njhns92

Okay its been a while since I've owned my RX7 and a while since its been sitting in my garage not running haha. I thought its about time I started my build thread!! Why did I label it as a "Company Time Attack Car?" Well... as an aspiring engineering student and avid racing enthusiast I've learned very early on in life that racing is a very difficult hobby to get in to... let alone stay in. So I have started my own business pursuit: Built 2 Apex. I will design, test, and eventually make available to the market racing parts solely designed to be affordable and completely functional. The test platform: My S5 GXL RX7. It will be built in stages due to financial complications (I am only a student after all) but expect to see some new and unique aero designs to be tested on this car.

Stage 1:

Rebuild the car for reliability and reduce weight as much as possible
The goal of the first stage is two fold: save me money, and show you how anyone can get into racing, especially with a little help from Built 2 Apex

And there will be plenty of pictures I promise, I just don't have any on the computer I'm posting from haha soon as I get home I'll show you where I'm at.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Congratulations on your passion and choice of hobby...racing can be very rewarding.

I only see two issues...
-"Anyone can get into racing" is true, staying at the track is the the part that gets 99% of people. Presumably you already have some experience and are aware of the sacrifices involved.
Presumably you also have a trust fund, a sugar daddy or a foolproof plan to rob a bank.

-How are you going to be designing, testing and fabricating parts for an obsolete platform as a full time student?

njhns92

All of these are just tear down state. More serious assembly work will follow once I have acquired the funds needed for the rebuild.










I still have to completely remove the tar (yay) before I can finish prep work in the cockpit. For now it will just be repainted but eventually a full race roll cage will be fitted.

njhns92

HA! That sir is very true!! I am completely aware of the sacrifices involved, which will make success ever so much more valuable when I attain it! The car will triple as my Company Car, Senior Project, and Race Car. One to showcase prototype work, one to fit into my curriculum so I may actually spend time on it, and one to develop my skills as a driver. It may be an obsolete platform, but a great one to begin to learn the "tricks of the trade" if you will. Being fast in an underdog car is not easy; showing future customers whats really important to stay competitive in racing will essentially be my advertisement. It doesn't take a well built car from the factory to race, those are meant for the commuting roads. It takes a well built race car to race, and that can be built out of almost any chassis, especially one that was designed by Mazda haha.

Edit: Seems my photos did not work however, I apologize for that I will try again

njhns92

sharingan 19

iTrader: (16)

Love the concept and it looks like youre off to a good start. Zip lock bags ftw!

njhns92

Thank you sir! Haha and oh yes, zip lock bags have proven to be my best friends so far XD

88fc3sT2

iTrader: (1)

Sub'd! Looks like you're off to a good start.

7speed

I like how ambitious you are, but it just seems a bit of a pity that you tore apart such a mint car. That interior looked 10/10! Also, any plans on forced induction seeing as it will be a race car? Lastly, what type of performance parts are you going to develop? Looks good, I'm just curious.

njhns92

Thank you!!

I'm not going to lie to you, I was a little hesitant, but rest assured all the original parts (minus the A/C) will be kept...

For now, power is not a concern. I'm rebuilding the stock engine with minor performance upgrades and major reliability upgrades. Eventually, a 20B turbo will occupy the engine bay when it is ready to compete in more worldly time attack ventures

Products will include aero enhancements, suspension components, and turbo/cooling enhancement modifications. Services will include custom design and engineering projects, full race car builds, and other things of the sort (excuse the vague nature of my response lol)

Furb

iTrader: (2)

In what way will you be setting yourself and your parts aside from all the companies with years of experience that already mass produce performance, suspension and aero parts for reasonable prices??

I mean, i encourage the idea, i engineered parts for my own car..
but you really got to add the WOW factor to custom, small scale production parts that will be overpriced to make any money out of it, let alone keep the buisiness from going out of buisiness

njhns92

Something I have noticed with a majority of these aftermarket parts manufacturers is someway, somehow, there is a level of cosmetic appeal to sell the product. Built 2 Apex is purely motivated to build performance parts that function to their fullest potential. Performance sells itself. And it won't be solely a parts manufacturing business; it is a hybrid racing team, general engineering firm, and research/parts development company. Keep in mind, my FC is the platform for now, but I plan to expand to all other areas of racing and to different classes of vehicles. It is only a matter of gaining reputation (once the FC is finished and I can prove its performance in events) and gaining the credentials to say I know what I am doing (my degree in engineering.... one more year to go!)

sharingan 19

iTrader: (16)

I'd focus on an area that is underserved by the current crop of companies, find a niche if you will. It really only takes one successful product to establish a name for yourself.

njhns92

Primered the engine bay and currently laying down the first coat of white
I'll be working on the cockpit next then parts can start going back INTO the car instead of out of the car hahaha

njhns92

njhns92

njhns92

njhns92

Firstly, Sorry for the late update. I've been too busy working on the car haha.
A lot of painting, assembling, and things of the sort haha. That was my friend helping me paint the cockpit and engine bay. Other than that I did all the work on the car up to this point. May I just highlight how much I love that the ENTIRE engine fits on a shelf with room to spare?? hahahaha rotaries are awesome. Check out the website for more updates too I have some product updates over there
built2apex.com

REAmemiya_fan

I applaud you sir. I cannot wait until I have the time/resources to do this myself. Keep going!!

Broke_A_Baller

iTrader: (26)

good build...I wish I would have used dry ice to remove the sound dampening material from my car...

did you use a single stage on the bay and inside?

njhns92

Thank you very much my friend!

Stage of paint you mean? yes just a primer and a color, only needed to cover the bare metal to avoid rusting.

I used dry ice once i needed about 35 pounds of it haha but it got most of it off. I didnt learn about using a heat gun till way later that helped on the firewall but I wish I would've known about it for the transmission tunnel too lol.

Dovid

wow ! beautiful work !

Broke_A_Baller

iTrader: (26)

I meant did the paint have a built in clear...but anyways...I am somewhat regretting using the heat gun lol...ugly tar still on the floor....I got a lot off with some paint stripper, but still not like I would like it to be...I may just end up priming the entire inside before this winter because I dont want to look at it hahah

crazyboosta

You're building a race car with no cage?!?!

njhns92

Thank you very much!

Two stages... haha sorry didnt completely understand the first time XD I used brake parts cleaner to remove that nasty residue and for the really annoying stuff you can use a can of 3M Citrus Base Cleaner... its 30 dollars a can haha but one can should clean the whole car. There is also cans of tar remover from autozone/oreilly/etc. but I never used those not sure how well they work. You dont want to paint over the tar though take the time to clean the residue there are better cleaners out there

It would be a joke of a race car without a cage huh? hahaha I assure you there will be an SCCA legal 6-point cage in there soon. I'm still doing some mock up work before I send it off to my builder to install the cage (and I need a bit of money haha) You can see the rough design on my website if you would like: built2apex.com