Vell

Hi,

Let me introduce myself before the FD :

I'm Seb, from France, 26 years old. I've started drifting in 2008 (nov. 2007 to be precise) with an old BMW E28 M535i, stock.
I enjoyed so much drifting ... so I've made almost one drift day every month with this car. That was unexpected, and the car wasn't tuned for it ... anyway, it was a great year. I've improved my skills so much with this underpowered car (220bhp), and made my first "high speed entry" with almost 200kph when I've pulled the e brake in Lurcy Levis.

I've looked a lot for another car that will be everything I haven't got with the bimmer, and find that the FD is the sexiest one, plus with a chassis like no one else (except from the S2K :p).


So here we are :

RX7 FD3S JDM / 93'








Chassis :

- Almost fully spot welded (interior, engine bay, not done underneath)
- FEED Coilovers (it's a shame I don't even know the spring rate, but I assume near 20k front / rear as I need a lot of weight to lower it a bit).
- Rear anti roll bar removed
- Shortened knuckles + 3mm spacers
- +25mm 5x120 spacers all around

Exterior :

- FEED front bumper modified (afflux V1)
- Ganador mirrors
- No spoiler
- Pink
- Modified bonnet for V-Mount
- Polycarbonate glasses
- (soon) polycarbonate front lights (sleek eyes)

Engine :

- Stock inj.
- Stock fpr
- Power FC
- Non seq. turbos
- Greddy 3.75" exhaust (3.5" downpipe)
- Border intercooler
- Alloy radiator (V-Mounted)

Interior :

- Fully stripped
- 7 points R Magic rollcage
- Crappy short shifter
- battery in the boot


To do :

- Getting a lot of gauges ^^
- TD06SH25G Single turbo (just need to fab the downpipe)
- 850cc primary injectors
- Stock fuel pump > Swirl pot > Bosh 044 pump
- Tuning
- Water injection
- Tidying up the exterior (feed skirts, amemiya diffuser, maybe BGW)

Vell

Actually, after the second "test & drift" day, the engine blown. I can't explain what happened ... anyway, there is two little videos :

1 - My unique run in the interesting part of the Loheac track
(the entry is weak but I was trying for the very first time the ebrake, with the bimmer I start the entry where I'm downshifting in this video...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yWThrrTRdE


2 - This video is absolutely not quality, but in the end you'll hear my engine ... (1:40~)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LyOklhN09w

Battle Cat

iTrader: (78)

awesome.. got any pics of the cage??? and so far the set up is doing you right...

also do you plan on getting a surge/baffle tank made??

Vell

I already have the swirl pot, so I don't plan to do anything else, I think it's sufficient as I don't want more than 400 whp !

For the rollcage pics, I dont have that much pictures of the interior ... But there is the rear section

Jdrift

Seems like you are going in the right direction. And the sliding doesn't look that bad at all. As for drifting with no power try doing it with a NA Ka24de in a Nissan s13. lol.. ( That is where I started) Good luck with the biuld and have fun.

Supastar Bruce

iTrader: (3)

You look good. Clutch kick a little sooner on that second corner and it would have been perfect. Nice driving though.

got_apex?

I'd take a kade to learn in any day over a stock 6port

FelixIsGod29X

iTrader: (50)

Nice project/drift car. You got the jist of it. Keep on drifting and fixing.

Summit HEART

iTrader: (5)

I'm happy to see this

What diff are you useing?

Vell

I agree, but as it was my only one lap, I was waiting to see if the car spools faster and requires a kick or not
As she wasn't running great, the answer was yes, but I'm sure with an healthy engine it's not needed !

Anyway thanks guys

(I'm using the stock diff)

Vell

About the work done with the car ...

note : I'm a web developper, not a mechanics or welder or anything else... but I love to do everything possible by myself (even if it doesn't looks good)

The beginning ... the car @ home



Stripping, welding ...




The poor engine ...








Learning how to paint ... with a crappy product absolutely not designed for this use



Reinforcing the stock PPF



Got these from Pete Barber in UK




... Then paint with the good product

Vell

Restarted the interior paint job








Wiring job ...



(unfortunately I have no picture of the final wiring loom. It's only the required wires to have the engine running)

Then engine back on ...





The hood modified in a hurry with my mate Martin, which is a great worker for.... almost everything to do with a car

The front bumper cutted one year ago... Need some fiber ....



Engine back on, running with a modified compression tube (Martin again, plastic welds rulez)




Few days later, the first track day with 7 psi boost (yep, no boost control) ... 7 psi @5500 rpm For my first track day with the rex, with a turbo engine, that wasn't bad.





And ... and ... the second track day two weeks later, 0.9 bar, the engine exploded an apex seal in the rear rotor

Battle Cat

iTrader: (78)

looking great..gives me inspiration to finish mine... soon i hope .. hahah

maybe i should make a build thread.... hmm

Any who.. keep the awesome work up

Vell

Interior shots + Rollcage details ... It's a warrior interior, as my first trackday has been done without the dashboard.
Anyway, it's for drifting, not for a tuning meeting :P
















Better view of the knuckles



The engine bay without the engine... Yeah, I hate having a lot of things under the hood

Battle Cat

iTrader: (78)

i love were this is going... keep it up..

Vell

I've found why my engine failed.

Bad oil control ring, too much oil in the combustion chamber ...
... Makes a lot of unburnt fuel right there, causing detonation, exploding an apex seal.

Damn, a "good" engine :/

I'm a noob with these engines, the gassy oil should have warn me ... I'm learning the hard way ^^

Next, third engine for this car, which I drove only for 2 track days. I understand the "financial disaster" joke now !

RXILVER7

iTrader: (2)

DUDE!! Love the car. I always wanted to do a hood just like that for my v-mount. Any tips? and also have you noticed any excess heat under the hood because there are no other vents?

Vell

Nope, I've raised a little bit the hood so it's "vented" plus the big holes plus the simple engine bay ....
For the first trackday even the UIM was cold (you can put your hand in and stay for while!) ...

For the tips ... not really, it's easy ! You just need some thin metal sheets to make the walls.
Mine is not uber clean, but we were planning to make it as a model for a fiberglass one. When we saw how it looked like we just paint it. I don't really care for a track toy

Fattony

iTrader: (1)

whats your alignment setup?

Vell

Hi,

mmm... Imagine me underneath the car :

- "wait... I want a lot of caster, but if I go full, I decrease dynamic camber ... "
- "Hey, not good, we can't adjust the camber that much !"
- "ok let's try something else ... there... turn the bolt full untill the arm stops"
- "Damn, why I've done my toe set just before ?! stupid!"

And I've not set again my toe alignment so far


Like I said often for the french drifters who don't care at all about alignment :
"It's better to get a crappy set which is fine for your driving style than a laser one which doesn't fit your style"

One day, I will do it well... One day

Battle Cat

iTrader: (78)

lulz, keep the updates coming

Summit HEART

iTrader: (5)

Eyeballing alignment is always fun, it sucks even more when u have a tweaked chassis because u tapped the wall a few times, Then u dont really have any reference point to measure from because there all different LOL

driftfcbuckey

iTrader: (8)

pink overload

thejallenator

iTrader: (14)

gunna be a noob question but whats the benefit of welding all the seams?

Vell

Strenghtening the body