future

Oh this is nice

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2muchboost

Haha I am sure with nearly double the HP to the wheels. Absolutely love the build and the quality of work. Inspirational to say the least.

Esserz

Finally got the vids uploaded! Dyno vid and some exhaust noises.

https://youtu.be/r1W6DxtHWS8

https://youtu.be/QMcfAYrgWYQ

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

Got a lot done this past weekend!

First I swapped out to the newer style 99 spec taillights. They do give it a more modern look, and are more suited to the typical RX-7 jdm look. They are also brighter.



I then adjusted ride height to about where I wanted it and went in for an alignment, made such a huge difference in the way it drives. I had attempted to align in my garage with tape measure but I can only get it so close. Once it was on the rack we could see the rear thrust was completely off. It got dialed in, and now it drives like a whole new car!





I did some driving and test hits and it sure does hook up much better. Still need to roll on the throttle in second, but third is fairly solid now. I ran into an issue with my fuel gauge reading funky. It would bounce to full every now and then, and after some troubleshooting I was able to narrow it down to the sending unit in the tank. I bought a replacement float and resister unit and swapped it in



It did the trick.

I brought the car out to its first car show as well, parked next to a buddy in his MKIV Supra. The car got a lot of attention. Although the FD gets dwarfed by the Supra ha, it's small size really shows.







All in all it was a successful weekend and it felt great driving to and from the car show, car is getting so close to getting all the minor bugs worked out. Engine now has about 200 miles on it, and is on its second oil change of break in oil.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

future

FD definitely is small next to other cars

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Esserz

Did some interior updates, I was able to score a really nice OE Nardi steering wheel with the red stitching from Japan. It is a hair smaller than the stock FD wheel, which helps give a bit more leg room. The wheel feels super nice in my hands and flows well with the rest of the interior.






I deep cleaned the floor mats and got them to an almost like new condition.

I have an auto-x I'm planning to go to this weekend and bought a set of 17" RPF1's that I'm awaiting from tire rack for the event.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

Finally had time to do some more driving, I just got back from completing One Lap of America with Toyota (in a Prius lol). My LS3 engine currently has 700 miles on it, and is on the third oil change. I have been taking special care to break in this crate engine:

Initial oil used wen I fired it up was the BR30 Gibbs break in oil
First oil change was at 100 miles using a second change of the break in oil
Second oil change at 300 miles using conventional valvoline oil
Next oil change will be at 1,000 miles and switching over to full synthetic

I did do some break in drives varying the load and rpm, but definitely did not go easy on it. Based upon some research iv'e done, it's best to get the engine up to operating temp and then try to load up the rings quickly to help them seat.

This last oil change I did a full weekend of auto-x, and it was a blast. This was the first outing for the FD, and I was able to place in the top 5 for the weekend. This was even on street tires (200tw RE71), while three others in the top 5 were on slicks. I was super happy with how the car performed.

I picked up a set of RPF1's for track and auto-x duty. They saved me 8 lbs a corner over the XXR's that were on it, you can really feel the weight difference in the car



The first morning on Saturday was a hard rain, but quickly cleared up and the rest of the day was dry.



I went out and did some shake down runs first thing, the tires grip extremely well for being a tiny 255 square setup. I am able to dead hook 2nd gear which was not possible previously. The tein suspension did surprisingly well. With some tweaks to the shocks it was handling predictably.




The second day there was a lot more competition, and the weather was a bit hotter than the previous. On my last run the RE71's did start to get a little greasy and spin a bit. These tires definitely need to be cooled down between runs. Despite being a small auto-x track I was able to hit 70mph (top of second).



I was super impressed with the car's practicality so far, I drove to the event (1.5 hours away) and honestly was not sure how it would do being the first long drive I have taken in the car since completing the build. It rained on the way there and on the way home, but the car made the journey no problem. Ride comfort on the road is not too bad either, and exhaust does not drone. My passenger could have slept if he wanted to lol.



Next auto-x is on the schedule! and hopefully going to try and get some track days at NCM scheduled as well.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

More photo dump form the event:

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

onehundredoctane

How am I just stumbling upon this build. . . ?!

Love the attention to detail and the overall build, great work!

This makes me want to fix every little thing on my S14 now

codyzsilvia

This is prob my favorite FD ever.

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METAL FOR LIFE

Esserz

Thanks for the comments!!!


Got my car weighed just for shiggles.

This is with half tank of gas



Definitely needs corner balanced, but super stoked with it being almost into the 2600's. Some different seats and lighter calipers should get me there.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

future

Were you sitting inside? Why is the LF so heavy?

Besides that I came here to tell you I have wet dreams about this car. Its amazing

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dbeiler

That is impressive. That's even lighter than my partially stripped S13 LS1+T56 that came in at 2760lbs on a quarter tank. How an earth did you get under the original factory weight with a V8 in it?

Esserz

Contrary to common belief, the all aluminum V8 LS is a tad bit lighter than the rotary engine but the T56 is a bit heavy

I also used lightweight components light flywheel, and deleted items like ABS and airbags to help reduce weight.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

boost infested

Nice project! So tempting to get a rx7. I have a ls in my 240sx as well. Check out my thread. Some of my photos are missing tho.

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INSTAGRAM@boostinfested
http://zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=569294

juan3023

rx7 looks amazing, I bet you never get bored driving that rocket

babillaracing

bad ass build

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618 whp tuned by alpha

Esserz

I went to a car show this past week and they had a dyno competition there. I put the FD on the rollers and did a couple runs. With some small changes and a new ported intake manifold I was able to lay down some better number: 434hp and 440trq

It was enough to win a trophy for the highest HP NA V8 at the show!





and the badass camshaft trophy!

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

Finally updates.

LS fest was in early September, and I had a ton of prep work I needed to do. One of the main points being a corner balance and an aggressive auto-x alignment. I was happy with my RE71r tires for now although wider on all 4 would have been desirable, just couldn't source CCW's in time. I took my car to a shop in Louisville, KY called The Winning Formula - they specialize in performance alignments. I told Aaron exactly what I was going to be doing at LS fest and what I expected out of the car. I chose to compete in the Grand Champion Event which consists of two different auto-x set ups, a drag race, and a road course type challenge. I figured this would be a great way to really test the all around performance of my setup.

I trailered my car to The Winning Formula, they have a ton of cool projects going on there. Here are some photos from the journey:





Do you even Miata????



They even had a minty fresh stock FD they were working on.



They got my car on the rack and got to work.


Here is what Aaron ended up with on the corner balance and alignment. It is a fairly aggressive setup, but a good compromise for all of the events I plan to participate in. He was impressed with the way the car drove, and I could immediately feel a difference once I took it for a spin. Aaron was able to catch some small issues with some joints that had loosened up over the break in period, so I'm thankful he took his time to look over my work. He also raised the rear of the car up 5mm to aid in traction.



I trailered the car back home and went over the rest of my drivetrain components, checking for other fasteners that loosened up any and snugged them all up. I changed oil again, washed the car, and deemed it ready for some abuse!!

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

All loaded up and ready to go down to Bowling Green at the NCM track! Super excited to compete with other LS's and get some nice advice from other drivers. I'm a bit in the minority with a import car there, but that's okay I like the uniqueness of it all.




I drove down with a buddy that has an LS swapped rx8 that was also competing:


LS fest was packed, there were over 200 competitors for the Auto-x. they split them up between two groups (one at each track) to let everyone get their runs in. On the second day we switched locations.






saw a fellow norotors friend "Kevin Doe" there, with his much more purpose built FD! It was nice being able to talk to someone with similar setups!



Some on course photos below. Yes this is me loosing traction and hitting a cone lol.




After all the day's festivities I was able to relax while the car show happened. I got a lot of questions and compliments on the swap:


The first night was the drag race. I knew I wanted to see what the car would do, but I was also afraid to break my stock Mazda rear diff and not be able to compete in the next day's races. So I left off idle and completely fugged the 60 foot, but was still satisfied with my time and trap speed despite the slow take off.
In line waiting to make a pass:


And the slip...


My goal is to come back when not on street tires and make a better pass! the event also made it apparent how much the 4.10 rear gear was holding me back. I was having to shift into 5th to cross the 1/4 mile which was killing time and trap speed. The traction is also hard to control with the 4.10 on the track, some courses I had to shift as well. A gear change is in the near future.

All in all, I ended up placing in the top 15% of the entire group based upon the Auto-x times. I was super happy with this, as the cars in front of me were purpose built cars dedicated to auto-x. And I was on the smallest tires at the event ha! It's some good motivation to get a new tire setup and come back next year.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

So I made the first road trip in the FD, a trip to Tail of the Dragon. It was my dream to take this car down there at some point, and so glad I did. It was over 1,000 miles round trip, and the car never had a single hiccup. I was able to go with some buddies from work: 2JZGTE IS300, C6Z, and STI swapped RS. All of us were in the same realm of speed, I drove down on my auto-x setup and ripped on the dragon, it was a blast. Pics below.







I made it to the top of one of these mountains, amazing views!!



And Also got to do some drags with the C6Z, and we were neck and neck - a drivers race for sure. This has lead me to the decision to do the next logical step... a simple cam swap for some more cheap power.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

Put the FD back up and jack stands and I tore everything back apart so I could get the cam ready to go in. I worked with Cam Motion and EPS to get a cam designed that would meet my needs (road course, auto-x). We agreed on a grind that would hold the lobes stable at high RPM and still make some pretty good power up top. 228/240 sized cam.

List of items I bought to install:

Camshaft
Katech C5R timing chain
Melling HP oil pump
BTR valve springs
Titanium retainers and hardened push rods
Ported throttle body
LS2 style tensioner (ditched the LS3 style)





I previously made it so that the radiator and fans could be disconnected fairly quickly so that future projects like this would go quick!






Started with taking the valvetrain all apart and keeping everything organized:



BTR platinum springs and Ti retainers in!


The I went on to the cam and oil pump. The Cam motion ground cam was made of their 8620 alloy, which has a bronze like finish to it, and it was nicely polished up! It's an impressive looking piece of machined metal!



I primed the engine again, flushed a bunch of oil through it because im super anal about keeping this engine clean, and put on a fresh filter. I overlooked all of my connections for a few minutes to make sure I didn't forget anything and fired it up. It started on the first go, and idled like a champ. I'm on a speed density tune, so it will need some attention at the tuner soon. I am hoping for about 50hp gain and some strong midrange power inceases. Although the cam is somewhat small for most LS3 cams it does have a pretty choppy idle, the volume of the exhaust has increased tremendously. Idle video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mY0umGbHUk

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

turbo2nr

Sounding good almost rotary like LOL

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s14 kouki ka-t

[240sx]

So much accessible space for that cam swap! Love this build. Would like a cam'd V8 swap myself, even if only for the sound.

e30gangsta

Amazing build keep it up.

Esserz

Took the car to get tuned, it picked up some really good power everywhere in the rpm range! super happy with the cam choice.
Here is the before and after on the cam swap (this was done a dyno dynamics which reads a little differently than typical dynojet numbers)

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

New diff! It's a 3.90 gear ratio which will be ideal for me on the 1/4 mile. Previously I was crossing the 1/4 mile in 5th, so the new gears should wind out 4th all the way. Also instead of the torsen it's got the Turbo 2 clutch type diff known for its strength.



Old diff comes out and new diff goes in...


Oh yeah also got these a while back, needing to get them mounted for the strip. I figured I should make some attempts for a better slip at the last test n tune at Beech Bend this year. Curious what the car can do.

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

Esserz

The hoosiers are looking fat on there!

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1993 FD RX-7----No longer Rotary

future

Omg that's mean

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s14gmo

Jeezus that looks dope af bro!!