RX7 Hillclimber Build Thread

Meanwhile, work on the garage continues:

Been busy on the LeMons RHD JDM Datstang

DaveEstey wrote: If it was going to be used on the street I wouldn't do it. It will be a bear in the paddock, but once rolling it will be sweeeeeet.

I have the depowered 3-port rack and the steering is lighter than my power steering equipped VW. Don't sweat it.

The plaid power bulge = hotness!

The power bulge was donated by the 78 280Z that also gave its drivetrain. That car was themed for Spaceballs (hence going plaid). The engine has run 2 LeMons events, so it's a veteran. We're leaving it plaid as an homage.

A veteran engine sounds like a good thing. One less thing to worry about.

Busy weekend. Saturday: Didn't feel like paying $150 for a set of club sport stripes, so I designed my own and had my buddy cut them on his vinyl cutter.

Went from this:

To this:

Sunday I went down to the South Shore to check out a RHD JDM diesel Delica (can you name the GRM member?) and pick up a Weber 48 IDA for the RX7. Then I came home and got to work in the garage creating some work space since the walls are now finished.

I need to decide what the real top surface is going to be - likely hardboard that I'll treat as sacrificial. Would be a lot easier to build this stuff if the garage wasn't full of race car and stuff that hasn't been organized due to a lack of shelving in the garage. Guess that's the next job.

You've got mail-tire question.

Since I'm not getting to organize the garage - I decided it was time for a scrap run. 560 lbs of steel later I had $2 in my pocket, which covers a coffee and autocross tomorrow!

Trying to source .5 thin wall cro-moly to finish off the rear end of the RX-7 seems to be a challenge without paying through the nose, which is frustrating.

Something not frustrating - I got a GTA ipod interface for the Miata and it works awesome. Took all of 10 minutes to install, including me painting the piece of dash metal I had to remove to pull the head unit out so it won't rust later in its life (anal retentive). Now I have steering wheel control of my iphone for streaming music, which is most excellent.

Bought a Delta drill press today as I continue to outfit the shop.

Also got bored in the office and designed a shirt. http://www.logosoftwear.com/mySavedDesign.php?c=71d45f8442f284b7fae22725cc210de9

Getting a few odds and ends done as I prepare to bolt the drivetrain together. First, I need to help the transmission stay cool next to a rotary exhaust at full song.

And here's my machined water outlet that will go to my Davies Craig electric water pump and then back to the CR radiator.

Doing a little 13B R&R. For your perusal, a TII 4-port engine vs a REPU 4-port engine. Yes they have different intake manifolds. The old 13Bs are the same intake bolt pattern as a 12a, just 10mm wider.

Both engines are ported to all get-out. The old 13B is going in the back of a Baja Beetle.

When we got it, it had been stored for a long long time. According to the seller it had never been run at all since being built. The good - a Bridgeport 13B for $800. The bad - it was full of paper shop rags. Lots of time spent with a pick pulling paper towel bits out and she's chugging away quite nicely after a little MMO and working things around for about an hour. If it had been in a car we would have just dragged it behind the truck while in gear.

We also had to reset the thrust clearance, which was no big deal.

So the Webber IDA manifold I got won't fit my engine, but it fits his. Sadly for him I'm not selling the 48 IDA (Made in Italy). So it's time to buy a new IDA manifold for my TII 4-port. Lucky for him, I have a Webber 48 DCOE (Made in Spain) that he can have for cheap. He just needs to buy his own manifold.

I'm starting work on my side-mount alternator bracket, but I need to refill my gas bottle to I can use the metal glue gun.

ahh so re setting the endplay fixed it! good to hear :)

Yup, easy to fix. Thanks for the help on that.

figured so much, now if you're feelin frisky pressure test the coolant system (on the block) then check compression and it should give you a pretty good indication of engine health.

With the VW conversion stuff it's hard for us to bench test compression.

I'll order up a coolant pressure doohickey

You can make one pretty easy too, grab a tire valve, a flat piece of sheet metal and a cork gasket. boom done.

thumbs up!

Been busy on the LeMons Datstang. The fuel injection system was non-functional so we had to pull the trigger on a carb setup to make sure we can race THIS WEEKEND. So, with one week to go we completely changed fuel delivery.

Out came the engine. Off came the fuel injection system. On went dual downdraft Webers and back in the engine went in the course of 3 hours.

Now I just need to convert the fuel delivery system via a bypass fuel pressure regulator. Oh yeah, a new throttle linkage setup needs to be devised. The joys of a RHD car...

Just read this whole thread. I am inspired to say the least!

In reply to sergismaximus:

Thanks. Now to get back on track with it.

Lemons was this past weekend and this happened. "Most work to create an unrecognizable movie car" award. The judges liked out RHD Datsun-powered Mustang. After beating the piss out of it for two days without any real reliability issues - I have a soft spot for it too.

Got some work done in the garage today. New tire racks and some shelving. Bought the rest of my light fixtures too, so I'll have 28 54-watt T5 HO bulbs in total.

Then I decided the cage needed some paint.

Looking forward to being able to put some of my play budget into the car so I can start putting it all together and ready for 2015 season!

That rug really ties the whole garage together.

You're the second one to make that same comment!

I agree. It's also nicer to lay on than cold concrete.

Car's looking really nice, I'm jealous