Yeah that's an older pic, I've actually swapped those ones out for some 1.5 ohm ballast type coils as I'm using an accuspark electronic ignition kit on each coil, and they're now mounted horizontally

 

I had a few choices for retro-fitting power steer to this project. I could have used a conventional belt-driven power steering pump from an FC or FD and mounted it on the side of the engine, but they tend to be a bit power hungry, and it would get in the way of the air conditioning I plan to fit. They're also speed sensitive and I don't have a speed sensor or any easy way to limit what they do. This was my least favourite option.

I could have hunted around and found a suitable rack with an electric motor built in, however the electric motor would have been more or less directly below the turbo, thanks to right-hand drive. Not ideal.

I went down the rabbit hole of investigating Toyota Prius 2003-ish electric power steering with the motor mounted in the steering column. For a while there I really thought that was the best plan and nearly bought a column to try to fit, until I realised that they have a universal at the lower half of the column which would need to fit to the top of the universal on the FC rack, then through another universal to the rack itself. Which would need some kind of centre bearing, and anyway the spline count is different, and it's illegal to modify steering components here by welding anything, so it all kind of died a death there.

So really the best option seemed to be using an electro-mechanical unit out of a SW20 MR-2. So continuing with my previous install efforts, I've had some success with it over the last couple of weeks. I fabricated a stainless reservoir and added a -10AN feed pipe to the pump, and a -6AN return from the rack. I've also connected the pump to the rack through a -6AN braided line.



I spent quite some time modifying a power steer cooler loop from a BA5 Prelude to mount under the radiator, however after spending way too long trying to tig weld a pair of -6AN fittings to it, had to bin the whole thing after they just wouldn't seal. Suspect it was made out of some kind of cheap pot metal and just kept weeping with 1000 psi going through it. I'll run it without a cooler and see how it goes, the reservoir is 1100cc instead of the factory 700cc so that'll help a bit.

The pulse width modulator is working well, however it really needs to be on about 70% as opposed to the 30% I'd initially planned. Two things here - this may be because I've only tested it with a battery on a jumper cable and it's not a great connection, and even 70% is about half the volume it makes at 100% so I'm calling it a win. It's working well enough to consider it ready for road trials.

What else - I've had the 225/45/15 Hankook Ventus 232's fitted and balanced, which has lowered the back of the car another 20mm or so. Still yet to get any suitable 205/50/15s for the front but I'm working on that before the holidays.

I've also pulled the engine down and checked it over, and bridge ported the secondary plates.









Gotta love those massive FD intake runners. The engine is in really good condition, the housings are great, the plates are in good shape and all the seals are well within tolerances. I replaced the side seal springs because they were cheap and if anything is going to lose tension over 20 years it's probably the smallest springs. I also took the opportunity to clean the engine and repaint it in a brighter fashion.







I also fixed the leaks in the sump and installed a threaded piece for the oil temp sensor in sump. I added studs to the sump instead of the 10mm factory bolts, and with some big washers I've managed to torque it up nice and tight, so let's hope leaks are a thing of the past (yeah right).

The primary reason I stopped driving it in January 2020 was because the FD alternator failed. At the time I suspected this was due to heat under the hood, but I think I may have wired it incorrectly. I seem to recall someone posting once about needing a diode or a resister or something in the ignition feed side, so that may have been the cause. In any case, I've picked up this alternator instead, it's from an Australian EF Ford Falcon. It's 110amp, has the same plug as FD and cost $50. I found an oversized pulley for it off a Mitsubishi Diamante alternator, and after a bit of light machining it all fits together well. I'll go over the wiring and make sure it's correct before powering it up.



I've cleaned up the FC turbo gearbox with a wire wheel and degreaser, just because I can't be bothered stripping it and having it vapour blasted and/or painted. It's really not that kind of car and I suspect I may need to swap the box out for something later on, so I want to keep it original for potential resale purposes.



I've purchased a used Subaru GF8 WRX master cylinder to replace the rat-eaten one, so the brake lines can all go back together soon, I'll change the right front one so it's a bit neater and routes away from the turbo better.

I've fixed the turbo drain so it's not all twisted up and routes better behind the lower radiator hose, which allows me to plumb the wastegate back into the exhaust clockwise around the turbo between the exhaust manifold and the right front inner guard. This also allows me to start fabricating the new 3.5" downpipe.



Next up, maybe I'll get some decent progress with air conditioning and getting the radiator(s) all back in place, I think I need to de-ugly the front part of the engine bay so that'll take a bit of work. One more post before Christmas at this rate.

 

I forgot to post last time that I've fixed a bit of rust in the rear hatch, so I'll get that out of the way first:



I've also made a bit more progress with the wastegage piping, it should neatly wrap around the turbo and go straight into the dump pipe. As mentioned a few years ago, this is a legal requirement here.





In addition, I connected the 3/8" vent pipe from the new tank through a combination of hard and flexible lines inside the trunk and under the battery, then under the car to the engine bay where I connected it to an OEM charcoal cannister from a 2013+ VW Golf. I'll T this off to the crankcase too in a futile effort to reduce vapours. The pipes all seem to fit well under the internal plastic panels so everything will be out of sight when the interior is all reassembled.







The rat-eaten Subaru WRX master cylinder has now been replaced and a new hard line to the right front wheel created, it routes better to avoid the heat from the turbo.



So... why bother with air conditioning? Well, I live in a part of the world that regularly gets to 30+ degC (86f+) in the summer, so obviously comfort is an issue. It's hard to enjoy a car when you have to be peeled out of it at your destination. This will be compounded by the darker colour scheme I'll be painting it.

But there's a secondary concern, and that is no matter what I seem to do with any rotary vehicle I have ever owned, the second I crank the driver's window down, I seem to be inundated with the smell of exhaust fumes and unburnt fuel. I've spent hours of my life using smoke machines to try to figure out where it all comes from, to no avail. Even with a fully sealed exhaust system and correct breathers etc for some reason it still stinks. So the answer clearly is to simply never lower the windows when the engine is running. Suits me, the windows are tinted and the car looks better when they're up.

To facilitate this, I've extracted the air conditioning pump and lines from this salvage 2012 Mitsubishi Colt running the R134 system. This car is used on my property as a "driveway car", as it's very hilly and nobody wants to walk 200m up and down a driveway to get the mail and put out the trash. No point in maintaining air conditioning in a vehicle that is used for a couple of minutes every few days. It's now done over 800km on my driveway, and last time the oil level was checked it was nearly overflowing. Almost two litres of water was removed from the crankcase, which was a fine reminder that engines are not designed to be run below operating temperature for years at a time.





Instead of spending hours removing the evaporator from that vehicle, I bought one from a 2012 Ford Focus online for $20:

I'm going to use the condensor from a BA5 Prelude I have lying about (even though it was R12 originally it should be fine on R134) plus an accumulator and switch from aliexpress whever it turns up.

The air con pump will be driven from the crank pulley, but due to interference from the CAS it can't be driven along with the water pump and the alternator, so it needs it's own pulley. The Mitsubishi pump uses a 5-rib pulley, and although I have a 5-rib crank pulley on a parts car here (BA5 Prelude again) the diameter is about 165mm and fouls the water pump pulley, so that's no good. It needs to be about the same as the FD aftermarket pulley (125mm) so I'm still investigating whether or not I get an OEM FD air con crank pulley or get someone to make one. Confusingly, OEM FD uses a 5-rib belt to drive the alternator, water pump and air pump, but a 6-rib belt to drive the air con and power steer. Fascinating stuff. Anyway, I'll come up with a solution somehow.

In New Zealand, almost everything shuts down between Christmas Eve and about a week after New Year, at that time I'll take all my air con parts into a local specialist and see what they recommend in terms of hooking it all together. I've never done this kind of work with air conditioning before so I'll get some good advice before going much further.

In the meantime I've wired in the EL Falcon alternator using the following schematic. I found it on the internet so it must be true:



The oil temperature gauge is now wired up, and I've repurposed the lift fuel pump relay and switches for the eventual air conditioning install.

I've started stockpiling some 3.5" stainless exhaust bends and tube to get the new system ready, and the components for my 5" supertrapp have arrived. Yep, it's going old school, it's going to be large, loud and obnoxious and I don't even care.



Merry Christmas, thanks for reading and be safe. I'll be back in 2024 when this thing is going to get driven again.

 

Driveway car, love it. I think your next thread should be the electric conversion on that.

 

I was hoping to start this post with a few shots of a nearly completed aircon install, but as always, it's not that simple.

In order to stack aircon components together, they really need to have threaded connectors. Most modern cars, including the Colt (pump) and the Ford Focus (evaporator) I've raided parts from use what is referred to as a "pad" connector. They're made to quickly assemble parts on the production line but can't be easily reused to retrofit aircon at a later date because they're crimped together.

So I'm fairly sure I'll be able to use the Colt pump and Focus evaporator after I source some pad connectors that have threaded ends. I've found these on everyone's favourite Chinese site and ordered them, so when they turn up I'll have to make sure if it's all compatable before going any further. If not, I'll need to find a budget of about USD$1,200 to import a complete aftermarket kit from Australia. Either way, aircon is on the back-burner for the forseeable.

So instead I've been chipping away at the new 3.5" stainless exhaust. I needed to replace the old mild steel 3" system for several reasons - firstly, it's covered in surface rust and I can't be bothered cleaning it. Two, it's too restrictive and I'm fairly sure it's the cause of my crazy temperatures in the engine bay. And thirdly, because I've redesigned the fuel tank the exhaust now exits on the right.















Just a bit more polishing and it'll be ready to go. I've also reassembled most of the engine bay, and replaced the complicated aluminium brackets holding the radiator and intercooler with straps instead, greatly simplifying the front layout. The rad and intercooler are also angled upwards slightly which improves clearance in a number of areas.



I made a better looking alternator adjustment bracket:



Had a go at test fitting the Kamei front lip:



And tried out a test can to see if the colour I've chosen looks any good:





Next up - probably back to test fitting the fender flares to get a better fit than before, which will require sourcing a pair of 205/50/15 front tyres. I've started a bit of filler work on the rear panel mainly because it was really rough and annoying me, so I'll probably continue chipping away at the bodywork when I get time heading towards painting it. But I would like to start it up and hear it run before that happens.

 

Love the build! I was looking at your Kamei spoiler test fit. If I may offer a suggestion I would trim the front bumper a little and install the spoiler behind it. I did it on my SA with FB bumpers.

 

Oh interesting, thanks - haven't seen it done that way before. I'll do a bit of a mock up and see how that goes, although I don't really want to cut the bumper. I got it second hand so there wasn't any kind of fitting guide with it, so I'll muddle through that when I'm focused more on the paintwork.

 

It's Friday here, so what better day for a potential fire.

I've spent all week chasing a fuel related gremlin that has prevented the 13B from even kicking. My first attempt to start it a few days ago ended on the assumption there was some kind of ignition problem, however the Microtech's diagnostic light (ha..) showed orange pulses from the crank angle sensor, and upon taking out a plug and earthing it while cranking I could see a massive spark.

Next up, I checked the fuel pressure, which was steady at 45psi. When I turned off the ECU and the pump stopped however, the pressure dropped to zero almost instantly, which is different to the setup I had before that retained pressure and slowly bled off after an hour or so. After a bit of research, it seems the in-tank Walbro pumps don't have check valves. My previous setup would have used the lift pump as a kind of check valve so it wouldn't return back to the tank like this setup does. Doesn't really matter anyway, the pressure gets to 45psi before I can move my hand from the ignition switch to the starter switch.



Didn't seem to be getting any fuel to the rotors, so I pulled out the 1000cc Bosch EV14 primary injectors and fed them 12v on the bench. Nada, totally dead. Managed to free them up with a screwdriver and get them clicking again, refitted them but still no fuel. I'm guessing the fuel pressure is forcing them closed again and whatever is blocking them up prevents them from opening. Checked with a local outfit who will ultrasonically clean them for $40 plus tax. New ones are $120. So I ordered new ones, which arrived today. Friday.


Running very rich now, I bought it up to operating temperature and it's blowing clouds of black smoke under acceleration so it needs to be tuned again. But hey, at least it works and I didn't screw up the assembly!

Shed has been rendered uninhabitable for the next few hours so it might be time for a beer instead.

 

It's been a while since the last update as I've had to complete a deck that had a building permit due to expire, so I haven't had much time to work on the RX-7. But there's one fairly major change.

This all came about when my friend Matt came over (same guy who I worked with to do the IRS swap back in '16) and we were looking at the back of the car. It's been looking a little odd since I changed the 235/50/15 proxes out and put the 215/50/15 on the back instead. I think I mentioned something about the wheels kind of being out of proportion and he said that it does seem to have the effect of looking like it's on a trailer. Like the wheels are too narrow for their position under the guards, if that makes sense? Here's a still from the video above, I don't have a better picture unfortunately:



So after my friend left, I started to seriously consider moving to a 9" rim on the rear with a more aggressive offset. Problem is, I can't keep getting wider and wider without heading towards a massive flare kit, and anyway that's really not going to change the fact that this is an issue of proportion. The rear track, put simply, is too wide.

So what would be involved in, say, narrowing up the rear subframe? Logic would dictate cutting a section out of the middle, welding it back together, and resplining the axles. Unfortunately due to the position of the new chassis rails, I couldn't narrow the subframe at all, as it's already running about 10mm away from the chassis rails. I'd have to rip the whole rear of the car out again, and I'm not doing that. After realising this, I decided to put it in the too-hard basket, that is, until I noticed that one axle is precisely 50mm longer than the other axle.

If I could source another short axle, I could narrow the back up without having to have to respline anything, and 50mm gives me the ability to change from one common rim size (15x8 et0) to another common size (15x9 et-13) without affecting where the outer rim sits in relation to the bolt-on flare. Effectively it would allow another inch of tread on the inside of the car, fixing the aesthetic problem as well as providing more grip in one fell swoop. It's just too perfect to not do.

So if I can't narrow the structure of the subframe, the only other way is to move the mounting points for the lower arms, camber arms, toe arms and traction arms inward 25mm each side, then move the front and rear diff mounts over 25mm towards the new short axle side. Sigh.

But I had a couple of things going for me - I had the spare GTR subframe that had already been chopped up a bit to experiment on, and a spare R33 subframe I could use to repair my subframe if I really screwed it up. So I began by templating and welding on washers in the same position as the existing mounts before cutting them off the GTR subframe and seeing if I could move them and weld them back on without too much drama.





I practised on all of the mounts on the GTR subframe to ensure it was possible before moving on to my subframe and starting again. Each mount had to be cut off and moved inward 25mm keeping the same horizontal axis as before to ensure the wheel remained in the same place.











It's mind-numbing work and took in total about 45 hours.

Final fit-up using a laser calibrated on the front lower arms, running along the chassis rails and intersecting with the rear lower control arms shows a difference of less than 1mm side-to-side. Gotta be happy about that.



Repainted and ready to go back in with new zinc-plated cap screws and nyloc nuts.



End result - 25mm (1 inch) narrower each side:





So I'm now on the hunt for some 9" et-13 watanabe reps in 4x114 and some 245/40/15 semi-slicks when the budget allows. Getting closer to paint every day.

 

are you running all adjustable arms aswell? I am doing the same set up in my s1 but have all hardrace arms and was hoping that I will be able to get it nice and tucked in that way, also how much wider do your flares make it as was going to pump my gaurds about 40mm each side as I will be needing to get 10 inch wheels on my one

 

Yeah you can see from the photos they are all adjustable. It's impossible to do this with factory fixed arms. I used Hakon arms but they are all the same really. I think the flares push out about 70mm but it's hard to tell as I've removed the original guard lip. There are varying tiers of aftermarket bolt-on flares such as alixpress ones for next to nothing that come in two sizes, to more expensive ones that are custom dimensions, to totally custom glass/plastic ones that cost an absolute fortune.

My advice would be to build to the wheel you have - get it sitting on the ground with the correct camber/toe you want, then get an existing plastic flare and cut it to suit, or template with cardboard and make a glass one to suit. Whatever works for you. You might get lucky and find that a cheap flare will fit or you might decide to make something totally custom depending on the look you want.

 

Yeah it's been a while. Most of the mechanical work was completed over a year ago, but I'd decided I wasn't going to drive this thing again until it was repainted. There's only so much midnight purple anyone should be subjected to.

In order to paint it though, I needed a paint booth - the last time I painted anything in my shed it covered everything with so much overspray it created more problems than it solved.

I decided to increase the size of my shed by about 50%. I essentially added a lean-to structure, then framed it in and insulated it to form a ~300 square foot prep area, a ~300 square foot paint booth, and another ~300 square foot shed for my wife to entertain her apiculture and apiary hobbies.

Yes, the cost of doing this was probably more than the cost to pay someone to paint the RX-7. But this isn't the only car I'm working on, I have at least five other cars that need painting, so this will pay for itself.





So, what's the best way of achieving a quality paint job without spending a fortune and screwing it up? Beats me, I've never done it before. I've painted small items, I've done engine bays and suspension components, but never an entire car from scratch. But I have a few things going for me - my brother-in-law worked for many years as an auto painter, and my friend Matt (previously mentioned) has a lot of experience with body work and paint. So I have talent to draw on.

The goal - 2k basecoat/clearcoat with enough gloss to blind a penguin.

I started by stripping the car down and putting it on jack stands in the booth, then hitting it with 180 grit on the DA sander. I didn't want to take the car back to steel because it's already been resprayed in the past in 2k so I wanted to use that as a base to spray over. Some steel exposure is inevitable - that's hit with some etch primer to seal it from the elements before it can be 2k primed.



At this point I can rip around the car with filler and repair the worst of the dents and scratches. I'm aiming to just deal with the obvious defects before priming the whole car. As you can see, there's multiple layers of filler and primer and it's all pretty confusing, and hard to see high and low points, so the sooner I can get the car one solid colour the better.



Here we go - black 2k high-fill primer. My final colour will be quite dark, so having a dark primer means that stone chips won't look quite as obvious. This high-fill primer is like spraying liquid bondo. This first pass is three coats, which fills a lot of scratches and minor imperfections and allows me to use guide coat more accurately to find additional problems. I'm about 120 hours in here and the car is starting to get very straight.





I'm not aiming for a show car finish here, but the lines on the doors are very important. Particularly above the swage. I'm going to use the factory rubber side trims below the swage lines so most of the problems in the middle of the door won't be seen, but it's worth spending time to straighten as much as possible. Imperfections along sharp lines can be corrected using masking tape and filler in conjunction, building out low areas then blocking them back.





First colour goes on the door jambs. This is a good test to see if everything is working well, and the products and preparation have all aligned to create the desired result. The colour I've chosen is a slate mix by a company that makes the steel cladding I've attached to my house. It's a kind of clay/brown/blue/green with a hint of red that I find fascinating - it's never the same colour depending on the time of day and angle you look at it. Not bad for a solid colour.



You can also see some defects on the door jamb, these little spots are the result of light oil contaminants in the air supply. My inexperience in this regard will come back and bite me about 50 hours later, but for now, I'm assuming it's from a tac rag that has picked up some silicon from a door hinge. This might be true, but it's not the whole picture. These jambs were sanded back to remove the faulty clearcoat and shot again, which fixed the issue.



Here's the 200 hour mark, ready for basecoat. It's winter in New Zealand - I live in a pretty warm part of the country, but even so it gets close to freezing overnight, so I have six 750w infra-red heaters around the car that I use to warm the panels prior to spraying. Nice 20degC ambient in the booth before hitting the car with colour. Continued in the next post.

 

We all have our time machines - I think that's what the RX-7 really is for a lot of people. A vehicle that reminds us of the past and makes us reflect on and appreciate the way things used to be. If I had an actual time machine however, I would have gone back a few hours before spraying the basecoat and drained out the tank in my compressor.

When the compressor warmed up, light oil contaminants in the tank vapourised and formed imperfections in the basecoat, these are called "wax eyes". So after spending an entire day prepping and painting, I had to sand it all back just about to primer to remove these issues.

After properly draining the compressor and adding a better dessacant filter the next day's effort was much better.









And now out of the booth ready for reassembly. I've replaced the Rota Watanabe reps with even cheaper reps, but they're the correct size (15x8 et0 front, 15x9 et-15 rear) and I now have 195/50/15 Hankooks on the front and 245/40/15 Nankang AR-1s on the rear. I'll probably replace these rims with some genuine JDM 3-piece wheels in the future when I have the budget for it. I think Longchamps or Colins would look amazing.



I decided to leave it for at least five days before cutting and polishing. You can see the dust particles trapped in the clear coat - because of the additional sanding required to fix the basecoat there was more dust present in the booth than normal. I should have taken the car out of the booth and properly cleaned it out, but fortunately these dust "nibs" can be removed with a sand back using 1500 wet and dry paper, followed by a cut and polish. Live and learn.

 

I needed to redesign the bolt-on flares as these universal ones are the wrong shape and have no chance of actually clearing the wheels. If I hit a pothole, chances are they'll bend the guards and I'll be back to square one.

I haven't really done any fibreglass work in the past, so that's a new learning experience. It's pretty easy actually, I just chopped up one of the universal flares and covered it in aluminum tape to get the shape, then glassed over the top and let it set. Should I have done this before I painted the car? Absolutely. Do I have a clue what I'm doing most of the time? Absolutely not.

The first three were pretty terrible, so I just kept going and ended up making seven in total, the last four were acceptable. I will probably revisit the front ones again in the future, not entirely happy with them.











I had to remove the WRX brake master to get it to bleed up after sitting for so long, but eventually I got a good pedal and decided to start the car up and see if I could check the AFR and get it into a state where it can actually be driven safely.

Naturally, one of the primary injector o-rings had failed, which filled up the engine bay with about a litre of fuel.



I swear this car just leaks, and leaks and leaks. The sump had a leak (FD sumps are terrible, they leaked under warranty) so I had the sump off and on about three times chasing that one, eventually seemed to have fixed it with a combination of permatex "the right stuff" and a ritual sacrifice to the gods of RTV. (Future narrator: it wasn't fixed)

Anyway, managed to get it running after clearing out the flooded engine and drove it up and down my driveway. The tune is way out, running about 11:1 at idle and surging trying to get up speed, so it's off to the dyno to sort it all out. The exhaust is also very, very low, and scraped on my unsealed driveway. I think it has about 60mm of ground clearance. I don't see any other practical option but to give serious consideration to grading that driveway.

The last time I had the car dynoed I had to drive for hours, but fortunately since then one of the most respected Microtech tuners in New Zealand has relocated to my area - actually about 30km from where I live. So that's made everything a lot easier. I dropped the car off with a request to make some power under the curve.

65 litres of fuel later, it's now running at 370rwhp, still at 10psi.

My tuner couldn't get the 2000cc secondary injectors to flow low enough to avoid rich settings through the range, so we binned them and went back to 1250cc injectors. These proved to be much easier to tune.

My tuner also wants me to change the BOV, get a boost controller and tidy up some vacuum plumbing before pushing it any further, so I'm going to leave it there for now. I'm also not certain that increasing the power much more won't just result in endless tyre spin, so I'm going to drive it for a few months and see how it goes.

Here's the final dyno pull at 370whp, 295ft/pound. It hits 8750rpm in 4th.


After getting the car home, I've realised the exhaust is just too low. It scrapes on everything, and has sustained some damage resulting in it being pushed back about 30mm, which now interferes with the fuel tank, which is leaking again. So there's more work to be done.

 

I started by removing the exhaust, at which point I noticed the sump was leaking again.

I modified the final resonator by skimming it flat and welding in a new skid plate.





That should sort the clearance issues. I've also raised the car up about 20mm all around, after driving it the suspension had settled and the car was sitting extremely low. The front tyres were actually impacting the upper chassis rails under the front guards. So it's a bit safer now.

I had to revisit the clearance of the upper arms in the rear suspension again, as they moved more under full compression than I expected. Sigh.



Time for the front lip to go on, as there's less chance of it getting smashed off now:



If you're going to have an 80's car with a supertrapp, it should probably resemble the hero weapon of all great 80's movies: the minigun.



I fixed the fuel tank by replacing the pump hanger gasket with a dual o-ring setup, and I replaced the sender with a better model as the aliexpress one was now reading 100-200 ohms for no reason I can discern.

The result is a tank that doesn't leak - somewhat of a first for me.

So now everything is reassembled, I can get it outside and give it a wash.












And perhaps take it for another drive on a sunny late winter day here in Hawkes Bay, why not?


I can definitely feel the extra horsepower from the new setup, it just screams all the way to 8000rpm. It's still only 10 psi and I can't see it getting pushed much beyond that, things happen way too quick as it is and I'm not getting any younger.

So, after nearly ten years of fabrication, struggle, frustration and finally redemption, I'm calling phase 2 complete - and I think I'm done.

Yes, it needs air conditioning, I'm going to experiment with some exhaust shielding to see if I can help it out, but it's clearly going to be a problem in summer. But I've got time to deal with that later.

Yes, it deserves some JDM three piece wheels instead of the cheap Watanabe reps - but that's just money.

Thanks for following along on the journey! I'll report back if anything major happens, but as this is the only FB project I'll ever do, I guess that's it for me.

Cheers
Dan.

 

Thanks for the update, the car looks and sounds great! Doing a DIY respray really makes you appreciate the skill and equipment that the pros have. It's also one of the few car projects where you get to see some satisfying results as you work, not just at the very end. Love the color and work that's gone into it!

 

Thanks! I really appreciate that. The paint prep was another world - so much time and attention to detail to even have a chance of making it look acceptable. So many ways to screw it all up too.

I know a lot of the work I've done probably doesn't make a lot of sense to a lot of people, but the goal was twofold - not only make an open road GT car out of a cheap Japanese sports coupe, but also learn everything I always wanted to learn about automotive fabrication at the same time. And I have achieved both goals, I know exponentially more than I did in 2016 when I started, and I have a car that handles beautifully and boosts like a scalded cat. My next project is a 1970 Fiat Sport Coupe that I want to put a sport bike engine in - unfortunately, after the RX-7, each new challenge has to be taken that one step further to avoid the risk of boredom.

Oh, I almost forgot - during the project I kept a list of all the cars I stole parts from. There's actually very little left of the original car.

1981 RX-7 FB: Body, glass, dash & instrument cluster, seatbelts, headliner, exterior illumination
1986-88 RX-7 FC: Front subframe, steering rack, front hubs, front lower arms, front disk rotors, crank angle sensor, air temp sensor, gearbox, brake booster
1988-92 RX-7 FC: Water pump & thermostat housing
1992-1996 RX-7 FD: Engine, front brake callipers, seats
1996-2002 RX-7 FD: Throttle body
1984 Mazda Cosmo HB: Engine front cover
1989-93 Nissan Cefiro A31: Rear subframe cradle, rear seat bucket floor section, fuel tank straps, handbrake cables
1989-93 Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R: Rear subframe diff mount bracket
1989-93 Nissan Skyline R32 GTS-T: Rear axles
1993-1997 Nissan Skyline R33 GT-R: Rear strut tower brace
1993-1997 Nissan Skyline R33 GTS-T: Rear hubs
1989-93 Nissan 300ZX: Diff
1989-93 Nissan Laurel C35: Rear brake rotors & callipers
Subaru Impreza WRX GF8 1992-99: Brake master cylinder
Mitsubishi Diamante 1992-1996: Combination switch & steering column shrouds, electrical wire, alternator pulley
Ford Falcon XR-8: fuel filters
Ford Falcon EL: Alternator
Honda Prelude BA5: Power steer reservoir cap, shift ****
2012 Ford Focus: Air con radiator
SW20 MR2: Power steer pump
2012 VW Golf: charcoal canister
1992 Subaru Legacy: alternator tensioner