first time owner of an 1988 rx7 fc n/a
Welcome to the board. 
Post some photos of it.
1. Read and learn as much as you can. They are fascinating cars, but they are old and you will likely be the troubleshooter-in-chief unless you have resources knowledgeable enough to do it for you.
2. Spend your time and money in these early days doing your maintenance and building reliability. Is it necessarily fun? No. Will it net you more HP? It might, but not likely. However, it is better for both and the car down the road. Modifications are nice, and sometimes they can apply to maintenance and reliability, but you think of it this way, the 20 HP you added with something shiny or loud will not get the thing out of your garage (or shop of your choosing) any faster, so it's best to do your best to prevent it being parked there in the first place.
3. Drive it. I'm not encouraging you to break laws and such, or get into situations that you have no business getting into outside of Sebring or Daytona, but you obviously bought the car for a reason other than carrying groceries or passengers. You certainly got the wrong car for tales of 40+ mpg! So learn to drive it and enjoy it.
4. Have a constructive way of dealing with frustration.
I don't mean for this to sound as gloomy as it might, but you're admittedly new to this, so you need to know that there's a mindset that goes with owning and enjoying these cars that comes with the exclusivity.
Post some photos of it.
1. Read and learn as much as you can. They are fascinating cars, but they are old and you will likely be the troubleshooter-in-chief unless you have resources knowledgeable enough to do it for you.
2. Spend your time and money in these early days doing your maintenance and building reliability. Is it necessarily fun? No. Will it net you more HP? It might, but not likely. However, it is better for both and the car down the road. Modifications are nice, and sometimes they can apply to maintenance and reliability, but you think of it this way, the 20 HP you added with something shiny or loud will not get the thing out of your garage (or shop of your choosing) any faster, so it's best to do your best to prevent it being parked there in the first place.
3. Drive it. I'm not encouraging you to break laws and such, or get into situations that you have no business getting into outside of Sebring or Daytona, but you obviously bought the car for a reason other than carrying groceries or passengers. You certainly got the wrong car for tales of 40+ mpg! So learn to drive it and enjoy it.
4. Have a constructive way of dealing with frustration.
I don't mean for this to sound as gloomy as it might, but you're admittedly new to this, so you need to know that there's a mindset that goes with owning and enjoying these cars that comes with the exclusivity.
Last edited by diabolical1; Oct 25, 2018 at 03:59 PM.
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1,473
Likes: 262
From: South FL
Welcome to the club. 86 n/a was my first rotary. What an incredible car she was!! I bought it with
35k on her and when we finally parted ways she had 198k of redlined every day fun. Besides power mods she never gave me any issues at all... nothing. I replaced the starter, alt, battery, and heatercore. Besides the heatercore I consider the others general maint. Lots of pads, oil, and a few plugs!!! Was probably the best handling car I ever drove. I am finally getting the fd to catch up in the handling department... which was a lot of work.
Enjoy... free up that exhaust with a header and hiflow and have some fun!
35k on her and when we finally parted ways she had 198k of redlined every day fun. Besides power mods she never gave me any issues at all... nothing. I replaced the starter, alt, battery, and heatercore. Besides the heatercore I consider the others general maint. Lots of pads, oil, and a few plugs!!! Was probably the best handling car I ever drove. I am finally getting the fd to catch up in the handling department... which was a lot of work.
Enjoy... free up that exhaust with a header and hiflow and have some fun!
*Download or buy a copy of the FACTORY SERVICE MANUAL. Open the hood, each time you see something you can't identify look it up.
*Leave it as close to stock as practical for the first year or so. For the novice owner, the farther away from stock the less helpful the Factory Service Manual will be...and any subsequent trouble-shooting.
*Change all fluids as your budget and abilities allow. Oil, coolant, transmission gear oil, differential gear oil, brake fluid, power steering. While you're doing this you'll surprise yourself with how much you've learned about the car.
*IMO everything reliable (especially if performance modifications are in the future) starts with cooling. Stock radiator end-tanks were plastic and prone to fail with age and heat-cycles. Quality aluminum replacements custom made for the car are available if you don't already have one. Search the forum for what 2nd Gen. owners have a good track record with.
*Learn the search function of the forum. It's hard to imagine any question, problem or issue you might have being unique. It's almost certain it's been asked...and solved before.
+1.
*Leave it as close to stock as practical for the first year or so. For the novice owner, the farther away from stock the less helpful the Factory Service Manual will be...and any subsequent trouble-shooting.
*Change all fluids as your budget and abilities allow. Oil, coolant, transmission gear oil, differential gear oil, brake fluid, power steering. While you're doing this you'll surprise yourself with how much you've learned about the car.
*IMO everything reliable (especially if performance modifications are in the future) starts with cooling. Stock radiator end-tanks were plastic and prone to fail with age and heat-cycles. Quality aluminum replacements custom made for the car are available if you don't already have one. Search the forum for what 2nd Gen. owners have a good track record with.
*Learn the search function of the forum. It's hard to imagine any question, problem or issue you might have being unique. It's almost certain it's been asked...and solved before.
+1.
Last edited by Sgtblue; Oct 28, 2018 at 10:00 AM.
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 1,473
Likes: 262
From: South FL
Yes mod wise... I would swap rad with an aluminum. Header and hiflow.. if you still have the primary and secondary cat. Get rid of those for the heat and you will see a big gain in hp. Mind train was my header and hiflow cat and I used hks dual cat back. I am out of the 2nd gen scene so I am not sure if the mindtrain is still around.
One mod I would for power and efficiency if I could go back in time would be to swap the clutch fan out with dual electric. It is amazing how much power it robs. I would wait on anything like that till you feel comfortable with the engine bay though.
Of course all fluids as stated above. My FC will always have a place with me as how all other cars should handle!! Enjoy man!
One mod I would for power and efficiency if I could go back in time would be to swap the clutch fan out with dual electric. It is amazing how much power it robs. I would wait on anything like that till you feel comfortable with the engine bay though.
Of course all fluids as stated above. My FC will always have a place with me as how all other cars should handle!! Enjoy man!
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Jeremey021
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Oct 23, 2007 03:09 PM