I have waited with this for far too long now. I have had this car for four years
in February, and I have asked and nagged for all these years. You haven\'t
even seen my car. I\'ve just been a shadow living in northern Norway, asking
questions, having problems. Well, no more! This is the least I can do in return.
I have formatted my text this narrow on purpose, easier to read than having
paragraphs being 24" wide on your screen, and being only two lines.
(http://i.imgur.com/frod1nP.jpg)
The car before I bought it, outside the dealer/workshop where the owner worked.
I bought the car in January/February 2010, with several problems. First of all,
the car had been sitting for many years after the Turbo II swap. The car itself
is a 1988 RX7 FC3C N/A, imported from the US in 1999. It was down south in
Norway for a year before my neighbour bought it. I had no idea he ever had
it, but anyways. It got sold after a year or two, 70km further west in the
lovely island chain of Lofoten, and got rammed into a fence, so the right
fender had to be swapped, then they swapped a S5 TII into it, hacked the
wiring harness in the most disgraceful way.
When I got it, the power wire to the alternator, well, the brown plastic on the
alternator was broken, so it arced, lost contact, so on. With that fixed, I felt
it didn\'t go as it should. I had a VW Passat with 196bhp before this, and this
was a lighter car, and it had 6 mor bhp. It felt sluggish. I checked around,
new to the rotary scene, and found out N328 was S4 N/A. My MAP-sensor
was way wrong for my engine. Got hold of a N370 one, after fiddling thinking
the boost solenoid was the culprit for a month before that. From 0.4 boost to
0.6 in a heartbeat. Probably had 160bhp before that.
(http://i.imgur.com/wIa77Lp.jpg)
Straight after I got it, still on testing plates, as you can see. Here at Esso with my friends AE86.
(http://i.imgur.com/aDmgfgt.jpg)
The stock seats in vinyl covers. Why? There wasn\'t much fabric left under it.
The seats in the car was so worn down, it was insane. The PO was fat. There
is no other way saying it, he just was fat. So I got a set of Honda Prelude
seats with the car, and I got them welded in. Also, the exhaust tips were
broken off the mufflers, so I got a RB replacement for one side, and made a
block-off plate for the other, just temporary you know.
(http://i.imgur.com/GRx8jqD.jpg)
The Prelude-seats welded into place. Got no pics of the exhaust muffler swap.
The winter after I had so much fun, I can\'t explain. Me and my friend
practically lived in my car, and I bet she wouldn\'t mind another ride in it, even
though we drifted apart two years ago. Just for old memories. I think I got
more milage sideways than straight that winter. Then my exhaust broke in half
at the Y-split. Frustrated and broke, I bought two meters of stainless steel,
and a couple of hours with a friend, I had a 2.5" stainless exhaust from the
downpipe to the muffler. In practice, it was 2.25" since the muffler pipe was
2.25", but atleast I didn\'t sound like Colin McRae coming around town
sideways. Well, I did, but I didn\'t go deaf or get jailtime for it.
(http://i.imgur.com/AtQG1UL.jpg)
Picture taken in April 2011. First day without winter tires!
(http://i.imgur.com/cNUhqcC.jpg)
Did this some time around April 2011 also.
Then came may 2011. Friend wanted to join for a ride, sure I said, went off.
3km it took, before something was very wrong. Seemed like IC-piping popped
off somewhere. Ait, it was worse than that. Checked all piping on the side of
the road, nothing. By the way, blowing into rubber tubes from the IC system
makes you look like Robert Downey Jr., except the beard isn\'t beard, it\'s filth.
(http://i.imgur.com/Z3VXbia.jpg)
I don\'t have any images from the rebuild,
so I put this here instead. Got S5 tail lights around December 2010.
Anyways, drove home, got it parked. Took the plugs out to listen to
compression. Pfft-pfft-silence-silence... Of course, a bit over a year, and I
had to rebuild my own wankel engine, how nice! But fortune favours the bold,
as they say, and I did it. I rebuilt my own engine, no experience with wankel
engines before, and with piston engines.. Well, I did swap my head gasket on
the Passat, and swap an engine in an AE86. Not the most experienced guy.
On a side note, 15.000km later, two and a half year, it still runs tho!
Now, this rebuild was done in my dads carport, in the house we had sold,
moving out in August the same year. I got the engine together in August, but
after we had given the house over to the new owners. Thankfully they let me
stay and fix my mess.
(http://i.imgur.com/df5JKU0.jpg)
I lied. I got two usable ones.
Or three actually. Just got everything around the
engine out, ready to lift!
(http://i.imgur.com/UdEO2SU.jpg)
And it\'s out!
(http://i.imgur.com/me6AuHf.jpg)
And on the way into the carport.
You can see my exhaust in the background,
single piped custom welded stuff.
I got the engine in the car, didn\'t run. September went by, I moved in my own
apartment, October came, almost went. You see, marking the injectors front
and rear left and right can be confusing, and is STUPID! P1, P2, S1 and S2,
that\'s how you mark those wires! I got two primary injectors on one rotor,
and none on the other. I got the idea at least, to tow the car in first gear
above 4000rpm. And off she went.
November came, and I got problems again. Off to sell the car 300km away. He
didn\'t like that the engine wasn\'t approved by the Norwegian DOT equivalent.
So I went on to a friend, total of 500km away, Tromsø, for those interested.
We went off to get pizza the next day, and in Tromsø, which got the main
roads in the city in tunnels with roundabouts and the whole lot, the car broke
down. Didn\'t want to boost, didn\'t want to run at all, without running the
started for ages, pumping the throttle and emptying the engine.
Friday came (I drove up on a Wednesday), and I had to get home. I had work
on Saturday at noon. 500km, broken car, no money to fly home, or take the
bus or Coastal Express. I drove. Hills were a problem for me. I talked to Clive,
I talked to a Norwegian wankel guru, I talked to Mazdatrix. No one knew what
was wrong really, the suggestions from all was the AFM. Finally I got home,
and I got a new AFM.. Nothing. On the bright side I got a used HKS filter with it.
November went by, December went by, hell, 2011 went by! 2012 came, and
finally I found the culprit. Since I have a convertible, and the rubber seals are
bad, and I can\'t source new ones (and the plastic in the doors was busted),
water got on the floor, and to the ECU. This fried the OMP-controlling part of
the ECU, frying my OMP, and my ECU. I didn\'t know the ECU was gone in
itself, before I ordered a new one, but I knew the OMP was gone, and that
would take the ECU with it anyways. So I got that and an Rtek chip to
remove the fuel-cut for later, and remove the OMP. Latter part never
happened, it is still there.
(http://i.imgur.com/g2HjGS5.jpg)
First time with my Re-Amamyia\'s on my car! Bought
them with tires for 400£, tires were old, very old, but stored in
perfect enviroment, so they were still good to use for another
couple of seasons with careful driving.. yeah, I might have made
some black 255mm wide marks some places... :burnout
(http://i.imgur.com/QlVm1mr.jpg)
Got a exhaust reducer (3"-2") cut and
welded in an angle, fits nicely as a pipe to the filter
and AFM, I\'d say! Need a hole in the steel and a box
around the filter and we have a proper CAI, folks!
Car worked nicely through 2012, except a small hitch with my water pump
when my e-fan didn\'t start as it should. Luckily, the engine prevailed, there
was even steam inside the car, sauna, it was. Then came July/August, and I
had uni the 14th. Before that, I was supposed to go to my friend in Bodø, a
good 5 hour drive from me, and get some bits and pieces for my car. Since I
removed the air pump, power steering and A/C at rebuild, I also removed the
BAC and the other stuff on the LIM and UIM. So he sent me a BAC to me.
Now, that was okay. Then the ECU went again. He had a N370 ECU, luckily,
and sent it to me. I got it, got the chip over from the old ECU, and drove to
him. Some weeks after this, two days before I had to move to go to uni, I got
my full Racing Beat exhaust! Best purchase for that car EVER! Even trumphs
the apexes, that is how good it was to get a proper sounding system!
(http://i.imgur.com/rmcMVhV.jpg)
The waterpump-scandal, where is Nixon when I need him?!
I did regret using that liquid gasket when I had to remove it again.
I forgot to mention that the plastic pipe from the water pump top burst..
exploded, and I got a alu one welded. This was in october 2012-ish.
(http://i.imgur.com/DL3fYMt.jpg)
Quicky in Bodø with my friend.
You can probably see where I got my new hood.
Lucky guy got himself an aluminium one!
Rest of 2012 went nicely, got some extra high beams for the dark winter
nights (no sun for a month in December/January). Nothing special really. For
Christmas, me and my father went to my sister in Bodø, and I visited my
friend again. Got some TB adjustments done, car idled better and didn\'t jerk
as much going off throttle.
(http://i.imgur.com/G3Re7ea.jpg)
Me and two friends lining up outside school for a quick shot.
98 Toyota Corolla G6 1.3, 92 Mazda 323 GT-R
and my trusty (not) RX7.
In the start of 2013, sometime, of course when it was -10 degrees Celcius,
my starter failed. As my daily driver, my friend with the GTR in the picture
above drove me around town, and we found some random brushes. Borrowed
a file from my landlord, and made them fit. Took some hours to get it all fixed,
but atleast I could start my car again!
Rest of 2013 has been okay, really. I got tired of driving my stone cold Mazda
around, and I got a loan, big one. 16.000£ big one. I wanted a proper daily
driver, that could handle the steep slopes of Narvik. I ended up with a 2003
Volvo S60 2.5T AWD. Fun car, except the traction control and anti-skid crap.
210bhp is okay in a family sedan, and it is comfy, as comfy as you can get.
(http://i.imgur.com/jlKIG6n.jpg)
My new beauty. I got some big plans for this one, including manual tranny and 350bhp.
Snappy 5.5 0-60 times in a 1700kg sedan!
In May, just before 17th of May, which is the Norwegian Constitution Day,
National Day, me and a friend went adventuring. On a mountain road, with a
Volvo... oil pan got busted, and I ended up like below.
(http://i.imgur.com/EoTpLOQ.jpg)
The hole was the size of a 50 pence coin!
Oil went out in litres per second!
I got home by a 5 hour bus, ferry and catamaran journey, 11pm me and my
dad got our traditional chinese food for the day. Day was saved. And a memory for life.
June 12th school was over, and I got my RX on plates again. Fiddled the
timing correct, had fixed my issues with knocking that I had with the car
through 2013. It was the trailing coils that didn\'t work sometimes, in the end
never. I thought it was my cluster and something else. Cluster gets signal
from trailing coils. Stupid me.
(http://i.imgur.com/HI6TOsX.jpg)
Taken around april 2013, just got my Re\'s on for the summer!
With that fixed, car worked, used it almost every day through the summer.
Probably put 3000km in it in two months. The Volvo.. Well, from March 25th
when I bought it, till today, I have driven 20.000km in it. That is half-way
around the PLANET at equator. Half of that, maximum, was necessary trips.
Rest was just for fun.
Anyways, I went off to school again, this time 1500km away, not 230km as
the previous year. Engineer bachelor, mechanical.
I went home for a bit over a week in October/November 2013, and I started
working on the car a bit. It worked so nicely. It looked like shiet under the
hood, but it did work, it really did. I was going to a party, and had just a
couple of hours, but I managed to use 50 zip-ties and one roll of electrical
tape. And on the trip to the party, I noticed my worst enemy, knocking.
Why, oh why? Something that was connected lost contact when I taped up
the harness properly. Or something got contact again, who knows.
(http://i.imgur.com/6YWgKmo.jpg)
The car in October 2013, newly cleaned, with winter tires.
Wondering white or black plastidip on them, any thoughts?
The day after my friend from Bodø came with my GTR-friend (they go to the
same school I went to the year before) from Narvik, and we were going to
swap my slave cylinder. But since I was rushed to get drunk, I didn\'t check or
fix the knocking issue, so after I got the cylinder swapped, we dove into the
knocking issue. There was nothing obvious to it. The MAP-sensor seems like a
nice place to start, right? No, I got boost readings on the stock gauge, it
worked. The car won\'t even idle without the AFM, that can\'t be it. Rewired
the O2-sensor, nothing.
(http://i.imgur.com/bKzRbcM.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/niADfQO.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/YCVNv2x.jpg)
My engine bay before the cleanup.
We ended up advancing the timing some 5 degrees. For some reason, I only
got 0.4 bar of boost, previously I had 0.9 bar. Even with or without the boost
solenoid, which at stock gives 0.2 bar more, probably 0.4 more with the RB
exhaust, nothing. 0.4 bar dead. I was bothered with a small bit over
overboost before this, 0.1 bar or so, no knocking, so not too dangerous, but I
thought it was the wastegate actuator. This proved I was wrong, saved me
some money there. But to get the boost up, I clamped the hose with a hose
clamp till I got 0.8 bar, closest I got without running free-boosting turbo, in
other words shutting the pressure to the actuator totally.
(http://i.imgur.com/LObRLRw.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/jmlDXTj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CLZ7Lok.jpg)
The engine bay cleaned up.
Remarkable what some tape and zip-ties can do!
Now, today, November 22nd, I have decided to write this, and to get some
proper work done on my car. When I was in Bodø, I got the new hood, that
will be re-painted red so it kinda matches my car, and I will take out the
interior to get to the bottom of my issues with the heater fan. I will also clean
the interior to get the smell out of my darn carpet, the water leak made the
car smell mouldy, so soap, water and air will help that.
Since I live 1500km away from the car, this will be done in the Christmas
holiday. Since I am stupid as stupid can get, I will be driving my Volvo home
for that holiday, all 1500km. December 12th my final exam is done, December
13th-16th is at my sisters in Bodø, and a bowling tournament they luckily
placed the same weekend I get there. Then, the 16th, I am home, just 5
hours of driving left, out of 21!
I will get to that bit in a bit less text, and some pictures, when the actual
holiday arrives in roughly three weeks.
(http://i.imgur.com/9G31lgr.jpg)
The current car family almost. My RX (or rather my rear Re-wheel),
my Volvo and my fathers blue 2000 Corolla 1.4.
I put down around 20.000km in the Mazda since I got it in 2010, I got 20.000km on the Volvo since March 25th 2013 (oops),
and I got a whopping 100.000km in my fathers Corolla since
I got my licence in 2008.
(http://i.imgur.com/Xuro4LA.jpg)
Add this together with the 10.000km I
got in my Peugeot from September 08 to February 09...
(http://i.imgur.com/PMj0Xjx.jpg)
And the 20.000km I got on the VW Passat from August 08
(turbo and oil pump went on the way home from purchase, so bought the Peugeot too)...
If I am not mistaken, that is a total of 170.000km in 5 years. 34.000km per
year. 8 times around Earth at equator, almost once per year... I\'m mad!
(http://i.imgur.com/pDoQ9jf.jpg)
From 107.000km in 08 to 203.000km in 2013.
My dad hasn\'t been using the car since I got my licence,
it deserves a bad picture on a members only rotary forum!
Cheers for reading all this, it has been a journey to hell and back, well, not
quite back. But even with all these problems, the car still puts a grin on my
face when I drive it, and I can\'t wait to get to those 10 inches of snow at
home. Problem is, I got two cars that needs satifying, the Volvo can also
drive sideways. What the hell, the Volvo gets the fun when the RX is in the
garage, and the RX can get the rest!
People wonder why I like this pile of scrap of a car, why I want to keep it...
They don\'t understand. You guys in here... you understand! It is an FC, you
can\'t explain it!
Cheers again guys! For the help and for reading!
Love the wheels on the FC :driving
Made for FD, but man, they do fit the FC better I think! And the 10" in the back with 255\'s on, I just need some coilovers and slam it down, and it\'s perfect. Just barely legal in terms of how far out they go, barely! And in, in terms of the big spirally thing there!
Well done :Thumbsup!
I know its been painful for you to get the car this far but it must now seem 100% worth it :burnout
Well, here is my list of work to do for Christmas holiday:
-Rip out interior
-Clean carpets and seats
-Check for rust, fix if any
-Check wiring in dash
-Find a darn nut for the filler cap wire so I can remove that zip-tie I use as a lock now
-Glue the center console together (a big tower PC doesn\'t fit inside an FC, note to self!)
-Get the instrument cluster frame fastened properly (lower bracket in the dash broken)
-Fix the roof lining in the t-top
-Paint the hood
-Fibreglass the broken side mirror
-Paint both mirrors, probably the boot lid if I got enough cans of colormatch
-Fasten the left fender
-Might paint the grill in front black, kinda S5 style
-Get that last bolt on the passenger side door handle
-Find some 4" speakers for the dash and mount them properly
-Clean the engine bay (by cleaning, I am done with wires for now, I\'ll stick to soap)
100% worth it? Only when boosting 0.9 along a nice stretch of road ;) But not when I stop and look at anything in or on the car, sadly :P
Well, that nice stretch might be bendy as long as it is snow on the road, or I get a diff that locks when it should!
Like this (http://media3.origo.no/-/cache/image/1902834_hbc6627a2891cac16096b_v1314890851_562x450.jpeg)
Love holding it through the first bend (like a 50m radius 120 degree bend) all the way up to the tunnel entrance at the top!
Might be able to film it when I get home, just for the heck of it!
A little update here:
Found myself scraping along the metal guard fence due to supercooled rain, so I need a new front quarter, straighten the door and rear quarter, and two new mirrors. No point doing the respray when both are gone.
As for the cars performance, I do have a thread which Prof is helping me, but I still got the knocking issue, but my boost went from the 0.4 without the clamp (0.8 with) to 1.2 no matter what I did, as well as knocking from just above stock boost.
I shoult get myself a 3 bar MAP, new looms and sensors (and throttle body) plus a hefty standalone EMS...
If I had the money, the Volvo is screaming for strut bar and poly bushings all over. Need to get all the power I can to the wheels since I got autolazyic box!