darkhaven

I'm thinking about setting a gen one Rx7 up as a lemon racer. One of the Track rules is that you can only use water for coolant no antifreeze or additives. I had one of these about 16 years ago lol and cant remember how hot it ran. Anyone have any thoughts on if a rotary can be run 24hours + with out over heating on water only?

gerald m

It seems that the older rotary's at best have a inadequate cooling system . being the fact that water is being used should make very little difference . The engine will overheat just as easily on antifreeze the only benefit would be with antifreeze would boils at a few degrees higher temp . to be safe you would probably need to change the radiator system to something with more efficiency and cooling fans with possibly more air flow with all shrouds in place . there are all kinds of rotary's being raced with few problems, but you will need to upgrade . someone will probably chime in that has done things like this .You would for sure need to use the proper thermostat with a jiggle pin .

darkhaven

hmmm maybe i can stick the heater core in line with the radiator under the hood somewhere and make an air dam to blow on it. lol the biggest rule is that the car along with any upgrades (besides safety gear) cant cost more than $500 all together

gerald m

I don't think that will cut it but it might help a tad . IMO you will need a rad with a larger cooling capacity , that doesn't mean you need a new one , there are all kinds of larger core rads that could be adapted from the wreckers or what ever .
There might be someone on the for sale area in this forum that could have something you will need lots of air moving through the rad and also somewhere for that hot air to escape from under the hood , if you use a hood .
You might not have enough posts yet to put in a wanted thread but you can go through them and just send a PM to the seller if you find something that interests you , Most of the people on this forum are straight up good people . One thing the rad and engine should be drained of water between races and fill with some kind of coolant that will help stop corrosion etc. Just drain and save and refill with water when you race as the cast iron parts on the little engines seem prone to rust and corrosion . JMO

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

We used to run a 1st gen in lemons, and cooling was always priority #1. Upgrade to an all metal rad and scuff it up saying you got it 'used'. Ducting is important so make sure you're getting all the air you can through the rad. Underdrive main pulley and a hollowed out thermostat will make if better suited for high rpm operation. A small electric fan (any stock a/c fan) should be enough to keep it cool during yellows/idling.

darkhaven

Sweetness sounds like a plan thanks. was the car ever victim to the

1.6: Your Car May Be Destroyed at Any Time: In addition to accidents and other unfortunate boo-boos, one car may be selected by blind ballot of all teams for immediate removal and total destruction. It could be your car. It probably WILL BE your car. You'll have 30 minutes to yank out any safety items you want to rescue, and then it's toast. Them's the breaks. Don't bring it if you ain't OK with losing it.

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

Fotrunately not, but that was easily among the most entertaining aspects of the race. Our car was a victim of trying to stick to the $500 price limit. It's tough to get a reliable race car under the price limit. You either need an awesome theme, a shop to 'find' parts at, or bribe.
If you're bringing an rx7, be prepared to take a lot of heat during tech inspection. They are quite jaded to rx7's and e30's.

darkhaven

nice. I was leaning towards the Rx7 or E21 more towards the Rx7 with it being lighter and a better weight ratio. I have a couple pretty big pick your own parts type salvage yards by me so hopefully pieces wont be to bad once i decide on a car. you guys make your own cage or did you get a pre fab one?

RXSpeed16

iTrader: (41)

We actually rescued an old pro-7 chassis from a field, so it came with the cage. Probably another reason we didn't get much love from the judges. It was fast though.

One issue we ran into is that the halo bar was too close to the driver's head. It was a well made cage, but there just isn't much room there. So we ended up moving the seat closer to the trans tunnel and tilted it slightly inwards to get clearance. It was weird sitting with the steering wheel slightly offset, but it worked.

Kentetsu

Make sure the radiator is in good shape. Beyond that, maybe pick up a pair of 1st gen MR2 fans and a 20 dollar fan controller from autozone. Combine that with a 170 (I think that's what I run) and have the fans come on at 190 or so (that way you don't end up with the thermostat fighting the fans).

With that setup (and straight water), I daily drive, autocross, and take cross country trips. Never have I had an issue with cooling. I think you'd be just fine.




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darkhaven

Very nice. yah the judges def look like they have their favorites. There was a bloody porsche 411 out there running when my friend and i went to watch last season Half the reason i joined on here was hoping i could find someone who got a gen1 just for the interior and want to get get rid of the rest that kinda drives kinda shifts lol. speaking of which i have ten post now lol onto to the wanted to buy.

darkhaven

sweetness that is good to hear. now to find a car lol

ChunkyMonkey

iTrader: (1)

I donated my old first gen to a member/friend of this forum for Lemon/Chump racing.