Another RX7 in the mix

Yeah I have mine held up by a small tab of sheetmetal for now so that I can adjust them to the right height by bending the tab. Once I get that set, it'll be weld time for me.

Holy crap! Isn't that overdoing it a bit?

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"The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and have so much more to learn." - Claude Rouelle, Optimum G lecture June, 2011

the best kind of kill is over kill.

Pete, if i recall those fans could be used to propel the car in a lake.

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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
Gravity Fed
thats exactly why i removed things like the headlight motors. Its just weight and extra wiring to me. Two small welds one each, and whammy. Rally approved

Simplest is bestis.
Solder in the brass bung from a Saab 900 in the the tank. look on the hex of the fan switch for on/off temps like 95/92 or sumpin..
It comes on when hot, goes off without thinking when cool.
That's simpler than remembering to turn on, or turn off and running battery down or over-cooling etc.

Then wire a grounding switch to the dash from the sender, no juice to switch, it just grounds...

Simpler.

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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.

Quote
Gravity Fed
regarding seats, they need an FIA cert so making them is out of the question.

Umm...show me that rule...

FIA is for NRS only.

Well i wouldnt buy a seat that would be ineligible for both sanctioning bodies.

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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
Gravity Fed
Well i wouldnt buy a seat that would be ineligible for both sanctioning bodies.

Me neither, just keeping the rules straight.


But...there are some spiffy aluminum seats available that can be RA compliant and as NRS doesn't have events around here these days a guy should explore his options. RA logged cars don't need FIA seats to run NRS events tbw. Only NRS logged cars need FIA seats.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2012 04:59PM by heymagic.

Don't spend too much time trying to make the Watts link work, just build a Panhard bar setup. Yeah I know it's theoretically less optimal; theory doesn't really matter in this (or a lot of other) instance. The rest of the rear suspension... consensus is either equal length 4-link ala the old Escorts and stuff, or some people are in favor of a 3-link. We use a 3-link plus Panhard on a roadrace car and it works pretty darned well. I think some people have in the past expressed concerns about longevity of the Mazda rear axle, plus you can't really get cheap good ring and pinions for them; 4.88:1 and 5.12:1 are still available from Mazdaspeed but they cost a pretty penny last I checked.

Don't really worry too much about engine mounting - it's trivial compared to the rest of it. Racing Beat sells a mount doohickey to plunk a 13B with a 12A front cover into a 12A car's crossmember, which is a lot easier than finding a GSL-SE crossmember. Or I'm willing to bet you can figure out how to put an engine into an S4/S5 front crossmember, especially if you get one of the common S4/S5 13Bs.

Of course, all of this varies on a sliding scale of fixing all the stock problems vs not spending all your time building the car in the first place. But that sliding scale is why I'm working on an S4 second gen car instead of one of the many S3 first gen cars we have sitting around, despite how much more I like the first gen. Still, ymmv and all that.

I know I only rallycross, but the Watts needs off the car, and it needs to die screaming. The execution sucks, it's way too high unless you're running little 20" tall tires. I am very happy with a Panhard mounted an inch below axle centerline.

I've talked about the links situation before, I like the 3-link because it can never ever bind. The 4 link has been proven to work well too but it means making one box instead of two. Either way the stock upper links need to die screaming as well. Looking at what MRTE did for the Group B cars, it looks like they made a 4-link using the stock upper brackets on the axle and made little boxes inside the car for long PARALLEL links like nature intended.

The stock rearend needs bracing. But 4.78 gears are a quick trip to a junkyard away (find a first-gen Sportage and attack the front diff with wrenches), and they are very worth it, so it's kinda worth dealing with the rearend issues. Moser makes beefy GSL-SE style axles if you have problems with the stock big-spline ones.

The absolute number one Duke of New York thing you can do with a 1st-gen is to unbolt everything related to the front suspension and steering and throw in the bits from a 2nd-generation unit. It's damned near a bolt in, minimal fabrication required, and you get a common bolt pattern, better bearings, better brakes, better steering, better everything.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

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

Evan lissen to Pete, he hain't no fuel.
Junk yard shopping for the win..

The towers and boxes are so simple that it is unfathomable insanity that evey RX7, Dodge Colt, RX2, 3 Toyota, and Volvo ever played with on gravel wasn't modded.
It should be considered like stage 0.25.

You will learn better when the car handles cause then you you learn driving, not just correcting and "saves".

and that ol mkII front end dealio gives you a steering rack that works instead of virtually dragging a 2x4 against the tire to drag it slower, like the original so called "steering" does.

---

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.

Ahhh Belllingham.
Do it right,
and by right, I mean get that car racing soon.
Leonhart was supposed to stop giving us credit for Rally Roll cage papers
is mine from 2005 still around?

You;re going to do great . . . I can too.

https://plus.google.com/photos/107360747547936712553/albums/5163774823300977713?banner=pwa

Http://cranerallycrew.com

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"I put the hurt on dirt" - adam crane
http://CraneRallyCrew.com
corolla gt-s "Patches"
Op: S.S.

Quote
acrane
Ahhh Belllingham.
Do it right,
and by right, I mean get that car racing soon.
Leonhart was supposed to stop giving us credit for Rally Roll cage papers
is mine from 2005 still around?

You;re going to do great . . . I can too.

Thats the plan Adam! Though its starting to look like I'm going to miss Olympus because of Formula SAE competition in Detroit is the same weekend.
I don't know if your papers are still around I'll ask Leonhart. Jack Russel mentioned that you caged your Corolla for credit too. I think it's a great way to kill 2 birds with 1 stone which is why I'm doing it as an independent study.


John: As far as cooling goes, I'm pretty sure that's the route I was hoping to go. So you say bung a thermostat into the radiator tank?
Steering -- It looks like I'll be gunning for an FC subframe one of these days. First though, is to get a little bit of driving in. I've got no idea how to drive a RWD on gravel and snow. Only had FWD and AWD for that in the past.

Pete and Daniel: I couldn't agree more. Though it sounds like you guys have more of an idea of what to fix than I do at this point. I haven't had much of a chance to go through it and figure out what's wrong. Been doing too much schoolwork and maintenance to be able to. I'll probably go with a panhard setup for now since that seems to be the simplest direction to take.
I'll definitely look for the 4.78. There are plenty of junkyards in this area so I'm sure I'll be able to scrounge something useable up! Also, where should I look to brace on the stock rear end?

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"The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and have so much more to learn." - Claude Rouelle, Optimum G lecture June, 2011

i braced mine with just what i had "laying around" at the time. IE flat bar steel. Well see how that holds up. Axle 2.0 (if not just a toyota 8" might use an aluminum thingy modeled after the Escorts.

With the axles, mine from Doug H and Matt weaver had the bearings tack welded on. I suppose there is a reason for it. Would like to get a why though.

---

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
Gravity Fed
i braced mine with just what i had "laying around" at the time. IE flat bar steel. Well see how that holds up. Axle 2.0 (if not just a toyota 8" might use an aluminum thingy modeled after the Escorts.

With the axles, mine from Doug H and Matt weaver had the bearings tack welded on. I suppose there is a reason for it. Would like to get a why though.

Keeps the axle from sliding out of the bearing when hot and going around a corner. Did that to our dirt cars 30 years ago.

ah! that makes sense.

---

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
Gravity Fed
i braced mine with just what i had "laying around" at the time. IE flat bar steel. Well see how that holds up. Axle 2.0 (if not just a toyota 8" might use an aluminum thingy modeled after the Escorts.

With the axles, mine from Doug H and Matt weaver had the bearings tack welded on. I suppose there is a reason for it. Would like to get a why though.

Alright! Thats easy! I'll look into doing that in the near future before I hit the logging roads and break something.


To everyone: You guys are fucking awesome! In less than 24 hours I've gotten more advice than I'll be able to utilize in months! Keep it coming!
This is easily the best forum I've been a part of. I used to say that about RX7club, but I posted a very similar thread to this one on it as my build thread, and so far have a grand total of 0 replies with as much advice and feedback. I can't wait to meet you guys in person and go to more events.

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"The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know and have so much more to learn." - Claude Rouelle, Optimum G lecture June, 2011