1994 Mazda RX7

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Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Wednesday 7th June 2017
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Nik da Greek said:
The stock intercooler is about as much use as a paper fan in a solar flare. Heatsoak will break your heart every time and short of big bucks on a V-mount or front-mount there's really not much you can do about it. There just isn't enough air getting to it, and no route for air to escape from it. If you plan on buying an uprated radiator anyway, it may be worth spending the extra money to do the IC as well all in a oner. It may prove a false economy when you get fed up with heatsoak spoiling your trackday fun and then have to buy an intercooler anyway.
Having thought about this, the trouble for me is that I want to keep this car very focused on remaining a stock, well restored, street driving car (that won't die on track). I bought it because it is a low mileage unmodified car. It is a "blank canvas" ripe for modification, but if I wanted a hot-rod, I'd have bought a 300kw single turbo car for exactly the same money. $20k gets a wide variety of RX7s here!

Of course the stock FD is a great sports car, but isn't strong as a track car, due to aforementioned cooling issues. At least with a big radiator it will be hidden. But a V mount, or even a SMIC will change the focus of the car. I have friends who have the modification addiction with a variety of Skyline, Supra, Evo, Chaser, Silvia, 180SX. They love their cars but hardly get to drive them because of the constant cycle of mod-race-break-repeat.

Interestingly every owner of a heavily modified RX7 I have personally talked to say the same things:
"A stock one is better"
"I love it but it is too expensive / loud / scary"
"I might sell it since it rarely gets driven"
"Your stock car is so smooth and balanced!"

If I eventually get bored and want to throw money around, hopefully I can say goodbye to this red rocket and "trade up" to a sorted and scary RX7! Or this will be my "forever" car!

Nik da Greek

2,503 posts

149 months

Wednesday 7th June 2017
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You talk good sense, effendi cool To be fair, there's no reason a modified RX-7 has to be like a grenade with the pin out, but it's difficult to learn how to do it right first time by... well, just doing it. I've had to re-do mine several times and made some expensive mistakes en route. Mazda certainly achieved a marvellous thing with the stock twins setup and if it works well, it's superb. No arguments there

However, you can get an uprated SMIC that replaces the stock charade of a thing without appreciably having to change much else. I ran with a GReddy/Trust one when mine was still on twins and it made a huge difference to intake temps without having to alter anything else. Amemiya, ARC, lots of smaller tuning houses and several Yank ones all offered uprated SMICs. They say a picture tells a thousand words...



For a good long time the only engine bay alterations I did were intake and intercooler, and it made the stock twins a bloody flying machine


samoht

5,633 posts

145 months

Wednesday 7th June 2017
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You're right that a lot of people go too far and lose some of the driveability and useability of the FD. Having said that, fixing the cooling issues with a bigger IC doesn't have to turn the car into a stripped-out rock-hard racer fit only for track duty. I have an FMIC and stuff, but still stock twins, stock suspension, outwardly stock, and my car is still fine on the road, as well as holding up on trackdays.

Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Friday 16th June 2017
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Cheers guys, I'll certainly be considering an smic or water injection for summer trackdays. The car runs so nicely on cool winter nights here (0°ish) it would be great if it behaved like that in hot weather too.

New shoes! Bridgestone Potenza RE003 in 225/50R16.
I also sold my 17" Racing Beat wheels.

Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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I got some servicing done (fuel filter and trans oils), WOF, and a fire extinguisher installed on a nice custom bracket so I can do clubsport events.

No problem with legroom as I'm not tall, pics are with the seat right back.




f1nn

2,692 posts

191 months

Monday 26th June 2017
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In standard form, surely one of the prettiest cars to come out of Japan and to my eyes at least, one of the best looking cars of the 90's.

Such a shame so many of them are ruined.

Enjoy yours OP.

Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Wednesday 19th July 2017
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On Sunday I went to a proper track day. This was the Introduction to Motorsport event at Hampton Downs Club Circuit. The circuit is a tight 1.2km with lovely new tarmac and massive runoff areas. It's great for road cars as the brakes won't be destroyed on a few high speed breaking zones.

We did dual sprints and had instructors available for advice.



The car ran great all day. Thanks to my new SPA Digital gauge, I know that temps peaked at 101c and averaged around 90c. I do need to move the gauge from the center console to the steering column as I can't actually see it with my helmet on!



Boost peaked at 13.7 psi which may or may not be cause for concern. The motor seemed to surge at high rpm occasionally, so that could have been fuel surge or overboost fuel cut. To be investigated...
My new tyres (RE003 in stock 16" size) were awesome.

Here is my video. At 14:17 there is a fun battle with a flame spitting Toyota MR2 turbo, and 17:41 the instructor drives and shows me what my car can really do! (Why can't we embed videos yet?!?!?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXZX-I5lEXk








James Junior

827 posts

156 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Enjoyed watching that, especially the MR2 vs RX7 but. Reminiscent of a mini Best Motoring head to head! Typical MR2 Turbo. Ballistic off the mark and in a straight line, but not so quick in the corners. I am looking forward to getting mine on track for the first time and expect ot be much the same!

Thanks for sharing. Whereabouts in the country are you?

Nik da Greek

2,503 posts

149 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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"Double bd Corner" rofl

CrouchingWayne

682 posts

175 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Very nice car, such a timeless shape. They look so slight in real life too, have agreed really well. Glad to hear you aren't sticking a gigantic spoiler on it.

stew-S160

8,006 posts

237 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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This was the setup I had on mine. Cooling issues sorted.



Miss that car...couldn't stomach the fuel costs as an only car. Whoops.

J4CKO

41,281 posts

199 months

Friday 21st July 2017
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Lovely, do like them standard looking best.

Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Wednesday 16th August 2017
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In August I went to a festival style event called "Chrome Expression Session". Basically it is a massive car meet, with all sorts of activities, and the opportunity for many who would normally avoid the track to drive their precious street and show cars.

The event was held at Hampton Downs.



For one low entry fee for the whole weekend, anyone could participate in their choice of these events
Circuit cruising - drive your mates around the track without helmets, casually race other drivers, see some cool cars playing.
Gymkhana - practice drifting and donuts on the skidpan
Drifting - proper drifting on the Club circuit
Burnouts
Drag racing
Roll racing - a drag race from a rolling start
Circuit racing - for race cars only
Show & Shine / Hardpark - youth version of car show biggrin



To the average track day junkie it might sound a bit boring, but if you're into modified street cars its great fun.
I joined in the track cruising sessions and the gymkhana. The track was great fun, I treated it more like a speed event than a cruise event where traffic was clear! Before I go on that circuit again I should disable my 180 kph speed limiter!
I was surprisingly terrible on the skid pad. Driving like a tool and attempting to throw the car sideways, on stock LSD and stock suspension with balanced rear grip, it was more of an understeer-oversteer party. Plus I didn't want to be brutal and grab the handbrake, or kick the clutch.
The cars with stiff suspension and lock diffs on the other hand did some spectacular sliding.

Here is a playlist of videos from me and others, starting from the Rotary Only cruise session at sunset. The lighting for this was amazing, and driving amongst some of New Zealands wildest street rotaries was an amazing experience.
https://youtu.be/ezQCzfzF6zU?list=PL3d6kKsW9LBKdrI...

Some photos from the event https://goo.gl/photos/wGxQc6mgiC1F5mPe8 and thousands more on the event page https://www.facebook.com/pg/ChromeNZ/photos/?tab=a...

Mods and maintenance this month have been focused on the cooling system, with a pile of OEM bits ready to bolt in. I also removed the stickers from the sills. Pro tip - removing old stickers from paint using a feeler gauge is really easy!


Edited by Pelo on Wednesday 16th August 11:00


Edited by Pelo on Wednesday 16th August 11:08

patmahe

5,744 posts

203 months

Wednesday 16th August 2017
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Such interesting and lovely looking cars, I honestly think in years to come people will be saying remember when you could buy one of those for X and now they are 10X, if someone came out with a car that looked like that today I think we'd all be fawning over it, such clean sleek lines.

Congrats on owning such a fine example.

Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Wednesday 16th August 2017
quotequote all
patmahe said:
Such interesting and lovely looking cars, I honestly think in years to come people will be saying remember when you could buy one of those for X and now they are 10X, if someone came out with a car that looked like that today I think we'd all be fawning over it, such clean sleek lines.

Congrats on owning such a fine example.
Thankyou, I feel very privileged to own this car :-) I aim to keep it for a long time, and try not to think about changes in value!

Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Sunday 1st October 2017
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In September some friends held a private track day at Taupō club circuit as a 30th birthday celebration. What a great idea for a party!
This track is where I started in motorsport. I began volunteering here at age 12, waving flags and having a ball. It's a fun simple track.
I also managed to crash my MR2 here in 2004 at the Toyspeed meeting! frown



Here is some video (not just of my car!) featuring a bit of cone slalom and mediocre attempts at drifting.
https://youtu.be/eNO-Pus0Flg?list=PL3d6kKsW9LBJWf3...



Other than that, I've replaced the ever so 90s head unit with a basic Sony media player, and tidied up the gauge mounting.
New front brake pads were required, with a hairs width of material left after all these track events. I've gone with Hawk HP Plus pads. They are supposed to be an aggressive track capable street pad. I have yet to see how tolerable they are for dust and disc wear.
My cooling system upgrade parts are still waiting to be fitted. I've had no issues yet, but summer is coming.

The local "Caffeine & Classics" meetings happen once a month which are quite popular and interesting. Here is my little car parked between some boats ;-)




Pelo

Original Poster:

542 posts

272 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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In November I took the RX7 to my mechanic to get the hesitation diagnosed. The battery was stuffed. It appeared to be the OEM one from Japan in 1994! The ignition coils were worn out too. This is a common issue, as the coils sit right on top of the motor, under the intake manifold. So they see a huge amount of heat! I borrowed some good coils from the mechanic, then drove to Taupō for Powercruise. The car ran smoother than ever, but still had a shrieking boost leak.




Powercruise is a fun event with cruise sessions, drifting, drag racing, and burnouts. Legally hooning with my friends hooning in our cars never gets old! Here is some video:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3d6kKsW9LB...














After that I thought it was time to slow down a bit and start throwing parts at the car. I’ve accumulated a bunch of bits waiting to go on, but I didn’t feel like I’d be able to get them all bolted in with only a month between track events. Turns out that was a good plan as I’ve only just finished this week! November to January isn’t too bad for a project to be off the road…



Here’s my list of maintenance done:



Windscreen chip repair

2 x OEM wheel center caps

NGK ignition leads & used good coils



belts

oil & OEM filter

Battery

Front brake pads








New OEM Upper intake manifold gasket

New OEM late model radiator



New OEM coolant hoses, including the bd hard-to-reach turbo hoses.

New OEM turbo inlet and outlet gaskets and Y pipe O ring.

New OEM thermostat, fresh coolant.

Tested turbo control solenoids and vacuum lines, only a few lines needed replacement.



There were a few upgrades too, I’ve given in to the modification bug, within reason at least!



Used OEM 96+ turbo Y pipe and crossover pipe: This upgrade replaces the leak prone turbo outlet to intercooler joiner. The early cars had a rubber hose joiner which constantly leaked. The newer type has a two bolt flange and gasket, plus the crossover pipe is aluminium instead of plastic.







Trust Greddy SMIC (stock mount intercooler): which is about the largest volume intercooler that can fit with the stock airbox and battery. It is an old kit which isn’t made anymore, but I picked one up for a bargain price via Facebook. It wasn’t as simple to fit as it first appeared, and took a few attempts to tweak the alignment and hose angles. New silicon hoses and clamps completed the job. I do need to build a better duct though, as the factory ducting doesn’t fit at all well.







Blitz blow off valve - I haven’t fitted this yet, but I got it for free with the 96 turbo piping. I’ll give it a go and see if the novelty to cringe ratio is acceptable!





The list of things to do is now slightly shorter, and the car runs even after changing all those parts. The intake manifold is super fiddly to fit and remove, with hidden hoses and connectors that need to be fitted by feel. So I was quite worried that I’d forgotten something essential and would have to re-do stuff!

Once I fix the dribbly windscreen squirters, I can get the car road legal again, and go to the Leadfoot Festival and Rotary Reunion in February. Summer ain’t over yet!

Mycroft Ward

5,983 posts

212 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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Good work there, lovely looking cars these. Nice to see one looking OEM for a change, I really like these standard FD wheels, probably my favourite OEM wheels. I'm bias I have a set on my MX6 smile

RotaryPoweredBlender

83 posts

74 months

Friday 19th January 2018
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Obviously a massive fan of this! biggrin

GVLJ

71 posts

140 months

Thursday 22nd February 2018
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Cracking update OP... Sent me scurrying to the classifieds...