Project FD Timeline......

[UpSideDownDesi]

Goal: Bring the car back to it's showroom condition which it should be in for it's mileage. Keep it mostly stock.

Aug 5, 2008:
Went and picked up the car from previous owner who very kindly neglected the car. I asked him "when was the last time you washed/cleaned the car?" His answer was, "I don't remember." Only good thing he did was took the car out for a spin once in a while.

Aug 6, 2008:
Exterior Clean up. Clear coat seemed to have a little fade in it here and there. Washed the car twice, applied some rubbing compound, polish, and wax that brought the shine right back. I am impressed by the Mazda paint job. Found total of 1 door ding exterior wise. Rest is in great condition other that few small scratches.
Before:









After:








From Aug-September
Gathering of the parts began, and getting the whole car serviced up to my standards.
Things done:
-Coolant Flushed...added Prestone Coolant+Red Line Water Wetter+Distilled water
-Tranny Flush....added Redling MTL in tranny and Redline 75w-90 in diff
-Brake Fluid Flushed...added Castrol Dot4 Fluid
-Power Steering Fluid Flushed
-Oil/Filter
-New Viton check valves
-3" Downpipe
-New Fuel Filter
-New Fuel Pulsation Dampener
-Re-surfaced Flywheel
-Re-surfaced Rotors
-New Pilot Bearing with new seal
-Replaced Secondary Turbo
-Replace Front cover gasket with Cosmo Metal Gasket

During the process i thought why not clean the engine bay so here's the process...we went a little extreme
A. Think...how can we clean it really good
B. Pull the motor out haha

Motor was pulled so everything can be serviced easily and properly:









Now the work starts on Interior and Exterior.

Update
August-0ct 2009- Current Mileage 29k- It's staying OEM stock
-FD goes in for full Exterior Restoration
-Factory Montego Blue
-Old Paint stripped
-New weather stripping
-Old plastic headlight covers replaced by Carbon Fiber OEM style covers (missing here, but in route)

Sorry about cell pix, will take good pix once it's home. Pix don't even do it 50% justice. Seeing it in person is just amazing.
Color














Sadly as i went to pick up the car from the shop, it failed me in the parking lot. Didn't even get to drive it . Right when i was happy to see it so close to done. Seems like Coolant seals have given up. Well that's what i have figured out, but won't really know till I take it to one of the Rotary Gurus. So car is going straight from paint to get the engine rebuilt :/.

[SLOWR/T]

Looks good. How many miles?

[UpSideDownDesi]

Looks good. How many miles?

[osiriskidd]

hawt

[OTG Signs]

That thing was ROUGH for 23k! Someone didn't care about the finish.

[UpSideDownDesi]

That thing was ROUGH for 23k! Someone didn't care about the finish.

nope....i think the interior hasn't been cleaned in past 7-8 years. Old fart went experimenting on paint and totally fawked the finish on driver side fender (now it needs to get resprayed). I found magazine under passenger seat coverd with mold. Like it sat there for YEAAAARRS...i'll check dates on it.

[merfwin]

ur lucky as hell! i always wanted a rx7

[DoriDori]

awesome find!

[Lotte]

nice another fd owner

[Farrow2005]

i hate/love you.

bastard

[Sammich]

man 23k w/ an idiot owner..at least the engine is good right...

[UpSideDownDesi]

man 23k w/ an idiot owner..at least the engine is good right...

yea eingine is good.

[blackboi50]

damn sunny!!!!!.....its like one hot car after another!!!!! u lucky bastard!!!!!......1

[Ed]

23k? awesome deal man congrats. always loved rx7s.

[eYezs1ck]

damn u on sum g status

[canadianrcis]

nice find man, you sure can clean it up.

[UpSideDownDesi]

nice find man, you sure can clean it up.

lol thanks, but only 10% cleaning done....still got lot more to go.

[eraser4g63]

I am sorry if i missed it, Turbo?

[UpSideDownDesi]

I am sorry if i missed it, Turbo?

huh?....all FD's were Turbo

[mezzies96teg]

that FD cleaned up very nicely! lookin good bro! lookin forward to more pics and progress! later bro

Mezz

[Vteckidd]

all FDs are twin turbo.

Good luck, good thing he drove it once in awhile, if he didnt, the apex seals have a tendency to dry out and rot.

Get a radiator on it, and go sequential to eliminate all those vacuum lines

[UpSideDownDesi]

all FDs are twin turbo.

Good luck, good thing he drove it once in awhile, if he didnt, the apex seals have a tendency to dry out and rot.

Get a radiator on it, and go sequential to eliminate all those vacuum lines

yea i was worried about apex seals, but the compression test came in good so they must be good.

lol it's does have radiator or do U mean a aftermarket radiator? I know weak point on FD's is their cooling system. Stock TT setup on FD is sequential.

[David88vert]

Good luck, good thing he drove it once in awhile, if he didnt, the apex seals have a tendency to dry out and rot.

Get a radiator on it, and go sequential to eliminate all those vacuum lines

Apex seals cannot dry out and rot - they are metal. So are the corner seals and side seals. It's obvious that you have not rebuilt one before. The oil seals are rubber, as are the coolant seals, is that what you were trying to refer to? They will not have a problem either, as long as the car was run once in a while, as he referred to earlier.

Upgraded radiator is good to have, but the AST upgrade is more important.

No need to change from non-sequential, just reploace the vacuum lines with silicon lines.

[UpSideDownDesi]

AST tank was replaced last year so it should hold up for some time, but i'll be upgrading to a metal one regardless. Yea radiator is a must on these dang things. Don't really drive the car often or push it so i am gonna do that at the end after finishing the car up.

[1439/2000]

AST tank was replaced last year so it should hold up for some time, but i'll be upgrading to a metal one regardless. Yea radiator is a must on these dang things. Don't really drive the car often or push it so i am gonna do that at the end after finishing the car up.

When you upgrade to a metal one I'll take your old one. Mine is stock but looks rough, I can't see paying 150 bucks for a metal can.

Unless you know where there are cheaper alternatives.

[UpSideDownDesi]

When you upgrade to a metal one I'll take your old one. Mine is stock but looks rough, I can't see paying 150 bucks for a metal can.

Unless you know where there are cheaper alternatives.

yea parts ain't cheap....EGR valve for $190 , and pulsation damper was $140.....that's cheap because at rick case it's $179+lol. Let me know if u want my old damper, it looked fine when it was pulled out. I'll shoot u a PM when i replace the AST.

[Vteckidd]

Apex seals cannot dry out and rot - they are metal. So are the corner seals and side seals. It's obvious that you have not rebuilt one before. The oil seals are rubber, as are the coolant seals, is that what you were trying to refer to? They will not have a problem either, as long as the car was run once in a while, as he referred to earlier.
.

LOL im happy to have NEVER worked on them.

Ehh someone told me that age and time can kill the Apex Seals or some other vital part in the car. Forget what it was. Maybe it was the oil/coolant seals that dry out it they are left sitting.

All i know is pretty much every rotary guy ive talked to has said that you do not want to by a car thats been sitting for longer than a year

but i digress, i could care less if im wrong or right , its a rotary, they all break eventually anyway lol

[Glides]

but i digress, i could care less if im wrong or right , its an engine, they all break eventually anyway lol

Here I fixed that for ya, since you work on cars and all.

[Five*Star*]

Apex seals cannot dry out and rot - they are metal. So are the corner seals and side seals. It's obvious that you have not rebuilt one before. The oil seals are rubber, as are the coolant seals, is that what you were trying to refer to? They will not have a problem either, as long as the car was run once in a while, as he referred to earlier.

Upgraded radiator is good to have, but the AST upgrade is more important.

No need to change from non-sequential, just reploace the vacuum lines with silicon lines.

I was wondering when someone was going to come in and set it straight. I thought i was going to have to elaborate haha. No offense "Mike"



But again Sunny, those old coolant and oil seals can give out, even if the car was driven regularly. Rubber only can resist extreme heat for so long. If the previous owner didn't provide documentation, then there is no idea how long that engine has been in that car or if it's been rebuilt. Good Luck on your FD journey.

[UpSideDownDesi]

I was wondering when someone was going to come in and set it straight. I thought i was going to have to elaborate haha. No offense "Mike"



But again Sunny, those old coolant and oil seals can give out, even if the car was driven regularly. Rubber only can resist extreme heat for so long. If the previous owner didn't provide documentation, then there is no idea how long that engine has been in that car or if it's been rebuilt. Good Luck on your FD journey.

surprisingly the guy had all the documentation on the car date to 199x. One of the reason i felt confident buying the car even in the condition it was in.

[Sammich]

rear bumper has been painted too i see

[UpSideDownDesi]

rear bumper has been painted too i see

yea rear bumper has been replaced reason paint doesn't match. One of the things on the list to fix.

[Sammich]

yea rear bumper has been replaced reason paint doesn't match. One of the things on the list to fix.

i first noticed it cuz of the muffler tips having overspray...then i compared paints..it still looks straight, but i know in the direct sunlight its more obvious...wana trade for a toyota truck

lol

[UpSideDownDesi]

i first noticed it cuz of the muffler tips having overspray...then i compared paints..it still looks straight, but i know in the direct sunlight its more obvious...wana trade for a toyota truck

lol

Gotta take off the mufler, polish the tip....i got some work on my hands. Actually in Sunlight it matches well haha. I"ll trade if it's a Supercharged 5.7 Tundra.

[Sammich]

Gotta take of the mufler, polish the tip....i got some work on my hands. Actually in Sunlight it matches well haha. I"ll trade if it's a Supercharged 5.7 Tundra.

i can make it a turbo charged 88 toyota p/u

[13Bracer]

gorgeous rx7 man..

glad to see another owner of one on here

[UpSideDownDesi]

took me a min to update. So got the car back this past week. Now the engine is running as healthy as it can be, i can focus on exterior and interior. All i can say, this is gonna be no cheap project. Parts for these car are arm and a leg. Updated pix are under "August-Spetember"

[IndianStig]

ballin yall.
bring to v...

[UpSideDownDesi]

ballin yall.
bring to v...

not till i am mostly done with it.

[JITB]

i see those gangsta Oem mazda lock nuts!