Our new project car: RallyX-7

Katya4me

Autox Junkie
:
Laser Blue '03 P5
April 21, 2010:

It followed us home on Monday:
DSC03196.JPG

DSC03199.JPG


Cliff's Notes:
1. Previous owner didn't have space for it, so he gave it away to a friend of ours.
2. That friend has a HOA and a kid, and was storing it elsewhere and not working on it, so he offered it to us. :D

It does have some issues:

Definite
1. Battery (We have one on the charger right now to see what it does).
2. P/S needs to be either removed or reinstalled.
3. Some way to start the car. (probably a Big Red Button of some sort)
4. Clean out crap. (lots of crap inside)

Maybe
1. Clutch

More details from original ad and next owner below:

The original ad:
Due to (lack of) time and garage space, I have to part with my rallycross car. I only attended a couple of races last season with this car (red rx7). So it's not too beat up just yet. It will never be a street car again, as it's been prepped to run in modified class at this point. It's competitive in M2, much more so than the driver. :) Subtract my cone times and my previous times are right along with the pack.

The drivetrain, suspension, brakes, etc are all stock, and the engine runs fine*. (yeah, that's an asterick, see below)
Transmission and Clutch are ok, no grinding and all the gears work, although I haven't been above 2nd gear for a while. :)
The interior is stripped of carpet and floor padding, but the door interiors are still there, as is the dash - lights/wipers/ blower works
has an aftermarket shifter, was there when I bought it, so not sure what kind (but it does have Hurst Shifter sticker, which adds 5 hp)
14 inch rally tires on stock wheels, still in decent shape only been through about 8 race days
AC removed, condenser and evaporator too.
I have the signed title from the previous owner, but have never put it in my name
K&N filter, no other mods to air intake system.
solid motor mounts, since the factory rubber was broken when I got it.
Passes tech inspection!

Now for the asterick - halfway through it's last race, the oil cooler lines started leaking and needed to be replaced before running again. I recently replace them with nice shiny stainless braided ones, but in doing so had to remove the power steering. I haven't cut the lines, they are just ziptied up out of the way right now. Either the PS pump needs re-installed (5 big bolts) or the lines need to be looped together, which is what I'd do. Since installing the lines, I haven't driven it, so no guarantees on my workmanship.

I have been flat-towing it to and from the track, so it's set up for a tow bar which is attached to the pseudo-frame in the front, and can be hooked up/released in about 5 minutes. It rolls along just fine behind my minivan, and I'll throw in the towbar and magnetic lights for the right price. (which is any)

I really just want to get it out of the garage, so any price would be considered.

From next owner:
The steering issue was the pump I believe. I drove it without the PS, and it was fine for me. I was just going to fill the rack with fluid and loop the lines...

It's got a new set of oil cooler lines on it, and I didn't notice any oil leaks on the couple runs around the dealership I did... LOL...

Other than that, it definitely needs a battery, and if it was a street car, I'd be looking at a clutch. For a rally car, I think the clutch will be fine for a while yet.

It had a pretty worn out ignition on it, that finally failed completely so I couldn't turn the key anymore....




We need to get the title from our friend and then the goal is to get it up and running before the next rally-x on May 16. I think Shawn plans to work on it this weekend.
 
April 25, 2010:

Progress updates:

It starts!!
RallyX-7%20029.jpg

Still need to find a good mounting surface and the car has no lighter right now, but it moves now. :) Shawn also swapped the stock shiftknob back on while he was in there.

It goes to eleven!!! (eekdance)
RallyX-7%20027.jpg

Truly the wiper system must be awesome on this car, once we get the wipers re-installed...

Got most of the duct tape numbers off now. Any recommendations on the best way to get the rest of it off?
RallyX-7%20024.jpg


More progress:

Half a bottle of Goo-Gone and a little bit of labor and that took them right off:
RallyX-7%20031.jpg

RallyX-7%20032.jpg


Our friend couldn't deal with the engine bay looking like it belonged to a rally car, so he started cleaning it up:
RallyX-7%20033.jpg


The lower ear of the power steering pump (upper left in the picture) was hitting the braided oil lines, so we decided to remove it:
RallyX-7%20036.jpg

RallyX-7%20040.jpg


And now it fits:
RallyX-7%20041.jpg


Still need to reconnect the lines, but looking a lot better than it did less than a week ago.
 
Last edited:
April 27, 2010:

And Shawn has created a better mounting point for the switches:
RallyX-7%20046.jpg


He also picked up a new belt for the PS pump and the car has working power steering again.
2.5 weeks until the next rally-x. :D
 
Last edited:
May 17, 2010:

Well, yesterday was our first event with the RX-7 and I have to say that it came through with flying colors. :D
In order to pass tech, we did have to get a new windshield on Friday as there was a crack on the driver's side.

There were 5 entries in M2 and we came in 2nd and 3rd. By the afternoon, we were consistently within a second of the M2 leader's time on each run, except for the runs that we tried to spin the car on... We got 10 runs in the AM and another 10 in the PM, so the car had 40 opportunities to break and it never did. We did have a hanger come off, which we think was part of the heat shield, but that is very minor in the grand scheme of things. The tires are amazing and contributed greatly to our grip levels, esp. since 90% of the time we were some version of slideways. :innocent: The engine never overheated, and we didn't break anything. Next event is a 2 day National event in June, so we are going to register for that shortly.

Upon arrival:
RallyX-7-First%20event%20003.jpg


Shawn out driving:
RallyX-7-First%20event%20029.jpg


Me driving:
RallyX%20RX-7.jpg


It was a little dusty, even after the water truck came through:
RallyX-7-First%20event%20005.jpg
 
We ended up taking 1st and 2nd in class, but unfortunately not in the way that we had hoped. There were 4 in our class on Saturday and the other 2 competitors suffered mechanical difficulties. 1 was able to come back today, but without yesterday's scores, he ended up in 3rd place.

Yesterday's course was pretty cool, but ran over a lot of new territory. Ie., how to landscape in 8 easy runs.

When we started, this was grass:
Rally-X%204-%20National%20Event%20028.jpg


With 3 breakdowns during our heat, the 10 runs dropped to 8. The 2nd heat did run quicker because the course was clear. The course was then reversed for the afternoon runs. The weather was not cooperative however and halfway through the 2nd heat's 3rd runs, the skies opened up and started pouring rain. Dirt and rain aren't fun to rally in. :( As a result, my heat got no afternoon runs and we wrapped up before 3pm.

Today was just morning runs and the weather was gorgeous, so once again, the goal was 10 runs per heat. However, yesterday's course and the anticipated course for today were just too wet, so we moved to the gravel lot. Yay for 3 areas!!!

As you can see, even that was pretty wet:
Rally-X%204-%20National%20Event%20035.jpg


Rally-X%204-%20National%20Event%20037.jpg


We did get 10 runs per heat and the course was a lot of fun, with one section incredibly tail-happy, just swinging from one turn to the next and hammering the gas.

Rally-X%204-%20National%20Event%20018.jpg


All of the photos we got can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/moxnix/RallyX4NationalEvent#

The next event that we will be able to attend is in September, so I'll update this with any mods we make between now and then.
 
I'm not exactly sure how I missed this thread, but this is a very cool build. Great job getting the car back in shape and best of luck on the dirt (and mud)!
 
So, we seem to have an abusive relationship with this car. It behaves properly and we treat it like dirt. Or at least treat it to dirt...

First, the nice side of the relationship:
After losing multiple magnets and dealing with wet paper, I decided to order vinyl numbers for the car and only use magnetic 1s for co-driving.
2010-09-12%2008.42.21.jpg


Then in the past 2 events we've taken it to, we've caused it to suffer it's first body damage:
Rally-X%204-%20National%20Event%20-%20Car%20After%20008.jpg


Followed by this at the last event:
2010-09-12%2008.42.10.jpg

During Shawn's first run, he heard a noise about 3/4 of the way through and decided to finish the run. Yep, the exhaust came off almost entirely. Unfortunately, it was still held on by 2 hangers and it took the better portion of 2 hours working with limited tools to cut the metal hangers still holding the exhaust on. It came off about the same time that the afternoon runs were wrapping up, so we ended the day by sticking it in the hatch and driving back to the truck. OMG, it is loud!!!
 
Now as the season wraps up and we look forward to our final event in November, we've started thinking about what we want to do over the winter. On the list are things like a skidplate, new tires, obviously a new exhaust now, etc.

As the car has a 4x114.3 bolt pattern and an open diff., one thing we've been looking at is going to a junkyard and getting an LSD and 5x114.3 hubs off another RX-7. That would make it a lot easier to find wheels or use some that we already own. Well, we ended up finding something along those lines:

New%20RX-7%20001.jpg


We saw an ad on CL for a '87 GXL, the engine had died and the owner was working on a swap, but the wiring harness is not connected. Not sure what other problems it may have, but it was $500. :) The owner tossed in some manuals and a whole box of parts and we towed it home. Actually, this is sounding rather familiar....

Now the differences. While it doesn't run right now, we may be able to fix that. If so, the interior and exterior look so much nicer than our current RX-7. It also has full interior, which means we could drop to a lower class, which might be a nice option to consider. If we can't get it running, we will strip it for parts for the current RX-7.

Oh, and what do you do when you have a sloped driveway and a car that doesn't move under it's own power? You pull it with the Miata!!! (boom03) It was convenient and has a tow hitch....

New%20RX-7%20002.jpg


We haven't started tearing into it yet, but I'll update as we make progress.
 
I think the color on the new one may show dirt more ;) GL with it tho
 
Why hello there, where did you come from? :) Yep, I'm sure you'll see lots of it and don't worry, it looks a little prettier than the red one.
 
The cat dragged me in. Figured you and Shawn got me hooked on mazdas so I might as well join a few more forums...
 
New season!!!
We (Shawn) decided that the blue would become a donor car, starting with the LSD. He was off work last week and our first event was this Sunday, so he swapped the old diff out. It was a little dirty:

IMG_20110317_185123.jpg


Of course that wasn't the only dirt he had to deal with:

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Those were the little pieces as he was able to gather up the large clods to dispose of them a little easier.

This is some scary dude I found in the garage when I got home:

IMG_20110317_185151.jpg
 
Did ya'll ever figured out what shook loose and "killed" the car this weekend?

The car ran fine all thru the event it was only once we got it back home that it would not turn on again. We just pushed it into the garage and I will look at it later this week and see what I can figure out.
 
Speaking of the first event....

Since we bought a GoPro HD over the off season we now have video.

Here is a morning run from each of us with data.
Katie

Shawn

Afternoon run no data (forgot to recharge the datalogger over lunch) They reverse/change the course for the afternoon.
 

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