Battered RX-3: worth saving?

Quote
starion887
How about cars that pull wheelies and then crash out? LOL And I geuss that since the poll is so heavily 'YES' then Hoche is obligated to get this thng. I'll send your a free pound of bacon, Hoche.

We've already planning suspension upgrades... I supplied all the Volvo bits but the springs...and the only thing it really needs are uh er

LONGER SPRINGS!

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Ok, I talked to the guy and I'm gonna get it. It won't be for another month or so (I'm busy prepping one of my Golfs for Big White), but the deal's set. I'll send you my address for the bacon, Mark.

I did stop by the local rotary specialist on my way home today. That was sort of funny. I wandered in at around 4:45 and the receptionist gave me a bright cheery "Hi! How can we help you?" "Er, um...nothing at the moment; I just want to talk. Do you work on RX-3s?" She was sort of down on the idea - I think she had hoped I had a brand new RX-8 that just needed a tuneup - but as I explained the situation she sort of warmed up. She remembered that they used to blow up the stock Mazda rear ends all the time and that they were often putting in other axles. As I was talking to her, a few of the mechanics started wandering in and listening, and some of them started getting sort of interested. So I might get some help from that quarter. As it stands now, I told 'em I'd trailer it over to have a look-see after I pick it up. I think they're just a regular shop that mostly does just street-car maintenance, but at this point I figure every little bit of possible help I can find will count.

They also referred me to a local bodyshop guy that they trust that races RX-7s; I'm going to go talk to him in the next day or two. Hopefully he'll understand that it's a race car and not an insurance job or show car. Ideally, I just want him to figure out if the front framehorn/radsupport can be straightened and replaced, and maybe de-bondo and re-bondo the rear quarter panels. Oh, and a final paint job. Everything else I think I can do.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

Yeah, I had long discussion with John (is there any other sort?) last week and we talked about the suspension. He knew exactly what was under there and had a lot of ideas on how to make it better. So that'll be in the works too. Right now it's got a ride height of about 4", which seems horribly low. I'm not sure if that's the way it was set up and if raising it will jack up the handling, or if everything has just sagged. It also looks like the front uses a setup that requires a really skinny front spring/platform to keep the wheel from rubbing. At any rate, John has some ideas which we'll be exploring.

It's going to need a rear diff. The one that's in there is blown (apparently it ran out of oil and went boom). My current plan is to junkyard dive for the requisite Volvo parts and throw whatever I can find that will work in there, even if it's an open one with an inappropriate ratio. I don't really know what I'm looking for, but just want to make it driveable. At some point in the future I can either weld that up or find a proper LSD for it.

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Self-righteous douche canoe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2013 10:18PM by hoche.

In related news, if I'm gonna restore this car and get it running again, I want a proper place to run it. That means Doo Wops. I want Doo Wops to run again, exactly as Ray ran it. That means Olympic Peninsula, Smith + Brooklyn, two days, no notes, focus on fun factor.

YOU HEAR ME, GENE?


I WANT MY DOO WOPS!



Note 1: Ok, so I only ran Doo Wops once as a driver and twice as a co-driver, but still...it was one of the few 13-hour-tow events that every year I tried to figure out how to make.

Note 2: If needed, I will volunteer my time to do remotely whatever I can to make it happen.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

let me look at the engine before you pay a shop to do it. Unless you went to like... racing beat, i wouldn't trust too many shops not to just say its needs rebuilt to make a buck.

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Hi Michel,

If you have second thoughts of aquiring the RX3, I'm interested!

My thought is that Gene would be a good candidate to bring it back to it's former glory with the assisatance of others for parts. That is if they were interested!

First things first... I have to talk you out of being interested in it.

By the sounds of things... you don't really need another project.

Morten

It's amazing what comes up in a simple name search on google....sometimes sleeping on a post before hitting send is in order...

I started in rally co-driving in my brother's 323. After a year, he decided to get out of rally and let me drive his 323. I decided the 323 was too expensive for a 1st rally car so I built an RX3 with a lot of input from "Happy Club" members at Jeff Feet's shop in Kent. WA.

The RX3 in question was built for me in 1989/90 by Paul Morgan, Dave Snyder, Gene McCullough and Dave Clark with help from JVL. I'm probably forgetting someone!

The project got momentum when a shell was sourced from a local junkyard and Jeff Feet located a fantastic deal on the engine. The original engine was a (holly crap 250hp) street port built by Rick Engman, (Jim Downing's Mazda factory race engine builder) for Rod Sorenson's GLC. Rod used it once (Pikes Peak?) and sold it to me. The custom Weber manifold and 45 DCOE? were/are worth more than the $1,200 I paid! The car weighed 2,625 lbs wet!

JVL helped foster build ideas with input from Dave/Dave and Paul. Due to the ambitious 60 day build plan to make the Doo Wops, Paul was drafted to fabricate because he had time, excellent skills and Dave was getting his own rally car ready. Dave did fabricate front oil cooler and radiator mounts and other work I've forgotten.

The front suspension was used Volvo 240 uprights modified to accept KYB inserts with the awesome 4-pot Volvo brakes. The stock steering rack was Volvo with a custom oil pan by Paul to accommodate the rack.
The transmission was a stock Mazda RX7 Turbo II 5 speed. Clutch was Racing Beat. Custom driveline by Drivelines NW to mate the Mazda tranny to the Dana 30 rear axle (Jeep front axle). The rear diff was limited slip with steep gearing (don't remember the ratio).
The 5 link rear suspension was designed by Paul and the bushings we sourced from a off road 4WD shop.
Gene did the exhaust based on a dual pipe setup Racing Beat recommended. Gene also sourced and installed a Nissan electronic ignition module (no more points!).

I had over $10K in the RX3 when it hit the dirt. The car won its class the year I campaigned it and it was a blast to drive with that kind of power!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2014 09:47AM by GregLund.

Man Greg... Great post with lots of good useful information... Right up until you turned it into flame on JV. For fucks sake dude. We've endured flame threads that have damaged this forum seriously. JVL.. Please don't respond. We basically know what you might say, so if it's left unsaid the thread might continue in a useful manner?

Say whatever bullshit you want Lund, but I will say the same thing as I said more than 20 years ago:
I have an inflexible policy regarding freight. I NEVER ask for freight in advance because I NEVER know what I will be charged for frieght----and if I say $xx for frieght and it comes in more, I do not want to argue---for 20+ years--- about the difference.

Thus I did not say freight is this or that much I said FREIGHT DUE WHEN IT ARRIVES.

You didn't listen, so you believe whatever the hell you want, but you never paid for freight.

WHY WOULD I VARY MY POLICY for a guy who clearly did not listen and SEEMED to have an extremely limited attention span?
Answer: I would not vary it, I would stress it..
Obviously it didn't penetrate.



RACK:
You were just a schmuck working for your daddy if I recall, you knew less than nothing regarding cars.

I said "we order quick rack kit and see what arrives before sourcing the core rack--( knowing there are both ZF and TRW/Cam-gears racks, with either 14mm pinion or 19mm)....get the core to match the quick guts once they're here"

You didn't listen because you think you were smarter so whatever they sent didn't fit whatever core you got randomly---and when the guts were finally returned 2-3 years later they were rustier than hell....like they had been left in the rain or a shed...ruined---impossible to return...
Smooth move.

You seriously expected somebody to help you when you don't listen, stiff them for freight and obstinately insist on something frankly stupid?
Nope Lund, you fuck me for freight, a paltry amount for you, so the only motivation can be some "dig the heels in and nobody will budge me" think which you were infamous for.

Seriously, nobody wants to hear you cry about bullshit from 20+ years ago Lund---why not just go back to where ever you have been....

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

You're right Jason. It's hard to be constructive when you're being trashed for no reason in the same thread. Post has been edited and I hope I get to see the refurbished RX3 out in the woods where it belongs!

With a few exceptions, I mostly stopped posting here, but I thought you guys might be interested in an update on this.

I picked up the car last month. It's still sitting on the trailer in my driveway as I'm on a self-imposed ban on new projects until I clean up/out the garage.

On the whole, mechanically and structurally I think it's recoverable. It's got a lot of surface rust, but the only places it's really gotten bad are in the trunk. Apparently the rear got bashed at some point and the entire rear vertical piece (the part that used to hold the lights and house the latch for the trunk) has been replaced with a piece of flat sheetmetal, held on with angle iron. Needless to say, this left a bunch of gaps and the trunk didn't seal and water got inside.

The left side rear wheel well is separating from the frame rail, but the frame rail itself seems solid. Looks like it got hit and the "fix" was to just spray some foam sealer around the area. In fact, there's foam sealer in a few different places back there - sorta looks like some sort of coral has invaded.

The custom mounts for the rear suspension all seem solid.

Engine state is unknown. Alex Staidle came by and took a look and I think his conclusion was that it's an early 13B. Couldn't say more, but that jibes with what Lee S. was telling me about the engine that he thinks went into the car, so it's quite possible it's the same engine, in which case it's a Rick Engman-built streetport that very probably does turn out power in the 240-250hp range. I think I've managed to talk Alex into coming over and helping me pull the engine and do further evaluation on it. I'm not sure - we started gabbing about all kinds of stuff and I'm not sure what the final conclusion was.

No idea about the transmission, except that it's out of some generation of RX7. It came with a spare that might be the original one.

The rear end still keeps it from rolling if you stick it in gear, but it's apparently been blown by being run on the wrong kind of oil. Yukon seems to have all the parts it'll need though. Not sure if that's the best place to go look for rally stuff though.

The header looks like it was replaced at some point. Probably a Racing Beat flange with custom DOM tubing. It looks relatively recent so I don't think it's Gene's original one. Most of the exhaust and both mufflers are also relatively new (i.e. from around 1999-2001).

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Self-righteous douche canoe

As a complete side note that runs in the "I'm probably not going to do this but it might be funny", some quick tape measurements indicates that if I go to an electric fan, the engine can be moved forward about six inches and a Subaru transmission would fit. If I can figure out front control arms and uprights, that means that I could possibly mate a Subaru 4.111 up to a Dana 4.10 and end up with an Open Light car that weighs 2000lb and turns 240+ hp. Hilarity would ensue, at least until it ether broke or the rules were changed to punt it out.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

yes and yes

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First Rally: 2010 First RallyX: 2004 (a bunch)
Driver (0), Co-Driver (7)
Organizer (3), Volunteer (3)
Cars Built (2.5), Engines Blown (2) Cages Built (0) # of rotations (3.5)
Last Updated, Apr 9, 2023

Quote
hoche
As a complete side note that runs in the "I'm probably not going to do this but it might be funny", some quick tape measurements indicates that if I go to an electric fan, the engine can be moved forward about six inches and a Subaru transmission would fit. If I can figure out front control arms and uprights, that means that I could possibly mate a Subaru 4.111 up to a Dana 4.10 and end up with an Open Light car that weighs 2000lb and turns 240+ hp. Hilarity would ensue, at least until it ether broke or the rules were changed to punt it out.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

you could use the rest of the subaru front suspension

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I would rather drive a slow car fast as a fast car slow!
first rule of cars: get what makes you happy, your the one paying for it!