So, I've always loved the style of the FD (1993-1995 in the US) RX-7, but had no desire to mess with the 13b rotary that came in them. Too much upkeep, too many quirks, too tough to make power on (comparatively) and too similar a powerband to the S2000 I had last.

As you might imagine, I've been interested in the LSx swaps into FDs for some time, but never could justify spending 15-18k on the parts to do it correctly. Well, thanks to someone who had the time and money to assemble all of the components and didn't have the desire to assemble them, I stumbled across a VERY affordable project car.



It was actually an impulse buy. I first saw the ad for the car either late Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon and by Saturday I had it paid for and in a garage to be worked on.

So, for the meat of the post...

1993 Vintage Red RX-7 roller
1999 LS1
Brand new (<5k miles) T-56
Hinson subframe/alum driveshaft/cooling/fuel/harness/ecu/hydraulics (everything needed for the swap)
JTR ceramic coated longtube headers
Dakota Digital speedo recalibration
and probably more swap stuff that I'm not thinking of or don't know about yet

So, as far as the swap, I only need to buy a nice shifter for the T-56 (Pro 5.0 with a Steeda Tri-Ax handle I think) and a clutch (I don't trust the one that came with it). Everything else should be included. The previous owner already installed the front subframe and bumpsteer correction kit (new tie rod ends). The LS1 will be staying mostly stock for now, obviously I'll have headers and I'll probably have Mike at www.neweraperformanceparts.com port my throttle body next time I stop by to chat. I'll probably also have Mike put a quick tune on the PCM at some point. In the future, I'll likely be going to an LS6 intake and some medium to aggressive cam.

The roller also came with some nice extras. It was in a minor front end collision that only damaged the radiator core support (most flimsy metal I've seen on a car) and the hood, so it came with 2 bumper covers, all of the supports for the bumper, a new core support, a brand new VIS CF hood, and the stock slightly dented hood. This should take care of the damaged front end very easily. The seller had also picked up a set of CF sideskirts for the car which I will probably be selling (totally not my style).

You can see the pushed in support here


Luckily it's not structural at all and instead of pulling the front end in ( --> <-- ) with it, the spot welds broke and it was just mangled. I'll be taking this chance to improve it a bit by making it easily removable. In place of the few (apparently weak) spot welds, I'll be putting 2-4 bolts in so I can remove the support in a matter of minutes for cool things like...oh...say a cam swap .

Continuing with the chassis itself, I still have to discover all of it's secrets. I noticed while loading it that the car had white dampers and blue springs on it, so maybe they are Tokiko or KYB. I think Whiteline makes blue springs, but I'm not sure. The seller also said that there are stainless brake lines on the car and I noticed slotted rotors (eww, Brembo blanks coming when I ruin those).

I also was given the stock front sway bar along with a VERY beefy and heavy Racing Beat bar and hardware. The wheels are some sort of JDMness that he said he bought right from Japan. Apparently they're rare in the US, all I know is that they look better on the car than in photos and I'll probably keep them (also, they're damn near identical to Kinesis K57s and 3 piece as well). The seller was also nice enough to throw in a set of Advan Neova tires that are nearly new.

So, with most of the surprises discovered and plenty more boxes to go through, I'm very happy with my purchase.

The plan of action now is to remove the fenders, fix the front support and check the whole underbody and suspension for anything out of place or suspect. After that I can start on the actual swap itself, probably going after the fuel system first and then routing the wiring harness into the car. For a timeline, I'd love to finish before I have to give up the garage in mid or late April. I'll be taking my time and working on other people's projects as well, so I may not hit my goal, but I think it's certainly possible barring any major hang-ups.


So, now for some more photos!

My LS1 along with a lot of random crap at my friend's garage


The pretty pretty JTR headers


Beautiful radiator and fan from Hinson. The welds are so nice on this thing.


I ran out of storage space, so I had to improvise.

 

Saw your original post when you first got this beaut. Def going to be a monster. I remember reading about this swap for the first time 4 to 5 months and go and I was just like "wow". Thing is going to be a beast. Def keep up a log entry of your progress. Would love to see how this project progresses over time. Plus would love to go for a ride .

Mike

 

Will do! A ride is definitely a possibility too.

Made some small progress last night. Inspected the harness I was given with the car and it looks good. I also cleared out the garage the car is in so we have some room to work on it.

 

Messed around with the car for a bit tonight. Mostly just got it turned around in the garage to have some room to work on it and added lots of lights so we can see what we're doing.

For fun, I set the CF hood on it and slapped a bumper on. Doesn't look too bad!


A few of the parts I have...


Emptied the interior of spare parts (more or less)


More of the random parts I have


Not a very interesting update, we're still working on getting the garage set up to be usable, but it's getting better. Hopefully this weekend I can get the car on jackstands and check out the suspension/underbody and maybe start on replacing the front radiator support.

 

So, I got a decent bit done today. 3 people working for about 4 or 5 hours. I'll be back out tomorrow attacking the fuel system, hopefully with some heat for the garage this time. 15* is a bit cold to be laying on a concrete floor.

For major progress, we pulled out a crappy alarm that was installed, pushed the LS1 wiring harness through the firewall (quite a pain in the ass) and pulled the fenders to prevent damage while working on the car.

Well, the car has Tokico Illumina struts all around but unknown springs. If anyone has ideas, I'd love to identify them.


Lettering is PFS SUS 009 SF I believe.


Hoisted up on jackstands and wheels off. I need to either helicoil the passenger side caliper or replace it. The kid who put on the stainless lines managed to strip out the threads for the hydraulic connection. Oh well. Notice the creeper creepin' out of the engine bay. Convenient place to put it!


I'm liking these wheels more and more. Still not sure what they are other than Sterns.


Mike (mpd47) unhappy with pushing the wiring through.


The offending caliper. I'll probably have a shop helicoil it for cheap.


Me, working on some wiring stuff.


No fenders, but the harness is on the right end of the car at least! This was the most major accomplishment by far. I need to find a stock rubber grommet to put in there though, I'm pretty sure that I don't have one, but I might find it. If anyone knows of one for sale, I'll buy it.


The stupidly extensive Bose system that came as an option on the FD. I want to keep it for now, I'm interested in how it sounds, but it'll go when it either gets in the way or I decide to upgrade the stereo.


All the alarm crap and a radar detector hardwire kit. I'll be rewiring a hardline for my V1 at some point, but it was tied into the alarm wiring and I just wanted that crap GONE.


So, tomorrow I'll be buying a spot weld drill bit (or borrowing one if anyone local has one I can use for some $$) and attacking the front end for a bit. I also will be dropping the fuel tank to replace the fuel pump and start to run the new fuel line that came with the Hinson kit.

 

The springs seem to be related to http://www.pfsupercars.com/

No mention of this specific spring, though...

 

Good detective work! I'll look into seeing if those guys sold anything fitting the description of my springs.

 

Cool cool. We got t3h internets in the garage now. Got the busted piece off and the new one set in place. Next up is figuring out a good mounting system for it and tearing into the fuel system.

Also ordered this:



Full update + photos coming later, we're just waiting on some pizza now.

 

So, another 2 steps forward, one step back day today. I got the front piece that was wrecked pulled off, after a couple hours of drilling spotwelds and chiseling them out. For the steps backwards, I pulled apart a lot more of the interior, including pulling out the BOSE system.

Speaking of the Bose system, does anyone have a piece of black carpet for a non-Bose equipped car? I'll offer the rear Bose setup + carpet in trade, if that helps.

I also need to figure out a fix for my fuel door popper. Not sure why it isn't working, but the cable is definitely not pulling back the spring loaded plunger that latches the lid. I'm very tempted to just remove the popper and figure out some silly magnetic setup or something. Let me know if you have any ideas that retain a stock look from the exterior.

On to the photos!

Whee!! Destruction!


Trying to find that sweet spot to chisel...


The fruits of my labor.




The new piece set into place. Looks like it should be easy to bolt on with 4-6 bolts per side. I'll be taking detailed photos in case anyone wants to replicate this (not worth the work unless you're already going to remove the piece.


Off with the steering wheel and center console. Wheel is off for the Sparco replacement while the console is out to get some more room to work when welding reinforcements for the transmission mount.


The only rotor this engine bay will ever see again!!


Crappy fuel pump housing thing. Anyone know where I can get a new one and for how much? It'll kill me to put this rusty POS back in, so hopefully I can just replace it for a reasonable price.


Big stupid Bose system (well, only part of it...yes, there's more).


So, that is all for this week. Over the next few days, I'll be nursing my battle scars and looking for parts that I need. Expect another update on Friday/Saturday.

 

Wow, this is a huge project!

I'm loving the report.

I have to say, please rethink this:
I need to either helicoil the passenger side caliper or replace it. The kid who put on the stainless lines managed to strip out the threads for the hydraulic connection.

With the kind of power this car will be generating the last thing you want to experience is a sudden unexpected brake failure. If that helicoil should fail that line will let go and the amount of lost brake fluid would be major. Helicoils are sort of ok for some applications, but on a brake system which is under such pressure seems like something you should really think about. There must be plenty of OEM calipers in junkyards or eben a big brake kit.