Just picked up a project car...

[R2s99zoom]

my dad and I have been looking for a dedicated track car for a while now, so that we dont destroy our daily driven MX-5's...

yesterday we picked up a 1987 RX-7... I posted pics in the Nevada section, and FI_FSDE requested I repost them here..

be forewarned, the car is kinda rough:

http://www.rick2.net/imagegallery/main.php?g2_itemId=312

picked it up as a non-runner, but it cranked, so we knew the motor wasnt seized... figured at worst, would need a rebuild, depending on how toasted the apex seals were...

while I was at work, my dad realised the spark plug wires were on the wrong plugs...

got it up and running

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

sweet, congrats on the FC. Looks like a good starting point. Hope to see your progress on this!

 

[aMaff]

be forewarned, the car is kinda rough:

race cars don't need to look good Congrats!

 

['87 Turbo II]

Yay for Sonic Blue Metallic!

 

[R2s99zoom]

[QUOTE='87 Turbo II]Yay for Sonic Blue Metallic!

[/QUOTE]


wow... yours is clean looking

might become a different color when we get around to paint, tho... the right side of the cars needs a bit of bodywork...

 

[akProtege5]

Gratz, how much did you get the rx7?

 

[R2s99zoom]

Gratz, how much did you get the rx7?

Got it for $500...



update on the car...

did a minor tune up on it... replaced the plug wires, etc, did the engine oil, tranny and differential oil, etc...

she's running GREAT...

the shifter was majorly sloppy, thought the shifter bushings were worn out...

rebuilt the shifter today... turns out the previous owner pulled the shifter apart... removed the broken bushings... and then put it together again without installing new bushings...

either he/she was a MASTER at shifting without them, or it wasnt running then...

'Cos we've put a few miles on the car dealing with the sloppy shifting... and with new parts it's back together and shifting smoothe as heck!

heres a few pics of the shifter rebuild:

http://www.rick2.net/imagegallery/main.php?g2_itemId=360

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

awesome good stuff!

 

[R2s99zoom]

A lot of bodywork done on the car...

http://www.rick2.net/imagegallery/main.php?g2_itemId=422

Pay special attention to the nicely painted right front fender... today while installing some better shocks and springs, I also decided to install a shock tower brace...

The bracket for the brace didn't fit right, and while fighting with it, I forgot I was wearing a belt w/a metal buckle... D'oh! scratched up the fender a bit :'(

(no pics of the scratched fender tho... just some pics of just before scratched it up... when it looked pristine...)

I'll be uploading some pics of the suspension upgrades soon... (w/the new shocks and springs, the car handles like a DREAM! While we've got some decent tires coming to fit the nice wheels, even the crappy tires that were on it when we got it grip a LOT more now w/the new suspension bits!)

 

[Ash77]

Congrats! those things are a blast on the track!

 

[R2s99zoom]

Gonna find out for myself this weekend

Last weekend, installed some tanabe springs, and some kyb shocks... this week the azenis showed up, and the cars ready to rock at this weekends autocross

 

[R2s99zoom]

Took it to its first LVR-SCCA autocross event tonight out at Primm... And while we didn't place first in class with it, I`m pretty sure we could have found another 2-3 seconds in it as it is currently prepared, and taken first. Also, we`ve got plenty of mods/maintenance left to do to the car to make it faster...

While I know I could have easily taken first in CSP class tonight in my miata, the 7 was tons of fun, and a learning experience. Some more seat time, and a bit more work on the car, and this thing will be way faster than the miata, I can feel it!


Heres some in-car video:

The maiden voyage! Not very fast, but respectable for my first time behind the wheel of this beast!

<embed width="430" height="389" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://vid88.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/R2s99zoom/6-09-2007%20autocross/P6090009.flv"></embed>

How not to autocross - I carried WAY more speed into the last section than I should have, got her waaaay sideways, and thought I was gonna take out a whole mess of cones... somehow I saved it, and still got a sub-50 second run... however had I braked enough, the first part of the lap was so perfect I bet it would have been a sub-47 second run... ehe...

<embed width="430" height="389" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://vid88.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/R2s99zoom/6-09-2007%20autocross/P6090015.flv"></embed>

And, the fastest run of the night - a 47.8. My dad's behind the wheel...

<embed width="430" height="389" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://vid88.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/R2s99zoom/6-09-2007%20autocross/P6090014.flv"></embed>

 

[YARDMAN]

this is sweet. me and my dad are thinking bout using my other car as a project car. its a 97 eclipse gs. we wanna rebuild the motor and turbo or nitrous. its got mostly cosmetics done since it was my show car a while back except the motor rite now its got:

tokiko shocks with eibach springs
apexi catback and test pipe
tvs, ps2(these will come out)
leather seats lol

all the extra stuff will come out but well see ill post pics when we get ready to do it. just wish we had a garage to do it in. heres a few pics of it and my speed.

 

[R2s99zoom]

Do it!

(tho you'd have more fun racing your mazda... )

 

[YARDMAN]

I Know But The Mazdais My Dd For Now So We Are Gonna Use The Eclipse.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

ah, the whine of a rotary, tis so great

 

[R2s99zoom]

Update!

The way the car is designed, it has 6 intake ports to the housings (3 intakes per rotor), but 2 of them remain closed until you get up in the higher revs. Somehow, mazda figured out if they're closed, you get more torque down low, but once the revs are up, opening them is supposed to give more power.

Well, after last autocross, we took a look, and the device that opens/closes them was seized up.

Today, we tore down the whole intake, cleaned it all up, and got em working again. They were seized up due to massive amounts of carbon buildup. one was seized closed, and another was seized partially open. (and, after the fix the engine runs waaay smoother... we think this is why)

Well... the ports apparently do produce a noticable increase in power. at about 4k rpm, the sound changes, then you can feel a pull starting at about 4500, and then you can feel a lot more accelleration from 5k-7k redline. The car is a lot more fun to drive. (and it was a blast before!)

Looks like next project is exhaust now...

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

yeah, the 5th and 6th ports crapping out is a pretty common problem. glad you got it fixed

 

[R2s99zoom]

evilmonkey reminded me i forgot to post the latest update here:

Racingbeat header and test pipe installed. Much louder w/all 3 cats deleted, even w/the stock mufflers.

A little "raspy" tho... after we delete the stock mufflers, and convert it to one lightweight muffler, we might add a resonator to the testpipe to get it to sound right.

first time we fired it up:

<embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i88.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/R2s99zoom/P8230038.flv"></embed>

making sure the 5+6 ports work:

<embed width="448" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" src="http://i88.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid88.photobucket.com/albums/k189/R2s99zoom/P8230039.flv"></embed>

still gotta delete the smog pump, as now its just dead weight...

 

[aMaff]

man that sounds sick! I love how much those things pop!