Need Input! Rotary Budget Build!

Captain KRM P5 · Oct 17, 2004

First a little bit of back ground data. I bought a 1979/1980 Mazda RX-7 from Kentucky a few months back and have been driving since. Well, drove it to the local chinese restaurant and the car hasn't started since. We've nailed it down the notion that I pretty much flooded the engine and those "in the know" will tell you that doing so on a rotary engine is a big no-no. The weather up here in IL has been getting rather cold, so the car has needed alot more throttle to get going. Two chokeless monster sized Weber carbs haven't made it easy either. The carbs are seriously - each one of them - the size of my head.

Being not a fan of carburetors, I've resolved to spend the winter slowly pulling the car apart and switching to fuel injection. This means scrapping the current 12A and going with (*gasp*) a 13B. And if it's going to be a 13B its going to be the Turbo II setup from the second generation, complete with wiring harness and ECU to make the drop in as seamless as one can hope on this type of switch.

Once the car is stripped down I want to have the car painted, something in a modern Mazda color preferred. Basically tow the shell to a body shop and let them go nuts. A poll is posted above to see what choices, among the ones I listed, you guys would think looks best on the car.

Finally, I'm not sure what my budget will be for this, but I'd like you guys to start pitching in ideas and parts I should add to the list. I'll start it off;

Car: 1979 Mazda Rx-7 (SA22C)
Sell the 12A and trans on ebay : -$500
Sell the custom ignition and fuel system (two carbs and intake manifold): -$500
Full Front Clip (Engine, Turbo, Wiring Harness and ECU) from a turbo FC : $2500
Gallon of Paint, Free Labor : $500

Total So Far: $2000

Fire away people

Oh and if you don't see a color you like, write one in and post it, with pics even if you like.

JOS3 · Oct 17, 2004

dude, that sucks about the 12a but the 13b would be awesome. titanium!!!!

jrodhotrod · Oct 17, 2004

W00t for Rotary power. I will live vicariously through you. Someday I'll get it all figured out and have a mostly stock car for daily driving and then something fun like a rotary for tweaking with.

Aricjm15 · Oct 17, 2004

it was red before let it be red again

changedman · Oct 17, 2004

lol. im reasding thgis thread WHILE driving on i94 woot.

orange.

anarchistchiken · Oct 17, 2004

pdhaudio83 said:
lol. im reasding thgis thread WHILE driving on i94 woot.

Explain.

Ken, Is it gonna have the FC front end or are you still gonna keep the whole first gen body? If you go wit the new front end, I say black. Otherwise, Titanium.

Pro5OnSpeed · Oct 17, 2004

red d00d red!

Patrick, dont crash or your n00b a$$ will get pwn3d!

Captain KRM P5 · Oct 17, 2004

pdhaudio83 said:
lol. im reasding thgis thread WHILE driving on i94 woot.

if u buildf it they will come

eyes on the road n00b!(headshake

i'm hoping to take small portions of my paycheck every week and do one thing here or there so that by spring its ready to roll. also - wheels? what kinda wheels should i go for? i really want MS miata wheels. thoughts?

Captain KRM P5 · Oct 17, 2004

anarchistchiken said:
Explain.

Ken, Is it gonna have the FC front end or are you still gonna keep the whole first gen body? If you go wit the new front end, I say black. Otherwise, Titanium.

keeping the first gen body

anarchistchiken · Oct 17, 2004

Titanium is is then. You're gonna pwn some hondas when this is done, lol.

Dexter · Oct 17, 2004

Titanium will be cool, but so will Lava Orange...but not sure how the LO will look on the 1stgen body......so i would so titanium as a pretty damn safe color to go with.

As far as wheels, dont do MS miata. they are big and heavy. i mean, yeah, they look cool, but they are like my racing harts: big and heavy. i would do a 16" lighter weight wheel. 17" on a 1st gen RX7 will look odd imho.

good luck on the build man, its gonna be realy nice.

Captain KRM P5 · Oct 17, 2004

PrOjEcT uPdAtE!!11

all the more reason to repaint the car - dad and bro pushed the car into the trailer and left a very handsome pair of scrapes and a nice little dent under the headlight.

bryan i am unsure what wheel would look ok on an older car. i agree 17s might be too big

Captain KRM P5 · Oct 17, 2004

anarchistchiken said:
Titanium is is then. You're gonna pwn some hondas when this is done, lol.

thats the idea. i hear that a 13B single turbo setup from an FC will put a first gen SA into the high 13s

anarchistchiken · Oct 17, 2004

Captain KRM P5 said:
thats the idea. i hear that a 13B single turbo setup from an FC will put a first gen SA into the high 13s

Damn, stock? That's wicked.

rx7gslse · Oct 17, 2004

Good choice in projects man... Question, what color is the car now? Doing a full color change will obviously be more expensive than a slight color change... Just to think on..

What I found odd is the 4 colors you listed are the 4 colors available on the MSMs... And you like the wheels.. Hmm... trying to tell us somthing here?

Anyway, for the colors listed, I'd vote Titanium... But too add one to your list, consider the Charcoal grey (a factory 1st gen color) It's a tad darker than the Ti..

Pictures (as ya requested)
Charcoal Grey (K8)

Charcoal compared to Ti.

Note; Orange 1st gens in generally DON'T look well.. Avoid the lava.

andix · Oct 17, 2004

I vote titanium.

rx7gslse · Oct 17, 2004

Captain KRM P5 said:
thats the idea. i hear that a 13B single turbo setup from an FC will put a first gen SA into the high 13s

Oh, and BTW, that's probably a bit optimistic for a stock block, factory ECU TurboII swap... Easy enough to upgrade, but for the price of buying a full front clip you can easily cover the cost of a Jspec motor/tranny and run a proper standalone and get more power for the same $$$..

I assume you've seen all the 1st gen swap info on the 7 forum right? (tranny mount, custom driveshaft, do something with the intercooler, GSL-SE oil pan req'd, front cover mod etc?)

They guy who will be doing the same project soon,

Eric

andix · Oct 17, 2004

dont forget a huge aluminum wing, tireflies, and neons everywhere.

for those who think im serious.... im not

anarchistchiken · Oct 17, 2004

andix said:
dont forget a huge aluminum wing, tireflies, and neons everywhere.

Dude, what kind of idiot do you think Ken is? He wouldnt leave off important stuff like that.

Captain KRM P5 · Oct 17, 2004

rx7gslse said:
Oh, and BTW, that's probably a bit optimistic for a stock block, factory ECU TurboII swap... Easy enough to upgrade, but for the price of buying a full front clip you can easily cover the cost of a Jspec motor/tranny and run a proper standalone and get more power for the same $$$..

I assume you've seen all the 1st gen swap info on the 7 forum right? (tranny mount, custom driveshaft, do something with the intercooler, GSL-SE oil pan req'd, front cover mod etc?)

They guy who will be doing the same project soon,

Eric

i thought about the whole E6X standalone route, but i really don't want to mess with it so much as i would like to keep that angle of the build 'plug and play'. Chris from SPD gave me the 13s figure for the stock type setup, running cat less of course

i haven't delved too much into the 1st gen swap info on the 7 forums. you have a link(s) or maybe a brief rundown? i know about the whole reinforcement beam up front like Racing Beat sells. i assume the transmissions between the 12A and the 13B do not match?

Eric, thanks for that pic - I saw that you posted it before and I think that first gen looks sharp as hell. The color now is a truly faded, cracked and chipped variation on the original red. The paint job, as I knew before I bought the car, was pretty weak. The tape off job was so awesome that my door handles have traces of red as well as the muffler tips and antenna mount.

Need Input! Rotary Budget Build!

What color for the car?

(27Y) Lava Orange Mica

(16W) Black Mica

(27A) Velocity Red Mica

(29Y) Titanium Gray Mica

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