Hi folks. Just purchased an FD3s in japan last week and hoping to have it shipped and landed on my island Jamaica by Christmas. New to rotary, new to mazda, new to rwd. Had a 300 hp turbo starlet a few years ago so im not a boost noob, but i have been driving a modded NA type r civic for 5 years. A little scary getting into this world but i want to try something different and i really always wanted this beatiful car. There are a few Rx7's in the island and most still have the 13b still in it. Not many tuners here are knowledgeable on the engine or the chassis so this will be alot of trial and error for me. Hoping to get as much information as possible from the forum and hope to share as much as possible.

thanks for reading

Chad

 

There is a wealth of information on here. Welcome to the club!

 

Cheers!

 

Welcome! There are a hundred things that could be wrong with the RX-7 you bought, so I hope you had it looked over. Assuming the car is good and straight, as mentioned there’s all kinds of info on the forums. If you’re interested in modifying and pushing the car, you will obviously have to find out what your goals are and then go from there.

There’s a very good tuner in Florida, Jamaican mon named Roger. He can help you remotely to some degree but if you want the car worked on by rotary pros, he may know someone still on the island.

If you want I’ll text him for you.

Nick

 

I have a contact that was at the auction and looked on the car. Got it at a good price and will have it thoroughly looked over when it arrives. I found a checklist on this website which looks very helpful. Car has an HKS f con installed on it so more than likely a remote tune would be needed if I'm even keeping that ecu. I found a few people that have worked with rotarys on the island but tuners are a bit scarce. Hoping that the car is in Good knick and will update soon on it.

 

The F-Con is old school stuff but works. I have a friend who runs an F-Con with the AIC from HKS and his car runs great.

Having said that, it won’t be very often you’ll find a guy who is comfortable tuning on it. Most guys have moved to the standalone computers. Again, I would recommend speaking with Roger as he may know someone or choose to tune for you when he returns to visit family. He tuned my car and did a good job.

Nick

 

Ok. Sounds good. Not familiar with Rodger but would love to speak with him when I have gone through the car a bit. Thank you so much for your help!

 

Roga da mon, trus me bredin.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist lol

After you go through the car, let me know if you need anything. Roger says he’s “got a guy”. Hopefully the car is nice and clean!

Nick

 

Lol

Thanks so a lot for for your assistance. I hope it is clean. Do you know of any horror stories? All my prior cars have been Jap imports. But never a rotary. Is there anything I should look out for in particular

 

Unfortunately, RX-7’s are notorious for developing issues with the engine. Fortunately for you though, the RX-7 community is both long-standing and persistent. We’ve basically figured out the fix for every problem you’ll face.

Now, for a low mileage car with only minor modifications, you’ll probably not have an issue, so long as the car has been maintained properly. I have no experience buying a car from Japan, but if the YouTube videos are anything to go by; it would seem the Japanese view modifying a car in it’s totality. Meaning, they don’t seem to just crank the boost and scream out “power!” - they increase the cooling capacity as well and ensure the car remains balanced.

This is is a good generalization and may be totally inaccurate, but I’m hoping...

So, when you get the car, how it starts when cold and hot will be telling. Does it start up quickly when cold? Does it start up quickly when hot? Is there any smoke on startup? Is it blue, or white with a sweet smell? If the car has an aftermarket boost gauge; how much vacuum are you seeing at idle?

These are some basics that you should address immediately upon receiving the car. If it passes this initial inspection, drive the car around and see if 5th gear grinds or if the syncro’s are still meshing nicely. When you come to a stop and start again, do you notice clunking in the suspension? Bad 5th gear syncro’s and ball joints are common failure points.

If these are all good, I’d recommend a larger aluminum radiator, downpipe, full exhaust, new silicone radiator hoses, new thermostat, FC thermoswitch, replace all vacuum lines with silicone and simplify “rats nest” and wash/wax.

What type of RX-7 is it? In the states certain models came with two oil coolers and others just had one. If your car comes with only one, I’d recommend upgrading to the twin coolers, which are readily available second hand on the forum.

That should give you a nice solid base to work from.

Nick

 

Wow thanks alot nick! I planned to do most of that but wasn't aware of the fifth gear issue. Car is a series 7, 97 Type R bathurst. 104k Km on the clock. I agree that the Japanese owners don't tend to half a** modifications. Will update as I know more and digest all you've said. THANK YOU!

 

My pleasure man. I think the Type-R does come with dual oil coolers, so you should be good there.

Good luck with everything and let us know if we can help in any way!

Nick

 

I have had the car for a month now and all seems to be great. Start up on cold and hot is great. Car came with all the necessary upgrades. Including exhaust, intake, charge pipes, aluminum radiator, aluminum AST, all vacuum lines have been upgraded to silicone, Defi boost, oil and water temp gauges, upgraded bumper with better cooling ducts. I have installed a Greddy Boost controler, apexi PFC ,C's racing shifter and plan to upgrade the stock IC and retune. Currently taking my time learning the car and loving every bit of it.

 

 

thanks man !