'85 GSL 302

Well, It's time for the "official" thread regarding my car's most recent project. Goals are:

Major weight reduction, Full race prep(cage, gutting, etc)
Miata IRS
FC front suspension w/R&P PS conversion
Right hand drive swap
Wide Body kit
Removed roof and back hatch (Roadster)
Fiberglass body pannels (doors, hood, fenders,etc)
Full engine rebuild (yes, it's a V8......)

Sounds fun huh? Here are some pictures of the tear down so far. I need to take some more but this is what the car looked like last week.










I'll keep the progress updated here, but you can also follow the cardomain site here : http://www.cardomain.com/id/drivergt5

lovintha7

All sounds cool except one thing. Too bad you had to put 8 pissed-ons in the car. Shame...

It woulda been much cooler with a PP 12A or 13B.

82streetracer

iTrader: (1)

I would be fine with a v8 if it was something cool like a Lexus 4.0 V8

lovintha7

Uh, no. A pissed-on is still a pissed-on.

booerns

a pp 12a or 13b would have even less low end torque, the V8 is a good engine. If it makes the car go fast... then its good in my book, at least he's not putting a 4 banger in it.... which engine is going in? I was thinking of a 351 windsor, since my 12 a, doesnt like to run in the rain anymore

booerns

ive seen 3500 hp big block V8 engines with no "NOS" ive never hurd of a rotary doing that..... what are the HP numbers on the pro street RX7 rotarys? im not trying to rattle anyones cage... im just curious

Hades12

Looks Like it will be a very neat build up. Cant wait to see pics of it.

Hades12

One of the Drag guys is at about 1500HP on a No "NOS" motor.

lovintha7

Jesus Padilla runs I think high 8's low 9's from 1.3L, N/A, No Juice. All motor. That's with what, 87 CI? Compared to 500+ CI. You can't compare. Let me see any V-8 do that. Only thing I know that is way more sick, but'll never fit in a car is a 12 cyl diesel that runs 708,000 hp, and 3,000,000 lb/ft. of torque....at 108 rpm. It's a cargo ship engine.

booerns

man i wish i had the money to make my rotary do 1500 hp..... that would be so cool!
But as a student, im stuck with junkyard parts, and a pp13b wouldent show up at the pick your part
oh well

booerns

ok... here is the way i see it..... hp/CI isnt worth anything if you believe that it is, go buy a honda S2000..... HP/MPG and HP/weight is much better...... i honestly think that the rotary engine is awsome, if mazda engineers sat down and worked hard on it, they could make an engine which could rock the world..... but, 1.3 letres with a 20mpg fuel efficiancy is not that good.... i can spend the same amount on gas, and have 100 extra hp on tap if i switch to a V8..... and if i turbocharge my 12a, my mpg goes down so to be honest... whats the point!
plus.... parts for a V8 are a dime a dozen, a rebuid kit is like $500..... but a rebuld kit for a rotary is upwards of $1500...... I like to spend less and go faster than the honda boys... this seems like a good way

lovintha7

You're absolutely right. But why be like everyone else? That's why we have rotary's. I don't wanna be a I4 guy. I dare to be different, and as little as I have in my car, i can run close to 14's, and still get 20 mpg. RB SP Exhaust, Holley intake kit, Holley Blue fuel pump, and pressure regulator. Mild SP.

1500 for car, exhaust came with it, the motor was 900, and came with the intake/carb. Pump was $50 on ebay. I can't complain.

booerns

thats my biggest problem.... I want my stuff to be unique, but i dont like spending loads of money.... so im stuck between the street port primaries, periferal port secondaries idea, and giving in to the V8..... i still havent decided yet
regardless, this car that '85 GSL 302 is building should be a wickedly fast car! I cant wait to see what a roadster with a wide body looks like, i cant even begin to imagine it!

FB II

sounds sweet, i just don't understand why you're gonna use a miata rear end with all that torque? the rear will be nice suspension wise, but will it take the abuse your v8 is gonna give it?

jorx81@aol.com

iTrader: (6)

...canadians...

nick1

hey..easy now

im with u guys, stick with the rotary...

although i gotta say, here in my city there's a guy with a 302 in a fb with a wide body kit, and every time i see this car, i almost **** my pants, its way cool...not my thing, but you can't say its not an amazing machine!!!

'85 GSL 302

I'm going with the miata rear end because it's an awsome design and everyone's been running around talking about Grass Root Motorsports's IRS comment. Since no one has ever actually tried it, I figured I'd give it a shot. It definatly doesn't work the way they thought it would, but I'm all for a challenge. I'm going with a T-bird 7.5" IRS diff, just like the V8 miata guys run. I figure it'll be good to 450 hp given the weight of the car, which will be pleny for me since I never intend to run the 1/4 mile on slicks anyways.

As for motors, I have been over this 1000 times before. I had the motor before the car, and the car I bought had no engine. Simple math really. I'd love to build a 12a or 13b FB, but time and money are not on my side. It's been an awsome car for over a year, so much so that 2 other people in my area have built 5.0 RX-7's, both are hard core rotary guys, both have a V8 and rotory powered FB. Kinda cool really. All I can say is don't knock it until you've tried it

FB II

i amost did it myself a while back. i didn't know about the t-bird 7.5" diff working in the miata irs setup. sounds SA WEEEEET! good luck

82transam

iTrader: (18)

thats basically what my project car looked like a few months ago, stripped to the bone. I have no problems with the v8 like some here do, and as you know I'm very interested in following the suspension swap. But cutting off the roof? man not my thing, I hate convertables. but hey, to each his own right. Why right hand drive? just to have something different or what? good luck

'85 GSL 302

E-mod minimum weight is 1500lbs. There are plenty of cars reaching it too. I have no chance, but I need to save the weight where I can. That's why the roof is going bye-bye. Purely for competative reasons.

As for RHD, I can get a JDM clip for much much less than I can find the FC parts for here. That means to save money, I have to convert to RHD, something I've always wanted to try anyways.

QuagmireMan

take the storage bins out!!!! unless you plan one hiding a 450hp shot in them

QuagmireMan

you really think it will hold?

82transam

iTrader: (18)

well that answers my questions. The one thing I would like to comment on though is this. In the other thread you said you weren't gonna do the miata front suspension swap because of diminishing returns (crap its econ 211 all over again ) yet your willing to chop the roof and hatch and go through the trouble of making it presentable (I would hope anyway) Now, if it were me I'd take a first gen Miata, gut it, and drop the v8 in that and be done with it. I'm sure you could get it lighter, its already got better suspension and rack and pinion and would be much less work and probably cheaper. I'm not saying your fb project is a bad idea by any means, I'm just curious why you're choosing this route, when you've stated that money and time are important factors. I'm just curious is all, still waiting with baited breath for pics of that irs swap.

thafox

i'd say to be different swap a 3 rotor sp webber turbo, i was thinkin bout this latley how no one has done that b4 at least i dont think so, or a 12a pp would b nice

mattp

iTrader: (3)

hell, put a TDi in if you want to be different...


fwd and all










matt
turbo 302 FB in progress