RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, the stage 2 Im looking at it rated for about 350 RWHP. Im just gunning for 1/4 mile times, not necessarily overall speed. Id rather beat people on the strip, not on the road. Racing belongs on tracks.

Anyway, I think I can achieve my goal with about $12K, give or take. Depends on how much custom work I can get done at the new job. I just recently found out that I also have unlimited shop use, so I can take it in the service department and use their cool toys there, and in my shop, I have a lift, alignment machine, as well as tire balancers, and all kinds of other goodies. We also have an on-site tire stock, so I can get new discounted high-performance tires, or I can take any of the used tires for free for smoke shows or race tires . Its gonna be cool .

As for buying a BMW, even with my emplyee discount, I still couldnt make the payments on one work, lol. I was offered a sweet deal on a 97 3 series that was a trade in, but I couldnt afford it. My manager was gonna set it aside if I could afford it. Oh well, maybe later . Besides, my discount will work at any Auto Nation dealership across the country, so its not like I have to buy a BMW .

~T.J.

'85 GSL 302

400hp isn't easy either. The other trick is making an engine that will last long enough to make it to the track and back.

I'll be impressed when I see the numbers on the ground. 400hp from a 1.3liter motor is something to be proud of. I'll be more impressed when the engine turnes 45,000 miles. Good luck, sounds like a fun project.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Well, Im not aiming for 400 HP, so thats not even a problem getting there .

As for the engine lasting, Im not gonna boost it hard everyday. 10 PSI most of the time, and more when on the track. It should last a decent while tuned.

~T.J.

'85 GSL 302

All I can say is I hope you have DEEP pockets then. Keep us posted on the progress.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Haha, no where near deep pockets. Hence all the suggestions of this taking me the rest of my natural born life . While Im at it, I migh just cure AIDs, Cancer, and make a potion I can drink so that I will be immortal and have more time to save and build it .

Nah, in reality, Im aiming for Sevent Stock 7 to drive the car there. Im hoping that I can get a court settlement from my car being stolen. If not, then I will NEVER make it to Seven Stock 7. A nice lump sum of money will really help the project along .

~T.J.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Yeah...So I remember when I made this post...Boy was it a long time ago, and NOTHING has changed.

Ok guys, its time for another "spill my heart" posts because Im feeling "down in the dumps". I just kinda need to vent a little. Maybe someone has got some advice for me...

Lately Ive been feeling like giving up on RX-7s for a while. Ive been around for a long time now, and I'm kinda thinking it might be my time to move on. As hard as I try to get SOMETHING to change with my car, nothing does. It just sits in my Dads driveway, all alone, day after day. I keep finding myself in financial prediciments that I dont forsee, so I never have ANY money to put towards it, and at this rate, nothing will ever change with it. I have the complete -SE parts car with a blown rotor that I was going to take the suspension off of, and I put a new rear hatch on my car from my other parts car, but other than that, I havent done anything. I just dont know if its still worth it to try and build up my car. When I first had this idea, I planned on paying off my family debts, then just taking like half (if not more) of every paycheck and dumping into my 7 to get it on the road again, but as of right now, Im $1700 more in debt than when I first made this thread, my paychecks are spent before I even get them, and I have no car of my own. I was cruising around tonight in my Dads 85 GSL that Ive been driving since mine was stolen, and Im so tired of driving it that its not even funny. I just want a car of my own again. The 85 has 228K miles on the original engine, clutch, etc, and the driveline is going out so it vibrates like crazy, the seats are so far gone theyre just foam, the alternator bearings are shot so they just grind all the time, the damn buzzers and dingers and **** stick on all the time so I have to punch the dashboard to make them shut off, the rear brakes are basically shot from the calipers siezing so I need two new rotors, pads, and probably calipers, etc. I mean, it just sucks because no matter where I turn, I need to spend money that I dont have to make any kind of progress with anything. I feel like I just want to sell off what I have, make some money, and get one good vehicle for me to drive so I can stop pouring my money everywhere else, ya know?

Ive basically given up on the idea of getting any money from the scum who stole my car, the cops still arent doing anything about it, and I cant get a loan for ANYTHING because no one will co-sign with me. I dont know, I'm just starting to feel like its time to call it quits or something for a while. I guess Im just tired of having so many projects "open" at once. Everything I own is broken or in need of repair and/or worthless, and I guess Im just tired of that feeling...Anyone else know what I mean?

Oh well, I guess that concludes my rant for now...Sorry about not being around the forum, and then when I am, I just complain, its just that without any time, or a car to even talk about, I dont see the point anymore...

~T.J.

EDIT: I just re-read my first post in the thread, and it makes me feel like a complete looser for giving up so soon... Maybe Im just in a slump because Ive had yet another run of bad luck. I think Im just gonna hold out for a while longer and see if things dont turn around. I think Im just feeling this way because I've made no progress whatsoever, so maybe if I get something accomplished Ill feel better...

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

You're lucky that you at least have a high mileage RX-7 to drive. You're just in a slump right now. I've been there many times. I just didn't have access to this forum back then (or maybe it didn't exist yet?).

I can offer something here, I think. Here's a quick rundown of my projects. I got my MG rotary project in '96 and finally put a 13B in it last month for real (no more temporary engine swapping). It's not very close to road worthy yet because a brake job costs money. The starter on my Cosmo went out last Saturday and I have no money for a new one. It's an automatic and I've got two spare manual starters (argh). I now have two REPUs and both engines are torn down to the housings. A gasket set came with one of the trucks, so that's pretty cool. At least one tire on each of my Mazdas is flat. All the tires on the MG are dry-rotted. My 20B just sits there waiting for a manifold and other specialized bits that I can't afford at this time. The car it's going in is also not roadworthy yet. I spent all the money I had on getting the engine into the car and on other projects. My last hope is Christmas.

So anyway, if your dad is ok with your car sitting in his driveway, I say leave well enough alone. So what does you car need right now anyway?

Rx7carl

, your just in a slump TJ. It's easy to get discouraged, and hard to get motivated sometimes. I've been there dude. Ok, you got a car to drive, and yours can sit till its fixed. I'll make a suggestion. Simplify. Re think your project. Come up with a simple plan to get Lucky back up and running reliably with minimal cost. Part out what you can from the SE. When your back up on a better financial footing, then think about your lofty goals for the car. You'll feel better just having Lucky back on the road. Hang in there TJ.

I wont even go into the list of too many projects I got going on.

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

TJ,

Carl is right. I had my car sitting for months, being 99% complete except for the Haltech Tuning and primary fuel rail.

Then, I found out that my Haltech is fried, and my tuner is literally months behind. I remember around this time last year, I posted that I would be running by January 2003. Obviously, that did not happen.

I bought a Holley, had a buddy make an Intake manifold (because of the big Cosmo ports), and she is now running!!

Seeing how simple the setup is now, only make me want to smack myself.

I should have just boosted my old SE engine, with the SE tranny, and I would have spent less than 2K on everything.

I know it's not EFI, but it runs, and runs nice. I have all the components to switch back to EFI in short order when I am ready to.

Keep your head up, swap everything from the SE to your car, and sell EVERYTHING else. Have one project car, and work on making profit from the sales.

RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

don't feel bad.....I've been working on my 85 gsl for a total of 2.5 years and i still haven't driven it! I had a nice 95 accord all fixed up but thieves took it, and Now I have a 87 rx7 daily driver....everything works out eventually...Stick with us...I hope everything works out for you.

p.s. don't buy a BMW my dad has a m5 and that thing is rediculous on maintenece....1.2k for a 60k tune up. $350 for an oil change...ect....

Cody

Just find a rich girlfriend TJ. They'll buy you stuff.

SERIES 1 XLR8

only 10k????

I'm sure u could do better than that if you take 60-70% of u'r income over even 1 year let alone 5 or so.

Hope all goes well tho, just make sure u leave enough for tires so u can actually rut the damn thing, and so u can eat a little.

I'm planning to do a similar thing when i get my 7 (shouldn't be to far away now).

Good luck once again man!

SERIES 1 XLR8

have you got any drawings of the end product?

Pedestrian X

Well, do you stil want to be able ti kil a viper in your 7 or not TJ? I think thats a pretty easy Q.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, well I went to my Dads house tonight, and it was just a slump I guess, cause I got some little things Ive been meaning to do done, and it gave me a second wind so to speak because I feel like Ive gotten something done now.

I also reviewed my financial situation, and after I get my paycheck Christmas Eve, I should be buying something for my car FINALLY!! I think Im gonna start with the PST bushing kit. I need to work on things I need to get the suspension and brakes upgraded so I can do it all at once when I plop the -SE suspension in . So, Im gunning for bushings, springs, coil-overs, pads, rotors, struts, etc first. That way when I take it all apart and put it all together, I will only have to do it once. So it will go from bone stock 83 GSL suspension, to highly modded -SE suspension on an 83 all in one fell swoop .

Anyway, sorry for the rant, and Jeff20B, that sounds about the way I feel. A bunch of little ****. Like all those flat tires, you know a can of Fix-a-Flat would solve the problem (), but youre just too overwhelmed to get it done...

~T.J.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Bah, M5... I wouldnt buy an M5 anyway. M3s are where its at . E36, white with black leather and 5 speed . Cool car. Not the fastest thing on 4 wheels, but just quick enough to be fun, and practical enough to be daily. I just took a brand new E46 coupe with an SMG for a spin today to get gas, that was pretty fun . As for the maintenece, tell your Dad to do his own oil changes, lol . BMWs seem to be pretty reliable from what Ive seen so far, no major reoccuring problems (except the new 7s, dont buy one, lol), so its more or less just expensive when you need to take it in. Besides, dealerships rip you off like none other. At least mine does. They used to charge a flat rate for "shop supplies" with every repair, supposedly to cover rags and disposable stuff like the gloves and junk they wear, but they just changed that to a percent of the overall cost. What the hell? Like its gonna take more than one pair of gloves or more than one dust mask if the brake job takes longer? I dont think so... That and the oil change/oil services. Theyre the EXACT same thing here, but you pay like $30 more for the service...Its crazy. They tell you theyre different, but all the techs I talk to do the same things on every car no matter if its a service or change. So just buy the change and you get the same stuff anyway.

Meh, whatever, I dont run the place, I just work there, lol.

~T.J.

cpt_gloval

iTrader: (1)

dude i went throught that same slump and went so far as to sell my '83 with the intention of picking up a Mk1 MR2. but of course i got another rx-7 because they're evil and they have more equity in my soul than i do!

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

TJ, my heart goes out to ya man. Stick with us, you won't regret it. Do what you can to get her running first and see about the rest later.

Luckily nobody except myself has expected Roxy to get on the road except myself, so I've slowly put into her in the last four years. But in december I was $1800 in VISA debt and I had a lot of crap going on in my family. Roxy was looking like she was going to spend another year under the tarp and I felt horrible. But I've bounced back, I've got a little work now, I'm under a thousand and it still looks like I'll have the 7 on the road by May.

Stick with it, and don't forget to appreciate the girlfriend. I made that mistake once - no matter how bad it gets, it's worse when you stop appreciating her company!

Besides, if you got rid of the 7 you'd be back in a few years anyway

Jon

680RWHP12A

i second that!!!!

RacerX7fb

Just get the car up and running reliably! Word is it could possibly be the LAST Sevenstock

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=249427

luiml73

iTrader: (1)

7 years with my car and still not finished. These things take time man.

I just figure when I'm done she'll be a classic 2005.

Don't give up

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

This thread is very old people..

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

It's still important though. Just today I got the white REPU running again. This is after the engine I worked so hard on early last year overheated. No, I didn't cause the overheating; the guy I built it for didn't fix his radiator, and poof! crushed rotor housings within 500 miles which is barely broken-in. I questioned everything I did to that engine in my mind and later discovered the bad rad. Even though it wasn't my fault, I was in a slump. My first rebuild failed. Wah.

Later that year he towed the truck over to my place and I started the R&R process yet again. He bought two good used rotor housings (rare 74-'75 13B housings in great shape!) and another gasket set.

Long story short, I cleaned up the (streetported) intake ports a little, and decided to use a different set of Jspec rotor housings that I already had lying around. I threw it all together on the 17th or 18th of December and then the engine sat for two months while I worked on other projects. Then I decided to modify my plans a little which led to this 2nd rebuild finding its way back into the truck it came out of.

Total cost for this time around: $196 for two rotor housings (which weren't used) and a gasket set from Mazdatrix. Toal time spent rebuilding: a week or two because I can't remember, plus the porting.

This engine fired up within the first 2 seconds of cranking with the plugs in and the ignition on. I was finding it a little hard to believe at first, although I figured it was possible. Perhaps a good rebuild + good carb + good ignition = fantastic results? Sorry, but that was the highlight of my day today. RDM, it gets better. You just haven't discovered what it is yet.

pratch

Not a bad thread to resurrect - even if it no longer suits the title.

I had my baby sitting from July of last year until just after Christmas. Took me forever to finally get it running - school was kicking my *** time-wise. She's now running smoothly, and I'm thrilled to be driving.

Never let the bastards grind you down. Remember that everything will pass. It kept me going month to month thinking that maybe the next month I'd have enough time to get her running again. Here I am 7 months later and she is running!