I gotta keep this short because I can't even keep my eyes open................basically a few hours ago, my brother's '79 widebody first gen (13B streetported, T04B, Microtech, etc.) had the strangest thing happen.He was in 2nd gear accelerating (mere 6lbs of boost)........sounded like tranny/ clutch assembly broke loose, and now whenever (while it's running) I release the clutch (even in neutral), it sounds like a continuous (LOUD) banging in the tranny. Are these trannies really that weak??? I will post more tomorrow........need sleep

 

Is it a stock tranny? If so it probably can only handle around 150HP from what I hear. That 13B is well over that.

 

I am thinking the clutch was old and worn and broke

 

best way to find out if it's clutch or tranny is put the tranny in 4th gear and let the clutch out. other than a input or mainshaft being broke it should move and yes I've seen the mainshaft break. if it doesn't try to move then more than likely it ripped the center out of the disk.

 

Ok, here goes: my brother told me that anytime he tries to release the clutch while in gear, the car really does NOT wanna move, he said it feels like it's "stuck", ----like trying to move your car forward with blocks of wood in front of wheels!!! He said that when it happened it made the same noise no matter what gear he was in, and while it was coasting with the clutch pushed in, the noise went away. He's using a centerforce clutch and pressure plate, a fairly new throwout bearing, and "apparently" the transmission was rebuilt with Turbo II gears. The tranny "case" looks like a "pre-'83" one------might even be an old RX-3/RX-4 tranny case!! I could tell for myself that it was rebuilt by the silicone that was squeezed out from the trans case when it was put back together. The gearing is also very different from all my previous first gens that I have owned. The fifth gear is ESPECIALLY wide!!! (When fourth gear is tached out to almost 7500 rpms, and when it's shifted to fifth, the rpms are at 3800 and the speedometer is reading close to 125MPH!!! ----(Great cruising gear I guess). Anyway, the guy he bought it from almost 5 years ago said that he destroyed 3 differentials(?) and 3 transmissions(?) before he finally found the right setup that could withstand the power. I could be off on those numbers because I can't quite remember back 5 years. Since that day 5 years ago, the car has had maybe 9,000 miles put on it at most!!

 

Well I guess the only way to find out is the take the tranny off and look for yourself. Almost sounds like he decintigrated the clutch.

 

Thats is quite possible, but the clutch was hardly abused. I really hope that it's the clutch assembly, but I have a strong feeling that it's the tranny Guess I'll find out as soon as it stops raining, and I get a chance to pull the tranny out.
I really want to install a series 5 Turbo II tranny, but that means that he needs to buy another lightweight flywheel, a new clutch setup because of the input shaft on the Turbo II tranny, a new starter to compensate for the different tranny and flywheel, and I'm not sure if his existing driveshaft will slide right into the Turbo II tranny, as well as if the new tranny will be any longer than his current one!!

 

side note: my friend crashed his 3rd gen a couple weeks ago, another friend is having a s#*%load of problems with his 91 Turbo II, I'm currently rebuilding the engine for my '91 N/A because the engine completely blew it's apex seals (I got it that way), and my brother just had this happen to him last night. (All of our cars are nowhere near stock BTW, except for mine---just ported, header, etc.).

My girlfriend's comment last night was:"Ya know, I'm REALLY starting to lose faith in you're RX7's!!!"

 

Might as well follow up:
2 gears inside the tranny were missing teeth and all chipped/ gouged up!!! The one gear had most of it's teeth sheared off!!!

 

sux to hear that man. i destroyed the countershaft in my 83 gsl several years ago. on bright side at least you get to upgrade to the tII tranny =)