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.
