WatchThis

Hello Everyone,

I am located in Japan and am in the market to buy a 3rd generation RX7. I’ve been reading over the forums a lot the past few days in order to get an idea of what are some common things to address with the car and I think I have a general plan for once I find and purchase an FD. Most of the modifications I have in mind are reliability-based considering this will be my only car for the next few years that I’m here. I’d like to list what I have in mind along with a few questions and get opinions on if I’m on the right track or not.

First thing on my list is to take care of general maintenance. Since I don’t have the car yet, I’m not sure what kind of shape it will be in but I’d check things like vacuum hoses and likely replace them with silicone hoses, plugs, change the oil, and change the fuel filter. I’d also look at eliminating the AST as well. Next would come modifications themselves. First, I would consider replacing the pre-cat with a downpipe from say HKS but I read somewhere here that JDM versions came with a downpipe instead of the pre-cat from the factory. So clarification there would be great.

Gauges would be added very early on and what I have in mind would be a water temp and A/F wideband gauge (both from AEM), as well as the AEM TRU-BOOST since it would serve as an electronic boost controller and a boost gauge simultaneously. I’d like to put them in an A-pillar mount to make them easily viewable but I’m not sure if that would be available for RHD models. Also, I’d likely replace the radiator with an aftermarket unit which would solve the maintenance issue of replacing fresh coolant as well. As far as brand, I’m not sure if the Koyo NFlow or Fluidyne would be best. I’ve read that the Koyo version is larger but I also don’t want to run into fitment issues. An aftermarket SMIC would also be on the list and I do like the kit CXRacing carries as it comes with the intercooler, pipe kit, and shroud for a seemingly reasonable price.

Lastly, I’d like to swap the factory fuel pump to the Denso Supra TT unit and also add an Apex’i Power FC as well. The reasoning is obviously fuel is important and I’d like to not leave a roughly 25 year old fuel pump to chance and the Power FC seems to be a solid method of eliminating the 3k rpm hesitation that is a common occurrence on this model. I know these last two items aren’t completely necessary but I’m willing to spend the money on them for the piece of mind and versatility since the Power FC allows for tuning, adjustment for things such as when the radiator fans kick on, as well as monitoring injector duty cycle.

So there you have it; my tentative plan for my FD once I purchase and get acquainted with it. Please offer your opinions on the things I’ve mentioned as well as thoughts/answers on the areas where I could use more clarification. I do look forward to owning the car as it’s always been a very interesting design to me, I just want to be sure that I’m taking proactive measures to remedy common issues to boost reliability and drivability with the car so hopefully the car will take care of me as well. Thank you.

AE_Racer

iTrader: (1)

If you get the Power FC you wont need a different boost controller.

The JDM cars do not have a pre cat or an EGR system. The stock downpipe is fine unless you want to go bigger. You have to be careful with mods though because you will run out of fuel and into boost creep issues quickly.

your maintenance plan sounds good. But I would also do all coolant hoses, water pump, and thermostat. Unless you have proof theyve been changed recently. There’s a lot of heat under the hood and the hoses get brittle over time. Look at the vacuum hoses while you’re in there as the same goes for them. I have a koyo n flo and I believe alot of people here do as well. Mine was combined with a v mount so cant comment on oem fitment.

I believe greddy/trust makes a rhd pillar mount pod, but I prefer the center speaker or center dash location as my power fc commander is on the center console. A quick glance and I can see everything in a somewhat close area.

I have a 92 jdm fd in the USA and thats been my experiences and preferences. Being in Japan you have lots of options for shops, im sure you could buy a car through them or take a car you buy to them for a good look over everything. An importer here in the states has been selling cars refreshed and modded by Re-Amemiya for about $30k.

WatchThis

Thank you for your reply, it was a lot of help and much appreciated. So since I plan on getting the Power FC and it also serves as an electronic boost controller them I’ll probably just get a dedicated boost gauge instead of the TruBoost unit. I’m very glad to hear that the JDM models didn’t come with an EGR system or pre-cat. My main purpose behind looking at a downpipe was based around the issues caused by the pre-cat and not necessarily hp/performance, so I’m fine with the JDM factory downpipe which saves me money also.

As for the cooling system, I’d probably replace the hoses, thermostat and water pump all at that same time as the radiator. On that subject, I did some more searching around the forum and found that while the Koyo is bigger than the factory radiator, it does require a little modification to fit but it’s also cheaper than the Fluidyne. While the Fluidyne is still bigger than factory but not quite as big as the Koyo, it is a drop-in replacement but more expensive than the Koyo. I’m leaning more towards the Fluidyne although I don’t think either option is a bad choice, just personal preference.

Its funny you mention Re-Amemiya, I was actually looking and researching them last night. They came up on a google search for tuner shops here and while I don’t read Japanese, I could tell that they do plenty of work on Rotary projects. I was going to ask about them as they’re only about an hour and a half to two hour drive from me.

AE_Racer

iTrader: (1)

RE Amemiya is a long time Japanese rotary tuner. Like almost since the beginning of the Mazda rotary, in the 70s, im pretty sure. You can not go wrong with them. FEED/Fujita Engineering, R Magic, Knight Sports, and Revolution are a few others. Use google chrome and its translate function to browse Japanese websites

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

If your boost pattern is normal and you have no issues, leave the vacuum hoses alone IMO. You’re fixing something that isn’t broken and likely going to break things like solenoids and check-valves in the process. Its a complicated and tedious process to change them, especially for a new owner. Yeah, the OEM rubber get brittle, but if left alone they often are just fine. Leave them unless boost becomes inconsistent or abnormal in some way.

WatchThis

Yeah I’ll probably go with Re Amemiya considering how close they are to me and how much experience they have with the platform overall.

Makes sense I guess. I’m usually a firm believer in the “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” idea but i figured this is one of those things that with it being so old, better to just replace with new. I wasn’t going to to try tackle it myself anyway considering I don’t have my tools or ANYTHING here to work with, I was just going to let a shop like mentioned above take care of it. But with the JDM models not having things like a pre-cat, some normal heat-damaged items might be okay.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Well if you have the resources to have a trusted shop familiar with the FD to do the hoses...have at it. In that deep consider pulling the injectors for cleaning and replacing the fuel pulsation dampener.

dee.boosted

Vacuum is very crucial with these cars. Unless you have boosting issues or poor idle I would leave the lines alone. Easily could mix up lines and create an issue. Do routine maintenance and take the car to someone who knows these cars inside an out.