Hey guys,

recently picked up a rhd 93 fd 13b-rew. Car is damn near stock besides upgrades steering wheel, intercooler piping, and intakes, boost gauge.

I know that FDs are not known for being cheap cars, but currently have a year of school left after an internship. Have a decent chunk of cash that I could comfortably spend on the car, but would like to save some bigger things for when I’m done. What are some cheaper small upgrades I could do to satisfy the itch?! Things like shift *****, interior pieces, engine dress up etc. Preferably under $400 would be nice for now. Plan to do a kit of some sort after school!

Thanks everyone!

 

Search for the "reliability mods" and call it a day. That will extinguish your immediate budget as it sits.

 

Agreed. Don’t blow what budget you have on “engine dress-up” and especially on some overpriced and tasteless body
kit that will de-value the car and maybe even make people snicker.
The car is new to you, change ALL the fluids and anything else that requires attention. Download a copy of the Factory Service Manual, search for reliability mods in the 3rd Gen tech section with special attention to cooling. That includes making sure you have a decent aftermarket temperature gauge as the Factory one is useless. Learn your way about the car.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. Not new to car building, but sometimes reliability mods take some time to install. I will look into some easier reliability mods! The AST delete or replacement looks like a nice place to start!

I should have specified that the car will be stored at my farm while I'm at school. So sometimes small stuff like changing some pulleys can be fast and easy things that you see right away and give you that good feeling <3!

As for tasteless body kits, isn't it really only the owners opinion that matters? Hoping to do RB or RE kit so I guess thats other peoples issue if they don't like them

 

With the the silly cost to purchase plus shipping aside, without exception I’ve never seen a body-kit without significant fitment issues. They WILL need professional tweaking and refinishing....more cost. Plus they almost always compromise safety/crashworthiness and rarely add real performance. Frequently they reduce it. The car is desirable partly because people already like it’s looks which has aged really well. Body-kits then narrow any potential market for re-sale because of the above, and...put as politely as I can, it’s lack of broad appeal.
So yes, I’d defend your right as an owner to do what you want. But few really will “own the car forever” and you should understand ALL the consequences. It’s really YOUR issue if you like them, not ours if we don’t.

 

AST, downpipe, bigger radiator, maybe a set of dual oil coolers from an R1. Cooling cooling cooling. I'm no mechanic either, but I was able to install those in my backyard with plain ol' Craftrsman hand tools.

A full bodykit + halfway decent paint + all prettied up and looking flush = get read to pay 10k plus when all's said and done.

 

Perhaps less expensive is to just add a good metal ast rather than delete. If you’re set to delete, do it right by using AN plug on the t-stat housing to also delete the nipple. I also endorse one of these
Billet Aluminum Filler Neck.

 

Definitely worth taking into account for sure! Got a year or so before anything too big gets put into motion. Decent chance my ideas will change

Thanks for all the awesome input!

Yah definitely not new to the world of fibreglass. Did a 76 corvette build prior to this one! Cooking stuff will for sure be on the list of things to pick away at!

Ive been trying to decide on the delete vs the replace/upgrade front of that. I was hoping there would be a clear consensus, but clearly that isn’t the case.... thoughts?

 

^ i have done metal ast and delete. I prefer AST delete.

 

A quality aluminum radiator, fresh coolant, new stock t-stat, maybe the S5 FC fan switch, decent aftermarket temp gauge, new cap(s), new stock coolant hoses (including turbo coolant lines) all around, and dual oil coolers would all be higher on my priority list than removing the AST if it were all-metal. AST deletion was sort of pushed on me with my choice of SMIC. The mounting location was designed for the shape of the stock AST and the aftermarket versions didn’t fit well or at all. That said, I’ve not seen any real downside. Maybe just a bit harder to purge air when I change coolant in the spring but...
Again, doing it right and you reduce failure points. Doing it on the cheap and lazy you just add them. And that Banzai neck is the shiz.

 

Once again, thanks for the list! I have done all of the fluid changes as soon as I got it! I hear you need to do that a lot I believe its a plastic AST on there (stock for the 93 right?). Hear they can be a bit of a disaster and thought I might as well get it dealt with since it seems relatively inexpensive!

 

Yeah, the stock plastic AST is infamous for failing. That and a down-pipe are typically the 1st mods to do for reliability. I went ahead and just replaced mine with a metal one because
1: It came with an AST from the factory and I trust Mazda more than anyone else about the 'AST or no AST' debate.
2: because I plan on keeping my engine bay near stock and I'm not worried about making room for a bigger intercooler or whatever.

I'll bet you can find a metal AST in the FS section here for under 100 bucks, and it'll take about 10 min for a novice to install it with a screwdriver & crescent wrench.