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I waited a painful two weeks for this (pathetic right?)!!!
My prize was finally here.
The ride is amazing as expected. I have them set 8 clicks from full stiff and I love them. It honestly feels like stock, only lower. Need to adjust the front right height as its about .25" higher than the left. Other than that, alignment tomorrow and then I think I'm finally ready to start auto crossing this thing!
Any suggestions on alignment settings? Or shall I just go with the Ol' Howard Coleman alignment?
They make me sad too maybe around tax season we can fix that.
Got the alignment done. Went with the Pettit street alignment.
Before
After
The before and after is a wonderful thing. All the red to all the green :P this was expected as I had changed a bunch of bushings. My caster in the front bothers me a bit. I've been told that it being equal is more important, however it was +6 like I wanted. From what I understand, caster is how much of an angle it is between the upper ball joint and lower ball joint. How this is adjusted I'm not entirely sure. I imagine this should be ok regardless for a street set up.
She runs great, she looks great, and wheels/exhaust are most likely next on the list. I'm thinking I'm going to run the RPF1's again in the magic 17x9 +45 255/40 combo again. I liked the look, the wheels are light and affordable, and the square set up is readily available. Exhaust I'm torn between an RE amemiya dolphin tail ($$$ :/) or the standard racing beat dual tip.
Excellent thread. Where did you buy the c-clamp ball joint tool? I am nearing a suspension refresh and was also eyeing a big a-frame press, that tool looks much more reasonable.
I got the c clamp press from harbor freight actually! But you can rent the exact same tool from auto zone/oreillys etc. One thing I've come to notice about a lot of car tools and parts is most of the time it's all the same stuff just with a different brand name. I think when I rented this tool last time it was a Duralast and I bought it as a Pittsburgh I believe. This tool was well worth the money. I was highly impressed by its capability to push out a lot of the bushings. Just get a 22" impact socket and a half drive ratchet with a big cheater bar and crank away.
Also, if anyone was on the fence about the deal with door handles from GoodfellaFD3S...get off the fence and go buy em ya shmuck. Literally...deal of the century.
I have been following your build and am loving it - I am dusting my '94 off after 6 years in storage and looking to do many of the same upgrades to mine. I also share the 2-3K bucking bronco issue (before I stored her, it was my biggest complaint) and was wondering if, after you moved that final ground point on the block near the plugs, did that fix it 100%? I want to start with what finally worked for you then work backwards....
They make me sad too maybe around tax season we can fix that.
Got the alignment done. Went with the Pettit street alignment.
After
The before and after is a wonderful thing. All the red to all the green :P this was expected as I had changed a bunch of bushings. My caster in the front bothers me a bit. I've been told that it being equal is more important, however it was +6 like I wanted. From what I understand, caster is how much of an angle it is between the upper ball joint and lower ball joint. How this is adjusted I'm not entirely sure. I imagine this should be ok regardless for a street set up.
She runs great, she looks great, and wheels/exhaust are most likely next on the list. I'm thinking I'm going to run the RPF1's again in the magic 17x9 +45 255/40 combo again. I liked the look, the wheels are light and affordable, and the square set up is readily available. Exhaust I'm torn between an RE amemiya dolphin tail ($$$ :/) or the standard racing beat dual tip.
Matt
Love what you are doing to your car.
I had my 94 Touring aligned this week after an unfortunate encounter with a pot hole...
As you can see everything was brought into spec except the caster. According to the garage and verified by me, the caster adjustment is maxed out and would not bring it into spec. I am NOT a suspension guy by any means but would like to understand how this can be the case. No accident history on the car that might have twanged the front subframe. And the fact that both adjusters are maxed out and give the same reading makes it look consistent side to side - again evidence of no hit to one side. Can the specs in the machine be wrong? Can someone maybe explain this?
Thanks for all the nice comments! It's been a bit since I posted an update.
I daily my Rx7 so I'm very attuned to its quirks and lately my idle has been kinda funky. Very intermittently, the idle will spaz out and fluctuate once or twice, then drop to where it should be, or it will stick at 1100. The only way to bring it back down is to tap the throttle. I've gone ahead and ordered all new throttle body gaskets and I'll be pulling the UIM with it to clean all the ISC passages as well as the whole throttle body. I then plan to reset the throttle body and re rig all the fast idle cams and see if things can be cleaned up.
When it comes to the caster adjustment, from what I understand, caster is how the shock assembly is angled. Howard coleman's suspension thread just specifies it should be equal and minimal. IMO I think it is adjusted by moving opposite in the fore and aft cam bolts on the LCA. That's the only way I could see you pivoting the lower mount for the shock to adjust that spec.
My hesitation issue persists, however it has been drastically reduced. I think heat plays a huge factor in it. It also usually does it after a hot start. The PRC solenoid is in question for my next theory so I'll be replacing that, and testing the solenoid hot to see if it's my issue. I theorize that the solenoid engages fine, because I never have hot start issues, however, when the solenoid is engaged, fuel pressure is lowered. After 90seconds post hot start, the solenoid is supposed to return and no vacuum is applied to the regulator. If it's sluggishly returning or sticking from thermal expansion, this would cause lean moments until the solenoid "unsticks".
Slightly far fetched, but we'll see what happens. Pics to come this weekend.
So the last few weeks I've done a small amount of work on the rx7. My idle would periodically stick at stop lights and I decided it was time to fix that for good. I ordered new gaskets for the ISC, the thermo valve, the throttle body, and the throttle body o ring. My cousin and I pulled the UIM and cleaned the HELL out of the throttle body. Toothbrush and throttle body cleaner on the bores until the thing looked brand new in the bores. Before we set the UIM back down, I inspected my vacuum hose job and noticed one or two slight kinks in vacuum hoses for the ACV. I shortened one or two hoses and re routed another. Since I had suspected my PRC solenoid to be sticking, I went ahead a replaced that guy with a spare new one I had. We tested the old one and it tested fine, but we had broken the tab on it so that was reason enough to change it . I then pulled the coil tray up and sanded down the ground terminal under there until it was super shiny and brand new looking. After a few small repairs under the UIM, we reinstalled the throttle body, re rigged the TPS, and began to set the idle. After a complete warmup, the idle hung at 1100rpm! Even with completely closing the air adjust screw it would not lower the idle rpm. In order to lower the RPM, I had to back off the jam but for the secondary plates throttle stop and close the throttle plates completely! It had then dropped to a sputtering 600 rpm where I used the air adjust screw to set it happily at 720rpm. Since this operation, my idle has NEVER behaved so perfectly! Even better than my first FD! It ALWAYS settles right down to 720rpm coming to a complete stop, and revs right up to 825 exactly with electrical load. Very happy to have solved my idle issues. Not all good things came from this however. While removing the UIM, I accidentally slipped and wrecked both the clips for the throttle cable -.- so here is where the pictures come in!!
New parts!
Replaced a missing windshield cowl cap.
Better. No more sore thumbs.
This new hood clip holds that rod TIGHT my word...
My bass and treble ***** were cracked.
The dedication is real.
Pretty new throttle cable installed and rigged up.
Nice shot of my engine bay. Next on the list is to try to make everything look less OLD. I want to get a new washer bottle and coolant bottle. I'm also contemplating a new power steering pump reservoir. I want a new hood blanket and clips as well.
The gasket for the Thermowax had a strange bulge in it.
After all this, I took her to smog with a Bonez downpipe and a tank with 1/2oz per gallon premix and she passed smog like the champion she is.
Won't be able to make DGRR. That's way too far of a drive. :P
I did some things though!
I finally got to take her to the track! I've been dying to do an HPDE since my first Rx7. This was at Arizona Motorsports Park in AZ. It was a hell of an experience and I really learned a lot about my car and driving in general. There were a lot of people that admired my Rx7. I definitely got a lot of, "that is the stockest Rx7 I've ever seen..." LOL. It was so stock that even the guy at tech opened the passenger door to check my bins for the battery. He said he had never seen an FD with the battery still under the hood! This was a bit more incentive for me to keep her how she is. A lot of people suggested I just do brakes and tires and leave her as is. I tend to agree. After taking it out to the track, it has more than enough power stock for the level that I am at. My friend who brought me to this track day told me specifically not to do anything to my car before the event. This way I do not change the dynamic of what I'm used to right before I learn how to really drive it. This way I can REALLY see what some mods will change as I go. I didn't even change brake fluid! A black s2k was astonished at me. I showed up with prestone dot 3 brake fluid, whatever pads were on the car, some "fierce UHP" tires, and a good attitude! :P I had a hell of a lot of fun with the car and I'm glad I did the mods I did. The Koyo and the R1 coolers definitely helped keep my temps in check. It was an 85* day and my coolant temps topped at 215*F at the hottest. Next on the list FOR SURE are some better brake pads, SBG stainless braided lines, IRP Master cylinder brace, new rotors, some MUCH better brake fluid, and some 17x9 +45 RPF1's wrapped in some GOOD tires [RE-11's most likely].
I've fallen in love with the car all over again. I did have a small hitch though; I developed a very small coolant leak near my throttle body. After removing my water temp gauge fitting, I discovered that it was leaking.
From the pressure test it was losing about 1 PSI every 10 minutes
Even after this rewrap it continued to leak a bit from the sensor to the adapter :/ I ended up getting some liquid thread sealant from O'Reilly's to see if that will seal better than the tape. That is currently curing up.
I'll be sure to get the go pro video up and posted when its done!
Part 1. I get passed by almost everyone. To me this wasn't about being the fastest. This was about learning technique, being smooth, and staying safe on my garbage brakes and not so sticky tires
I had the 17x9 RPF1's on my first 7. They really are a great fit! Yours looks good with the 99 front and the rpf1s! If you can get to a track day I highly suggest it. Good call on the RE-11's! I'll be ordering the wheels in the next three months or so so hopefully they're still on sale. SBG always makes great products so I'm not the least bit concerned about fit or finish for those. Still good to have positive feedback though!
I did order all the things for my brakes. My current ones are toast they started squeeling the day after the track. On order currently are new Centric flat rotors, Endless MX72 pads, SBG brake and clutch lines, Endless RF650 fluid, and an IRP master cylinder brace. I think my brakes will be set for awhile
12-10-15, 06:11 PM
maybe around tax season we can fix that. 
