Your "ugly car"?
Hell, I'm still kicking myself that I let that car get away.

 

It's a decent 15 footer but when you get close it starts to look pretty bad.

 

Have you had those camber adjusters made yet? I would be interested in trying them out in my car.

 

No, I need to drop the rear subframe out of my car to take some measurements, and it's been too damned cold here to work, even in the garage.

I'll probably get to it over the next couple weeks.

 

I hear you on the cold part. I just installed a 75,000 btu heater in my garage and still don't wanna go out there

 

Well if you are interested, drop me a line. I have my subframe out right now, let me know if I can be of any help.

 

Wow john. very impressed with your build. Great write ups and pics. I just bought an 87 and am building up for the same class. i hope to see you on the track sometime!

 

LOF, that would be really handy, except what I need are some detailed measurements of the inner part of the trailing arm where the camber link attaches. One of the issues is that area is really small, making it hard to design a beefy joint.

I think what I'll end up doing is using modeling clay to create a measurable piece.

Thanks wmtil. Feel free to post any questions and I'll do my best to answer them. 2010 was spent getting the right bits on the car (wheels / tires / etc)... next year will be the first time I get to actually do some testing and tuning. I think there's a lot of speed left in the car to be found through suspension tuning. Pretty excited to get started on that!

 

I know what you mean.. I have been looking at those same measurments... it is tight back there but I think it is doable.

 

what rear shocks are you using? i r curious about your new setup.
and you say yellows are too stiff?? i thought they were too soft for just about everyone..

i plan to use rod end bilsteins whenever i get around to figuring out how to mount them. pretty sure thats not STS legal tho

 

Shock mounts are open for the most part, depends on how you want to attach them. They need to use the stock lower perch on the trailing arm.

The rear shocks are a bit too stiff for me in low speed compression. I think most RX-7s are heavier than mine, which is probably part of it.

 

I've been thinking about 8611s for a while now. How will you get to the compression adjuster in the rear? Are you having a custom bracket made to hold the insert; perhaps one that provides a way to access the compression adjuster?

 

Well I ended up cancelling my order for those. I had been talking to ProParts about them and they would give me a better price on the re-valve if I bought direct from them.

I haven't decided what I'm doing for shocks this year so right now I still have the Koni Sports on there.

 

 

i have DA konis i may soon be offloading, if you're interested...

8611 fronts w/ AWR tubes (modified the ears so you can actually fit some tire) and mazdaspeed camber/caster plates

tripoint modified DA yellows in the back, rebuilt last winter (so like 2k miles on them)

im working on a bilstein setup to keep it simple and try to recouperate some of the cost. i'd have to think about pricing on these.

 

Shoot me an e-mail, Josh. john_vitamvas at yahoo dot com. Let's talk.

I'd be interested in hearing your Bilstein setup as well

 

Looks like I'll be picking up Josh's setup and selling my coilovers.

If anyone is interested... check 'em out!

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-rx-7-1986-1992-parts-194/ground-control-koni-coilovers-camber-plates-mounts-complete-fc-942959/

 

pm'd you, i was interested in just the sturts before, now i'll take it all.

 

Thanks to Josh for the set of double adjustable Konis. Got everything installed this morning, and set the ride height. I put it on the scales and sat in the driver's seat expecting to have to tweak the coilovers to get the crossweights correct. Nope! Just about perfect! 52.8% of the weight is on the nose, and the crossweights are 49.7 / 50.3%.

2,445lbs without me in the driver's seat. This is with 3/8 tank of fuel. I usually run about 1/4 tank at the start of an event.

 

jealous! my FC is 2880lbs.... removing 400lbs would be quite amazing.

you kept the PS, but the ac is gone right?

 

Right. No A/C (full conversion to non-A/C car), but still with PS. There's probably another 10-15lbs that could come off the exhaust, and if I had kirkeys instead of the Forzas it would be another 10-12lbs lighter still. Min seat weight for my class is 25lbs each with brackets.

But for my class, this is about as light as an S5 can get I think.

 

Man, these dampers are money. 8611s up front and yellows out back converted to doubles. The extra length up front is nice - I have a couple inches of droop now compared to maybe a half inch with the old setup. It's actually .. kind of comfortable to drive around.

I calculated then measured the motion ratio up front. For the first half inch of travel, it's 0.90. For the next half inch, 0.97. From then on, it's 1.0. That's nice, because with 430lb springs up front and 300's out back the natural frequency up front is 2.3 and out back it's 2.1. That's right in the 2-2.3 range you want for a competition car.

Also got a second set of Keizers with 225/45 R1R Toyos. Can't wait to try 'em out next weekend

 

R1Rs rock in the cold. My co-driver took 1st on index at the first event this year. With the brake-bias issues fixed (no more rear lockup!), more power and a better suspension, the car is amazing.

 

maybe need to remove the droop limiters in the rear.

 

That is sexy