HDP's Red R1
 

I guess I waited a little late to begin a writeup of my build up as I'm nearing the end of the project. I will just start from the beginning and work up to the current state.
March 2006: On my way to work one morning cruising about 50 mph, HUGH hesitation that nearly threw me into the steering wheel and a big white/grey/blue/black trail of smoke bellowed from behind... at 114666 miles, my original, very tired 13b had completely let go. It had been on it's last leg for quite some time but held-up for nearly 30k miles on numerous long distant trips all over the S.E. including DGRR 1, Rotary Revolution and even a few trips to the dragstrip.

June 2006: After sitting for a few months, it was time to get cracking on my new project. I had been researching different engine options to use and after talking to Ray @ Malloy Mazda, I decided to go with a BRAND NEW stock 13b... 0 miles. The following month, I took receipt of the new engine and began to map out all the modifications and upgrades I had in mind.

Planning Ahead
 

I had in mind to build a fast car, well, at least faster than stock, with around 400 rwhp as my goal. I wanted it to appear relatively stock and to add a few updated touches here and there, but most important, keep it CLEAN and NEAT. I researched a lot of setups and looked for key components that would able me to reach my goal. I knew the day would come that I would have to replace the engine, so I began buying mods years prior. I knew going single turbo was not the direction I wanted to go so one of the first mods I bought was a brand new set of 99 spec RZ twin turbos. Nearly everyone I've told my "ultimate goal" said I will probably not get there with stock twins and certainly not keeping them sequential. So now I have something to prove. I would also get in on GB's and scoop up good deals as I would come across them.

Performance Mods and Upgrades
 

Oil metering adapter and oil tank.

More...
 

HKS twinpower and Walbro 255

Can't wait to see more:)

Don has work long and hard on this one. I would love to see you put up so good numbers but either way it does not matter. Your car looks clean, runs great and should hold together for sometime.

Thanks guys. The bad part about this write up is most of the pics I took of the progress, I can't seem to find. I think most were lost when my O.S. took a dump and I had to format the drive.

Looking good as always Don.

How much did it cost for a brand new engine, if you don't mind me asking?

$4100 with Malloy discount.

Been over a month since I last posted. Well since most of the pics I took are lost I guess I will post the pics I have and take pics of the finished work and explain as I go.
First thing I did when I pulled the engine was sanded, preped and painted the engine bay. I found this online paint source paintworld that puts factory paint into rattle cans so a spray gun and compressor is not needed.

When my car was running, I had noticed a slight clunking sound coming from the hatch area and the sound was worse when fuel level was low. Since I was installing a new fuel pump, I decided to inspect the inside of the tank. I discovered the baffles inside the tank had come apart from the spot welds that held them from the inside. I managed to bend the remaining baffles until they popped loose. I then found some fuel cell foam to serve as baffles to prevent fuel slosh.

Moving to the interior, I added a few mods in addition to ones I already had. I didn't want a cluttered cockpit full of gauges and lots of bells and whistles, so keeping everything stealth was a must. I determined the necessary gauges and gadgets I needed to control and monitor everything I thought was crucial. Since I was upgrading the fuel system with bigger injectors, fuel pump and regulator, an in-car fuel pressure gauge was on the list. I also opted for a wideband setup for monitoring AFR and another boost gauge since my DEFI D-gauge had crapped out. Since I was replacing all the sequential solenoids with upgraded ones, increasing boost beyond stock levels while remaining sequential was now possible. To control boost I went with the Greddy Profec Type-S. Since it didn't have a display, it was basically a "set it and forget it" deal so I wanted to put it out of sight but still where it could be accessed. It had been suggested from others to install it in the DIN pocket under the radio, but that space was to be occupied by my Kenwood EQ (more on this install later in the write up). Others suggested the glove box, but I used it to store the PFC commander when the car is parked along with other important items, so that was out. I then noticed the location I had installed my turbo timer (A/C vent under the steering wheel) and figured why not there... so the work began.

More...

I like the pictures!!! Let's see some more!

more Don, we need more!!!!!!!!!!!!

show'em those shinny new wheels!

good i dea with the vent. i would never put anything there. nothing better on a hot day than cold ac directly on your junk:biggthumpup:

I remember your car from DGRR 2005. Guess who's smoke screen this is...

I remember that:)

If the weather is nice this weekend, I will snap a few pics.

Hopefully at DGRR 2009 the only smoke I leave will be tire smoke... :)

Ok, I was able to snap a few pics of the car yesterday while the weather was nice (but cold). Not many changes to the exterior other than Rotary Extreme plateless 99 spec polyurethane bumper cover and the 18x8/18x9 ASA wheels.

Engine mods
 

I made many changes with the look and performance of the engine. I will try to go in depth with the modifications made.

I decided to go with a smaller battery (51R) to allow more room for the intercooler. I made a custom tray that mounts in the same location as the stock piece. After looking at the tie-down brace installed, I decided I will make another one to match the strut brace.

While keeping the CAI I had, I wanted to have the filters permanently match the color of the blue used for the brake calipers, strut brace, and other accents. I used RIT navy blue dye to get them as close to the color as I possibly could.

Along with the fuel pump upgrade, I had to upgrade the rest of the fuel system as well. I installed the fuel pressure regulator on the front of the UIM where the stock boost control solenoids were mounted. I had to fabricate a bracket to mount the FPR to one side in order to install the fuel pressure sensor. I also upgraded my fuel injectors to provide adequate fuel for my power level goal. Thanks to David Garfinkle, I was able to mount stock 850cc in the primary rail and 1200cc in the secondary. To get everything flowing smoothly, I opted for -6an fittings and braided stainless hose connected to the hard pipes at the fire wall.

I also used Dale Clark's method for rewiring the fuel pump but I added my personal touch to it. After reading Dale's write-up and after examining everything, I decided to use one of the empty fuse holders in the stock fuse block to mount the fuel pump fuse. I used fuse terminals from a junk car (Mazda MX6) which is the exact match to that of the 7 and soldered it to the existing wire (see Dale's write-up for detailed directions). I pushed the fuse terminals into the fuse block and inserted the 20A fuse. I still need to label the cover for the new fuse.

I ported the wastegate on my 99 spec twins using a dremel tool. It was easier than I thought it would be. Not sure the exact size I ported it, but I left about 1/16" for the wastegate door to close on. Since the R1 didn't come with cruise control, I mounted the HKS Twin Power on an old cruise control module bracket I got from a forum member (can't remember who it was).

More to come... stay tuned.

More Interior Upgrades
 

Well, on to the most important item in the interior, the steering wheel. I never really cared for the plain stock wheel but didn't like most of the aftermarket wheels either. When I had visited Phil (Herblenny) on numerous occasions, I saw the display of all the steering wheels he had collected over the years and there was one that really caught my eye, an Efini wheel. I quickly dismissed the thought of getting one when he told me how much he had paid for it :eek: . I'm not a cheap bastard by any means, but there are things that I will put off until "the price is right". Fast forward about 2 year... while checking eBay, I came across the very wheel I would want as a replacement for the bland OEM one. From looking at the pics and the description given, it seemed to be in excellent condition. It was local, meaning no over-seas shipping cost, and the deal maker... it was only $78 shipped. I jumper on that deal and took receipt of my new replacement steering wheel.
According to everyone I had talked to and all the info I had read, this new steering wheel should be a direct bolt-on. After receiving it, I found that was not the case. First obvious thing was the new wheel had no airbag. In order to use it, I had to deal with this issue, so I painstakingly removed the airbag connectors, crash sensors and all related items. Next was the actual mounting of the wheel which was impossible to do and still retain the stock clock spring for the horn (and airbag if it was to be used), so here is where the major modification came into play. There was a write-up on a botched modification on another message board but I knew there was a better way to do it, so after removing the clockspring and looking at the wheel, I figured how I would go about it. After reading through the wiring schematics in the FSM, I took the steering wheel and clockspring apart.

Modifying the Clockspring
 

First thing to do was to modify the stock clockspring to work with the new Efini wheel. The connector was too tall and in the wrong location for the Efini wheel to work, so I began by trimming about an inch off the top portion of the clockspring connector. After determining which pin was used for the horn, I soldered a longer wire to it to connect to the horn button then heat-shrinked and coated all exposed wires/pins then put the clockspring back together.

Modifying the Efini Steering Wheel
 

Next step was to modify the steering wheel to work with the modified clockspring. It was obvious the new steering wheel was designed to work with some sort of clockspring because it has an opening for the connector similar to the OEM wheel except it entered through the top rather than the bottom. The bottom spoke on the Efini wheel prevented the stock clockspring from being used, thus it had to be modified as shown in the previous post. To allow an access for the new horn wire, the back of the Efini wheel had to be altered as well. After determining where the clockspring connector came in contact with the back of the steering wheel, I used a soldering iron to melt a new opening. Since the bottom spoke didn't have an access for the clockspring wiring, I drilled a small hole to allow the horn wire to be pulled through. Now, the Efini wheel can be used with the stock clockspring configuration.

More...

Don,

Car's looking great!! Are you going to bring it to DGRR?

Thanks. I plan to. I just need to verify my vacation was approved.

PFC, Commander and Datalogit
 

Even though I've had my PFC and commander for about 5 years (2003) I only used it for maybe a year or so before my engine completely let go. In hopes of learning to tune my own car, I decided to buy a Datalogit. I had seen most people who had Datalogits installed appeared temporary as all the cables and wires were run across the passenger floor. This would pose a problem for me because I wouldn't want a passenger to get tangled in the mess of wires and it just wouldn't look professional. In order to avoid this, the Datalogit had to be installed permanent but there had to be a way to interface with it using a laptop. Pulling the kick panel was one solution but I wanted something less cumbersome. I had seen a write-up from someone who installed USB adapters through the kick panel connected directly to the Datalogit. When they needed to access it, just plug in. Neat idea! Since my laptop (very old) still used DB9 serial connection, I would use this type rather than USB.
The commander mount I did was also someone's (David Garfinkle) idea that I though was neat and I added my own flare to it. I use a flex mount for an old portable CD player and an adjustable cell phone car cradle to make my commander mount. I welded a metal brace to the tranny tunnel to screw the base of the mount to. I ran the cable into the glove box and use it to store the commander when not in use.

Cool build-up. I love the commander mount you put together. I too bought a datalogging system and I was trying to figure out a place to mount the controller in my FC, instead of the passenger seat. Maybe I'll resort back to your setup one day. Keep up the great work!!!

Safety First
 

Before I even bought my RX7, I had read and was told you should buy and keep a fire extinguisher in the car; I guess that wouldn't be a bad idea for any car, but more so for the 7. When I got my car I bought a small 1 lbs. disposable extinguisher from Wal-Mart and stored it in the driver's side rear bin. I had seen others mount their extinguishers in very visible locations which I thought looked kind of ricey so I preferred to keep mine out of sight. Fortunately, I never had to use mine but I recently learned the extinguisher I bought wasn't large enough to be affective in case of a major fire and it would probably cause more damage than good because of the mess it would leave behind. So this time around I chose a clean agent extinguisher in a larger 2.5 lbs. size. Also I wanted to securely mount the extinguisher rather than just toss it in the rear bin like before, so I attached the mounting bracket to the underside of the bin lid with pop-rivets.

Looks great Don! Does your commander ever fly out of the holder when you accelerate quickly? I had an issue with that when I used a holder similar to that.