My 81 Base, My first car...
 

Yeah, it is the first car I ever owned, I think Ive had 18 or so up until now. And yes, I still have it, I also currently have an FC (Just converted to a 6 port Turbo!) that I am sure I will sneak in here somewhere! Ive been on here for a long time, and some of you may recognize the car, just never had a build thread!

Here are some pics from 03 around the time I got the car.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/lokirx7/125.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/lokirx7/124.jpg

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http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0115_large.jpg

It had been sitting at a used dealership off of a main route near where I live. At the time I was hunting a car and had 2K to spend. The dealer in question had an 85 Supra P-Type, and a 300ZX Turbo (AUTOMATIC! EEEW!) I really wanted the Supra, as it was a 5 speed, but the ZX was clean, and was quicker. My dad happened to have a 944, and while wandering the lot, I noticed a car that at the time I thought looked like a 944.....

I know, I know! lol :lol: I was Rx-ignorant at the time!

It was tucked behind a bunch of other cars in an overgrown backlot. It had grass up to the top of the fenders, and the paint was pretty dull. I asked about it and they told me it was a giant PIA to get started, and I didnt want it. So anyway, after they started it for me, I took it out for a test drive, man I was hooked... I asked how much they wanted, and it was $1300 which was cheaper than the other two cars I was considering.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0123_large.jpg


Drove it home, my dad taught me how to rebuild the carb, and I buffed the paint, and polished the wheels. Then I decided I would take what money I had left from buying the FB, and bought a daily driver so I didnt have to park it in the school parking lot. However that was a pointless purchase as I managed to get my license suspended until I was 18 by trying to drift the square in town.... Was it worth it? Yeah... :lol:

Unbeknownst to me I had stumbled onto a car that had a cult following, a car that many enthusiasts dream of finding. It had riken mesh wheels on it, rotary engineering upper strut bar, header, and intake manifold. A Mikuni 44pph side draft carburator with a K&N filter and element. Newer Racing Beat plug wires, and a full Racing Beat exhaust. Within no time I had it in a garage, and eventually I traded my daily for an '85 Rx7 and daily drove that for a few months.

http://memimage.cardomain.com/ride_i...0126_large.jpg

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A few years ago I grenaded the base models diff while merging onto the interstate. This was swapped for a GSL rear, and eventually I had a complete GSL-SE swap. I never utilized it, because I ended up finding 4x110 wheels all over the place, and I began hording them...

My $75 Weds Autobahns!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM0533.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM0537.jpg

My 14 inch Gold Enkeis!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...422001857a.jpg

Then I added 2GCDFIS, a custom 2.5 inch exhaust and a Gilmer drive...

Yeah, she is obnoxiously loud now!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2207.jpg

http://youtu.be/hRMmIq5hSYg

Might quiet her down in the near future I am undecided...

Camera Mount..

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2433.jpg

15 inch Enkei's

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2290.jpg

Needs LOW!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM4163.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM4148.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/DSCF2506.jpg

Introducing my FC (This is before the turbo swap, the day I bought the FC)

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/DSCF2291.jpg

At a local cruise in with my Girlfriend, thats her AW11. Muscle cars guys love checking out the rotary, and half of them cant figure out where the engine is in the AW11.... :scratch: I mean seriously... I cant tell you how many times we are asked if we pushed it there.... We need to get a plush hamster and a hamster wheel and put it in the 'frunk'! :lol:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/PICT0005.jpg

I also organize the lions share of the meets our local club holds. Ohio-rotaries.com This car attends most of the meets... This was just the FB's together that attended this particular meet...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2282.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2161.jpg

Again, just FB's

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM0821.jpg

On a cruise...

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM0830.jpg

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http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM4151.jpg

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http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/DSCF2609.jpg

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These were taken on the day of the ninth year of my ownership of her......

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http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/DSCF1288.jpg

This was also on that day..

http://youtu.be/pfkqRj4Gfag

And from a recent meet...

http://youtu.be/CuOmBYcjWME

Some more random pics....

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM0564.jpg

Hint, third one down!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2277.jpg

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http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/HPIM2441.jpg

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Here it is with my FC, the FC is boosted in this pic! :egrin:

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...s/DSCF5034.jpg

nice!

Figured Id do another set of pics with my FB and FC since there have been some changes since the first set....

BEFORE!!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/DSCF2291.jpg

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w...7/DSCF2287.jpg

Current!

https://i174.photobucket.com/albums/...DSCF9179-1.jpg

https://i174.photobucket.com/albums/...7/DSCF9165.jpg

https://i174.photobucket.com/albums/...7/DSCF9170.jpg

https://i174.photobucket.com/albums/...7/DSCF9185.jpg

The only change to the FB is I swapped my 13's back on. The ability to chirp in third is a great ricer deterrent! Too bad it cant do it with the 15's lol (Yes my E-brake doesnt work on the FB. It was a result of the GSL rear swap. I have yet to get off my ass and get the proper cable...)

i can see the screw driver lol

Late last year.... I traded this car away..... I was without it for about six months or so before I found it and got it back. In some ways, I regret ever getting rid of it. My glass sunroof, and some of my wheels I will never get back. But I treated this car like a garage queen in the nine years that I owned it. I RARELY drove it, and I didnt do much in the way of serious modifications because I didnt want to risk permantly altering anything. (I.E. unable to revert to oem/stock) Now that I have the car back, that inhibition is gone. All I want to do, is make the car exactly what I have always wanted. Here she is the day I got her back....

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That is my Miata, my daily, and the girlfriends new toy an '03 MR2 Spyder.

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Decided the first order of business was getting it lower, I lopped a coil off each corner and was very unsatisfied. It rode well enough, but I really wanted a proper suspension after having a Miata on a good aftermarket suspension. Sure, I did it correctly, it didnt bounce. Sure its lower, but it didnt handle any better.

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Unfortunately the first thing I did after this was order coilovers from a once respected company who I shall not name (Recieved full refund thankfully). I left the community right about the time they stopped delivering orders, and didnt think to research them when I got my car back. This led to me looking at lowering springs, coming up unsatisfied with what I saw. I looked at the TTT setup for a long time, before I decided I could build the exact same thing for less than half the cost. Well, I might have been right, except R&D cost money, so I spent about half the cost in the end :)

First attempt I took some ebay coilover sleeves and some shaft collar clamps to see if this was even feasible. If it failed I wasnt out much cash, if it worked Id buy decent springs. I used old blown shocks for mock up so I didnt destroy my good shocks, and washers for the spacer as I had no idea how long the spacer would need to be. Mind you, this is all mock up and was never actually used.

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What this taught me was that the 2.5 inch spring would never fit into the oem shock tower. Either the shock tower needed widened, or the 2.5 inch spring HAD to go. Also the spacer ate up usable travel. Once the weight of the car was on the spring there was very little travel before the spring hat would crash into the top of the shock, it just wasnt going to work.

Enter the Draco 1.8" I.D. 150# springs.

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With the shaft collar there is no need for an adjustable sleeve anyway. This spring limits my shock selection to a degree but it fits into the shock tower with no need for a spacer. With some scrap steel an upper spring hat was fabricated although not pictured. Also the collars at this point were still clamped on in the spot intended for holding the sleeves. They were moved upwards quite abit before they were reinstalled.

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At some point the car had been needlessly notched in the hopes of finding a way to stuff the 2.5 inch spring up further to shorten the spacer. No matter, it isnt a structural area, and I suppose it helps showcase the coilovers. lol

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Here she is with the front mocked up as well. Given I now had height adjustability I decided to see 'How low can she go?' Well, this is sitting on the rear bumpstops. If not for the bumpstops it could go a little lower. Mind you it was only driven into, and out of the garage at this height, at about two mph.

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Here it is on the first test drive after I received my Summit 275# springs for the front, the rear was still a little tall, but I had taken it apart and reassembled it a half dozen times. So getting it perfect wasnt important yet, also I wanted to keep the rear off of the bumpstops.

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Here is a picture of the front suspension, it is complete save for the shock inserts I want. Havent decided yet what I am going to go with. Yes the rotors are dual drilled, hopefully soon Ill get the axles done as well. Going 4x100.

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And another of the rear, since this picture I have installed 1990 Camaro rear shocks, which are about two inches shorter than the Rx-7's rear shocks.

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Another pic of my 7 and Miata. The Miata is on Eibach Pro-kit springs and KYB AGX shocks. I have plans to buy coilovers for it, I bought it with that suspension. But I figured Id put coilovers on the FB first. :)

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Almost the same height!

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Well that about brings you up to speed, I need a better shock up front to cope with the springs. And I need to level the car, but I think the rear bumpstops need trimmed before I do that. Hopefully Ill update this more often now lol

oh snap my fb is in that pic which the prev owner had at the time :] the miss match white and grey fb

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Drove to my hometown for no reason other than to test the suspension and waste fuel.

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Ive been driving it down the nastiest, bumpiest, crappiest roads I can find. Interspersed with great stretches of twisty roads for testing. It handles exceptionally well, and Ive been aiming for every man hole cover and pot hole I see. So far the suspension has withstood tremendous punishment. Ive loaded it down with weight, Ive locked the brakes, accelerated as hard as it is capable of. No measurable movement from the collar clamps. I want to be -certain- that it is a reliable setup, and I am far from the first to try this so I know it works. But I need the piece of mind that comes with abusing it firsthand.

Also, more importantly.

I ordered a "Made in the 80's - Loved by the ladies" Decal from JNC, very FB appropriate if you ask me :)

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Oh, and I made a little 'Before and After' to really showcase the change in ride height.

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Bought a house, progress on cars has slowed. Thankfully it has a big garage!

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Decked it out in some reproduction gas and oil signs.

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This is sitting in the garage for a future project....

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Notice the second bolt pattern? It will soon be utilized... Just ordered some wheels.

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Cant wait for things to start coming together!

Nice!!

Nice find and build

Teaser shot!!

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Very nice! Love the look.

Didn't see it anywhere. What are the specs of the flares and your new wheels?

Wheels are 15x9 +0

I dont know the specs on the flares off hand, they are the Fiberglass flares from thezstore.com

Clearanced the fenders and quarters, car is driveable now, enjoying the New Year!

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I'm typically not a fan of the targa band but in this case, it really goes well with the fender flares as it gives it a beefier look up top. Car looks great!