1994 Mazda Rx-7

Here's the link to my blog, I'll make regular postings on there, and all upgrades/progress postings will be copied here, as I may end up putting some random posts on the blog as well.

http://shiftexistence.blogspot.com/

Here's the first two postings:

Bought an Rx-7

So I finally decided on a car to get and, pulled out a loan and found this 1994 Rx-7 for $12,000 (after some, frankly easy bargaining with the dealer. he was asking $13k, I said I'd give him $12k, and all he said was, and I quote "....hm, ok deal" Easiest bargaining of my life thus far haha. Anyways, it's totally stock. Vacuum lines have been replaced, windows tinted, and stock wheels painted. Thats IT. Oh yeah, and only 49.5k miles. Teehee. Perfect. I will be the first person to get into this thing. Ok well its not totally perfect, a few minor interior panels missing. (ok, no glove box handle kinda sucks) and the radio is getting no power at the moment, and the horns don't work. Big problems are that there is a suspension bushing gone in the rear (already tracked it down though, one bushing ~$80 for the part, do the work myself of course). Also there is a slight waver in the idle once its warmed up, which is either the MAP sensor or a loose vacuum line, the dealership thought it was the MAP sensor so their sending me a new one in the mail as soon as they get it. So, not a bad deal! I'm going to have so much fun with this thing =) Here's some pics:




















At Home Pics

Here's a couple crappy cell phone pics of both of my babies together at home. I need to find my friggin camera charger! ugh!

Gauges!

Got my Boost and Water Temp gauges in the mail today! Prosport electronic boost guage (vacuum line to sensor, then electrical signal to gauge) and also a prosport water temp guage. Looks like I'm gonna need to get some spare wire to get these all wired up, but should be a fun little day project. Although my mounting solution may take longer. I'm going to try to make a flip down holder underneath the dash to the left of the steering wheel. We'll see how it goes but thats the plan, hopefully I can make it work, and keep it stealthy.

Little Stuff

Ok so I got some work done on the Rx-7 Lately. Over spring break I snatched up a JDM downpipe and got to work installing that, as well as fixing a god-awful exhaust rattle/leak. Now I can hear the turbos spool since I no longer have a pre-cat, AND it's quieter since the muffler is actually functional now. woo! Changed the oil/filter, spark plugs, and O2 sensor while I was at it. Not sure if the new O2 sensor was worth it, but it seems to run a little better. Blocked off the vacuum lines that keep the secondary throttle bodies from opening, and it seems to feel a little better, so I'm suspecting that they weren't always opening before, at least not all the way. Also was able to replace one of the suspension bushings that was shot, so no more clunking when I brake now, unfortunately found out that there was actually two gone, so I still have a clunk under acceleration from a stop. Oh well. I'll get around to it eventually.


Also, sorry about all the crappy phone pics. It's all I've got to work with as I still have no battery charger for my camera.





The large bulbous one is the one that went away. to be replaced with a straight through downpipe that came from a later model Rx-7 in japan (stock).

Also I finally got my radio and CD player out! Havn't worked too much on diagnosing why the radio wont get power yet, but while it's out I'm gonna take the cable that goes to the CD player and wire it into an auxillary input instead. MP3 player through the stock stereo. Oh yeah. Didn't get any further on installing my gauges actually. I'm too lazy to run wires through the firewall lol. Also still need to make a mount for where their going to be going.

In other news, on my way home I broke the 50k mile mark!! Yay! Of course I had to stop and document it since this is not a common occurrence =D



Other than that, havn't been messing around with it much lately. Kinda been working on some other projects right now. Good news, we got my friends GTI idling now, so it won't be much longer until the turbo'd beast is finally roaming the streets! That is also his bug on the left. Currently motor-less. I should really get around to tearing that motor apart as it's been sitting in my room forever.