STOLEN: My 1993 Mazda RX-7

tsx_guy · Postby **tsx_guy** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:14

looks like things are progressing nicely.

"bootleg Mexican CDs"? post them on c/l see of any tries to claim them.

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:14

Haha, good idea except I'm afraid they'd come beat my ass

It WAS coming along nicely, until the shop discovered that the primary turbo is seized. Not gonna work at all. I guess that's what I get for buying turbos site unseen, but it sure pisses me off. The guy said they were in "great" condition, not smoking, no problems etc. On the plus side, I can have the turbos that were on the car rebuilt, cleaned and balanced for only $550, within the next week or two. No idea how many miles are on them, but I know they're still good except for the seals. And I can probably sell off those turbos I bought to someone who wants to get them cheap. Ahh setbacks suck...my own fault though.

Can anyone recommend a good place to store my car? Or know anyone who wants to rent some garage space to me? I'm sure not parking it on the street again, and I can't put it in my garage yet or get a parking spot for it in my condos because it's not registered...

Nick Leone · Postby **Nick Leone** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:14

Ranger off topic but what color is your 944?

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:14

It's black. You'll know it's mine because it has NASA stickers and a #8 shield on it. I haven't been driving it around town though...

So yeah. Check it. Legit ride height coming up.

These things are oretty well built.

If you're wondering why there is no camber plate...FDs are adjustable from the factory using an eccentric bolt, no need for camber plates. The FD has a double wishbone suspension, and these are technically shocks with springs, not struts like earlier RX-7s and Mazda 3s have. I've yet to actually mess with the suspension...so we'll see how that goes

I'm going to ask the shop if I can go put them on while it's there, I just can't wait.

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:14

So the guy is going to give me a refund for those turbos. Apparently, he bought them from his friend, who told him they were in great condition. And since he trusted his friend he didn't even check to make sure they're good. :? Tomorrow I'm taking mine over to the guy who's rebuilding them.

Build has begun...

Stuck wastegate and cracked manifold...

Gross...this is the impeller wheel would not turn. It's scored on the edges.

My turbos on left, "new" ones on right. They both look bad, but mine are actually in pretty good shape compared to the ones I bought...

The ones that were on my car are in much better shape. No wonder I only paid $400 for that crap :lol:

Oh and here's a fun pic of my 944 burning a ton of oil off the exhaust. While I had it on track, the oil filter seal broke and it spewed oil all over the car. Yes that is oil the hood is covered in. Anyone have suggestions as to how to get it off? I've tried simple green and glass cleaner...

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:14

get some gojo at autozone or something should take it right off

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:14

Yeah but won't that destroy my paint? Maybe if I water it down. Someone else suggested dish soap should do the job.

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:14

it won't really but dish soap works well too

roninsoldier83 · Postby **roninsoldier83** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:14

Can't view pics at work

Hey Ranger, are you just putting another set of stock turbos in the FD? Or aftermarket? What did they come with stock by chance? I've always been curious.

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:14

I'm actually rebuilding the ones that were on my car now. Yes, they're stock. They are Hitachi HT-18s, similar in size to a T25, maybe a bit smaller actually. Even so, I expect to put down around 325WHP after a tune

However, the turbo rebuilder is having a hard time finding parts for them for some reason...maybe another week's delay

Am I ever going to drive this thing again?! Haha

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:14

Any updates on this?

Do you mind if I move this thread to the rotary section?

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:14

Go for it! Better placed there anyway. I know I haven't been on the site in a while, busy with other things. But long story short, the car should be all put together early next week. I can't wait! I hope I can get it to pass emissions with just a high flow cat and a good tune...if I can't it will probably go up for sale, as it'll just be too much work to register it otherwise

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:14

Haha, very true, but there aren't any FDs in CO with the Burnout kit that I know of

Yeah, I'm still racing, though not as active anymore...I kinda sorta botched my class for a competition license and I've been a bit discouraged since then. Back to the beginning for now, heh. I picked up a chance card and went straight to jail, did not pass go, did not collect $200. And believe it or not my FD is still not done...long story. I ended up not putting the parts on though...my car has had ALL emissions equipment removed, so putting the air pump back on would do no good. The cat might though, so I will probably put that on and after a good tune, try to pass emissions. Also looking at just registering it in a no-emissions county. I might just sell it though, kinda thinking about building a turbo NB Miata or S2000. Anyway, if you want the parts back, they're yours, though I could still use the cat probably. Thanks again for those

speedjunkie · Postby **speedjunkie** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:14

Yeah I haven't met but a couple people in Denver with FDs so I don't know who has the kit haha. So what in the world did you do to botch the class? I can't even imagine haha. Unless you don't want to talk about it, I would understand. I'm pretty sure just a cat won't get you to pass emissions HAHA, but I could be wrong. You could register it in El Paso county, we don't have any emissions testing. If you sold it, how much do you think you'd ask? I think you should keep it though. Gut it and make it your track car...that's where it's most at home. LOL No problem buddy. I don't really need them back, but if you wanna give them back instead of using them that's cool too, it's up to you.

Ranger · Postby **Ranger** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:14

Long story short, I just wasn't ready. My car wasn't ready and I wasn't prepared...didn't have enough seat time in the car and didn't have any practice driving with all the safety gear on. After my first track session the car started leaking / burning oil BADLY. I'm talking smoke screen on the track, I actually got the mechanical black flag for it lol. This was in my actual track car, Porsche 944. I fixed it, but I missed two sessions, and I was so discouraged that I only got back on track once, and not with the comp school.

But yeah I do have a dedicated track car, which means I won't be tracking the FD, unless my track car is broken. I bought the FD just to be a fun weekend car / second daily driver / occasional drift car. Don't really want to gut it, way too hard to get all the sound deadening out and make it look clean. I know because I'm having a hell of a time doing it to the 944 haha. As for the cat, I don't think it would help much either, but I've heard that MAC was able to tune an FD to pass emissions with just a cat. Not very believable, but it needs a tune anyway, so we'll see. And yeah I am trying to figure out how to go about registering it elsewhere...I don't have any family or anything outside of Denver so I can't say I store the car in El Paso county. Heard stories about being able to use a PO Box and such but that sounds highly illegal to me, lol. If I sold it, I'd probably ask around $16k for it. Figure that's reasonable given the brand new engine, rebuilt turbos, upgrades etc.

Oh by the way, do you know anyone selling a decent oil cooler setup? Mine has the stock touring model cooler...and it sucks. Fine for street driving, but when I had it on track I couldn't push the car at all before it started getting really hot.

STOLEN: My 1993 Mazda RX-7

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