You are right, sorry flubby wubby.

It is just I have had an 87 turbo 2 for about 8 years with no power steering and I think it sucks. In fact I just bought a complete power steering setup from an 88' to install on it.

 

you still have the non power streering rack and stuff ?

 

Yes, I still have it on the car. I need to make some time to perform the switch.

 

anything you say champ.

i dont really care waht you say. if you remove weight from you car, it WILL go faster. no one was talkin about how MUCH faster it will go. its the PRINCIPLE, lighter=faster. if you only have X amount of horsepower, and it can move Y amount of weight across 1/4 mile, itll take Z amount of time.

if X is constant, and you reduce Y, Z will go down also...its not rocket science. and EVERY little bit helps. im not worried about my steering being a little stiffer if it can help me go faster. cuz i have a stock port S4 na, so i need to make the BEST use of what little power i do have.

oh and btw, old man, i dont even OWN a gtech pro. i race at norwalk, very well i might add, for being new to drag racing.

why do road circuit cars use ultra light flywheels? because it allows them to transfer more power to the wheels instead of being used to accelerate the flywheel. if that power is freed up, it will help. i dont know how smart you have to be to understand stuff like this. obviously not that smart if im new to all this, havent been racing nearly as long as you (allegedly) and probalby much younger than you w/ less experience.

and i dont think your 500 lb scenario really works. i dont know of anyone who thinks like that. we remove 10-20 lbs at a time tough guy.

im not sure if you remember, but there was an old hot rod mag where they took a Catalina or something w/ a 455 and ran some 15 or 16 second run w/ full weight, by the end, they were several seconds faster w/ a fully gutted car, no doors or roof. WEIGHT reduction makes you go faster, no matter how little.

remember, races can be won by as little as 1/1000th of a second. you of all people should know this. if my 300 lb friend raced all night long and we were in the finals and i was evenly matched against a car running similar times, all i have to do is put a lighter driver in, and the win is mine (Assuming all else remains the same)

chris

 

Hey Look, Flubber you make some good points, but they do not apply to the real world. You are right, lighter means faster. But unless you are removing lots of weight, it really doesn't make that much difference. You were talking about road race cars and lighter flywheels. That is obviously something you really know nothing about. Mass moment of inertia is why road race cars use lighter flywheels. Better response to throttle inputs, etc., not to make the car lighter. 10- 20 pounds is useless, you are wasting you time. If you want an all out race car, go buy one, unless that is what you are trying to build. Go ahead and strip your car down and I will race you with power steering, air conditioning on, with the stereo playing "DIG".

 

ok, now that everyone seems to be done shaking their sticks at each other.................

does anyone knw what size the damn plugs are? or what threading? I'm almost positive they are NPT and not metric. I found a 1/2 20 that fits in one of the holes... anyone with a factory manual thta could look and see if its in there?

 

bump

 

Sorry Kurgan, I will check, but I am still using a manual rack right now.

 

im switching to manual rack instead of doing the mod.
I dont want to take the chance of it locking up.

 

hey champ, the point of the whole thing is that removing weight contributes to quicker 1/4 mile times, and possibly faster trap speeds. faster is faster, no matter how small the amount. and this applies to any racing.

as far as the lightened flywheel, well the analagoy goes something liek this: Ultralight flywheel is to acceleration as Weight removal is to acceleration. i didnt think it was that hard to understand. i guess you overthought that point. they both allow you to accelerate faster, PERIOD. in respect to both their proper uses.

the point is, im right. and we will just leave it at that. and ill race you just fine, but you wont hear me bitching about how hard my steering is to turn. the sound coming from my tail pipe would drown out any sensibly sized radio anyhow, so i dont mind. and id rather enjoy nature and keep my windows rolled down and the sunroof open. thanks, sport.

 

Sport? How old are you? Anyway, you are right about everything, as all of your other responses to all other forums indicate. Just as long as I know that everyone around here feels the same way I do. Thanks for the enlightening conversation, Luv Ya!

 

Trbo, no hard feelings. i hope i didnt **** you off too much. i consider anyone w/ an RX7 pretty much family.

and as far as calling you sport and tiger and what not, i prefer that as to calling someone a Jerk ***, or dick head or whatever...cuz i try to be above that kind of behaviour

btw, im 21...pretty unusual that im so young, but not so dumb, eh?


chris

 

You are not THAT young, I am only 27. But when I first started asking questions about the power steering I really was not trying to be a smart ***. I was just trying to emphasize the fact that if you end up stripping the car down so much you end up with something that much resembles a funny car. An rx7 body with a rotary engine. If you have to take out too much weight you really need lots more power. I have a 700hp 300zx twin turbo that my rx7 will smoke in the quarter. It just doesn't get the power to the ground. Rx7's do freakin' hookup! No hard feelings Flub.

 

I blocked off my power steerng pump by welding the fittings shut and pumped out excess fluid (left some in for lubrication) I don't see why the rack would seize from this mod. A few of my friends that are into autocross, solo and rally have done this to their race cars and have had no problems. Another point if you read last months article on a Silva build up in Sport Compact Car they recomend blocking off the lines also. That is an international publication. Would they tell you to do something "dangerous"? I think not.

its all good and cheaper than a maual rack

 

would you take information from a organization geared towards making money as the end-all be-all of automotive information, and take it as the final word? i wouldnt.

thats like watching Crank & Chrome on Tnn, and trying to repeat the same project JUST w/ the info supplied on the show...not wise.

the rack wont seize if you pump all the fluid out by simply turning the wheels back and forth, lock to lock. the guy who had his rack seize up on him after a few months of driving did it differently. he took compressed air and BLEW out all the fluid from inside the rack. that will remove pretty much ALL the fluid where just turning the wheels back and forth only expells the excess fluid.

as far as sealing off the ports for the rack, ive already stated my thoughts on that. i still prefer to bridge the ports instead of sealing them up totally

chris

 

Just go to the yard and get a manual rack. Mine cost me 42.00. If I get it rebuilt/refurbished it'll cost another 175. Any one want to buy my old PS system????

 

thats what i should have done, but the manual rack isnt as responsive as the power rack is. the power rack has a lock-to-lock turn of 2.5 turns total. i know for a fact that the manual is more... so not so great for AutoX, even though its easier to turn.

the problem is, there arent any RX7's in the junk yards around here...probably a total of 5, all series 4 non turbo, and im sure most of them are GXL's.

oh well
chris