I'll be moving to the area around Laguna (not sure where yet) and will be shipping the FD out there from NJ. My son already lives there but he is not into cars. So some questions:

I notice passing smog is a pain. My car is stock except for a down pipe. Any good places you guys use?

Any places to live that I need to avoid? I dont need to commute to work but on the limited times I was out there the Laguna Niguel area looked nice.

Any good rotary shops down there?

Anyway hope to meet up with some west coast rotaries in a month or so....

 

Just make sure you have a good alarm or anti theft. My honda was stolen at school.

 

well when you compare cars being stolen honda is in a leage of its own when it comes to being stolen. there are a ton of rotary shops in socal lucky7 is where alot of the socal guys go. and watch out for this guy named tight pants he will gay up your car ^_^.

 

We used to live in a fairly inexpensive apt complex in Costa Mesa that had private garages. Madison.

You have two shops really close to one another RRR and Neptune Speed. Both are near the Foutain Valley area.

 

Bill,

I had a downpipe on one of my FDs when I first bought it. Like your car, that was the only mod and I was able to go to a regular smog and pay $40 instead of $200 for a "special smog". Usually most shops aren't familiar enough with the RX-7 to try to look for the pre-cat--it's hard to see down there. You just have to make sure to get the car, obviously, nice and warm.

Most places in the 949 area code are good. In the 714 area code, stay away from: Santa Ana, Stanton, Garden Grove, Westminster, Anaheim, parts of Fountain Valley and Orange.

I've been using Drift Speed now for major installations and work. They have a relatively clean shop (which is really important to me) and don't seem to usually accept cars if they're backed-up (also important). One of their mechanics, Yoshi, had a few FDs in Japan. The other mechanic, Koji, used to tune for a shop out here called XS Engineering.

-ty

 

seriously you might get it back 13 different colors lol or pink

 

Dont worry about smog man. We have a member here, Wackyricer or some may call him wackypappy, he'll take of all your smog worries.

 

Nice. Laguna is a gem. Very nice place to call home. As long as your car is running well and you have a stock main cat you should be OK for smog... at least as far as the tailpipe goes. Visual/functional inspections will vary depending on the tech you get... anyway, welcome to CA

 

thanks fellas, my downpipe is jet coated flat black so its very stealth.
my son moved out there about a year ago. loves (most of) it.
My car is all stock so no rice for me.

 

Irvine cops are troublesome to modded cars.... avoid that area if you can.

 

I don't have much of a problem through Irvine. But I just have wheels and an exhaust. You are right, though. In general, Irvine cops seem to have nothing better to do.