meerkat8701

I turned 31 years old august the 27th 2011.. nothing special about that really, apart from the fact that my girlfriend had gone behind my back and bought me a S4 N/A FC3S that i had wanted so badly but decided for economic reasons not to buy.

absolutely unforgivable..







moral of the story is, swedish girls arent just pretty!

interior was top notch, red leather seats and no cracks in the plastic or anything. (ill add pics later) it was bone stock when i got it, then i proceeded to add some original wheels from a nissan skyline r32 gtr and then had the good fortune to get my dirty little hands on a racing beat exhaust system with some kind of no-name muffler in the middle, (to the left of the picture) a k&n air filter, and racing beat ignition cables.

she went really well, for a while at least...
then the buzzing started. at first just a little, then it worsened, then in the end everytime i drove the car. much head scratching was done, and i read alot of stuff on here trying to work it out. the hoses were fine, i changed the radiator cap, thermostat, radiator and then waterpump, all to no avail.
(is it just me or did mazda have a whole team of technicians working around the clock to find the most irritating noise in the world for this?)
an older gentleman that hires a garage near us saw that id been out there bleeding the bugger all summer and told me the LAST words i wanted to hear.. "sounds like a water seal has gone in the engine". i really hoped it wasnt that but i had already tried everything as far as i know. i admitted defeat and have now come to accept that a is in order.
after reading further into this, im pretty convinced that the problem originated from when i removed the air pump after fitting the rb exhaust (it hadnt been playing up before then) there wasnt enough tension on the belt resulting in it slipping and not turning the waterpump.
the car had done about 130000 when i got it and now its over 160000 so it was about time for an overhaul anyway. i can just about dare to call myself a hobby-mechanic and ive never worked on rotary engines before. the work ive done on piston engines has always been with my trusty buddy joel who has been an immense help to this day but i realised pretty quickly that this time i have no one to run to for help. all the knowledge i have about my car ive learned on this forum. (rx7 club ftw!)

so down to business...
my plan is to have a nice tight engine, drop the old girl and give her some new shoes.

i have ordered an overhaul kit (a), a dual sheave alternator pulley to solve the waterpump problem (i have two new belts the guy i bought the exhaust threw in), a streetport template, and a six port actuator valve kit from atkins.
ill be sending the rotor housings off for porting.

the reason i have bought both the pulley and the 5th and 6th port sleeves is because im a little torn between if im going to keep or remove the airpump. there is a connection for the airpump on my rb header (which i realised much later) im just really not sure what ill do there. ive read alot about it and am aware of the pros and cons, (emmissions,weight loss ect) but im still not sure i geuss ill be forced to decide at some point.

i have also ordered the rotary aviation video. i already have the atkins rebuild video and haynes manual plus ive downloaded all the tech info i can on the web. aaron cakes video on youtube is really comprehensive so between them and a bit of blind luck ill succeed with this rebuild . i hope the rotary aviation video will help with the engine removal. i have already started on it but i got a bit stuck =(

i bought a nissan s13 pignose front lip last week and will be slapping that on. its in red and a bit rough around the edges. ill be sanding it down and filling where necessary and painting it black to match the trim.

i also got my hands on some s5 taillights which should be coming next week. i know there are some on here that think that the s4 tails are fine but i personally think the s5 taillights are a big improvement and i am after all an "***" man so its gotta look good back there

ill be getting her to sit pretty with some of these..
BC Racing BR Coilovers RX7 FC3S 1987-1992

and i have ordered some 17" steel wheels for a dodge caliber which ill be widening as much as i can. the plan is to have 9" at the front and 11" at the back. plans and reality can be two different things but ive read alot about this and am 99% sure i can pull it off. i havent seen alot of 7s with steelies online so i thought it would be a bit different (and cheaper of course). they should be here next week.

ill also need to build some kind of cold air intake i dont know if anyone has any tips for how to build one cheap im already a little over my budget..

thats pretty much my plan. i was pretty unsure about starting this thread after reading other build threads on here mine seems boring in comparison. this should also serve as an incentive for me not to slack hehe. ill try to put up as much pics of the process up as possible and ill appreciate any advice/tips and if ive missed something feel free to let me know!

/Anthony

meerkat8701

heres some pics of the lip

clokker

iTrader: (2)

What is wrong with the stock airbox?

I've gone through several intake setups, some more elaborate than others, and always seem to return to the stock box as the best combination of practicality, performance and structural integrity.
I have tried a couple of "cold air" specific builds using the stock airbox (the latest just this morning, in fact), details scattered around here.

Solder_Bomb

Build lookin great so far keep us posted!!!

meerkat8701

i completely agree with you clokker i have heard this about alot of cars. when it comes to the airfilter, original is often best. its just that i had the k&n filter on there since i changed the exhaust and even though i think it improves the sound, i know that its sucking in loads of hot air. i do have the original box at the garage so i may shove that back on. at least i know there will be less crap (and heat) getting sucked into the motor.. wow man i checked the link you are seriously mr attention to detail! i had perused it before and it made me feel like such a lazy person

meerkat8701

i passed by the garage yesterday and took a couple of piccys. the first thing i noticed was that its still bloody freezing. looks like im gonna have to work with frozen fingers for a least another month but its worth it for my 7. took some quick pics of the interior




the leather seemed fine apart from a thin covering of dust.. i had given it some tlc last summer so it should be fine with a wipe down once its warmed up. took another pic of the bay so you can see how far ive come. im constantly impressed by the condition of the car considering its 26 years old.. oh yeah and i forgot to mention that the previous owner had it repainted about 4 years ago..


when i was there i realised how much i have ahead of me in terms of work which was a little daunting but at the same time exciting. i hope my stuff arrives soon!!

rx7inLt

Doesen't the EURO cars use butterflies instead of accuators to operate the 6-port?
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...a-motor-92059/

meerkat8701

now im really beginning to worry.. i have quite a limited understanding of the ports even though ive read a bunch of stuff about them. all i can really say is that i removed the air pump when i fitted the rb exhaust. because i did this at the same time i know that i can credit the exhaust with most of the power gain because of the improved flow but dont really know how the removal of the airpump affected the overall performance. as i wrote before im unsure of whether i should keep the air pump, (providing it IS possible to connect it to the rb header there is a funny thin pipe that leads off of it that i can only assume is meant for this purpose because i bought it second hand) or if i should just get rid of it altogether. i dont really know the difference between the emissions laws between america and sweden. nut i was going to go with the good old "half tank of ethanol" trick to get by that. i have a friend that has done this a couple of times and it worked even though he had a piston engine ( i dont know if this would be different with a wankel) .
the thing is.. i was relying on the rotary aviation video to help me get through the removal of the engine in the most optimal way. im wondering if im going to be watching the video and try to copy what they say i should do and nothing is going to look the same on my engine. im literally crapping my pants right now.

meerkat8701

luckily i took some random pics of my engine bay last night for personal reference. this one is of the same side shown in the link you provided tomat. i havent taken off the intake yet so i couldnt see those two (vacuum solenoids?) that turn the butterflies
i have to work 08:00-22:00 today so ill have to get down there tmrw and remove the intake so that i can see if it is the same
i wonder why there are differences in the european motors as opposed to the american ones? i had the same thing when i was going to remove my original front pipe. (looked like a two litre coca-cola bottle on its side) horrible thing and an absolute bastard to get off..
im beginning to wonder what else is going to show up throughout the course of this build?
i dont have any nails left to bite =)

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Greetings, rotorsicle.

Two things:
DO NOT touch any of your interior plastic while it's frozen.
It's already brittle as hell from age, freezing it makes it worse.
Wait till it's warm- you'll still break ****, just not as much.

Secondly, the airpump doesn't directly connect to the exhaust.
I think the tube you see on the RB headers is meant to provide vacuum to the aux port actuators but I'm not a S4 expert and certainly not a European S4 expert.

meerkat8701

cheers clokker ive actually been sitting here at work reading your build thread. makes for a great read and im VERY impressed with how meticulous you are with everything . if anyone's been through it with the interior on a fc its you man so ill take your advice. its in really good condition so ill just be giving the interior a quick once over as soon as its alright for us to emerge from the warmth of our homes. i havent driven it since last summer but as far as i remember it didnt even have the dreaded dash-rattle. this may change once ive put some nice hard shocks later hehe

i need to read more about this air pump.. i noticed it had a little whine before i took it off. i kinda liked that. one thing thats really important for me that i dont create more problems by trying to increase power which is why im keeping mods to the minimum. im in my fourth summer of an absolute nightmare with my nissan r32 gtr (thats another story) and i just really want a fun car to drive this summer and i think the fc3s will definately fill that gap. if i have to drive my micra another summer i think i may just die of bbtsw syndrome (boredom behind the steering wheel)..

clokker

iTrader: (2)

I think it would be easiest to get her back as close to stock as possible first...you know it should run that way and it gives you a baseline with which to compare future changes.

It's difficult to separate "different" from "better" and they are not always the same thing.

meerkat8701

sounds like good advice man. the exhaust will have to stay i threw away the old one because it was an absolute shambles. i geuss it wouldnt hurt to smack on the airpump again i can always take it off later if i decide to. i intended to do a mild street port and as far as i understand this will only result in improved flow and maybe a slight power gain without affecting the character of the engine too much. actually seriously considering putting the original airfilter back on. if actually get to make that decision it will mean that i have rebuilt my engine and will soon find out if its a success or if ive totally messed it up. that day seems far away =(

ksolomon84

i like it

meerkat8701

aaahhh you just cant beat being off work on a monday.. i passed by the garage today and tried to get something useful done before my parts arrive from the states. it was actually 6 degrees celcius in the sun today! you know you live in scandinavia when you think that that is 'warm'. garage was freezing anyway but i managed to remove the exhaust system, propeller shaft and popped out the gearstick between my frequent trips to the heating fan to warm up my poor fingers..


from this picture i thought of two things, i really want a complete rb system so i went to their website to check how much it would cost. to my pleasant surprise i realised that i HAVE a complete system! yay for me! i geuss because the middle muffler isnt shiny i thought it was'nt from racing beat. i must have been a bloody magpie in a previous life..
the other thing is that i really need a british flag in the garage. a little bit of healthy nationalism never hurt eh?

when i pulled off the propeller shaft i saw that the extension housing on the gearbox was leaking a bit. even the oil looked frozen.. im going to have to have a look at that later.. i installed a short shift from mazdatrix last summer i dont know if it has something to do with that..



i abandoned ship before frostbite set into my toes and on the way home received a phonecall informing me that my parts have arrived in stockholm and are being processed by customs! yay for me again! all in all a satisfactory day.

meerkat8701

forgot to mention a quite embarressing thing, i thought all this time that i had removed the air pump. when i was at the garage today i had this niggling thought at the back of my mind "if i removed it, where the hell did i put it?" truth was, it was right there in the engine bay all the time, i didnt even notice when id put up thee pic of my progress so far on the engine bay. oh well, im sure ill manage to embarress myself a few more times during the course of this. you live and learn..

meerkat8701

I couldnt sleep a wink last night i was so excited about my parts arriving after at least 6 weeks wait. went down to my buddy to pick them up and then while i was there i received an sms telling me that my taillights had arrived in the post. fantastic! i thought and made godspeed back to pick those up as well.



the first package had everything i needed and as tomat pointed out, somethings that i didnt hehe (5/6 port sleeves) yeah that was a good way to flush 75 dollars down the toilet..

this was all going too well. you are reading the thread of one of the most unluckiest guys in the world when it comes to ordering parts. dont beleive me? ill elaborate. when i ordered my exedy triple clutch to my skyline, of course i ordered it one day before the earthquake. when i sent off my block, crankshaft and so on to a gentleman for modification, the poor buggers rheumatism took a turn for the worst AND he found out he had diabetes around the same time. im still waiting for my engine parts to return to me. so..i knew that this was too good be true. and sure enough when i got my tail lights, they were some kind of shorter version that werent the type i wanted... curses..



so a bit of joy and a little bit of disappointment all on the same day. ill be sending the lights back and try to get my hands on some of the longer ones somewhere. if anyone on here has got a nice pair to sell to me dont hesitate to pm me. in the meantime ill be watching this dvd and see if it boosts my confidence to have a crack at the motor tomorrow. wednesday and thursday off woopwoop!

meerkat8701

I was lucky to get an early phone call from my brother this morning otherwise i would have probably never gotten out of bed when i did...

but get out of bed i did, wolfed down a bowl of porridge and the customary cup of coffee and made my way down to the garage. went and treated myself to a nice new set of long and short 3/8 sockets, a medium ratchet and a couple of extensions on the way. (sharing tools between three guys does not work i have come to realize. spanners aren't so bad but sockets strewn everywhere is not the one and i was frankly not prepared to spend half the day looking for tools. anyway, after a few hours...

VOILA!


http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/DSC_0194.jpg

i even managed to take off a couple parts till my training buddy came to haul me off to the gym.



this was all done following the rotary aviation dvd. i seriously had not have come this far without it. those guys deserve a medal! i tried to be meticulous as possible, labeling and bagging all parts, bolts and wires i removed. even though im a novice, im well aware that taking things apart are always easier than putting them together again.

pulling the harness out of the firewall was a test of my abilites as a contortionist. of course i had placed the car a little too close to the shelves so i found myself upside down with my head down there where the passengers feet usually would be with my feet poking out of the boot. i recommend the rx7 to anyone with a complex about their size or height. this car will make you feel big trust me.

considering i have never pulled an engine by myself before im well pleased with todays result. got tomorrow off so ill be going down there and try at least to get all the supporting parts off the keg so that i can disassemble it this weekend.

i hope none of you guys are horrified that i have it balanced on the oil pan and a block of wood so it doesnt tip over but i had winched it up using the point behind the throttle body and i used the long bolt to the left of the generator to hold up the front. (that red adjustable thingy was absolute gold by the way) anyway i soon realised i had to take off the generator so this is what happened. i have a engine stand but no adaptor so i thought i would do it aaron cake video style on the floor. hopefully my poor back doesnt give out before this little enterprise is over...

clokker

iTrader: (2)

That's exactly how my engine sat for weeks, so I'm not horrified.
If you remove the pan and pickup tube, the engine is flat and will sit nicely.

meerkat8701

thanks for setting my mind at ease clokker i expected to get flamed for that hehe =P

I must say reflectively that it doesnt feel like i got much done today..because of my noobness everything takes so much longer because im being extra meticulous. i dont want to pull a plug, hose or part without knowing that when i pick it up again im gonna know what the hell it is and where it lives.

another reason it went slower was because i was following the ra dvd and good old bruce started all of a sudden pulling parts i didnt recognize! i ended up circling the engine muttering things like 'what the **** is that?' 'thats not on my engine!' 'these euro 13bs were more different than i thought' and 'you've gone and bitten off more than you could chew here boyo'..

I gave up on watching the video and proceeded to freestyle it just being careful to label everything so that i would understand later what i had done. it went without mishap shockingly enough and by the time i was finished it looked like this..








satisfied with my endeavours and even a little bit proud that i managed to get the vacuum harness off without breaking anything by accident or on purpose on the grounds of unvented frustration, (that thing is horrible at least the first time anyway) i went back to the video and watched through bruce explaining how to take all the supporting parts off of this mystery 13b that looked nothing like mine to see what i should do next.

THEN on the screen it said "removal of supporting parts on a non-turbo 13b" or something to that effect.

no no.. ill say it for you.. FAIL.

*note to self. next time i think "i should watch through the entire video before i do ANYTHING, i should do it.*

anyhoo.. there were a few bits and bobs left to remove but i started losing concentration so i threw in the towel for today. one thing that bothered me a bit was that i found neither butterflies or port inserts in the fifth and sixth ports. maybe i missed something or am just being plain stupid. i need to investigate this further. im also considering changing all hoses. some of the fuel hoses were dry and cracked and the water coolant hoses were full of rust even to the point where some of the nozzles going in to the block were half corroded away! ill be down there on saturday so updates then!

p.s if you guys see something glaringly obvious that i may have missed or you think is noteworthy to mention let me know. all advice and tips are welcome!

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Don't consider it, DO it.
Every hose, replace.
It will never be simpler (a lot of that is completely obscured when the intake is installed) and the tricky bits (all the little vac lines) can be done one at a time using the old hose as a guide.
Be VERY, let me emphasize that, VERY!, careful with the solenoid nipples, a twist of the old stiff hose will snap them right off.

meerkat8701

I had a feeling you would say that =) Its decided then. Ill have to pass by hydroscand next week. Have you got any tips for softening them up before i pull them? Im not exactly famous for my Gentle, delicate Touch..

clokker

iTrader: (2)

No tips, sorry.
It's a job fraught with peril no matter how you do it.
(I undid the hose end from the metal spider first and then tried to twirl the hose to break it's grip on the solenoid nipple. I was lucky and none broke. The point here is just to be aware that the solenoid nipples are the weak link.)

meerkat8701

Jeez it sounds like ill have work on my magic touch for this one.. Geuss if i just take my time and not get all brutal with them they should succumb to my persuasive guile hehehe =)

meerkat8701

didnt get much done today.. hit an unexpected little wall i had actually not planned for. did a nice list for all the things i would need to pull apart the engine and clean it. (most importantly the rotor housings i was goinng to try to give to a chap for porting on monday)
one of those serious wtf moments. why is there a 54mm nut on the flywheel? for the love of god..... did mazda have a side thing going on as tractor manufacturers?
easter is a national holiday here so the company that sells **** like that was closed today and will be until tuesday.

any cheats around this?