2002 Bathurst - Innocent Blue - initialDean Build

[initialDean]

So, I've had my RX7 for about 6 months now, so thought it would be a nice idea to start logging the work I have done or still need to do.
I'm not big on blabbering on too much so I'm sure as this blog goes on my talking will be less and less..... and I shall just chuck pics on here from time to time.

After 7 years of owning my 2nd Honda S2000, I decided it was time for a change.
The S2000 was immaculate and I got a good price for it meaning I had enough capital to throw at a half decent Rx7.

Ever rapid increase in prices for imported Japanese cars forced my hand really to get into the market before I miss out on one.

Honda S2000



Fortunately, its still in the family as the father in law bought it

Anyway.........


DAY 1 - Collection Day and the week that followed..........




Living in Leicester, the Journey down to Worthing was a long one.... made even longer by the journey home.
The previous owner had made me aware that the car was hitting the ground at times and the adjustable shocks needed to be adjusted.
Bit of an understatement however and I had to be vary careful driving it home.... The M25 was horrific!

As you can see from the following photos, the damage to the underside of the car wasnt clever... and cut a long story short, I now have new Shocks fitted



As you can see the underseal that Torque GT had done when the car was imported had peeled off pretty bad... So this is all sorted now. Any rust has been rubbed off and treated so the underside of the car is now as good as new.

Some days later..........

New Shocks Fitted - Some of the OEM bolts stripped and plated.
Decided to referb my strut braces while I was at it too




So that was the suspension fixed some what..... the front wheel arch liners were shot.... so I have ordered some replacements from Japan that are on their way to me still.
But while these are off I decided to sort out my front Anti roll bar and the bent brackets I found..... again damaged from hitting the floor so much.




Another little job I have done recently is refurbish my door sills. Went for a simple sanded finish with a black tinted powder coat.
I plan to Laser the logos in steel and paint black.





Found water damage in the boot fairly early on into this game.... Painted some of the parts but still need to sort out the boot floor and find the leak hole
Not sure why I went for blue.... was curious to how close the powder matched my car lol





Took the car for a Dyno Day in November last year...... its been on axel stands ever since.... Hoping its something simple like a Coil or dodgy spark plug.
I have a compression tester ready to test the engine at some point when I dare.




Think thats about it for now..... So waiting on the wheel arch liners to arrive... Need to buy some anti roll bar bushes and drop links for the front end.
Sort out the water leak in the boot then get round to sorting the engine out..... fingers crossed.


Heres some more random photos... a Shit gear knob I have for now until I get an OEM one.... some JDM Brochure shots...... Some shots of BBS wheels as I plan to referb mine to something similar....... some Beer that has kept me going for the late nights in the garage. My new key..... Erm... done....



*** Big Shout Out to Ceylon Tom too as he has been there from the start every time I have had a stupid question to ask
Definitely owe him more than a few beers

 

[tomCTR]

Ceylon is the matrix of part numbers! You been buying parts from amayama?

Car is looking good btw mate!

 

[Ceylon]

About time too .

Can't beat a late IBM fd.. Although I may be a bit biased .

 

[initialDean]

Ceylon is the matrix of part numbers! You been buying parts from amayama?

Car is looking good btw mate!

Yes Amayama has been used a couple of times.
Nearly bought the wheel arch liners from them but the shipping was horrific.
Went with some German company lol
I’ve had one delivered. Waiting for the other still.

 

[rob fd]

Good progress mate!

 

[JoeLanger]

Nice work, that's some funky beer.

Got a link to were you got the arch liners from?

 

[initialDean]

Nice work, that's some funky beer.

Got a link to were you got the arch liners from?

Carparts-pros.com

One arrived. The other is on route.
I think they wait for bulk orders from Japan maybe. Shipping was loads cheaper than amayama

 

[initialDean]

Might fit all this lot tonight

 

[noop]

Great post! Thanks for the arch liners link!

 

[initialDean]

So..... What a shit weekend! lol

1st job was finishing the Anti roll bar and drop links. This went pretty straight forward tbh.



Fitted my nicely plated door catches too Can tell I am stalling here



I think i need to raise the fronts more? dont want any more damage caused



Is it normal to have the exhaust hanging like this?



Then came the job of running the engine and seeing what I can find out about this misfire It has.......
First job was taking the spark plugs out and having a look at them. They looked fine, no moisture and not much build up... Gave them a sanding off and put them back in.
I fitted the original ECU, as I wanted to check for engine warning lights too.
Then I ran it..... Vids below

Compression Results

Rear


Front


So... now I do not know what to do.

I might have to start a new feed for Engine Rebuild talk.. Not sure who to take it to or if I should remove the engine myself? Does it save much Money doing that?

 

[Jit]

Ah that’s a shit outcome. Looks like a chipped tip
Judging by the other results, it probably wasn’t far away from being low compression anyway.

 

[jdmr_neil]

Yep as jit said, that's sad news and always the one, we as rotary owners dread hearing. It doesn't look like the compression was the best prior and certainly the symptoms of a broken tip.
To remove and refit your engine most places will charge 6-£800. But when i was looking i was going to be spending probably £300 to get the tools to do the job. If you remove it quite a few people will rebuild it on a fairly quick turnaround for you. For the price of a rebuild, well how longs a piece of string. Just depends what you want doing and how much damage has been caused. Other options are to buy a running engine but just be careful to know what your buying.

I know it's depressing now but once it's all done you can look forward to enjoying the car finally.

 

[initialDean]

Thanks Chaps.... Not sure it will be this year anyway as money is tight at the min.....

I've been looking at these guys though.... any recommendations?

Rotary Revs
Rotary Motion
LC Rotary
Garage Reg

I can see myself tackling removing it myself at least. Is it easy enough?

 

[rob fd]

All depends how comfdable pulling the engine you are? It will save you a fair bit sending a bare block on a pallet for a rebuild than paying someone to remove the engine and strip all the bits off then reassemble and install.
On the upside of a shit situation atleast you will have a fresh engine and can have it street ported if that's something your interested in. Alternatively you can buy brand new short block from mazda for about 3k + vat.

 

[initialDean]

I think it has been ported already. The Dyno results seemed to point that way anyway...

 

[jdmr_neil]

Garage reg
Rotortorque
Rx motors
Wgt

Are all well recommended in the fd community .

Rotary motion
Rotary revs
Lc

Are all pretty much recommended in the rx8 forums and work on fd's .

Times are a changing and some of the older rotary guys have packed up or let standards slip. New guys are coming into the mix which is never a bad thing. I guess it's just read up, possibly talk what you want doing with a few of them. After all that take a deep breath, no regrets and just jump right in.

 

[initialDean]

Would you avoid having a stab at rebuilding yourself? what could possibly go wrong? lol

 

[initialDean]

If one of my rotors and seals are ok could i leave that as it is?
OR does it make sense if you are removing the engine to just change everything?

 

[jdmr_neil]

Deffo would be worth "checking" everything. No i think rebuilding yourself wouldn't be so bad. If you have the time and space you will certainly save yourself a good chunk of money. Tbh i quite fancied it but with the nature of my job i value my home family time more than it would cost to ship it to Jay and Stu.

Have a look through my thread of my experience with a chipped apex seal.

Its going again, iirc

 

[Ceylon]

The hardest part of rebuilding yourself is inspecting your used parts and knowing what's good to reuse imo. There are various how-to videos online to guide you through it, if you've got the kit and space it isn't too bad. I've built up a few motors now and it's always quite satisfying I find (Other than cleaning all the carbon off...).

Hard to say what's the best way to go until you've split the keg and seen what the internals are like. If it's a bit ropey I'd definitely consider a new motor while they're still available.