magnumP5's RX-7 Build Thread
- Thread starter magnumP5
- Start date
There's definitely no shortage of builders around here (Ludwig Motorsports, Banzai Racing, RX-7 Store, Rotary Resurrection are all relatively close to me). Seems like the rotor housings are the hard thing to find. A lot of people seem to have the irons, but at the moment I'm trying to find a complete shortblock. If I get desperate I'll start looking into purchasing the components separately. Let me know if you guys have anything lying around
Definitely let me know.
Flushed the coolant this weekend and replaced with a .55/.44/.01 mixture of distilled water, anti-freeze and Redline Water Wetter.
Brakes have been feeling funny ever since the rotor install about a month ago. This weekend I'm going to flush/replace the brake fluid with some Pennzoil DOT4 synthetic as well as install some braided steel brake lines and Hawk HPS pads. If this does not remedy the issue I'm going to have to look into replacing the master cylinder and/or some calipers (I'll know more once I have the current pads off). After this, that'll do it for brakes - next step, drivetrain!
RenesisKing
That thing got a hemi??
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- 2004 Mazda RX-8 GT
I know Dave at KDR does a lot of engine work and might just have party laying around from other builds. Last time I went to his shop in PA he's had 4 3-rotor builds and had two 3 rotor FDs on lifts and a 13B FC there. This guy knows his stuff. BTW, Sweet build, looks like you really got your work cut out for you, but then again, thats the fun part.
^^^ Thanks. I know it's nothing special now, but I'm really just trying to get the car back up-to-date. I'm trying to save the engine work for last just in case I find out I like the car where it stands.
Well it doesn't look like I'm going to be working the brakes today - still waiting on the pads and lines from Mazdatrix.
Starting working on making a bracket for the driver's side Sparco seat. I've got everything cut and drilled, just need to pick up some longer bolts to get everything together. The one thing I'm worried about is my initial test fit was showing the seat being slight too wide for the car. I've made a couple of changes to my initial design so hopefully everything will line up.
Well it doesn't look like I'm going to be working the brakes today - still waiting on the pads and lines from Mazdatrix.
Starting working on making a bracket for the driver's side Sparco seat. I've got everything cut and drilled, just need to pick up some longer bolts to get everything together. The one thing I'm worried about is my initial test fit was showing the seat being slight too wide for the car. I've made a couple of changes to my initial design so hopefully everything will line up.
I was able to fab up (and I use that phrase loosely) some brackets for the driver's side this weekend. I ended up using the stock brackets and aluminum stock found at Lowes. Initially I used some 3/4" square tubing and some 1/8"x1" flat stock and while that worked, I found the seating position to be too high (knees hit the steering wheel and head hit the roof at times). I went back to Lowes and picked up some 1/4"x1" flat stock and that did the trick (needed to be thick enough to clear some features on the stock slider).
I'll let the pictures do the talking. The pictures show the 3/4" square tubing initially used, but the end product is essentially the same. Total cost for the driver's side: ~$35. Take that $110/ea Wedge brackets!
I'll let the pictures do the talking. The pictures show the 3/4" square tubing initially used, but the end product is essentially the same. Total cost for the driver's side: ~$35. Take that $110/ea Wedge brackets!
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Wow, your interior looks fresh! Looks like it's in crazy good shape...
The sad part is it's incredibly dirty in those pictures!
It was already in decent condition when I got it, but I replaced every (visibly) broken panel last Fall. There is a burn mark on the radio surround from the cig ligher (argh!) and the steering wheel and e-brake handle are showing some wear and the cargo cover isn't perfect though. I'm going to get a new radio surround and the steering wheel will be replaced with a slightly smaller Sparco one(350mm) and a Snap-Off quick release unit; I don't know what to do about the e-brake handle.
Hopefully I will get to work on the passenger's side this weekend unless my brakes come in, which gets priority.
For 20 yrs old... That's in excellent condition; one of the best stock interiors I've seen. O, & quick release wheels, ftw!
Thats what's up! Nicely done, sir. Looks really good and she's really coming along great.
Ugh, the passenger's side is going to be a b****. For whatever reason, Mazda in their infinite wisdom, decided to make the inside seat rail for the passenger's side angled and about 3/4" higher than the outside rail. I'm fairly certain I can still put something together but the seat is going to be like 3/4"-1" higher than stock, which I'm not so happy about. I'll just have to see how it goes.
Well I've been bested. Game-Set-Match: Passenger's Seat Rails. I'm either going to have to build up the courage to try again (not likely as I was not happy how things were looking to fit) or go with the Wedge bracket. That being said, the passenger's side Sparco won't be going in for a while (maybe late Summer?).
Called Mazdatrix on Friday and the brake lines have been delayed. They will hopefully be shipped this week so they'll be going in next weekend.
So brake pads and lines finally came in but I won't be able to install them for about two weeks...
On another note I noticed my tachometer is reading higher than it should be based on known gear/final drive ratios, vehicle speed and tire diameter. Seems to be off a consistent 300 RPM. I'm not sure what would be causing this...
On another note I noticed my tachometer is reading higher than it should be based on known gear/final drive ratios, vehicle speed and tire diameter. Seems to be off a consistent 300 RPM. I'm not sure what would be causing this...
Wagonbacker9
Member
- :
- 2004 'Hoe
check it at idle to see what it reads vs what you know is accurate?
maybe its just a mis-calibration of the gauge?
very odd that its off a flat amount not a percentage.
maybe its just a mis-calibration of the gauge?
very odd that its off a flat amount not a percentage.
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- 1989 MAZDA RX-7 GXL
very nice build up, you sure put alot of work in to it. BTW what tire size did you go with on your ENKEI's? I have a set of FD rims 16X8, so when I get my FC I know what tires they can run.
I've been asking around and it appears it could be a number of things: bad trailing coil (source of tachometer signal), dirty contacts (I'm going to try to clean them tonight) or a bad calibration. Mazda did build in a calibration method but I need a 12V signal source. I have read a 12V battery charger will output a 120Hz signal, which is supposed to read 3600 RPM on the tachometer when properly calibrated. It's odd because the FSM mentions no calibration method at all. If I can find a 12V battery charger (I'm sure there's one around the house) I may try this weekend, but I'm deathly afraid to pull apart the dash after what happened last time (about 10 plastic pieces broke and I had to spend ~$200 replacing them).
Regarding the error, I've tested 30 mi/hr in 3rd gear, 40 mi/hr in 4th gear and 70 mi/hr in 5th and each time the tachometer was reading 250~300 RPM too high, although it was closer at higher speeds. My major concern is the reading at idle. Right now it's showing 750 RPM, which is where it's supposed to be, but if it's off ~300 RPM does that mean my idle is actually 450 RPM?!
Thanks! I know it doesn't look like much but I'll get there one day! The tires are 225/50R16 Toyo T1-R's. You can definitely get away with larger in the back, but with the 16x8 +32 Enkei's I have, I literally have 1/8" clearance at the spring perch in the front, and that's with camber plates and bolts! Any lower offset and I'd be smacking the fender and the proximity to the spring perch prevents more negative camber.
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- 1989 MAZDA RX-7 GXL
thanx for that info! and very nice seats!!!(cool)
Thanks, and no problem!
So the FC's dreaded charging system strikes again. I spent about an hour this weekend going through the engine cleaning any electical lead/connection I could find and took a wire brush to all the ground points I could find. The interesting thing is now the tachometer is reading about 100 RPM lower than before! Small steps in the right direction!
I'm pretty sure the trailing coil on the second rotor is on its way out. Back when I replaced the spark plugs and wires last year I noticed that particular coil had blown its wire clear off, destroying it in the process and slightly damaging the coil itself. The new wire has stayed put for the time being and I've since cleaned out the ignitor but I'm going to start looking for a new one. I may have to put my drivetrain plans on hold and look for a charging system solution: grounding kit, new battery and terminals, FD alternator, etc.
