FC RX7 Project Car - Street/Time Attack Build
 

Hey Everyone

So I've been working on an 1986 FC RX7 since February 2017 and updating a build log on Ausrotary, but since that forum isn't public I've decided to run the build thread on RX7club as well :)

It'll be a few weeks to transition everything over and catch up, it really has been an emotional rollercoaster so far but it should be ready for its tune in a few months time.

Ben

Mon Feb 20, 2017

So after 10 years (babies, a wedding, a home purchase, multiple careers) I finally bought another Rotary!

My first rotary was an FD RX7 but I always had a soft spot for the FC's so when this little project car came up for sale I couldn't say no.

After having a good look at this car, it's really odd, Someone OR multiple people have definitely put in some cash at some point in it's life. New control arms, Suspension seems new'ish but railed, microtech with hand controller, all the signs that a great big front mount existed at some point.

But then the rest of the car has been completely neglected or butchered and needs some love (and money)

Moving forward my overall goal for the car is a mean streeter with occasional Sprint/Time Attack in mind so Handling, Cooling & a happy engine are at the top of my list. Once those bases are covered I'll worry about Aesthetics.

First things first, I'll chat to the tuner a get an action list so I can get this thing tuned.

Tue Feb 21, 2017

I need to get this car running healthy before anything else, so I spoke to the workshop and came up with an action plan prior to tuning.

- FMIC or V-Mount Intercooler + Piping
- Larger Injectors
- Fuel Pump
- New Fuel Hoses
- Electronic Boost Controller
- 3" Intake (Currently Open Turbo)
- Fresh fluids including fuel filter

I'll be running mostly on eflex but will go for a Dual Map tune just in case I'd like to go for a larger drive :)

Time to get to work!

Ben

Wed Feb 22, 2017

Spent the afternoon swapping out all the fluids. I got to say that doing the fluids in an RX7 is a lot easier than in the wife's Evo, although the four ports on the gearbox stumped me for a bit till I read the manual :)

All the old fluid seemed relatively new'ish, I forgot how much Rotary engine oil smells like petrol! WOW. Gearbox Oil had a slight bronze shine to it, so I'll keep an eye on that next flush. The diff fluid smelt off somehow, it's hard to explain but I've never come across diff fluid with that smell, so I'll definitely monitor that one.

Never mind, Fresh fluids in to set my base line for maintenance and tomorrow I'll look at the IC & Piping or the Injectors install.

Mon Feb 27, 2017

I wanted to attack the FMIC mounting and piping just so I knew what silicone joiners to order. But when I removed the front bar I saw the front bar/bonnet support was a write off and the crash bar had been cut with what I can only imagine to be a steak knife. (And I guess the car was blue at some stage or was from a donor car)

I modelled up in 3D a sheet metal solution to replace it but I managed to source a donor car (Thanks Pete) to cut off the front bar support so I could fish plate or use it as a skin over the original and it worked out a lot better than I had planned. Such a neat simple solution and it even utilised the OEM bolts holes in the plates.

Next on to the Crash Bar, this thing needed a bit of work to bring it back, so I welded up the Gusset/Support bars as they had snapped or been cut off. and I cleaned up all the cuts into nice radius edges and made the front bar symmetrical to look at. I painted it all Satin Black but it turned out really Matte, so I might go with gloss next time the front end is off the car.

While I was on a roll I also mounted the Aeroflow FMIC to the Car as well. I went with a 450x300 as I was originally going to V-Mount everything but I just don't have time, I need the car running ASAP and then I can start designing up the V-Mount later on. Hopefully it's big enough to cool the car when it's being tuned.

Mon Feb 27, 2017

On Saturday I managed to mock up the Intercooler Piping and install the 3 port to some degree (Wiring left to do)

Intercooler Piping is the godspeed ebay special (I think it's greddy knock off) and for the price I paid I didn't expect anything less than the Chinese Puzzle I received in the box. After mocking up the piping I then realised why gaping holes existed in my front wheel arches. and this is where the piping routes to. Again I think the same steak knife was used to cut these holes so I cleaned them up and started piecing this kit together.

Now maybe someone can tell me but the Hotside piping looks like the kit intends for me to run it straight under the headlight, or bend the shit out of the reducer from the turbo. Either way I'm not doing that and putting more holes in my chassis, godspeed can get F*&ked. I ordered some 2-1/4" 45 degree bend silicones and reversed the bottom pipe so I can use the hole that already exists in the arch. this then allows me to use a 90 degree reducer into the Intercooler. I'll address mounts for the pipes this weekend.

Cold Side I removed the battery because my mount isn't OEM and I'll need to find a new solution for it or mount it in the boot. Either way no big drama there.

3 Port was easy, Turbo, Wastegate & Intake (Which I haven't installed yet) Routed the wiring zip tied to the oem chassis and through the firewall. Drilled a 6mm hole in the rear of the single DIN unit and a bit a blue tac for now to hold it their for tuning. Just need to find some power and earth for it and I'm done.

Mon Feb 27, 2017

Sunday was a bit more relaxed but still managed to pull the Fuel Pump out and see what I was dealing with. I had to snip the wire from the microtech as that bastard had been soldered on and couldn't removed the fuel pump cover without doing it (I'll put a proper plug on it or some connectors so I can remove it next time)

Being an idiot and not using CRC from the start I fu*&ked one of the little screws into the fuel tank cover plate. I managed to file a channel to fit a flat blade and get the prick off. But that will need replacing. The rest were a breeze after the CRC worked in.

After getting the cradle out, (Full tank of fuel, I was high as a kite) I knew kind of what I needed to do to fit the Walbro 460. so marked it up, cut the hard line at a reasonable length and re fitted some new fuel hose. The barbs on the 460 are massive and had to use some brute force and spit to get the hose on. :? To my surprise the car already had a Walbro 255 from the looks of it so someone had replaced it at some point, but not knowing how old it is means replacing it is a better option prior to the tune.

In the end I got it done, just need to connect the new plug and drop it back in.

Wed Mar 08, 2017

Another big weekend working on the RX7 although she threw a few spanners in the schedule. I had hoped on getting to turn key stage with all the new mods fitted but we had to fix a lot of other shit just to get to that stage.

Invited my mate Rob around so we could blitz through the work required, started by finishing off the fuel pump wiring and replacing the Phillips Head screws with new button head M4x10mm screws. They look great and will be much easier to remove next time!

I also decided to replace all the fuel hose & hose clamps on the pressure side (Running a Walbro 460 now I don't want to take the chance of the hoses popping off)

The hoses from the fuel pump are a little tricky but once you remove the fuel tank bash plate it made it a bit easier. As I worked my way forward replacing all the lines from hard line to fuel filter and up to the engine bay Rob and I both noticed something strange.

The whole system was plumbed up backwards. The fuel filter went into the fuel reg and then on to the fuel rails and returned straight to hard line. Not exactly sure how this thing was running without fuel pressure, but I can only assume because they left the OEM fuel reg on the Primary Fuel rail that the Aftermarket fuel reg was redundant.

Ended up plumbing up the hoses the correct way and removing the stock fuel reg, and using the Aftermarket Malpasi

A lot of people strip those screws because SAE phillips head screw drivers are not the same as JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) that are used on RX7s. You can also do yourself a favor and get a bag of M5 stainless socket head cap screws off McMaster Carr for cheap and save yourself any headache in the future.

BTW, I used a Walbro 400 on my last build and loved it. It was nearly silent and pushed enough fuel for 540whp. Although after about 450whp, it started dropping pressure with the stock fuel lines.

Thanks for the advice mate. If I can make 250kw atw with my setup I'll be stoked. :)

Wed Mar 08, 2017

Now that the fuel system was taken care of from Fuel Pump to Fuel Rails (Injectors yet to be installed) we decided to tackle the Wiring & ECU.

All I can say is what an absolute mess. Wiring changes colour minimum 5 times, Power has been hijacked or piggybacked from everywhere to run a multitude of different things in it's lifetime that now no longer exist. We found Turbo Timer plugs, Central Locking, Stereo wiring, Boost controllers, And heaps of other wiring just plain cut, left exposed and not terminated. No Wonder this thing was draining the battery in 3 days.

This one was a time killer for our schedule and we both knew there was no chance of starting the car this weekend. But Rob got stuck in and started cleaning up the wiring as best as he could.

Something else quite dangerous the fuel pump primer relay had been removed and was running continuously (God forbid I have a crash), but power for the radiator fans and something else that no longer existed, had been spliced with elec tape into the Fuel Pump ECU harness. :( :icon_no2:

After a stressful two days we ended with 20 dead plugs/harnesses that went in the bin. But also a much neater, correct & safer wiring solution for the ECU and power for ancillary equipment. (Wiring will continue to be an ongoing project as there is a lot more to fix)

In all the mayhem of ripping out wiring, and fixing it up. We managed to Wire up the HKS Boost Controller (Just need RPM & Speed Input) & also Trev came over to help install the battery in the boot as well. Used 2 Gauge for Power, and hefty 0 Gauge for Earth. Shouldn't have a problem with power now! :)

Tue Mar 14, 2017

Had to work this past weekend on Sunday so didn't have a lot of time to work on the 7!

But on Saturday I decided to tackle some easy ones the radiator and thermostat install. Radiator is just an Aftermarket 'OEM' replacement and I used the existing thermo fans still wired up to a switch in the cabin. I am looking to change this over to a simple temp sensor in the radiator but for now the switch will do the job as long as I remember to turn it on when I'm in traffic :? :?

I was honestly keen to just use the OEM radiator but this thing was beyond help.. chemi-weld and and maybe sikaflex or some other compset used to hold pressure. I couldn't risk it.

After the radiator install I decided to quickly install the new 82deg thermostat! And that's when she decided to give me a big "F&*K YOU" by shearing the bolt in the filler snout. I literally tried all the tricks to get this sucker out, filed it down for a shifter, welded a nut to it... Every time it twisted and sheared. So I cleaned it up and left it to the professionals. Danny from Prothreads came out at short notice and plucked it out like he wasn't even trying. Retapped the hole and helicoiled.

Now I'm not sure but I don't think the thermostat is supposed to look this grubby, either way. New one will go in as soon as I can source a replacement bolt. :)

Mon Mar 20, 2017

This last weekend I wanted to get the UIM & Injector install sorted and also the IC Piping if I had time.

Thanks to the advice from KYPREO & bumpstart I decided to re-install the OMP and run it full time. I had originally planned to make the new lines following the write up in tech forums but managed to pick up a used one local with the lines in great condition (Thanks Josh).

Everyone wasn't kidding when they said the OMP Install is a 5 minute job! Existing OMP seemed to function, two of the lines had gone brittle and cracked off the banjo fitting. Also two of the oil injectors were slightly blocked so first things first I cleaned up the injectors, degreased and tidied up the top of the block where oil had been spilling out and then re-install the new (used) OMP. I figured it was safer just installing a known working OMP as a good baseline.

After the OMP I decided to install the New Injectors on the Stock S4 Fuel Rails! Pew Pew! 1000cc for Primaries / 1650cc for Secondaries

For anyone interested, these are Raceworks (Flow matched) EV Bosch Stubby Injectors with Adapter Top Hats to have the 11mm O-Ring. Bottom pintle I just trimmed off the plastic and installed new Mazda Seat Grommets. They end up slightly taller by 3mm but this doesn't seem to affect install at all.

Only thing that threw a spanner in the the works was I was provided with two different types of plugs. Primaries are US Rounded Style and Secondaries are the correct square style. F*&^%%K :banghead::banghead: So I've ordered two Denso --> US Style Adapters so I don't have to muck around with wiring. :)

Mon Mar 20, 2017

After the Injector and OMP Install this last weekend I also managed to get the Hotside Piping and Intake all tightened up.

Now as per my previous post I actually ordered the wrong style of FMIC Piping by ordering the Godspeed (Greddy Style) Piping kit. This kit as I have now learned requires the piping to go under the headlight. I already had existing holes for the CX Racing style of piping that go 90deg down.

Being a bit cranky about that and not wanting to put another hole in my RX7 (or pay for more piping) I managed to rotate the bottom hot side pipe 180deg and used a 45deg silicone (pipe to pipe) and then used a large 120mm leg length 45deg silicone (Pipe to FMIC). It took a lot of back and forth but it eventually worked. It's not ideal as the front bar support had to be re-formed to fit it in, but it worked quite well after that.

Once I get the UIM back on the car (thanks injectors :( ) I'll be able to get the cold side all buttoned up nicely too!

Intake was a cheap find and it's actually for an R33 Skyline. I was hoping to make it fit and it might need re-adjusting once the radiator pipes go on but it seemed to work quite well! :)

Getting closer to giving this thing some spark and getting her running again! Only things left to do are get Pirtek out to rig up some Power Steer lines for me.

Mon Mar 27, 2017

This build is still moving slowly.. Not as fast as I'd like but we're the little train that could at the moment.

I noticed the Service Manual I was using had the FPR on the Secondary Fuel Rail, but mine was on the Primary! So I did some reading and apparently the S4 1986 model was reversed or some shit. So it feeds the Secondary's and Returns on the Primary.

I figured I'd be awesome and switch it around, putting the dampener on the primary and running the 90deg barb out the Secondary! Awesome! It all fits, M12 x 1.25 thread on both the FPR and Dampener! I angled the barb fitting slightly upwards to avoid the Primary Injectors Adapters, gave myself a pat on the back and tightened it all up!

Only when I came to put the UIM back on, that's when Ben knew..... He F*&ked up!

The UIM has F*&k all clearance from the top of the block to the bottom of the manifold and it ended up resting on the barb, leaving me unable to install the manifold. :banghead: :banghead: :nono:

Righto. Take 2! Since the barb fitting had to be parallel to the block, I had to switch the fittings and put it back to Feed Secondary's, Return Primary's as per OEM.

This took me a lot longer than I had planned but in all the mayhem and swearing I managed to get to SCA pick up some Blanking caps and Vac Line. Tidy up all the open nipples/vac ports and also replace the OMP Air Supply lines (The other ones were super brittle)

Mon Mar 27, 2017

After having no one to yell at but myself for the time wasted on the Fuel System, I thought with the UIM back on and sitting pretty I'd see about installing the Cold Side FMIC piping.

I managed to pick up a used Power Steer pump in excellent condition and mock installed it to know just how much room I was playing with.

"Now this kit is sold as straight bolt in, keep factory air con and power steering" I call bullshit on that one!

Most of you probably already know this, but I feel compelled to say, this kit IS NOT straight bolt in. I quickly realised that the strut tower was WAY too close to the power steering pump and some modifying was about to happen! So I gently massaged the pipe with my vice, sweating bullets that I was going to crack the alloy. Slowly but surely I turned a round 2.75" pipe into a rectangle pipe and it slot right in with some persuasion. (Oh I also had to move the Fuse Box as well)

So much for keeping the piping nice and shiny, I'm going to have to sand it all down and paint it black to hide the bloody scratches. :(

All I need now to finish this kit is another 2.75" 45deg silicone and potentially cut the middle pipe slightly. But we'll get there.

Next Weekend I'm hoping to have the whole FMIC piping done so I can start looking to get it running again & over to the tuners.

Tue Mar 28, 2017

Behold the vacuum line bukkake party!

Now I'm no expert but I assume all the valves I just blanked off on the UIM I'll be needing to rip off to accommodate all my gear because I'm not keeping this abortion of a setup!

Plan is for now.

ECU
Will Run standalone off the top port (One of three) front of UIM - I will blank the bottom two. (I'd prefer to use the Injector Bleed Valve above OMP valve but I think that's a no go)
FPR
Will run on it's own line off the OEM FPR position behind the Secondary Fuel Rail.
BOV & Boost Controller
I'll Run a vac line and tee port on the drivers side outer UIM (The one where the party is already)

That should neaten up those Vac Lines and also hopefully give me minimal trouble getting accurate signals. I also noticed the Brake Master Hose (I think it is) is crushed to F*&k so that will need fixing before I try and hit any corners at speed, or even drive it on the road for that matter.

Mon Apr 03, 2017

Long weekend was just what I needed to get this thing all buttoned up! 8) 8)

Kick off by ripping off the UIM again and fixing up the vacuum lines to be neater and more functional. Still not sure about the routing but it will do the job for now until I can have an actual action plan for all the shit in this engine bay... (so messy :( )

With the UIM back on the car I re-installed all the earth, plugs, sensors, OMP actuator and also a hose line that connects to the throttle body? Might do some reading on that because it looks like a coolant line but I'm not entirely sure. It might correlate to the hose at the bottom of the UIM. Anyways, it went back on where I took it off... It is ugly and I'd prefer to remove it but it will stay for now.

Now on to attack the Cold side piping! This was pretty straight forward, just cut the middle section where I needed and re-bead the pipe. Hot Tip: For those of you who can't cut a straight line for shit like me, just wrap a hose clamp around the pipe and use it as a guide, works 9 times out of 10 ;)

I'm not 100% happy with the piping at all, especially where it routes so close to the Coil Pack.. Might look at relocating the Coil Packs in the future so clean that area up.

But God it feels good to get to turn key stage! Only 4 weeks behind schedule! :lol: :lol:

***Insert Pic of Bead Pipe here***

Mon Apr 03, 2017

After getting everything tightened up (Radiator left to fill with coolant)

I used my new found motivation to start attacking the Interior and Seat Install! Now I've been putting this off for quite a while as a seat wasn't as important as a working engine, but also because I know how painful seat installs are. :tear: :tear:

First things first, my wife used the wet vac on the entire carpet and passenger seat! 30 years of Bum juice just came oozing out of this car it was foul! Took two good cracks at it before we let it dry. It will need a lot more hits with the wet vac but I'm really happy how it's turning out so far. ($160 from SCA for anyone interested)

As for my new drivers seat, I managed to sweet talk the Mrs into letting me steal her Sparco Pro 2000 from the Evo! Yewwwww. Downside is the rails will need to be modified to fit the FC! Game on.

I cut the mounting brackets off the Bride Sliders and mocked up the seat in position. Biggest problem I'm having is the floor pan isn't sqaure at all. the front LHS near the trans tunnel flares out hardcore and the seat ends up on the piss. Move it too far right and the steering wheel is off centre, too far left and you can't slide the seat forward! FFS! More thought is needed on this one prior to installing the seat.

I may just go hard mount for now until I can install the sliders. On the Plus side it's going to look bloody awesome once it's installed with an OMP steering wheel!!

Wed Apr 05, 2017

Little mid week clean up job that needed to be done. I quickly made a stand off bracket for the FPR. It was previously just flapping in the breeze zip tied to some brake lines so figured I'd find it a home. Nothing fancy but It'll work for now.

Next time you hear from me the car will hopefully be running.... Not tuned, but at the least, running.

Mon Apr 10, 2017

SHE LIVES!!! I'ts so bloody exciting to finally hear it Brappin!!


Even though I knew I was being methodical & systematic in fixing this car the last 8/9 weeks. When it comes time to turn key, it's still really hard not to start second guess yourself. :suspect: :ponder:

So Saturday I got my mate Rob round to help me out with turning spanners and getting this car cruising! Will be easier to list in bullet form as a story will turn into a novel by the time I'm finished

- Radiator up with fresh coolant,
- Fixing the throttle dampener (I never actually looked at it when I installed the throttle cable :? and the TPS sensor was either all open, or all closed..... My Bad)
- Installing the BOV (It is currently Atmo for now as the Intake needs to be re-welded in the right position)
- Fix Kinked Brake Booster Hose (Found a cool shaped power steer hose at SCA that worked very well)
- Tighten up all IC piping clamps (Boost leaks suck)
- More and more, blah blah blah.

There was a lot of misc stuff that needed tidying up like open vac ports and shit but that stuff is boring :P

As for tuning, Rob had previous experience tuning his Turbo Astina (WTF323) and we had an old Microtech dongle from the 90's laying around! 90's were the BEST!! hahahahaha Factoring in that the car had 550cc injectors previously, he scaled up the fuel trim roughly x2.5 to account for the larger injectors.

Moment of Truth! :eek::eek: Fuel Pump Primed, the fuel was clearly audible flowing through the hoses.....WIN.... No Leaks, always a good sign.... 3 Bar on the FPR.... Here goes!!

She cranked 3 times and a blip of the throttle came to life!! \:D/ \:D/

With the car running we buttoned up all loose radiator clamps (Cheap clamps FFS) and went for a very slow drive to tune the Cruising Load Map! God I love Live tuning! After getting so used to having to ignition off for a stock ECU, live tuning is so damn beautiful!

Now time to book in that tune at the workshop to feed her some boost and corn juice! YEWWWWW!

NOTE: After running the car, the fuel pump wiring was super hot to touch... Not ideal at all because I don't want to die a fiery death. So we installed a larger earth closer to the source and it worked a treat. Bit ghetto but for now it will save the car burning to the ground and constantly blowing fuses.

Mon Apr 10, 2017

On top of getting the car running on Saturday (which was our main focus) I also managed to install the Sparco using the stock rails! And it Looks Badass!! :)

As you can see, the Seat that came with the car was looking a bit worse for wear, or someone's dog had been using it as a chew toy. :eek: :mad: :cursing:

I fabbed up some L-Brackets out of 40x3mm Plate and welded them to the stock rails. RHS was 90x40mm and LHS was 90x20mm. Both tabs faced inwards toward the passenger side. (If you'd like pictures or a drawing let me know I'll be happy to show you what I did)

This was a particularly painful seat install as the LHS rail is on the piss so the brackets needs to be on the piss as well. Too far right and the seat protrudes past the door, Too far left and the seat won't slide forward enough hitting the Trans tunnel. And if you think of being smart and installing a flat square base to get around it all, the seat ends up WAY too high and you feel like you're driving a 4WD! ](*,) ](*,)

Would have been so much easier if I could just weld the brackets in situ.

I got there in the end, and it looks really good, but I still feel like I ended up a little too high (Maybe 5-10mm) for my liking but it will do the job for now and I'll get used to it. I can always address the rails later on by doing a proper fixed mount seat base.

Mon Apr 10, 2017

Sunday was going to be a sleep in day, because I earned it! :P :lol: :lol:

But my wife wanted to wash and detail the car because she's been itching to wash it ever since I bought it!

Alright let's do it.... my initial impression from the paint work was it was a bit average.. Scratches and imperfections everywhere but hey fuck it... My wife was offering to wash and claybar the car so why not! So I grabbed a cup of coffee and watched her work her magic!

I have to admit after seeing the first panel after just a simple wash and clay bar, I got a bit excited. The scratches all buffed out, the sika or filler compound on the door polished off, and the paint had a deep clear coat that just shines! I was honestly thinking of ditching the colour and getting it resprayed. Now the colour is growing on me!

Don't get me wrong it will still need a lot of work to bring it back and there's orange peel on the front quarter panel, but for the moment it can stay. :)

Tue Apr 18, 2017

Easter Holidays! Gotta love a 5 day weekend! 8) :bounce:

Had a few action items to tidy up before the tune so I thought I'd use this time to knock them over (And sink copious amounts of chocolate & beer)

First up was fixing up the dodgy wiring for the fog lights and indicators in the front bumper. Not sure what was going bad here cause everything looked OK but I figured I'd crimp all new connections on and see if it fixed the problem.... It did, thank god cause I didn't want to run new wiring! :)

Now on to the hard part, lining up the front bumper. This was super painful (Or I'm really anal) as every time I got one side perfect it pulled the other side out of alignment... surely Mazda never intended it to be this hard!

In the end I waved the white flag and put it back together as best I could. I'm still not happy with its alignment but it'll do for now as I'll be going with a GP Sports kit in the near future anyway.

I still feel like the FMIC sits too far forward and that's the reason why the original owner cut the front lip.... is this a common practice? I really don't like the look with a open bumper so once I go the GP front bar I think the FMIC will have to move backwards a few inches which may mean cutting down that cooler piping.... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Tue Apr 18, 2017

Another quick job over the weekend was securing the turbo intake and pod filter so it wasn't slapping around the engine bay! Everytime I moved the car or it hit a bump you could hear it knocking around.

I really wanted a tab welded on to it so I could have a pick up point, but I don't have a Alloy welder and my fab guy is busy for a few weeks! :(

So I ended up using a T-Bolt clamp and used it as a pick up point for a little alloy bracket I made. I made it out of 2mm at first but it was floppy as hell, so I remade it from 3mm and it did the trick. Still moves a bit but at least it's not rattling around now.

Last job prior to tune will be to attach the Clutch/Gearbox Cover plate! The car didn't have one when I bought it and the thought of getting a rock or projectile in my flywheel or clutch makes me cringe... So I sourced a used one (Thanks Grant) and I'll mount that up this arv.

Tue Apr 18, 2017

Ok, so with everything fixed/replaced as best as I know how, it's now time for a tune! :bounce2:

I've booked it in for later this week with a tuner I genuinely trust. This is super important to me as having an open line of communication with your tuner/mechanic makes it a lot easier to get the results you want (within reason)

With so many unknowns with this car it's hard not to be nervous, the driveline, clutch, engine.... I don't know the history of any of them. :shock: :? But my tuner has an action plan and literally it will be to take it slow and not chase power on this build. If it's happy and brappn go for more, if there's hesitation with anything we call it a day and run it safe until we decide how to fix it.

Next dear diary will be after the tune! Wish me luck! :)

Thu May 04, 2017

"I like my cars, how I like my women! 30 years old with a heap of issues!"

So a little update, after waiting longer than I'd hoped to get this car tuned and get some party boost into her I finally managed to lock in a date! Beauty!!

Loaded up the backseat with 80L of E85, Fresh Castor Oil for the tune and set off at 5.00am much to the disgust of my neighbours! :lol: :lol:

Car was behaving quite well and in between the times people trying to race me (Using the "Needs a tune bro!" excuse.... Classic!) & the Trucks not even registering that I was on the road because the car is tiny, (Scary Shit!) .... I started to notice it was getting harder to downshift as the car got warmer. :/

By the time I had made it to the off ramp 30 mins away, The clutch pedal kept getting stuck to the floor I had complete gear lock out! FFS!!! I somehow managed to get it into second gear and skilfully avoid any red lights or oncoming traffic arriving at the workshop knowing exactly what my problem was.

Sure enough upon inspection it was the Clutch Master/Slave on the fritz, I couldn't risk it dying completely on the dyno and wasting everyone's time so once it cooled down and the gears would engage, I limped it to a friends place around the corner. I've ordered parts to replace both the Slave and the Master cylinder and I'll re-book for a tune hopefully next week.

Sun May 07, 2017

Spent yesterday installing the new Clutch Master and Slave cylinder in the car!.... Definitely a two man job (Thanks Matt) and be sure to practice your yoga prior to shoving yourself under the dash! I couldn't feel my lower back for about 15 minutes after crawling out of the car. :lol: :lol:

After removing all the parts and inspecting them the Slave cylinder was indeed leaking slightly but on top of that the fluid was rank! - Rookie Error on my part not adding that to my basic maintenance 9 weeks ago.

All good, re-install of parts took bugger all time, then fluid swapped out for some Motul Dot 4 (this was laying around for the evo).

**Insert part numbers here**

Took it for a solid drive for 15 minutes and couldn't replicate the issue I had last week with gear lockout so that's a win, I won't pat myself on the back just yet, not until the car is off the dyno and I'm driving home. ;)

Fri May 12, 2017

Success!!!! But what a freaking emotional rollercoaster! Arghhhhh

Dropped the car off for it’s tune today at 10am, and that’s when the battle started! (dyno time NEVER goes to plan)

Switching over to E85 and getting it to idle on its own steam the cars fuel pressure was apparently erratic and kept dropping…. This turned out to be me not nipping up the fuel reg nut so it had wiggled its way loose. …. Whoops My bad. :blush:

Next came the low voltage issue, refusing to budge from 11V it turns out the alternator was letting everyone know it’s giving up on life and ready to commit suicide!..... sigh…

From there, the FC threw another solid combo and the Microtech just completely died… No warning, just gone… I fully expected it to be a dead ECU…. But thankfully it turned out to just be a fuse. YAY! So the guys located the burnt fuse, replaced it… and kept going.

Time to finally wind in some party boost and at 11psi made 205kw but the fuel pressure tanked so had to call it a day at 8psi and rev cut at 6k for safety.

The old girl put up a good fight but in the end we prevailed and dragged her across the line for a very respectable 180kw @ 8psi (Wastegate) with more ponies to come once I fix the niggly little issues.

I just want to reiterate the importance of having someone you trust to carry out the tuning/labour on your car. My tuner Matt Ashley went above and beyond to rectify all these issues today and he got me a solid result so I could drive the car home instead of calling me to organise a trailer and fix it myself. He also gave me an action list to work through and bring the car back when I’m ready to go back on the rollers.

Very Happy with the result! It's a massive throwback to the 90's with a BOV that doses & Pop up lights, now to enjoy this car a bit over the weekend! \:D/ \:D/

Wed May 17, 2017

So after a weekend of driving the old girl I absolutely love it! It's loud, raw and low... And it pops flames! The driving has highlighted a lot of issues/action items I still need to address but first impressions are good and I'm just enjoying the cruising right now.

I ended up taking the 7 out to a local C&C at QLD Raceway just to hard park for now and Dallas D Train, awesome Brissy based photographer managed to get some snaps :) (And YES that is me with a dirty big smile on my face showing off my car :P )

Next weekend I'll be installing the new Alternator & also installing the power steering setup (Thanks Josh for both)

Tue May 23, 2017

So it seems these electrical gremlins go a little deeper than I had originally thought. :tear: :tear: :mad: Well I can't make it too easy on myself, I did say I wanted a "Project" car. I much prefer the fab, spanner, driving side of cars! But I guess it's time to learn how to use multi-meters and find out which of the little bastard wires is giving me grief.

Sat May 27, 2017

Let's be clear, I know F*&k all about electrical work and wiring ( I can read a schematic, crimp and use multimeters) but even I can see that this poor RX7 has been bloody butchered. Who ever did this, I'm sorry if you're reading my log but you deserve a swift dick punch for the state of this car.....

Now I've got that out of my system...

Problem No.1

Microtech Voltage low with engine off. Definitely some resistance here from power wire but Ignition on is fine.
- Battery = 12.5V
- Alternator = 12.5V
- ECU Power = 11.2V
- ECU Ignition = 12.5V

I managed to fix this by tracing the red MT power wire and removing the soldering on the inline fuse, and used a simple spade crimp with heatshrink instead. ECU now reads the same as the battery and alternator. :)

Problem No.2

The Abortion of wiring in my engine bay (This was always on my list to fix up but I was naive in the severity of the mess) I honestly had no idea where to start so I just started by using brake cleaner on everything, cleaning off all the grime, dirt and oil.

After everything was clean I sheathed and covered all exposed wires with heat shrink and tape. Once I was happy with the wires I cut off the ends and crimped on new eyelets and connectors so I could terminate the wires properly using existing threads in the chassis to mount everything. I found a neat path to route the harness underneath the Cold Side piping using an existing P-clip. It's by no means perfect but the wiring is out of view now and no longer swinging in the breeze. This will be an ongoing project with the wiring.

Problem No.3

The used alternator I bought and installed still won't out put 13+V for charging. (It sits at 11.3ish V) So I'm either really unlucky and have two broken alternators.... OR my wiring still needs further attention. Means ripping open the starter harness and tracing the B/W, W/B wire and also replace the charge wire with some 4 gauge.

First things first, time to test these alternators and go from there.

Wed May 31, 2017

Aint no party like a beep test party!!

Ok while I wait for confirmation on the condition of the two alternators, I have ordered a third alternator that is 100% in working order. This will eliminate that as a problem, and if the other two come back as good I'll sell them on.

In the mean time I thought it would be wise to check the whole circuit from fuse box to battery and see if the alternator "field" wire was getting excited. I've read it should put out 12V at both pins when it's off the alternator.

Beep Test & Voltmeter test came back good on all the fuses at the ignition, Awesome, can rule out a simple fuse...

Next I checked the B/W & W/B pins at the alt..... and nothing. Voltmeter just keeps hunting.... Now I'm getting some answers, so I went looking for Plug FE03 and it's vanished in the bermuda triangle of wiring... God I hope it hasn't been cut off.

Next job (which I didn't want to do) is trace the wire from ignition, behind the dash and through to the firewall and find out why my plug isn't getting 12V. :(

Sat Jun 03, 2017

Winner Winner chicken dinner!

So by the process of elimination we have found the culprit of my charging issues! And apparently my alternator couldn't get its dick hard (Excited) :eek: :eek: :lol:

I managed to find Plug FE-03 and everything was in tact which puzzled the shit out of me because I still wasn't getting 12V at the Pins..... Upon further inspection and unwrapping an ungodly amount of Elec tape, I found out why! Someone had clean snipped the wires (B/W & W/B) and covered up the crime! :lol: :banghead:

Simple Spade crimp back together and suddenly it was like a different car! Idles and boosts great. :)

There's still a few issues to address, mainly the Microtech still reads only 12.5 at the handset so I still have some resistance issues at the ECU but I think running a new power wire and new earth wire for the MT will be a good start and go from there.

Any way you slice it, it was a massive win today to getting this thing back to running sweet again! Shout out to Josh for helping me turn spanners today.... Gotta love the rotary community :)

Tue Jun 06, 2017

Ok so after having a quick look at the wiring last night to check the Microtech setup & it seems as though my Fuel Pump & Radiator Fans are all pulling power by splicing into the ECU ignition wire!!! :icon_tdow :mad:

At least this gives me a starting point to attack on the weekend, put Fuel Pump (Red) on it's own power source from battery. And install another relay for the Electronic fans and connect them up to the Microtech so I can remove in the cab switch.

Hopefully this sorts out my MT voltage drop as I think the wire isn't big enough to carry enough current for all three items. We'll wait and see.

Sat Jun 10, 2017

Cliff Notes: We fixed some dodgy stuff, we broke some stuff, we cried, the car is now running sweet!! :)
Just have to put a little dancing man in here before I start..... \:D/ \:D/ :smoker:

Spent the last few days getting across the last hurdle of this charging system! First up we put a new 80A Main Fuse in the engine bay to eliminate any doubts on that sucker! Second we installed the new fuel pump relay in the boot, ran power 25 amp direct from the battery, and cleaned up the routing for that... I'm starting to really like the look of it in the boot now and I'll finish it off by getting some P-clips to secure the routing.

Doing this fixed the voltage drop in the ecu & battery, it is now reading exactly what the battery is showing and the battery was getting charge from the Alternator now with a solid reading of 13.5-13.9 at any given time! There was a little hiccup as there always is with this car and the fuel pump would stop working whenever someone jumped in the passenger seat! :shock: :shock:

This honestly scared the shit out of me as you could literally stop the fuel pump by pressing on the passenger carpet, then engage it again by stepping out.... WTF!! We traced the problem to a shitty junction plastic clip that wired the Ignition Trigger wire to another shorter shitter wire for the fuel pump relay.... I can't imagine the carnage if the pump stopped when I was going full boost! Lean out like a mofo LOL

After fucking off the plastic clip which was strong backed with what I think is a paddle pop stick, the pump runs awesome and strong and no voltage drop in the ECU at all!! Time to call the tuna, because she is now ready for a re-tune with Full Boost and Full Revs!! Pew pew pew!!!

On to the next job, Wiring the radiator fans onto their own power and into the MT aux trigger.

Sat Jun 10, 2017

Feeling good about fixing the fuel pump and this subsequently fixing the ECU voltage drop, I figured we'd double down and wire in the radiator fans to the ECU aux (which is the MT white wire for anyone playing at home)

The radiator fans were previously running off a toggle switch in the centre console, this was wired to an inline fuse which then pulled power from the Microtech Ignition wire. Not ideal if you want a fully functioning ECU! :? :(

Got to work and pulled apart the conduit and wiring, and the thing was held together with f*&king masking tape..... Not even making this shit up... all the power wires were twisted and held together with masking tape...

**Please note if you are doing your own wiring and are unsure, just buy a shit tonne of elec tape and use that... masking tape is a fire hazard!!**

After having a few beers to calm down and have a giggle, we assessed how to attack the new setup. Decided to tidy up the Radiator conduit, keep the inline fuse and re-used it in the new setup, Wired in a relay to trigger with the white MT wire and pull power from the Junction in the engine bay ( the insulated junction is essentially the battery, but it's not in the boot) Set the MT aux to 88 degrees for fans on and voila! Everything just plain fucking works, it's great!!... No more fiddling with stupid switches or forgetting when you hit traffic and no more worrying about dying a fiery death :)

Sat Jun 10, 2017

Got some time to start looking at Aesthetics on my car and it's an awesome feeling compared to chasing electrical faults! :)

I'm trying to find the perfect offset for Front & Rear on the FC's. I want to go as wide as possible on the rear for traction and then not stretch the friendship on the front as it's kind of narrow up there.

I messed around and put the Evo wheels on the car and God Dayummm the Gramlights on the rear look balla! Bit of poke but a small guard pump & roll and they'd fit perfect. The Fronts were a different story and needed a 5mm spacer to clear suspension, not much room at all, Might have to go some oversized fenders to fit a 9" wheel under the guards.

I definitely like the Silver Look so I'm thinking some RPF1's or some Work Equip 05's.... Still undecided, This post was just me throwing out some options and getting a gauge for sizing! :)

Fronts - Evo 9 Enkeis - 17 x 8 +38
Rears - Gramlights 57DR - 18 x 9.5 +22

Wed Jun 28, 2017

With electrical problems still giving me grief, just like a cancer, I had to keep cutting deeper!

It started with me having a win the other day, getting the alternator to work and push out 14.3v and the Battery/ECU reading 13.5v. This was tested while idling, lights on and fans on! .... Happy Days!

When I put the car in a driving situation though, after 5-10 mins the ECU & Battery voltage worked it's way down to 12.2v essentially not charging shit! It would occasionally bump back up, but most of the time it was erratic and charged when it bloody well pleased. Insert Sad Face :(

I was avoiding doing it but now I had no choice, today I took a day off work and cut open the remainder of the OEM charging harness....(There really wasn't much left at all LOL ) I carefully dissected from the top down and suddenly the charge wire from the Alternator fell apart in my hands.... FFS :banghead: :squintfin

These beautiful twist and elec tape joins occurred another 3 times along this wire, so it made diagnosing my voltage drop problems pretty damn easy! :lol: :lol: .... Bought some new 4gage (110A) wire and ran new Alternator Charge Wire to the Main Fuse, And then from the Fuse to the Battery. Starter power was in great condition so I left it alone. (Note: I feel like I should have gone with black wire as the red stands out like crazy in the engine bay)

Initial tests have a slight voltage drop of about 0.2v from Alternator to Battery, and with car running, lights on, fans on and other ancillaries working, the car never dips below 13.6, and then hunts back up to 13.9 solid with no lights and fans.

Pretty bloody happy now the car feels great but I'm going to test this setup in all situations for a few days, prior to it's tune next week just to make sure it's 100% :)

Mon Jul 03, 2017

Managed to swap my dead alternator for a knock off steering wheel. Looked good in person but on the car it is very 90's! :lol: :lol:

It can stay until I get my OMP alacantra... at least I've got a boss kit now for it.

Mon Jul 03, 2017

Took the RX7 to it's first show today at Eagle Farm (Just a good excuse for a drive) Car is no where near ready but figured I'd go and support the rotary scene in Brissy. So many nice cars, some are even generational handed down from father to son!

Definitely gives me some inspiration / motivation / goals of where I want my car to be.... just not sure I have deep enough pockets hahaha

Mon Jul 03, 2017

Unfortunately on the way home from the car show on Saturday, the car started stuttering a little bit and it got progressively worse... luckily I was close to home as I ended up limping up the road and coasted into our driveway! :(

The only way I could describe it is my car went from a Rotary to a WRX! :lol: :lol: Definitely ignition related.... or the worst.... low comp.

The next day I went and bought some replacement spark plugs. NGK B9EGV = $18 each VS B9EG = $5 each... I opted for the B9EG as I just needed to test the problems and spending $80 on Spark Plugs for no reason seemed overkill.

Old spark plugs didn't look in the best of shape but they were still firing.... New Spark plugs didn't fix the problem.

Note: B9 spark plugs hex is too shallow & the head becomes flush with the block so you'll need a thin wall socket or grind down an existing one to get them out.


I then decided to test the Coil Packs as it really seemed like the car was missing on every rotation. So I took one of the old spark plugs, shoved it into the coil plug, earthed it against the car and with the fuel pump disconnected cranked the ignition. Low and behold.. the trailing coil pack wouldn't fire at all.... tested the leading coils and they fire.

So I've bought a used set of coils and they will arrive this week... and hopefully this fixes the problem, otherwise I'm off to the shop for a comp test. I swear this car has just had enough and doesn't want to be tuned, its novelty is wearing thin. :(

Tue Jul 04, 2017

I'm sure everyone has been through this before at one point or another, you start to think of every other possibility that it could be, all to avoid facing the evident truth.... I've got a dead dorito. :( :badrebuild:

Used a piston compression tester to get a feel for what was going on, Front housing 75,75,75... Seems consistent... Rear housing 75,25,25.. Well that's not ideal.

Don't get me wrong, I was prepared for this! This was always a high possibility!! Engine unknown.... Extremely poor workmanship from someone or multiple owners in the past.... and me throwing new parts on expecting her to perform like a star athlete. It was always a big ask from the little car. But hey, you can't blame me for having a crack.

I was honestly expecting more fireworks.... a hole in the block, smoke out the exhaust, catastrophic failure.... but it was just a simple, one minute it worked, next minute it didn't :(

I'll need a few weeks to decide which direction to go from here... This may be the opportunity I was looking for to strip the car down to nothing because I'm sick of chasing gremlins. My ultimate goal is/ and always has been roll racing, sprints/time attack and a fun streeter....

I guess I need a new daily :lol: :lol:

Fri Jul 07, 2017

You are one lucky RX7 you little blue bitch! :P

Not going to lie, It honestly could have gone either way for my car, Part out, Backyard Ornament, LS1 or 13b rebuild and I've been having a massive conflict within myself trying to decide which direction to take.

I priced up a few rotary rebuilds from shops and they are all very modular with their pricing so to get something half decent with fruit, you're looking at 6-7k up and running.

Seeing as though I want reliability, consistency and around 240kw, I was all set to order the Ronin Speedworks LS1 mounting kit and get to work on turning my car into a V8.... :shock: :shock: (throwing one in an FC isn't so bad, let's be honest :P )

Then at the 11th hour, Instead of buying a daily driver, I used that $$ to pull the trigger on an Extend Port Engine (13bt), Clutch & Trans package with some fruit thrown in. :)

I'll pick it up this weekend and so the process starts of swapping all my shit out.. I'll prep & paint the engine bay while everything is out. And also do something about that GOD AWFUL wiring.

On another note, I found some old roller photos from years ago when it was a part out. It seems my car has been around the scene for a bit and from what I was told at the Rotary meet, it has a reputation... Time to change that. :)

Sun Jul 09, 2017

Little update before I start turning spanners this week... Picked up the new Dorito 2.0 setup today! \:D/ \:D/

My lovely wife bought it all for me as she saw how sad I was this past week.... Get yourself a car chick fellas ;) They understand the pain of a broken car.

Rebuilt S5 Extend Port, Rebuilt S5 Transmission, Clutch, Gilmer Kit, Child size Turbo, Manifolds, New Engine mounts, OEM Harnesses and lots more.

Now it's time to strip out the engine bay and prep it for some new paint. I'll tidy up & paint the engine bay while everything is out as I can say quite confidently I'd be lazy & it won't happen once everything is in!

Time to get to work :)

Note: I really want to run some aftermarket coil packs as finding OEM in decent condition is proving very difficult... I need to find out if the LT8 Sequential Fire can run aftermarket coils... If not I might be up for a new ECU like an MTX8 and use HEC715 coils... If anyone knows, let me know and I'll lookout for a new ECU as I'm about to re-wire the old one in the next few weeks.

Mon Jul 17, 2017

No turning back now :)

I borrowed an engine crane from a mate (Thanks Carl) & the Engine and gearbox is out! Nothing much to report on this front... it only took half a day to unbolt the major components and remove the plumbing, radiator, oil cooler, exhaust etc. I cracked the engine mounts and transmission mounts and just left everything in place for Sunday when the engine came out.

One thing I will say is that compared to stripping down an Evo... this thing was very enjoyable.. One man job and no tool throwing or swearing necessary :) (I'm guessing this engine hasn't been in here long enough for the bolts to start seizing up) Saturday was a good day!

Sunday a very hungover Josh came round and helped me yank the engine out (Thanks Josh) and it was as simple as just unbolting the left over hardware, propping up the tailshaft with a jack stand and out she came...

First inspection, not bad.... but there are a few things that stand out.

1. Sump is weepy as f&^k.. It looks as though there's several different silicone on the sump so some fresh goo and it would be fine.

2. I stuck my finger in the sump hole and the oil honestly felt like warm apple pie.... :shock: Kidding, it's more like pudding. Wouldn't surprise me if the pick up tube was blocked and the engine was starving of oil. :roll: :roll: (If anyone knows what would cause this, please let me know) I'm thinking No oil changes, ever.... or maybe some weird reaction with too much premix, Water and Fuel? I'm no expert so I'm only guessing.

3. Small hole in the bell housing... this one sucked as the Engine and Trans was already sold.. hard to weld casting but a bit of JB weld and it would be fine, but still stucks.

Mon Jul 17, 2017

I lied in my last post when I said I didn't find anything dodgy to report on. :lol: :lol:

When I was looking to remove the dump pipe off the turbo, I found this little gem! Fully welded (if you could call it that) from Turbo to Muffler.

Definitely not the type of exhaust you put together and then show off to your mates, As an ex boilermaker this exhaust offends me! LOL

Nothing really surprises me anymore with this car.....New exhaust added to my list of things to do! hahaha

Mon Jul 24, 2017

A bit more progress over the weekend! This job cleaning & scrubbing the engine bay absolutely sucked balls, but it was quite therapeutic at the same time. :lol: :lol:

Had some help from wifey, she got stuck in and helped out a lot on the day. :) I feel I should have done this day one of owning the car as now it gives me a fresh start!

I Removed Microtech wiring, the coil packs and removed the Front Engine Harness, just flicking them over the side of the car for now. I also dropped the oil cooler and power steering lines, prior to attacking the whole engine bay with 5 cans of degreaser, 2 cans of brake cleaner and a shit tonne of hot soapy water!

Bit of surface rust where the clutch & brake fluid had been leaking a bit onto the sub-frame but apart from that I was happy with the condition of the engine bay. It cleaned up quite well.

I'll drop the sub-frame through the week, give everything a clean with wax and grease remover and give everything another light sand prior to paint prep. :)

Now just to decide on a colour! My heart is set on white, and it needs to be OEM so I can just re-order a paint code so I'm thinking the Subaru White or maybe something similar in a solid colour so I don't have to spray a clear coat.... I'll need to decide soon though so I can order the paint.

Mon Jul 31, 2017

Not going to lie, Saturday wasn't fun at all....

Just another day of removing more stuff, sanding, brake cleaner and then masking up the car ready for paint! After the Wax & Grease Remover the car was so clean you could eat off it.

I removed everything I could... certain clips on the chassis rails (PITA to get off without breaking them) anything that would possibly get in the way on the gun. The front harness I just ended up suspending from the roof as best I could to get it out of the way... It's going to be a pain spraying around it but I'll make it work.

I've decided to go with Mazda Snowflake White Pearl for the Chassis & a Solid Black 2 pack for the Sub-Frame, Brake booster etc. The two different colours just means I'll have to get creative with my masking, spray the black first then cover it up for the white.

Mon Jul 31, 2017

End result for primer..... not too bad! If I can lay down some decent runs next weekend with the pearl paint it should elevate my engine bay from a 2/10 to a solid 6/10 :lol: :lol:

This exercise was fun for me, I've never sprayed paint from a gun before and there was a definite learning curve (but I'm all about learning new skills, otherwise what's the point)

First mix was perfect and went well.. Second mix I fucked up and didn't add enough reducer and it started to spit like crazy and would barely spray ](*,) ](*,) Arrghhhhhh

Thoughts of having to re-sand everything again made me want to give up and start drinking for the afternoon.... hahahaha

Luckily my wife saved my arse, she grew up in a family of panel beaters and painters so she quickly ran out to the shed, fixed the paint by adding a touch more thinners, quick stir then told me to get back to it. :)

The primer was a little abrasive in some spots (I guess due to my skill on the gun) but I'll give it a scuff with the scotch brite to smooth it out prior to painting.