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Newt Gomez' Old Man Rx-7 Build
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As a car enthusiast, my dream has always been to own an FD Rx-7 as I'm sure it's everyone's dream. I got my first car when I was 17 which is an 01 Acura Integra which is still my number one favorite car I own.
Attachment 617319 In the middle of summer, I told my friend if he could find me a 7 that was under 10k, that I would go look at it. So he did...and I brought this 93 touring model home for a loan of 7k. This is what it looked like when I first bought it in August 2015 Attachment 617320 It had cluster issues so I went ahead and bought a speedhut set of gauges and I don't regret it one bit! On top of that, it boosted a 5-8 pattern. Only bits it came with were the awful wheels, a Greddy BOV, hks twin filters, Apexi N1 exhaust system and a nameless downpipe. The best part was that the body has 124,000 miles on the odometer, but the motor is a 10k mile Mazda reman!. I also have a suspicion that it came with an aftermarket clutch because it grabs like a stage 3 and shifts like it has a light flywheel. The car has also been manual swapped so it has random auto bits of wiring. Another plus is that it came with a brand new engine harness that was put in by Mazda which means it's solid for another 100k! I also had to do away with the chrome wheels so I painted them Attachment 617321 As of now, I am waiting on my injectors to be cleaned so I can put everything back together and hopefully all of the gaskets, vacuum hoses, and solenoids I replaced will work a lot better and hopefully it hits 10psi of boost! Engine 3" Downpipe 2.5" resonator Adaptronic Select PNP AEM V2 meth injection running -20F windshield washer fluid Apexi N1 Exhaust HKS Filters Greddy BOV Emissions BOP Kit Metal AST Efini Y pipe FPD Removal Pineapple Racing idler pulley ACT HD street/strip clutch ACT lightweight flywheel Exterior Foose One Piece Wheels Toyo Proxes Misc Odyssey PC680 battery relocated to the trunk Speedhut gauges A pair of phoenix gold 8" subs Alpine 500w amp Sparco shift knob End goals are to have around 400hp right where my dads MKIV Supra is at with an EFR 8374 turbo powering it. Current power level is 290whp on 12psi |
Good score for a great price... AWFUL wheels even painted. Maybe stick to all black or find a good set of cheap OEM wheels. JMO.
Good luck with the build. I too started with Honda's, and quickly left them for RWD cars! |
nice find
So when you plan on going single? |
The only reason I keep these wheels around is because I just don't like the OEM style and any wheels I want are out of my short term budget. Only good thing about the wheels is that they're 10" wide in the back and 8.5" in the front and they fit PERFECT with the stock fenders.
As for going single...it's gonna take longer than I want it to take because I was mid motor build for my Integra when I bought the 7 and I'm trying to get this driveable and more reliable so when the teg goes in for surgery, I will have a nice boosted car to drive. Also it's just going to be a nice street car with a few extras here and there. Going single will possibly happen late 2016 or some time in 2017. Also my injectors are being sent back so there's a small chance it will start up mid new years party time. |
Hey man! Congrats on the buy, I just got my first FD as well. It's a great feeling to own a piece of automotive history!
Anyway, you have enough mods to be dangerous, be careful with that engine. Read through this thread... https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/rx-7-woes-1093844/ This was just a week ago. Running the stock computer with those mods is risky. Look into a Power FC ASAP! Good luck! Nick |
That's what I figured. My tuner has also recommended the Power FC and I feel like that's a good route to go. I might buy it with tax money this year if they are as good to me as last year was. I was also looking in to buying or making an exhaust restrictor to help with the boost but I was curious if that would actually help prevent blowing the motor or not.
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Originally Posted by newtgomez
(Post 12009022)
That's what I figured. My tuner has also recommended the Power FC and I feel like that's a good route to go. I might buy it with tax money this year if they are as good to me as last year was. I was also looking in to buying or making an exhaust restrictor to help with the boost but I was curious if that would actually help prevent blowing the motor or not.
You want to do everything in your power to reduce the temperatures in every facet. Better cooling, better exhaust flow, better ducting, whatever you can. Do the Power FC dude...do it. :icon_tup: Nick |
So it turns out that my injectors showed up yesterday! Fuel lines are back together and the system is primed with new hoses and no fuel leaks! I now have the ignition coils and the filler neck to put back on before putting back on the uim, throttle body, and intercooler. It also seems that my rats nest was plugged in the wrong way since my turbo control and charge control solenoids were a white and yellow connector pre teardown which means that needs to be fixed asap! Hopefully she fires up when everything is back together. Also, I replaced the spark plugs and the old ones were a 7 and 9 heat range where my new ones are hotter at 6 and 8. The spark plug at T2 was rusty at the tip so its a good thing they were replaced!
Since I'm new to the ways of the dorito, I would assume that it's okay these plugs look rich and slightly oily but that's just what logic says to me. Apparently photobucket is having a rough time updating pictures so I will post some whenever I update next. |
The car is finally back together! WOOOO!!!!! Now I just need to wait for the permatex grey to cure on the oil filler neck, and then I can start it up tomorrow! I'm pretty excited but extremely nervous at the same time but for now I will just sit back and legally drink for the first time on new years!
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Originally Posted by newtgomez
(Post 12009515)
The car is finally back together! WOOOO!!!!! Now I just need to wait for the permatex grey to cure on the oil filler neck, and then I can start it up tomorrow! I'm pretty excited but extremely nervous at the same time but for now I will just sit back and legally drink for the first time on new years!
Good luck dude! Nick |
To be honest, I almost never go above 4k rpms in my cars because I like being gentle on them.
Tried to start the car this morning and...nothing. It's cranking just fine and I can hear the pulses of the rotors and I can smell fuel so I think it's flooded. It's also really cold and not being started in almost 4 months doesn't help either. So I'm gonna try to troubleshoot some things and pray for the best. I might have to ask for some help from some local guys if I can find some. |
pull plugs, clean them or get new ones, put a little two stroke in from the the spark plug hole and see if it will start.
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I pulled it in my warm shop and pulled the EGI fuse and gave it a few cranks, put it back in and it sounded like it wanted to fire a lot better. Pulled the fuse one more time and repeated the process and BOOM! It sputtered twice and came to life! Idled at about 1100 until the thermostat opened and it sat around 185F for coolant temps and 19inHg of vacuum.
Things I noticed: Idle sits at 500rpm when fully warm (Not good because my idle adjustment screw is broken because of one of the two POs) Gauges acted like they didn't receive enough voltage because the fuel tank is 3/4 full and it was reading about 1/3 full and bouncing up and down between the two during the drive (Time for alternator upgrade???) There was a sound around the passenger side right about the firewall where it sounded like some liquid was moving around. I checked for leaks visually and found nothing. Most noticeable when moving throttle and moving slowly. There is a throttle hesitation when warm and driving which it also did before the teardown and removal of emission parts. It also does it when idling in place and free revving. Dashpot is also bad because it goes in fast and comes out fast. On a positive note, this was the first time I felt the twins and it was so smooth and they spool so fast it's mind blowing! It does over boost so I will not be getting on it hard anymore until it's tuned. (Had to do it to see if solenoids and turbo system was working properly) |
Progress! The biggest hurdle is past. Now get a power FC and take it from there!
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If I see one for sale, it will be bought!
On a better note I added a ground to where the throttle body and uim met and my idle went even lower and varied between 250rpm and 500rpm (Very scary stuff!) But I found out that idle is actually adjusted (For the most part) by the flathead screw on the bottom of the throttle body and a few turns out from all the way in and it now sits at a healthy 750rpms at idle! The hesitation feels like a dead spot in low throttle (Hesitates when you get on the throttle when upshifting, free revving, and driving at lower rpms) so I will try to figure out how to mess with the TPS and fix that because it drives me nuts when it bucks! |
Glad you got the idle sorted out.
There are several Power FC's for sale right now on these boards. Several of which have been for sale for a number of weeks. You could probably get a nice deal on one... Good luck! Nick |
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So on saturday? I texted my friends seeing if they wanted to do a photo shoot and only one of them was able to make it unfortunately. Damn people and their busy lives!
Anyways, here are some pics that I took. They are raw and unedited. Attachment 616881 This was my buddys turbo mr2. It has a long backstory to this car but basically someone hit his dad while he was driving his old one and merged a jdm spec mr2 and rebuilt everything from the ground and back up. He is also a damn good autocross driver and whoops on my teg every event... Attachment 616882 Just a nice shot of my cluster. The sun was at a weird angle and it kinda blocked out my Pip Boy bobble head on my dash... Attachment 616883 Sexy side shot! I just love those body lines! Attachment 616884 Cell phone pic engine shot because I needed one Attachment 616885 The dirty spark plugs I replaced! I also got to hook up my subwoofers and damn I was impressed! These two 8s are putting out more power than I was putting to my old phoenix gold elite 12! The biggest problem I am having now is choosing a nice wheel...CCW classics look good but are damn expensive from what it looks like and I couldn't find a BBS wheel that looked good. Enkei also didn't have any good options because I don't want the same NT03s that my dad has on his supra. |
Are those Speed Hut gauges? They look great.
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Yes, they are! I dremeled out where the old gauges went and kept the stock wiring so all the lights and stuff still worked. The fuel gauge is now a boost/vacuum gauge, the oil and coolant gauges are in the same location, the tach is still in the middle, and the sattelite speedo has the fuel gauge on it. They were really simple to install but the hours it took to dremel all that plastic made it a grueling process. But it looks OEM and they are white in the daytime and the back lights on them are blue!
Stock gauges were okay but aftermarket made so much more sense and the replaceability of the new parts are so much cheaper! Well worth the 800 I spent! |
Do you have any photos or how-to on how your wired it up? I have been wanting to do this with my AEM gauge to get them off my pillar and get rid of the pointless Oil Pressure/Coolant Temp gauges. You can shoot me a PM if you dont want to clutter this up.
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Subscribed for updates
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HOLY CRAP I CHANGED THE FUEL FILTER!!!!!!!!!!!
I changed it and it took me 3 hours even using fuel line pliers and pb blaster...I don't think the previous owner changed the fuel filter in the 10 years he owned it! I'm honestly surprised it even ran! Now the take offs and shifting are wayyyyy smoother and wayyy less jolty! It's way more enjoyable to drive now! Another thing I noticed is that it has a slightly lumpy idle at around 720rpm when there is no electrical load, but when I hit the brake pedal, turn on the lights, or do anything electrical, the idle smooths out around 850rpms. Real nice. Shifting is still a little jolty but I think it's possibly caused by an aftermarket clutch with a stock flywheel. It shifts as slow as my civic, but has the stiff clutch like my dads supra which I prefer having a heavy clutch AND a light flywheel. I still think I should have the TPS looked at and now that a big problem is fixed, an Apexi Power FC is definitely in my future this year. But for next week, the twin wastegates go in my teg! |
Any more pics of the gauge cluster and process?
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Oh yeah, I also recorded an exhaust clip with my cell phone...I had my camera in the passenger seat but didn't want to set up just to do a few seconds of recording.
This is the youtube channel my friend, brother, and I share for basically everything we do. Video game commentary and car stuff is what it consists of right now. Feel free to take a look at the other things. |
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Had to rip these off of my instagram because these were the only pictures I took of the process.
Attachment 616633 How they came in the box. They come with pretty good instructions to follow. The hard part is finding the tach signal and fuel level sender for the gauges. Standard 52mm? oil pressure, coolant temp, and boost gauges 4 inch Tach and 4 inch Satellite speedo/ fuel level gauge. Cost around 800 bucks. The main reason I picked these gauges was because they have nice coarse threads and a lock nut for the back sides of them. I didn't use the lock rings iirc and they stay perfectly in place due to them actually being threaded in to the clear and black plastic cluster holder. Attachment 616634 As you can see, the three 52mm gauge holes are done being cut and screw in nice and tight! Attachment 616635 Here you can see how they sit nice and flush and in the OEM location! Attachment 616636 Here's an awful pic in my shop of how they look in the dark. They are actually really blue in the night time! That's all the pictures I have from the Speedhut fitting. You basically have to cut a hole and fit them in. Just really time consuming is all! |
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