jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

Alright, So I have an 83 GS and the rear end is about crap, and the suspension is even more crap. corners are scary and has a lot of bump steer/wheel wobble. So some history about my last car. I had a NA lancer oz rally built top end, lsd, molly rings, ect. ect. ect. quick car till the speed limiter kicked in at 120 the it was like hitting a brick wall. Handled good. so I thought till I bout some coilovers and after market sway bars. although I could only hit 120 I could hold that speed around tight bends. with tons more traction. I shattered a cv axle 3rd day after installation. So on to my new car. I want better cornering ability. I understand I'm not going to get what I had lancer being fwd and rx7 being rwd, but there's allot of improvement to be made.

So far this is what I have planed in order from first to last priority
*Idler arm bushing (I think this is my bump steer/wobble issue)
*new tie rods
*New shocks and struts+springs
*Poly graphite bushings
*remove rear sway bar
*lsd (the rear end for all you old hippys jk)
*new steering shaft (see bottom note)
*aftermarket front sway bar
*re speed strut bar
*chromalloy frame supports/stiffeners This will be fabed by me

Please give me some more ideas, and maybe some brand pimpin.


NOTE:
Can I swap my steering shaft and box for a second gen depowered box?

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

No, you can't put in a 2nd gen "box", as it's a R&P setup. And why do you think that you won't be able to get what you had with the lancer? FWD FTL. There is only so much a pair of tires can do, and having them steer and propel the vehicle is just asking for a disaster. RWD will always outdo a FWD, all else constant, in basically any performance situation. Here is a list:

Handling:
RESPEED:
Subframe and R&P (stage 2)
coil overs: if you can weld, or know someone who can, get the race setup. Kentetsu has them, and his car is wicked.
sway bars
Tokico Illuminas
Poly bushing kit
LSD from GSL

Power:
Sterling Nikki.
Carter pump
Holley FPR
MSD coils and 6al (for rev limiter) OR 2gdlfdis (cheaper and apparently works great)
Rotary Shack SS header with crossover pipe
SS mandrel bent exhaust
Magnaflow mufflers/resonaters
OR RB Street Port exhaust system. (I have it. It's heavy as hell, but it sounds good, makes power, is a straight bolt in, and is better than the stock ****.)


For the wheel wobble, it sounds like you have bad wheel bearings. cheap, easy fix. Just dont' loose the dust caps. Hard to find. I had to modify one from the junkyard to get it to work.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

I'm a welder
I've already got my power plans, but first I've got to do something about the susp. thanks for all the info. I'm a noob, but I've been reading a lot. I've got a basic understanding of whats up. I plan on 2gdlfs W/ a 6al, sterling, custom long headers not sure on size exhaust yet. I do hate my neighbors though. so lets just say 3" w/ pre silencer and gutted purple hornie (I'll probably let the rotary gut it though ). 2g trans lsd was in my list but I was going to rebuild with a differnt gear ratio.

and my lancer was a cornering beast. trust me. I was corner weighted with me in the car, and had nearly no body roll. held 45 mile bends in the hwy at 90 in the rain with out sliding. fully indy susp. new bushings tie rods, It was my baby till she blew up at a stop light ftw.
I had about $12,000 in mods/repairs. Broke my heart so I gave up on pistons.

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

Kentetsu is one of the auto-x gurus in the 1st gen section. He hasn't been beaten by any Porsche and only a miata or two over the past year or so...i'll reiterate it...FWD FTL. You put 12000 in mods into your 7 and it'll run circles around your old lancer. I'm not saying that it was a bad car or it handled poorly, it's just that it's still FWD, and all FWD cars have their limitations.

thunkrd

iTrader: (1)

+1 on respeed. by far the best money i've spent on my car (quite nearly the only money i spent on my car). the only small complaint i have is the slight extra noise the coilovers make. other than that, they are perfect
so far i can only take her to 115 mph... but its not that hard to hit that

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

Well I hope that's the case. I do consider the 7 an upgrade from the lancer. I plan on putting a lot more than 12,000 in my seven. cars are sort of an addition I have. I refer to this site and all automotive related sites as car ****. I've wanted a rx for some time now but I had a thing for late models and I couldn't afford an fd and afford to mod it. and every time I was car shopping I could only find fb's and fc's with blown apex seals. or other doa issues. So now I have one with a new rebuilt engine about 8,000 mi on her now. after I buy all my bolt ons I'm going to swap the motor temporary to an old about to die motor, and get mine ported since it has new rotors and rotor housings should be within specs. So in about a year or so. I've been studying rebuilding seems pretty strait forward. I don't understand the 3D aspects of porting, I'm going to probably just have a pro do that.

I don't think its my bearings btw, they don't wobble unless I hit a hard bump, witch we have allot of bumps, holes and other suspension killers here. But its a good Idea to replace them anyway. I'm sure there about to kick the dirt. I think its in the tie rods or idler arm. both look really worn. the wheels don't just wobble. I definitely need an alignment

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

Also a quick question on wheel bearings. Do the make self sealed bearings for fb's?

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

You may want to rethink the sway bar choice. If you're going to upgrade the front, it's wise to upgrade the rear too. Too many members suggrst removing the rear sway bar which I believe to be the best choice. Suspension Techniques has an adjustable rear one. I have both thier front and rear bars and I'm quite happy with them but ReSpeed's front bar looks to be a better choice.

I have yet to hit 12k invested in the widebody, but then I have very little labor cost, less than 300 to date. I'm very stubborn about doing all of my own work and what I don't know I prefer learning how to do instead of paying someone else f**k it up. Here's a link to the build, I think I'm at around 8k total so far. If I could dig up another 4k I would have a 300+ hp TII engine and tranny. Then I would concider the car 90%+ complete.

https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/unvieling-12a-bp-widebody-462184/

Kentetsu

Lancers are a great breakfast treat


Dub, sounds like you've got a pretty good plan. I'll just throw a little advice in your direction, based on my own upgrade experiences so you don't have to repeat my mistakes....

Don't go to Racing Beat for suspension parts, by the sound of things you will quickly outgrow anything they can provide you. Since you can weld, check out the Respeed coilovers (race version) www.re-speed.com Also take a look at the adjustable rear perches. Those items together will allow you to set the ride height where you want it and corner weight the car if desired. I run spring rates of 275 front/150 rear, which works great for autocross and "highly spirited" daily driving.

Spend the extra money for the Respeed front swaybar (much lighter than any of the others, and built for serious use). Respeed doesn't currently offer an adjustable rear bar, so I use one made by ISC Racing (I believe, purchased used). As long as you are using an aftermarket front swaybar, keep the stock rear bar on the car or find an adjustable one if you can. I run my rear bar on the stiffest setting.

Illumina Shocks/Struts are an excellent addition no matter what else you do with the suspension. Settings from hard to soft can be changed in a matter of seconds. That adjustability is well worth the extra cost.

Camber plates will be a nice addition if you really want to carve the corners. Also, although I don't currently run a strut bar, it is on my list of things to get soon. These also will come from Respeed.

Sterling carbs are great, but make sure you get your order in soon because there is a waiting list for them. Since this is a 4 barrel carb you retain the drivability but still get that great kick in the pants when you open the secondaries. Customer support is also outstanding. www.sterlingmetalworks.com

For ignition, I'd skip the MSD route for now and stick with a 2nd gen coil pack to run the leading. This can be done for about twenty bucks, and provides good results.

For LSD, look for a GSL model and grab the entire rear end. This has a nice strong LSD unit, disc rear brakes, and keeps the same wheel bolt pattern that you currently have. Then start looking for some wider wheels and strap on some Sumitomo HTR 200 tires, which perform well but are also dirt cheap (50 bucks each).

Stock brakes work great, but maybe consider some Hawk pads because they make a huge difference when it comes to brake fade. Maybe consider some braided stainless lines for them.

Front end: get the Moog idler arm from www.rockauto.com This is the same "race version" idler arm that a lot of the places are selling, but through rock auto you can get it about 30 bucks cheaper. While you are there, also grab a full set of tie rod ends and the adjusters (saves trouble during installation). Ball joints too (grab an installation kit from a parts store, they usually rent them or loan them out for free).

Full set of suspension bushings will tighten everything else up, you can also get these from Respeed. Then, after all front end parts have been replaced/upgraded, you can adjust the steering gear box to get the slop out of it. Check my post in this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...steering+grind

Other than that, just clean everything you can especially under the hood. Get that engine bay shining and remove anything that doesn't absolutely have to be there. Weight reduction is a great way to add horsepower.

That's about all I can think of right now. Hope this helps...


(Thanks for the kind words Whitey, sometimes you make me blush )


.

slow5oh

like the others have said, RWD has more potential for cornering than FWD on just about any car. Ive got a set of tokico blue struts and shocks, with eibach racing springs on my car. I also went through th suspension with all new eurethane bushings up front, and rubber bushings in the rear. The handling is fantastic, I couldnt be happier.

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

no.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

Definitly get the braided stainless lines for the brakes. It really makes a world of difference, and with them properly bled the pedal stops firmly at the exact point it needs to be for heel/toe downshifting.

Kentetsu pretty much hit the mark on almost everything. Sorry bro, but the slop in the steering can't be eliminated, just lessened. If you have the money, spring for the RE-Speed R&P kit, with a 15:1 quick ratio rack. Tight as hell and responsive.

Alot of people will say that poly bushings in the rear will compromise handling and cause snap oversteer. Most of them wouldn't know because they have never driven an FB with full poly in the rear. I just finished installing mine, Kentetsu and Troichoid also have full poly in the rear and none of us has reported any of those problems. My car now rotates better, is more stable at highway speeds, and is quieter and takes the bumps better. Probably one of the best upgrades I have made. I think the poor handling of poly rear bushings came from people that did not have upgraded springs and dampers. With the stock suspension on poly bushings the car would be able to roll furthur, thus allowing the rear links to bind, causing the snap oversteer.

And I might as well throw myself under the bus, I was one of those parrots that said it was all bad, until I did some searching and found out that noone that has used poly in the rear has regretted it.

Because I installed the RE-Speed 3 point strut bar at the same time as the bushings I can't be sure of the difference it made. When I got to Deals Gap in two weeks I'll unbolt the firewall links and then the strut bar to see how much of a difference it actually makes.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

Great info. that sucks about the no self sealed bearings. Ok ok i believe the seven can be better than the lancer was. Like I said I do like the seven more. My gf wanted a 4 door I wanted something to have fun in we got the lancer. I was trying to talk her into an fc. It was a no go. Now she has a Jeep and I have my car.

I also do most of my own work. I had some free help with the lancer and getting my ecu re mapped was kinda costly, but me and my uncle puff ported and polished my throttle body, welded and reground the cam, .30 bored throttle body. That's all I had help doing. I did all the wrenching. I was also never down more than 4 days (this was the moly ring job). My list of mods was long and I never remember to list all. I'm actually giving up my welding job and going back to school for automotive training. I know a lot coming from a family of mechanics. But I could always learn some more.

Kentetsu You might know of some of my family, with you being in auto sports and in Michigan. My Uncles name is Brian Michael. He's a mud bogger drives the black panther mud dragster. Also my dad was at one point in auto x and moto x back in the day. He was an expert corvair mechanic also.

I was also thinking of camber plates, just wasn't 100% about it yet. But its on the list now

Also the r&p kit sounds good.

But I can use a depowered box from an se right? I need a new steering column anyway. mine is collapsed and steering box looks to be leaking, and I have no turn signal return to boot. Also my brights still don't work after repeatedly cleaning with contact cleaner.

Any ways thanks again for all the good info. Exactly what I was looking for.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

actually my engine is always the cleanest part on my car see pics I've also pulled alot of weight out

sorry pics kina suck they were for other threads

yeah its a hunk of junk but she'll be alright

I do need to clean that crossmember up alot

Re-Speed.com

iTrader: (3)

Yes, many use the SE power steering box. It seems to have handled age better than the others and can be found in good shape for not much money.

You will need the entire steering shaft inside the car as well since the SE power boxes used a rag joint at the firewall.

-billy

eprx799

iTrader: (8)

They are right about the camber plates, coilovers,shocks, bushings and swaybar for the front end. But if you really want the car to handle properly then you need to dump the Watts link rear end and replace it with an adjustable Panhard rod and a Tri-link from Gforce Engineering. it will let you dial in oversteer or understeer into the car. you will definitely want to get the limited slip from the GSL.
I also agree the the you will need to replace the brake lines with stainless steel lines, and change out the brake pades with a set of Hawk brake pads. your car will stop Now.

You will want to change out your 13" wheels with a set of 15" wheels it will open up alot more options for tire selection. the Sumitomo tires are ok but if you want grip you should go with a summer only tire. I am currently using Kumho MX tires they stick really well and are grooved for good rain siphioning they but are almost worn out. I am looking at getting a set of Nitto NT-01's the come in 205-50/15 size which fit really well with no tire rub. just remember go suspension is nothing without good tires. good luck with the build.
btw there are afew sets of 15" wheels in the wheel and tire for sale section.

Kentetsu

Yeah, definitely a lot more choices in 15".

And yes, the trilink/panhard setup is supposed to rock. But after the installation of the coilovers, sway bar, and tokicos you might find that you don't really need it, or at least it won't be very high on your list of priorities. I bought one a year and a half ago, and it's still sitting on the shelf in my garage. But I will get around to installing it, one of these days.

eprx799

iTrader: (8)

Kentetsu put it in you will love how well it lets the car hook up in corners. It only takes about 2-3 hours to install if your using jackstands. on a lift its even easier.

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

I've got almost a set of 15 inch wheels from my lancer. there a 110X4 bolt pattern, I don't know about the offset. seems somone stole one of my rims so I have to find one more. Thanks for clueing me about the panhead, trilink.

Yeah yesterday was desent out so I decided to give the car a bath even though its 6 differnt colors. washed the stock rims and they actually look worse! its been so long since someone took the time to clean them they don't want to come clean. So I must find a 4th oz rim soon.

I plan on 205/45/r15 rear and 195/45/r15 in the front.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

Break out the polish and throw in some elbow grease. i would double check the bolt pattern on the Lancer. I doubt mitsu would have gone with a 4X110 pattern, since it is very very rare. It is most likely a 4X114.3

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

yeah i just googled it. I swear i remember seeing that they were 110x4

thunkrd

iTrader: (1)

yes, iirc billy said they are 4x114.3. someone posted that they wer 110

jinxed4dub

iTrader: (7)

that was probably me. I think I read it somewhere else

justint5387

iTrader: (1)

Buy the GForce Engineering suspension book written by Jim Susko.

thunkrd

iTrader: (1)

i wanna buy that book... but i will wait till next month