1st August 2006

With the bodywork up to a decent standard, my next obstacle was the inteior and audio system. As usual my mind went crazy thinking of the most outrageous ideas and innovations. There were a few things I wanted to accomplish and I needed the right people on the job.

I took my ideas to Yanddy at Audioart and Technologies and together we went through these ideas, expanded on them further and then put forward a proposal to Pioneer to assist with the hardware. Pioneer were impressed and partnered with me on the car. After going through ideas with them and Yanddy we came out with a range of components to fulfll my needs. All major components were selected from the 2006 range of Pioneer gear, some of which was being released in LE RX7 to the Australian market.

The car debut at Perth Autosalon 2006 and took home its fair share of trophies including a King of Autosalon Nomination and came in as Perth's Best Car.

For it's debut showing and considering the car is no where near completion we are quite happy with the result.

At the conclusion of the show it was straight back to Audioart where the interior and audio install will be finished off.

Well finally after 8 months of being in the panel shop the car is back! It was only supposed to be a couple of months but it turned out to 8 months. I don't want to go into too many details but lets just say it was a learning experience.

It was always my intention to get the car into the panel shop for an overhaul. When I got it the paint was ok but not at a level I wanted and the kit was shabby around the edges and just hadn't been fitted properly. Being as fussy as I am I wanted a complete makeover!

I ditched the Bodyform front bar in favor of the C-West front bar. It was not an easy job trying to find one but then out of pure luck I found a guy over east selling a genuine C-West front bar with the turn lamps for $800. I quickly snapped it up and overall $1000 for that front bar with the turn lamps landed to my door was a steal.

I also decided to take the rear wing off the car and go for a much cleaner look. I did like the wing but I wanted to make the back a bit smoother and more classy.

The standard mirrors just had to go so I did some looking around and decided on some Craft Square mirrors. I wasn't sure how or where to get them as Craft Square are a Japanese company. I then contact a company who specialises in bringing items in from Japan and they were able to get them for me brand new from the manufactuer! The mirrors cost just under $800 but they are worth every cent. They make the car much more modern and are much lighter than the standard mirrors being carbon fibre.

Whilst the car was being painted I also decided to ditch the 18-inch Lexani wheels for some brand new 20-inch Zenetti Throwbacks. They look sweet on the car! I went for a staggered size; 9-inch front and 10-inch rear.

The paint itself is a much brighter yellow than what was on the car and the finish is very nice. The kit has also been modified in a few places to add some uniqueness. For example the front number plate (see pics below).

Overall I am happy with the job... check out the pics below. More mods coming soon!

Modification summary:

I have always wanted a B&M shifter but with the cars that I have owned there wasn't a shifter available. Luckily there is a shifter available for the RX7 so I got my hands on one!

The installation was quite straight forward and took my brother and I around 30 min.

The results are actually quite impressive. I must say this would have to be the most bang for buck mod I have seen because it transforms your driving experience. The old long throw shift is now a tight, accurate and short throw shift which not only feels good to use but allows for a much faster change (obviously).

If there is a B&M shifter available for your car I recommend getting one!

Modification summary:
Turbo Kit for FD RX7 with GT3540
Turbosmart Pro-Gate - 45mm Wastegate
Microtech LT8S
Microtech 4-line hand controller
SARD Fuel Pressure Regulator
K&N Filter
Vented Carbon Fibre bonnet
Cusco Strut Brace

After having an issue at the Perth Rotary dyno day where the second turbo failed to boost properly I decided it was time for the twin turbo setup to go. Whilst having the twins is fun, they are just unreliable and are limited in their capability. I opted for the GT35/40 kit which came complete with Australian made stainless dump pipe, stainless manifold, Turbosmart Pro-Gate Wastegate, braided oil feed and water lines etc... The kit itself is actually quite spectacular. The quality of the stainless items and the welds and all round quality was quite impressive. I had the turbo polished and also had Turbosmart polish the wastegate and anodise it clear.

The GT3540 turbo should be good for around 300RWKW on the 13B but at the moment I am keeping the engine standard and will run only1 bar of boost. That's very low for this sized turbo and in fact is not really allowing the turbo to show it's true potential. The GT3540 will really spark up once we run 18psi+ through it.

Of course the stock computer simply wouldn't cut the mustard with the new turbo so an aftermarket solution was on the cards. After looking through possible computers I settled on the Microtech LT8S because it was well priced, has all the features needed and is well known and widely used on rotaries around the world. To be honest the Microtech was really the only way to go!

The SARD Fuel Pressure Reg was added to help regulate fuel pressure with the increased need for fuel. These rotaries drink!

I replaced the standard front strut brace with a Cusco item. It's not that I wasn't happy with the standard one but the Cusco one was available for a decent price and I could polish it to a mirror finish. For those that don't know me I have a bad addiction to polished/chrome parts and it doesn't stop. Wait for ROLLA SX to return *giggles*

The CF bonnet was something I always wanted so I got my hands on a vented CF bonnet which does the trick!

At this present stage the engine itself is completely standard. Due to this fact it was only decided to run 1 bar of boost to keep it from inevitable disaster. The tuning was performed by Zack from Cypher Industries on the FORMAZ dyno in O'Connor. After 4 hours of fine tuning we finished up with 271 RWHP @ 1 bar. That is quite respectable considering the stock engine, low boost and the fact that the FORMAZ dyno reads quite low compared to others.

Overall I am happy to this point with the modifications performed and the results. The car is much quicker now than it was stock which you will see from the dyno chart above.

Modification summary:
Greddy Dual 60mm Pillar Pod - Mazda RX7 FD3S
Apexi EL Meter Series 2 - 60mm Mechanical Boost Meter
Apexi EL Meter Series 2 - 60mm Electronic Oil Pressure Meter
Apexi EL Meter Series 2 - Control Box
Luminous Dials - Mazda RX7 Series 6 180km/h speedo
Apexi Auto Timer
Cypher ROTOMuffler V2
Apexi AVC-R Boost Controller
Alpine CD/MP3/TUNER head unit
Kicker 3-way splits

There's something about driving a car and having "gadgets" at your disposal to look at and play with! This latest round of mods saw a few gadgets being fitted to the car. Greddy is the only manufacturer to make a dual pillar pod for the FD so naturally I went with that option. As we all know there is a lot of variety when it comes to gauges from HKS, Defi, Greddy, Apexi and a lot more. These jap brands all perform quite well so it all comes down to what brand name you prefer and what look you like the best. I have always liked Apexi products and I like the luminous look of the Series 2 gauges so my choice was simple!

To complement the Apexi luminous gauges I went for a set of luminous dials. I must say they match up very nicely and it looks pretty wild at night.

I had previously installed the Greddy Turbo Timer but had some issues with it. Just my luck I got a faulty one! The silly thing would turn itself off for no reason which was very annoying and defeated the purpose of having a turbo timer. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth and since I had Apexi gear in the car I decided to match it all up with the Apexi Auto Timer. I am glad to say I am having no problems with it and it's small, unique design made mounting very easy.

The muffler that was on the car was ok but I have always loved the "rotor" muffler available from Cypher so I had to have one! It is quite expensive but it is a very unique looking muffler and really suits any rotary powered car quite nicely.

I had already installed the FMIC in preparation for the increased boost load I anticipated so it was time to take the plunge. Again there are quite a few options with boost controllers but I have already had experience with the Apexi AVC-R and wanted to stick to the Apexi theme I had going so naturally I went for the AVC-R. We mounted it on the provided stand on the dash in the centre of the car facing the driver seat. The bonus of the AVC-R is it provides useful real time information whilst driving like Speed, RPM, Boost and more. To give the RX7 some extra go we tuned the AVC-R to provide 10 pounds of beautiful boost which provided 220RWHP on the Formaz Dyno.

For some in cabin "doof doof" I had a new Alpine deck fitted together with some Kicker 3-way splits. I plan on expanding the audio side of things a little later with subs and amps.

Modification summary:
Apexi Intake Kit
GFB Bovus Maximus BOV
ModYourCar 600x300x76 Bar and Plate Intercooler with custom stainless piping
Sparco Extreme 2 Steering Wheel
Greddy Turbo Timer - Silver

The first round of modifications used all bolt on mods (apart from the custom piping). The stock air box on the RX7 was nasty and in fact I found there was actually no air filters in them! With the Apexi Filter being the best rated on the market we decided on the Apexi Intake Kit for the FD3S which bolted straight on. They perform well and also gave me the opportunity to remove unnecessary plastic shrouds from the engine bay from the stock air box system.

To prepare the car for an inevitable boost increase we used one of our ModYourCar bar and plate intercoolers. Most people opt for a top mount/engine mounted intercooler in an RX7 but I always like to do something a little different so we went for a front mount. The reasons being the cooling is far more effective and I love the look of a big core sitting at the front of the car. The room up front under the front bar was very limited but after I removed the plastic shrouds that came with the stock box there just just enough room to slide the intercooler in place. With the intercooler in place the tricky step was the intercooler plumbing. Cypher Industries do all of our work and Lee had a challenge with the pipe work but he managed to squeeze the pipes down to the front bar. It's a work of art and I know Lee is quite proud of it.

No engine bay or turbo car for that matter is complete without a BOV. We removed the two standard BOVs hanging off the turbos and mounted a GFB Bovus Maximus BOV on the intercooler plumbing after the intercooler. It looks trick in the engine bay and provides plenty of "whoooosh" whilst driving.

A turbo timer is a pretty standard item for any turbo car, the only decision that has to be made is which one to use! I opted for the turbo timer by Greddy... not for any particular reason apart from I like the look of it.

The steering wheel in the car was cheap and old so had to be replaced. Since the RX7 is typically a race car I decided to go with a Sparco wheel with a race style finish. The Sparco Extreme 2 was perfect for the car. The black leather matches the interior and the square cut allows for easy entry and exit from the car.