Haven't been around much the last few years. Moving, changing jobs a few times, having a kid, things like that have taken up my car forum time. I'm finally getting started on the teardown and rebuild of the R1. Other than driving from the old house to the new house, it's been sitting for most of the last 3 years. I'm going to upgrade the cooling system, with new radiator, new AST, new coolant lines, all in preparation of shifting to a FMIC, plus an aftermarket airbox and relocate the battery to behind the passenger seat.



I'm hoping to do some fairly extensive photo / text documenting as I go.



Wish me luck - but since the 8 isn't needing any work at the moment, and the 84 is running well, I think I can put my wrench time to the FD.

 

I empathize with the 'life gets in the way' thing. From my first to second RX7 purchases there was one career, one marriage, two children, two houses....and 22 years. Still I wouldn't have changed a thing. It was worth the wait.



Sounds like your doing it the smart way...work on the basics first before mods. Good luck and do keep us updated.

 

I didn't get a lot done over the weekend, but I did at least make a start. All the big pieces in front of the engine are out; airbox, intercooler, battery tray, radiator, etc. Fluids are drained, power steering pump is unbolted and wired out of the way. Hopefully I'll get out in the evenings this week and disconnect the wiring.



First casualty of the process is in the books as well. In attempting to remove the P/S pump pulley, I managed to break it into 3 pieces. Depending on the budget as the engine is going back together, this may be my excuse for a set of underdrive pulleys.



Any suggestions on intercoolers? I'm back to debating the merits of all the various intercoolers out there, and looking for suggestions. I'll still be running stock twins, at close to stock boost levels, but I don't want to go back to the stock IC. Initially I thought I was going to go FMIC, but I'm having 2nd thoughts after looking closely at the space in the mouth as well as at the pipe routing that will have to be done.

 

**** man haven't seen you around in a while, how ya been and what you been up to?

 

If you've been away for a while, you may not be aware of them, but there are guys making idler pulleys to replace the air-pump now. It's an alternative to underdrive pulleys and the issues they bring. A replacement for your OEM PS pulley should be cheap and easy enough to find. At any rate, if your interested I can get you links or PM you the info.

For a streeted car I like a SMIC. Of the SMIC's, M2 medium WITH the duct would be my first choice, but they're hard to come by and pricey when you find them. I've been happy with my PFS. Quality material, about 250% larger than stock, seems to flow really well (not much pressure drop), EXCELLENT quality duct. Easy install with no custom piping, and fits without relocating the battery. It will also accomodate most open intakes and an M2 style as well. One thing I don't like about it is that the PFS intake scavanges air from the IC duct similar to the OEM set-up. I kept the intake, but simply modded it to source outside air similar to an M2 box.

IIRC...all else being equal my IATs dropped 20 to 25 C. over the stock IC.

 

Probably the biggest thing that's happened is we had a kid. Riley was born in May '08, and for some reason our free time has significantly decreased. Other than that, we've moved north a bit, living in Renton now, instead of down in Puyallup. Saves us each 60 miles a day off the commute. Close enough that I'm probably going to be driving the 93 to and from work most of the time again, once it's back on the road.