finally figured out my clunk....

multiple things in the rear end are going bad. so i've decided that instead of wasting money rebuilding the SA open diff, i'm in the market for a complete GSL rear end (not SE because i want to retain the 4x110 bolt pattern. crazy, i know...). anyone know of one in CA?

i swear, my wallet must have the never-ending curse of the rx-7......

 

i scraped the snow off of it and wrote some stuff in the snow.. then i ran it and moved it around in the driveway..

 

Aw. man - that sucks! Glad it wasn't worse.

 

That' s pretty close to the factory 12A HP rating (100-104 depending on year) even when cold, and I'd bet you've got a bucket-load more torque. Pretty neat.
Wish it wasn't so expensive to convert.

 

Man, sorry to see u got in an accident but at least you are alright.

 

I've got 277 ft-lb of torque from 0 to 3200 RPM. It tapers off pretty linearly up to 5000 RPM. In traffic in town I never take it out of third gear and never use the clutch.

I spent about $17k on the components. About half that was the batteries. Relative to an OEM electric this is a bargain and its a car I really like and want to drive unlike most of the OEM offerings. All three generations of RX-7 would make excellent EV's. I did a 1st Gen because that is my favorite body style. Comparing my conversion to a new car with similar performance it is downright cheap. That being the case there are lots of things you can do to lower the cost of a conversion. But that is a topic for another forum.

 

Damn, Dreams36.... im sorry for you both I liked your car a lot too, like a JDM old school rat rod. hope you both do well... you better fix her (and yourself) up... thats an order!!!!




what did I do today? I went to the garage and grumbled under my breath that its bullshit that there is 12" of snow, salt and ice covered roads, and sub 20* temps outside... I want to drive her, damnit

 

I too would much rather driver your car than a Prius.

 

Took the car out friday and took about 200 and something photos!
The pics will probably be low resolution due to the fact I pulled them off my camera and onto my phone. But you get the idea. Pics came out great. Will probably post my favourites up later this week.

 

Last night started removing dents. Dropped the gas tank it was holy. So ima start sourcing a new one. Finished buttoning up the engine compartment

 

Got a ticket for "excessive display of speed" today while leaving my house (I was just kicked out). I did a 720 burnout on an empty road. But a speed trap was near and the officer seen the whole thing. All I was trying to do is part out my car but family wants it scrapped.

He was all cool about it but since his camera seen it he ha to ticket me

 

Yesterday I inspected the bearings in the right front wheel and found they are in good condition. Repacked and put the rotor back on the car. It was in the low 20's in the garage so that was about all I could stand doing. I will get the brake caliper put back on soon. Before I bleed the brakes I still want to replace the flex hoses in the rear with the braided stainless. The brake fluid in this car is probably the original and it is dark brown.

I did drive the 85 EV yesterday. It was only 9 this morning and the EV does not yet have a functional heater so I wimped out and drove something else to work. Gotta get the SE back on the road so it can be my wimped out daily driver.

 

Just picked these up!!!

 

Scrapped? for a little front end damage? That's all bolt-on stuff!
I wouldn't part it out, but I guess your a little bummed by the whole thing.
I'd offer to buy it whole if a) I had any money available after building a shed and Christmas, and b) you were somewhere near Texas.
If you do part it I'm interested in the wheel flares. My '79 needs a set of those, for when it's running again.

 

Nice blue.
The steelies are unusual, at least here in the US. I've seen very few '7s or any generation with steel wheels. I don't know if it's that a lot of them got upgraded by the dealer or owner to aluminum, or that the base models didn't sell as many or didn't survive.

 

Put in a new dist cap - rotor - 4 plugs - wipers -

Next week will be new wires and changing the gas filter.

Following week install new headlights 27004 from Trucklite - Waiting on new retaining rings that should be here today!

 

damn man, i feel for ya, i think its the eternal curse of the rx7

i would hate to see it parted out, but i kinda know how you feel right now, albeit to a much smaller degree... my family hates the car, even though most of its problems have been due to my stupidity/cheapness. however, if you do decide to part it, i would kill for that front airdam...

hope everything works out for you in the end. and if you do decide to rebuild, hit me up. i might have a few small things i could send your way.

 

I got kinda burned-out on car stuff, so I haven't done much with the -7 the last month or so; had some things needed doing for the wife's car and my daily, and that pretty much used up what car patience I had.

I'd been working the -7 pretty much non-stop for over a year, and quite steadily since 2008, and one day I just felt the need for a break away. So the lady is napping on her skates in the garage, carefully wrapped in her car cover. If I get a really fine day while I'm on vacation, we may go for a dance.

About a week ago, I did FINALLY get back the Spectra-chromed samples of the '80 door-handle trim piece reproductions I made. Guy literally took three MONTHS to get around to doing the coating - - what is it about 'car people?' - - but they did come out pretty nice. He also told me that he did not charge me as much as he 'should have.' based on efforts he made to smooth out the primer. Said he'd likely charge $50 a piece in future, unless I could provide a better finish. As I may want to do more in future, I did not tell him what I was thinking, which was along the lines of "after three months waiting, I'm kinda surprised you still want to charge me."

Here's how they came out. Parts on the left are the previous version I did which was vacuum metallized; parts on the right are Spectra-chromed:





The Spectrachromed finish is much smoother and more chrome-like; still not 'perfect' but you have to look at them pretty close to see the imperfections.

They also ended up with a bit of a 'run' bead at the bottom edge of the short side, but this won't be a problem, as that is the bottom side that faces the door and is not visible normally after install.

 

I dont know if the delay or cost was worth it or not, but you have to admit the end result is amazing. They are absolutely beutiful.

I wonder if a similar process for the shifter surrond would be feasable.

 

They look great divin, pity about the turn around time with this guy tho and the overall cost. Have you looked into liquid chrome aerosol? Im too dumb too post the link, but do a google search for the video. I stumbled across it once, it looks pretty good, its a promo vid and this guy is spraying a whole heap of assorted objects, which look like they have a high gloss black finnish on them. He dusts on a coat of this stuff, then straight away buffs it with a soft cloth, comes up mirror finnish. I havent tried it, jst a thought.

 

Sold my SA22c today.



Not buying another 7 until a few things happen

I own a house
I own a daily driver
I

 

^^sad day, how much did you sell her for? I loved that car.

 

looked at it as i drove away in a jeep, planning on hopefully getting it done either friday or saturday, need to drive it about 15 miles on a seizing wheel bearing, hopefully it makes it without doing any damage.... can't afford a tow truck, otherwise i'd just do that.

going to have them fix the bearing (obviously), install my shiny new moog idler arm, and do a wheel alignment. then i'm just going to drive it for a while, as much as i want to do my interior part of me thinks i should start saving for something newer to drive every day.

 

If it seizes up your repair bill will be a lot more than the tow truck.

Option 1:

Replace the bearing yourself. It is not that difficult and doesn't take any specialized tools and will save you quit a bit of money. The parts to do this will cost around $70. The first time you do one it will take several hours. A guy who has done it before can probably do it in half an hour.

Option 2:

If you have a tow hitch on the jeep or have a friend with a vehicle that can tow it rent a car hauler trailer and put it on that for the trip. That will cost you around $60.

Option 3:

Join Triple A or add towing to your insurance policy and have them pay for the tow to the shop. (This suggestion is of questionable ethics.) You might already have this on your policy in which case it is of less questionable ethics. It is not generally too expensive an option on your policy.

Now that I have commented on someone elses "What did I do today." I better do something on one of my cars and then report on it.

Best Wishes!

 

I picked up the fuel fileter today, and ordered the wires. I can pick them up tomorrow, but I'll wait for weather to allow me to do the work. It won't start in cold weather, and I'm in SNOW.