Hey all I’m new to the RX7 game despite having owned this car for close to 20 years now. Long story short I got this car to get some experience behind the wheel of closed cockpit cars having spent my racing life before that in sports racers.

I took the car to the track once back in 2005, and was told there was a problem with the engine by the guy looking over my dad’s cars so never took it out on track. Life got busy and it sat in the back of the shop while finishing school, starting a career and family took priority.

I‘ve been getting the itch to get behind the wheel again so I pulled this car to the front as a good bit of work was done to it getting it ready around the 2005 time frame. It was an already prepped ITA car when we bought it, and after we got it and I was off at school a family friend messed around with it in his spare time. That’s when stuff like the dash was removed and replaced with the aluminum one.

I am looking at running some NASA events this year in ST but haven’t decided on the class yet until I get the car on scales and a dyno.

In the last few weeks of working on it I’ve gotten the 12A in it running but have no idea anything about the setup of the engine. It sounds like it’s running half way decently - I need to get a compression tester for this but it was running around 95 on my standard gauge when I first started wrenching on it. Next week I’m going to check it all again now that it’s been running a little bit.

There’s still plenty of work to do but so far I’ve been going through all the suspension getting it back together, thru the brakes, got the car idling much better, fluids and filters drained and changed…basically all the basic mechanical stuff. I’m here to learn about these cars so please give me your input on what to do to make the car better! I’ve been spending my evenings reading thru old threads and making notes but I’m trying hard to get on track and get behind the wheel again. I have a tendency of letting projects like this slip since I enjoy wrenching on the cars a good bit.

All photos were taken pretty early in cleanup process. When I’m back in town I can get more recent pictures but most of the progress since I pulled it to the loft a few weeks ago has been nothing that photos well. Watts links have been re-installed though. I’ve also gotta figure out the exhaust. I don’t love it under the axle like it is.

 

Boy howdy thats a lot of paper towels on the floor there. Makes my garage look clean.

Nice car. Thats an interesting looking alternator. Series 1??

 

It was cleaning day! Haha All those paper towels were off the floor before leaving. The shop is far from spotless but I could deal with it like that for long at all!

I don’t have any idea about the alternator -that’s what was on it when I started working on it. I’m completely green with these cars and engines. I didn’t even realize it wasn’t right. I’ve got a small oil leak front passenger side not sure where exactly but it’s above the oil pan there somewhere. Plenty to learn!

 

what was wrong with the engine?

 

There are two things I can think of. I was told there was water in the oil.

There was water in the oil and when the guy who took the dash out was working on it he swapped the engine. I have another 12A and transmission in a crate. My understanding is that engine came out of a junk yard crashed car and the original engine is still in the car. I don’t know if that was done or not but there’s no water in the oil of this engine I can find.

There was no problem with the engine but something else going on and I was told water in the oil because there was nothing we were going to do about it at the track.

Theres lots of unknowns when it comes to the engine. I’d love to know what the story is of the engine in the car too. I’d probably be smart to swap it for a 13B and build it properly but if I can get a few races out of this then why not?

 

Yellow race cars are the best....just saying. Do you have any information on the front sway bar? I have never seen one that is adjustable. I see the SCCA stickers on the car, did the car come with a log book?

Only advice would be to build the car with the rule book (or online rules) in hand. Not that sure about NASA, it has been awhile since I looked at where an RX7 fits. It would be wise to have a NASA tech person look over your car because they have some specific rules about cage construction and component age (fuel cell bladder, window net, etc).

 

What year is the car? Based on the wheels and rear hubs I'm guessing it's a gsl model. The engine bay always looks cleaner without the rats nest!

 

That can’t be the only advice with all your experience and knowledge! I’ve read thru your thread a few times at this point trying to pick up little tid-bits though some may not be applicable unless I go the E-Prod route which I think is unlikely right now.

There are no log books that I know of, but I may find it in a file cabinet somewhere. I haven’t started to look for it yet but maybe I should. I believe the car came from the north east maybe CT.

I’ve printed off the rule book and put it in a 3 ring binder I keep with me while I work on the car for just that reason. Plenty of notes in margins and on the back of pages. They do have some odd rules but hopefully nothing that will be overly prohibitive. My biggest issue right now is fitting in the car with any comfort. I’m a pretty tall guy at 6’7” and fitting in with some head clearance isn’t the easiest. I can’t modify the floor at all for that purpose either so will be played back more than most and have to figure out the best way to bring the controls to me a bit. Steering wheel isn’t too bad but moving the shift lever may be a bit more difficult - haven’t made it that far yet though.

 

I believe it is an 82 but that is just from a sticker on the underside of the hood. I haven’t yet checked the VIN to see for sure. There is tons of room under the hood with all sorts of stuff in bins. I assume all the emissions stuff based on the Hayes manual I’ve been thumbing through.

 

Suspension looks like the Pro7 kit from Ground Control, including the unobtanium Tokico Illuminas.

What class to run this in I think depends on where you live and participation with various sanctioning bodies in your region. You should look at which group has the best participation for your class options. Less fun to spend all the time and money it requires to race and then run alone in your class. Still fun but not as much. Vintage may be a good option as well.

My ITA car is even more stock than yours. In NASA the car was classed ok in the older Performance Touring days(PTE) and basically ran against Miata’s and SpecE30s. Had good fun there and there were usually 8-10 cars, most double dipping from other classes. But with all the mods (ie header, shocks, springs, limited-slip, fairing, tires) I think in ST the car is up against better base model cars like BMW E36, FRSs, Civics and the like. Something to consider.

Other than the dash, the car is still pretty much ITA compliant. As ITA is regional only and the dash isn’t a performance advantage, I doubt anyone would say anything. Unless you beat you competitors right away which then it was worth the protest you might get! Unlikely, I think any IT competitors would welcome increased car count. Most of the ITA cars in my region are double dipping spec Miata’s and they are quite fast when running Hoosiers.

I would ask about the seat drop. At 6’-7”, it has to be hard to fit in any caged car, let alone getting in/out. I don’t think you would have an issue in SCCA, as for sure it is approved in Spec MIATA and Production classes. Probably in others as well. If not, I would petition for it.

 

BTW, that looks like a base model SA. 1979-1980 Desirable non-sunroof model. Same as my EP car.

you may consider EP as a real option as that is what the car prep looks like it was heading. Add some cheap Amazon wheel flares, 15” wheels and port the motor!

 

Okay, more input. Kurt's suggestions are hard to argue with so:

Plus 1 for looking into Vintage Racing. Seems like a low stress way to have a good time on a race track.
Also Plus 1 for picking a class or race group with allot of competitors. Having some one to dice with on the race track is what it is all about.

From experience, OEM parts can be far more reliable and easy to manage on a race car, assuming they can handle racing abuse, than pure racing parts. So racing in a class where stock parts are required is not a bad thing. The challenge with an FB/SA based race car is that allot of wear items (brakes parts) are getting nearly impossible to find. So either stock pile consumable OE parts or pick a class that allows you to use a reliable aftermarket items.

Tires will be your biggest expense. So picking a class that allows you to use tires that fit your budget is important.

The fuel cell in the photos is questionable. Where a cell is required, sanctioning bodies will typically specify FIA certified cell. Using a cell in a class where a cell is not required may also mean that the cell has to be FIA certified. Also, I am not a fan of having a fuel cell that is not contained within a cage

The bar behind the driver in the main hoop can have a bend in it for clearance but it needs to connect to the main hoop diagonal. I doesn't look like it does in the photos. Also your cage appears to be missing the right side bar that is supposed to be attached to the diagonal and the right side of the main hoop. Would be easy to fix.

What diameter tubing and wall thickness is the cage made out of?

 

Finally back to being semi-normal after a few days of being down for the count with some sort of bug.

Vintage is not only tin the cards but is likely. I have run with HSR, SVRA, VDCA, and a few other vintage groups over the years. I was at a HSR event with this car initially years ago when we first got it and was planning to run. While I haven’t looked into their rules specifically yet, I can’t imagine I would have any trouble racing with most of those groups in its current prep.

I’ve been looking at NASA because I’ve got a few friends who run in it - I am in NC so NASA SE is the region I would run. They run two race groups which are essentially big bore/fast cars and small bore/momentum cars. All the ST classes look like they run in the big bore group which I don’t entirely understand. They do the split based on cars at the event so I suppose an ST-5 car could be put into the lower group. It would be not much fun to be in the mirrors every session while on track with faster cars. I’m going to go back and look at the splits last season to get an idea of how they ran.

I will ask about the floor drop but I’m not hopeful. In the NASA forums someone asked almost the exact same question. It works well for the RX7s because because Miata’s are allowed to drop and there is a company that makes a drop pan that can be adapted. Long story short the answer from the ST rules guy was “Nope - lowering the driver would lower their CG and therefore be an advantage. Tall guys can recline that’s our answer.” That’s all good and fine - I have raced reclined extensively in my little sports racer where there is sort of enough leg room to accommodate. But to recline the seat has to move forward which makes the angles not work for my legs unless it’s acceptable to cut the foot box out and build a whole new firewall/footbox. All questions I will raise when I finish playing with the seating position. I threw a seat in today with no brackets and it wasn’t terribly uncomfortable or poorly positioned. Maybe I can make up some brackets that fit that somehow. Might take some CAD and laser cutting/bending but luckily that’s not the biggest deal.

getting out is certainly not the easiest but I’ve only done it on the lift so far so I am being fairly gentle. Once a seat is bolted and I try to get out in a hurry I don’t think it will be too big of a deal. I’m still pretty young at 38 and while I don’t move like I did 10 years ago I’m on the younger end of things… for now.

 

I’ve considered EP pretty hard, especially reading through mustanghammer journey. I just know my mind too well and it would turn into me building a race car for three years and never getting on track because my ADHD would take over and a new hobby would take hold. Im trying right now to do the least amount required to get on track a few times a year while making some upgrades over time. Maybe that turns into running like this for two or three years then taking the winter to hit it hard and build the car up. That’s part of why I’ve considered the ST classes so hard, as improvements are made the adjusted wt/hp will change and move up the classes. I don’t know what the right answer is but I’m shooting to get out on track relatively quickly.

 

Vintage racing is certainly in the mix of options and I won’t do anything to the car that excludes it from that. The guy who worked on the car for years races in an old Lotus Formula Ford and my dad raced for years with a Can-Am car and an old F1 car for a while so we know plenty of folks in the paddock there.

Great info on the stock parts and them losing availability. It’s stuff like that thanks super helpful so when I’m going thru the bins of parts I haven’t sorted yet I know what’s worth holding onto and what’s not.

Tires are usually the giant expense, but compared to what I’m used to it doesn’t seem quite as bad. Even running my sports racer (Lola S2000) years ago if you wanted to try and be competitive you needed to plan on two sets of tires every event. That was every bit of $2,500 back in 09-10. I know I keep going back to NASA, but one thing I like is their “mod factors” so it takes some of that into account. I’ve got a feeling a stock 12A is going to be pretty low on HP but I don’t really know what to expect at the rear wheels. Hopefully I’ll be looking for a few performance enhancements like tires to help me out.

The fuel cell certainly needs some attention. Vintage doesn’t have age restrictions per se but NASA is 5 years for the bladder. Even if this cell FT3 and in great condition it is well past the 5 year mark. I think a new cell is in the very near future. Though an ATL cell is the same size so if their bladders are significantly less expensive I may do that as the cell outer structure is not in bad shape.

Thanks for pointing out the roll bar issues, I haven’t made it that far yet. The first one is absolutely needed and NASA doesn’t have anything I can find about the second. I went into the SCCA rules to find exactly what you were talking about and that is something that looks wise to add. I’m not opposed to a little safety especially when it is that easy to add.

I will get the diameter tomorrow when I’m around the car. I briefly looked for an inspection hole but didn’t find one. I may have to drill a hole somewhere to determine wall thickness.

 

I have an ATL Saver Cell with an aluminum can. I think I got in in 2005 or so. Fortunately the SCCA also does not spec fuel cell bladder age. I'm not a fan of NASA's fuel cell bladder rules.

The good thing about vintage for a car like yours (SVRA Group 8, I think) is that they only allow full tread DOT tires. So Toyo RA1's and the same. Should save some cash because those tires suck for a long time!

I think the rule of thumb is about 125 RWHP with a stock port 12A that is de-smogged with a header, good exhaust and a decent nikki carb. My car with a stock port 12A was basically a 100-105MPH car at all of the tracks in the Midwest. About as fast as a SM that was not in a draft.

NASA Cage Specs that I found: https://nasa-assets.s3.amazonaws.com....5_NASACCR.pdf starting on Page 44. Pretty detailed.

For sh#ts and grins, my RX7 as it sits is classed in Super Unlimited! Likely because I cut out the front inner fender panels which is legal in SCCA STU and GT3U.

 

Sorry for the crummy video, wasn’t really expecting to take it for a spin around the parking lot today but everything went smoothly the few hours I wrenched so decided it was time.

There is some tuning needed on the carb but overall I’m pretty happy with how it ran around the parking lot for a minute or two.

I don’t like the brakes right now. Don’t know if they are soft from some air or something or if it is because there’s a booster on it or what; but I don’t like it. I’ve never been in a race car with assisted brakes and there may need to be a change there.

 

The bladder rules seem very strict. I’d be curious how tightly that’s adhered to at a regional level.

I spent some time tonight looking at tires and man there’s not much out there in 13s are there! Toyo looks like it has the R888R but that’s about it from the “approved list” for ST.

I need to get the car on scales next week so I can figure out what I would run if I choose to do some NASA. ST6 has wt/hp of 19.0 and ST5 is 14.5. Obviously getting as close to that as possible is key and you can have up to 300lb of ballast. I don’t know what to expect the car to weigh, 2200? If I assume that and 115hp (no telling about this engine/carb) at the wheels that puts me at 19.13 base. If that weight is about right and I use the R888R, my total mods are +1.7 which would put me further out than I would like. Adding a rear wing would get me to +0.7, at a 19.8 which I guess isn’t too bad. That would leave me a little room to grow the car.

There are 5-8 ST5 cars at most events within two hours of me, so it may be worth going that way rather than ST6. If nothing else 5 cars gets contingency money for programs like Toyo.

 

Well work got stupid busy and after two and a half months of 7 days a week 18 hour days plus a few weeks of family time I am starting to get back to this car. In December I was hoping to go racing in Feb but that obviously didn’t happen.

So far I have managed to get the old fuel cell out of the car, build a cage around the new fuel cell and get it mounted in the car. I have re-done everything with the fuel system to have a known starting point. All that is left is getting the vent configured which will happen in a hurry.

The biggest struggle so far is getting a seat mounted in a comfortable and safe way. Being tall sucks when you like racing and trying to fit in an existing car. I’m going to make a change to how the steering column is set up which will hopefully help a bit. For some reason there is a stack of washers as used as a space to move the wheel location down a bit. Moving the wheel up will bring it off my legs a bit. Next I have to get the shifter into a better position. Since I have to lean the seat back so much to fit under the roll bar 1,3,5 gears are at the end of my fingers. The shift lever is bent the wrong direction maybe 30deg, so either straightening that or finding one that is slightly bent the other direction is on the to do list.

Gotta then finish up safety stuff like belts and fire system and everything but tires and setup should be done enough. Middle of May there is an event about two hours from me at a track I know well so I’m going to try to make that happen. For now, it’s just nice to be working on the car again

 

I’ve got a question for the guys who have been messing around with these cars for much longer than I have.

The pictures attached are of my right front suspension. As you can see the tension strut is mounted in a very strange way, at least I think. Is there any reason to do this that you can tell or do I need to start measuring and see if something is bent somewhere and this was done to try and compensate for something?


The left front is mounted with two bolts where I would expect them to be.

Thanks!

 

Yikes!

Thats a real head scratcher. Good to roll it around the shop I guess, but nothing more than that...

 

I have never seen that.

The holes for the tension rod are still in the lower control arm. Take that off and connect the tension rod to the lower control arm. If the hole on the end of the tension rod is drilled out too much, sleeve it or get another one.

Keep the sway bar or sell it to me!!!

 

I can't imagine why someone would mount it that way! When bolted to the arm as intended it triangulates the system. Mounted that way, the control arm can rock around under it. Can you say variable caster? It would also be turning the stabilizer bar into a stressed member...

Hmm...
Nope! Not going down the rabbit hole of what effect it would have on antidive! Maybe beneficial maybe not... either way it should be returned back to OE like mounting!
Some old rules bending racer hacks were made to eke a small percentage of performance at the expense of reliability. Easy calculus when the cars were plentiful and Mazda still stocked replacement bits. Those days are gone, reliability is the name of the game now.

I am curious about "coolant mixing in oil"... that really shouldn't be possible unless a rotor housing corroded through in a weird place or a core plug blew out under the front cover. I'd verify the issue before tearing it apart.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. The tension strut is back in the stock location now. For the time being it’s all set to equal lengths before getting into setting the car up.

Oil/water mixing - I don’t believe it was a real issue. I’m not sure what was really going on there but my guess is something else was going on and it was an excuse given to a young excited me who didn’t know any better.

Forward progress is continuing though. The seat is mounted so now it’s on to belts, window net, right side net, fire system, and a little bit of dash reconfiguration and the interior should be squared away. I think after that it’s time for tires and setting the car up.

 

Alright let’s see if you guys are willing to give some thoughts and input again, I’ve appreciated it all so far!

Im now one week away from hitting the track. I started setting the car up earlier and ran into a wall - I’m tired and not firing at 100%.

Anyway, camber is set the same on the fronts. I then set ride heights the same on each side before putting it on scales. I was surprised to see cross at 41%. I adjusted on it to get cross close but then my left front is like 1.25” lower than the right front. I went through and measured a bunch of stuff and can’t find anything way out. So I went and measured rear ride heights. My left rear is 2” lower than right rear. I measured in the rear too but can’t find much that is out.

There’s not much that can be adjusted in the rear - it doesn’t have coilovers so it’s tough to keep ride heights and weights where I want them. Is there anything I am missing that would cause the car to sit lower on the left side? I’m hoping it’s not a twisted up car.

If there’s nothing obvious I guess I can either add a spring spacer to the left rear or cut a coil on the right rear, but don’t really love either of those. I’d love to know why it’s so far off when there’s no real adjustments in the rear.

thanks for any thoughts!