Your intro was like reading my life's story. I am 46 and although I do not have an FD sitting for 15 years, I have a Z06 that has only been tracked once after spending thousands making it a track weapon. Life is funny. You are young, live young, have fun, and tomorrow isn't a worry. You get married, have kids, live smart, focus on the kids for fun, and care about every tomorrow. Years into this you realize you have completely changed and are just a Dad to you and them. I love it, don't get me wrong. But I would certainly love to hang with my 25 year old self to show my kids how awesome I was, lol. I wasn't expecting you to throw all that ND into an FD. I subbed to see the results.
Thank you for the amazing message, I couldn't have said it better. ❤️ My kids and fam are everything to me because they made me a better person than I was 15 years ago.
"The car is a rollcage with skin around it" is pretty much how a lot of older, pre-carbon monocoque sportscars did it. Things like TVRs and such, just with fiberglass body instead of steel. The tubes in these are usually just covered up with interior panels and padding.
Well, I'm 46, and have a project FD that's been sitting since 2019. The MX-5 is also the chassis I know the best. I've owned quite a few, and can communicate with that car without ever feeling out of sorts or nervous. My wife and step kiddo made me into a much better and responsible person as well. Also, I used to play competitive 2D fighters at a high level, so the 3rd Strike OST got me immediately. Subbed because I look forward to what you build, and I truly wish you all the best and a fantastic journey with your FD. Cheers mate!
it's definitely the MX7. you got rid of the RX when you got rid of the doritos and this is unforgivable lol :( REAL TALK THO, this looks way more involved and is a way cooler project than I thought at the time i got to see the cars haha. much more going on than just an engine swap! looking forward to more updates! When you started to talk about hiding the rollcage i was like "uh yeah, nah." but then mentioning the way you wanna have it upholstered actually makes a lot of sense and i think i'm excited to see the way this car turns out! also, that killer instinct jam... heccin' YES!
Thank you! I don't know if the interior will turn out the way I imagined but it's the best idea I could come up with in all these years. Hopefully it will look like a proper car with interior except everything will be hard as rock instead of plastic trims 😂 And you are my best friend for recognizing the jam!
Love to see you bring the FD back to life even if its not going to be the rotary. I think there are a bunch of us in this same age group that just want to enjoy these cars on the street. I used to be fine driving full race prepped cars on the street, massive turbos with 4" exhaust or open header V8 cars. Now with my FD, I want to be able to have a conversation while enjoying the A/C on a fun road without smelling like fuel afterwards. Great content
Brother, I totally understand. I used to daily a completely stripped turbo FC RX-7, huge straight pipe, pre-mixing 2-stroke oil at every pump. The exhaust would get in the cabin and make my eyes water. Like you said, most of us have grown up now and there's a strong revival vibe with some of our beloved cars. Cheers! 🤝
Wow, what a transformation - rotary race car to piston street car. Funny, I have a Miata NA with a 12a bridgeport in it : ).. Good luck my friend, the FD needs to back on the road, anyway you can. Well done sir
From memory there’s quite a relationship between the NC and the RX8. I’m sure you’re aware anyway but could be helpful knowledge for something along the way
Im 36 and my FD has been sitting for the last 10 years and for the 5 before that with the previous owner. I had my daughter and priorities massively changed, finally started having the time to work on it again and we decided to have a 2nd kid 😂. Im starting to get back into the flow of working on any project now and am in awe with the dramatic increase in price of parts now... 30 year old project car problems...
I'm in the same boat and completely understand how you feel. Being a Dad also means (very) limited budgets. 😭 The prices of old car parts are insane! This is why I'm keeping track of my spendings and just trying my best to make my own parts. 👍
What an interesting idea, I met one of the Mazda engineers at a Sevenstock show and he said that in hindsight he might have put something like an RX8 engine in the FD RX7 to reduce the weight and cost and complexity of the car. I was very surprised seeing the corner scale numbers from your video, my guess was about 450 pounds heavier.
Thanks for the cool info! Tbh I was surprised also - I think the factory 13B-REW weighs more than I imagined, especially with the twin turbo and supporting equipment. The FD transmission probably weighs more than the Miata one also. My goal is to keep the final weight of this car the same as an NC Miata! 🤝
Trying to make a race car look like a normal one, I like this twist! Only concerns is modifying the weld crowns on the rollcage, or adding welds to the tubing would affect the integrity, but that's just my welder mind speaking. I would also be concerned about transporting family or friends in the car if it has metal panels. I'm sure you've already thought about this though. Looking forward to this fabrication journey!
Love this, thanks for the concerns. I've always thought, why is it that I don't see racecar chassis heat treated after a roll cage? In my mind the entire chassis should be heat treated to relieve all the stress from tube bending and molecules rearranged after welding. I guess it makes sense in theory but just isn't practical in real life. I will do my best to not introduce too much heat during the welding process, but I also acknowledge that it will be partially annealed no matter what I do. And for sure, I will be working on padding up the interior after all the metal work. Safety first!
I’m kind of in the same boat. My NB has been sitting for the last 4 years…. The kids are almost in elementary school. I’m excited to start working on it again. This video gives me motivation, can’t wait to see how yours turns out!
Coming from someone who has owned an FD even longer than you have, I want to thank you for increasing the value of mine. :-) I understand what you're attempting to do. It's your money and your project. I wish you all the luck with this and hopefully it'll get to see the road again after being off it for such a long time.
I have an FD and an NC and think that this might be one of the coolest ideas, especially when I saw that both the NC shifter and driveshaft line up and can be used!! Less fab work than a K Swap and the duratec platform has great potential for power.
Thank you Matt! The K swap is really popular these days and for good reasons. However I prefer simplicity and the fact that the K engines were designed for FWD cars means a lot more effort for our application - more complicated engine mounts, transmission adaptors, intake manifold issues etc. Some of these issues also make it nearly impossible to make it CARB legal. I'm really enjoying this swap because I feel like it's meant to be. 👍
@@frankieg3409 From a legal standpoint, no, the engine can be from any manufacturer as long as it's newer than the car. I plan to cover this topic more in the next video.
"I decided to go full racecar, what a mistake." Ouch yeah man...imagine the value on that RX7 if you'd left it stock. Oh well, fun project now I guess.
This is incredible. You should seriously consider producing a swap kit. There is a lot of potential with the availability of 2.5L engines and new turbo kits coming out. Great work!
I'm 42 and the way you described how you felt about your Miata is how I feel about my 3 MPS (Mazdaspeed3), I was gonna say that your voice is really chill and easy to listen to dude, then @11:02 I hear a track from "Killer Cuts" start to kick in. Epic, brings back some nostalgia there! 😁 Looking forward to seeing this all come together!
The KI OST is easily one of the GOAT. I remember my teenage self got a CD from purchasing the game and just listened to it on loop non stop. Definitely has a very special place in my heart. ❤️
Bloody hell mate,that's quite the build you got there. Love it. Subbed. From OZ,we also had both these great cars over here. I've got an NA Mx5 waiting at my dads place for some love......
NGL I've been out of the game for so long I had to Google him because I didn't know who he is. 😭I don't know any celebrities so you will have to put up with me unfortunately. 🫰
Awesome project! I just hit 40 and bought a mint NA Miata, I'm going to do a few minor mods (wheels tyres swaybars) and do some local hillclimbs. btw the windshield washer motor area is called the "scuttle". I don't know why 😅 Killer Instinct theme, Street Fighter shirt, i guess you like fighters!
@@howihowi that's awesome. I want to design my own motion system. Can't afford to buy from even sigma who's prices are pretty good. Just to pick your mind.. I have my eye on industrial sewing machine motors because they are cheap. Lol. Do you think they would make good for actuators?
@howihowi I really want to build a system with the four corner actuators for road bumps ect., but have a single actuator for hills and elevation. If you get what I mean. The elevation would be separate. So the rig would be suspended at a center point on a frame where it can tilt up and down and the four actuators would be connected to that bottom frame.
@@bradmccombs3925 Hi Brad, sounds like a cool project! If you are on a budget and want to go DIY, research on the SFX-100, which is an open source system and has all the info you need to build it. If you are on a budget but would like to purchase complete, look up the RS series from eRacing-Lab. I've heard many good things about it. Both mentioned systems have everything already figured out so they are paths of least resistance. If you want to to go full hardcaore DIY and with your own motion algorithm and controller, I recommending using Teknic motors. They are very high quality, made in USA motors, and have very good instructional videos on how to command them; that's what we use. Unfortunately I can't comment on the sewing machine motors because I have no idea what motors are actually used inside these machines. Hope that helps! Cheers! 🤝
As a NC owner, I love this, but whyyyy are you keeping the stock 2.0? You could build the 2.0 for higher RPM with just springs and cams, or go to 2.5L, which is a direct fit in and a torque monster, or even a destroked 2.5L. All of these options are relatively cheap, if you do the work yourself. A turbo would be a tasty cherry on top.
Thank you! I plan to cover more on this topic in the next video, but basically I plan to build this car in phases. Phase 1 is to simply get the car street legal in California, which itself is already quite a battle. I'm a big fan of Flying Miata's turbo kits so that might be something I want to do after Phase 1. 😊
I've been closely following FM's development on their new NC turbo kit and I just love all the design considerations, thorough testing, and philosophy. The price is also very good IMO. I can't wait for them to release it. If it can really make an NC put out 250hp-ish to the wheel, I wouldn't ask for anything else. The car would be absolutely perfect!
I'd recommend vinyl/plastic to hide the cage, you can bend it and make it look very clean with the interior and it will be much lighter than using steel
just use good strong glue and make sure it's paintable, I recommend finishing them yourself rather than having them be padded, you can still get a great result DIY, if you want to make it padded you can get the material in sheets and cut and adhere
Thanks Timothy! I've been thinking about your comments all night and I think I may make some adjustments to my approach. I will definitely keep you posted. Really appreciate the idea!
I used lizard skin sound and heat control coating in a 1971 VW Square back and it made a huge difference. Only thing I would recommend is don’t believe what they say about clean up. Next time I will cover everything in my garage I don’t want this stuff on and mask the entire exterior of the car.
Ha, wow. I was just wondering the other day if anyone had done this swap before and how it drove and this pops up - thanks algorithm. Best Wishes! Awesome BGM choices, can't believe I've played all those haha. A minor "complaint", I'd probably bring up your voice track a bit more and slightly tweak the background music so you don't get washed out in the audio mix.
Thank you so much for the feedback. I'll definitely do better audio next time. I made the first video rather quickly thinking it's only for my close friends, but I'll put (a bit) more effort into it now. 😅 I'm glad we both appreciate the BGM! 🔥
I was hoping this was an old series, so I could watch it all in one go haha!! Can't wait to see where this goes. Also, my dad had an 06 2.0 NC MX-5, and all four rods started to have rodknock at around 120K. The bearings were shot. I'd say change them, or control them so you can enjoy the car for as long as possible. The early MZR engines (both 1.8 and 2.0) have chronic piston ring and rod bearing issues. I dream of putting a BP Turbo in an FC or FD 😂
I do like the idea of this project, the NC miata engine looks so small in there, this project has me intrigued, a perfect mix between old and new sports cars from miata.
Nah, stop worrying about grinding down the welds. They don't need to be smooth. It will take a lot of time and it's not worth it. Wrap the bars with Alcantara or synthetic leather.
Woah cool project, and even cooler space, Is that a 10EE in the corner? I'd love to know more about your specific roll cage, I have been researching similar more "load bearing" type cages for a while now and have come up pretty empty. Do you intend to add more strength by boxing in the roll cage as well? If not, vacuum forming your own interior pieces might be cool.
You are my new best friend for spotting the 10EE! ❤️ The 10EE is my girlfriend and my absolute favorite machine in the world. It's all original from 1968. I'm gonna stop now because I can't shut up about it. Maybe I'll feature it in future videos. 😁 Try searching for "hidden rollcage", it will return more results, but still extremely rare. The reason is because racecars want to have exposed cages for ease of inspection and much less effort on the build. This type of structure is very labor intensive and only found in special applications.
@@howihowiSuper jealous of a fully original one like that. It would not be the first video I've seen on them, but I'd love another one. The Monarchs were a little outside my budget and weight class when I was looking for my lathe. I ended up with a 41 LeBlonde that is less rigid but a little larger, so I can't complain. It was local and cheep too, that helped. All I really need to do is fix its oiler and redo its VFD setup and it's good to go. Not that it stopped me from having fun with it in the meantime. I'll look into the hidden roll cages. I've got a pretty unique problem. I'm trying to restore a 73 Saab Sonett and it's just weird. I hate to plug my own stuff, but I'm the only one making consistent videos on these cars LOL. It's basically a floor pan, some doors, and a 2 piece fiberglass body to trick you into thinking it's a real car, but it's not. Since the entire body can be removed, building the roll cage is pretty easy, But the roll cage will be the first point of contact should anything happen, so it needs to be stronger than most. I've looked around, I've read pretty much every rulebook from all the sanctioning bodies, and none of them really fit this application. I think this car is one of the few types that slips through the cracks. What it really needs to be safe is basically the top half a tube frame chassis bolted onto the tub. At the end of the day, I'll likely just build whatever makes me feel safe, and I don't have any major plans to race it, But I don't want to disqualify myself from taking it to the track once or twice. And yes, it is too small to do a tube frame and a roll cage. It's smaller than my 92 miata. So, whatever structure I add has to do it all. But hey, this is going to be a pretty serious engineering project. So when it's all said and done I'm probably gonna have enough data to petition them to let me in anyway haha. Which part of California are you in? You seem like a cool person to know.
@@Ludicrous_Speedway I looked through some videos of yours and it's such a unique project, especially for such a young guy! Lots of respect! The modern Corvettes have a similar structure, with a fiberglass tub sitting on a steel frame. You may be able to draw some inspirations from some Corvette racecar builds. Sorry I can't help much since I'm not familiar with Corvettes, but they are amazing cars with tremendous support and following. I'm located in SoCal Pomona area, how about yourself?
@@howihowi Thank you. Means a lot. I've primarily been looking at vintage stuff. The Esprits have been helpful. The modern corvettes did not cross my mind. I'll give them a shot. Shoot, I had my fingers crossed. I used to live in the LA area, but moved to Sacramento two years ago.
I think you can remove the cross bars. The roll cage is strong enough without them. It would basicaly become the stock structure without the cross bars. I can't wait for the next episode. Got instantpy hooked by this project. Btw, you can apply for YT monetization, because from this one video you hit the necessary threshold.
@@howihowi I mean it's a bit inconvenient, but that's just my opinion. It takes up visibility and it makes it uncomfortable to get in and out. This is one of the reasons i'll never put a rollcage in my car. I'm fine with just chassis braces. (Plus it's illegal to have a rolllcage here, even though it increases safety, like, wtf...)
3d strike music nice! subbed for game music and mazdas! also is that a 2.0? You ever think of swapping the 2.5 ecotec in there? I have friend who does auto cross has a NC with a 2.5 supercharged makes 350whp very quick car!
This is a very interesting swap idea, and one that I am very excited to watch what the future has in store for both you and the car. Ive currently got an 04 RX8 and its 13B is on its last leg being low compression. I never thought of it, but maybe a very similar swap would be a good idea too and im hoping that watching this build unfold will help me get an idea of how that NC swap would be on it. Keep it up!
Subscribed, sounds like a great build! Instead of sheet metal hiding the cage would it be better to use roll cage padding on the pillars shaped and retrimmed? Then on the roof use the padding as a base to stick a custom roof liner panel to?
Thank you for the idea Sam! I've been thinking about this all night and might revise my plan a bit. I will keep thinking about it and definitely keep you posted. 🤝
This is an incredible idea and I'm extremely excited to see how the finished product turns out and how the driving experience is said to be. I do have one question, is that front bumper just the stock bumper with the vent cut out bigger because it it's the perfect amount of more aggressive compared to the stock front bumper and I love how that looks!
Thank you so much! Believe it or not, I bought the car this way 20 years ago. The guy just trimmed the stock bumper to get more airflow in and I also kind of fell in love with its look. I'm always tempted to go all 99-spec on everything, but I never pulled the trigger because this bumper kind of became its personality and I like the way it is now more than anything available on the aftermarket!
@@howihowi yeah it definitely helps that it was done with (from what I can see) such attention to detail. I would definitely stick to this look as it is unique to this car alone while the 99 spec front end is, at least to me, a bit overdone at this point. Plus this way it looks more like an NA miata which fits with the theme of the build. At the end of the day though build it how you wanna, it will be really cool to watch either way!
Good luck, i will be following along with your project. One number lower, im gearing up for a 94’ mx-6 ev conversion, i picked it because its the closest thing I could get to an FD rear without the $$$. Id offer to help you with grunt work just to see this through, but i live up in the bay. I have a few buddies going to Pomona and Irvine that are part of the F1 club that would love to be a part of this if you need a hand. Also, i would suggest you leave the plastic coolant overflow tank in the NC, it is prone to cracking. It also looks like you have the NC1 motor which is a 6700rpm redline instead of 7500rpm for the next two iterations, but the I think the trans is the same so you are probably good to just tune it if you wish.
EV conversions are cool - I was definitely tempted by the idea more than a few times. In the end the NC swap was the most economical and logical path of least resistance for me. Thank you so much for your offer! ❤️ I wouldn't mind meeting up just for chats and a good time. I'm located right next to Cal Poly. 😊
I have an excel spreadsheet that takes into consideration of as many parts as possible, and I'm hoping the RX7 will end up weighing 2,500 or less. The goal is to have it weigh the same as a stock NC Miata. 👌
Did you consider using an MX-5 ND2 engine? It's a pure Mazda engine (tye NC engines still had a lot of Ford DNA in it.) with a 7500 RPM redline, stock and I think there might he aftermarket turbo and supercharger options available already.
I got an fb rx7 in 2020ish. Im 40s too. I'm enjoying trying to restore it to a factoryish style. Something youd see in the late 80s. Always been a fc guy, still have a shell with all 90s widebody parts. Never could afford an fd. Still prob wouldnt buy them at todays prices. Yeah ive lost the desire to track. I totally enjoy seeing these cars with full interiors and accessories. Its harder to restore than build a track car.
@@schuylerpryne5 I started with an FC also. It was an empty $500 shell which I put a T2 engine in. At this age, I totally agree with you on appreciating a restoration more than racecar builds. 😌
You basically beat me to what I was going to the small part of me that's jealous is way overshadowed by how happy and impressed I am to see you get it in there. I do have some questions though. I love what you've put out so far. 1.) Are you staying NA? If not are you swapping out the stock intake manifold? 2.) Do you know if the height of the Speed3 head will still stay under the hood with your setup? 3.) You got a price on making another set of those mounts?👀
Hello 🫡 and thanks so much! Re your questions: 1. The plan is to get it street legal first. Once I get it on the road, I may be open to upgrades. I like the Flying Miata CARB legal turbo kit a lot. 2. I''m not familiar with the L3-VDT but after looking at some photos, it could be challenging. The top-mount IC could be a problem. The intake/exhaust is also flipped so you might need a custom exhaust header and flip the turbo. Finally the FWD setup means it might have engine mounts that are difficult to work with. 3. Unfortunately, no, sorry. I'm just doing what I enjoy doing. 🫰
@howihowi definitely appreciate you getting back to me on this. I probably should've given you a little more explanation on my version for a better understanding, so all blame for that goes on me. From the Speed3 I'm only using the block (even that might get reduced to only the head for a 2.5l or fords 2.0l depending on cost vs benefit) I'll be using the cooling from the old v-mount setup from my original FD build (which might be a little overkill, but at least I know it would be the least of my concerns moving forward). To address the intake manifold issue, I'm either going the a JMF manifold and having the elbow flipped or building my own if I'm confident enough to do it by then. The oil pan will either be from an NC or an ecoboost mustang. My problem starts when I get told there's about a 2-3in difference in the height of the head on the Speed MZR's compared to all the duratech or ecoboost variants. Idk if that's because they're adding the height from the intercooler or not. I'd measure it myself, but I'm in a unique position where I am in Cali, the enging is in my friends shed in Phoenix, and the car is in a storage unit in KS. If your setup has at least 3in of clearance then I'm gtg to follow your lead. Low key I hope you're running and I stumble across you before I PCS. It would be a pretty cool ending to my stay here in Cali. - Currently in NTC-
Hi Benny, I plan to cover this part in my next video. Basically, all of the factory emission equipment from the NC will go straight into the RX-7. The plan is to get the car certified for the road before I will consider doing any modifications in the future. Any future mods, if at all, will also be 100% CARB legal.👍
I've been a big rotary and rx-7 fan for as long as i remember. Fd's are what got me into the aftermarket tuner scene. When i heard that Killer Instinct theme "The Instinct" @10:59, I had to sub, lol. I'm a big Killer instinct fan. I have to ask, have you considered other kinds of 4cyl engines besides the Mazda 2.0-L, like Honda K20-24, Honda F20C,F22C, SR20DET?
I'm a big KI fan too! 🫰It also has some of the best jams! I've definitely considered the other swaps and I plan to address this question in the next video, but the main reasons I chose this engine are: 1. It's affordable (I need a whole car, not just the engine) 2. California Smog regulations 3. Simplicity
Very interesting project! Why change the drivetrain? Is it because you don't have the old one, or because you prefer the NC MX-5 drivetrain? Or for some different reason? Which generation of MX-5 would you recommend a person who is new to cars, and cars as a hobby? I must say, that the FD RX-7 is a very beautiful car. Looking forward to future videos!
Thanks!! I change the drivetrain and chose the NC Miata because: 1. I don't have the original engine, or anything in the car 2. I don't want to run the stock 13B-REW because of California Smog rules 3. I chose the NC because it's affordable and good enough for me 😊 For MX-5, I think the general consensus is: ND2+>NC2+>ND1>NC1> (whichever you prefer of NA6, NA8, NB1, NB2) The above is a general evaluation based on age, performance, reliability. Of course, they are all good and all have a huge following and great support. You can't go wrong with any of them!
Thank you! 🫰 I really can't wait and don't know what to expect! I also suspect it will drive more like an FD, but if my calculations are correct, the weight might end up being the close to same as the NC Miata, which is significantly lighter than the FD RX7. I will definitely provide feedback!
@howihowi My NB2 although has less po and doesn'tsnt push u from behind the way the rx7 d. Youyou know like how it makes you feel like you are floating and weightless? i didn't get that from miata even though its slightly lighter being a convertible. I wouldn't be able to tell you if the engine dimensions would compromise that feeling . but either way both vehicles handle phenomenally on par with each other.
@howihowi also... are you worried at all about the area at the windshield warping as u wild the body to the cage? i am not a fabricator. but i do know that weld arcs could shatter the glass , but metal warps / shifts or whatever when being welded. I mean, i think u should be fine if you alternate sides starting with where windshields are. like, if u are at the front, go left right, zig zags or top botom or something until you know it's not going to move. and same for the rear
@@ChutneyInc. Thanks for the tips! I think the roll cage shop already destroyed the windshield because it's no longer there. 😂 At least I don't have to worry about it for now. I will install one at the end of the project!
