you said that you are going to reverse everything that Pettit did. Why is that? I have followed Cam's advice on my rx7s for years and have had nothing but good performance. Shoot me a pm if you do not want to post the response publically.

 

Come find me, we are staying at the cabins. Getting there Thurs and leaving sun am.

I'll send you my cell.

 

Okay, What do you look like haha pm me your number. Ill be caravanning and hanging out with Dale Clark.

 

I had the car modified prior to the PFC and I'm not sure why I'm experiencing secondary issues.


Car works great when I perform the cheap bastard non sequential mod and I redline full boost but once I perform stock procedures, I'm boosting under stock levels till redline.


Im not sure if the car had these issues before I took it to pettit or after. But I've been present while he worked on my car 3 times now and though he is knowledgeable and helpful, I think his prime was out the window years ago. I'm not meaning any disrespect but from watching him perform, It leads me to believe something is up.

 

Given you are there and a fix hasn't quickly been found why not just drive to Pettit and have them diagnose it. I imagine that would be quick and not terribly expensive (diagnosis) especially as you are already a customer.

 

This past weekend was awesome at Nantahala Village were Rotaries on the east coast gather for a 4 day event.
Jeanne and I drove up to Atlanta late Wednesday afternoon taking back roads from the Florida Georgia line to Macon on mostly US23. We took our time sight seeing and viewing the Old towns of America like we always do for trips and enjoyed the cruise. We rather not take a Interstate to preplanned destinations if we have the time to avoid them.


The next morning was Thursday and I noticed a big decrease in power other then my slow engagement of the second turbo and low boost. This leak and power loss was affecting the entire power band and there was a big whoosh sound when I got on it. GREAT! only boosting close to 6lbs.

Dale was quick to point a finger and say, "well that doesn't look good. Your problems right there!"

I tore a nice slit in the exhaust pipe to the intercooler. I was glad it was something we can fix with ease and that it wasn't an expensive one. Dale quickly told me that Addicted Performance might have a stock pipe laying around from their work on rx7s. So I crossed my fingers and hoped the entire trip wasn't handicapped to waste gate pressure at DGRR. But I was also happy that it wasn't anything else.

That night we got to Addicted and what do you know, Dale was right. They had a spare hose that they were ready to toss out for that same very reason I had just experienced earlier that day. I paid 20 bucks and had the tools to do a quick but very hot install because we take the dragon to get there. 10 mins later and I'm back to 12lbs primary. Wahoo.

Drove home after dinner at Calhouns which is in Maryville with a group of 13 people. Dinner was good and we are exhausted from the barbecue and long day of driving. We unfortunately took the Dragon back to our lodge and it is no fun driving it at night. It is dark, the percentage of danger increased dramatically and I'm tired. We pushed on and in the middle of the run I get dizzy and somewhat get vertigo and pull to the side because I lost focused. The tree line ended and my headlights hit across the valley to the other side of the mountain and tripped my brain out. The Depth of Field like in photography played games with my sight so I pulled off. I let the other guys in the group drive ahead of me and I followed last regaining my focus. WE all made it back to the village safe and sound.

The next day the group did a run on the Cherohala Skyway. Before we headed out I wanted to know why the car was feeling so out of place and my confidence was out the window. The car didn't feel right to me. I come to find out the dampening on the front struts are at two extremes of full stiff and full soft. NO wonder. This isn't the car that feels great out on an autocross coarse pulling times right behind BSP class. So I dampened all four struts 8 clicks from full stiff. I also was too high on all four tires. I was maximizing my fuel economy up to Atlanta because we all know rotaries are excellent on mpg. Not.

I was at 45 all around and lowered it closer to my Autocross pressures which are 32 up front and 29 in rear. I had 36 up front and 32 in the rear after the deflate. After the adjustments, the car felt normal to me again. I regained my confidence and ran the rest of the day proud and confident. I can't believe how I'm starting to feel the car out and notice when something is wrong. Its taking a while this time around. We drove out to Bryson City to wash the cars off of the extermination performed on the runs and ate dinner at Pasqualianos.

On Friday, the event holds a classic meet for all the rotaries to participate in Judging for best generation RX7s and receive an award that evening. So I got my car at the site rather early. I won't say how early but it was brisk at low 40s. Got there and saw that everyone had left their cars in the lot over night. There were two unofficial parking spaces left so I pulled backwards into one. I walked back to my cabin made coffee and got ready for the day. I let Jeanne sit back on this event so she isn't overloaded with cars this cars that blah rotary brap brap. When I walked back to the main lot, everyone was already out cleaning their cars with detailer and rags of micro fiber clothe. So I began my quick clean up of the engine bay and wiped all the pollen that the Appalachian had given to me. I detailed the outside just in time and the meet was underway.

I took some pictures of other rotaries and enrolled in the car show. The meet closed at around 12 and Jeanne and I headed to Bryson City to enjoy each others company as well as eat lunch and go shopping at mom and pop venues.

We ate lunch at https://www.theeveretthotel.com/bistro.html which is a farm to table restaurant and it was FANTASTIC. Not expensive at all. It was delicious. After Lunch we walked around antique shops, stopped by the local brewery to try a flight of beers and bought a bomber to bring back home. We also discovered that the train depot in the middle of the city does rides through the mountains leaving at 10 and arriving at 3pm. It is something we might do next year. The though of riding a train along mountainside and through tunnels excites me. Its something a car can not do.

We walked back to our car and stopped by an old Soda Fountain business and had Chocolate and Vanilla malts for the ride back to the resort to meet up with the Florida crew to eat dinner athttps://noc.com/places/restaurants/rivers-end-restaurant

Super delicious food and big portions. This restaurant was inspired to feed hungry hikers. Plus its on the river with locals fly fishing and kayakers. I ordered local trout tacos which was good and Jeanne ate the Sherpa. For dessert there was peach and apple cobbler. We were excited to get the blackberry cobbler but they changed it up a bit. Don't get me wrong. The apple cobbler topped with vanilla ice-cream was just as good.

So we paid our bill and head back home for the raffling prizes and awards. Jeanne and I held our tickets for the drawings and we won a long sleeve DGRR shirt, mazda iron on badge, IRPerformance Poly Urethane Motor Mounts, two adaptronic hats, Concentrated jug of rubber/vinyl cleaner, and some miscellaneous stuff. It was a good roll for us. But that didn't end the night. Awards for best car was being announced. I'm already pretty happy about the motor mounts.

So we hear the awards being named for best SA and FC with first, second, and third place. It was time for the FD awards. And what do I mistakenly hear? Third place FD goes to Heraldo!!! Now I was confused because it wasn't my name. But I've been called that in the past by friends and it couldn't be me. There were too many other good looking FD's out there with single turbo this, AERO that , Widebody, 3 piece wheels and so forth. I'm just a simple clean FD that stuck to how he wanted to share what an FD should look like for others to enjoy. And that is just that. I was a simple clean example of a car that we all love. And I received 3rd place after I was called up more then once and car was described as Montego blue.

I was super honored to receive the award and very gracious. I almost wanted to grab the megaphone and say an Academy Awards speech naming Jeanne as priority of the award.


That ended my day and my entire year of hard work getting the car to the point to where it is at right now.

As a bonus for the drive home, the car performed 342.7 miles on a tank of gas before triggering the low fuel light. I filled up 15.63 gallons which equates to 21.9257 mpg.

Remember I'm not tuned but running the base map off the PFC ecu. We also took a very nice curvy road back home that is in North Carolina. I will get that route later tonight to post it up. It was a beautiful drive with creeks alongside of the road, lakes, and falls.

Pictures follows......

 

DSC09219 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr



DSC09170 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr


DSC09086 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr


DSC09103 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr


DSC09020 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr

 

The S2000 antenna mod he is speaking of isn't just spinning the antenna on. The whole kit actually taps into the stock antenna amplifier via the adapter he sells. It greatly increased my radio reception due to my stock power antenna not raising up anymore. Not by a little, by a lot!

It's not just cosmetic, it's very functional.
Keep up the good work. MB looks good when it's in good shape. It's just rare to see them that clean these days.

 

1090698 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr


1090697 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr


1090696 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr


1090695 by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr

 

Congrats Rocketeer! Your car definitely deserved a prize!

 

Thanks Len-Len. I total was puzzled because I know a handful of others that should've been in my place.




This week the car is going to kilo racing so they can tinker the low secondary boost. I am experiencing a 12-4-6 pattern.


While its there I have a few things getting down.




Brand new oem tps sensor installed

IRPerformance motor mounts

Elite rotary oil pan brace ( looks like I'm leaking oil around the brace and on the oil mixing pump lines) so when they look deeper into the leak, I have a set of steel flex lines to replace the plastic lines.

Fixing the 99 fog lights. They light up connected to the battery but not when hooked up correctly to oem connector. I'm receiving power too but it's all weird.

Banzai Racing delete kit



I'm dropping off the Hks RS intake to get painted and clear coated silver along with the Hks S pipe. to have an oem look. I cleaned and have the Hks filters but I'm going to use the K&N filters instead.


I also purchased a HKS twin power.





Untitled by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr




Untitled by Gerald Mugar, on Flickr

 

Good looking out on the K&N's. Hate those foam things.

 

Suggested and followed after Dale Clark. Thanks again for the sale.

 

So I got back news from Kilo Racing with and update that is upsetting but comes with opportunities.



The car wasn't leaking oil from the oil pan as I thought it was. It's leaking from a broken oil mixing pump line. Its basically severed. He offered to do a fix to it that I did not want to do but asked him to do it the right way. He offered a different fix since I'm to be Wed this September.


I said to him lets do it the right way because Jeanne and I drive this car a lot and I autocross it on occasion.

He hasn't fixed the secondary Turbo issue because this is a new issue.


We discussed a few things and he mentioned that in order to replace the lines he needs to remove the motor. I was apprehended by that sentence and asked to call him back. I talked to a few people to make sure there wasn't another way to do it and to have my rotary friends reassure me that this is the way to do so and the easiest.


So I called back and asked a ball park number that'll stick to let me fiance know and be prepared for with tonights dinner and opening a really nice bottle of wine thats several hundred dollars.


After this rant, my question to the community will this...

What should I do while the motor is out with a parameter of replacing, checking, preventative checks while the motor is out? I want to stick with OEM and I might venture off and be adventurous to aftermarket.

1.) New Engine harness
2.) Clean, test and flow injectors
3.) New Injectors
4.) Fuel Dampner
5.) Fuel pressure regulator


Someone already shouted going LS. And another shout over the phone said Single turbo. But none of those things are happening.

 

Degrease engine bay. Looks like you have new motor mounts already. 99 spec twins if you don't already have them.
Efini Y pipe, that's an upgrade I would do if you still have the stocker. That's a common failure point that is hard to track down as you can't see the cracks until it's under boost.

I've done a harness with the engine still in. Not something you have to do when it's out.
Your fuel injectors should def be rebuilt/cleaned or replaced. Def replace the fuel pulsation dampener. That's a common failure that causes engine fires. Should be considered a maint item.

Degrease the inside of the intake plenum and throttle body. They can get caked up with garbage from the EGR system.
Not a bad time to get some thing polished or powedercoated if you are into that.

Good luck and best wishes on getting married.

 

Pull and inspect twins
Miscelaneous gasketry
Turbo coolant hoses
Spec Coils
Spec Solenoids
Vacuum hoses
Delete AWS?

 

This is some damn good advice right there by an Original Rotary Gangster

 

So the 99 twins are already installed. A few buddies of mine and digimark installed them 7 weeks ago with a Hks downpipe.

I am having the injectors sent to marren. The previous owner has a reciept from 2004 when he had them rebuilt. So it'll be interesting to see the differences once again.
I ordered new injector grommets since marren will more then likely provide new o-rings.

I purchased a new oem fuel pulsation dampener and new fuel pressure regulator. I was contemplating ordering the new fuel hose that connects the primary and secondary rails.

I like to get things powdercoated to look nice but today isn't the time to do it. I simply can't strain the wedding funds anymore. We still need to pay off the remaining balance to the venue, pay for the catering next Friday, and find a florists, photographer, and music. Luckily we already have the dress. Thank god.

I do need an efini y pipe. I'm going to ask kilo if he has one. Well degrease the engine bay though it's pretty clean from the view up top. I'm pretty sure it's ugly down under and inside.

I'm skipping the harness unless kilo says or recommends a new one since they are about 840.00 from my dealership and there's only one in North America.


Kilo is going to inspect the sequential system. All the solenoids and vacuum hoses are a year old now. But it'll be easier when the motor is out.

The coils are new as of 16 months ago. He is suggesting I hook up the choke again that Pettit racing deleted. Each mechanic has there own points of views. I'll just let him do so.

We will block off the air pump with the delete kit I purchased.

 

Replace any original rubber (vacuum, fuel, water). You should also seriously consider replacing your wiring looms as well. Expensive yes, but tracing down electrical demons is a PITA (if you can even figure out they are attributed to your loom)

 

Order a fuel line recall kit. Comes with the line that connects the rails, new fuel lines, new clamps, few vacuum hoses, and new injector grommets. Total cost is like $20

Matt

 

The car had the recall done #60504 back in the day.
What I just ordered the line that connects the primary to the secondary rail once again.

The kit no longer exists.

 

Purchased an efini y-pipe and crossover

 

Been a lurker on these forums for years now. Always loved fd's and had an rx8. Finally biting the bullet and buying my first fd in a few weeks. Just wanted to comment and say I started reading your thread 2 hours ago and just read through the entire thing lol. It's very rare to see someone like minded that appreciates these cars for how they originally were designed and takes the time and money to not cut corners. I'll definitely be using you as inspiration with my stock beauty when I get her soon. Thanks for being a part of the community.

 

@yagie - wow, thank you for the kind words. You kind of made me blush hahaha. I can say that the people and community are eager to help other enthusiasts out. I've meet several members personally myself and if it weren't for them and there desire for these cars I would be left confused and frustrated. There are still members of like to meet in person to show them my appreciation and build a relationship with. It all goes back to that one thing that Mazda is.

 

Hello rocketeer!

I just finished reading through your entire thread, just like the guy above...

I must say, first, congratulations on the award for your car! I think you deserve it just by the fact that you've poured so much time, money, effort, care, and love into your car! I am humbled by your effort, diligence, and love put into your car. I can also tell that you are someone who will love and honour your wife-to-be. Blessings to the both of you, in the life-to-come!

I have always admired the RX7, and hopefully would like to, one day, purchase one. I currently have an RX8, and reading your post makes me want to put in the same amount of care and love in restoring my car, but I know it will cost a lot of money... But maybe one day!

Anyways, I will continue to follow this thread! I've been telling my wife how much of an inspiration you are to me. It is quite amazing how you were inspired by other rotary enthusiasts, and is now inspiring others, like myself, as well!

Keep up the great work!

Christopher