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I bought the R3 because I was just tired of continuously trying and failing to resolve the issues with the S2 swapped car, so I decided it would be better to get an actual S2 car and just put S1 body panels on it along with the 19k original mile S2 drivetrain that’s in the swapped car when I get it back home (I may tear the 19k mile engine down and replace just the springs and gaskets as it has been sitting since 2011 though)
Well I feel lucky as hell today. While the R3 didn't come with s2 taillights or bumper I managed to find an S2 at a nearby junkyard with a perfect pair of taillights, so I pulled those and only paid $20 each. Also pulled the passenger front fender liner and rear trunk liner thing which were both missing on the R3 too. Taillights are for sale also and I'll be going back for rear seats (fronts weren't there) and stock intake box so I can rid of this stupid hot air intake garbage that's on the R3 now
New(ish) upgrades for the R3: 2 new Nittos for the rear wheels, new (to me) junkyard R3 19” BBS wheel (that’s bent so will have to get that fixed), stock box intake to replace the hot air intake K&N power reducer so I can gain back those lost stock power donkeys, OBX header (not high quality, but better than stock I guess) and resurfaced stoptech slotted brake rotors which I’ve been wanting for a very long time
*Luckily not much came out of pocket for all of this (except the tires, but that’s because I bought them new locally and no one else had them), most of this I just traded the S2 taillights for (also got a pair of Shinka headlights with everything too - not sure what I'll actually do with them though)
Got both cars home and each did great the whole way, another soldier drove the R3 while I drove the SA. The day after getting back home I started taking parts from the swapped car (Spirit R seats and mazdaspeed front strut bar). Had a hell of a time figuring out the wiring between both sets of USDM and JDM recaros and ended up just swapping uppers and lowers for the passenger (RHD driver) seat, I did something to the weight sensor because it thinks someone is always sitting in that seat, so I'll have to fix that, but for now I just leave a buckle I cut out from the swapped car.
All was fine and dandy til that night when I went for a late night drive with a friend. I was getting onto the highway and I guess they redid the roads and added another road off to the right (I thought the road to the right was the on ramp). I accelerated as though I was getting on the freeway and got to roughly 40-50 mph. There were no street lights so I had no idea what was ahead of me, at this point I'm still thinking I'm on the on ramp, then I see the round about. I slammed on the brakes and tried to maneuver through, but the tires just couldn't handle it. The rear wheel hit the curb first and that sent the front passenger wheel into the curb. The car rode the curb for about 10-15 ft. before stopping just before the guard rail. The car was still running and had absolutely 0 issues and lost no fluids.
The only things damaged were the front passenger upper & lower A arms, the junkyard S1 hub and knuckle, the tie rod for that side, the S2 18" wheel, the wheel well liner was torn out, some minor dents on the subframe (nothing bad), two of the rear control arms bent and rear R3 wheel had a big chunk taken out of it and is likely bent, but it still holds air. I called my insurance and some things weren't in line for a tow so they had me call 911 and they sent a tow truck out which is a good thing because had my insurance towed it this car would be totaled as it only blue books for $5,700. I had the car towed to my house and pulled the parts I needed off of the swapped car and had the car back on the road by Tuesday working great and also took the opportunity to throw on the mazdaspeed coilovers, mazdaspeed sway bars, mazdaspeed rear strut bar, AEM intake and LRB speed aluminum under tray. I'm also really loving the Stock Evo X wheels, they suit the car really well and it rides wonderfully with the MS stuff on it.
And yes I know I fucked up and I don't expect any sympathy for this, it's my **** up that I had to deal with on my own. I fixed it and all is well, no one was hurt and I learned my lesson and I'll be much more careful in the future because I might not be as lucky next time.
The SA is unfortunately limping on a bad rear hub bearing so I won't be driving it much if at all until that's fixed, so it looks like the R3 will be my primary daily for now (which is fine anyway because the SA's heater core leaks and is blocked off - no heat)
And for anyone wondering what will happen with the swapped car's shell once I swap everything over, my plans are to have the car crushed. The body is perfect and would make a great track car or swap candidate for something else and I could make some decent money selling it as a roller, but that's exactly why I want to crush it. The car's title is in my name, this car I built from the ground up and learned just about everything I know about cars in general, it got me into rotaries and I don't regret anything about taking this swap on, not a single moment, penny or turn of a wrench was wasted on this build because what I learned from it was well worth it. It is definitely very possible to finish it, but there is just too much doubt, too much maybes of what can go wrong and I simply just don't have the time or money to do it anymore. All I wanted from the very beginning was a car that functioned as a stock series 2 (with all of the awesome parts I've acquired too of course) and now I have that. It's not the same car and doesn't hold the same sentimental value, but it's what I wanted and I'm content with it. The decision to crush the swapped car comes from my sentimental value, the last thing I was is for someone to buy it and see it be swapped with a piston engine, it will just be better off dead than degraded in that way. I will, however, be cutting off 1/4 panels and other various parts off the car to sell, but the chassis itself will never see a road under its own power again.
Yesterday I was dropping my daughter off at school and I guess I hit a small bump in the road just right. My rear driver's side coilover shaft snapped just above the dampening adjuster and caused an extremely bad knock (sounded like I had a VQ swapped into the rear of the car lol). But as a temporary fix I threw on the one rear billstein that came with the car and spoke with eibach about replacing or rebuilding the shock. They said that they may be able to even though the multi pro R1 coilovers are discontinued and aqm still waiting on a reply back from their repair department. But just updating here to show that even $2,000 coilovers break sometimes too
Some of you following this thread might be wondering why I'm still posting here since this build is now cancelled. Well the answer is simple. The S2 swap build is no longer a thing, but the overall goal is still exactly the same, just with an actual S2 car that I'm just simply swapping parts over to. Once the car is totally torn down and the remaining shell is crushed I might just close the thread. Not sure yet, but will post periodic updates on the replacement car til I get to that point. Car is still running flawlessly btw and is a wonderful daily driver. I look forward to your negative comments from here, they amuse me.
Been a while since I posted here. Swapped some more stuff over such as the trans along with a used Racing beat aluminum flywheel with a new friction plate and Turbo II Exedy HD clutch kit after the original clutch exploded around 143,000 miles. I also modified the lotek gaugepod to fit the Series 2 dash. I've read a lot of negative reviews of using the TII clutch kit in an RX-8, but after driving a bit over 3,500 miles with it I can't really find anything negative to say about it other than the learning curve with the super stiff pressure plate was kind of annoying, but it's very easy to live with and driving with the RB flywheel isn't at all difficult. It actually feels very stock to me.
08-23-2018, 08:35 AM
