Another RX7 Owner - new wheels!

[xdrift0rx]

Hey everyone, I was recently introduced to this forum and have owned my FC since May of 2010. I found my way out to the Super G meets a few times last year but not too many.

I'm looking forward to meeting up with people and enjoying our toys this upcoming summer!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/RX7/089.jpg


white car is now gone... :( but the tornado silver car is my daily.

see ya guys around!

[xdrift0rx]

post number 2

[xdrift0rx]

post 3

[93rx7r1]

Looks good from what I can see of it. More pics please. What are your plans for it?

[TalonTsi97]

Welcome, big fan of clean FC's. Look forward to seeing what else you post up about the car.

[boostedsm]

nice 7. what's your plans for it?

[xdrift0rx]

My plans are pretty basic for this. It's my first car(to own).


Background:

I picked it up in WV for 1200$ after the P/O gave up on trying to fix it. Sadly the car had been in a small front end collision but only had 77k on it! Dumped 3 grand on a rebuild and couldn't figure out why it would randomly die. Drove 7 hours down to look at the car. Doesn't die as he explained. We exchange title/money and I drive away. We go two miles down the road - stop to get 2 cycle oil for safety reasons and come back out and it wouldn't start. FFFUUUUUUUUU

When I picked it up. (after shutting down the car to pick up the 2 cycle. Little did I know........lol)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/32487_396044548100_768508100_425493.jpg

So we drive 4 hours back to where we stayed for the night (grandparents) and head back down the next day. Car fires right up(not flooded as many will think) and we top off at a gas station and head back up north(no radio by the way). We make it back to the grandparents with no problem. Car doesn't stall or anything. I let it idle outside so I can run inside and piss and we get ready to go out. I walk out to the car and then it dies...ffuuuddddgeeeee wont start again. We let it sit for 3 hours and pray it will start up - and it does. We head out again and 20 minutes down the road something comes off from under the car. I heard a banging sound right under me and I FREAKED out thinking somethings gonna take my legs off or something. We pull over and i look under and see a loose cable. we're in the middle of bumblef*** so I tell my girlfriend to rev the car while i use string to tie thing thing up from hitting the ground. Then it died again....

At this time it was 8 at night, we had another 3 hours to get home with class the next day and a dead car half an hour away from our midpoint. We had a tow truck take it back to the grandparents and we headed home to come back down next weekend - with a trailer.

When we came back it started up and we pop it up on the trailer and head home. Thank god! Its finally home! Now it's time to get it off the trailer. Try to start it up - nothing. Turns over but got nothing. We roll it off and up into the driveway and try the basics - de-flood, add oil to the housings , check spark plugs, NOTHING. How did this car drive 4 hours straight and now it wont even start up?! Then we checked the basics. Spar-OUCH yes we have spark. No air blockages..FUEL! We pop a fuel line and crank. Nothing. We pop open the back, pull out the fuel pump and try it connected to the battery. NOTHING. Did I just get a car valued around 4-5 grand for 1200$ + 150 for a fuel pump? HELLLLLLLLLLL YEAH! Got a new pump and it fired right up after priming. Ever since then she has never given me problems minus the occasional flooding(I have a cut-off switch).

Finally home!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/024.jpg

At my girlfriends house after a nice bath and wax

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/007.jpg

This morning after a little snow! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/2011-01-21083030.jpg


My Plans:

This is my only car so its my daily and I cant afford more than a weekend of downtime so there wont be any complete tear downs or engine swaps..On the other hand, I will be doing my best to keep it clean - stock - and upgrade with what I can afford and see as a fun project. These are my goals

RTEK 2.1 ECU upgrade
Tokico Illuminas/KYB AGX + lowering springs
Complete my 3 gauge din cluster setup (water temp - oil press - future boost gauge?)
Nice set of 16x8 rims
Do something about the underbody for winter driving
Sound deaden the rear(loud resonance)


Since I've owned it I've done:
Fuel pump!
Complete new exhaust - RB header - bonez high flow cat - RB catback
NEW working radio + new speakers all around.
New non-retarded air filter
Aftermarket water temp gauge(sender does not fit...gotta figure something out)
Put way too many miles on this baby...:(

I have more pictures at home, I'll try and post them when I find em. Also I'll make sure to take pictures anytime I do work!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/RX7/103.jpg

when i had two..

[TalonTsi97]

Nice story, thanks for sharing. Definitely got lucky

[Silverfc88]

Great looking car. Welcome!

[lepichichi]

nice ride!

[93rx7r1]

Sounds like quite the adventure getting it home. Glad you got it there and have it running nicely again.

[xdrift0rx]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone :)

oh! forgot to mention i have a replacement bumper for the crappy hackjob the guy before did. tried to remove the mazda logo and then spray painted it . :roll:

[xdrift0rx]

Yesterday I figured out why my car was collecting an aquarium in the rear. The P/O never put the drain lines in the drain holes. Upon inspection...here is what i found!

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs016.snc6/166640_499025323100_768508100_6306850_7676399_n.jp g

I purchased new 1/2 ID and 5/8OD tubing, and popped it on. No new picture of the new tubing...didnt have my phone at the time.

[Supernaut]

Ahhh white FC!

[budfc3s]

car looks good

[xdrift0rx]

So yesterday I got my new stock bumper put on. picked it up for free.99 and got it painted for cheap when my car got hit so the paint was already mixed.

Here is the old bumper....

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/189766_10150124888208101_768508100_6708136_1944914 _n.jpg

the shop i was in...(3 rotor in front of the FD)

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/197516_10150125201998101_768508100_6711054_7005790 _n.jpg

girlfriend : hey look its a rotor!
its crazy how small they are in person.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/188848_10150125202068101_768508100_6711056_6272727 _n.jpg

got the bumper off...5 out of the 6 studs were rusted. had to weld some new ones on. good thing i didnt try this at home!

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/200464_10150125202458101_768508100_6711074_7059560 _n.jpg

found this once we got the bumper off....maybe this is why the car had such low miles. guessing it sat a while?

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/190109_10150125202488101_768508100_6711075_6718065 _n.jpg

cleaned up the FTPs...the one on teh right has broken studs. I need a replacement.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/197284_10150125202623101_768508100_6711080_7977030 _n.jpg

tada! waiting on new FTPs before i put them back on

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/200766_10150125202703101_768508100_6711083_1434604 _n.jpg

[Ej6Mike]

Very nice!

[xdrift0rx]

can this be moved to the members journal?

also thank you!

[xdrift0rx]

I'm still too tired to type up everything right now so I'll let the pictures do the talking for now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/engine%20rebuild/217093_10150154120763101_768508100_6806669_5916931 _n.jpg

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[banditpics]

niceeeee....fc's are def my favorite mazdas

[FCRX-7]

Hello, i also have an FC. 1989 GXL, White, AIT G4 body kit, Slammed on staggerd jdm xxr racing rims im gunna try and take pics today..

[xdrift0rx]

waiting on 5 lug.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/229280_10150177120913101_768508100_7028511_6504601 _n.jpg

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/221912_10150177120728101_768508100_7028509_8034953 _n.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/227146_10150177120648101_768508100_7028506_4008155 _n.jpg

[lepichichi]

nice!

[xdrift0rx]

Mazdatrix had the springs I was looking for after trying to order from two other sites...bushing will be here once UPS decides to come around. Now once I get my rear 5 lug hubs I will be ready to put everything on!

Oh, I also need new brake lines...

[xdrift0rx]

Springs and bushings are here. Have my rims. Have my shocks. Waiting on getting the rear 5 lug pieces...no one seems to have the locally. and those who do dont want to seperate rears and fronts.

[02kgeezy]

awesome man, can't wait for 5lug/turbo time!

[Supernaut]

A white FC is a beautiful thing

[full-cruise]

verynice man keep it going..

[full-cruise]

ps did you put new bearing in the rotors? there alot of chatter on your inner housing

[xdrift0rx]

ps did you put new bearing in the rotors? there alot of chatter on your inner housing

The replacement rotor showed no copper on the bearing and my other original rotor showed no copper either. The E-Shaft was replaced during the rebuild too!

I havent updated this thread since I've been posting it in the members journal section for more eyes. I will update it in a few minutes.

I havent finished the 5 lug swap but I have picked up a rear subframe to do so.

I also have the turbo build finalized and planned out. It's gonna go something like this:
Megasquirt II while non-turbo to get idle set and tuning fundamentals under my belt. This way i cant really blow the engine and I dont overwhelm myself with all the stuff going on.
Then get all turbo parts cleaned up, rebuilt and ready to drop in. The only only custom part of this should be oil and water lines for the turbo.
after that do the 5 lug swap for the bigger brakes, and new rims!

Previously the plan was to go with the rtek system for the turbo swap but with its limited abilities and the prices of finding a turbo AFM,pressure sensor etc it actually comes out cheaper to megasquirt the car and I get more functionality and the ability to make more power in the future.

[xdrift0rx]

Well after finding those nice rims I had to go get a 5 lug swap so I found a junkyard that happened to have 2 RX7s. One had a super nice set of rotors to go with it so I opted to grab those instead!

I called a few days prior and the guy had told me 60$ a hub, so I was kind of afraid I was going to be spending all of my cash. When I went to finish and pay he goes OK, 20$ a hub and 15$ a caliper, 70$ please. Oh! and since they were taking pictures of people in the yard, I got a 5$ discount for allowing them to do that too.

So...I got all of this for 65$! :bigeek::bigeek::bigeek::bigeek:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/2011-05-09154255.jpg


Now, I'm waiting to get a set of rears. I didnt have the right tools to get the shaft out of the hub for the rears, and whoever tried to remove the brake calipers before me snapped the bolts into the hubs so they were basically trashed :( Once I get some springs and rear hubs my car will be going under one hefty transformation!


oh, and my other package came in too.... :wink:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/xninjararacerx/2011-05-09155025.jpg

[xdrift0rx]

I got tired of waiting so I decided to swap my shocks and springs. My old shocks were toast. The rears were horrible and the fronts seemed smooth but with no rebound and very little pressure compared to the new units.

The new units are KYB AGX shocks and Eibach pro-kit progressive style springs. The ride is very comfortable and the car feels so much better around bumps and through the turns. I am excited to get my bushings done to really bring out the potential of this car.

Here are some pictures...

I got antsy so I actually started friday night. After I finished the left side I went and saw green lantern with the GF. :)

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/264403_10150214162938101_768508100_7377670_6222271 _n.jpg

<http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/264331_10150214163278101_768508100_7377679_6629691 _n.jpg

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http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/263950_10150214164403101_768508100_7377693_3984059 _n.jpg

before shocks and springs....

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/198935_10150116278078101_768508100_6633979_6976494 _n.jpg

after (I know its a bad picture)

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/317284_10150369361123101_768508100_8505453_2306769 93_n.jpg

[xdrift0rx]

Engine has about 4k miles on it.

Has s5 LIM due to s5 midplate. The 5th and 6th port actuators are only opening up about half way since its electrically activated with some vacuum pump thing....its retarded and I need to fix it. How much more power would it bring with them fully open? I wasnt allowed to take the actuators off while it was on the dyno to see what it would do with them open :(

I plan on getting the rtek 2.1 for this in the future to see if I can get close to 200. that would make me happy.

P.S the AF/R was like an o2 sensor they stuck up the exhaust pipe O_O

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/185300_10150264893123101_768508100_7815876_2470744 _n.jpg

[jesse096]

Not bad out of rotating triangles lol.

Car looks clean man!

-Jesse

[xdrift0rx]

For ****s and giggles here is when I took it to work at my new job!

Thanks Jesse!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/397035_10150480500613101_768508100_8924504_1040529 218_n.jpg

[jesse096]

I've always loved FCs and FDs... just wish I could get into one haha

-Jesse

[xdrift0rx]

Last week I ordered my Megasquirt II and set off on building it. It took roughly 10 hours to finish, mostly because I went slow to make sure I did not mess up. I did put one diode in backwards - but caught my mistake before burning it out. I was relieved to fire up the Megastim along the way and find out that everything was working according to plan.

I am a little scared using TunerStudio, (tuning program) because there are so many goddamn settings. I really dont wanna blow my engine. Slow and steady wins the race they say...so slow and steady this build will go!

Now I need to order a harness, coolant sensor and IAT sensor. waiting on a payment from a friend..

On to the pictures:

started with the megastim. this was my first electronics project ever. I've done lots of soldering since I race RC cars..never worked on stuff this small though.
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/430210_10150593378523101_768508100_9273729_1257957 669_n.jpg?dl=1
All done!
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/402635_10150593474763101_768508100_9274018_1626811 234_n.jpg
Next came the Zeal board for RX7s. This allowed me to skip building a second VR circuit in the prototype area, along with the PWM mod for the BAC valve(idle control)
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/431300_10150593557138101_768508100_9274265_1123873 311_n.jpg
Here is the big mama...The other two boards took about 45 minutes combined..This took 8 hours plus.
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/426268_10150593620363101_768508100_9274412_3954084 56_n.jpg
Power and Serial connection circuits built
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426932_10150595680328101_768508100_9280124_8618412 94_n.jpg?dl=1
snipped leads
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/422716_10150595680943101_768508100_9280126_1003332 90_n.jpg?dl=1
towards the end, this was around 5AM...i started around 7pm friday night.
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426226_10150595815373101_768508100_9280539_1949012 007_n.jpg
megasquirt and megastim together
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/402114_10150595913613101_768508100_9281057_1245380 379_n.jpg?dl=1

[lepichichi]

looking good

[xdrift0rx]

got this in the mail the other day....also today i got my secondaries - ID 1000CCs with a pair of subaru 850CCs as primaries. oh and the boost control mod for the MS. more pics to come.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/389685_10150701683028101_768508100_9664129_7688080 65_n.jpg

[xdrift0rx]

next to my friends new miata!

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/552818_10150712066753101_768508100_9673965_5925961 71_n.jpg

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/319856_10150712067553101_768508100_9673969_1835803 158_n.jpg

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/292582_10150712076573101_768508100_9673999_7114711 17_n.jpg

[xdrift0rx]

So I picked up one of these....

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/74747_10150867284748101_189335009_n.jpg

[ROTARD8]

looking good! I toyed with getting a project FC before wasting my money on wheels for my rx8

[xdrift0rx]

Thanks! I decided to plastidip it to cover the dozens of paint chips until I get it matched to the current color. I messed up on the plastidip really bad by having too thick of a first layer, and applying in humid and windy weather. I'll peel it off in a couple weeks and re do it when I have more time.

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/582372_10150872388193101_362680109_n.jpg

[SE-Rooney]

Nice build keep up the great work .
I myself have been thinking of getting back into a rx7 as I realy realy miss my 371whp FB. :cool:

[xdrift0rx]

Damn that sounds like a fun car!

onward with updates! (copied from my post on 7club)

Had a good weekend! Stopped by a guys house in jersey right down the road from JPR Imports and picked up a set of S4 T2 rims for $20!

Right before that I took a trip up to northern philly and met up with Arkadyzv and picked up a clutch slave,master and a strut bar for $100.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/538470_10150900021123101_857561814_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/c0.56.403.403/p403x403/532750_10150900145693101_1048636996_n.jpg

So now....what can I do to refinish these wheels? They dont have to be perfect. I am planning on making them track wheels for when I go to NJMP or something. I have a friend who can sandblast them, and then I'd want to polish em and clear coat them so they are pretty again. I did a bit of searching but couldnt find much on here. anyone have any tips?

Also! I was looking in "race car tech" and had a bit of trouble finding if anyone has used these as track rims. I know FD wheels are an inch wider and can accommodate more rubber...but I paid 20$ for these rims, so I'm gonna make due. That being said, what are some good race tires? TireRack showed me 6 options for race only tires, and NTB showed nothing. I'm not sure where else I could look for tires.

[xdrift0rx]

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[xdrift0rx]

Made a little more progress yesterday...

playing with that wire harness was some nasty ****. I had sticky hands until I took some RC car fuel and rubbed and rubbed and rubbed till it came off.

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/556061_10150941998348101_526339423_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/529341_10150941998868101_1149803448_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/528439_10150943087318101_1033194385_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/382458_10150943236363101_996952522_n.jpg

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/548139_10150943105438101_1467872042_n.jpg

[Chudsoncoupe]

What are you going to wrap the wires with?

[xdrift0rx]

I have corrugated tube that the wires will be covered with, and then wrapped with electrical tape.

[Andrew H]

nice looking car