This is the video I did showing how I replaced the ball joints on the FB.

It was honestly a very frustrating and annoying job, probably one of the worst I've ever done on a first gen. The video says enough:

 

Also, since people constantly ask me about how I ran a TII transmission from a Turbo 2 FC RX-7 in my FB RX7 I figure I should post this video here as well.

Honestly, it's really simple so long as you follow a formula:
Counterweight to match the engine rotating assembly
Flywheel to match the transmission you want to run
Starter to match the flywheel and transmission you're running

 

So I had a problem with the ignition cylinder in the FB! I went to turn the key to do a test and I could feel the little plastic tab snap off as I turned the cylinder.

Here's the video I did on the subject and a bunch of pictures afterwards for clarity's sake:








Bolts to replace the ones you have to cut off:

 

This is a section where I show how I wired in a super simple ignition setup in the FB. It works great for a carburetor powered setup and is basically just the stock wiring setup for a 12a ignition system.


Setting the whole thing up on the bench:


Pair of nasty old coils with the wiring leads hooked up for lengths.


Distributor ends getting figured out:


Entire setup mocked up on the bench:




Coil-side of the setup:

 

I decided to put a sound system in this car. I'm still a little hazy as to why I decided to do this (since I won't be able to hear it), but hey - made for a good video and a few pictures!


One empty looking radio area!


Got some of the wiring in there:


Used the Metra kit to install a single din in the car.


In the process of everything:


The numbers on the Metra kit that I used:


Everything is together and ready to get dropped in:


Everything is in there and off:


When everything fires up:

 

Since I knew that I would have to tune a carburetor in this car I figured I should install a wideband O2 sensor so that I don't screw up the motor. I did a short video explaining how I installed it and a few more pictures to follow.


Some of the wiring for the gauge itself:


What the backside of the gauge looks like when fully installed:




Once it sits flush it's actually quite nice!


Here it is fully installed and ready to rip!

 

I picked up this old Autopower bolt-in roll cage setup a while back in an old FB racecar that someone had. I got a killer deal on it and figured I should put it in! Which came with it's ups and downs in many regards:


Notice how there's no passenger-side harness bar? That bothered me.


Let's weld one there!


Sure, that'll work. After all, welding is an additive process!


Got it all welded together:


Ended up a little lower than the other side, but I don't really care too much.




Fitment behind the driver's side seat (hint: the Corbeau doesn't fit).


Fitment behind the passenger's side seat:


How the whole thing looks from the backside of the car:

 

A few pictures of it painted and what the front bars would look like in the car:





Semi-Gloss Black with Satin Clear Coat over the top, both from Rustoleum rattle cans, not bad!


Passenger side front bar mocked up:




Driver side front bar mocked up:

 

photobucket sucks and is killing your thread!

 

Yes it sure does suck! Working on fixing this entire thread right now, should be working well. Since I can now edit my posts again I'm attaching everything to the forum posts themselves so they'll never go anywhere again. Unless the forum decides to start charging me for how many pictures I use, which I wouldn't blame them for

 

So, will a Corbeau Forza Wide seat fit in a FB RX-7? Watch this and find out!


Or I'll just tell ya; No, it doesn't fit. It's too wide at the base and it hits the e-brake on the driver's side and I guarantee that it would hit the same thing on the passenger's side (but the shifter surround part over there).

 

I've always wondered if those eBay aluminum radiators were worth my time to mess with. Turns out they are! I bought a cheap one and installed it in the FB and it's worked well so far. Granted, I only have a few miles on it as of yet but it's not leaking any coolant yet! Will post more info on it if the need arises.

 

I've always read about the Miata short throw shifter install in an RX-7 but never did one for myself. I don't have any pics of it installed at the moment, but will post some later. This is my installation video, shows how I was able to get the thing in there and ready to rock.

 

If you want to keep up to date on everything that I'm up to please subscribe to the following accounts, you'll be first to hear about things that are happening with me and my builds!

YouTube - DreamInRotary Youtube Channel
Facebook - Facebook -Midwest Mazda RX-7's Facebook Page
RX8Club - RX8Club.com DreamInRotary User
RX7Club - RX7Club.com DreamInRotary User
Instagram - @dreaminrotary
eBay - eBay.com DreamInRotary User

 

ahhh, much better! nice to see that u are still working on the car(s).

 

This car now runs and drives, I will edit some video and post it up on YouTube so that it can easily be shared here. Been making more progress on it lately but I have big plans for this upcoming winter

 

This is my 3,000th post on the forum!

Long time, no update! What can I say...life gets in the way.

Last post here was 10/13/2017 - a grand total of 588 days ago. For those of you who care about the personal stuff in car builds that gets in the way, feel free to read on before getting to the pictures and videos.
In these last 588 days I've done the following:

• I finished 4 semesters of school towards my Bachelor's of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) and I'm now working as an intern at a large engineering company in Minneapolis.
• I have 2 years left (another 4 semesters) to finish my degree and will finally start engineering full-time.
• My wife finished her Associates Degree in Nursing (RN) and is starting her new job on Thursday.
• She has one year left and will graduate with her Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) next May.
• We have lived in the same house this entire time, but we are moving this month. I lived in the house we are going to for about 2 years, and left there about 3 years ago now. The place we are going to we will be buying from my grandparents, as they want out and we need a house - the timing worked out perfectly. The garage that I'm going back into is the one where the concept for Dream In Rotary started and where my first videos came from. We will be renovating it and I'll be making the garage into the nicest working space I've ever had, and the house into the nicest place we've ever lived in.

I also bought the most maintenance-***** car on the planet and made a separate build thread for that, feel free to check that out if you feel so inclined:
Allroad "411R0AD" Stage 2 Build - No Bolt Left Un-turned!

During this time the car has gone through a few different stages, none of which were extremely happy or well-sorted.

I had the S5 NA 13b engine from an S5 FC in the car, running with a Mikuni PHH 44 (hogged out to 48mm). I wound up doing a video describing what it was like to startup the car for the first time, was kind of a **** show but funny enough in hindsight.

I have some video of that in the car and running, one edit of which is up on YouTube:

I have more video from inside the car, while running and driving it but it's not included in that video. I'm not sure if I have enough material to justify making a second video with the remaining footage, might just keep it for my own personal enjoyment.

So why isn't it currently an S5 NA Carb setup?!?
The biggest reason was a faulty oil pan stud installation. This issue stopped all progress on the car while I was trying to remedy this:

Then I lost interest in it because I was too lazy to deal with it while school started to ramp up.

The long answer in a nutshell is that I was selling the swap to a buddy for $1,500 fully-installed. He paid half down for the swap in October of 2017 and we never completed the deal. I refunded him the money in the spring of 2018 and ended up tearing down the engine to sell parts. I've just started selling off those parts to fund my next endeavor as I won't need any of them anymore.

When the car was up and running it looked like this:


So what's been going on with the car?!?
The car has mainly just been sitting around, waiting to be built. I've accumulated a ton of parts for it over the last 2 years and am just now getting the motivation and time to finally get it together.
Just a small list of parts would include a full S4 TII keg, another S4 TII transmission (I already have one in the car), a big Turbonetics turbo setup, tons of interior parts, as well as a never-ending list of little things that I picked up over time.

I wound up pulling and tearing down the engine that was in it:


I wound up pulling an S4 TII keg and transmission from the old S4 TII blue/blue FC that I originally bought, then sold to my brother, then he wanted to get rid of. So I bought that setup from him and plan on using it in this car.


Over Christmas I picked up a big turbo kit for the car, not sure if I'll end up running it or not - time will tell.


Just recently I went to the junkyard on a mission and pulled an FC front subframe full swap for the car, got it all for $250.01!


To the best of my knowledge, the car hadn't been outside the garage walls since around September of 2017...somewhere near 600 days of garage time...such a sad realization now that I'm typing it.

She saw the light of day with my other soon-to-be-gone maintenance ***** on Sunday, gave it a hand washing and pushed it back in the garage for the time being.



So this is where the car currently sits, as seen in the last picture.
There are huge plans coming up extremely quickly, that I will make sure to document thoroughly. I won't give up the ghost before it comes fully to fruition, just know it's gonna be good!

Thanks for all the support guys, I always appreciate it.
Austin

 

Not to forget that I took a few days if your time sorting mine out

 

Hey man. Just thought of you and your build, glad to see you're still going at it with all the schooling and moving! Love your build.