There are plenty of ways to give new life to a vehicle, particularly if it's a build that's meant for display at one of the world's most prominent shows, like the SEMA Show. But standing out is crucial; you go up against the best, and to be (or beat) the best, you come with your A-game from beginning to end. One strong start for import car builders the past few years has been a Rocket Bunny kit; get one when it's fresh to the market and your debut will pop off right. But at SEMA, you need to do more than add a kit. You gotta go all out. Sometimes that means foregoing what anyone else is building and go completely your own direction.
Take Jay Shieh, for example. The owner of Spec R had the right connections to a Rocket Bunny kit but didn't want to build another FR-S or BRZ like everyone was doing. With the FD RX-7 kit coming to light, he made the decision to go with the older platform even though he had only a limited time to complete the car before the big show. Taking on a 20-year old chassis will make your work cut out for you; there will be plenty of issues to sort out, unlike a car that's fresh off the factory assembly line.
Built with the help of RavSpec and Speed Tek, the RX-7 was stripped down to a bare shell, then painted Vintage Red Tri Coat instead of kept the original Montego Blue Mica by WD Ultimate Custom. The Rocket Bunny aero was also grafted on at this point, and any part that could be saved and reused was restored as best as it could before being reinstalled. A set of Nitto INVO tires, sized 255/35R19 and 305/30R19, were mated to a set of 19" Work Emotion CR2P wheels.
Back at Speed Tek, the factory 13B-REW rotary engine was given new life with a rebuild and a larger street port to the rotor housings. A new exhaust manifold was fabricated to compliment a Garrett GT3582 turbo upgrade. Other bolt-ons include a GReddy intercooler, Xcessive lower intake manifold and a custom 3" exhaust kit (from the downpipe to the muffler). An APEXi Power FC is used to dial in this new setup properly and is said to produce somewhere in the neighborhood of 500+ (est.) horsepower.
As you might have guessed: Jay's FD did exactly as was intentioned: caught the attention of the people, as well as ours. A job well done. But, did you know that Rocket Bunny has just debuted a Boss front end? Might be time for a switch up...
(Original story and photos: Richard Fong, DSPORT)