I know my left from my right and can make it around without hitting anything, though I have very little experience in practice, I think I have a decent understanding of vehicle dynamics and how they relate to driver inputs. Was half-decent in a rental kart when I was more into that a while back but I understand that they respond to inputs in a different manner than cars might. I recently found out about an outdoor kart track near my house. If I could find the space for one, it might be something to look into.

I was planning to go to a driver school, learning the fundamentals and then practicing them in HPDE as opposed to doing HPDE and then having to unlearn stuff when the time comes to go to a race school to get licensed.

I am probably going to disappear off the face of the earth next summer if these career aspirations of mine end up working out, and that's normally when I'd be expecting to get the greatest amount of work on the car done. I figure that if I can get most of the "hard parts" like chassis stuff done beforehand, I should be able to do the electronics/wiring/engine stuff without too much trouble, so probably late 2025 before I get this thing out unless it ends up going quicker than anticipated.

I will more than likely end up dragging this thing to law school with me when I get out of undergrad (I've got about three more semesters left). The tentative plan is to attend one of the institutions in Pittsburgh on the other side of the state and try to get as much time at the track(s) and go do rx-7 stuff with some of the forum members over in that area when time permits.

 

Thanks EREBUS, appreciate it!
Race-prepped FDs kind of don't exist anymore here for somewhat obvious reasons, but I wanted to keep the development efforts that the folks from the days of the mailing list had going. These days we (think) have all the answers. They had to figure a lot of the stuff we now take for granted the hard way!

Quite truthfully I just wanted to see if any of this stuff will work the way I think it does, in addition to seeing folks dump serious monies into some probably not-so-great starting platforms, I am interested to see if/how these translate to improvements on a car that doesn't need much of anything aside from improved cooling system capabilities to improve as the engineers did a very good job with the chassis to begin with. It's also looking like it's going to be way cheaper to put together and operate/maintain than vehicles with similar performance, which was one of my objectives here.
You might be surprised to learn that all of these fancy parts I'm throwing at it are almost exclusively designs that came out 10-18 years ago, so if one really wanted to, they might be able to argue that it is more "period correct"

Once I figure out what I'm doing behind the wheel, I'll start adding stuff to make it more competitive like a flat floor and other stuff, but for now, I'm enjoying the build process as much as I can. Would be hilarious to eventually be able to run competitively with older GT3 and some contemporary GT4 cars with something that rolled off the production line during the era of the Clinton administration.

 

it might be tricky to find online, but Revolutions FD had (has?) a flat floor back in the day.
https://motoiq.com/garage-revolution...s-rx-7-part-1/
like any race car it evolved

 

Oooh that Garage Revolution RX-7 - thanks for a great trip down memory lane Mike

IG "czech_fd3s_hillclimb" when/if the time comes for inspiration on a flat-bottom











Apologies Simon - now that I am not distracted by seeing an old friend in the endurance S2000 for your consideration on a fuel tank co-pilot, I will echo what others are saying on keeping the fuel tank in your hatch

I have no doubt you have and will continue to assess the best possible option

Some modern tech, has me regret going the route I did on a few pieces

 

Hey folks. The fall semester has started so I have to do school stuff (much to my behest) but I am still doing work when I can. I probably won't have my car back until mid-late October due to the fab shop moving down the street to a better location, so I have more time to reassess some things and also fix my garage.

I recently acquired a harbor freight tool cart that I got the bright idea to paint silver stone metallic and have since dismantled. I will have to see how many monies the local blasting company wants to charge me to do it, otherwise I might just try sandpaper, though I expect it to be more tedious/painful.

I have also started working on procuring a solution for the dashboard. There is a gentleman from the Czech Republic (iirc) who has a third gen that he does a bunch of composite craziness with who is offering composite dashboards and happens to have one at a discounted rate due to cosmetic defects (which is fine with me because I am more than likely going to cover the whole thing in SEM landau black in an attempt to retain some element of originality to the OE design (not a big fan of carbon interior stuff and it doesn't come clear coated anyway)

Once that is done I should be able to start thinking about where the heck I am going to put all of these electronical doohickeys, as I do want this to look half-decent/have grown tired of seeing some plain ugly and not very well thought out solutions that are somehow less egregious in their implementation and disregard to quality standards of work by suggesting that it is a "race car" and that such things are of little importance (you all know exactly what I'm talking about and the last thing we need are more not-so-nicely-modified "track build" sevens! )

There looks to be a large (enough) amount of space under the new dashboard and the roll cage dash bar. I could probably either have welded or fasten a plate that contains the ecu, pdm, etc. If you had asked me this when I started dismantling the car, I would have just said that it should go in the back, but for the sake of simplicity with respect to wiring, packaging and the fact that I now have a trunk floor that was designed to be removed, it will all stay in the front of the vehicle if possible.

I have also procured a Winchester metalworks/ Bacon oil pan from a forum member. Never thought I'd find one in the classifieds here but I am not complaining. I would have kept the OE pan but I have participated in and witnessed enough oil pan reseal jobs to never want to do it again if it can be helped, so we will see if the o-ring works any better. If it still leaks I will probably cry.




I have also started a new vocation that reminds me way too much of rx-7 world. Exhibiting poodles in dog shows... Everyone (else) thinks you're out of their mind and the drama that comes about reminds me so much of the fb group and some of the decade-old posts I have seen here . Much like having people stop what they're doing, take photos and lose their metaphorical marbles when you roll out an fd, the responses garnered to walking up with a poodle in the conventional show hairstyles are pretty much the same. Even people in both groups refer to it as a cult! If any of you find yourself at a dog show of all places in the northeastern part of the country, look for the poodles and you will probably see me. Apparently people make a living doing this stuff but I just got bored and now I'm there.

I think that's all for rx-7 related stuff. I will update as I procure more parts and/or do more work/put that tool cart back together.

Thanks for reading.

 

PM'ed you instead of dirtying up your build thread with logistics

 

I've been using one of these pans for about 6 years now. It still leaked even with the o-ring lol. I ended up using Gray Stuff, put on a thick bead and let it set up a bit, just so it was a bit hardened, then installed the pan. It didn't leak or seep at all for a few years but I believe it started seeping again just a bit.

I'm looking for a more shallow pan though now but still with the doors and baffles inside, mine sits below the subframe with IRP engine mounts and I've skipped it off the ground a few times. Just a heads up depending on which mounts you're going to use.

 

One thing to help prevent oil pan leakage is 1) make sure the pan flange is flat. And 2) after the engine is assembled, before the oil pan goes on, run a stone across the sealing surface. Sometimes there can be little differences in height between the plates and housing joints. If both surfaces are flat, and stay that way during install, and use a proper sealant or o ring, it really shouldn't leak.

 

Thanks for the suggestions @speedjunkie , @TwinCharged RX7 . I'll keep it in mind!

 

Hey folks, happy thanksgiving to all that are so inclined. Figured I would give you all and update.

Car is still in fabrication jail and I still need to fix my garage/tool cart that I purchased new and subsequently dismantled for paint. Not particularly concerned because I am currently neck deep in poodle silliness.

I also got an S362SXE ("8376" with the 0.91 housing) and inconel heat shield (I will be fixing both until they are broken to my specifications) for $300 and $500 respectively. (thanks Mobash!)

I had been set on the EFR 8374 for the longest time but came to the realization that now that I have a dog box with gear ratios no farther than 20% apart and am working on procuring an 8.8 rear end with a 4.56 final drive ratio to start, I may be able to bridge the gap in transient response due to significantly less time spent in-between shifts. I also like how I can break this turbocharger and not be out of $3000 in addition to whatever else I took out in the process.

I am also working on procuring a composite dash that I think will work better than the OE solution and means that I don't have to cut up an original one.

Side note: if you all end up watching the National Dog Show on NBC today, you'll probably see me in the hound group hanging around an Afghan in the background. Pictured below is my boy Tommy. His hobbies are eating food and sleeping.

 

Hey folks. I am slowly coming back toward RX-7 world from poodle purgatory as we are nearing completion of fabrication of the roll cage, which means that I'll need to get the remaining pieces I've been dragging my feet on and fix my garage. I think it probably has another month left as all of the little fab tasks that come after the cage still need to be done.







We're getting there slowly but surely. I am going to try very hard to keep this moving at a respectable pace as I have recently discovered (poodle) women (they're about as nuts as we are) and suspect that this could bring this operation to a grinding halt for at least 10 year if I am not careful.

The semester starts on the 13th and I have almost of my major-specific courses done. Now I have to take all of those electives... Should be done by the end of the year if It all works out.

Side note: In the off chance that any of you all are planning on attending the Westminster Dog Show, let me know. I will be there conducting my nonsense.

 

This made me seriously LOL

 

Cage looks great!

 

Very tidy fabrication - love how much headroom they gave you

How are you planning to mount your seat?

 

Not just headroom, seat backspace too!

 

Thanks folks! I am pleasantly surprised that we were able to get it as tight as we were.
I have some ideas on the seat mounting. I will likely have some 1x1 or 2x2 square tubing welded to the sills and floor since it will have more surface area than going straight into the (kind of flimsy) floorpan. I might have them go across the entire floor if it doesn't look like it's going to raise the seat too much.
The transmission tunnel is probably going to get cut up on the drivers side to a degree to move the seat inboard if there is less space between it and the door bar than I'd like. If we end up doing that, It probably won't be more than an inch or two at most.

 

That sounds like a good plan Simon

My friend Jamie has a similar setup on his Mitch Piper cage for his FD if you want me to track down some reference pictures for ya

 

That would be appreciated!

Forgot to add a photo of these, but they arrived while I was in Ohio and Pittsburgh last week. I actually forgot that I purchased them. I would have liked to keep the original pop-ups but I need space for packaging (air filter and headlight bucket alterations to allow the use of a 285/650r18 sized tire in the front) and apparently someone is working on a solution for series 6 bumper lights that work better than the originals anyway.

I probably should have asked if they would have done them in fiberglass because they're going to get painted over, which is kind of a shame because the finishing work is so nice.

 

I scored a set of these as well. Weight savings in progress!

 

Just how big are those tires that you have to remove the popups? lol

I have 285/35-18 Vitours in the front that are rubbing the metal under the light on full lock, but it looks like it's just going to require a little clearancing, not getting rid of the whole thing.

The cage looks good!

 

Thanks speedjunkie!
I have (or had) some photos from a forum post from someone who did it (I think it was Diyman25 and maybe someone else?) They didn't have to remove very much and they probably could have left them but I think it may encroach on the area where the headlight sits in the down position slightly but I have no clue if it will contact the light, but I do believe that it would hit the part of the headlight bucket that was there. I'll have to look for some photos!

What's the overall height of your tires? I know that the 285/30r18 a lot of people use is somewhere around 24.7". A 285/650r18 slick is about 25.6" and while the rear will accomodate the height, you kind of end up having to raise the ride height to make them work in the front, which doesn't seem to be the end of the world. I thin smokey the talon did that when he was using pirelli slicks (at least that's what I recall them being, but it has been a long while)

It really isn't necessary but I wanted to be able to fit those sizes so I could get away with used slicks later on as opposed 200tw stuff that was really designed for high performance street and autox use that don't seem to like the heat track use puts into them for very long. However, they'll have to come off if I want to do competitive stuff with them that doesn't involve spending cubic monies and setting it on fire like the folks who participate in FIA GT3 recreationally.

Side note: I'm still working on getting that oil pan info you wanted. There is just a little problem: I have no idea where I put it. Couldn't find it in my garage (and I am fairly certain I put it there) or my apartment.

 

I can't remember if you posted about it previously or not- while the car is at the fab shop are you going to have the front UCA mounts reinforced?

 

Yes, I made reference to it earlier in the thread. I was going to have the guy who I do most of my fabrication work do that as it doesn't require the same amount of complexity of the roll cage. Realistically any competent fabricator should be able to do it in their sleep, haha,

If I can remind myself to dig up the post later I'll quote it so you can see it.

 

Any member cut their FD3s frame rail inorder to get proper suspension stroke - RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum
Found the post. Thanks for the heads up!

I was looking up that info when I posted before but I can't find it. I believe it's about 25.5" from when I measured them when I first put them on, but I don't remember for sure. If I can remember I'll measure them tonight when I get home. It could be that I have to remove much more metal than I thought lol.

No worries on that anymore. I have my car back in my possession, I can measure mine now, I just haven't yet lol. Thank you though!

 

Hey folks.
I went to the fabrication shop to check out the car and get the seat and steering column fitted. We also have a pretty good idea on where the pedals are going to go too. Might also be changing my manifold plans as it turns out that you can get much more intricate with 3d printed manifolds for less than what it would cost to fabricate them with less good results. I know they'll do inconel but we'll see what kind of obscene amount that adds a premium over what I believe is 321 stainless. If worst comes to worst I will just have them make the flange thickness 0.625" or something like that and see how quickly it warps and work from there.

Pictures below.









As it turns out, I have way more space in there than I thought I would and we lucked out with the position of the harness bar, as it is directly in line with my shoulders. We were also able to get the seat as far back as it would physically go, which also means that anyone with longer legs than myself will likely have a not so great time fitting in there. I also seem to have no less headroom than I did before, which is very nice and It is much easier to get in and out than I thought it would be.

The section forward of the firewall still needs to be fit up but I am told that it shouldn't be too much trouble. I'll have photos of that to share when it is done.

I also made a slight revision to my ECU choice. I was pretty interested in the Syvecs/Life Racing stuff, but after getting to see the Emtron software and functionality and speaking to someone who knows probably more than anyone would care to learn about ECU design and functionality, it is probably the best option for what I am trying to do and doesn't involve me having to spend well over the price of a KV8 in add-on boxes (with a locked CAN profile so you can only use their products!) and I can set it up to run a stepper motor for the oil metering pump, in addition to (in my opinion after the lecture I received on fuel modeling) better software. I even got to see them set up water injection in less than 2 minutes, which was pretty neat.

Thanks for reading!