Updated boingers on the RX

Quick update on the venerable RX suspension and brakes.

JVL tidied up the aging coilovers and sent the one that blew up at OTR off to Bilstein for repair. He also replaced the front lower mounting dingus with a new one and some fancy spacers that will make swapping them around much easier. They're back on now and working well.

Also, this week I popped in new brake pads (Hawk DTC30s custom made over at Porterfield. You can't get decent OEM pads and no one makes off the shelf pads for the RX anymore (small internal whine about "classic" car and no easy support) but Porterfield had the patterns already so it was an easy phone call to get them built and no need to send in my spares for a model.

Brake & Clutch Supply down in Sodo took my spare rubber brake hoses and put together some steel braided hoses for me. Just the right size and the install wasn't too painful. Replacing the exhaust manifold gaskets, now that's another story.

Here's a quick photo of the nice front right showing the braided line and the boinger all in place. Now all that's left for PFR is an engine mount isntall and a brake caliper seal replacement.

Looking good!

Quote
somepants
no one makes off the shelf pads for the RX anymore (small internal whine about "classic" car and no easy support)

Should be the same as any other Subaru from the era. The RX was just a GL10 with a fancy transmission, body cladding, and checkered seat belts. Brakes were the same as everything else.

---

Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

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

Should be fun to see how they work now that the one is rebuilt.
Occasionally--I suspect at very low temps cause that's the only time I encountered it (like minus 20*C in Sweden) , the gas will get past the dividing piston and get into where the oil is supposed to be, and you have then like a hatch strut only way worse.
Its a powerful---gawd knows what---spring, and in this case it means it wasn't going to compress on one side...Must have been screwy.

I also chapped off the orginal style strut base where it pokes into the knuckle and is pinched and replaced it with a simplified design so the strut insert can go all the way to the bottom of the outer tube---and the rod threads into what is now the top of the weldie thang, so full travel and about 3/4" or 19mm shorter overall length--good cause we're always fighting getting as much travel as reasonable while keeping the installed overall length near as we can to original, in this case about 30mm longer OAL with about 50mm more travel.


Have fun.
Sorry your powerful beast can't go to Canada anymore without adding a restrictor onto that turbo (which means you'd have to find it---got a magnifying glass?) and 700-800 lbs of ballast

---

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.

BRAKE PADS:

Sure. And try finding anything performance-like in that size? Not available. Dead-end platform with no racing suport to speak of. I can get stock pads but nothing off the shelf with better grippyness. And the pads I had at OTR were definitely not cutting the mustard.

That's why I went for the custom made DTC-30 compound pads. Can't wait to try them "in anger" next month.

RESTRICTOR:

Already have the 32mm restrictor that is mandated by RA. Should be fine for canuckistan. But the weight thing... curb weight is around 2300. I haven't weighed it myself but with the cage and all the crap I pulled out of the back (old PGT rules said you needed to keep the back seats and such in there, glad that's no longer the case) it should still be close to that.

Whatever, I'm not planning on any national entries.

Thanks for all the help getting the suspension working again. It should be an improved experience now that they move a bit and the rebound is not limited to the sidewalls.

Quote
somepants

Already have the 32mm restrictor that is mandated by RA.

What's the point of having a restrictor that's larger than the inlet of the turbo?

Those be t' rules, Matey! Don't make sense in me situation but neither does competin' in t' same class against STIs and EVOs at P'FR per the current CARS PGT rules.

(International Talk Like A Pirate Day, today)