Another Use for those early RX-7 Alloys
06-24-09, 09:30 AM
#1
Another Use for those early RX-7 Alloys
Well, I recently got a new toy, actually a toy truck, and my friend Kenny Durkee was helping me get it running. I sat for years without running. Kenny took the carb apart and cleaned it, and we had to delete a solenoid valve that was not working. The 3 cylinder 660 cc motor and 4 speed trans are under the seat, and access is actually not bad once the seats are removed. Parts are readily available, but they want $600 for a windshield! Hey, that is twice what I paid for the truck!
This truck is ex-Boeing, and was used only around the factory, not licensed for the street. The clock shows 34,000 miles. It is two wheel drive and had these ridiculous little 10 inch wheels, and pretty smooth tread tires. When we got it running it was obvious that even on wet grass it had poor traction - and the rear end ratio is 7.5. In fourth gear with the engine screaming, we were doing 25mph!
So Kenny says "what is the bolt pattern? I measured it and it was 110mm! Kenny has worked on Mazdas for over 30 years, says he has never seen anything but early Mazdas that used the 4x110 bolt pattern wheels. I had a set of 13 inch alloys from my 84 FB, with almost new snow tires, so we tried them for fit and clearance. We had to do some machining on the fronts with a die grinder to clear a small flange on the hub. The rears just bolted on. The traction is much better, the ground clearance is much better, it is not geared quite so low, and we think it looks a lot more like a truck now. Someday I will fix the dents and paint it.
We also modified the battery box to use a real battery instead of the little lawnmower battery it had before. I have now modified the battery box and cables as required so everything I own can use the same battery, from my full sized Ford truck to my garden tractor and my emergency generator. I keep a spare battery on my charger cart, and now it will fit anything I own.
This truck is ex-Boeing, and was used only around the factory, not licensed for the street. The clock shows 34,000 miles. It is two wheel drive and had these ridiculous little 10 inch wheels, and pretty smooth tread tires. When we got it running it was obvious that even on wet grass it had poor traction - and the rear end ratio is 7.5. In fourth gear with the engine screaming, we were doing 25mph!
So Kenny says "what is the bolt pattern? I measured it and it was 110mm! Kenny has worked on Mazdas for over 30 years, says he has never seen anything but early Mazdas that used the 4x110 bolt pattern wheels. I had a set of 13 inch alloys from my 84 FB, with almost new snow tires, so we tried them for fit and clearance. We had to do some machining on the fronts with a die grinder to clear a small flange on the hub. The rears just bolted on. The traction is much better, the ground clearance is much better, it is not geared quite so low, and we think it looks a lot more like a truck now. Someday I will fix the dents and paint it.
We also modified the battery box to use a real battery instead of the little lawnmower battery it had before. I have now modified the battery box and cables as required so everything I own can use the same battery, from my full sized Ford truck to my garden tractor and my emergency generator. I keep a spare battery on my charger cart, and now it will fit anything I own.
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