Custom rewire

After removing the loom from the car I decided it would be a good idea (at the time) to relocate the remaining relays from the front of the car to the inside along with removing all the wires that loop around the front of the car. So I should only have the headlights, sidelights and popup cables running to the front of the car.

Certainly looks like I may have my taken on a bit of a challenge!!!

Turbo check

After finding my turbo wasn't spooling up as well as usual I decided to check the rear blades for damage (thinking the worst) but to my relief all was well!!

After a search over the car I discovered that it was my new intercooler that was leaking between the Greddy BOV and its mounting plate! So the BOV has been removed and the hole welded up... now I have some boost to play with!

FD shots

Got a new camera for my birthday after taking years to finally decide on one, there really is too much choice these days! I took the car out to a local car parking area, the weather was great for a few pics - so an excellent opportunity to test the new camera and hopefully get some nice pics of the FD too. Let me know if you'd like a bigger size!












Specs


Here is the spec the car is currently running for those that wanted to know! I think the next thing on the list for improvement is my driving, so I think I will book myself a training session with a pro driver.

Time Attack specification - 2009
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Model Mazda RX-7 FD3S
Year 1992

Engine Mods 
Rotary 13B running a 'Jaydee special port'
Trust/Greddy T88-34D 18cm single turbo with v-band
Trust/Greddy 4" v-band downpipe (heatwrapped)
Trust/Greddy large bore manifold
Trust/Greddy 4" midsection (heatwrapped)
HKS GT II wastegate
R-Magic 4" exhaust
Apexi exhaust valve
Super Now pulley set
Stillway solid engine mounts
Apexi FMIC
Koyo radiator
Feed plug leads
Trust/Greddy Iridium plugs 10/11s
WAKOS ignition system and coil
Apexi Power FC with commander
Coolingmist water injection
Relocated coil packs
Custom aluminum heat shielding
All fuse boxes and wiring moved to inside the car

Handling Mods 
Seam welded chassis
Feed Pro-F05 suspension
Nagasa auto support plates
Multipoint roll cage with additional bars in engine bay (welded)
Rays Gram Light 57 F-Pro 18" rims
Brembo 8pot calipers
Super Now Toe-links and trailing arms
Super Now Solid diff mounts

Style Mods 
Kazama Auto Wide body kit with one-off Kazama canards
R-Magic carbon side diffusers
R-Magic carbon rear diffusers
Sard 1800mm carbon GT wing
RE Amemiya diffuser with carbon bowtech and vortex generators
Scoot bonnet
Rasty FRP doors
Craft Square mirrors
Custom undertray
Front and rear toe hooks

Audio Mods 
Removed

Interior Mods 
Flocked dash and panels
Custom carbon dash, heater panel and transmission panel with all buttons removed
Feed carbon sill covers
Mazdaspeed rear view mirror
Momo suede wheel
Multipoint roll cage (welded)
Stripped out and sound deadening removed
All excess wiring removed and simplified
Recaro RZ Carbon Kevlar bucket seats
Apexi AVC-R
Custom aluminium floor plates

Roll cage padding

After a break from the car, I came back ready to get the car back together and fix the water leaks, also to clean up the engine bay after it got covered in green coolant. I also finished adding all the roll cage padding so no more bruises!






Brands Hatch issues

Brands hatch was a great day but unfortunately even after changing the water pump I was still plagued by high water temps which crept up after the practice session so I was unable to put in a good time. The day unfortunately ended up with the car going home on a trailer, many thanks Ash for your AA support!

Jay and Kerim kindly came over to pressure test the engine and to everyone's relief its all fine and the fault is down to a block off pipe and a leaking water level sensor!



Brands Hatch Time Attack

Brands hatch! I really like this little twisty track - the g-force coming down the hill is a major buzz, but the high water temps sure aren't!! I had a great practice round but as the day progressed the temps suddenly jumped, not good. More to follow!




Silverstone Time Attack

Two vids from Time Attack, they are a tad washed out (I think a new camera is needed)! But at least you can see the car in action!

Silverstone Time Attack shakedown

At last the first outing for the FD! After many months of tweaks changes and running in the car was ready for round three of Time Attack at Silverstone circuit (or so I thought)!

The first warm out session went well but intake temps were a tad high since the water injection wasn't working (turned out to be the one way valve) and oil was getting out of engine (fixed thanks to Jay for the pipe and a water bottle for a true JDM oil catch tank).

I did better in the qualifying but water temps suddenly jumped up which would suggest my water pump is on it way out. My time was 1.08 - four seconds off the top cars so not bad for the car and drivers first test outing. Roll on Brands Hatch on June 28!!


Car decals

After many thoughts on design I got my new 'flaming rotor' decals completed and cut to put on the car, not long to get it finished since I'm off to Silverstone Saturday evening! Massive thanks to Si at SJS Design Factory www.sjsdesign.com for cutting out my designs.




Window problems

For some reason my windows decided to stop working, after checking the Mazda wiring diagrams and tracing wires it turned out to be the black F100 box. Happily the windows now work! I also took the opportunity to seal up all the loom since all electrics worked for the trip to Oulton Park. A huge job!

Oulton Park Time Attack

Round one of Time Attack at Oulton Park, what a trip!! 

Unfortunatly I was still running in my engine so I couldn't compete, although it gave me the chance to check out this years competition. The car didn't miss a beat and 500 miles later the car is almost run in! Thanks for the nice pic of my FD DogBoxMedia!

Apexi ECV control valve

With noise becoming more of an issue on the circuit it seemed a good idea to fit an Apexi adjustable valve making it easier to pass noise tests. One problem was getting under the car to weld it in place, luckily a D1 forklift happened to be passing by!!


Rebuild first start

Finally got the chance to turn the key on the new engine! It slowly cranked into life and sounded awesome! I started it with 10's all round and didn't need to bump start which was a result too!

Engine back in

Back in the engine bay, its starting to look more like a car again! I'm eager to turn the key and get some milage on the new engine.


Painting the cage

With the interior all stripped out it was time to re-spray in a shiny black... it certainly came up nice!







Rebuilt engine

The engine is back from being rebuilt! Big thanks to Jaydee engines!
Pics of the seals that went, the tips weren't bad.


Rebuild progress

The engine build is almost complete (Along with some new porting)!
...It turns out I had four side seals fail, no wonder the car had issues starting.

Carbon interior

One of the new modifications is a carbon fiber dash and centre console. I've simplified it so only the necessary engine/electric/kill switches will be used along with the Race Technology Dash2, an all in one monitoring system.

X-bar and smoother panels

New changes to the Time Attack regs meant another bar needed to be added to form an 'X' bar. I also had the rear side reflectors welded up and smoothed over to tidy the quarter panels.

Engine pull

Whilst doing the electrics it seemed a good idea to have the engine looked at. It had issues starting from hot last year so I felt it was best to examine before further problems developed.



A selection of the wires removed... roughly 3kg of weight saved so far!

At last some updates for 2009!

With my entrance in to Time Attack for 2009 secured I decided to look at improving aspects of the car. Firstly were the electrics... Since a lot of the cars electrical items have been removed I decided to split open the cars loom and remove all unnecessary cables such as the ABS, rear demister, radio and speakers, door light, fog lights and much more!