Hello Everyone

I would like some insight from RX-7 FC Owners.

Until the day after Thanksgiving, I was the owner of a 2000 Honda Civic SI, which I was building for Road Racing/SCCA. It was nothing special, in terms of power, as I had planned on building the B16. I did have fully gutted interior, custom weld-in 6-pt roll cage, kevlar bucket seats, 4-pt harness, suspension upgrades along with other things. It was in pristine condition, before the jerk off slammed into me from behind at 40MPH. I am still in the process of settling with his Insurance.

I have no interest in buying another Civic and moving over my parts- I had that car for more than 5 years and told myself that was my first and last Honda, as I was building it. I had very good times with that car and I do miss it and feel our relationship was somewhat short-lived, but I am ready for something else. I feel like I may have outgrown that car.

While I was at the shop that installed my roll cage, I saw an RX-7 FC somewhat beat up with a body kit, mismatched panels, even noticed a leak in the interior (it was raining!). It was a customers car, but the owner was not in sight, so I do not know what is done motor-wise.

The only way that can accurately describe how I felt when I saw this car is, "It was love at first sight"

I peeped thru the window and walked around the car like 10x and stared at it a good while and thought to myself, "I can **** with this car"

I see this car and I see so many possibilities, I see this beautiful canvas not entirely blank, but so much potential and I feel like this is a more suitable platform for what I want to do.

I don't know how much I am going to get from this settlement. I am still grieving, but at the same time I see this as a perfect opportunity to start something new and when I saw that RX-7 I was INSTANTLY excited and optimistic and just str8 up STOKED, but at the same time scared that this is an entirely different animal.

Up until my final days with my SI, I was so confident and comfortable getting to wrench on my car alone. I'm not sure I feel that same confidence with this RX-7, but at the same time, I'm still excited to learn. But not sure how the hell I am going to do this, since I have ZERO friends that own Mazda.

I want to do a LS1 swap, but I feel weird about handing the car over to the shop and dropping $8K. My whole fascination with cars is that I enjoy working on it myself. But I am limited in my abilities and knowledge.

Ultimately, I just want to have fun- and when I saw the RX-7 there... I felt like I had found what I was looking for. I can really see myself having fun with that car. I think it might suit my personality more and is a better platform for me. I want to get serious and I want to go to the track. I am not so concerned with ridiculous horsepower, I just want something reliable that I will be able to maintain. As of right now, I have zero desire to use this car to learn how to drift. I would like to build a car for road race and time attack events, and this car will be my daily driver.

Tell me if I am wrong in considering the RX-7 FC for what I want to do. I don't know if I am being practical or realistic, or if I am just seriously infatuated with the idea.

 

lol, welcome!

 

hi i have an 88 GXL fc and i have been nothing but happy with it. id say about 90 percent of my time with her has been turnin wrenches but thats just cuz mine needed some work done to be road worthy. i think youll find the fc3s a much more fun and capable chasis if you plan to race. fell free to pm me with any questions about the fc ill be glad to help as best i can.

 

the rx7 is a great car for any form of racing, as long as its still rotary powered

 

ive seen plenty of ls1 and even lt1 swapped 7's that dominate at their local road courses. and their more reliable most of the time. i will always prefer my rotary but thats my choice and my driving style. to each his own

 

I personally know people with LSx swapped FCs and FDs who have blown their 'reliable' V8s on the road course. Its not the motor that makes a car reliable. Its the overall setup.

The FC is a proven, reasonably priced chassis for track duty. However, if your goal is to race the car, then you need to follow that organizations rules. Each class has a strict rule set of what parts are allowed. Its also cheaper to buy a built race car than it is to actually build a similar car.

Get a better idea of what your goals are - race car or track car or just a fun modding project and then do research on what the different organizations rule set is before pissing away your money.

One more thing, make friends with the forum's Search functionality and the FAQ threads where good knowledge has already been archived. People don't like repeating themselves over and over.

If racing is your interest, buy and read this book:
http://goaheadtakethewheel.com/How_to_Start_Racing.html

 

sounds like they had some issues with their v8's to me. ive seen v8 fc's and fd's go for 100's of thousands of daily and track miles. i know a guy that takes his corvette powered fc to the autocross every summer in binghampton, NY

 

im not saying v8s arnt reliable or that they dont make good power but rx7 ame with rotary engines for a reason, i would just like people to consider building on the wankel before they just throw a v8 in but thats my opinon and im not hating on people who have done it

 

I am an American car guy, the Rx7 is my only foreign car and I have had lots of American muscle in the past that I have built engines for. A v8 seems like a cheaper way to make big power (and I'm sure it is just by virtue of anybody can make big power with relatively huge displacement) but the rotary is a much cooler way to make power!! I have a brand new 350 chevy with a roller cam and aftermarket heads, that I put in a total piece of junk 76 Firebird Formula, that sits next to my 87 FC in the hobby garage, and it did make me think, what if I just put that fresh engine in the RX7, but I came to the conclusion, nah its a cool car because it has the very unusual rotary engine in it.

 

Lovely
I love hearing this sort of stuff. I would say stick with a rotary engine in it. More work to maintain, but nothing like that 1.3l rotary roar

welcome btw,

also if you're looking for some more info on fc's you might wanna check out

teamfc3s.org

cheers

 

lol love the movie reference leeloo

 

i totally agree. as i said i stick with my rotary for good lol

 

Suffice to say the oiling systems on the LSX series motors leaves something to be desired when used on track. At the minimum, they need an Accusump and a better oil pump (according the people I know who track them).

Whenever you start talking about serious track duty or road race scenarios, you have to give the supporting systems a serious look. Sometimes **** happens and you just don't know what issues you will experience till you hit it. That is one of the good things about the rules around race classes.

 

welcome

 

yea them rules are there for good reason lol

 

Thank You for the Welcome, guys

OH and thank you for the links-- there are a couple other forums I am going to go join. This is really great, I am looking forward to expanding my networks. Not sure if anyone here has noticed, but Honda people tend to only flock with their own. I am really looking forward to getting into something more serious. Maybe that is the wrong word, but I get tired of being type-cast. I just want to have fun and be legit. I am really excited about meeting people that actually drive their cars and know what they are talking about LOL!

All I know is that I saw the RX-7 and I just saw so many possibilities man, I just got very excited and optimistic.

I actually spoke to the guy that wrote that book "Go Ahead Take the Wheel", on the Honda Forums, and I meant to buy the book from his website, but I got distracted by other things (DIY) at the time.

My initial reaction, to get a swap, is mainly from my concern that I heard so many horror stories about the rotary, moreover, it is an old car and I am already anticipating problems lol. But I think my main goal right now is to settle with Insurance and to find some local guys that own FC's and maybe talk them into letting me drive around the block or something LOL

Also, I have to read up on what class a motor swap will place me in SCCA, since my old project car, that wasn't an issue...

Thank You guys so much, really hope everything works out for me

 

SCCA will put you in ITE or SP. Big money classes. Most of the winners or high placing cars in that class have upwards of $20k in their cars. Some over $100k. One of our FD board members runs ITE here in the SF Region of SCCa.

If you want to race, buy the book before spending any money. If you want to build a car, think NASA. Their race classing rules are more on target for those looking to mod their cars beyond what the rules allow.

Do your research. Talk to lots of people.

 

Hi, thank you for your advice. I was reading this Thread lastnight and found it helpful--

https://www.rx7club.com/race-car-tech-103/faq-so-you-want-get-started-racing-hpde-870627/

Also watched those NASA videos, they seem more forgiving

Thanks a lot!!