Project: "Last RX-7" by Herblenny

[Herblenny]

Update...

Continuation of the bumper making..

Here are the detail pics of the bumper.


Test fitments:












Overall, I was very happy with the results. Fitment was satisfactory for being what it was. Height of the bumper was similar to the stock 93 bumper with 99 front lip. Compare to the first version, its night and day difference in fitment and quality.

[Herblenny]

Here is my other feature with SpeedHunters... with my 1973 RX3 and history behind it.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2016/09/mazda-history-tales-friendship/

I am honored that Mr. Larry Chen was able to shoot the car. It almost didn't happened because of the weather. It rained all day and as I was leaving the track (Road Atlanta), weather started to clear up and Larry gave the thumbs up.
Like any cars or people at this age, it comes with fantastic history. This car was initially built by a gentleman named Tom McGuire. It was his daily for many years and later I was told about the sale of the car by another friend, Chris Mahaffey. At that point, I was only interested in FD RX-7 so I passed it to a good friend Steven White. I regretted no buying first time so, when it was available for sale, I snatched it up from Steven. I fixed few things and after my marriage and 7 cars parked, I ended up selling it to yet another friend who recently had to sell his beloved FD RX-7, Marco Lau. He owned it for several years and was moving to west coast and I ended back up with this car again. I've updated few things for this feature and all my friends have great memories with this car. My future plan is to put maybe NA 20B in it. But I guess I need to finish up few other projects before I do that swap.

In case some of you don't or can't click the link above, here are some photos from it.







I am honored that Mr. Larry Chen was able to shoot the car. It almost didn't happened because of the weather.

[rice4life]

I've read all of the speedhunters articles, and even remember when you had that mazda cosmo in modified magazine. I didn't even intend to follow you either hahahaha. You're in inspiration to rotards.

[bjk]

Tuff as, man! And so cool to have the history behind it

[Herblenny]

I've read all of the speedhunters articles, and even remember when you had that mazda cosmo in modified magazine. I didn't even intend to follow you either hahahaha. You're in inspiration to rotards.

Thank you!! and Thank you for following!

Tuff as, man! And so cool to have the history behind it

Thanks!

[Herblenny]

Update:

It's been busy few weeks for me. Purchased a new car for the family. Back SEMA 2015, group of friends rented a Infiniti Q50 3.7 in Vegas. I was driving around and put about 100 or so miles on it. Car was comfortable and had decent pick up in speed. At the SEMA, I ran into a guy who put GTR R35 motor into the Q50, and though how it would fulfill my GTR desire. Well, Nissan finally came out with Q50 Red Sport 400, which I recently purchased. Car is just what I needed. Comfortable daily my wife can drive and enjoy, switched to Sport + mode and car comes alive and becomes a beast with 380WHP (thats what some of the stock RS400's been dynoing). Here are couple of pictures of the car.




With both of my Daily, RS400 and IS300 Wagon.


Regarding Rotaries...
I've decided to clean up some wiring to get ready to put a new set up in the car.


To do it right, I also needed to pull the dash and clean up the hacked up 20 year old interior harnesses.


More to come next week..

[loekaaz]

Good looking cars those q50's.

I make the instruction manuals for those, for the European market

[rice4life]

Always wondered about the Q50 RS400. So it has all electronic steering yet has a mechanical steering backup? What's the benefit of having electronically controlled steering over electric power assisted or a more traditional hydraulic? I understand that the ECU can change steering angle and correct for oversteer, but most people don't want or need that in a sports sedan? Same with the open diff, is that so it can apply the brakes to the spinning wheel to act as a faux LSD? Sorry man, I'm just trying to understand where the RS400 sits in the spectrum of sports sedans and from a technological standpoint.

I'm really impressed that technology has gotten this far and has been implemented in a $50k car. It kind of reminds me of when electronically controlled dampers, 6 cylinder engines, twin turbos and 4 wheel steering was all of the rage in the higher end japanese sports cars back in the early 90's.

[loekaaz]

Always wondered about the Q50 RS400. So it has all electronic steering yet has a mechanical steering backup? What's the benefit of having electronically controlled steering over electric power assisted or a more traditional hydraulic? I understand that the ECU can change steering angle and correct for oversteer, but most people don't want or need that in a sports sedan? Same with the open diff, is that so it can apply the brakes to the spinning wheel to act as a faux LSD? Sorry man, I'm just trying to understand where the RS400 sits in the spectrum of sports sedans and from a technological standpoint.

I'm really impressed that technology has gotten this far and has been implemented in a $50k car. It kind of reminds me of when electronically controlled dampers, 6 cylinder engines, twin turbos and 4 wheel steering was all of the rage in the higher end japanese sports cars back in the early 90's.

You watch too much MotorTrend bro

[Herblenny]

Good looking cars those q50's.

I make the instruction manuals for those, for the European market

That's awesome!! Sounds like an awesome job!!

Always wondered about the Q50 RS400. So it has all electronic steering yet has a mechanical steering backup? What's the benefit of having electronically controlled steering over electric power assisted or a more traditional hydraulic? I understand that the ECU can change steering angle and correct for oversteer, but most people don't want or need that in a sports sedan? Same with the open diff, is that so it can apply the brakes to the spinning wheel to act as a faux LSD? Sorry man, I'm just trying to understand where the RS400 sits in the spectrum of sports sedans and from a technological standpoint.

I'm really impressed that technology has gotten this far and has been implemented in a $50k car. It kind of reminds me of when electronically controlled dampers, 6 cylinder engines, twin turbos and 4 wheel steering was all of the rage in the higher end japanese sports cars back in the early 90's.

Well, I was skeptical but here are the benefits I see so far. Being an luxury sedan, at standar/eco mode, the car truly feel smooth, steering effort is minimal, and acceleration is tame. I want that when transporting my wife who ***** my abrupt driving skills.
When in Sport+ mode, car do come alive. Rev matches at higher RPM, throttle response better, and you could feel the steering tightens up. I haven't taken the car to the track but do feel more responsive. Overall, I feel that this car balances decently for what its supposed to be... luxury sedan with 400HP to move.

You watch too much MotorTrend bro

LOL! I watched many of these video about RS400 before purchasing.. But he does have a valid point. I was bit skeptical about the electronic steering but its pretty awesome.

[Herblenny]

Not much to update. Been busy spending time with my son over the weekend and work.
But I was able to sand down my Mazdaspeed Carbon Fiber front bumper lip and clear it to bring the shine back. Than replaced my 99 lip from my SSM FD.

[Herblenny]

Update:

Over the weekend I was able to do some wrenching on the car.
First installation of Sakebomb garage upgraded swaybar mounts. These things are beefy and well made. I'll be using a new Tripoint swaybar with these.



Another thing I was able to do was check the compression on my 1973 RX-3. I recently got the www.RotaryCompressionTester.com (RCT)'s battery operated compression tester and wanted to compare to my Mazda Specialty tool compression testers (old thermal and digital).



After warming up the car, I've tested just the OE digital and RCT testers. RCT unit uses 9V battery and it has automatic altitude calculation. Its super well made and easy to use. All you have to do is warm up, kill the ignition and fuel pump, install the sensor in the trailing plug hole and crank the motor. I did a facebook live video (https://www.facebook.com/Herblenny/v...4392837808927/) hope some of you can view it.

Anyhow, here are the results from the RCT:
Front
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Rear


Not bad for 20+ year old engine

Here is the RX-3 warming up before the test.

[R2dmax]

I love this body RX-7 I had the previous generation and miss it. Such a fun car! I have ALWAYS wanted an RX-3 or RX-4

[Herblenny]

I love this body RX-7 I had the previous generation and miss it. Such a fun car! I have ALWAYS wanted an RX-3 or RX-4

My first Rotary was the second generation. My girlfriend at that time bought it from me and wrecked it within couple of months of owning it. They are great cars!

[Herblenny]

Update!

Couple of months ago I ran into Facebook post about Champion Autoparts, "Search for a Champion 2017" promotion.



I've decided to enter and a week ago, I was chosen as one of the top 25 finalist!!!



I would greatly appreciate it if those of you following this thread to vote for me. I have an unique project that I'll be working on later this year and would be nice to win this to support that build. If I win, I'll share what that is the day of winner being announced... otherwise, I'll be keeping it hush hush for little bit longer

To Vote, goto: http://sfac.championautoparts.com/entry/686

Voters can also win prizes from Champion. Thank you for your support!