Hey guys, had a quick question. I just inherited a 1990 mazda rx-7. It is 'not' the model with the turbo unfortunately and I have yet to get the car shipped back to me. The car has approx. 130,000 miles but the newer engine only has 40,000 miles on it. I know nothing of Mazdas & Rx-7's But I want to know what you guys can do with it performance wise to a rotary engine. It is not going to be used on the track, I pretty much just want a car I can hall *** in and show up lil' honda civics. Please let me know what you guys could do along with possible pricing.

 

There are a lot of stuff you can do to an NA Rx7 to get performance... unfortunately, with all the bolt ons in the world, you still probably won't net more than 15-20hp out of a stock NA S5 engine. At that point you will have to either spend a bunch of money rebuilding and porting it, or doing a turbo swap.

Start with the basics...
-Throw on some headers and a test pipe. You'll get about 5-7hp (of course make sure your aux ports are still functional).

-Don't mess with the intake, in my experience the stock cold air ram intake on the car is better than throwing on a open cone filter. Just throw in a KNN in the intake box.

-Put in a GTUs rear differential (if you don't already have a GTUs), it changes your final drive from 4.1 to 4.3, making it a tad bit quicker.

-Weight reduction!! Depending on how much you are willing to do, weight reduction makes any car faster. Including but not limited too: Gutting interior, removing emissions components, removing AC/Power Steering, throwing on an aluminum hood (if you don't have one already), getting lighter rims, etc. etc...

-Lighter flywheel (I absolutely loved my racing beat flywheel on my car before I turbo'd it)

-Electric fan, frees up an HP or two.. but most importantly frees up engine bay space making it easier to work on!

Whatever you do, be aware of state emissions laws, and if your car will pass an inspection or not.

 

turbo all the way

 

Of course.. I heard it would be up to $3,000 to do a turbo swap on that car.. which is more than the value of the car. Does that price sound about right?

 

Okay thank you! Another thing, the guy emailed me today with everything that is wrong with the car so here it is:
Needs new tires (rear at minimum)
"There's a problem with the alternator or charging so it doesn't charge the battery fully.
Runs premix (1oz 2 stroke oil added per gallon of gas. The oil metering pump is still in there zip tied in the engine bay if you want to put it back. Just need new lines and remove the blockoff plates.
Intake air leak so it doesn't idle until warm. The leak is around the fuel injector if I remember correctly."

 

That sounds about right... I am current 8k in on my car, but that also includes suspensions, rims, tires, upgraded parts, etc. etc...

 

turbo and intake mod

 

if you add a turbo, the car value also goes up, if you want to put it optimistically

 

Turbocharge it the right way. Is it going to be a daily?

 

Yes it will be a daily!

 

A 1990 running premix,with the omp ziptied to the engine bay.
The FIRST mod I would do is an RTEK ecu.Get rid of that pesky omp hanging around.
digital tuning, inc.

 

racingbeat header
racingbeat exhaust
hks intake
weber carbs
coilovers
and the list goes on fc's are a fun choice

 

I agree with most of what has been said, a good exhaust and suspension will make a world of difference on an FC with a nice body and paint.

 

If the car is in good shape then I think you will enjoy it even in its stock form. It looks good, it is very roomy for a 2-seater, the safety rating is excellent for its era, the steering and handling is excellent, and there is enough horsepower to have fun without worrying too much about killing yourself or robbing a bank to pay for your fuel bill. If you want to show up a Honda economy car that is trying to pretend to be a sports car, then all you need to do is simply park next to it, lol.

I would recommend that you first obtain the car and see if anything needs to be fixed. If it needs expensive repairs then you may want to just sell it or part it out. If you decide to keep it, replace belts, hoses, fluids, spark plugs, fuel filter, etc., as needed. Plan on spending about $300.

This website has a good overview of what to look for:
How To Buy An '86-'92 Non-Turbo RX-7

Download the "1989 FSM" from this website. The scheduled maintenance is in Chapter 00.
Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals

Recommended fluids and replacement parts:
- Fuel: 87 octane
- Fuel Filter: Any OEM style
- Brake Fluid: Castrol LMA
- Engine Oil: Castrol GTX (use the viscosity recommended in the manual)
- Oil Filter: Mazda
- Thermostat: Mazda
- Differential and Manual Transmission Oil: Synthetic (Popular brands are Red Line, Royal Purple, Idemitsu, and Amsoil, which can be ordered online from Mazdatrix, Racing Beat, Jegs, Summit Racing, Racer Parts Wholesale, etc.)
- Coolant: Ethylene glycol (green/yellow) mixed with distilled water as per the manual
- Spark Plugs: Spark Plugs
- Air Filter: K&N drop-in replacement filter if you plan on keeping the car mostly stock for a while, otherwise just use an inexpensive paper filter.
- Check to see if the fuel pulsation damper is leaking: Pulsation Dampers

Do NOT use:
- Wheel cleaner that eats away clear coat
- Radiator "stop leak" products
- Orange/red coolant like Dex-Cool
- Aftermarket thermostats
- Spark plugs other than NGK brand
- Gasoline with more than 10% ethanol

After you replace the necessary parts, drive it around for a while, surf the 2Gen forum, and then you will be able to better decide what to do with your car. I also recommend attending local events where you can talk to other RX-7 owners and see their cars.

 

Okay thank you guys so so much! For some reason this website will NOT let me upload my pictures but feel free to add me on facebook where I have 35 pictures of the car.
Just add me
go to my photos
find the album called "My new rx-7"
https://www.facebook.com/ross.rader.1

 

Also does anyone know the price of a t2 turbo swap and where I can get one?

 

The website has size restrictions, and I think you need a certain amount of posts before it lets you upload. Just put your pictures on a photo-sharing site like Photobucket and copy/paste the url link into your forum post. Here are two examples, and you can see the coding by clicking on the "Quote" button at the bottom right corner of my post.

Text link:
http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/s...7/P0000482.jpg

Image link (Pictures in the 50Kb to 200Kb range seem to work best for this):


Most rotary shops will do it, but you are looking at $5,000 to $10,000 for parts and labor. If you do not have the skills to do it yourself (most people do not), then it is much easier and cheaper to simply sell your car and put the money towards a Turbo II model. A good Turbo II model sells for about $3,000-3,500 right now, and a really nice one usually sells in the $5,000 range. You can search for cars here:
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...-vehicles-108/