Project FD RX-7

[Goodspeed]

Does Koni offer shocks for the car?

They do (Yellows).  I need to price check the OE rubber parts to make sure that isn't just internet misinformation, and if they're palatable I may just go that route with springs.  I suppose if the rubber top mounts are harder than new but not cracked/crumbling apart, that could possibly allow for not replacing.

[.RJ]

With the age of your car and how it felt driving it, I'd be looking really hard at anything under the car made of rubber for replacement. I'm not sure that Koni + GC + Springs + OE mounts saves you any money though. Keep in mind the solid top hats will transmit more NVH, although, for a car that will probably shoot fireballs not sure if that matters.

I have a rule with the german cars, if it has to come out to get to something else, and it may need replacement at some point, it just gets replaced. Not worth the hassles.

[ScottyB]

Whoa, you just gave me some righteous throwbacks to my RC car days - you're right, it totally looks like an overgrown ESC or something.  

i know right?  gotta love that "maximum heat sink" era.

[Goodspeed]

So the OE rubber top mounts and spring seats aren't nearly as expensive as the internet initially led me to believe, so that easily settled my internal suspension debate. A couple pics of the main parts in question:





Went ahead and ordered a set of Konis, and RS-R lowering springs. Back in the day, the go-to lowering spring was the Eibach Pro-Kit spring set, until it was discontinued. The RS-Rs then became the favorite as they offer nearly the exact same spring rate (350 lb/in front, 261 lb/in rear) while also leveling the car better than the Eibachs (which seemed the rake the car in favor of a lower front/higher rear). Here's another FD with 17's on the RS-Rs:





That looks just about perfect to me for a sane street setup so if mine mimics that ride height I'll be pretty ecstatic.

[Goodspeed]

Last...last...update of 2017...probably.

I'd been on the hunt for a catback exhaust to finish off the full system for a while - currently running a 3" RX7Store downpipe and a 3" Bonez catted midpipe with the stock catback (which is a necessary restriction with the factory ECU).  The factory twin-tip look really grew on me, and my taste changed away from replacing it with a fat single tip exhaust, the style of which comprises a large percentage of aftermarket 3" options.

Further research led me to a bevy of manufacturers in the UK & Australia that make twin tip systems.  One in particular that caught my eye was the SMB twin tip from Australia. Back in the day, Mazda Australia swept a Bathurst 12-hour production car race in '92, '93 & '94 with a mostly-stock FD.  To counter increased competition in 1995 (BMW M3, 911 Clubsport, etc.), Mazda entered a more serious iteration of the FD, known as the RX-7 SP - which was homologated for the race with 35 total roadgoing SP's produced by Mazda Australia for the local market.





The SP's were imported as standard Australian market FD's, and modified locally under the direction of Mazda Australia's mostorsports chief, with some parts created/sourced locally, including the exhaust.  SMB was contracted to build the 3" systems for both the road and race cars, and the company is still around and will build you a period correct downpipe, catted mipipe, rear section, or full system upon request for...a lot of money.

After about a month of putting out feelers for anyone in the States who has a SMB used rear section, that'd be in my budget, that they'd like to let go of - total needle in a haystack - I got a PM from a guy in Wisconsin who just so happened to have one he was willing to sell.  So, a little extra bit of 90's RX-7 history is making its way onto the car - some polishing up and it should round out the exhaust nicely!

[JustinG]

Kudos to you sir, you are doing this sooooo right.

[WRXtranceformed]

The devil is in the details! Nice find!

[Senor_Taylor]

Are you even human?

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[SlimKlim]

Kudos to you sir, you are doing this sooooo right.

+1million

David Goodspeed You're My Hero

[Jake]

Nice touch and awesome find!

[Goodspeed]

Aw shucks guys y'all too kind.  Oh, Richmond dudes: one of my coworkers is heavily into the mini-truck scene and introduced me to a phenomenal metal polisher in your area (3B Kustomz), so after the new year I'll probably be driving down to drop this off with the IC kit, will let you know if I make the trek (NoVA seems oddly devoid of shops for such work).

Are you even human? 

Debatable.

[JustinG]

Aw shucks guys y'all too kind.  Oh, Richmond dudes: one of my coworkers is heavily into the mini-truck scene and introduced me to a phenomenal metal polisher in your area (3B Kustomz), so after the new year I'll probably be driving down to drop this off with the IC kit, will let you know if I make the trek (NoVA seems oddly devoid of shops for such work).

Hit me up. If it happens to the be the weekend of 1/6, swing by and watch the game with us.

[Goodspeed]

Aw shucks guys y'all too kind.  Oh, Richmond dudes: one of my coworkers is heavily into the mini-truck scene and introduced me to a phenomenal metal polisher in your area (3B Kustomz), so after the new year I'll probably be driving down to drop this off with the IC kit, will let you know if I make the trek (NoVA seems oddly devoid of shops for such work).

Hit me up. If it happens to the be the weekend of 1/6, swing by and watch the game with us.

Will do brocious

[Goodspeed]

Last...last...update of 2017...probably.

It's now 2018 and one of my new year's resolutions was not to stop the parts train from taking over my basement so chugga chugga choo choo I need help.

I spent much of the past week contemplating where I wanted to go with the aesthetics of this car. You might recall earlier in the thread where I laid out plans to eventually go "99 Spec" by updating the bumper, lip, lighting, and so on - but then tacked towards keeping with the USDM exterior.  This was partially due to the difficulty in finding authentic '99+ parts, as well as a lingering desire to keep the car as original as possible for the sake of being a custodian of a fairly rare car in somewhat rare condition.

Ultimately I decided what would make me the happiest is to go '99 spec.  It's the version of the FD that really caught my initial gaze, and IMO it takes the car from "exotic for 1993" to just plain exotic looking in a truly timeless sense.  



As luck would have it - it seems to be the theme with this project, when I wish for something, it appears - I located a brand-new-in-box authentic '99 front end in California:



Luckier still was finding an authentic '99 wing in Vintage Red, on the way from Japan



I already have the front combination lamps as noted earlier in this thread (a de-ambered aftermarket version from URAS) and adapter harnesses for them - all I need now is the '99 spec front lip, and bumper support that properly locates the updated lamps (a '93 support can be hacked to fit)



Taking this leap will also free me up to do some more subtle, tasteful touches to the interior & engine bay that I've been itching to do, that while may stray from strict OEM-spec, will make the car truly "mine".  This'll be pushing the completion timetable well back, again, but setting a goal of MM show 2019 to have the car 100% done 

[.RJ]

yasssssssss

[D_Eclipse9916]

Taking this leap will also free me up to do some more subtle, tasteful touches to the interior & engine bay that I've been itching to do, that while may stray from strict OEM-spec, will make the car truly "mine".  This'll be pushing the completion timetable well back, again, but setting a goal of MM show 2019 to have the car 100% done 

Wooo wooo!  Heck yeah.  You keep cars in good condition for extended length of time.  I wouldn't hesitate in your position making it "yours".  And it's all OEM stuff anyway so youll be good on resale if you ever have to in the future.

[JPolen01]

This thread is like a dry aged steak...getting better with time!

[Beej]

I honestly can't decide which front end I like better - they're both awesome. But man, I sorta can't unseen that big ol' license plate mount on the newer one that isn't on the older one.

But yeah, I'm with everyone else in that this whole project is awesome.

[Senor_Taylor]

Last...last...update of 2017...probably.
completion timetable

Lol

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[Goodspeed]

yasssssssss

This thread is like a dry aged steak...getting better with time!

Taking this leap will also free me up to do some more subtle, tasteful touches to the interior & engine bay that I've been itching to do, that while may stray from strict OEM-spec, will make the car truly "mine".  This'll be pushing the completion timetable well back, again, but setting a goal of MM show 2019 to have the car 100% done  

Wooo wooo!  Heck yeah.  You keep cars in good condition for extended length of time.  I wouldn't hesitate in your position making it "yours".  And it's all OEM stuff anyway so youll be good on resale if you ever have to in the future.

Hadn't really thought of it that way, true - plus, there's a lot of other variants that are more "collectable" than mine so meh, I won't be losing any sleep over turning the creative taps up a bit.

I honestly can't decide which front end I like better - they're both awesome. But man, I sorta can't unseen that big ol' license plate mount on the newer one that isn't on the older one.

But yeah, I'm with everyone else in that this whole project is awesome.

Funnily enough, I think the shaved/plateless aftermarket variant of the '99+ front end doesn't look as good - it kind of gives a "smile" to the front end - but the OG vs. '99+ vs. '99+ plateless debate is a constant in the FD world.  I'll be planning on filling the space with a RX-7 half tag, and together with the URAS combo lamps as seen below this is exactly what the front end will end up looking like:



I think it's definitely one of those items that looks better in person too.  Interestingly I think that plate will work really well with a 25 year antique plate on the back before long 

Last...last...update of 2017...probably.
 completion timetable 

Lol

Heh, hopefully well before then, but we know how these things go...