http://www.rx7uknet.dircon.co.uk/rx7_x605_4.html
only site I've found so far..on the bottom of the page

 

****... i would love to go, im in richmond.. too bad i have to work every sunday, but if by some chance im off, im definatly coming. how much is it to race and what all is involved in getting my car out there? or are there tests to get some kind of licence? or is it just like an autocross?

 

it is $50 dollars to race and there is a "safety" inspection which basically means that your car is running and has tires with some tread and isnt leaking or spewing anyting profusely
ill be running a 70's something corolla 4 door wagon that my boss gave me for free. 4speed and RWD

 

I wonder if that is the one that was at Sevenstock? If so then that one was pretty damn ugly but in a cool sort of way.

 

God bless White Trash engineering.


Have Miller High Life, Will Travel.

 

1st gens make beautiful rally cars. But then again they are just hot in general. Oooooh but not including that hickmobile.

 

The Rod Millen cars were using 626 driveline in the front, so it wouldn't be easy building one, but you could at least get the parts cheap.
There were several versions, and one of the very first is now in Belgium. The current owner has a serious collection of rotary cars (several RX2s, 3, 7's... REPU...)
http://users.pandora.be/Rotary.Restorations.JRE/
Some extra info can be found in the book "Mazda Motorsports - 20 victorious years in America". Pops up on ebay from time to time.

 

looking at this photo I can't see a whole lot of RX7 left ! ... thats one hell of a custom job

 

How did the front wheels get power? Was there a transfer case or something? It almost looks like there's a transaxle in the back of that picture...

 

what is that strap in that picture between the brake rotor and the strut tower

also? i have the same question, how would the front wheels get power? i dont really know how front to rear mounted engines work with 4x4, but if it was mounted on the stock motor mounts (which i doubt) how would you get axles to the front? wont the engine have to be mounts side ways? causing a **** load of fab work? damn that would be an awesome thing, having a 4wd rex.

i would love to see some engine shots if someone has them.

also.. what kind of tranny would you be able to use? does mazda have something you can buy? or is there something else that would bolt up?

 

The front diff was a 626 one, so as far as I know, not a transaxle, but a FWD gearbox/diff unit, though I'm not sure if it actualy served as a gearbox (doubt it) or just the diff was used.

 

That car was at seven stock this year!! I think he used a subaru tranny, he also shortened the wheelbase, and yes it had a full size rad. on top of the motor!!!

 

AWD cars rarely use transfer cases - typically it's a tranny/diff combo that then sends additional power to the rear.

In the Quattro setup I mentioned earlier, it's relatively simple: those Audi trannys only have two shafts, not the usual 3, so the lower shaft can be extended to the front to an integrated differential, to the rear to a driveshaft, or both just as easily.

For those of you in Belgium or Canada you may want to check out your military's Iltis, a Bombardier product that was designed originally by Volswagen and uses a VAG engine and Audi drivetrain. That one's especially slick as it uses a tranny/diff up front and diff in back, all tucked up between beefy box frame rails that expand front and rear to allow holes for the axels to pass through. NOTHING hangs below the frame rails, making plating or T-case cages unneccessary. In addition, suspension is with an upper leaf spring running between left and right connecting struts, a la Corvette. It's compact, elegant in it's simplicity, and totally inadequate for anything larger or hheavier.

 

It's probably to prevent the strut from topping out and damaging the valving when the front end goes airborne.

 

This is what I'm getting at. The Miller Rx-7 couldn't have had a 626 tranxaxle because the rotary isn't setup for that. I'm also assuming that since it doesn't have a transfer case, like a Jeep, it's an AWD car, meaning all wheels have power all the time that isn't transferable to the front or rear alone. There must have been an external gearbox that was heavily modified, possibly off the 626, to supply power to the rear wheels as well as the front. It probably had an outlet in the rear that was made to accomodate a driveshaft for the rear differential.

I wish I could find something that explained how it was done. That'd be very interesting.

 

It's possible to have 4WD instead of AWD, or part-time AWD without a t-case - in fact, most AWD passenger cars are front-wheel drive, with the rear only driving up to 30% in the event that one or both of the front wheels lose(s) traction.

In the Audi system the engine sits just ahead of the front diff (therefore foreward of the front axle, but nestled mainly between the wheels and the transmission is aft of the front diff. The propeller shaft from engine to tranny passes just over the diff, which is integrated into the lower bell housing of the transaxle.

Were this done in a 1st gen, it'd certainly fit in that long nose but a small amount of weight shift would put the bias closer to 52/48 rather than 50/50 - still respectible, but then you'd have some suspension tweaking to do.

HOWEVER

If one were to use a system similar to the older Audi design I cited above, you wouldn't be using the Audi tranny anyhow, as the gearing is all wrong. But if you used the same principle, you could have a shaft come forward from the tranny to a diff in front of the engine, ideally integrated into the front cover to share lubrication (there'd be no more vibration than a diff mounted in the bellhousing area, also hard-bolted to the engine)

This would keep the engine behind the front axle, but require a custom oil pan ti either go above the new shaft or better still allow the shaft to pass under the engine but inside the oil pan, keeping all moving bits lubed and protected.

 

honestly, if i had the money (im sure everyone else too) i would love to mate that idea (mantis') with a t2 motor in a fb. this is getting really interesting. ive always loved the idea of 4wd in a car.

i do have one question to clear some stuff up for me though, and it might be a stupid one, but whats the difference between awd and 4wd?

 

4WD usually has equal power going to all 4 wheels (when 4WD is engaged) through a transfer case.

AWD has power going through a central differential, then to a front and rear diff, and typically splits power to be front-biased e.g. 70% front, 30% rear. Modern AWD systems tend to be the 'on demand' type, meaning most of the time you're carrying all those extra parts for nothing but once a sensor detects traction loss AWD kicks in and shunts power to the remaining wheels.

Traditionally, 4WD had to be engaged at low speeds or even a dead stop and AWD would seamlessly come on when needed, but marketers are blurring the terms more and more these days (the same guys that come up with terms like "previously enjoyed vehicles" or the "sport" in "sport utility vehicle")

 

I was just reading about the Miller 4WD cars last night. Funny how the subject came up today...

Anyway, his cars were part-time 4WD. There was a little lever on the left side of the console (by the drivers right calf) that engaged the front wheels.

 

I was looking for some pictures of the drivetrain of Rod Millen's AWD RX-7, but I came up empty handed. I got to thinking even if they used parts from a front driver, theres no way they turned the engine 90 degrees like a FWD car, right? Most factory AWD cars have there engines mounted like a FWD car, with the exception of a few. One of those exceptions is the Ford Escort Cosworth. Heres a cut-away picture of the drivetrain, I'm thinking Millen must of done something similar on the Rex:

 

the escort cosworths have the front diff located in the sump of the engine ... the gearbox takes power from the crank of the engine via the clutch, puts in through the gearbox to the centre diff then its split forwards to the diff in the sump and backwards to the rear diff ... I think that is how the old 4x4 626's do it too

 

one of those was at the greater minneapoilis auto show last year. one of my friends grabed me and said. "Eric, they got your car over there, but its all jacked up"

it was ugly as **** all raised up with nobby tires. but cool as hell.

 

There's a few pictures of Millen's cars in an RX-7 book. I was looking at it earlier this week at my folks' place. The title of it is simply "RX-7" and it's about 1.5"x10"x14", hard-bound, with a very dark paper cover. It's primarily on the 2nd Gen, but there's some history in it that covers earlier rotory motored vehicles.

My scanner is a feed-through otherwise I'd scan a few pics...