I started this build thread on norotors.com but I will be updating it here as well.

Hey guys, I am super excited to start my build thread. Since I was a youngster I have always thought that the styling and handling of the FD RX7 was legendary and timeless. After an opportunity to buy the chassis of the car of my dreams became a reality, I knew from the beginning what power plant would be under the hood of my car.

How the car arrived to me from the auto shipper:



I am not completely sure on the history of the car. It went up for sale on RX7club as a project car. The owner was originally planning to do a fully built 13B but decided to sell the project halfway complete, as a rolling chassis. These are all the things that I recieved along with the purchase of the car. I will explain after what I will be using and what I won't be using.

Suspension/Wheels/Tires
Apexi EVC coil-overs 12k F/R
Advan Ad08
Enkei RPF1 17x8

Exterior-
Shine auto rear diffuser
Shine auto wide front fenders
C-west front bumper
two stock front bumpers
stock front fenders

Interior
Sparco evo 2 style seat.
stock seat
Kenwood 7" touch screen with navigation and Bluetooth.
MB quad interior speakers
Alpine interior speaker amp
Almani s5 10" sub
Almani sub amp

The history of the car is quite unknown to me:
1993 Mazda RX-7
no sunroof
Tan interior
~100,000 miles on the chassis
Vin Check shows clean title and no previous accidents.

Here are my plans for the car:

Engine:
5.7L LS1 pullout from 2000 Camaro SS
(I will get into motor details later but it will be fully built)
- Shooting for 550WHP on pump gas with around a 7,600 RPM Redline

Transmission:
Built T56

Exterior:
- C - west front bumper (I am going to attempt to use the one that came with the car, there are a couple of cracks but it seems easily repairable.




- Shine Auto Front fenders (I am also going to attempt to get them to fit well, they are FRP and they appear to be a bit warped but we will see.


- Ronin Rear Widebody fenders. (Allow the use of up to 345 size tires in the rear)


- Ronin Whale Tale style spoiler


- Shine Auto Rear diffuser (One that came with the car looks ready to use)


- LED Tailights
- R1 Style turnlamps
- Vinyl Wrapped Dark Grey

Interior:
Interior will be slowly converted from tan to black.
These are the pieces that I have bought already. If you see any that I have not purchased yet, and that you have for sale PLEASE PM me!!
- Passenger Side Black Door Card
- Black Carpet
- Black Rear Quarter Panel
I still need:
- Driver Side Door Panel
- Black Sun Visors
- Various small black panels.
- Black Rear Cargo Carpet

- Dash will be wrapped in Alcantara
- A-Pillars wrapped in Alcantara
- Center Console pieces re-finished (Let me know if anyone does this as a service)
- Carbon Fiber door sill kick panels
- Roof Wrapped in Cheetah Print Fabric
- Nardi Deep Corn Black Spoke Steering wheel.


I will be building this car completely myself, besides the wiring. I will be updating this thread as much as I can. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated

 

So far I have just been working on stripping the engine bay and interior in preparation for both swaps (Motor and Interior).



The engine bay was rattlecanned orange and it looks like a little bit of black as well anyways. It will be sandblasted and painted a glossy black 8)



My wiring mess that I have to deal with:

And I accidently snapped off my windshield wiper ****

And my tiny little work spot

 

How do you like the ronin rear fenders? I haven't seen them on too many FD's, but I think they will look great once the tire fills them up in the back. Looking forward to the build, keep up the good work!

 

I have ordered them but I haven't actually seen them in person yet. They look very promising. Very wide without completely ruining the lines of the car. Ronin advertises being able to fit 345's under them as well!

And thank you the good work will be kept up!

 

Any updates on the finished product? Looking for some pictures and just wondering how much time you've put into this project.

 

The project won't be done for a good while. I started this journal when I started the build so there will be many pictures and updates along the way. Stay tuned.

 

Awesome build- V8 FD has serious potential for time attack.

Please don't skimp on front tire like so many V8 RX-7 builds I see.

I run 18x11 +45 front/rear with 295 on stock body FD (rolled fenders), you should at least be able to run 18x12 +30 w/ 315 up front with those wider fenders.

Do you plan a dry sump system for the 5.7 or going to go with Accusump style?

 

You are right up the street from me. Drop me a line if you need any guidance, or an inspirational drive in a V8 RX7 to keep you motivated What class are you going to run?

All the Ronin guys are 15 mins away if you didn't know. Mike has the wide fenders
on his FD.

 

I will definitely keep that in mind thanks man! and we are going Accusump

 

No way that's awesome! I will definitely take you up on that.

 

When you're ready for the Ronin goods we can arrange local pick up for you. As LOF alluded to, you're local.

 

You guys will definitely be getting a big order very soon

Finally time for an update guys I have been very busy with work and school so progress has been very slow.

But I finally picked up a longblock. An LS1 out of a 2000 Camaro it had about 160,000 miles on it but it ran perfect. The block will be rebuilt from the ground up so it doesnt matter much. Unchained Motorsports in Orange, CA will be doing all of the motor work. Adam and Alvin are great guys, they are passionate about what they do, and they build some fast cars. If you are in the area and need motor work I suggest checking them out!

The sleeves on the block are perfect and the heads were already Cathedral 241's so we decided we will just have them CNC'ed and hogged out to a 243.

The custom cam we have decided on will be a 234/242 .620/.620 112.
Should give us a decent revving, high 4xx whp ls1 on pump gas.

Time for this tired old LS1 to be transformed into a brand new monster!



As far as the car goes. Next week I will be giving Ronin Speedworks and Samberg Performance a call for all of my swap kit components, body pieces, and wiring work. Ronin Speedworks is about 20 minutes from me, always an advantage being local.

 

Now THATS an awesome build

 

Thank you sir. Just trying to keep the project rolling at this point.

Unfortunately, I have no where near the time to finish this car as I thought that I would originally have.

Do any of you socal guys recommend a shop that will install my Ronin Supreme Swap Kit and my Ronin 8.8 Rear end swap kit in a decent amount of time? The engine and tranny are supposed to be done around the end of November and I would like to have the engine ready to drop in around then.

Does anyone have a recommendation?