cib24's 1999 Mazda RX-7 Type RS

[cib24]

Hello everyone,

I introduced myself here:

http://mazdarotaryclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=83041.0

I purchased my RX-7 on 19 April and it's almost all original except for an Apexi twin intake, Fujitsubo exhaust, Blitz ZZ-R coilovers, Defi water temperature gauge, Billion VFC fan controller, a Momo steering wheel and that stupid headlight vent which I will replace at some point. It's done about 82,000 miles but mechanically it is in excellent condition. The exterior is actually pretty good barring rust on the bottom of the driver's side door (Carl at Hayward Rotary said it looks minor), rust under the rear hatch on the passenger side (looks very minor) and the fact that the car desperately needs a thorough cleaning with heavy duty soap and a clay bar followed by paint correction. The interior is in pretty good shape and should look better once I have tackled it with a heavy duty plastic cleaner followed by a few plastic rejuvination products and both front seats should ideally be reupholstered.

The RX-7 is going to replace my RX-8 as a weekend only vehicle that does about +/- 6,000 miles per year and sees the track about 10 times per year. My plan is to keep the car on the stock 99-spec twins and try to make somewhere between 300-350 bhp. Today (7 May), I took the car to Hayward Rotary for a full check-over of the engine, drivetrain, suspension, etc. and came away very pleased.





The car was compression tested with a genuine Mazda rotary tester and the starter motor was cranking at 265 RPM. Before the results for the front rotor were calculated as the car was cranking his team said it sounded very healthy. The corrected results at 250 rpm are (in bar):

Front rotor: 7.7, 7.6, 7.6

Rear rotor: 8.0, 8.0, 8.0

Carl and his team inspected the entire engine from top to bottom (except they didn't individually check each solenoid), checked the coolant and brake fluid levels, vacuum hoses, all pipe work, engine mounts, front and rear suspension and diff bushings, rotors, calipers, etc. and also took it for a test drive to ensure the car ran alright, boosted correctly, the transmission shifted properly, etc.

We had a chance to look under the car very closely once it was up in the air and we were able to confirm how clean the chassis and suspension is and I was also able to confirm that the down pipe and catalytic converter were stock units. The visual inspection picked up the following:

• Brake Fluid reservoir cap is broken and needs to be replaced;
  
• Rear turbo has the slightest oil leak. It is not dripping at all but is just a touch damp at the bottom front of it. I was advised to not worry about it for now and run it until the turbos go south sometime in the future;
  
• Rear passenger-side brake disc has over heated and is scored so both rear discs will need to be replaced;
  
• Passenger-side top pillowball bushing needs to be replaced;
  
• Drivers-side lower pillowball bushing needs to be replaced;
  
• Main differential bushing has burst and is leaking oil and needs to be replaced;
  
• Catalytic converter is slightly dented but works fine;
  
• Fujitsubo cat-back exhaust reduces within the muffler to about 2.5 inches rather than remaining a full 3 inches; and
  
• Blitz coilovers suspension should be replaced if I want to use this car on the track.
  

We then took the car out for a drive (Carl was driving) and confirmed that the turbos were spooling correctly in any gear and at any time he depressed the throttle. He also said the idle was fantastic, the transmission shifted very well and that the car was very stable. He noted that one of my wheels needs to be rebalanced as there is quite a bit of vibration in the steering wheel (I have noticed this too but thought it might be the way the Momo wheel was attached) and he didn't like the coilovers.

Overall, Carl and his team were extremely impressed with the car's condition and he said that considering how well it runs and the condition of the rest of the mechanicals, if it were his car he would keep the mods light and just focus on the suspension, brakes and tires. His ideology is if it isn't broken then there is no sense in replacing it or fixing it unless you are looking to make significantly more power.

He recommended a 3 inch silenced decat, a proper 3" cat-back and a Power FC with a tune. With this he said I could expect about 300 bhp at 12-13 psi (0.83-0.9 bar). Contrary to what I have researched online, he does not recommend changing the AST if it is in good shape as he thinks most aftermarket units don't seal as well and in his experience very few RX-7s he has worked on have had the ASTs crack and start leaking. Also, at this power level he said that the stock intercooler is more than sufficient for track days as is the S8 radiator with the additional airflow from the 99 spec bumper. He also had some sympathy for rewiring the fuel pump but he didn't specifically say anything about needing to change the ignition coils.

He said if I wanted to try for up to 350 bhp on the twins then I should look into 1680CC secondary injectors, HKS down pipe and an intercooler (front mount or v mount) as a minimum but that the turbos would not last long at 1.0 bar or higher of boost when tracking the car often.

On the suspension side of things he really likes the Tein Street Flex coilovers as a good compromise for street/track use which also aren't too expensive (Ohlin's if you have the budget), uprated anti-roll bars (either Racing Beat or Cusco), stock RS brakes (but admits a good big brake kit is night and day), braded brake lines, and uprated brake pads (he prefers Hawk HP+ but advises that they will not be nice to discs and will damage wheels with all of the brake dust). For tires which will be used on the street and track he says the Federal 595 RSR tires are really good for the price, if you want to spend a bit more the Yokohama AD08s are amazing, and if you want to spend even more then he says you can't do better than the Pirelli Trofeo R's.

Overall, the visit was well worth it as I found out for certain that the car is in great mechanical condition. The next thing I have scheduled is an appointment with Super 7 Autos next week to repair the rust issues on the driver's door and the rear hatch as well as respray the following:

Driver's door - Repair rust and respray.







Rear hatch - repair rust and respray underside of the hatch.





Front bumper and lower diffuser - Respray.



Headlight covers - Remove and replace headlight air vent and respray both headlight covers.



Brake vents - Respray.



Front Passenger Side Wing - Fix flat spot and respray.



Door Mirrors - Respray both.



Body kit - Remove and respray as it desperately needs to be touched up.

Sills - Clean up when body kit is removed and if necessary respray.

Depending on the price of things I may just look into respraying the entire car but I would rather use the money saved on:

• Reupholstering the seats;


• Replacing all of the speakers;


• Installing the Toad Cat 1 alarm I have brand new in a box;


• Installing sound deadening in various locations;


• Fixing as many interior rattles as possible;


• Buying a few new OEM interior items to make the interior nicer;


• Replacing all window trim, the front cowl, exterior door mirror triangles, side markers, windshield wipers, etc.;

• Take the car for preventative rust treatment to top up the waxoyl and inject cavity wax everywhere;


• Fix the mechanical issues that were identified above, buy new brake pads, different coilovers, stickier rubber in the right size (235/45R17 Front, 255/40R17 Rear), decat and Power FC tune;


• Have the car aligned and geo'd;


• Take the car to Offset Detailing for a paint correction detail/valet of the entire exterior, engine bay, interior, wheels, etc.; and


• Finally, go to Snetterton or Oulton Park before the end of July!

[clive]

I know from your RX-8 that this will be turned into a pristine car once you have sorted out the odds n sods,

You probably already know but the front lip should be just plain black plastic which is much easier to live with than the painted one, so you may well be able to paint stripper the one you have if you want it to look stock.

BTW Whilst you already know the discs are bigger and good already its worth knowing that the pads are still stock FD shape

hope this helps

[cib24]

Thanks Clive. I am still debating whether or not to strip the front lip back to black as I agree it will be easier to manage rocks and things chipping it, but I'm also aware that it might look odd with the Mazdaspeed kit on the car.

In terms of brakes, I'm debating whether it really makes sense to splash out on OEM RS rear discs from RHDJapan which are £222.14 before shipping, tax and import duty. I'm thinking that RS Dixcel discs from Suraga Performance might be a better option as they are much cheaper and I can replace all 4 discs with their higher spec stuff (better than their OEM repalement stuff). For example, 2 Dixcel FS front discs are â,¬262.70 and two rear Dixcel HD discs are â,¬180.56 which totals â,¬443.26, or approximately £335.80 before shipping, taxes and import duty.

http://www.suruga-performance.com/index.php/categoryfour/brake-rotors.html?car_model_2=788&limit=16

http://www.dixcel.co.jp/en/rotor/

The only issue is that I'm not sure how good the discs are since there aren't many people whom are running Dixcels in the UK, USA or Australia. I suppose that is natural because most RX-7 owners have 294mm discs which are readily replaceable in their own countries whereas the 314mm RS discs are not.

On another note, is RHDJapan the best place to source OEM replacement items for the FD? As I stated above, the plan is to drop my car off at the body shop next week and have quite a few things repaired and touched up. I think this is a great opportunity to replace a few items that are past their best. I'm talking about replacing window moldings, weather seals, all wiper arms, the front cowl grille, door drip moldings, door triangles above the mirrors, driver's side headlight cover, OEM orange side marker lights, OEM "Mazda" and "RX-7" emblems, etc. I understand that most of this stuff can be purchased from this website brand new which is what I am ideally after, however I am not sure if they offer the best prices, in particular if you take into account the shipping, tax and import duty associated with buying from them.

FYI, I'm also looking for a couple of new pillowball bushings, a differential bushing, an OEM shift knob, new OEM A/C control knobs, OEM dealer option centre console pad, and perhaps a few more new interior items (glovebox, centre console, etc.).

Basically, quite a bit which is saved here but not all of it as some of it is a "just-in-case" saving of items:

https://www.rhdjapan.com/wishlist/sh...3cc2d1481fb49/

I would greatly appreciate it if anyone knows of any other reliable places to at least get the exterior items I'm looking for at this time.

[cib24]

Last night I placed an order for a bunch of crap from RHDJapan and I probably don't need all of it. I bought:

OEM Side Lights/Reflectors - Current ones are ugly





New Windshield Wipers Front and Rear - Current ones are corroded



OEM Rear Window Moulding and Clip - Current moulding is coming off



OEM Cowl Grille and Caps - Current grille is faded as hell





OEM Brake Reservoir Cap - Currently split open



OEM Dealer Option Centre Console Pad - Currently broken



OEM Air Temperature and Fan Switch Knobs (Really didn't need to buy these new) - Currently faded





RE-Amemiya D1 Short Shifter - Don't like stock shifter so will try this out



RE-Amemiya Black Gear Knob - Hate the aftermarket gear knob in my car right now



Apexi Power FC and El Commander for Series 8 RX-7 - Essential and cannot find used ones for Series 8s very often



Next, it's off to the body shop either at the end of this week or on Monday followed by some rust preventative treatment amongst other things over the next 6 weeks. In the meantime I'm trying to plan out the next steps for the car in terms of modifications as I'm now thinking of keeping boost at 0.8-0.85 bar (up from the factory 0.74 bar) considering the fact that the rear turbo has the slightest bit of dampness and I don't want to blow them immediately given that 99 spec twins are hard to come by unless you want to spend a fortune buying them new. So, my new aim is 290-310 bhp and a larger focus on suspension, brakes and tires. So, I have to decide on:

Short Term

• Replace all speakers with quality stock-sized units that won't sound horrible. At the moment I know nothing about car audio.
  
• Buy new rear RS brakes or 4x Dixcels FS/FP Fronts and HD Rears.
  
• Ferodo DS2500, Carbotech XP8, Carbone Lorraine RC6 or Hawk HP+ pads. Perhaps I only need a more aggressive pad on the fronts. Also source quality brake lines and switch to Motul RBF600 or 660.
  
• Source bushings which need replacing (i.e. two pillowballs and one differential bushing).
  
• Ohlins DFV (if at a good price like on the forums a few weeks ago), Tein Monoflex or other. I know Ohlins are the business but I have read several stories online that they corrode easily and thus end up failing early which isn't great to hear considering where we live.
  
• Tires - Federal, Yokohama, Pirelli, etc. Ideally they will not overheat in less than 15-20 minutes on the track and will not try to kill me when it's wet.
  
• Improve radiator and intercooler ducting via blocking off passageways around the cores with foam or something else. In the long-term I really like the Knight Sports SMIC but it costs a fortune and at that price a FMIC is probably better. I've decided a Vmount is not for me as it would change too much of the car and I want to keep my RS looking relatively OEM.
  
• Silenced mid pipe or 100/200 cell high flow cat.
  
• Remap and tune for 0.8-0.85 bar.
  
• Secure in-car camera mounting system for either phone or GoPro along with figuring out how to monitor RPM, speed, gear, etc. like you can with OBD II cars. I plan to record my track sessions and overlay the videos with relevant information like I did when I had the RX-8.

Medium Term

• Gauges - Still deciding. I thought about the Defi Advance ZD but I'm not sure about it after seeing it in action. Seems very overpriced.
  
• Chassis Bracing Options - Differential brace, transmission brace, poly engine mounts, front and rear strut bars. I won't get all of them because then the car will be un-streetable but I am currently researching the best combination. Thinking poly engine mounts, a differential brace and uprated strut bars should do it.
  
• Front anti-roll bar - Cusco, Racing Beat, etc.
  
• HKS down pipe? Not really sure if it is necessary for the power levels I am looking for.
  
• Research water injection, in particular if I can't decide on an intercooler solution in the short to medium term. Need to research reservoir size and location along with the minimum amount needed to inject to last a 15-20 minute track session, reduce hp loss and keep intake temps reasonable.

I will also consider an HKS Twin Spark, uprated fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, etc. if I decide to go for more power and/or experience issues on the track.

[cib24]

Dropped the car off at the body shop today and I think I'm just going to go for a full exterior respray...I mean, it's not finalised yet but I would prefer that everything matches and looks pretty...This will include repairing the rust at the bottom of the driver's door, the rust on the rear hatch, pulling any dents/dings out around the body, fixing the front passenger-side arch, fixing a crack on the front lip and respraying the rest of the body accordingly in factory Chaste White (paint code PT).

At the body shop we raised the car up to get a better look at the side skirts etc. to check for further issues or rust and I took the opportunity to look at my turbos again. There seems to be more oil than I remembered seeing at Hayward Rotary the other day, in particular there was oil on the front turbo this time as well and it was damp on the nearby lines and intake. These signs are not good but let's assume that I replace them (which will delay the intercooler decision and water injection). I'm thinking of two routes:

• Take a gamble on a good used set of twins, whether 99 Spec or early spec - £650-800 including professional install; or
• Utilise the Super 7 Autos rebuild service to have the 99 Spec twins rebuilt with all new parts and have upgraded oil seals installed that are designed to withstand higher temperatures - North of £1250.

I also recognize that with the Power FC that is coming it will be a good idea to get a down pipe and a silenced mid pipe to go with it and a tune.

On the suspension front I nearly bought Ohlins last night but held off as I won't have the car ready to go racing for a little bit anyway. The Blitz coilovers actually aren't that bad when you increase the damping but they do ride pretty hard. There are 32 adjustments and basically only the first 10 adjustments are useable on the street and if I'm honest any more than 8 clicks from full soft is pushing it when driving within the M25 given how bad the roads are. I know that Ohlins are in a different league altogether but I have had two Mazda rotary specialists tell me that the Tein Street Flex is a good compromise between road and track at half the price. Thoughts?

Finally, a more random question but I have a Toad Ai606 alarm system brand new in the box that I want installed on my RX-7 but I am not sure how much it costs to have a professionally certified installer do the work. For those that have had an alarm system installed on their car before what is the going rate?

This car is seriously going to be the death of me as at the very least I still need new rear brakes, brake pads, replace the differential bushing, tires and an alignment before hitting the track! I've debated trying to cut costs by just mapping the car with the current mods at 0.9 bar but once I replace the mid pipe and down pipe I will just need to have it mapped again anyway!

If all I wanted to do was drive it on the street I would be perfectly happy with how it drives now, but I didn't buy the car to cruise around at 70 mph or less!

[[GSV]Myocardial]

I just got quotes of between £325 no VAT & £399+VAT for supply and install of an Autowatch 457 RLi Cat 1 system.

Most installers I talked to would only do supply and fit.

Clifford concept 650 mk ii was circa £450

[clive]

Just a thought Roy, if you go for the Teins you can fit the EDFC  adjustable in cab shock absorber system which is a staggering piece of kit.

I run this on the race car and great to be able to set the car up on the move, for instance at Castle Combe at the weekend, I had a bit of understeer on one particular corner and with just one click on the EDFC to stiffen the rear and no more understeer.

Had I had any other shocks that the Teins it would have meant a trip back to the pits, which is A, lost track time or if Racing, potentially positions lost.

The GPS version is Super cheap for what it does as I am told that the only other version is available for Porche at 6K a go 

[Arnie_O]

Looking good Roy
Remember I have a lot of parts in the UK and will look after you buddy.
The car looks good. No doubt it will look excellent when your finished

[cib24]

Thanks for the advice guys. Aston, there are one or two things I have in mind and it all comes down to timing.

I wanted to ask what the general consensus is on here regarding the AST? My car still has the factory plastic AST and when I spoke to Carl and Hayward Rotary about replacing it, since that is what I read online is one of the first "must do" items, he simply asked me why?

He states that the stock AST seals and works much better than the aftermarket metal units and that he hasn't seen many fail in his time working on RX-7s. Now, I did some research online and apparently there was a recall issued on the 1992 to early 1994 cars as the ASTs on those vehicles were replaced with ASTs which had more heavy duty plastic construction. So, perhaps by the time they made it to 1999 the AST issues were a thing of the past?

What do people recommend on this forum with regards to replacing or not replacing the stock AST?