Ok, a while back in general rotory tech forum, I posted up about the possibility of a new mod for us to use on our 7's. This includes all generations at this time, as I've posted this in all 3 gen specific forums. Those of you who have read my first post on this, this will be an update. As for the rest of you, listen up.

I'm teaming up with Outlaw Engineering in the hopes of have phenolic spacers produced for our cars. If you don't know what these are, I'm not surprised, currently, they're only made for 3 different engines, two mazda and one Honda. What are these you ask?

These are a replacement for your current intake manifold and throttle body gaskets. These gaskets are thicker, 1/4" is the thickness they use at Outlaw Engineering. What do they do you ask?

The Phenolic material is a heat resistant material, and when used as a gasket, prevents heat from getting from the engine to the intake manifold. What does this mean? Cooler intake temps. What does that mean? More horsepower for you.

More technical info can be found here:

http://www.outlawengineering.com/techframe.html

This is my latest e-mail from outlaw engineering.

"Aaron,
You are correct on that we do not currently offer an application for any generation of RX-7, but this is one of the applications that we have been considering. We generally request 20 firm commitments prior to the design, prototyping, and production of a new performance part. Pricing for a set, including intake manifold and throttle body insulators along with necessary hardware such as lengthened studs would be in the $100 range.
To prototype a new set, we generally prefer to have acces to a full vehicle. This will allow us to investigate fit-up issues and to do a before and after dyno test to asses performance increase. We are located in Indianapolis, so if there are any interested parties in the central Indiana area that would be interested in having their vehicle used as a test bed, please step up. This would include a short session to evaluate the vehicle and take measurement data, followed by another session a short time later to install and evaluate the prototype set. This, of course, would be done free of charge.
Many years ago, I owned a 1st gen RX-7. I had great fun in this car and was impressed with the level of engineering thought that went into it and the rev of the little rotary. Years later when the 2nd gen Probe came out, one of the deciding factors for me were memories of my Rex and the Probe's Mazda heritage and design. I wasn't disappointed. Please asses the interest for your group and let us know.

Best regards,
Sean Morgan
Outlaw Engineering"

What this means is, I need support for this. Not only support, but if you want to see these made for your gen car or 1st gen case, your specific engine, then I will need someone with each one of these cars to step up to the plate and get this testing done with Outlaw Engineering. Specifically someone within good driving distance of their location. This could be a great mod for our cars, and if you would like to become part of the process, then you need to do this. Read the tech section, does 7whp and 11wtq for about $100 sound good? If so, then show your support. Like the e-mail says, we need 20 firm committments, and one car per engine for testing/design.

 

fug yes, a friend of mine used a similar setup on his (gasp) neon and it allowed him to take his rpms all the way up 8,000 instead of 6,000. i dont live near indiana but if someone can get there for the testing to be done, THEN I AM GAME!!!! WOOT!

 

intresting. so in a perfect world you would get a 5hp increase. In the real world, does it make enough of a difference to spend 100 dollars on?

 

wow , I got one of those as standard on my 1977 Ford Escort

 

$25 per horse sounds good to me...

Too bad I don't live closer, they should have no problem finding Rex owners willing to be ginuea pigs for this mod. If not, I'll find a way to get mine there if I have to!

 

They've been getting 7whp regularly, and as much as 10hp peak with these on current set-ups. If you think about ho wmuch you spend on other mods giving similar gains, this is good horsepower per dollar.


If I don't get the interest in this, I'll end up fabbing these myself. I know they work, it seems convincing others here enough for me to get them produced isnt' going to be easy. I'll get them either way, whether I make them or someone else makes them for me.

 

hmm... when are they wanting to do the testing. that's not too far from me. but im not sure the new 7 could make the trip. I havnt had time to throughly go through it to make sure everything is okay.
If it really works, it sounds like it would be pretty cool. i'm always the skeptic though.

 

FWIW, phenolic spacers are made for more than just three engines; for example they've been in existance for the FI Ford 302 for many years now in different thicknesses. The general concensus is that they're not worth it, and the ones for the 5.0L are only ~$50. Once your car has been running for any period of time your intake will heat up regardless of how much gasketing material is in there. You're back to square one in terms of HP at that point. They can also alter the RPM range of your power band.

This isn't meant to shoot you down. I'd still be interested to see some dyno results. Good luck!

 

I think the only real benifit would be that they lengthen the runners just a bit, giveing a little torque

 

Yes, they're cheaper, but it's just the intake manifold spacer, that's it. One spacer, no bolts, or anything else. These will be around $100 for us, because they're providing both the IM spacer and TB spacer, and longer studs and such for it to work.

 

sounds cool, I would consider them for my car, but I am a bit far away, and the rex won't be running for another month or so.

 

Isn't that plate between the carb and the intake manifold ( the one with the vacuum bungs) made of phenolic plastic???

 

it does sound like a good idea...only 100 bucks for that much material sounds pricy...mabey b/c im poor...anywho id like to see what comes from this and hope to buy it at a cheeper cost

 

Like I said, this includes everything need to for the application including longer length studs if that'd apply. I'm sure it wouldn't be near as much for a carbeurated application, especially seeing how a TB spacer wouldn't even be needed. That will have to worked out with Outlaw Engineering....

So do I have anyone close to this area that is willing to go, and do I have somewhere in the 20 person amount that I need to go through with this? Of course, I want them made for my SE, that's my main focus here, but you carb guys are much more common, and I see no reason why these couldn't be made for you.

 

A whole plastic intake maifold would be better... But wouldn't the gas eat at it?