Scorch-117

Hi, I'm going to modify an RX-7 from 93-95. An FD3S. Please tell me how this list of modifications would run, and add any more that you would feel necessary. I did not add a single turbo conversion because it does not spool up quickly, and do not have the funds for it at this moment. Also, can you give me an idea of how much this will cost, because the mechanics I will go to will have to stock up on these parts and I do not want to spend so much if it is not needed.

Mod list as follows:


Race ported 13B-REW engine
Rebuilt 13B-REW engine
3mm ceramic apex seals
99 Efini High output twin turbos
Greddy pulley kit
Optional *{Veilside Fortune RX-7 Body Kit and Rims (Sized Front: 19 x 19J + 4 5x 114.3 225/30-19) (Back: 19x 12J -9 5x114.3 305/25-19) } * Optional
Slotted Rotors
Hawk racing pads (HP)
Stainless steel braided lines
Dual oil coolers
Apexi power FC and Commander
Tuned ECU
Boost Gauge
Water Gauge
Oil pressure Gauge
Oil temp. Gauge
Knock sensor
Air gauge
1000 cranking AMP battery (rear mounted)
Silicone rad hoses
Aluminum water outlet neck with filter
Racing underbelly pan/shroud
Black Magic e-fan
Digital electronic fan controller
Greddy water pump pulley
Exedy hyper twin disc clutch kit with flywheel
5-point Kevlar clutch
Neo in the limited slip differential
Large diameter aluminum intercooler tubing
Aluminum manifold heat shield
Cat back exhaust
External wastegate
Blow off Valve
Boost controller
750cc primary injectors
1650cc secondary injectors
Twin Bosch fuel pumps
Rotary performance fuel rail
ACT extreme pressure plate
3'' down pipe
3'' mid pipe
Magnecor 6.5mm plug wires
Tokico 5-way adjustable struts (front and rear)
Ground control coilovers with set spring rates
Stainless steel rear strut bar
HKS turbo timer
Autometer A/F Gauge
Boost controller
Wetech dual EGT gauge
Momo steering wheel
Momo shift ****
Momo shift boot
Momo e-brake handle
Momo e-brake boot
K&N filter Air Intake
Fuel computer / Remapped ECU
Silicone Vacuum hoses
Mostly Mazda antiroll bars
New fuel filter
Bled brakes
Flushed coolant system
Replaced Air Separation Tank (upgraded)
Disable exhaust gas recirculation valve
Upgraded radiator
Efini Y pipe
Greddy Airinx dual air filter with aluminum piping
Blitz front mount intercooler kit
Greddy aluminum 3 piece piping for intercooler
High flow main catalytic conveter
Apexi N1 single pipe cat back
Bucket seats
4-point harnesses

Thanks again,
Scorch

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

i believe you are over-building the engine for the turbos you intend using. i'm particularly intrigued by what you mean by "race ported" because to me, it implies you're thinking of either a bridge or peripheral - neither of which are going to play nicely with stock or stock-ish turbos. likewise, i think your fuel system could use revision as well.

half your argument against going with a single turbo is somewhat weak because spool is one of the things you'd take into account when sizing a turbo to your needs. obviously, you're the only one that can speak definitively on your finances, so that half of the argument is not up for debate.

by the fact that you referred to the FD in general terms (as opposed to saying my '94- or something), i have to ask. do you have the car yet? if not, you should get it first. i think you should probably put your goals on paper, then put your finances on paper, and then finally outline a plan to get there - whether you're going to pull the car apart once and build it or you're going to build it incrementally.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

go through this and see what you can glean from it. i'm sure there has to be a lot of useful, relevant information.
Gen III FAQ Thread

Scorch-117

Thanks for the reply. I'm obviously new to FDs and I thought that the 93-95 version would be very similar, if not the same. A single turbo conversion would be good, but I'm not too sure if it would actually be compatible with the rest of the list. A GT35R ball bearing turbo is the one that I would go for if single was needed. I want to take the whole car apart at one and do all of these modifications at a single time, as opposed to gradual modifications. I have two questions regarding your reply though: What do you mean by "bridge" and "peripheral", and what do you mean by "fuel system revision"? Do you mean that I should increase the fuel flow? Of course, I don't want the engine to run lean, but I would need some other advice on that.
I read all of the FAQ's and looked through many threads on this forum before posting. But the link is appreciated.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Personally there's no freakin' way I'd spend an hour or more going through that mod list just to give you an estimate of it's costs. It looks like you cut and pasted that from some cheezy tuner magazine. Google is your friend.
You haven't read or searched enough if you're still asking if fuel modifications will be needed. Short answer...absolutely. How much? Depends, read some more.
For the GT35R you might give ASpec tuning a call. They're in Chicago and specialize in single turbo conversions for the rotary. http://www.a-spectuning.com/products.htm They're experienced, have a decent reputation, are relatively close to you and can answer all your questions as far as cost and needed support mods (I'm not affiliated in any way).

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

just for clarity, are you saying that you have an FD that's '96 or newer? when you referred to the '99 Efini turbos, is it because you have a '99? i guess i had just assumed Canada stopped getting the Rx-7 in '96 like the US did.

just so we're clear, i'm not trying to dissuade you from the avenue you proposed. if you want to run the twins, then go ahead. i've seen some people build awesome setups around them. it's just that when i saw you say you didn't want to go single because of spool, i got the feeling that you were a bit misguided. that's all.

that comes from when you said "race ported REW". to me, race ports are bridgeports and peripheral ports. also, my fuel system comment stemmed from your wanting to use twin Bosch (which i assumed are 044s) to run a setup built around stock twins. there's nothing wrong with over-building, but since you had hinted that finances are not limitless, i just thought it was an area where you could trim the fat ... as they say. keep in mind (for the record) i'm not expert on FDs or turbo rotaries in general, but given the flow of a 044, and what imagine is the efficient flow limits of the Hitachis, i figured one should suffice.

people much smarter than me help in this forum, so maybe one of them will chime in.

Scorch-117

I have a '93 FD. I'd prefer it to run around stock twins, Regarding the list, I saw other 7's running some things on the list, looked at the available parts that could go into an FD, and put it together. When I said the '99 Efini turbos and Y-pipe, it's because they supposedly are more reliable or work better than the stock ones, and the stock ones are pretty used up.

Over-building isn't a problem, I just don't want it detonating incorrectly and it ending up at the techs more than me driving it. Meaning, something more reliable. Obviously all of the "reliability mods" listed by Robinette and other sites and users will be installed, but that's also part of the list. Since when have finances ever been limitless? :P

Scorch-117

I'm not asking you to search each part individually, just an estimate whether it would be $20,000 or $40,000. If I was going to spend this much on a "cheezy tuner magazine", then I would just ask a mechanic to build it instead of trying to understand the car and asking for advice. If you must know, I saw parts that were available for the FD, asked Mazdees and Streetpower for recommendations, and they gave me a couple pointers.

If I haven't read or searched enough, it's because I was searching about other parts of the car. It's not as if we all know about 7s the minute we make an account and spend three weeks reading threads...

Thanks for the link though, Ill look into it.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

I don't mean to be harsh, but you submit an extremely detailed list of 10s of thousands in parts, right down to a Kevlar clutch, a "racing underbelly pan" (whatever that is) and even what type of fluid you want in the differential. You even specify that it should have "bucket seats" which is really fortunate. Thank God FDs already have those. And then mention you "do not have the funds" for a single turbo conversion. Now you say a couple of rotary specialty shops gave you a some suggestions? To me, none of this really rings of any kind of logic. The list still looks like something found in a magazine to me. Sorry.
But regardless, my rule of thumb....find the cost of the part, double that for installation if you have it done by someone else. That will give you a ball-park for MOST of the stuff on the list.

diabolical1

iTrader: (3)

not sure if you've already seen any of these yet, but since i had the time, i got the links.

Get the most out of stock twins

for this one, it doesn't seem to be the "typical" result, but it's one of a handful i've seen around that achieved that level. i linked it for two reasons: 1. just to show you what is possible with research and perserverance, and 2. because the author has a link in his signature that you can use to edit your "list" and pare it down to something more practical and less frilly.

Tom94Rx7 thread

bally89

if you're talking about increasing reliability, and you're considering that extensive list of modifications, then you should also seriously consider the possibility of a non sequential or single turbo conversion. The heat and limits generated by the stock twin set up are not to be ignored. Also with simple mods to increase exhaust flow you can really make inroads into decreasing turbo spool times. Like Sgtblue said, give A Spec a call. I had a very broad conversation with Sean via email over the past couple weeks, and all I can say is that if you know your goals (power/response etc) then he will know how to get you there. The best thing you can do is drive the car. As you begin to find the limits in each different area you will know what you want. After all even in stock form the FD is a brilliant car to drive. Remember, there's nothing stopping you from driving the car for 6 months and figuring out exactly what you want from it and then modding it all in one go.

Scorch-117

A single turbo would probably need a whole change in setup, and finding everything all over again is worth it, but single conversions cost more? Then to add all of the parts on top of that is out of my reach if I have to double the cost of each part for installation. Of course, I could do some myself, but the larger ones would have to be done by a mechanic. Looks like I have to modify the list.

Scorch-117

Thanks, it's a great help!
I think that I'll stay with the stock twins in this case, or upgrade them to the '99 spec. If it won't melt (like another user commented on the 2nd link) then I think it can only be used for short periods of time. That's fine though. I'll check his list and see the parts.

Scorch-117

It's true that the stock or '99 spec twins generate more heat, but with higher cooling rates, it can be lowered. I'll contact A Spec, and Sean at Streetpower has been very helpful so far. The stock FD is truly a great car, but since it's getting old, parts have become unreliable. Too bad Efini (Mazda) doesn't make them anymore.

andyb123

yeah, at least go for a non-sequential conversion, particularly with 99 spec turbos
also, I've had a carbonetics carbon clutch installed and love it loads better than the exedy hyper that was in there before

Scorch-117

Really? The carbon clutches are smoother? Do they last longer?
I'll look into non sequential. It looks like people here don't like the stock turbos for slightly higher boost levels. I guess that they just melt through or something...
Thanks for the advice.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

I think non-sequential is crap but research it and come to your conclusion.

Your best bet is to read the 3rd gen FAQ thread stickied in this forum as well as in the 3rd gen forum. If you post a thread like this in the main 3rd gen forum you would be flamed to no end b/c you obviously have not done any research on your own (by reading the FAQ). Most of the good accurate knowledge from knowledgeable forum members is in that thread.

Posting up a huge list of mods w/o researching why you would do the mods is not a good approach. The car is hugely capable stock. Throwing lots of parts at it b/c you get the mod bug is a great way to wind up with a project car that does nothing well.

mazdarx7201

iTrader: (5)

agreed, research seems to do wonders on this forum, im new as well and there is a ton of information

Evil Aviator

Where did you get that list?

Just a tip, on any automotive forum it is best to state what you already have, as well as the purpose of the car. For example, as best I can tell from that list you want a show car, in which case many of those parts are a waste of money because nobody will see them, or they could be swapped out for items with more bling. If your intent is to actually race the car, then a lot of those items are not only a waste of money, but they may not even be legal for your race class. Since I assume the purpose of this post is to determine what is a waste of money and what isn't, it is difficult for us to help you out if the purpose is not stated... and please don't state that it will be an all-purpose Street/Show/Drift/Drag/Road Race car, because you may as well try to build a Train/Airplane/Submarine. The professional shops that you talk to will also be able to help you better if you supply this information.

BTW, your basic idea about making a mod list is a good idea for planning your project. It's too bad more people don't do this.

Scorch-117

Where I got this list was from looking through dozens of RX-7s for sale online, asking rotary stores near me, talking to a friend who has an FC, watching videos, and reading anything and everything I could find about FDs then adding some parts which I thought of as useful or potentially beneficial.
I would like a mid-high powered FD that's fairly reliable and also for show. Since many parts are old on my 94, then I would have to take out most (if not all) the possibilities of parts breaking or going down. Racing for time attack would be mostly the type of races that I would do, and hopefully not to waste too much on parts that wouldn't be needed.

EDIT*: I have a completely stock RX-7 '94.

Scorch-117

I understand that research eliminates very many basic and unnecessary questions, but even after reading for weeks on end, there are still questions that remained unresolved, such as "Slotted, Cross-Drilled, or blank rotors?" I don't want to change this thread to that, but it's just an example. Ideally, people would just choose what they think is right for them after comparing them, thinking about the possible outcomes, and ask people more experienced than they are about it. That's what I'm doing with my 7's mod list.

Gringo Grande

iTrader: (97)

Figure 20k parts and labor not including body kit. Throw the body kit in there + rims make that figure 40k-50k.

Expect an 18-24 month downtime on your car.

Good luck!

</thread>

Scorch-117

Thank you!!!
I think that it's time for a good Even though that's a very long time to wait, it'll be worth it. Again, thanks for being the (pretty much) only one who gave me a straight answer in numbers, no questions asked.

Evil Aviator

Do you plan to keep the car street-legal?

Scorch-117

Yes, but still very capable for time attacks. Are there parts on this list that aren't allowed on regular roads?