My story. . My RX addiction. . . .
02-05-09, 08:35 PM
#1
My story. . My RX addiction. . . .
My name is Thomas. I am 27 years old, and a graduate of Texas A&M University (College Station) [Whoop!]
An apology in advance -- I have been meaning to put this thread together for a long time -- it was intended to be well thought out. This did not happen, this is going to be one horribly written rambling about my addiction to the rotors. . .
This is my story. . . .
My first vehicle was a full size Ford Bronco. Then a Dodge Ram pickup. After graduating TAMU and moving into the 'working world' (in the IT field for oil and gas in downtown Houston) my Dodge had severe problems. I traded it in, and bought a white 2005 RX8 Grand Touring 6sp. It was Mid June 2005, and thats when the addiction started. . . .
I was for a long time a huge troller on the rx8club website. I still visit it, but not as much as I now do rx7club.com. Damn, the amount of information here is insane -- and the enthusiasm of RX owners is absolutely downright amazing!
After a while I realized that while I love my '8, it needed to be faster. Much faster. I trolled for countless hours on the rx8club website. I did lots of research, and came to the conclusion that I didnt want to sink the money into modifying the '8, and voiding its warranty -- especially as it was my daily driver.
In late 2006 'search for a 7' began as a curiosity -- the nightly ebay motors, autotrader, and random googling began. Dont be angry at me for saying this, but this damn website is by far the single biggest time-sink I have encountered on the web. I have loved every minute of it. I posted a few times, and got very astute and intelligent responses (thank you!!) -- mainly when my search for a 7 began in earnest (Early / Mid 2008).
Before I go further in depth I must apologize to the Houston RX clubs -- I havent made it out yet! I will, I promise -- my job is just very intense and time consuming.
In 2008 I made what would turn into huge financial mistake. I bought a sony playstation 3, to play GT5 Prologue. Oops. I played it for a while, and at the first opportunity, I bought an rx7. Oops again. About two weeks later I told a good friend of mine in mid conversation 'I have made up mind. I am going to buy a seven.'
Thats when it began. I hit craigslist, ebay, autotrader, the local papers, the rx7club.com for-sale section, etc. several times every day. I found myself paying to have cars in other states (as far away as California) taken to shops for pre-purchase inspections and compression tests, along with a handful of local cars.
Eventually I found the rx7 I would buy. A 1994 Montego Blue Touring, 5sp. It had at the time roughly 69k miles, and was completely, 100% stock. The previous owners (two) had taken immaculate care of the vehicle -- I have a blue folder with every piece of documentation of all work ever done on the car down to the oil change in it (OK so I didnt actually go through an itemize every scrap of paper, but it sure seems like its all there -- everything, including when the driver's seat had leather work done and the time the Bose system was worked on!).
I had the car taken to MazMax in Houston for inspection (they were very familiar with the car, and had done work on it before -- and btw, the gents over at MazMax are really kick-***). The car got a stellar review (given its age and mileage), main items of note:
Belts needed to be replaced, 'showing several cracks.
A minor oil leak from the primary turbo (which I was told to leave alone unless it became a huge problem)
The AST was turning green, and needed to be replaced (more on this damn POS later).
New plugs and wires were also recommended.
Rear main-seal leak (also minor).
The engine's compression was OK -- not great, but not bad -- the numbers were all close to each other, and no major discrepancy between the two. I have in my blue folder the test results, but its too far away to go get and inconsequential to the rest of this thread (for now at least
.
Overall, especially given the documentation associated with the car, it seemed like a real gem. I made an offer and tried to negotiate with the owner, but he didnt budge much. However, I decided what the hell -- Im only going to live once, and bought the car in the middle of August 2008.
I ordered parts from rx7.com (also a supremely great group of guys -- they even sent me a Christmas card which was actually signed by a bunch of their team!):
GReddy Turbo Timer
Belts
Plugs & Plug Wires
Bonez 3" Hi-Flow Cat & Downpipe
Aluminum AST
Boost Gauge
Idemetsu rotary fuel lube
I installed the turbo timer, and was supremely impressed that i finally got the damn connector loose to hook in the harness (that took a lot more time and careful effort than I anticipated -- it was like it was cemented in place with black magic). Shortly thereafter I installed the boost gauge.
I looked and looked at the Belts / Plugs / Plug-Wires threads on this site, and hitup the FSM for the 1994 FD. I decided to just let MazMax do the work when I took it to them for the DP and Bonez Hi-Flow Cat install. Prior to the install of the DP and Bonez cat, I would have very faint white smoke from the turbo area in the vehicle after driving it while boosting modestly. This went away when the DP and cat were installed.
I tried to install the Aluminum AST from rx7.com (Pettit?) but it was fabricated wrong -- I would need to fabricate a mounting bracket, and I didnt like hose placement (I of course, found this out, AFTERI disco'd the OEM AST and put the new one in place. Oops. OEM AST went back on immediately).
I bought another aluminum AST this time from Fighter's Garage, and installed it. I loved its looks, and its fabrication was PERFECT. It fit like a charm.
Unfortunately unknown to me (I didnt check -- oops), the cap which comes on the Fighter's AST was MUCH stronger than the stock 13psi (16psi I was told, but I think it was more). After my first 100mile trip in the 7 with the Fighter's AST on the vehicle, approximately 20 seconds after killing the engine after letting her idle for five minutes, she dumped coolant all over my parents driveway (they live 100miles outside of Houston). Crap. I got a lift back into town, and the next day from work coordinated having her towed from the country to MazMax.
MazMax pointed out that the stock radiator plastic end-caps let go, and it was probably due to the higher pressure rating of the new AST cap on the Fighter's AST, and the age of the radiator. I ordered an aluminum Koyo rad from radiator.com, and took it to MazMax. After they installed it, I was advised that I still had a coolant leak -- from the AST. They did everything they could to troubleshoot it, and finally discovered that the welding of the joints where the nozzles meat the AST was at fault -- it was leaking through the weld! (very slowly -- a drip once every minute or two at idle -- this, to me anyway, shows how professionally the guys at MazMax take their work -- I probably would have never spotted this)
After having two aluminum ASTs not work out, I simply ordered another OEM AST from mazdatrix and installed it -- my current thinking is that I will simply replace it annually with another brand new one, for as long as they are available. I am told that they are 'good' as long as they are black -- but when they start to change color to a dark green -- watch out!
My driver's side headlamp cover broke loose. I bought a new one, unpainted, but was talked into trying some industrial epoxy to try to fit the original back in place from a colleague of mine who had used it on his project Porsche. It worked, its still there! 'Holding strong -- so far its held for about 400 miles.
I placed another order with rx7.com, this time for:
GReddy Type-RS BOV (I didnt want to vent the stock BOV, simply because I wanted some color and flash under the hood, damnit!)
Racing Beat Single-Tip exhaust (perfect sound, nice growl and quiet when it needs to be)
Four more quarts of Idemetsu rotary fuel lube
GReddy Airnix Intake (blue)
RP Performance Fuel Pump
I installed the BOV, and looked into installing the catback. I decided to just take it to a local muffler shop, and worked a deal - $60 cash to install it -- took about one hour (no problems, just slow going as the installer kept answering the shop's phone). In retrospect, I think this saved me one hell of a headache -- a lift and the pneumatic tools certainly made this go much faster than I would have been able to do it.
The intake the the fuel pump have not been installed, yet. I dont want to install the intake until after the fuel pump is installed, for fear of running her too lean. Likewise, after looking into the fuel pump install -- I am fairly confident I could do this mod, but honestly, soldering (solving the stock fuel pump grounding problem) in such close proximity to an open fuel tank scares the hell out of me!
My seven runs great, but she has a few problems after all of the above:
Tire Rub -- I put on new tires (ever so slightly larger than stock, but I cant remember the size off the top of my head -- on stock 16" rims), and they rub the top of the wheel wells at almost every 'dip' or 'bump' in the road at speeds greater than 35/40mph (which is getting really annoying). The tires the car had at time of purchase also did this (and I replaced them with tires of identical size), but now it is MUCH worse.
Occasional Engine CEL - friggin EGR valve. I hate you, and I refuse to fix you, you POS!
Coolant seal going? - I occasionally find tiny black 'grit' floating in the coolant fill-neck, and am told that this is indicative of a coolant seal failing. I occasionally (maybe once each time I take her out) get a cloud of white smoke behind me that lasts for a few seconds, and then goes away -- it has never been constant. I am, however, not loosing coolant at any noticeable rate. Rarely she puts out white smoke on start, but generally only after she has been sitting for a while, ESPECIALLY after a good rain -- I am thinking thats just moisture burning off inside the exhaust?
Occasional overboost - during 'transition' the secondary turbo will spike at 12-14 psi (generally right at 13). A boost controller is definitely in my immediate future, but I am undecided as to a MBC or an EBC. This will be done before I install the intake.
Rear Suspension Clunking Noise - damn you bushings (I am fairly confident thats what it is) -- this is really annoying, and I am playing with the idea of upgrading the suspension and at the same time doing a brake job while fixing this. We'll see.
Oil leak - what can I say, she likes to mark her territory!
Photos of my 1994 baby (taken by my good friend Telwink):
http://flickr.com/photos/telwink/2779843318/
http://flickr.com/photos/telwink/2771728031/
http://flickr.com/photos/telwink/2772478982/
Be sure to check out the original-sized images! They are fantastic, and absolutely gorgeous -- Telwink really knows how to take photos. I had a professional print of the b&w (first link above) made up.
I have thus far put approximately 1500-1800miles on my seven (and loved every second of it!), and I am faithfully continually adding every scrap of paper and invoice to my lil blue folder (which isnt so little anymore)
In any event, in one HUGE nutshell, the above is the story of my addiction. I hope I didnt bore you too much!
Special thanks to:
MazMax (Bryan and Pat -- you guys rock!)
RX7.com (can I just direct-deposit some of my paycheck to you guys?)
mazdatrix.com (thank you for being there)
rx7club.com (this board rules, thanks to everyone for sharing so much information!)
houstonrx7club.com (I will eventually come out and meet you guys as soon as I can break from work -- unfortunately IT keeps me busy after hours almost all the damn time!)
My friends, especially DongeyKong and Telwink, for helping me whenever they could along with listening to my RX7 ramblings pre, and post purchase (to this day they still put up with it -- thank you guys very much!) NateDawg, for listening to me constantly at the office ramble on about MazdaRX's and for the awesome poster (which also provided additional inspiration to buy a seven).
Thanks for reading my story, and I would greatly appreciate any input you have on any of the above! I would be more than happy to buy beers to get some mechanical tutelage from any fellow rx nuts in the Houston area (time allowing)!
Thanks again,
thomas
ps - i still have my white rx8, and still love her too!
An apology in advance -- I have been meaning to put this thread together for a long time -- it was intended to be well thought out. This did not happen, this is going to be one horribly written rambling about my addiction to the rotors. . .
This is my story. . . .
My first vehicle was a full size Ford Bronco. Then a Dodge Ram pickup. After graduating TAMU and moving into the 'working world' (in the IT field for oil and gas in downtown Houston) my Dodge had severe problems. I traded it in, and bought a white 2005 RX8 Grand Touring 6sp. It was Mid June 2005, and thats when the addiction started. . . .
I was for a long time a huge troller on the rx8club website. I still visit it, but not as much as I now do rx7club.com. Damn, the amount of information here is insane -- and the enthusiasm of RX owners is absolutely downright amazing!
After a while I realized that while I love my '8, it needed to be faster. Much faster. I trolled for countless hours on the rx8club website. I did lots of research, and came to the conclusion that I didnt want to sink the money into modifying the '8, and voiding its warranty -- especially as it was my daily driver.
In late 2006 'search for a 7' began as a curiosity -- the nightly ebay motors, autotrader, and random googling began. Dont be angry at me for saying this, but this damn website is by far the single biggest time-sink I have encountered on the web. I have loved every minute of it. I posted a few times, and got very astute and intelligent responses (thank you!!) -- mainly when my search for a 7 began in earnest (Early / Mid 2008).
Before I go further in depth I must apologize to the Houston RX clubs -- I havent made it out yet! I will, I promise -- my job is just very intense and time consuming.
In 2008 I made what would turn into huge financial mistake. I bought a sony playstation 3, to play GT5 Prologue. Oops. I played it for a while, and at the first opportunity, I bought an rx7. Oops again. About two weeks later I told a good friend of mine in mid conversation 'I have made up mind. I am going to buy a seven.'
Thats when it began. I hit craigslist, ebay, autotrader, the local papers, the rx7club.com for-sale section, etc. several times every day. I found myself paying to have cars in other states (as far away as California) taken to shops for pre-purchase inspections and compression tests, along with a handful of local cars.
Eventually I found the rx7 I would buy. A 1994 Montego Blue Touring, 5sp. It had at the time roughly 69k miles, and was completely, 100% stock. The previous owners (two) had taken immaculate care of the vehicle -- I have a blue folder with every piece of documentation of all work ever done on the car down to the oil change in it (OK so I didnt actually go through an itemize every scrap of paper, but it sure seems like its all there -- everything, including when the driver's seat had leather work done and the time the Bose system was worked on!).
I had the car taken to MazMax in Houston for inspection (they were very familiar with the car, and had done work on it before -- and btw, the gents over at MazMax are really kick-***). The car got a stellar review (given its age and mileage), main items of note:
Belts needed to be replaced, 'showing several cracks.
A minor oil leak from the primary turbo (which I was told to leave alone unless it became a huge problem)
The AST was turning green, and needed to be replaced (more on this damn POS later).
New plugs and wires were also recommended.
Rear main-seal leak (also minor).
The engine's compression was OK -- not great, but not bad -- the numbers were all close to each other, and no major discrepancy between the two. I have in my blue folder the test results, but its too far away to go get and inconsequential to the rest of this thread (for now at least
.Overall, especially given the documentation associated with the car, it seemed like a real gem. I made an offer and tried to negotiate with the owner, but he didnt budge much. However, I decided what the hell -- Im only going to live once, and bought the car in the middle of August 2008.
I ordered parts from rx7.com (also a supremely great group of guys -- they even sent me a Christmas card which was actually signed by a bunch of their team!):
GReddy Turbo Timer
Belts
Plugs & Plug Wires
Bonez 3" Hi-Flow Cat & Downpipe
Aluminum AST
Boost Gauge
Idemetsu rotary fuel lube
I installed the turbo timer, and was supremely impressed that i finally got the damn connector loose to hook in the harness (that took a lot more time and careful effort than I anticipated -- it was like it was cemented in place with black magic). Shortly thereafter I installed the boost gauge.
I looked and looked at the Belts / Plugs / Plug-Wires threads on this site, and hitup the FSM for the 1994 FD. I decided to just let MazMax do the work when I took it to them for the DP and Bonez Hi-Flow Cat install. Prior to the install of the DP and Bonez cat, I would have very faint white smoke from the turbo area in the vehicle after driving it while boosting modestly. This went away when the DP and cat were installed.
I tried to install the Aluminum AST from rx7.com (Pettit?) but it was fabricated wrong -- I would need to fabricate a mounting bracket, and I didnt like hose placement (I of course, found this out, AFTERI disco'd the OEM AST and put the new one in place. Oops. OEM AST went back on immediately).
I bought another aluminum AST this time from Fighter's Garage, and installed it. I loved its looks, and its fabrication was PERFECT. It fit like a charm.
Unfortunately unknown to me (I didnt check -- oops), the cap which comes on the Fighter's AST was MUCH stronger than the stock 13psi (16psi I was told, but I think it was more). After my first 100mile trip in the 7 with the Fighter's AST on the vehicle, approximately 20 seconds after killing the engine after letting her idle for five minutes, she dumped coolant all over my parents driveway (they live 100miles outside of Houston). Crap. I got a lift back into town, and the next day from work coordinated having her towed from the country to MazMax.
MazMax pointed out that the stock radiator plastic end-caps let go, and it was probably due to the higher pressure rating of the new AST cap on the Fighter's AST, and the age of the radiator. I ordered an aluminum Koyo rad from radiator.com, and took it to MazMax. After they installed it, I was advised that I still had a coolant leak -- from the AST. They did everything they could to troubleshoot it, and finally discovered that the welding of the joints where the nozzles meat the AST was at fault -- it was leaking through the weld! (very slowly -- a drip once every minute or two at idle -- this, to me anyway, shows how professionally the guys at MazMax take their work -- I probably would have never spotted this)
After having two aluminum ASTs not work out, I simply ordered another OEM AST from mazdatrix and installed it -- my current thinking is that I will simply replace it annually with another brand new one, for as long as they are available. I am told that they are 'good' as long as they are black -- but when they start to change color to a dark green -- watch out!
My driver's side headlamp cover broke loose. I bought a new one, unpainted, but was talked into trying some industrial epoxy to try to fit the original back in place from a colleague of mine who had used it on his project Porsche. It worked, its still there! 'Holding strong -- so far its held for about 400 miles.
I placed another order with rx7.com, this time for:
GReddy Type-RS BOV (I didnt want to vent the stock BOV, simply because I wanted some color and flash under the hood, damnit!)
Racing Beat Single-Tip exhaust (perfect sound, nice growl and quiet when it needs to be)
Four more quarts of Idemetsu rotary fuel lube
GReddy Airnix Intake (blue)
RP Performance Fuel Pump
I installed the BOV, and looked into installing the catback. I decided to just take it to a local muffler shop, and worked a deal - $60 cash to install it -- took about one hour (no problems, just slow going as the installer kept answering the shop's phone). In retrospect, I think this saved me one hell of a headache -- a lift and the pneumatic tools certainly made this go much faster than I would have been able to do it.
The intake the the fuel pump have not been installed, yet. I dont want to install the intake until after the fuel pump is installed, for fear of running her too lean. Likewise, after looking into the fuel pump install -- I am fairly confident I could do this mod, but honestly, soldering (solving the stock fuel pump grounding problem) in such close proximity to an open fuel tank scares the hell out of me!
My seven runs great, but she has a few problems after all of the above:
Tire Rub -- I put on new tires (ever so slightly larger than stock, but I cant remember the size off the top of my head -- on stock 16" rims), and they rub the top of the wheel wells at almost every 'dip' or 'bump' in the road at speeds greater than 35/40mph (which is getting really annoying). The tires the car had at time of purchase also did this (and I replaced them with tires of identical size), but now it is MUCH worse.
Occasional Engine CEL - friggin EGR valve. I hate you, and I refuse to fix you, you POS!
Coolant seal going? - I occasionally find tiny black 'grit' floating in the coolant fill-neck, and am told that this is indicative of a coolant seal failing. I occasionally (maybe once each time I take her out) get a cloud of white smoke behind me that lasts for a few seconds, and then goes away -- it has never been constant. I am, however, not loosing coolant at any noticeable rate. Rarely she puts out white smoke on start, but generally only after she has been sitting for a while, ESPECIALLY after a good rain -- I am thinking thats just moisture burning off inside the exhaust?
Occasional overboost - during 'transition' the secondary turbo will spike at 12-14 psi (generally right at 13). A boost controller is definitely in my immediate future, but I am undecided as to a MBC or an EBC. This will be done before I install the intake.
Rear Suspension Clunking Noise - damn you bushings (I am fairly confident thats what it is) -- this is really annoying, and I am playing with the idea of upgrading the suspension and at the same time doing a brake job while fixing this. We'll see.
Oil leak - what can I say, she likes to mark her territory!
Photos of my 1994 baby (taken by my good friend Telwink):
http://flickr.com/photos/telwink/2779843318/
http://flickr.com/photos/telwink/2771728031/
http://flickr.com/photos/telwink/2772478982/
Be sure to check out the original-sized images! They are fantastic, and absolutely gorgeous -- Telwink really knows how to take photos. I had a professional print of the b&w (first link above) made up.
I have thus far put approximately 1500-1800miles on my seven (and loved every second of it!), and I am faithfully continually adding every scrap of paper and invoice to my lil blue folder (which isnt so little anymore)
In any event, in one HUGE nutshell, the above is the story of my addiction. I hope I didnt bore you too much!
Special thanks to:
MazMax (Bryan and Pat -- you guys rock!)
RX7.com (can I just direct-deposit some of my paycheck to you guys?)
mazdatrix.com (thank you for being there)
rx7club.com (this board rules, thanks to everyone for sharing so much information!)
houstonrx7club.com (I will eventually come out and meet you guys as soon as I can break from work -- unfortunately IT keeps me busy after hours almost all the damn time!)
My friends, especially DongeyKong and Telwink, for helping me whenever they could along with listening to my RX7 ramblings pre, and post purchase (to this day they still put up with it -- thank you guys very much!) NateDawg, for listening to me constantly at the office ramble on about MazdaRX's and for the awesome poster (which also provided additional inspiration to buy a seven).
Thanks for reading my story, and I would greatly appreciate any input you have on any of the above! I would be more than happy to buy beers to get some mechanical tutelage from any fellow rx nuts in the Houston area (time allowing)!
Thanks again,
thomas
ps - i still have my white rx8, and still love her too!
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