That watt's bracket is beefy as hell! Should be plenty strong

 

It's iron, too. I think its for a PT Cruiser. I started with a used one off a Crown Victoria. Too odd.
I'm a little concerned for this AAM aluminum cover, but I need something in there now, even if I have to redo it in an LPW cover later. That bolt is through 2 thin layers of aluminum.
It helps to get replies, otherwise its like: Why bother posting? So I definitely thank you for that!
My '86 Camaro is being totally neglected.

 

I wasn't trying to be hurtful, but maybe that was failing to give due credit. Still when 99% of FBs are rotary or V8 swap for power, it's all been done before, and for many, it is difficult to take interest in what isn't fresh and different.
When I find something I like, the thread's starter has no idea who made his parts, nor who sells copies. That's frustrating.
On a related note, just 2 days ago, some local guy was trying to trade his costly CNC-ported LSx heads for stockers, so I asked him if his had had the swirl ramps ported out, and the guy had no clue what I meant! At least he admitted it, but then he failed to ask what difference it makes! How can guys spend so much on cars, only to not know what they're buying?
Rant over.
Now you bring up a point I appreciate you bringing up:
I have visions and plans, hopes and goals, for my cars, and this RX-7 isn't mine. Not my money, not my name on the title, not built the way I want, or it would have IRS, and be built to see what MPG a V8 can do in it. It is my work, my figuring things out, so I'm invested in it. The goal is to average 40 MPG on the open highway, and work up to being able to spike 50. We looked at a lot of different cars, looking for what was light, low drag, no rust, never crashed, and had enough potential.
Then It needed to drive very different, and much better, than the owner's '09 Pontiac G3. So no 4 cylinder, and no automatic. I chose a known-efficient V6 that's readily available cheap, reliable, low emissions, and that's why I did this. Every other part underhood, and in the drivetrain, is just supporting mods.
The big brake upgrade isn't because she would ever need them, she won't. They're firstly because they're very little extra cost. Second, she'll never notice the difference in handling from the extra unsprung weight. Third, I need to show I can give potential customers truly great brakes for far less than any kit. Especially when no kit exists. And last, I wanted the practice. Besides, there's no such thing as too much brakes.
I'm hoping to retrofit the ABS from an '89 S-10 Tahoe 4.3 A/T 2WDRCSB, or similar.
I only post pics of things that turned out well, pretty or not, because this is a daily driver. If my next customer is willing to pay for things to look show-worthy, great. But this customer doesn't care, and really can't afford everything I want to do, only what's necessary. As soon as I'm "done", she's selling the '09 to pay off this credit card build, which goes farther over the original budget every month. I'm now $200-ish into the hoses and fittings to adapt the GM P/S pump to the Mazda rack, and I don't yet have all the parts I ordered in hand. But what's stressful is trying to adapt the Wilwood clutch master ( sold as a brake master cylinder ) to the Mazda pedal. By far the most stressful part of this entire build.
So the p/s reservoir, relocating the alternator, fabbing brackets to do that, none of that was part of the vision, except to figure out what's necessary to make this swap work, then do whatever I figure out. In that, this build is rather easy because it isn't for show.
Today I'm dropping the axle, which I'm not happy about, do redo my bracketry for the suspension.
Oh, there's one other stressful bit: I have a mystery wire sticking out of the wiring harness I made for this engine. I hope it will fire up with that wire not connected.

 

I feel your frustration regarding comments to a build tread. The comments are motivational. You can also gauge interest by the number of views.


Regarding your watts mount. The center link itself should be more than fine but I don't think what you are mounting it to will last. I have seen/worked with watts mounts that use an aluminum rear cover for a Ford 8.8 that was made by Griggs Racing and it was pretty beefy. Here is a link to their current offering: Griggs Racing Products


Personally I think that it would be expensive to replicate the Griggs part so starting with an OE steel rear cover would be a better choice. But even with a steel cover you need to plan on doing a weld on mount that is heavily reinforced. Making it a double shear mount like the Griggs piece would be worth doing as well.


There is allot of force going through a watts pivot pin and the OE Mazda watts link pin will fail in racing applications even though they are made of strong stuff. I am talking about a race car with stock power and smallish 13" racing DOT tires. Common enough that there is a double shear brace allowed in Pro 7 and those cars are pretty stock and run crappie tires.

 

Thank you!
As soon as it's ready for the show, I'll get back to the diff cover issue, if it isn't already Panhard by then. The tank straps are in the way, I just discovered last night, so now I have to re-evaluate.
I haven't given up on the idea of fabricating a steel diff cover, at least 1/4" thick, but unlike those race cars, this car will never see 1g lateral loading. The thick-steel cover would both mount the Watt's and reinforce the third link.
At least the bolt head is clearing the ring gear. Probably wouldn't with 4.11:1, or 4.56:1 gears, but these 2.29s give lots of room, so the 2.41s should also be ok if needed.

 

Yeah it feels good to get comments in your threads. Keeping a log of your work and presenting it in a way that actually makes sense, and makes people want to read along, and not just look at the pictures takes effort. It's nice to know it's actually being read

I'm definitely watching this, even if I don't always comment. Always cool to see a different approach to a build

Guess it's time to get a thread together for my current project, lots of custom little touches you guys might appreciate it.

 

 

Now that I got the lateral location finalized with a Panhard bar, I went back and cross-braced the Panhard mounting.

 

Today I'm removing the steering rack again, because the 12 x 1.5 don't fit. Wasted $10 learning that. The only 6AN to 12x1.25 I could find, Earl's 991945erl, are short, and the threads in the rack start deep, so I need to grind down to where the threads begin.
I ordered everything else for the rear brakes, I'm getting tired of removing and reinstalling the rear axle assembly.

 

I thought I'd use some 1/8-inch by 2 inch by 2 inch angle iron for building radiator mounts, so this is just getting ready to design those:

 

So here it is: For about the cost of replacing the 10.5" rotors, it now has 11.3" rotors, no need to spend hundreds. Just a cutting disc and a grinding disc for my angle grinder, $1.43 of spare steel, a few rods for my stick welder, and a little electricity, it looks better, resists fade better, and stops shorter when loaded.

 

I'm not happy with the current wheel / tire package, how it fits or how it looks. I'm leaning toward tucking some 7.5s, at least 16s. If I go 17s then I'd be doing even larger front rotors. But that would make the Mercedes-sourced Brembos easier.

Current plan is finish the rear brakes, then rear shock mounts, rear spring seats, followed by the rear anti-roll bar, before the exhaust and fuel pump.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WOWSER! Impressive work.

 

Thank you!