wmac

Hi guys. I'm building an IT7/Spec7 racer and will be here picking your brains over the next year. It's a project car for Grassroots Motorsports magazine, so I'll be documenting the build for a little bit of online content and ultimately for print.

The story is to go racing for 5 grand. We want to show average people with average mechanical ability can build a budget racer and this car seemed to be perfect.

It had been sitting in the California sun for several years, so cosmetically it's trashed, but seems to be mechanically sound.

It's with me in Florida now and I've already fallen victim to the notorious battery cable corrosion problem. I installed a new battery and cables, cleaned up the exterior quite a bit and took it for a test drive.

Next step is to change all fluids and pull the un-necessary interior bits and clean the ones that have to stay in.

I guess I'm looking for anyone who's had experience with building a car for this class. Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,
Bill MacDonald
Grassroots Motorsports magazine

Speed Raycer

Awsome!! Need a cage for it???

Spec 7 and IT7 have different rules. A S7 car will be completely uncompetitive in the SE IT7 class.

I've built an ITA/7 car on the cheap. You can cut the stock springs/slot the towers and achieve almost -2.5 in the front.

You've got your work cut out for you in the SE. There's some fast IT7's down there from what I've heard.

nimrodTT

If he runs spec7, he has to run the spec autopower cage.

It sounds like it would make a great article, and might even bolster the fading spec7 class a little - but honestly, anyone looking to get into racing like this would (99% of the time) be better off buying a car that is already track ready.

How competitive are you looking to be in the car? A lot of the rules are clearly written so your additions and subtractions list should be pretty well outlined.

wmac

Hi guys, thanks for the quick replies. This is going to be a slow build and I'm approaching it as if I know nothing (which is true).

As far as how competitive I want to be, it pretty much boils down to getting the best racing experience while staying within budget. Few are competitive during their first season, so I'll be happy just to be on track.

We've tossed around the idea of just buying a car and chronicling the "going racing" portion, but I feel that part of the experience is finding the car, working on it, and feeling that sense of accomplishment each step of the way - plus, it makes for better reading

Additionally, this series will be progressive in the sense that people can use it as guide to go as far as they want with a car like this.

Phase one is getting the car up to standard to the point of daily driving and a couple autocross events and HPDE's.

Phase two is making the car a dedicated track car by prepping it for race duty so we can push the car a little harder on track and feel safe about it (Hopefully as I learn the car and the region, I'll be able to decide which way I'd like to go regarding sanctioning body/class).

Phase three is getting a race license and participating in a couple races.

So, that's why this is in the 1st Gen section and not the race section because I'll pretty much be working on the car over the next month just getting the big stuff done.

Oh, BTW - it's a GSL (non-SE)

christaylor

I wrote a similar article for RX Tuner a while ago, as well as having built a couple Spec7's. If you've got any questions, Bill, don't hesitate to ask me.

If I get some time one of these days I'm going to throw my old project page up on my new website; it chronicled the building of a Spec7 for my highschool Senior Project up until the engine blew up. I still got an A+ though.

Does the SE have a Spec7 class in addition to IT7? I'm curious which Spec7 rules you'll be building to... I believe our Spec7 rules are the closest to IT7 since we run the RB Header and 3" exhaust (and allow engine tweaking). As a matter of fact, it's rare the ITA RX7's finish ahead of the SRX7's here.

boostedHULK

iTrader: (1)

i think this will be a really cool thread. Should also be a cool project, and an awesome write up. Don't suppose you're giving away subscriptions to GRASS ROOTS MAG are ya? Well, i'll do what i can to help ya out. And congrats. on taking on this challenge. I totally agree with you on that sense of accomplishment, and working on it yourself, going through the build with the car. Very, very cool. take it easy,



Neil Hemmingsen
UGOTSMOKED! racing

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

wmac, I'm not up on the differences between the various 'spec classes' but I have built a few first gen cars from the bare shell up. If you can use the Gforce suspension look into it, the set-up book will teach you everything you want to know about the suspension. One of the cars that I started with a bare shell is the Gforce company car/test mule. Jim(@Gforce) and I were partners with a couple cars and I did the cages in them. Knowing Jim, the car has been torn down many times since we built them but I know the cage is still the one I did.
Plus, I live in Florida now! I share a shop with some other racers in St pete. Its more of a 'Play group',not a business but we do everything in house from cages to fiberglass bodies. We'd be more than happy to help you out with anything. PM me for any help.

wmac

Hey, thanks for the encouragement. I can't give away free subscriptions, but anyone can get a FREE TRIAL ISSUE

JG, thanks for the offer. I'll keep your advice in mind and let some of the others around this thread comment on suspension when I get there.

My buddy Brix (he's in a band called Dope) lent me his manual. He's done a lot of work with these cars and he'll be working on it with me.

I started reading some of the sections about simple maintainence stuff and plan to attack it in the evenings over the next couple of weeks - After I get back from Petit LeMans.

wmac

I've read quite a bit about the oil disputes, but want to hear from you guys, what brake/clutch fluid, coolant, and oil do you recommend I use in this car in Florida for daily driving/occasional autocross

christaylor

Amzoil synthetic in tranny/diff. Mobil 1 or Amzoil synthetic in the crankcase. Lucas semi-synthetic 2-cycle in the gas tank.

Don't listen to anybody that says you can't run synthetic in the engine... as somebody that's run synthetic in a bunch of engines and torn one down after a couple thousand miles, the argument that it doesn't burn clean is BS.

nimrodTT

racing
brake: castrol SRF or any premium brake fluid.
clutch: doesn't really matter, the cheap stuff will do the job
coolant: distilled water and one bottle water wetter
engine: full synthetic (pick your flavor)
tranny: full synthetic (pick your flavor)
premix: 2-stroke full synthetic (hit up the bike shops)

street
all: whatever fits the budget

wmac

Perfect, that's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks guys.

I also want to replace the fuel and brake lines, and brake pads - any recommendations?

RotaryAXer

iTrader: (4)

Mazdatrix sells a stainless braided set up for brake lines. Work good and seem to fit without any issues.

And the best pads I have used have been the Carbotech Panther XPs. They are great. Wear very well (dust alot) and have an amazing feel. I had Axxis (Deluxe and Deluxe Plus) pads before these and can't believe the difference.

DJAngelicon

Hey there wmac, Welcome to the forum! Hope you enjoy your stay here.

wmac

Hey, I forgot to mention - we're giving away a FREE Simpson helmet. Go to grmotorsports.com in the What's New at GRM section to enter. Tell your friends!

wrxracer55

iTrader: (3)

I'm looking forward to this as I am a subscriber, and am currently setting up my car for CSP auto-x.

RussTypeS

iTrader: (3)

in on page 2! I can't wait to see how this project turns out, hopefully it will bring out some more IT-7 competition .

There is no spec7 in the southeast, but there are quite a few IT-7 guys. Still I think it should be a fairly cheap build.

For a car that's been sitting for a few years I would change the fluids to something cheap first, especially if you're only using it on the street. It would suck to put $100 worth of fluids in the car just to realize the gearbox needs a rebuild. Ultimately you will probably want to run the fancy lightweight redline shockproof fluids in the gearbox and rear end.

Distilled water and water wetter in the coolant, just make sure the car doesn't freeze! Might want to throw some coolant in there until it's a dedicated racer. If you don't plan on running an aluminum radiator ($300), make sure you gut the thermostat (just remove the middle so it's a restrictor plate).

As far as clutch/brake fluid, I still run valvoline DOT4 brake fluid, $5/quart and it works great. There is no reason not to start using it now. Hawk blues are the only pad to use for road racing, just make sure you have the rotors. The Carbotechs may be more rotor friendly but don't last half as long and don't have the torque of the blues (as I recently found out the hard way). Blues will not work very well on the street, so just keep the pads you have on the car now until it sees the track, or maybe buy some cheap ones.

You should also read most of the info here:
http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/weba...s/servlet/Tech

Good luck!

wmac

Hey Russ, nice photo and great point about doing cheap stuff first. Thanks for the link too!

wmac

I posted a bit about progress on the 7 on the GRM blog:

http://grmotorsports.com/news/category/staff/

rx7kidd315

i cant wait to get the issue with this stuff in it, i autocross my car and this would be great to follow

wmac

Unfortunately the way our project cars go is the story will be a while before it goes to print. The best way to check out progress in on the PROJECT CAR section of the GRM website. We'll have the RX-7 PROJECT CAR section up soon.

wmac

Hey guys. Many of you may have read on the GRM blog that my tools got stolen a month or so ago, so the RX7 project has been on hold for a while. My new jack came in today, so I'll be doing some more work soon. Some pics are up on the little progress that has been made so far http://grmotorsports.com/news/catego...azda-rx-7-gsl/

The plans have changed a little because of how long it's taken so far. I think we're going to go straight for a track car. So far the check list looks a little like this:

Clean exterior - done
remove unnecessary items from interior
Clean interior - done
change motor oil - done
change brake fluid - done
change clutch fluid - done
change transmission fluid - done
change rear differential fluid - done
change coolant - done
replace windshield wipers - done
replace shocks/springs (recommendations please)
replace tires
change brake pads (recommendations please)
look over car for loose/missing parts

That's pretty much stage one. Am I leaving anything out? ... Russ???

RussTypeS

iTrader: (3)

For shocks/springs the best budget setup has to be the stuff from ISC, http://www.iscracing.net/. They have the best price on Bilsteins I have found and will modify your shocks for you. You will also want the strut spacers to correct the ackerman once you lower the car.

If you want to keep the car streetable for the time being, don't do the suspension. That setup will rattle your teeth out!

ReSpeed (http://mrcmfg.com/respeed/) Will soon have a full bushing kit and camber plates available.

For brake pads you can't go wrong with hawk. Blue for the track hands down, HP+ is still my favorite street pad but I've never used em on a first gen.

While you're doing your brakes, pull the rear axles out and check the collar that holds the wheel bearing on. These have a tendency to come lose (especially once you put race tires on). Keep an eye on it. I have a 3' piece of pipe I use to pound mine back in before every race.

iceblue

I do not recommend Mobil1 at any costs. It is not a group IV synthetic and has over a 75% greater ash content on burn then regular dino Castrol GTX. If you want to run a synthetic use a private party group IV or V such as Royal Purple, Amsoil, Red Line, Motul, Elf. If you do not want to run a synthetic use Castrol GTX.

Premixing any TCW3 oil will work but I recommend Klots do not use a castro based oil such as Blensoil as they will create a large ash content as well and carbon build up.

Any of these companies will offer a drive train fluid and they will be just as impressive.

christaylor

Yeah, don't use Mobil1 in a rotary at all. I've put 30k street miles on a car running it, and 3 seasons in 3 cars with it. It's obviously no good and will automatically blow your engine up, no question about it.


Speaking as somebody that's actually run Mobil1 for 4 years, and actually taken apart and engine that ran for a season and a half (including a 6-hour enduro and several 45+ minute "sprint" races), the innards look better running on Mobil1 all that time than an engine that ran for half that time on dino oil.

EDIT: Oh yeah, only one of the racecars doesn't have a functioning OMP. The other 2 and the street car do, and the 3 racecars get 2-cycle premixed 1oz/gal.