Project FD RX-7

[Goodspeed]

Go 18s, relying on a single manufacturer who happens to make one tire short enough is dumb, 265+ on a 25" height is good for 18s only fo show. Do it, smart move.

Definitely the plan going forward - & decided to just get the Fikses I like in the end.  Spending any funds on any other set only to get replaced doesn't make much sense, so the car can roll around on stockers until then.

Time for a long-winded & slightly OT update on where things are at with the FD.  There's been a few developments that have slowed down progress on getting the car to the launch pad which I'll get to in a moment, but first I have to share this video:



A few of you have sent me pics of this car sighted around NoVa, Summit, etc.  Funnily enough I saw this car myself at Katie's a while back & it's just one of those small-world reminders that hits me now & then - this car is eerily close to how mine will eventually look & it's a stupid-clean car in person. Just a well-done video overall that I enjoyed.

Back to my own FD & the aforementioned slowdown - two things came up, one in particular that gave me pause.  There was an announcement of staff changes possibly occurring where I work that meant I had to put the project on the back-burner.  It was a fairly tense situation for many coworkers & I that caused a lot of stress & honestly had me exploring the idea of selling the car & all the parts I've collected for it for a bigger safety net/school fees, etc.  But, it seems that in the short term at least, that I'll remain gainfully employed (thank god) & able to continue on.  The thought of selling was honestly depressing & just made me kind of miserable, as I knew I'd regret it terribly & the last thing I want to do is have such a cloud hanging over me.  

Still, I'm focusing more mental energy on bolstering myself professionally which will take time, focus, and money away from the project.  The car is past the 6-month mark of having sat in storage in my parent's garage, and it doesn't look like that'll be changing any time soon (cue all the FD jokes!  Except...mine *does* run with healthy compression, it just leaks oil and gas when it does   ).  My goal still to do a one-and-done build with the car, I'm still in touch with the proposed builder, but it's definitely more of a long game now.

I have however gotten a handful more parts for the car, and still paying attention for anything else that'd help get the car across that eventual goal line.  Most special are two very hard to find discontinued parts these days, an ABS pump and a set of OEM fans - both from a southern, low mileage parts car.

My ABS pump functions fine, but is probably the sorest spot in the engine bay for corrosion & this one is much, much cleaner.  It'll replace the original unit, but I'll still experiment with cleaning both up (mine much more so than this one) if anyone has metal/rust cleaner recommendations.



The mint OEM fans.  These are nearly impossible to find in this shape, since everyone keeps them installed as they're very good and don't often get replaced by anything aftermarket.  Again, way nicer shape than my original ones.





Speaking of playing the long game....

(and yes, this does kind of fly in the face of my personal goals stated above, but what can I say, really...)

I know it's silly to think about the next car before the first one is even finished (to add to, not replace....and that is silly to do, right?), but the mind wanders I suppose.  Well, in my case, the mind wandered back to the MKIV Supra, that ethereal white whale that's followed me around for much longer than anything Mazda-badged.  While after having experienced both behind the wheel and preferring the driving experience of the FD, I still can't get over the look, sound, and 20+ year personal history of & with the Supra.  

It's but a twinkle in my eye, but the long, long game now includes the goal of parking, ideally, a turbo, auto 1998 Quicksilver Supra next to the FD one day, either a NA-TT swap or original TT, and yes, I said automatic - I'd be looking to get something that I can just pop the targa off and cruise in, the yin to the FD's yang.  I figure that by the time I'm able to get one, I'll be old enough to where banging gears and all that jazz will matter even less than it does now, and I've been seriously impressed with the progress the aftermarket has made with the factory Aisin A340/41E automatic transmissions the MKIV came with.  They're now holding 1100+whp, going 8's & knocking on high 7's in the 1/4 mile, all while driving like stock:



Less than 150 in this color came to the US for the final '98 model year, and it's one of the most striking colors I've ever seen in person.  The car literally glows - a sparkling silver in direct daylight, a golden hue in evening light.



This is of course just a dream at this point, but having this goal fermenting in the back of my mind put into sharp focus that if I ever hope to have a MKIV parked up next to my FD in a future dream garage, of the same caliber as the FD, the time was NOW to get a hold of what parts I could to similarly restore a Supra ~25 years on.  I had to be serious about a pipe dream, which I could debate amongst myself ad nauseam, but ultimately I decided to take the plunge on sourcing parts. This will likely be even more of a challenge than finding FD parts, but I've made some contacts and begun in earnest with the goal of mimicking the FD process - things like interior bits, lighting, rubber trim, and so on.



This endeavor will of course eat in to the car budget that was once solely focused on the FD, which itself is as I explained on the backburner so I can focus on other, more important things.  How cool it'd be to just drop the bomb that I managed to round out my dream pair of cars, but I figured sharing this will help answer the questions I've been getting about the status of the FD.  I hope this makes sense in some twisted, alternate-universe type of logic.

...as if to taunt me, a perfect '98 QS TT Auto just appeared on eBay yesterday.  One day...