RX7 FC3S Turbo Cabriolet Project

[rob192]

Afternoon all,

New owner here, I\'ve said hello here, feel free to swing by and say hi!

I\'ve been on many car forums over the years, and never quite had the time to do a proper project thread, I\'m going to attempt to do one here.

In my welcome thread, I\'ve purchased a RX7 that is worse than swiss cheese underneath, properly properly rusted to holy hell. I\'d said that I was going to repair it, but unfortunately, it\'s worse than we could see when it was up on the ramp. We\'ve stripped the shell down and it\'s gone, truly and utterly beyond repair that anyone would deem economical. Here is the sorry looking beast:



Where does that leave me then? Good engine (lots of receipts) and nothing to put it in.

Not any more! I went down to see a guy called Tool (who\'s apparently banned from here - good start to my RX7 career - associating with known felons but there we go) in Maidenhead and picked up this beast:





It\'s a very late FC cab and it\'s so clean. Soooooo clean and pretty well specced - it\'s got cruise control (although I assume that\'ll die once the manual box goes in), air con (will probably be removed - who needs air con in a cabrio!), headrest speakers so clean door panels etc. Also happened to be missing an engine which suited my needs fantastically well. A number of pounds changed hands and I came to collect it a couple of weeks later. It\'s now sitting on my drive waiting for work to begin, the project officially starts at the beginning of April while I accumulate parts.

So far I\'ve got:

• Cusco handbrake knob
ʉۢ Cusco brake master cylinder stopper
ʉۢ Cusco front and rear strut braces
ʉۢ Super Now! tie rod end set
ʉۢ Uras Super Lock tie rod set
ʉۢ Super Now! Response Up! air pump blanking plates kit
ʉۢ APP Stainless Brake Lines F/R
ʉۢ EBC Pads and Discs F/R
ʉۢ Caliper rebuild kits F/R
ʉۢ Sard magnetic oil filter
ʉۢ Billion Super Low temp thermostat
ʉۢ Trust/Greddy Rotary engine oil
ʉۢ NGK platinum plugs
ʉۢ Walbro 255 fuel pump
ʉۢ AEM UEGO wideband AFR gauge
ʉۢ Proper Mocal oil cooler & filter relocation kit
ʉۢ Italvolanti wooden wheel & leather gear gaitor for that classy touch
ʉۢ Blitz 75mm boost gauge with Attain dash holder (although I might go with a 60mm Illumi Drive with Greddy holder)
ʉۢ HSD DT coilovers
ʉۢ Centreline Auto Drag billet wheels 15x8 ET-19 15x10 ET-38
ʉۢ Blitz mesh air filter
• Blitz dump valve
• Mitsi Evo front mount intercooler and pipework which will be converted to a v-mount setup

All brand new & geniune (except the intercooler) - accept no immitations!

So, all in all, pretty damn excited and I\'m hoping to be the owner of a very very cool FC once it\'s all put together.

I\'ll keep the updates rolling in as and when they come, in the meantime I can be found browsing the technical sections as this is my first Rotary engined car!

Cheers,

Rob.

[grinder]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh you got it then

I was trying to get the gearbox off him

I think our paths might of crossed on a prev thread , but i thought i would post up here anyways

If you want shut of the auto box , just let me know

Out of interest , did you get the Evo IC with the car , or from somewhere else ??

I had one YEARS ago that i sold with my car .. wondering if its the same one ?

[Arnie_O]

Welcome back buddy... Sorry to hear your first attempt didn\'t work out too well.
Glad you jumped back in, and looks like you been shopping already.

[TiddlesRX7]

Gooooooooooooooooooo Rob!
Looks like your already having fun. Which it is all about at the end of the day. Witht he spec your talking about this will be a very nice FC once done. Keep the pics coming as we all like perv on FC Porn!

Ade

[rob192]

Hi guys,

Sorry for lack of update, been waiting for a Cortina to clear out of the workshop before this can crack on.

As soon as the project starts and the gearbox is out of the black one, it\'s yours grinder. I\'ve no idea on the condition but it\'s yours for a couple of pints at the bar. Evo intercooler came from eBay, I\'m still undecided on the horizontal mount as it\'ll mean using the heavier non turbo bonnet so I can cut a vent in without it looking weird with the standard one, I may use in a mid mount vertical set up and retain the standard bonnet.

I\'ll admit I\'m quite ashamed to have given up so easily with the white one, it\'s never truly beyond repair but it would have been a total new floor and I haven\'t got the time or money for that to be honest, I want to get it done for this summer and enjoy it straight away. Buying the black shell is cheating but totally worth it economically, it was too clean to ignore

Add a 300mm Personal steering wheel (I\'ve also elected to use the black interior from the white car, extremely pedantic but I couldn\'t find a nice enough gear knob in the right colour wood..), Nardi Prestige gear knob, old skool Apexi AVCD & SAFC, Banzai racing double alternator pulley kit, Godspeed (eugh, but £400~ on the equivalent Koyo seems a bit steep) radiator, Samco hoses and giant Kenlowe fan.

Pretty much done on the parts front really. Looking forward to it.

[grinder]

Just keep me informed pal and i will try and sort something out for collection ( or failing that a LONG drive to london to collect ! )

Im sure you will have loads of fun swapping the bits over

So whats the plan with the white one then ?

[rob192]

Oh yeah, just noticed you\'re in Chorley! Friend of mine lives in the Lakes, I\'m sure there could be something we could do with that.

Plan with the white one.. hmm. Erm, strip it to it\'s absolute core and keep anything that isn\'t rotten for spares for the black one I guess. I won\'t be using it but I\'ll make sure as much as possible of it lives on in one way shape or form.

[grinder]

yeah the lakes is only prob 50 miles away , where you are prob 250 ish ?

i think you should go and visit your mate with a gear box in the boot

[rob192]

Sounds like a plan!

[grinder]

it does ? :eek

[rob192]

Yeah! I go up there pretty often, I don\'t mind the drive.

[grinder]

if thats the case i could meet you at a motorway junction or services

I only live a 5 min drive from the junction anyways

And you would get more than beer tokens for your effort

[rob192]

Sounds good to me, I\'ll let you know when we\'re on. It\'s a shame it hasn\'t become available a bit sooner because he\'s down this weekend, could have stuck it in the boot of his SX. Nevermind!

Anyway, all I require now is tyres, got to fit the arches and measure the wheels up and then I can get them ordered. I\'ve got a budget of about 300 for tyres, I can fit them myself, any recommendations on what to get? Difficult to go wrong with a major brand I\'d expect. Car will be fast road, no track use.

[grinder]

if there is no engine in the car , it should be a case of prop off , couple gearbox mounts and it should fall off

Ok maybe a few wires and pipes aswell ! LOL

But happy to work around you .. car hasnt moved in 18 months -> 24 months , so no real rush to be honest .. and i have no idea of the state of the engine either

[rob192]

I\'d love to tell you I\'d take it out this weekend for you but that would be an utter lie sorry chap.