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+--- Thread: Project FD RX-7 (/showthread.php?tid=11518)
Project FD RX-7 - Senor_Taylor - 03-11-2018
What are you doing with the parts you are replacing? You're replacing a ton of things that aren't broken, so will you sell them or keep them as spares as the original parts for collector's sake in the future?
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RE: Project FD RX-7 - Goodspeed - 03-11-2018
(03-11-2018, 08:39 PM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: What are you doing with the parts you are replacing? You're replacing a ton of things that aren't broken, so will you sell them or keep them as spares as the original parts for collector's sake in the future?
Some of it, like the stock intercooler, is worthless and will be offered for free or binned - some will be sold/offered as payment if desired for a part of the labor cost. May keep some stuff for spares, but I won't be trying to keep a whole lot.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Senor_Taylor - 03-11-2018
(03-11-2018, 09:00 PM)Goodspeed Wrote:Maybe there is someone out there trying to do a 100% stock restoration on an FD with a lot of aftermarket parts.(03-11-2018, 08:39 PM)Senor_Taylor Wrote: What are you doing with the parts you are replacing? You're replacing a ton of things that aren't broken, so will you sell them or keep them as spares as the original parts for collector's sake in the future?
Some of it, like the stock intercooler, is worthless and will be offered for free or binned - some will be sold/offered as payment if desired for a part of the labor cost. May keep some stuff for spares, but I won't be trying to keep a whole lot.
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RE: Project FD RX-7 - Ryan T - 03-11-2018
I can’t blame you for getting rid of the intercooler and other parts that are either useless/easily replaceable. But, you might be well served to keep some of the old wiring and sensors you are replacing that are technically still working. Like you’ve said other places in this thread, some of those are becoming hard to find or increasingly expensive, might be worth hanging on to.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Goodspeed - 03-11-2018
Yeah, there are a few guys I've seen turning rough aftermarket builds back to stock, and there's always a handful of guys building from a shell or former parts car that I'm sure would appreciate some of my original stuff. I'll probably keep & clean up the main engine harness and other wiring depending, and the original '94+ finish A/C panel that I have is one of the most unobtanium FD parts so that'll be staying with me.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - ScottyB - 03-12-2018
even if the part isn't necessarily in functional shape, you never know if someone may need it to mock up sizing on another build. case in point - wiring harness - someone may need the stocker to judge wire lengths, connector types, wire guage, even material type...even if they never intend to actually install and use the original part. i'd throw it in a box and keep it in storage for at least a little while.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - D_Eclipse9916 - 03-12-2018
(03-12-2018, 08:50 AM)ScottyB Wrote: i'd throw it in a box and keep it in storage for at least a little while.
Is this where I quote Apoc and say "this is why I went to college". Moving is both stressful and freeing, I am going to be storing a LOT less shit in the future. Not worth the couple hundred bucks long term for stuff.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Goodspeed - 03-12-2018
This is partly why I'm retaining master-level FD counsel - what to keep and what not. I'm not trying to be a pack rat, but rest assured anything that's worth keeping as a spare/rare item will be. Anything that I have no use for that someone building a shell does will be sold, anything useless like old shock top hats will be binned. Pretty standard practice I'm sure for anyone going through a build.
I'm still staring at my pics of the IC kit, gawddang it looks good.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Jake - 03-12-2018
This is going to be good, I echo the others on keeping a few things but pitching the rest.
So when are we loading this up and going to Jersey in the PimpTruck?
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Goodspeed - 03-12-2018
(03-12-2018, 10:34 AM)Jake Wrote: This is going to be good, I echo the others on keeping a few things but pitching the rest.
So when are we loading this up and going to Jersey in the PimpTruck?
Starting to have more talks about that with Rich, this is his "move out of FL" month to get settled and then he probably has a bit of work to do to get his corner of the workshop up to snuff (which has a name now, Goodfella's Rotary Garage which I love). So, probably May-ish please and thank you, but I'll for sure let you know ASAP. I should note, I probably have the least amount of care concerning when that happens and am in no rush, so your & his schedules will certainly & gladly dictate things : )
RE: Project FD RX-7 - ScottyB - 03-12-2018
(03-12-2018, 09:41 AM)D_Eclipse9916 Wrote:(03-12-2018, 08:50 AM)ScottyB Wrote: i'd throw it in a box and keep it in storage for at least a little while.
Is this where I quote Apoc and say "this is why I went to college". Moving is both stressful and freeing, I am going to be storing a LOT less shit in the future. Not worth the couple hundred bucks long term for stuff.
dude he's not running a damn near BMW junkyard + fab shop out of his garage like you are, ha. if i was trying to do what you do, i'd be throwing a lot more out as well.
the FD is rare, all i'm saying is i'd throw out an offer to the mazda community to offload that stuff to someone who needs it before i'd chuck it.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Goodspeed - 04-06-2018
Time for a quick update - one part of my interior rejuvenation project that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do anything about was the dash. Mind you, the original dash is in really good shape, but theres a few spots here and there where the vinyl seemed to be bubbling up as some glue was looking to be separating after all these years. The car spent ~10 or so years in Florida, and I suspect that coastal humidity played a part in causing this to happen eventually. It seemed like the bubbles didn't really appear on colder/drier days, but when conditions allowed, they reappeared.
I wasn't sure what could be done about this outside of re-skinning the dash, or replacing it. So, I just kind of tucked that idea into the background until a couple weeks ago, when I saw a listing for a clean, 1-of-500 '95 model year FD parts car with the same dash configuration being parted out in bone-dry Arizona. The listing was about 15 minutes old when I (very luckily) saw it late at night, and was able to jump on the dash before the flood of posts came in
![[Image: 41237435372_6fa889534e_c.jpg]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/799/41237435372_6fa889534e_c.jpg)
![[Image: esEZ9iG.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/esEZ9iG.jpg)
I just received the dash this afternoon. I honestly wasn't quite sure how it'd come apart once removed from the car, if I was getting a skin, etc. Turns out it's the whole structure with crash/support bar and some wiring as well, for a really fair price. It's dusty from being in the desert for a long time, but overall really, really clean with no knicks or scratches at all. It's pretty daunting now that it's in my hands to think of the install process (this whole assembly is heavy), but at least this way, I can replace all the dried out NVH foam/squeak & rattle strips, paint some bracketry etc that's always rusty behind the dash, install a brand new carpet and in the end, have a totally mint dash.
![[Image: 40383960685_f28eb498b7_b.jpg]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/885/40383960685_f28eb498b7_b.jpg)
The theme of FD interior parts is that beggars certainly can't be choosers, and ultimately you have to just have to buy what you can find, as there's always a ton of people looking for this stuff, and it's really easy to sell parts on if you end up not using them. To that end, the passenger door card out of the pair I got earlier ended up having a little damage in one spot to the vinyl, and the same seller of the dash had a similarly mint passenger door card available, so I snapped that one up too. Between what I have in and out of the car, I'll be able to install the best pair and sell on the rest to the community, same with the dash.
![[Image: 41237187342_9ba2c1131f_b.jpg]](https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/785/41237187342_9ba2c1131f_b.jpg)
Unfortunately the third piece I bought from him, a minty rear cubby area speaker panel (mine has some scratches) snapped clean in half during shipment, so we'll see what FedEx freight makes of that claim. I'll still be on the hunt for one of those.
In other news, I'm probably going to make some changes here and there as time goes on, unfortunately one of them being the use of the Fikse wheels I purchased earlier. The Profil 13 model wheels are still one of my all time favorites, but I'm starting to like the look of 18's more and more on the FD, and my impulsivity in buying them earlier didn't really take into account a certain tire dilemma: on the rear 17x10" wide wheels, my tire choices are a 255/40, 265/40, or 275/40, with the following specs:
255/40/17 Diameter: 25.0" Sidewall: 4.0"
265/40/17 Diameter: 25.3" Sidewall: 4.2"
275/40/17 Diameter: 25.7" Sidewall: 4.3"
The 255/40 looks quite stretched on a 10" wheel (it's a popular combo however for FDs and S2Ks) and I'm not a fan at all of the look, the 265/40 is nearly unobtanium in a 17", and the 275/40 is a really tall tire that has a big impact on effective gearing. FD guys who run that size typically install JDM 4.3 final drive gearing to compensate for them, which I don't really want to mess with, nevermind the end result being a really balloon-tire look.
So, with that in mind, once refinished I'm probably going to sell them on. It kinda sucks financially, but the tire issue combined with my leaning towards 18's basically sealed their fate. Fikse just so happened to release a new line of wheels recently, including this model that I'm really, really thirsty for, the FC 312:
![[Image: FC-312-45-DEG.jpg]](http://www.fikse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/FC-312-45-DEG.jpg)
![[Image: FC-312-0-DEG.jpg]](http://www.fikse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/FC-312-0-DEG.jpg)
I would love to have these on the FD one day, but in 18" and in the finish I'd like (Technipolish), they're just about 5 grand out the door. Like I said, one day...
Right now I'm heavily considering the much more palatable Enkei Lusso, as I love the 90's-yet-timeless BBS-style mesh look. In fact, they look very much like a modern 18" equivalent of the OE BBS mesh wheels on the RX-7 Spirit R that I'm a big fan of.
![[Image: RX7-2-1024x576.jpg]](http://www.rarecarsales.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/RX7-2-1024x576.jpg)
I think these will ultimately be the winners going forward. Also, as much as I like those FC 312's above, I feel mildly sick at the thought of driving around on wheels that cost thousands of dollars, so there's also that aspect that makes me feel like I'd be really happy with the Enkeis all things considered. I'm probably going to buy a single rear wheel just to test fit with the rear fender (18x9 +40 works fine on paper, but I just want to be sure) and go from there.
So, yeah. I'm still here doing things....slowly.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Jake - 04-06-2018
I really like those Enkei wheels. A lot a lot. They will look great on the car.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - WRXtranceformed - 04-06-2018
You are freaking crazy man, in the good kind of crazy way. I would have paid a shop to reskin the original dash if it bugged me that much, there are some that specialize in it. The Jags had the same problem and those dashes were prohibitively expensive to replace so people went that route. You're just all YOLO let's replace the whole thing
I would just be careful about rattles and stuff putting that thing back in
RE: Project FD RX-7 - SlimKlim - 04-06-2018
Yeah yeah, totally feel you on the price of those Fikses, but
![[Image: edcd4e5ff18187745ba03434a435ecd6d467f067...e4bc39.jpg]](http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/ed/edcd4e5ff18187745ba03434a435ecd6d467f067f77429095fe8d18596e4bc39.jpg)
RE: Project FD RX-7 - .RJ - 04-06-2018
going balls deep in here
Project FD RX-7 - JPolen01 - 04-06-2018
I love this more every time you update it. These types of resto projects make me happy.
RE: Project FD RX-7 - davej - 04-09-2018
(04-06-2018, 04:42 PM)SlimKlim Wrote: Yeah yeah, totally feel you on the price of those Fikses, but
Since it's not my money, I'm gonna have to side with Joey on this. There was a 944 at maap the other day with a set of Fiske wheels and I was real hot n' bothered by them.
You can get by with only one kidney, right?
Project FD RX-7 - ViPER1313 - 04-09-2018
Or just buy some 265-40/17 . Seems reasonable considering your other expenses.
![[Image: 5ac05c78914c416bd6537dc39cf838ac.jpg]](https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180409/5ac05c78914c416bd6537dc39cf838ac.jpg)
RE: Project FD RX-7 - Goodspeed - 04-09-2018
(04-06-2018, 04:30 PM)Jake Wrote: I really like those Enkei wheels. A lot a lot. They will look great on the car.
Thanks bud, I think so too. I'm also pretty excited by how much going 18" would open up tire choices too, including a bunch of tasty high end summer tires that I've always read about being amazing but have never experienced
(04-06-2018, 04:39 PM)WRXtranceformed Wrote: I would just be careful about rattles and stuff putting that thing back in
Agreed - that's why I plan to go through the whole thing with a fine toothed comb and replace all the dried up rattle strips and foam trimming. There's a few sources for that stuff online & I've already talked with some gurus about getting a hand installing it
(04-06-2018, 04:56 PM).RJ Wrote: going balls deep in here
Yuuuuuup
(04-06-2018, 05:41 PM)JPolen01 Wrote: I love this more every time you update it. These types of resto projects make me happy.
Thanks Jon(04-09-2018, 09:02 AM)davej Wrote:(04-06-2018, 04:42 PM)SlimKlim Wrote: Yeah yeah, totally feel you on the price of those Fikses, but
Since it's not my money, I'm gonna have to side with Joey on this. There was a 944 at maap the other day with a set of Fiske wheels and I was real hot n' bothered by them.
You can get by with only one kidney, right?
They're my favorite aftermarket wheel company by far - all their designs are so clean, so hot. Trust me, they'll always be on the brain and if I can swing a new set in the future (they're well more than I paid for the used ones) I will one day have some spec'd to my exact liking
(04-09-2018, 09:06 AM)ViPER1313 Wrote: Or just buy some 265-40/17 . Seems reasonable considering your other expenses.
The PS2 is one of 2 tires available on Tire Rack in that size, and it looks to be on or near closeout - without an available size I'd like for the front. Wide 17" street tires are slowly going the way of the dodo it seems, so probably best for my longterm sanity that I sell 'em while I can