Project FD RX-7

[Goodspeed]

One last update for 2017 - I'm nearing the end of collecting parts for next year's hopeful restomodding; there's still a few items on the list (dual oil cooler kit, suspension bits, etc.) but I'm well past the halfway point.  Mildly exciting in its own right - I'm definitely looking forward to just driving, with all the planning, costs, etc. of the process behind me.  I often get the "they're never done" sentiment from people when I talk about the car but nope! I'm totally of the mind that there is a clear finish line in place here and any progress is much welcomed.

Checked off the list are a few items thanks to BF sales - I ordered an ACT clutch with the full-face HDSS ("Street/Strip") disk to replace the dumb 6-puck that's installed currently from the PO.  It's basically the default clutch for a street-driven FD with uprated twins or a small single kit, with a torque rating of 402 ft-lbs and a pedal that's supposedly mildly more effort than stock.  I envision this should make the car immensely more pleasurable to drive in traffic:



On the braking front, I just received some EBC RK-series rotors, and Carbotech 1521 street pads front & rear.  The only thing left is some stainless brake (and clutch) lines and that should wrap things up there.

A few other bits - I've changed up my plans for instrumentation in keeping with the subtly-modified route; instead of having a full suite of new-age looking gauges out in the open, I decided to purchase an old-school VDO boost gauge that is damn-near identical in typeface to the factory gauges:



This will be the only exposed gauge in a single Autometer A-pillar mount; the other instrumentation will be a combination of a Ballenger AFR500 wideband display and a matching red, digital water temp gauge that I plan to hide in the DIN pocket beneath the head unit.  With the way the center dash angles towards the driver, it's actually a very convenient, visible location to mount them and they can be hidden out of sight when not being monitored by the pocket cover.

Another bit of tech I picked up off the forums is a HKS Twin Power ignition amplifier.  These were somewhat recently discontinued by HKS - it seems many Japanese performance cars including the FD now have plenty of full-replacment ignition kit options out there using uprated coils and the like - but this bit of older-school tech is proven to actually make very healthy power on the FD by helping the weak-ish factory ignition system keep up its end; dyno plots have shown a 15-20rwhp increase (!) on full bolt-on FDs when properly tuned to account for its addition.



On the aesthetics side, the only real sore spot on the interior is a gauge hood dome that is cracked near the base of the windshield - FD interior plastics were fragile from the start, and vibration, the sun, and time have not been kind to many a FD gauge hood and lots of them are cracked by now like mine.  Unfortunately, the '94/'95 cars received "upgraded" plastics that were a different texture than '93's, and they're now no longer available and unobtanium (~3800 '94/'95 cars vs. ~9000 '93's).  You can still buy a '93-finish gauge hood new from the dealer for a ton of money, and hope that it doesn't crack on you.  So, I instead ordered a replacement in dry carbon that I plan to have upholstered in some fashion (thermo-formed vinyl would be cool) to match the original finish as closely as possible.  When the interior is apart for this, I’ll line any joints and seams that I can with material to prevent any squeaks & rattles in the future.



A neat touch that I had to jump on the group-buy for is a set of matching drilled aluminum gas and dead pedals from Levy Rotor Corporation to match the “world’s lightest brake pedal”.  A nice, subtle little addition that I look forward to receiving.





Finally, I embarked on a search for a head unit that wouldn’t break the bank, and would look near-as-possible like it belonged in a 90’s interior.  I can’t believe how more audio manufacturers haven’t caught on to the fact that their space-invader offerings look totally out of place in many cars that are still on the road to receive a single-DIN head unit.  A Reddit post turned me on to the vaunted early-00’s Nakamichi CD700 - the 700 now referring to what it costs to buy a new-in-box unit, if you can find one.  Blaupunkt had some decent options too, but thankfully Clarion seems to know what’s up (their “Clarion Builds” 90’s cars definitely help their case) and for about $80 I got my hands on their FZ-105BT that was recommended in the same thread.  I think this’ll be plain enough to fit in nicely without clashing or drawing too much attention to itself.

The Fikse’s are currently in the process of being refinished, and when they return they should play host to a set of 235/45/17 & 255/40/17 Continental ExtremeContact Sport tires.  I’m really, really looking forward to getting off the sketchy, ancient tires the car came with (I haven’t trusted them with more distance than a drive to Leesburg, and anything above 80mph is not fun).



Speaking of sketchy, as I’ve gotten more used to the car, I’ve noted some general wear and sloppiness lurking beneath the still-impressive taut steering and low-speed agility.  There’s a floatiness at speed, and a general lack of solidity in the rear of the car that will be from all accounts greatly diminished by a set of Pettit Racing “Street durometer” poly diff mounts that I have on the shelf.  Many have called them the single best/most required mod for the FD, so I have high hopes for them.

On the suspension front, factoring in my needs and budget, I think the winning setup will be a set of BC Racing BR coilovers that are valved for Swift springs in 8k front, 6k rear.  That should be more than enough spring rate for a street/casual auto-x car, and the rates will match up well with Racing Beat front & rear sway bars to offer a neutral handling balance once everything is sorted out.  Not a high-zoot race suspension by any means, but an offering that’s solidly well-reviewed by folks who just need to hit the twisties now and again.

That…was a much longer post than I planned, but fitting I suppose as the car is now stored for the winter as of this past Sunday.  Looking forward to what next year brings!