Proud owner of a JDM 2002 FD3S
 

Hey guys, I've been following threads on this forum for at least a year now, and I can proudly say that I am finally the owner of a JDM FD3S (2002 Type R Bathurst)

The whole process started in January this year, where a dutch importer found the car at a dealership, it took roughly 5 months from start to finish, but that gave me plenty of time to research everything about this magnificent car, and the complicated systems that keep it running ;) The car has roughly 90.000 kilometers on the clock, and is fully stock, other from the rims and the aftermarket steering wheel. (also the silly japanese put an air-horn in)

Here are some pics I took the other day:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...badb173948.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...50403c814e.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...dd62924387.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...cf335aaa0e.jpg

I also had to arrange for storage, and a place to work on the car, and I was incredibly lucky that there is a row of small garages behind my house. My dad already rented one for his work, and I was able to take the one next to him. The garage was initially a dump. Floor had deep holes in it, it was 1930's construction, but my dad and I worked hard over several weeks to make it a comfy home for the FD! I'm planning to do all work myself, so the garage will eventually pay for itself, but it's just peace of mind to be able to store this car inside, and I'm extremely happy!

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a9e300441d.jpg

My apologies if the pictures are too big...

Right now, the car is driving like a dream, and I replaced the oil, oil filter and plugs. I'm still waiting for new ignition leads, because 2 of them have severe corrosion on the inside (leading plugs), after that I'm putting in a new fuel and air filter. I also replaced the stock exhaust with a HKS Hi-Power Silent, because more noise is always better in my book ;)

Only problem right now: It seems the secondary turbo isn't coming online. I have a kick at 3000 RPM, but then it just pulls smoothly to redline. I have already spent several hours on studying the twin-turbo system, and I think I know where the problem is. But still, I ordered some vacuum hose, and I'm planning to replace all the critical vacuum hoses soon (not looking forward to this) but first I'm just going to inspect some hoses to see if I can fix the secondary turbo without taking the intake manifold off.

It's getting quite late here, so I hope I wasn't too unclear... I'm extremely excited to own this beautiful car, and also to troubleshoot all problems it might have ;)

Best regards,

Nick from the Netherlands

Welcome and congratulations! Looks to be a beautiful car and a nice place to work on it. Look forward to seeing more of this car around the forum.

Looks very nice. Good luck with your turbos .

That car is awesome man, congrats! Post your build and give updates!

Wow!
 

Hot dayuuummmmm that thing is beautiful! I really dig those wheels too!

Congratulations and thanks for sharing. I do not think you are ever going to find a stock motor with that many miles without any sort of issues. I just picked up my second FD after a long break with only 38,000 miles on it and I was experiencing a similar problem. My crossover pipe from the intercooler was not fit all the way on the Y pipe and fastened down and this seemed to help a bit. This is all just part of the journey of owning an RX of any variety, they are very involved cars.

Thanks for sharing, I'm currently stripping parts from the engine bay and the upper manifold is coming off soon, I love working on cars so I'm excited to tackle this problem, as long as I'm able to fix it! Glad you like the rims, at first I thought I would immediately replace them, but I've started to really like them. Maybe in the future, but right now I have fresh rubber on them, might as well make good use of that :)

So nice and clean!! Beautiful!

Beautiful car. Do you have any plans for it other than the exhaust upgrade, or do you plan on keeping it stock?