88fc3s. 1988 fc3s rx7

[88fc3s]

Hey guys.

After meeting sparkle recently he told me to come have a look at the old school forums and I'd like to share my project build that I have just recently finished.

I know it's possibly on the limit of being old school and after reading the post rules I'd like to post it in here as it was sold first in 1986. (Feel free to move it otherwise) to me it's old school and I always loved the squared shape of the fc3s

Anyway after selling my 1978 323 I decided that it was time to do a complete build from the ground up. I wanted a car I could drive in the weekends then take it to the track and have some fun from time to time

So I purchased a pretty stock 1988 fc3s. (The 2nd 88 fc that I've owned)

[88fc3s]

Discussion. //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/43515-88fc3s-1988-fc3s-rx7/

[88fc3s]

After driving the car around for a month I decided to get the project underway (and because I done a compression test and it wasn't good) I knew the motor was shot prior to purchasing the car because of the really bad cold start. So before it popped I pulled it out

Then I stripped the block and sold it cheap. I had plans that didn't include using it. Although I wish I hung onto it as a dummy block I needed all the funds I could get

[88fc3s]

So the next thing on the hit list was fixing the rubbing in the front end. After only having a set of 8" rims up front I couldn't get full lock because it hit the inside of the tub. Because I'm a engineer I decided to just start cutting and sort the rest later haha

That should fix it!

[88fc3s]

Now onto fixing what I started with the front.

Myself and a good mate of mine made up some tubs from 2 mm panel steel.

We decided to go with 2 mm because I wanted the tubs fully welded in for strength and to stiffen the front end of the car up

So here's the dummy fit up of the tubs

[88fc3s]

So after getting both sides tacked in this is how it looked

Then they were welded. It ended up being a bit of a nightmare welding them fully. Mainly because of the layered material it keeped blowing out. But we got there in the end

Inside view all primed

[88fc3s]

Now the tubs were complete I got a hold off a very large intercooler off a good friends drag fc. These pictures were my idea on how I was orginally thinking of mounting the cooling setup. Although this never happened and I ended up going a different route as you'll see later on

[88fc3s]

I thought about this next decision for awhile. Mainly because of the hassle of it being still a weekend "street" car.

In the end I decided that I'd build a nz motorsport rollcage. The pro's really for me was the fact I'll be building this car to be used for fun track days and I'd like my friends and family to enjoy the car on track as much as possible and safely as possible. The con's being mainly the paperwork to be street use and the Hassle of it becoming difficult to use on the street.

[88fc3s]

So off came the doors and out came the interior!

[88fc3s]

Out came all the sound deading. The carpet will be going back as I don't want it to feel to much like a track car.

The next issue was the loom. I hate electrical issues and untidy wiring so it had to be sorted. Because this car was orginally auto. With all the optional extras like electronic suspension. Cruise control etc it had so much wiring. A job I started that ended up taking months to complete. Here's some pics of the loom etc

[88fc3s]

After stripping it all out I removed the gearbox and drive shaft along with every bit of wiring and loom.

Then I pushed it outside and have it a good blow out with a air compressor

[88fc3s]

The next big issue was sorting out a pipe bender for the rollcage. I picked up the 44mm and 38mm tube but now I needed a bender. One that wouldn't crush the pipe because then it wouldn't pass homologation. They are so pricey to purchase so I ended up getting in contact with a local cage builder and I took the car to him and he bent my main hoop, front lateral bars and roof bars. He does awesome work and the fitment was amazing

This is a few pics of the car, main hoop and the bars I ended up with

I cut holes through the body to drop hoop through the floor before trimming it. And so I can drop the cage down later to weld the tops

[88fc3s]

The first step on the cage was to make all the footing plates. I fully welded the front and rear plates but I only tacked in the hoop plates so I can remove them later to drop cage through the floor. The next step was to tack in the hoop then notch the front lateral bars and tack them in place then tack and fabricate the roof setup

[88fc3s]

What I did next was fabricate the side intrusions. I done a extra fixing point on the side in the middle of the door jam for two reasons. One was to make exiting the seat slightly easier because if it was a full x it would be quite high to get your legs over. And the other reason was to make cage stronger from side on.

Anyway here's a couple of pictures

[88fc3s]

I made a dash bar up but only sat it in place and made up the corner brace bars off the front screen bar

[88fc3s]

I took the car to my old man's work because it had better gear for the next step.

First thing we had to do was weld as much as possible of the underside of the roof setup.

After this was done we removed the dash bar. Cut tacks and removed the footing plate for the main hoop. Then we used a strop to pull the front laterals inwards to get them onto the floor and dropped the hoop through the floor (I had holesawed holes prior to tacking hoop in) then welded up the top complete off the roof setup so everything was 360° welded

[88fc3s]

After all that was complete we put the cage back up tacked and welded the hoop and plates in place and used a porterpower to push the laterals back into the body of the car. Then welded everything up including the side intrusions and dash bar. Then we made and welded in the rear laterals

Also stitched the cage to the body of the car in several places

[88fc3s]

The next big mission was the rear setup on the rollcage. I decided for a x pattern between the rear laterals and the harness bar below them then one diagonal in the main hoop. On the harness bar I welded some stoppers to prevent the belts from moving along the bar.

Then I decided to go through the front of the car with two bars to the front towers. It was a much bigger job than I thought it would be but I'm glad I done it. Mainly cutting a lot of holes so I could fully weld everything correctly was the biggest problem. Here's a few snaps off the bar setup

[88fc3s]

Now the rollcage is complete and waiting on homologation I started sorting out some bits from Japan and pulled out my front knuckles to get c's garage to modify them for more lock

These are the modified knuckles and the before and after photos of the amount of lock

[88fc3s]

It took a couple weeks but my log book arrived and the rollcage passed homologation first pop

Also this turned up

R-magic semi rigid engine and gearbox mounts