Shadow102's RX7 NA build thread

[Shadow102]

Well finally changed my oil cooler yesterday temps have really evened out now...i dont see this thing being a track car but should be just fine for cruising around which is what its being built for. You can see in the pics exactly the problem:

Also installed one of my rear endlinks to see how it would fit. I need some spacers just to decrease the angle it sits at other wise it fits in there great. Also need to get a set of these larger ones for the front and figured out what spacers are needed there.

Also scored me a brand new middle shift boot for $10 so that is going on today at some point to keep the heat and exhaust outa the cabin a bit more. Projector headlight housings should be here in the next day or two, fuel tank sending unit early next week along with some 8mm rear wheel spacer, buddy here at work gave me some 3mm spacers for the front.

 

[Shadow102]

Got my wheel spacers on this weekend. Once again 8mm rear 3mm front. i think any more than 8mm and you will need extended wheel studs.

Before:

After:

I really need to get around to fixing that rear camber.

Also installed my fuel gauge sending unit, i now know how much gas the car will be drinking lol.

Still waiting on my headlight housings but caught a killer deal on ebay and picked up a set of 12k Hid's for the headlights, 4300k hids for the fogs, and some yellow vinyl overlay for the fogs as well. Cant wait to have HID's again along with ditching the stupid seal beam lights

 

[Rotary-Amuse]

looks great and looks like a very fun project. good stuff. the gauges look good, as well.

i am anxious to see it evolve even more. keep up the good work. good luck with it.

 

[CorkSport]

Looks better with the spacers. Are you going to get a camber adjust link to dial a bit of that negative camber out to extend tire life or just leave it as is?

 

[Shadow102]

Looks better with the spacers. Are you going to get a camber adjust link to dial a bit of that negative camber out to extend tire life or just leave it as is?

I am going to be putting a camber link in to adjust the negetive out. Its just taking a bit longer as I am trying to design my own

 

[Shadow102]

Finally got my headlight housing in today. Good news is i like the way they look and its nice not to have the cataract looking housing on the drivers side.

Bad news is that as i suspected due to the price the "projector" isnt really a projector and as i really suspected the light out put sucks big time. However i am hoping the HID's i have on the way counteract this light output issue, if not then i will be getting a set of chrome housings.

Also got my yellow vinyl in the mail so i will be making my over lays tomorrow.

 

[evilmonkeyMSP]

wow, that is horrible light output...hopefully the hids help a lot.

 

[2nd Chance]

I like what you got goin' man.

Do the spacers help with handling any or more of just a cosmetic thing?

 

[aMaff]

Increased track generally is good for grip, but also increases scrub radius. Generally the increased track is more beneficial than the scrub radius is detrimental though.

 

[magnumP5]

Oy those light housings are horrible! I was looking at some Hella units today actually. They're a little pricier at ~$110 for both headlights but at least they're DOT approved and whatnot. I've also been considering a projector (non-HID) retrofit with H9 bulbs. http://www.rallylights.com/ is where I have been looking.

 

[Shadow102]

Oy those light housings are horrible! I was looking at some Hella units today actually. They're a little pricier at ~$110 for both headlights but at least they're DOT approved and whatnot. I've also been considering a projector (non-HID) retrofit with H9 bulbs. http://www.rallylights.com/ is where I have been looking.

Yeah trust me if I had the cash flow I woulda gone big but really just wanted to get hid's in there and I gambled on the black housings.

 

[Shadow102]

I like what you got goin' man.

Do the spacers help with handling any or more of just a cosmetic thing?

It was mostly a cosmetic thing but like amaff said it has the benefits of widening the track

 

[Shadow102]

fog overlays were put on today...turned out even better than i was hoping and with the addition of the HID's that are on there way it should be even better. Also just took an extra shot of the LED tail light bulbs that i still love and a dark shot in my garage of the interior and light output i am getting, most of which is from the fogs. Luckily living in atlanta there is so much natural light everywhere alot of light output is not a huge concern

 

[2nd Chance]

Sweet man I can tell you are gonna have a pretty slick little ride once you get it done. Why do I see so many people removing the air conditioning on these cars though? Does it really save that much weight?

I really like some of your ideas, I might steal a few. Hope you don't mind. Those fog lights look great too.

 

[Shadow102]

Sweet man I can tell you are gonna have a pretty slick little ride once you get it done. Why do I see so many people removing the air conditioning on these cars though? Does it really save that much weight?

I really like some of your ideas, I might steal a few. Hope you don't mind. Those fog lights look great too.

If I had to guess I would say it saved upwards of 50lbs. There is a huge iron bracket the ac compressor mounts to, also removing the condenser got a lot more air to the oil cooler and radiator. Frees up a ton of room as well.

 

[magnumP5]

I want to remove A/C and P/S but something tells me my fiance' won't let me

 

[Shadow102]

I want to remove A/C and P/S but something tells me my fiance' won't let me

Ac could be an issue...ps with a properly depowered rack isn't a problem I actually am likeing it a lot more than having the powersteering in

 

[magnumP5]

Ac could be an issue...ps with a properly depowered rack isn't a problem I actually am likeing it a lot more than having the powersteering in

Did you go all out like TitaniumTT's how-to? I'd love to do that - I'd just need to get all my resources together because I want to do remove everything (seals, play, etc.).

 

[Shadow102]

Did you go all out like TitaniumTT's how-to? I'd love to do that - I'd just need to get all my resources together because I want to do remove everything (seals, play, etc.).

If by titaniumtt you mean the write up on flyin miata then yes...I removed that inner seal and retorqued all the other parts to spec

 

[magnumP5]

If by titaniumtt you mean the write up on flyin miata then yes...I removed that inner seal and retorqued all the other parts to spec

He was on RX7Club but has been banned for some reason or another and now actively posts on the RotaryCarClub. The how-to I was referencing is on that forum. It's similar to the Flyin' Miata write-up but goes into more detail involving removing additional seals and getting rid of the slop in the steering wheel. I'd link it, but yeah...