so of looking, it was obvious that these were going to set me back £1500-2000 easily depending on where they came from. The other day I found a set of BBS wheels that fit the plate, and as far as I’m concerned are the same as the Spirit R wheels apart from the offset and staggered fitment. They need a refurb and I bought them as such, but other than that I’m pleased with them. As long as they fit!!
17” BBS RG, 8.5J, ET37.






Looking at 235/45/R17’s for the front and 255/40/R17 for the rears. Possibly Continental Sport Contact 3’s.

So that’s where the car is at currently, and what is happening to it over the next little while.. I hope this was a pleasant update for you all and as always, thanks for the eye time!

Ceylon

iTrader: (3)

Looks great, cant go wrong with a fairly stock late car .

Good work so far & I'm liking the retrimmed bits , been doing similar to mine recently. What was used for the added lumps on the steering wheel?

alexpatrick86

I have to be honest, I don't really know. A couple of old door wedges wrapped in lanolin....

RotaryWeaponSE7EN

iTrader: (6)

That's a beautiful car you have sir.

alexpatrick86

Thank you very much! Hopefully by the end of the summer it will be even better!

ROTARY_ADDICT-1

iTrader: (6)

very nice fd