I\'m looking at buying an FC3S Turbo2 shell plus a rebuilt engine (there\'s a thread about it somewhere on here), but while the engine is already out and i\'m going to have to get it trailered anyway I\'m thinking about doing a bit of a project on it.
I\'m already speaking to another member on here about doing the work but just looking for other opinions on what can/should be done. The car is fairly standard and as said the engine is rebuilt and never even been turned over. It has been sat for a while though so I will probably get a full service done on it to make sure everything is fine before I start. The only modifications I know of are a stainless steel exhaust (unknown make but cost £400 apparently) and some alloy wheels (which I will probably change anyway).
My total budget is probably about £1500-£2000 to spend on parts, maybe a bit more, but i\'m looking for decent handling as well as power. Is the budget realistic, and what should I be looking at getting for that money? Realistic (reliable) power expectations?
If I wanted to go a bit further, what sort of cost (parts only) should I be looking at to get it to around 250-275bhp (reliably), with brakes/suspension upgraded and overhauled? And is there anything else worthwhile I can or should be doing at that stage?
And finally, out of interest, does anyone know what a standard fc3s t2 weighs? And does stripping it out make a significant difference, or is it like my mr2 where there\'s little weight to lose? Just trying to work out what the performance difference will be compared to my 173bhp mr2 that weights ~1260kg.
Apologies for the long thread and many questions, this rotary thing is new to me!
Cheers :cheers
Dave
Hi Dave,
Save yourself all the hassle and buy mine off me for £3000 it\'s in this thread http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51205
and I\'ve just submitted it in the For Sale section.
Many thanks
Paul
Thanks for the offer but I don\'t mind the hassle, I actually want to do/help with the work myself as much as possible. It\'d also work out quite a bit cheaper for me as i\'d be swapping some mr2 parts in p/x for the car and engine.
Correct me if i\'m wrong but wont yours be needing a rebuild fairly soon if it\'s done 50k since the last one? Or do they not need rebuilding as often as the hype says?
If I were looking at spending 3k on the car I\'d be after an FD project (that comes next :Giggle)
well racing beat claim to make an exhaust that gets you an extra 60 bhp, combine that with a decent cold air feed and you should be within you range with the reliability.
seeing as you may already have a decent exhaust i would suggest about £400 on coilerovers £200 on front and rear strut braces (only seen ones worth 100 each). Then some anti roll bars, unsure of the price but i highly doubt they\'re more than £900. Then you\'ve got some left over cash for one parts start to fail, like lights, wipers starter motors, alternators etc. sorted
think the TII\'s were around 1200-1400kg\'s. You can get the bonnet from a TII cab which is made out of aluminium, so if you striped the back and got the bonnet i doubt you would lose too much of the weight distribution.
A spare aluminium bonnet from a convertible is actually included in the sale so was planning to put that on if the paint is in ok-ish condition. I\'m surprised they are as much as 1400kg though, I expected them to be a bit lighter than an mr2 with the smaller engine. But of course they do have a back seat (which I assume can be removed?)
£900 for ARB\'s?!?! I just paid £240 delivered for new genuine TRD front and rear bars for my MR2 with bushes!! Are the fc3s ones very different to other cars? For strut braces I have already found this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Mazda-RX7-FC-Front-Strut-Brace-Bar-86-92_W0QQitemZ350087377107QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item350087377107&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1318
but it looks a bit flimsy compared to the £100 ones.
Is there not anything I should be doing to the brakes? Uprated discs/pads, braided lines or calipers? Or are the standard fc3s brakes pretty good?
well wiki says they\'re between 1100kg and 1390. Im guessing this comes down to additional extra\'s such as a/c or abs.
nah the £900 was how much was left in the budget, i just said it wouldnt be that much, thus you\'d be in the budget.
seen those strut braces, a member on here just put one in his egi, his user name is demonrx4, check his post in the 2nd gen section. I don\'t know how good they are, think these ones may be a bit more cosmetic. He\'s also said that a new set of poly\'s did a great job
For the breaks i would suggest FD front calipers and maybe some decent pads, i have them on my egi and they\'re great imo, not sure abut the rears, maybe some thing aftermarket, but i believe it starts getting tricky with the setup when you start to play with the rears. Tho i would suggest slightly bigger wheels to go with them because there\'s less than half a mm between the calipers and wheels on mine.
Yep go FD calipers on the front. It\'s the easiest and cheapest option, plus they are pretty good. I have them on mine also with grooved discs. I bought my coilovers secondhand I know people say to buy new but it was a matter of cost for me, and as long as they are in good condition it shouldn\'t be a problem. Poly bushes are always a good idea if you are uprating the suspension. I might have a set for sale in the near future for around £100. Thats what i\'d do for a start and then what ever is left spend on the engine mods. Filter, ecu, fuel management (if its not a programable ecu), front mount intercooler etc