Hello people!
I am the proud owner of my first FD3. My background is mostly with the MR2 community and I own one of the rarest forms of the MR2... I shant go on about it but please feel free to view my stunning TOM\'S T020 MR2 Turbo here http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=140745
As I was saying... I ve owned this beaut for a little over a week so here\'s the base rundown.
Mazda RX-7 EFINI Type RB Special Edition (has twin oil coolers, unlike vegan spec RB)
Imported and rebuilt by Jason @ Super7 Autos in 2007
I purchased this in stock form barring a genuine SS MAZDASPEED exhaust system (fo sale)
Has a Power FC ECU only and apparently has a basic map (probably to suit stock form?)
Heres some pics of it after a detail when I purchased it...
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So its in stock form (sort of...).... I thought to myself yeah im gonna keep it like this, a very tasteful Power FC and beautiful sounding MAZDASPEED exhaust is the ultimate not so wild driving machine... The beautiful sound of that exhaust allowing you only to hear the waste gates open from the turbos as you give it WOT... Naaaaahhhh!!! I cant help it, its in my blood... I gotta modify!
So a few days in and using my bargain hunting skills I come across this beauty... an HKS exhaust, it was real dirty but after 5mins with autosol and some high temp matt black paint it soon came up lookin REEM!
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-29.jpg)
On the ramps...
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-30.jpg)
All removed and cleaned ready to sell this piece of JDM factory goodness rarity...
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A little tarnished and a few scrapes but otherwise in solid condition!
On the HKS goes...
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I got the RICE factor now!
So... it sounded completely different, actually alot more ricier which is definately a bit of me... I cant do subtle when it comes to cars unless barring it looks pretty standard. Something was still missing... I mean come one, who installs a Power FC and maps it without having any bolt on mods?!!... I putmy bargain hunting skills to use and came across (i actually nearly came across it ) this tin beaut! An ARC induction kit... Again this was a little dirty but soon enough i whipped the lube... errrr... Autosol/metalpolish out and gave it a 5min once over followed by a fairy liquid session on those filters and re-oiled them. I was thrown back that this box had filters both under and on top!!! Never knew that!
So here it is before and after fitting...
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-34.jpg)
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-37.jpg)
With this induction box installed and I can hear the beautiful sound of turbo spool and the whoosh of air that rushes back into the box upon let off... on top of that the increased responsiveness and overall performance increase.
Today I finished off by giving the rex another clean and wax.
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-38.jpg)
This week I have found (yet again using my bargain hunter skills) a used set of GREDDY TRUST adjustable dampers (comp. with springs, topmounts etc) as the current standard units are giving me the vibrations like no other.
....
So now I ask some questions...
Today I gave the car a real hard run (hitting the limiter cos it sounds sick) on the way to my friend\'s house... Shortly before arriving at his house the cabin started to smell of burning oil... I pulled up and lifted the bonnet to find a faint constant whisper of blue smoke coming from behind the intake manifold underneath somewhere... it died down after 5 mins and has been ok since... I couldnt locate any wet patches and to be honest I didnt know what I was looking at... Longshot but.... Any ideas?
I am about to purchase a straight through decat pipe... Now I have searched google for a few hours looking into restrictor rings that are advised to be fitted when decatting this car. I dont have the funds available for a while to have the wg\'s ported. Given my current setup... What size ring/plate (int dia.) do you recommend I start off with to retain the boost levels within 12psi ( max safest on stock intercooler right?) I cant find any definative answers through many forums i\'ve looked through nor can I see anything regarding what would happen after constant boost spiking/creeping?
This is my next route of upgrading so I would appreciate some definative advice as to what I should need to do alongside the decat... From what I understand and want to do is to remove the airpump and fit whats called an \'airpump blanking plate kit\'. Can I still fit the decat and retain the airpump in its current state but disconnected?
Is this a good enough way to go? However I need to locate and buy a restrictor ring but also the right one first before I install.
Once all installed... What sort of power am I looking at running? Given the fact that the previous owner told me that the car in stock form on the Power FC was running between 290 - 300bhp by the guy who mapped it.
Many thanks for reading and all our feedback and advice would be much appreciated. Ill keep the forum updated with my upgrades throughout ownership.
James
V nice and clean looking FD buddy ;)
Soon as you start changing exhausts, especially midpipe / decat and of course on top of the airbox you\'ve already done, you really should have the map looked, adjusted accordingly :)
now that it\'s breathing better / more free flowing, ur boost is gonna rise and before you know it, fuel cut / injector duty rise..... DET and poss the end!
Beware taware buddy, a decat makes a hell of a diff to the noise level on a FD! :O
Depends on whether you\'ve an uprated DP too ?!
Might wanna consider a silenced midpipe.... :)
All the best, take care, don\'t rush and seriously, find a specialist that\'s nearest you, speak to them and get them to look it over, check the map... otherwise, it\'ll end in tears before you know it, especially with the colder weather of late!
Phil
Nice clean looking FD!
Love the ARC induction kit! Is it OEM fit?
First up Welcome to Mazdarotaryclub, real nice looking car :wave
First place to check the cause of your smell is potentially a small oil leak from the the oil metering pump thats on the front drivers side of the engine and only held on by two 6mm bolts, often they just need niping up,
Yes you can run the de-cat without removing the air pump or fitting a blanking plate kit to cover up the holes left by removing the air pump pipes, you can just leave the one that goes to the cat open
I would suggest finding out who mapped the car and having a chat then getting him (or somebody else) to have a look at the map as soon as you fit the de-cat because with the cat-back plus a de-cat you may find that you get boost creep above what is healthy for your engine especially in this cold weather
hope this helps
Quote from: fil_auto;800753V nice and clean looking FD buddy ;)
Soon as you start changing exhausts, especially midpipe / decat and of course on top of the airbox you\'ve already done, you really should have the map looked, adjusted accordingly :)
now that it\'s breathing better / more free flowing, ur boost is gonna rise and before you know it, fuel cut / injector duty rise..... DET and poss the end!
Beware taware buddy, a decat makes a hell of a diff to the noise level on a FD! :O
Depends on whether you\'ve an uprated DP too ?!
Might wanna consider a silenced midpipe.... :)
All the best, take care, don\'t rush and seriously, find a specialist that\'s nearest you, speak to them and get them to look it over, check the map... otherwise, it\'ll end in tears before you know it, especially with the colder weather of late!
Phil
Phil, nice one and many thanks for the sound advice. I got a greddy boost gauge laying around that ill hook up. When I bought it we had another hooked up and my mate said it read 12-8-10 on 3rd gear pull... Which I believe is a bit above normal? No uprated DP, as for fuel cut i shouldnt be hitting any of that due to the Power FC I have installed.
Quote from: Kay;800755Nice clean looking FD!
Love the ARC induction kit! Is it OEM fit?
Indeed direct OEM fitment... Cheers bro! Not a bad way to spend £40!
Heres some more pics, note the top and bottom fed intake filters!
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-35.jpg)
(http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q279/CardHore/temporary-36.jpg)
Quote from: clive;800756First up Welcome to Mazdarotaryclub, real nice looking car :wave
First place to check the cause of your smell is potentially a small oil leak from the the oil metering pump thats on the front drivers side of the engine and only held on by two 6mm bolts, often they just need niping up,
Yes you can run the de-cat without removing the air pump or fitting a blanking plate kit to cover up the holes left by removing the air pump pipes, you can just leave the one that goes to the cat open
I would suggest finding out who mapped the car and having a chat then getting him (or somebody else) to have a look at the map as soon as you fit the de-cat because with the cat-back plus a de-cat you may find that you get boost creep above what is healthy for your engine especially in this cold weather
hope this helps
Clive you\'re a ledge mate thats made me feel better about the smokey engine adventure!
Just to clarify on the airpump, didnt know how to really read your advice on cat removal. So I can just leave the pump hooked up, disconnect the lead and just leave the cat side of the pipe open yeah?
The previous owner told me that Jason at Super7 mapped it. He\'s a fair old trek away but if I have to go to him I will. Is there anywhere else in Kent region or London that can map this car for me, what sort of prices am I looking at inc rolling road usage? I asked Ryan @ 2BARTUNING who is world renowned and did my MR2 but he wont touch my Rex in confidence.
So once the decat is fitted, what measurement in BAR (as my greddy reads this unlike the autogauge shakken I borrowed when i bought the car) do I need to hit before I start worrying? Im looking on the forum for a certain OEM located intercooler... This should help prevent any explosions?
One last dumb question... so just 2 words will do... What oil do I use... I\'m under the impression GTX 10-50 will be fine... Magnatec ok? Then I hear of USE MINERAL OIL ONLY OR SEALS WILL SHRINK!. Im spent hours looking into this rotary malarky but I cant find anything straight forward. Forgive me if I missed out something during my searching.
Many thanks again for all the quick replies...
James
Just to add... Ive just purchased a used Japspeed SS decat pipe... im aware of these ridiculously sick noise levels they produce... As long as its on boost its gonna shave any life left remaining off some of the old people of Kent... Not that thats what I want... Just being facual... It\'ll just sound good while doing it.
I also have a 2.75 inch gasket that im gonna fit in between the cat-back and the decat. I figured if I put it between the stock DP and decat theres gonna be no \'barrier?\' as such to pass as the DP is narrow enough? 2.5" (please correct me)
Thanks again
Hi James,
Yes you can leave all the air pump stuff connected and it will just spin and do nothing :chat
Many have run 1 bar (14.5 psi) with no problems but people who have run 1.1 rekon the stock turbo\'s don\'t live long :3gears-lh
Like I said though, be careful of boost creep this winter
Hey dude, nice car you got there... and its good to see another local rotary owner.
while i have little knowledge on all thist boost melarky (at the moment) as your so close it may be a good opertunity if your free this friday to pop along to Brands Hatch, there will be quite a few Rotaries there including Clive... plus we usually get a few Rotary drivers popping along for the social stuff to.
If your up for it then Bring a helmet and check the details (http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=73052%5B/url)
Get yourself over to FD:UK if you haven\'t already, I\'m a member of both places (bally over there) and there\'s loads of parts and knowledge/banter flying around that will no doubt be of use - I\'ve had my FD for a year now and both communities have had a part to play in the enjoyment of owning a car as amazing as ours!
As for what has already been mentioned twice, be careful of the mapping of your car once that DP goes on. Conventional knowledge suggests that any more than 2/3 mods warrants a proper look at the map. The cold dense air leads to higher boost on pretty much any setup which naturally has an effect on the map. These cars are sensitive to these things and better to be safe than sorry particularly in the early stages of ownership. I bought my car from one of the guys at Hayward Rotary (he owned the car personally) and Carl rebuilt my engine at the same time - I have had a good connection to him and peace of mind since. So linking up with a specialist is definitely something I would advise, as with any car there are quirks and specific little hints and things to note. The rotary engine is a wonderful thing, look after it properly and you will do nothing but smile every time you get behind the wheel.
Sorry if this is a bit patronising!
Btw your MR2 is quite something!
Quote from: clive;800765Hi James,
Yes you can leave all the air pump stuff connected and it will just spin and do nothing :chat
Many have run 1 bar (14.5 psi) with no problems but people who have run 1.1 rekon the stock turbo\'s don\'t live long :3gears-lh
Like I said though, be careful of boost creep this winter
Nice one... Ive disconnected the air pump just via the lead and it idles pretty lumpy, although im sure its free\'d up some intial power and possibly saving fuel at the same time? Is OK to leave it running lumpy on idle?
Oh and clive I tried to have a look at this oil metering pump, I could see a sort of metal 90 degree pipe that leads into the airbox... is this it? It was 2 8mm bolts but for the life of me I could only get to one and not the other!? Am I looking in the right place?
Quote from: Arnie_O;800766Hey dude, nice car you got there... and its good to see another local rotary owner.
while i have little knowledge on all thist boost melarky (at the moment) as your so close it may be a good opertunity if your free this friday to pop along to Brands Hatch, there will be quite a few Rotaries there including Clive... plus we usually get a few Rotary drivers popping along for the social stuff to.
If your up for it then Bring a helmet and check the details (http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=73052%5B/url)
Arnie, cheers for the feedback mate. I had a look at that thread... Looks like its gonna be an awesome day... I dont have a lid unfortunately so I cant be a passenger in any of the cars and I really cant be splashing out on hiring one after my overall spending this month buying the rex and performing some mods to it. Ill deffo come along though and check it out... Any RX7\'s going?
Quote from: bmatharu;800783Get yourself over to FD:UK if you haven\'t already, I\'m a member of both places (bally over there) and there\'s loads of parts and knowledge/banter flying around that will no doubt be of use - I\'ve had my FD for a year now and both communities have had a part to play in the enjoyment of owning a car as amazing as ours!
As for what has already been mentioned twice, be careful of the mapping of your car once that DP goes on. Conventional knowledge suggests that any more than 2/3 mods warrants a proper look at the map. The cold dense air leads to higher boost on pretty much any setup which naturally has an effect on the map. These cars are sensitive to these things and better to be safe than sorry particularly in the early stages of ownership. I bought my car from one of the guys at Hayward Rotary (he owned the car personally) and Carl rebuilt my engine at the same time - I have had a good connection to him and peace of mind since. So linking up with a specialist is definitely something I would advise, as with any car there are quirks and specific little hints and things to note. The rotary engine is a wonderful thing, look after it properly and you will do nothing but smile every time you get behind the wheel.
Sorry if this is a bit patronising!
Btw your MR2 is quite something!
Patronising? Not nearly enough... These are obviously sensitive engines so it needs to be drummed into my head. Once the decat is fitted ill see how it goes with the boost increase... Next step I believe is a fuel pump and then a remap? So about what type of oil I should be using?
Ill check out FDUK now cheers bud!!
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On a further update....
My Greddy/TRUST suspension units arrived yesterday and got a chance to fit them today. They are some old used things I sourced from a breakers so at £150 delivered!! I couldnt grumble and was worth a try...
Adjustable damping units, all adjusters worked fine!
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From this...
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To this...
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The ride is 100% better, no more jittery steering wheel and unbalanced boat like handling. This car is now well planted, stable and firm. I even benefited from a more slammed front end, not sure about the rear but to be honest I think it should be.
£150 handling transformation.... Im well chuffed :D
Cheers!
v noooice dude! Looks better already :)
4 scissor jacks you nutter!!! :O
As for Oil - cheapo 10W 40 mineral, regular changes 3000-5000 miles ... happy days :0
Njoy
Not sure it there will be any 7\'s going dude, but plenty of 8\'s
hire or a lid is only about £10 but if your strapped for cash then thats understandable.
would be good to see you come along.
Nice one fil, thats all I wanna hear. Guys, how did it go on Friday what with the track session at Brands. I couldnt make it, its been a hectic few weeks and always have had something to do during the day (i work eve and weekends).
In regards to running with the decat, if you are still running a standard downpipe (which I would suspect you are), then you really only need to tweak the map when you fit the decat.
The stock fuel system should be fine with this level of modification, I\'m running a cat-back, decat, induction kit and GReddy elbow and don\'t see more than 80% injector duty with no mods to my fuel system and running 0.8bar boost. Any more boost then it would be advisable to add a higher flow fuel pump.
As for specialists in the Kent area, I\'m afraid there isn\'t much choice (as I\'ve found when a previous FD blew up at my parents in Dover), mapping wise the likes of Jaydee and Blitzboy (contactable on here or FDUK) are in London along with Jason (Super7), a little more further a field you have Hayward Rotary near Newbury who rebuilt and looked after my previous RX7 and REWorx in Portsmouth who have mapped my current RX7.
Thanks od I\'ll bear those people in mind... I bumped into a guy named Steve rivett who had a nice red rx7... first rx7 I\'ve seen apart from mine lol. He happened to be a specialist in this field. Anyone had any experience with him?
Anyways I\'ve just installed the arc intercooler alongside my arc induction, decat and hks catback. Even in this cold weather I have experience no further boost increase.... its always read the same which is 0.9-0.5-0.6 bar of boost. It wont go any higher. It must be something to do with the map its had surely. Anyway for the time being is it safe to still run the car until I get it mapped within the next 2 months?
Cheers all
Yep, Steve knows his stuff, a good man to help / direct you :)
Good news on the no extra boost creep / spike, although it\'s an odd combo, with 0.9-0.5-0.6?!
Should be alright... njoy.
kerim @ powergains with JD mapping is closest to you. Heard good reports about steve rivett but never met him. Stuart KN somewhere near too i think?