Victor17

Happy New Year fellow enthusiasts!

I'm new to this forum, as this is my first post looking for some advice/opinions.

I'm 18 years old, currently living in Australia and am limited by probationary licence restrictions, restrictions which forbid the use of any car which is turbo charged

A couple years ago, my elder brother purchased a red 02' Type R RX-7 and I fell in love with it the minute I saw it, and now today I am so fortunate to be able to obtain the beautiful vehicle at a heavily discounted price

My problem is that it's turbo charged, and wont I be able to aquire registration/insurance for the car (plus its illegal for me to drive)

My question is: how would I go about removing the twin turbo's, and driving the car as a non turbo? What modifications would have to be made? Is this even an option, could it end up being detrimental for the car? (I wouldn't actually be working on the car myself)


Now im not the most car savvy person but I have been told that the car relies on its turbos for engine compression ect ect, so I thought I would ask here for some expert opinions.

Thanks in advance!

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

this exact question has been asked before. best answer is to pay him for the car but leave it in his name. then when ur old enough to register it, he can sign it over to u. or just get a non turbo car cause removing the turbos so u can register it just isn't an option.

Victor17

Could you link the post that discussed this topic? I did a thread search but couldn't find an older one.

Also, just to clarify, im not just going to remove the turbo, aquire registration and then re install, the car will be kept non turbo.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Honestly this would be a lot of work, and you'll end up with a pretty slow car. Bottom-end torque will be miserable with the size of the ports & intake manifold on the 13B-REW. And even if you did go about removing the turbos, intercooler, etc..., wouldn't your local government agency still look at the car as a turbo since it came that way from the factory? Or is there an inspection involved?

Evil Aviator

I don't think the modifications will be within the new rules.
http://www.mylicence.sa.gov.au/newrules#?fay=12

Maybe you could get a nice stock non-turbo 79-92 RX-7, and then get a FD later when it is legal?

canonize-ryda

or just say F tha police and drive illegally till you get caught.... lol i would but mine non turbo and it is....i dont think you should do that to a fd... most people take years and years to get a nice turbo setup(me for instist) dont waste the turbos in this way.... u will be unhappy with it...IMO

Sideo

i dont know if he sells them or just has it for personal use but ive heard rich goodfellafd3s talk about a nonturbo manifold for break in.

DarrenTRS

iTrader: (1)

Even if you were able to do so don't ya'll have to have an engineers certificate or something of the like that states the engine will run as well as it did when it was manufactured? i.e. it would cost a ton of money to make something non turbo that was never ment to be.

As best as it can be suggested, get a different car, an SA or an N/A FC until you turn 25 then get the FD.

BomberMan

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, most as has already been said here. To do so would make the car miserable to drive, and you'd bust your *** trying to find the parts. You seem to be affluent enough for this sort of thing, so you might want to consider an engine swap for an NA motor of some sort, keep the 13B-REW on ice, so then when you get old enough/the engine blows you have a twin-turbo rotary ready to go!

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

By the time you did all the Swapping and trying to Figure out how to Run it(ECU),you would be at the cost of another CAR..
don't wreck the **** out of this one..Just because you can't drive it,.keep it,modify it while you are driving a Crap box..,then when you are "legal" go out and Drive the **** out of it!

Victor17

Thanks for all the input guys, my brothers did say that it would take the guts out of the car but I thought to get some other opinions.

I live in victoria and have checked state legislation and I will definantly be able to drive it non-turbo without any police hassles.

I was thinking just to solve the compression issue and then just drive it, im not too fussed about the low end torque loss.

I don't know about other areas in the world but down here we can lose our probationary licence in a heartbeat, and every other person my age won't be driving any much faster cars anyway.

Could anyone make a general list of what would have to be done to make the conversion?

The car's pretty new, only 68,000 kms.

Thanks again

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Remove the turbos (and associated piping)
Block off the fluid entrances and exits for where the turbos used to connect (oil and coolant)
Get a header made to replace the exhaust mainfold/turbo/downpipe connection
Intake piping from the stock airbox to the throttle body elbow (or a open air filter)
Stand-alone ECU to program fuel maps/timing for no forced induction

badboi24u

iTrader: (1)

swap 13b out and just go 20b na then turbo it when you can

Evil Aviator

I think that is where he will have the problem. Removing the turbos may work, and it seems like the exhaust is maybe OK, but a standalone ECU sounds like a game ender.

As per his country's guidance:

Vehicle attributes that are affected by the definition of vehicles modified to increase engine performance include:
-Induction system
-Fuel system
-Engine
-Exhaust system
Note: under no circumstances should any of the above be modified or replaced with parts or components unapproved by the vehicle manufacturer, unless it is deemed essential during routine maintenance or failure rectification

Prohibited:
- Any modifications to the vehicles computer system with regards to airflow rates, fuel delivery rates or ignition timing etc.
- Replacing the vehicle's computer system with anything other than the original specified by the vehicle manufacturer for that engine.

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

since the stock ecu is mapped for the turbos, i doubt the ecu would even run the engine without the turbos. removing the turbos will mean changing the exhaust system. by the way the laws read, there's nothing u can do to the car to make it legal for u to drive.

Victor17

Thankyou Mahjik for the checklist

As for the legislation Evil Aviator found, im not sure if it's for my state (Victoria)

Here's the legislation on the VicRoads website

Prohibited Vehichle :

A vehicle that:

has an engine with eight cylinders or more

has an engine that is turbocharged or supercharged (except diesel vehicles or those listed in Table 1 below). There are also some lower powered turbocharged or supercharged vehicles which have been exempted and can be operated by a probationary driver who has been given an exemption by VicRoads. Refer to lower performance turbocharged or supercharged vehicles and exemptions.

has an engine that has been modified to increase the vehicle's performance (other than a modification made by the manufacturer in the course of the manufacture of the vehicle, or

a nominated high performance six cylinder engine. Refer to Table 2 below.


(sourced : http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/...edvehicles.htm )

After interpreting that, I think im good to do the modifications as I am actually decreasing the vehicles performance.

I had a general idea that the computer would have to be reprogrammed after the turbos were removed but is this a difficult/expensive task for a rotary specialist to perform?

I'm willing to spend a couple thousand on the job, I just want to make sure that the car will be adequate after the modifications, and not become a sluggish, surely the cars power would be over 100kw?

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

What Mahjik described will get you a running car without turbos. Remember that FD's are built to have turbochargers and intercooler so it will actually be less powerful than a standard NA engine.

I recommend you buy a $1k beater car for your first couple of years. Then buy the FD after you're permitted to have the more powerful car.

David

canonize-ryda

sounds like i would pack my **** up and moves to the the good old us... i never heard of such bizarre laws.... wtf makes me sick thinking u have this bueatiful fd and u wanna snip its ***** and send it out in the world... i say get a fc mines nice and just build up your fd for a fews years and have a 500hp beast when u can drive it...............

BomberMan

iTrader: (4)

Not so much that the comp would need to be reprogrammed. It would need to be replaced. I think there are some plug-in models for the FD. If not be prepared to skip school, fail all your classes, and spend your life wiring in the standalone yourself. I did that

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

once u do get the fd running and driving without the turbos and when u do become old enough to have a turbo car, what then? u plan to put all that stuff back on it? what if by then there's something else u might want and sell the fd? how much u figure that "non turbo" fd will be worth? ur thinking more in the "now" and not long term, later on down the road.

Victor17

Thanks for all the input guys!

Victorian laws do suck and its unfortunate for what has to be done to even drive a car that you want.

I understand that im changing the car into something its not meant to be but I have considered what would be the plan in three years, it's either reverse all the previous modifications or sell it non-turbo. I beleive it would still hold value if it was kept non turbo, as the car would appeal to people in my position, but it's not like the modifications are irreversible.

I'm sorry to the enthusiasts whom I may have offended with the idea, I just think it's a beautiful car and would love to drive it, maybe an engine swap is a better option, but probably would be much more expensive, and the chances of finding a decent motor would be very hard..

Evil Aviator

I think you should explain your situation to your local regulatory body and see what options they allow. For example:

Is a carby conversion kit allowed? (Replaces the stock intake manifold, air filter, and EFI fuel pump)
http://www.racingbeat.com/RX7-1993-1...er-Intake.html

Is a non-turbo performance EFI kit allowed? (Replaces the stock intake manifold and throttle body)
http://www.tweakit.net/shop/product_...roducts_id=117
http://www.twminduction.com/ThrottleBody/carb_vs_fi.pdf

Is a standalone EMS allowed, or can the stock ECU be modified?
http://www.tweakit.net/shop/index.php?cPath=326_27_180

Is engine porting allowed?
http://mazdarotary.net/porting.htm

All options would of course require replacing the turbos with a custom exhaust header.

Once you find out your legal options then you can post back on this forum for tips.

Victor17

After taking all your input and my brothers into consideration, I'm not going to buy the car just yet. I feel 'snipping the *****' of the car is an injustice and shouldn't be done afterall.

Thanks everyone for their time and knowledge, I'm going to move onto plan B and begin my search for a Honda s2000.

Anyone familiar with them, know any pros and cons? (Probably the fastest car any probationary licenced driver could drive down here)

Thanks again.

canonize-ryda

lol used my snipping of the ***** comment. and yea honda s2000 are great stock cars they are great handling and decent performance. find a good deal on one and u will be in luck. glad to hear this fd will be mantained original.... with only 70,000 under made..........

Gurew

iTrader: (4)

sweet