I'll start off by saying that I had every intention to keep the rotary lol. If I knew I would swap it then I would've looked for a shell. Either way, I plan on restoring this FD to its originally glory plus some. It'll be an extremely meticulous build. What's different about this build thread is that I'll be doing it via a video series. Rather than pictures and typing. There will still be some of that, but I'm having fun with this and evolving with the times. I hope you guys enjoy and criticism is welcome.

Here's an introduction and my first video:


In the video you'll see my first experience with a rotary and why I'm swapping it LOL.

- Joel

 

Second Video:
Primarily got the engine bay tear down.

Anyone know what an FD trans and Mazdaspeed PPF go for nowadays?

 

Removed the dash this weekend
Bought a Ford 8.8 Diff and axles
Bought an AEM Infinity ECU, digital dash and all the sensors I'll need. Anyone know what happened to Broadfield Customs? I was really hoping to not have to fill in my cluster myself lol.

Here's the video!

 

Sub'd

 

Thanks man! I hope people can look past the fact that I'm swapping an LS and appreciate the level of detail I will put into this car. I have a lot of plans for restoring this beauty!

 

I'm in the middle of doing this too.. I couldn't believe the mess of wiring that was pulled out and how much of a PITA the dash removal was. I just ordered my Ronin rear diff kit this morning..haven't been able to find a diff/axles out of an exploder yet and this is leading to procrastination on the driveline. No luck on a used T56 around where I am either ffs.. I have yet to decide on a digital dash..AEM, Holley, Aim are so damn expensive.

I'm rebuilding all calipers this weekend and have begun researching brake booster eliminator kits, Chase Bay makes a nice looking kit.

 

Nice bro! I actually got lucky at the junkyard because the Explorer I took the diff out of had only the driver side axle and there was an explorer 2 rows over that had the passenger side lol. they seem to be relatively cheap online for aftermarket ones, although I know Ronin says to not use the Cardone ones. Regarding the T56, keep your eye on ebay. Occasionally you'll come across a good deal, I found mine for 2k rebuilt and shipped.

Agreed on the digital dashes. I justified it by adding up the cost of all the gauges I would want, which added up to over 1k, so at that point, 1400 for the AEM 7" dash seemed alright, especially with all the added features. However......now I have to deal with fitting it or paying someone to customize my cluster to fit it. It adds up for sure.

What kit are you using to rebuild your calipers? I'm going to be doing that very soon as well since I get my sandblaster today in the mail and will be having a sandblasting frenzy all weekend.

 

I've looked on eBay for diff's, $250ish but then for some dumb reason the shipping to Canada is like $300 alone..so for that reason I gave up on eBay..I can't imagine what a shipping quote for a tranny would be.. I might save up for a while and pick up a new T56 Magnum F next year.

Logical assessment on the gauges vs dash, justifies the price.

I ordered rebuild kits off Atkins (no dealer stock in North America), they're oem kits with all the different grease for the rears etc..and pad hardware kits off rockauto. The oem rotors I have are within spec according to the fsm (21.xx mm fr and like 19mm thickness remaining on rear). Gonna clean em up and paint the centers of them. I replaced front hub/bearings already, cleaned and painted front knuckles/dust shields. New rear bearings are enroute from rockauto (Timken).. Still need to press out the rear bearings then clean and paint rear knuckles/shields.

Just recvd my J-Auto pillow ball kit yesterday in the mail, have a super pro bushing kit in the freezer right now..all suspension arms are on the floor in my garage, polished one rear LCA..debating on polishing the rest or powdercoating. Polish is alot of damn work..

 

I've had good luck buying from Jimmy's in the UK. They break RX7s and have reasonable shipping using DHL (about 5 business days to Canada). They're shipping to Canada was significantly cheaper than anything from the US. I've also been buying a lot from Japan and Australia over the last two years because of shipping. The prices for parts are about the same as from the US or a little cheaper because of the exchange rate but shipping is a fraction of the cost.

For Example. I bought a big order of parts from GKTech last year. I saved about $200 buying from their Australian store and having the items shipped to Canada than buying from their US store. The latter charges crazy shipping rates to Canada.

 

Got a new video put together. Had some fun with it and did something a little different haha.
I also got my Ronnin 8.8 kit shipped in! Biggest hold up will now be not having enough tools to do my fabrication work. I was really trying to be patient on finding a used multi-process welder, but I'll just have to pull the trigger on a new one.

 

It's been a few weeks since I was able to wrench on the FD and there's a reason why
This weekend I did finish the chassis teardown though and now I can actually start working on restoring parts and installing new ones. I'm likely going to start with rebuilding the suspension so I can get the car off of jack stands and be able to move it around.

 

It's been a while!!

Life happens unfortunately and I had to prioritize things, then holiday's came around.

Anyways I've done the following...

Clean and polish/brush all my suspension arms
Completely rebuild every single bushing
Got my diff built

I cover the suspension overhaul in the following video.
Next video will be restoring and re-coating all my hardware. Next video after that will be the Ronin 8.8 diff install.

 

Enjoying your videos! I just did suspension bushings, interior and dashboard this summer so I sympathize with you how difficult it is to do. Unfortunately, after getting it back together my new expansion valve with new O-rings it is leaking so now I have to remove the dash again (not looking forward to it) this spring to get AC to working. I would suggest pressure testing it before simply assembling it only to find it leaking coolant after getting it back together like I did.

 

It's been really slow the last couple of months but finally getting back into a grove and working more on the FD. Here's the most recent video showing the Ronin 8.8 install and restoring hardware.

 

 

glad to see somebody didn’t take out a ninja contract on you but kind of surprised this wasn’t towed over to the non-rotary swap forum area.

keep up the good work 👍

 

Finally got around to making another video. Haven't done much to the car but hoping to make some big progress this summer. Here's a video on the Grannas Racing manual rack for the FD.

 

Got around to catching up to some of the footage I have from months ago. Need to get this content out before my OCD allows me to work on the car again haha..

Improved Racing oil baffle kit
Turbo oil drain plug welded
ICT alternator relocation kit
Ronin Speedworks swap kit
Engine installed

 

Fully caught up on older content.
Turbo kit 95% finished.
Going to start tackling smaller projects now like brakes and fuel.

 

Resurrecting this from the dead and documenting my progress....


Progress:
- Radium Engineering Surge Tank pumps and filter installed back in 2022, but barely published the youtube video.
- Turbo kit fabrication completed. Mainly exhaust and cold side parts weren't finished.


Next:
- Working on restoring the brakes on the FD
- Full caliper rebuild and paint
- ChaseBays booster delete and lines all the way to the caliper


Video on the Radium surge tank install:

Pics of progress and current work: