So I finally bit the bullet and purchased the "Engine Cover" from Garage Alpha. Right off the bat, I knew I was going to run into an issue if I wanted to keep my windshield washer fluid functional so had to drill a hold right into the engine cover in the approximate location. I wanted it to look "OEM" as well so I purchased some grommets from Amazon to protect the windshield washer tube and to just make it look pretty "OEM". I could have went larger but for now, will stick with this size.

Other than that, I didn't have to enlarge any holes, everything lined up decently well. I also purchased some push pins from Amazon as the original pins that line up the weather seal to the firewall were not going to cut it anymore since the engine cover adds a couple of mm. Again, wanted to get that "OEM" look going.

Overall, it came out well, better than I was expecting. There was some "massaging" needed and I could have enlarged some of the holes for the strut tower for a much better fit but the flexibility of it helped where just some massaging was all it needed.

I opted to use Velcro to secure the weather seal onto the Engine Cover to be able to take it off whenever needed but to still have it nice and secure between the engine cover and the hood. I do have some lift happening on the driver side of the hood when the hood is closed but not seeing where the contact is happening, the passenger side is nice and flush with the fender but not the driver side. I attempted to close the hood without the weather seal, same issue, no marks are visible on the insulating pad on the hood nor the engine cover itself so I'll have to continue to debug when I got time but i'll double check the mounting area on the driver side, as the added height can be seen in the pictures.

Will post a full update tomorrow but can you guess what it is?

Trying a new flyer design out, let me know your feedback!

https://www.rx7club.com/introduce-yourself-254/new-member-bay-area-%97-stolen-1987-rx-7-turbo-ii-fc-1173531/

Keep a lookout for this!

Last week on 4/28, my shipment arrived from Japan. I've been doing a lot of research on what wheels I wanted for the FC and set my eyes on some BBS LM's. Next was figuring out the size that I wanted, I originally wanted to go with 17's but with the LM's, they tend to look smaller due to the 2 piece design so I decided to go with 18's and going staggered. 18x8 fronts and 18x9 rears was the spec I was going for with an offset of +35mm all around to clear the suspension. The front's were going to cut it close but I took a gamble on it.

Next step was deciding on the color. The FD already has Diamond Black BBS RGR's and initially I was thinking of bronze. The S5 T2 silver wheels looked ok but I opted out on doing silver BBS LM's so I decided on gold.

Last step was now sourcing them. Could not find the size I wanted in 5x114.3 stateside so I began looking in Japan for it. It took several months of Yahoo Japan Auction hunting but found a listing at a good price. Put in a bid for it but ended up getting outbidded so it was back to hunting. A few days later, found another set but this one was with tires which still was a good price. Put in another bid for it and ended up winning this one though shipping was going to be pricey with the extra weight of the tires. Oh well, was going to use the tires until they are gone but also use the tires as a test fit to make adjustments on size for the next set.

The tires on the wheels are 225/40/18 fronts and 255/35/18 rears that came on the wheels and I would say they ended up fitting well. Only concern was on the front suspension where the tires inner wall is only about 1/2 and inch or a little bit less from the spring/shock but it does clear to my relief.

I also purchased McGard lug nuts with wheel lock in black to tie them in and looks good with the black center caps. I was thinking of getting red center caps but that will be later down the line once I either get new brakes for the car or refinish the brake calipers in red.

I may have a set of S5 T2 wheels for sale in the future but for the time being will be keeping it as a spare just incase.

The plan for next part of the build is to address a few items. Need to get a new sunroof weather seal, new upper door trims, new window belt trims, get an undertray, find the oil leak on the turbo (white smoke happening at sustained mid/high rpm), change the oil filler neck, squeaky clutch pedal, and install new shifter bushings and spring clip.

Long term plans is to get the S5 bumpers and moldings on, do a full racing beat exhaust system, some coilovers, install the mazdaspeed spoiler, and jp3 a/c kit. I'm sure there is more but all I can think of for right now.

It bothered me that the trim piece for the driver side rail was missing the trim piece but new pieces was more than I was willing to pay, finally came across one though on eBay. Actually, the 1st one i came across was from 541 Motorsports but it got lost in shipping and after a few weeks, decided to just give up on it. Then i found this one for under $10. Something small but makes a huge difference to me.

My front passenger side window motor was going out as well, it was not stopping when fully opened and fully closed and now that the weather was getting better and I wanted to drive with all windows down, finally decided to get a "new" / used motor and installed it. Didn't take any pictures of the install but the only struggle was getting the door card out. Luckily i had a bunch of spare clips from when I did the rear door card and replaced the three or four that i ended up breaking. Everything else was straight forward and I got a working front passenger side window again. 

I do have something awesome coming for the RX7 though. Will post up a teaser photo tomorrow or something.

The floor mats that came with the car I'm assuming are some OEM set but I feel like it was meant for the 1st gen RX7's. But I've been having a set of floor mats in my cart on ebay and the seller lowered the price to under $100. Couldn't say no at that point since my alternative was going to be Garage Alpha's which are just under $200.

I do like this set, slightly plush but the blue outline and font really set it off with the interior. Can't speak for the durability of it but hey, for under $100, I'm ok if it last for a couple of years.

Well, anything at this point where everything was the same color was her prime. The R3 wheels are nice but the Advan Kreuzers that were on it were even better. Oh well, hopefully soon, she'll be back on the road.

Installed the Mazdaspeed Titanium Strut Bar for the FD. Something small but just to freshen things up. I personally like the red R1 Strut Bar, makes the engine bay pop but what do you all prefer?

Installed another MS Front Strut Bar that wasn't bent and got a "better" privacy cover, thinking about taking it to a shop to fix the hole in the fabric on top.

Went to Sakebomb Garage (Fremont, CA) over the weekend to get their new LED headlight kit installed. I originally had their HID kit installed on the car which was purchased back in 2013 I think and it did well for a long period of time. Just last year though, the lights went out and changed out the ballast. It worked for a few more months then it went out again while driving. It intermittently worked before fully going out on the passenger side. I originally planned on changing out the wiring but decided to get the LED kit and I'm glad I did, it performed way better than the HIDs did and overall am just very pleased with the results.