One of my friends suggested that perhaps one of the PO's weighed 350 lbs. My immediate response was then he wouldn't be getting in and out of an FB all that often and the drivers seat would be gone. Lets assume an average driving speed of 20mph. To have 110000 miles on the car that means someone sat in the drivers seat for 5500 hours. If the average speed goes up the seat time goes down so this is probably a high figure. The car is 28 years old meaning approx 245280 hours. Percentage of life with someone in the drivers seat is 2.24% That is low enough that I suspect it isn't significant.

I am really hoping someone will tell me something like you have a strut from a 85 G model which would fit but was 7/8" shorter than the one in the SE. Actually I am not hoping someone will tell me that because it means I would need to scrape up a real left strut assembly for a GSL-SE. Is there a difference between the Strut assembly for say a GSL and a GSL-SE? I know the rotor and brakes are different, is the spindle different? Are they longer? Could I be fighting the result of a wreck and repair shop that bought a used part from the wrong car?

Iotus, (and anyone else who cares) how level is your FB? I have stock sized tires 205/60 R14's and the left front fender is 23 & 7/8" at the high point and the right front is 24 & 3/4". (The left rear is 25 & 5/8" and the right rear is 26 & 1/8" with 1/4 tank of fuel.) The FSM says to measure the headlight so maybe Ill do that when I get home tonight. I think Ill just order 3 of those shims and put them in. The FSM says 2 max and Mazdatrix says 3 max. Looks like to get mine straight I would need 4 but that clearly won't work.

 

Just measured. 1985 s model. Stock springs with only 3 years and 32,000 mi of use cut 3/4 coil. Front right 25", front left 24 3/4". For whatever it's worth.

 

Slow night for me. Got the top nut on the Illumina tightened down with some difficulty. I know there's an allen head under the adjustment screw, but I broke the first one trying to get it out. Looks like I'll be calling Tokico to get a replacement. A leather work glove and vice grips worked nicely to hold the strut rod in place while I used an electric impact gun to buzz that thing on.

At least the shock assemblies are ready to go on the car. Tomorrow night. It's Miller Time.

d

 

Uneven tread wear between tires can account for a few 8th's of ride height difference, too.

Road crowning (to make the water run off to the right) biases tire wear slightly over the years, as does the majority of freeway ramps curving in one direction.

 

if you think about it the LHD cars end up with the battery, brakes, steering box, and driver all on the left front.

so a stock car will be pretty close to 50/50, but pull the heavy stock exhaust, and it gets heavy on the left front.

we ran spec E30 for a season, and we learned that adding weight to correct the weight distribution can actually make the car faster. the E30's are really front heavy, the engine is like 1000lbs, its HEAVY. to keep it short, we needed to add ballast, like 250lbs to make weight, and ADDING the weight to the back actually lowered the lap times, slightly.

so ideally you'd want to start building a race car by putting a stock car on corner scales and then start taking stuff off.

 

I am going crazy because Smooth is with a mechanic. Now we need a new starter... Not a stretch of the imagination... It's been weeks (I'm trying not to count). Weeks ago I posted that I conquered the bumper stickers and NOW I have conquered the photo attachment feature!

Left Side - been there a while


Right Side - I think it said "My Drinking Team has a Ballooning Problem". I wonder if she was a chase car and did some off roading? Pictured is the magic hair dryer that made the adhesive surrender.


VICTORY

 

I would never put a bumper sticker on my car, Nice to see that they came off


Broke something today

 

Good point. I thought about the steering and brakes following the driver over for RHD thus transfering maybe 100ish lbs, but didnt think about dumping the stock exhaust (esp as mine is very minimalist using a header and pair of lighter gauge 2" OD pipes) Im gonna hafta go over the car again and see what I can manage to shift around to redistribute the weight. Unfortunately my battery is already behind the passenger seat. and off the top of my head, theres not much left in the engine bay that I can really move. Im thinking about making some adjustable sway bar end links and see if I can also shift weight by preloading certain corners.


therefore...today, I am making another order list from Lefthander Chassis for my Rx-7

 

Last night, I bolted up the spindles to the camber plates and hooked up and bled the brakes. So, finally finished the front GSL-SE suspension swap!

I swapped my stock base model spindles for GSL-SE spindles, outfitted with new OEM rotors, new bearings, reman calipers, Hawk HP+ brake pads. Removed stock spring perches and had a shop weld on the GC perches for the GC coilover sleeve setup. I have Eibach 7" 350lb springs up front. I have a set of 300s in 6" as well, but thought that would drop the car too low. The shocks are MR2 Illuminas. Also have the GC camber/caster plate kit installed. The wheels are 16x7 Volk Rays TE-37s in a +38 offset.

I was super worried that there would be rubbing with those wheels and that the 16s would have a donk vibe. Well, the fender wells are not a problem at all with the camber set all the way to max negative camber. I'll be adjusting that later. I was actually more concerned about the coilovers hitting the wheels, which they will unless the spring collar is set all the way to the top of the sleeve.

Overall, very pleased with the look. Could use dropping maybe another inch, which I may be able to do by adjusting the collar. I think I have a little wiggle room in there before the collars interfere with the tires.

fm

 

needs more pics, but looks good!

 

that is a neat website!

 

Last night, I finally got a spare half-hour to scrape the bugs off from the return trip from vegas. Car's not CLEAN clean, but clean enough to put under the cover until I can address the diff situation.

Today, I got to watch this fairly choice video from the WHiV6 meet. One of the better meet vids I've seen. But then, I'm in it here and there, heh.

 

dangit at like 5:43 I 'm in the vid in my daily thought I was taking pics and thought missed part of the pulled and realized I missed several cars

 

Whats the story with the guy at 6:03?

Looks like a great meet, and some awesome scenery for a drive.

 

Excellent vid!

 

Enjoyed the video DD! The one thing I learned is that if I attend this event I might be one of the oldest people there. That is somewhat depressing.

So far today:

On the GSL-SE I finally put the interior panels back over the rear shock towers.

On the GSL-EV I put the repaired panel back into place under the glove box and finally removed the choke cable assembly. I was going to use it as an emergency disconnect pull for the main power but I finally decided that in a real emergency I wouldn't be able to find it. The manual disconnect is the ignition key. That removes power from the motor controller and that disconnects the battery from the drive electronics. I am also going to put in an inertia switch to cut the 12v to the motor controller. Still trying to decide how to route the speaker wire to the left front kick panel speaker.

There is a black plastic rectangle cover plate just to the right of the choke. What was the switch that would have been in that position supposed to do? I just know I am going to feel stupid when someone tells me. Obviously not the cruise switch since that is on the right side of the steering column.

 

Long story short the folks that lease half the property the owner and the property managment failed to be on the same page and our guy with the paperwork was in the ER with his daughter who had been t-boned .... (she is fine now) ... well the property management ... (that jerk) phoned the police as I was explaining to him the situation .... he got his when the owner went off on him .... "you think they just blew off the street with vendors, food, pa system, music and etc etc"

We are rotary .... we pulled together and overcame

 

there were a bunch of people not in the video that had attended ... and folks of all ages attend ... think our senor guy is about 72 and he drives a Pettit supercharged 8 ... and doesn't hesitate to spool it up lol

 

I was impressed with the age range at the meet - real family feel to it. It was nice to NOT be the oldest guy at a meet, for a change.

 

Beautiful weather today in central California.. So I got up early and threw this on..



Man, what a difference! Feels like a completely different car..

Now, its off to bed early.

Waking up early and driving 4+ hours to San Francisco to look at purchasing a
first gen Rx7 Road Race car fingers crossed


Rxtex

.

 

Ain't it a great feeling! Good luck with the shopping trip.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83659599@N04/8844593042/Pulled the motor last night. Replacing broken exhaust stud, putting oil pan baffler, flywheel, and 45 weber side

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/83659599@N04/8844588870/

 

I really hope to go next year, and this just confirms what a nice event this gathering is.

 

On the GSL-EV I ran the wire for the left speaker and what I ended up doing was routing it under the carpet behind the pedals rather than in the dash over the steering column. So after I ran the wire I spent a couple of hours figuring out how to put all the stuff under the dash back together. I had to resort to looking at the GSL-SE to get the right screws back in the right place. Fortunately the only extra screws left over were the ones I found stuck in hidden places.

Someone hit me with a stick if I don't take pictures next time. My memory is good enough that I could have put it back together the same day but waiting a week or two doesn't cut it anymore.

On the GSL-SE I checked the oil level before I went for a drive and lunch. And used it as a reference for putting the other car back together.