Dreams tend to die quick these days. Life, responsibility, work… there is always something we have to do instead. It’s a serious commitment to sit down and say, “I’m gonna see this through.” And it’s much easier to fall into your grind and say, “I’ll get to it soon.” But that illusion of soon is always moving away from you. Eventually you’re gonna run out of road to procrastinate on your dreams. More of us just need to say, “Okay, this happens now.”
Look at Geo Xiong & his 1993 Mazda RX-7. When Geo was growing up in the 90’s he was reading magazine articles about Adam Saruwatari blasting his famous purple and black FD down the 1320 at Battle of the Imports. Geo longed for an FD like Adam’s car but, didn’t have the resources. He did eventually get a Nissan 300ZX, which scratched his itch for a tuner car for a bit… but he still always wanted that RX-7 of his dreams. As life continued, he began to work full time, met his wife, and made a family. The 300ZX got replaced with a family-friendly Prius, and Geo went full time into dad-duty. Car life was put on hiatus. That’s a totally fair choice; family comes first after all. But then – Geo went for a ride in his friend’s Mazda RX-8. Hearing the rotary engine brought him slap-back to the dream of owning an RX-7.
After a talk with his wife, she was completely on board for him to get an FD RX-7. Green light! Wasting no time, Geo found the perfect car & bought it. It had a freshly rebuilt & street-ported 13B engine, no rust, and was overall pretty good for a 20 year old car. He finally got the car he always wanted, had the money to build it, and most importantly… he had his wife’s support. He was all-set except for one small piece of the puzzle… time. Sure if he was single & working from home, he could have busted this out in a year… but that wasn’t going to happen. He could have negated all of his other duties… but that’s not Geo. He’s more of the patient/perfectionist type. A build like this perfectly suited him.
Geo tackled the the engine first, since he could do that in his garage. A litany of bolt-ons entered the engine bay over the next two years. Parts weren’t random, every decision was a carefully calculated choice. Because see – with the lack of time to actually work on the car, Geo had plenty of time to do late-night parts searching. Notably, Geo stuck with the twin-turbos because while a giant single-turbo is fun, he wanted the quick throttle response of the twin system.
Geo had the power-plant sorted out just in time for 2016’s car season. That Spring, some dyno time found that the fuel system far beyond it’s limits. So – Geo patiently spent the majority of 2016, going through the fuel system so he could swap it over to E85. He completed the swap just in time to put the car away for winter. But luckily, with 400+whp on tap, Geo was now satisfied with the power. He could now concentrate on his next step – bodywork. Conveniently, bodywork is extremely time consuming. Over that winter the car was sent to Minneapolis’s Metal in Motion Bodyworks, along with a cornucopia of goodies from RE Amemiya, Shine Auto Project, Evo-R, and OEM/JDM Mazda.
Interior was next on the list. It looked alright, but being 20+ years old, it was showing some wear. Geo tracked down some of the hardest-to-find NOS factory parts, and restored what couldn’t be tracked down. This included re-upholstered black leather seats with red stitching. Finally – by 2017, Geo was sitting on a pretty good build. The last step were some fresh Ohlins coilovers and Work Equip wheels. The car made it’s way out to car shows across Minnesota, and was consistently mobbed by gawkers.
And looking back, all the delays & craziness in his schedule actually gave Geo the time to slow down… and make sure every part of the car was flawless. Now – Finally – Geo plans to really enjoy the RX-7 he’s always wanted. And it seems like the moral here: Is instead of crying about the cards we’re dealt, we need to embrace them. There’s always a silver lining, and there’s always an angle of attack, we just have to find it & prioritize it. Time was always Geo’s greatest enemy. He accepted that, and made it work for him.
Text by Ryan Senensky Photos by Nathan Latawiec
1993 MAZDA RX-7
ENGINE
Pettit Racing engine rebuild & street port
Pettit Racing intercooler kit
BNR Stage-3 twin turbos
Greddy elbow compression tube
Greddy blowoff valve
Walbro 450lph fuel pump
Injector Dynamics 1000cc primary & 2000cc secondary injectors
CJM Fuel primary & secondary fuel rails
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
Aeromotive fuel pressure gauge
Kyoto radiator
Pettit Racing downpipe
Catco high flow cat
HKS Super Turbo exhaust
NGK Racing cold plugs 9s/10s
HKS twin power ignition amplifier
Magnecors 8.5mm ignition cables
HPS silicone hose – for simplified sequential vacuum line routing
Bonzai-Racing emission delete
ACT clutch
EXTERIOR
Ohlins DFV coilovers
Work Equips – 18×10.5 +22mm front, 18×11.5 +22 rear
Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires – 255/35ZR18 front, 285/35ZR18 rear
Stainless steel brake lines
Re-amemiya sleek lights
Shine Auto Body carbon fiber lip
Shine Auto Body carbon fiber side steps
Shine Auto Body carbon fiber rear diffuser
Shine Auto Body carbon fiber mud guards
Shine Auto Body duckbill spoiler
Shine Auto Body rear wide over-fenders – molded by Metal Works
Evo-R front wide over-fenders – molded by Metal Works
R-Magic oil cooler duct
JDM side markers
JDM tail lights
JDM signal lights
JDM under cover tray
JDM brake ducts
Aluminum door handles
INTERIOR
Adaptronic standalone ECU
Custom black leather & red stitched interior
Custom black/red floor mats
Innovate Motorsports gauges
B&M short shifter
Alpine stereo
Viper alarm
Nardi steering wheel
Odyssey battery – relocated
