Sigma's Refurbished 1994 RX-7 Project
 

After more than a decade of being unable to justify neither a "project car" nor a little-used "toy" in the garage either. I made do with a series of high-performing vehicles that made for exceptional dailies over the years, and they were great and fun, but never sated the urge for an FD. A couple months ago I was finally able to purchase my dream car -- a '94 FD.

I was specifically looking for a vehicle with 'good bones', but needed some work outside of the engine. I was lucky enough to find one that fit that exact bill. Engine has some aftermarket and pulls exceptionally hard. Paint is relatively new, but unfortunately clearly done by a Maaco-type establishment or perhaps a home job done at some point -- decent paint-job but some overspray and less-than-great masking in some areas.

Everything else needs refurbished: namely brakes, suspension, and the interior. All areas I wanted to work on regardless of the condition of the car, so finding one that needed the work and was priced appropriately was a stroke of luck. May as well replace legitimately bad parts.

The end goal is a "Grand Touring" vehicle; made for road-trips for me and the wife to great driving roads and vistas throughout the country. So reliability and comfort is the name of the game. First up is the suspension and brakes. No BBK at this point, but all new rotors, pads, caliper rebuild, stainless lines, etc. All bushings & pillow-balls replaced and Ohlins DFV coilovers. Interior will be high-quality leather, carpeting, alcantara, CF, and sound-deadening. GrandMighty's vehicle is the inspiration here, though I can only hope to eventually get an end-product that looks that good.

So, for now, nothing more than your largely stock looking '94 RX-7:

Attachment 751798

Attachment 751799

Attachment 751800

Looks like a great way to start!

So, the reason I've had the car a couple months without posting anything is that I told myself I wouldn't start work on the car until I got the garage done the way I've always wanted one.

And I finally got that completed last weekend.

The scale of it is difficult to tell from these pictures. It's a 3-car garage, but one 'bay' is a workshop area (has no door). I painted the walls the same two-tone gray that's throughout the interior of my home and the floor is an industrial epoxy coating. I installed 8 x 4' LED panels for awesome lighting throughout. Cabinets are NewAge Diamond Plus and are 7' tall. The workbench is 7' long. And the TV is a 65" 4K model.

So, all-in-all, a very large area to work on a vehicle the size of the RX-7. Makes for a very comfortable experience. It's actually one of my favorite rooms in the house now - and I'm lucky enough to have 3 other rooms in the house designated as 'mine' by the wife as well; including a Game/VR room, a theatre room, and a room for building my scale models. Though we'll see how well it does in the heat of the summer when that time comes.

Also in the garage but not seen are multiple ceiling drops for electric and LED work-lighting and I bought a QuickJack as well, which is great and convenient, though the cost is fairly high.

Attachment 751795

Attachment 751796

Attachment 751797

First thing done after getting the car up on the QuickJack was to start coompletely ripping out the 4 corners of suspension.

The first corner alone proved to be a real B(*@!. 25 years and 110K miles of rust was not terribly forgiving, and the tie rod and ball joints did NOT want to give up. But, after enough nights, cussing, and buying some specialized tools got everything apart (except the rotor from the hub, which is tomorrow's project).

In the meantime, to make it feel like I was making some progress rather than just cussing a lot, I took the time to refurbish the aluminum control arms. Below is the Before/After shot.

I have a set of SuperPro bushings for the lower control arms, but the stock ones appear to be in good shape. And, from what I've read, the fluid-filled OEM bushings are actually quite nice, and the aftermarket really aren't great replacements. So I'm thinking at this point that I'll probably leave them in. We'll see what the ones on the passenger side look like.

Attachment 751793

Attachment 751794

I was hoping to get the front all done this weekend, but one of the brake fittings didn't want to come out and forced me to cut it which is forcing me to have to re-run the whole front-right line from the ABS controller down to the fender well. So that's gonna put me back a few days waiting for the line and a double-flare tool.

So instead I laid out some of the parts just to get a shot of everything going on. This doesn't show the tie-rod ends or power-steering boots put on, and I forgot to put the J-Auto sway-bar end-links in the shot, but everything else is included.

Refurbished Upper and Lower Control Arms with new SuperPro bushings and rebuilt ball joints
New slotted/drilled rotors
Rebuilt and painted calipers with new pads
New hub and bearing
Refurbished and painted knuckle
Painted caliper dust guard
New stainless brake lines
New Ohlins DFV Coilovers

Attachment 751686

Nice, looks like a great foundation and digging the garage setup/.

Looks excellent and I LOVE the garage. Mine is a giant pile of parts right now :).

Dale

Slow going the past few weeks, but hitting it hard a couple nights this past week -- hope to have the car back on the road to test out the new suspension within the next couple weeks.

But in the interest of keeping the thread updated, here's a side-by-side comparison of before and after all the work done on the front driver side.

Attachment 751443

Yup, looks clean and bet feels better all around.

Great work on the restoration and good choice of parts :icon_tup:.

I'm jealous of the three car garage :cool:.

Love how clean the garage is! No matter what I do it always seems to pile up with tools, parts, and other junk for my build. :icon_tup:

Looks good.™

Let's bring this one back from the dead. 6 year bump...

So I had to move (lost the nice garage) and the car hasn't moved much at all in nearly 6 years. Like, maybe 5 miles in all that time. And, a year ago, it decided to puke coolant all over the driveway. And, after replacing some hoses and caps, it did it again -- not too long after the thermostat should have opened. So that, along with white smoke and a VERY hard start makes me fairly sure that it's got a coolant seal issue. I did buy a new water pump and thermostat, but I suspect that's not going to solve anything.

So.... I've got a decision to make:

1> Full rebuild of everything under the hood at a high level. Single turbo, Haltech, ignition, fuel, mild port, new harnesses, etc. The whole nine yards.
2> Just rebuild the keg, put it all back together using all the existing goodies that are already there (Power FC, PFS SMIC, etc). (image is below)

I was always satisfied with the power it already had. Not that I wouldn't want more power, but at best I wouldn't be going crazy -- can't imagine more than 350hp. That was never the point. I'm sure it's not strictly necessary to go all-out, but I really, really like the idea of all-new stuff, learning new things, and making something really great and fulfilling. And just going back to the 15-year-old mods that I really know nothing about, I'm not even sure if they're done right or who else would even known at this point, isn't that exciting and is almost as intimidating in a way.

But, man, is going crazy just diving into proverbial deep-end of the pool. And I'm really, really intimidated not only by thing that I don't know, but especially the things that I don't know that I don't know. It's difficult to even know where to begin.

I'm confident I can pull the engine, ship it off to someone for a rebuild, and get it back in there. And, along the way, pull everything else out from under the hood, refurb what I can and maybe eliminate some needless stuff (God that air pump is ugly as sin).

But I bought the car for a project. And the cost isn't really an issue. Doing something and learning something was always the point. So I feel like I really should go with Option #1 and throw caution to the wind. If for no other reason than I can.

Or maybe I should just be reasonable and get it out, sent for rebuild, back in and running, and then consider the idea of doing the big upgrades.

I'm just venting into the void. But if anyone's got feedback, comments, ideas, whatever... bring it on. I'm tired of this car sitting around. I need to just make a move, one way or the other.


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...949183e8f3.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e875b322ee.jpg

Great looking FD, not many left that are relatively stock. My preference is always toward retaining the sequential twin setup as it has that period correct cool factor (and the response is still not quite matched by even the best EFR single setups), but it sounds like your goals are reasonable, and a single would be fun as well.

It might be worth checking the seal on the AST cap before tearing into the short block, as even a slight leak in this area can mimic coolant seal issues, as I learned with my car.

I'd avoid the single turbo and just rebuild with a set of N3G1 OEM turbos or a set of BNR turbos. The single turbo is cool but it really changes the dynamic of the car, due to the increased power you end up planting it more- wider, stickier tires, lower stance, and it becomes more of a handful.

A stock body, upgraded twins, slightly wider wheels/tires for the increased power and you maintain the airiness of the twins, and the light feel of the car.

Another opinion on a reman and another set of twins if needed. I'd rather drive this thing and upgrade as desired than have it sit forever in need of my time and effort wrenching on it hoping I might some day be able to drive it again. Time is short!

Alright guys, I appreciate the feedback, and agree. There is definitely 'something' about the twins, regardless of objective (or not) performance differences. I really like the esoteric nature and the definitive "90's tech" nature of it and, of course, I don't have to describe the driving experience.

So I'm convinced on the turbo direction... and BNR's upgrades for the twins seem like a good way to go there... but still a little up-in-the-air on everything else though. I think a big part of the internal argument really comes down to a desire to make the car "mine" and not just someone else's project. Because, correct me if I'm wrong -- but as long as the goal isn't anything over, say, ~300-325whp there's probably nothing that really needs changed. In theory (again, I believe), the existing SMIC setup, the PowerFC, and the (seemingly) relatively stock nature of everything else, doesn't need to be upgraded (though the small surface area of the PFS intercooler gives me some pause). I don't even have any reason to believe the turbos necessarily need a rebuild -- I just assume that they've likely been un-touched in their ~115,000-mile life, and a BNR rebuild doesn't seem to cost appreciably more than an OEM one.

Definitely did that. I feel like it may have even been a thread of yours on over-heating issues that got me hoping that was my issue. I replaced the caps on both ASTs (they are BOTH acting as ASTs, right? -- the one on the top of the block above the pump and the tank against the IC). No change. No noticeable leaks in any tubes either.

Been slowly working through the teardown. Trying to remember to take lots and lots of pictures as I go as I foresee remembering how it all goes back together is going to be a problem. Plus I'm pretty anal about bagging/labeling the parts and fasteners and cleaning as I go. And these parts need a LOT of cleaning. So, what is cumulatively maybe a few hours of actual work at best, has taken much, much longer than that. But that, ultimately what this is all about. Not hurrying to the finish.

She's... pretty rough under the hood once you look under the top-most level of stuff. Lots of rust, oil, grime, and general nastiness. Things not properly installed. A hodge-podge of fasteners over the years. I'm unsure if the engine's ever been properly touched. But, at over 100,000 miles I'm sure it has been done at least once. But definitely not in the better part of 20 years at least.

Ordered a brand new OEM 13B-REW keg this afternoon for delivery next week. It'll be at least months before I technically need it. But, given the issues people have been having getting one, I figured that it's better to just snag one if I can and not risk getting jerked around on a "pre-order" at some point in the future. Plus I figure it's gotta make things easier to just transfer parts from one engine to the other versus a 6-month (or more) gap between disassembly and re-assembly and totally forgetting how things go.

A rebuild was on the table. The first option even. Especially since a street port would be nice. But looking at the pricing.... it was hard to pass up New. Plus I figure I can always turn the core in there into its own project in the future.

I've been cleaning up some of the parts as I go. Just for something to do when the late-nights don't allow for making too much noise and/or I just want to calming task of polishing aluminum.

This weekend will be a rebuild of the power steering pump. It never gave me problems. But figure I may as well take the opportunity.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e6d51e2593.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...20681e1c82.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...705ef08a8b.jpg

Seems like a very sensible refurbishment. I always like seeing the engine with the accessories removed because it shows how far back in the chassis it is mounted.

A new short block from Mazda and a set of new N3C1 or BNR twins get my vote, I'm also waiting for mine from Mazda Motorsport. You can clean up the engine bay a bit while the old motor is out for parts transfer, and probably the subframe too.

AST is the one by PFS IC, the other one is just the filler neck. I have never run an AST for as long as I have own an FD, and since you have the 2-piece neck you can easily delete it.

Looking forward to see more update on this restoration :)

Well, in what is record time thesedays, I procured and received a new short block. Just 5 business days to asking if they could get me one, @FDAUTO had one shipped, delivered, and sitting in my garage. And it's sexy.... for a car part.

I was planning on painting it, as people often do. Nothing crazy, most likely just Black and Aluminum.... but it almost seems a shame on these brand-spanking-new castings. Not like you can see anything anyways.

Progress from the last photo -- I've gotten probably about everything removed that I can prior to the engine. AC lines are gone (to be replaced with JP3's RX-8 setup), all the stuff on the front bumper is gone, the headlights and mechanisms removed disassembled, and cleaned/painted. The only thing left on the car forward of the steering rack is the power steering cooler and the bit of the body harness that runs around the front bumper.

I feel like I should do something with the rack too. But it just doesn't appear common to get these rebuilt. Seems like people go Electric or go Manual. But the power rack just lasts forever I guess. So, aside from being absolutely caked in gunk and having boots that are 75% disintegrated, I've got no reason to think this one's bad. Never gave me problems before and they seem to last forever. So I guess I'll just yank it after the engine, clean it up, put some new boots on it, and shove it back in.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4e3bc4051f.jpg

BNR Stage 1 drop in CHRA's are affordable and make good power. You will need to port your waste gate.
BNR Stage 2, you get a nice set-up pre built.

Nice clean car, good luck with the refresh.

Got the power steering pump fully rebuilt and cleaned-up. Despite how discolored mine was, I couldn't work up the courage (?) to spend $300 on a new reservoir. So I cleaned it up best I could -- even tried the hydrogen peroxide thing (didn't really do much since it's more discolored from heat/fluid not UV exposure) -- and opted to paint the fluid level markings just to make it look a little cleaner.

My only concern after the rebuild is how very hard it is to spin the pump now. It spun very easily (but not freely) before. Now it's virtually impossible to turn with your bare hand, but easily turns with some leverage (some pliers or putting the pulley on).

Instructions on that were from here: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-pump-1008725/

Also finished up the cooling system with a new Koyo N-Flo radiator and RX-8 fans using the FD shroud. All new hardware too as the old stuff was incredibly corroded. And instead of re-using the old rad bracket 'ears' off the old unit, I opted to replace them with new shiny ones from Banzai.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...92de0c20ba.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...2d0b4eef3c.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c806e23d0c.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...af70396bac.jpg

Nice Work!