I Got Myself a RePu!
04-11-14, 12:27 AM
#1
Full Member
Thread Starter
I Got Myself a RePu!
Hey guys, I'm not new to the forums, but i mainly just read through threads and soak up knowledge. Like it said, I got myself a Repu! Well, actually my wife is awesome, and picked it up as a birthday gift. I should have started a poll to see if she really is the best woman in the world!
It's an S-vin model 75, and it looks great! Plus the previous owner had done some good work to it. It has a supercharged 12a mated with a TurboII tyranny and an as of now still unknown beast of a rear end! This thing is a rocket in a straight line, but has no power steering, and is still running drums in the back.
The only thing I'm really needing right now to get it legal is the metal flasher relay box under the dash, so the turn signals work, and the horn to be wired. I'm probably going to just pull the existing "harness", and fab up my own though. The interior was completely stripped, but he left the dash! He also took a pair of leather Rx8 seats, and welded them to the floor pan. They look good in there, but are dangerous in a lil truck pushing 350hp.
The body is in good shape too, with exception of some rust on the tailgate. I own and manage a shop, so these are really no problems at all, but would like to introduce myself and get some opinions. Thanks for reading these ramblings of a rotary fanatic, who has finally gotten his hands on an old school chassis! I'll probably start a build thread, and try to keep everyone informed n how this thing is coming along.
It's an S-vin model 75, and it looks great! Plus the previous owner had done some good work to it. It has a supercharged 12a mated with a TurboII tyranny and an as of now still unknown beast of a rear end! This thing is a rocket in a straight line, but has no power steering, and is still running drums in the back.
The only thing I'm really needing right now to get it legal is the metal flasher relay box under the dash, so the turn signals work, and the horn to be wired. I'm probably going to just pull the existing "harness", and fab up my own though. The interior was completely stripped, but he left the dash! He also took a pair of leather Rx8 seats, and welded them to the floor pan. They look good in there, but are dangerous in a lil truck pushing 350hp.
The body is in good shape too, with exception of some rust on the tailgate. I own and manage a shop, so these are really no problems at all, but would like to introduce myself and get some opinions. Thanks for reading these ramblings of a rotary fanatic, who has finally gotten his hands on an old school chassis! I'll probably start a build thread, and try to keep everyone informed n how this thing is coming along.
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04-11-14, 10:01 AM
#12
Full Member
Thread Starter
Well I just got a few days ago, and with this schedule of mine, I haven't been able to dyno it or anyhing. All I know is my lil Fc and Rx8 don't even come close to this thing! I'm sure that 350 mark was exaggerated, but it did pull away from my wifes 2010 Camaro SS, and when you're used to anemic little N/A 13b's, this thing's a monster! Here are a few more pics, the previous owner did a gay lil job with the hood, so I'm having to go back and mop up his mess, or find another 1, any ideas on where that will come from?
04-11-14, 10:18 AM
#13
These trucks can be fast and/or quick, that's for sure. My friend's could pull away from my brother's stock GSL-SE. It's the stock low geared diff in these things, oh and a light flywheel (not recommended for towing).
I have that truck now and plan to do something even more powerfull so I can keep a stock flywheel in it (either an S4 NA or GSL-SE flywheel depending on rotating assembly).
My other truck has a 5" Camden on an R5 13B and it's decent but I'd like to do a turbo for that extra dimension of power.
You won't find another stock REPU hood but you can clean up the PO's mess with some basic body shop practices. It's just mostly straight sheet metal with a lower section in the middle. Did he mess with it due to the air filter sticking up kinda high?
I have that truck now and plan to do something even more powerfull so I can keep a stock flywheel in it (either an S4 NA or GSL-SE flywheel depending on rotating assembly).
My other truck has a 5" Camden on an R5 13B and it's decent but I'd like to do a turbo for that extra dimension of power.
You won't find another stock REPU hood but you can clean up the PO's mess with some basic body shop practices. It's just mostly straight sheet metal with a lower section in the middle. Did he mess with it due to the air filter sticking up kinda high?
04-11-14, 11:08 AM
#14
Full Member
Thread Starter
The body work isn't an issue, but yeah, the PO had clearance issues and took a saw to it. Then put an aftermarket scoop on it that doesn't go well at all. My paint and body guy can nail it out, but I was actually looking for some sort of aftermarket hood. But that's gonna gave to be custom laid.
04-11-14, 01:54 PM
#15
congrats on the purchase.....enjoy building her. here is a new from factory REPU Hood....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mazda-REPU-hood-bonnet-NOS-vintage-dealer-13B-1974-1975-1976-1977-Ford-Courier-/281298200815?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item417eade8ef&vxp=mtr
probably more than you paid for your entire truck ahahahahha anyways, welcome to the REPU Addiction
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mazda-REPU-hood-bonnet-NOS-vintage-dealer-13B-1974-1975-1976-1977-Ford-Courier-/281298200815?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item417eade8ef&vxp=mtr
probably more than you paid for your entire truck ahahahahha anyways, welcome to the REPU Addiction
10-13-14, 10:12 PM
#18
Full Member
Thread Starter
Well...It's certainly been a while since I was last on here, and I feel the need to update the situation with the little girl. I had some issues with hot starts and so on. So I got myself a rotary diagnostics compression tester because I've expanded my rotary collection recently, and picked up a pretty clean little 85 GS, and now I have 4 of these vehicles!
I checked the numbers, and I had -50+ psi on my rear rotor, and the front wasn't much better, so I decided to tear it down and inspect the engine as a whole. I was planning to anyway, but I was going to limp it to my shop, but it didn't sound right and was a bit weak so, fearing the worst, I decided to hook to on a trailer.
She sat for a few months, unfortunately; while I took care of a lot of other business, and got a bit of ground under my feet. It's still crazy as hell at work, but I got sick of lookin at her, depressing myself more and more each day, so I decided to tear out the motor, and check it out. When we got the motor apart, I was pretty evident that the PO had been in the engine a time or two.
The exhaust had been very slightly ported, the housings and irons were dirty, but seemed to have their original finish. The eccentric shaft was also in good condition, with hardly any wear, which left the rotors as the culprit. As the pics show, they aren't the prettiest, but I was assure that's not a big concern. The reason for the low compression was immediately apparent when we got to the second housing. The front rotor was just suffering from collapsed seal springs. But the second rotor had failed due to a combination of worn springs, and an apex seal that had broken clean at the rotor. This, undoubtedly; was the cause of the sound and weak power that caused me to trailer it to the shop.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
I checked the numbers, and I had -50+ psi on my rear rotor, and the front wasn't much better, so I decided to tear it down and inspect the engine as a whole. I was planning to anyway, but I was going to limp it to my shop, but it didn't sound right and was a bit weak so, fearing the worst, I decided to hook to on a trailer.
She sat for a few months, unfortunately; while I took care of a lot of other business, and got a bit of ground under my feet. It's still crazy as hell at work, but I got sick of lookin at her, depressing myself more and more each day, so I decided to tear out the motor, and check it out. When we got the motor apart, I was pretty evident that the PO had been in the engine a time or two.
The exhaust had been very slightly ported, the housings and irons were dirty, but seemed to have their original finish. The eccentric shaft was also in good condition, with hardly any wear, which left the rotors as the culprit. As the pics show, they aren't the prettiest, but I was assure that's not a big concern. The reason for the low compression was immediately apparent when we got to the second housing. The front rotor was just suffering from collapsed seal springs. But the second rotor had failed due to a combination of worn springs, and an apex seal that had broken clean at the rotor. This, undoubtedly; was the cause of the sound and weak power that caused me to trailer it to the shop.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...77825615137125
10-13-14, 11:07 PM
#20
Full Member
Thread Starter
I Decided to get the housing ported to a bit more of an aggressive level, and decided to go with a slight street port to compensate for the supercharger down the road.
I got the motor put back together without much hassle, but one of the rotors had a bit of an issue with the side seals being a little too snug, but the gap was eased and all the seals moved freely. I painted the housings, and put it all back together.
I'm getting everything else I'm going to need to get the truck back into driving condition. Right now I'm only missing is a better ignition setup, probably MSD, and an upper intake manifold, I was gong to try to find one I can use with my existing holly carb, so I can break this thing in for a good while before I add the boost.
I got the motor put back together without much hassle, but one of the rotors had a bit of an issue with the side seals being a little too snug, but the gap was eased and all the seals moved freely. I painted the housings, and put it all back together.
I'm getting everything else I'm going to need to get the truck back into driving condition. Right now I'm only missing is a better ignition setup, probably MSD, and an upper intake manifold, I was gong to try to find one I can use with my existing holly carb, so I can break this thing in for a good while before I add the boost.
10-13-14, 11:56 PM
#23
Full Member
Thread Starter
I guess I'm missing something. Would I just have to use a shorter belt and bypass the camden, or what? How else could I kill the boost? I'm pretty novice when it comes to carbs, and this supercharger as well.
10-14-14, 12:37 AM
#24
Um, ok. You drive the Camden with it all hooked up like normal. But keep your foot out of it. Get a boost gauge if you don't already have one, and keep it from getting into positive territory. Try to keep it in vacuum. Don't even get close to 0 (zero).
On second thought, yeah, maybe you should look for a basic intake manifold for your holley, like the one from Racing Beat, but be warned if your holley is just an off the shelf, out of the box carb that wasn't tuned by Racing Beat to run specifically on a rotary, it won't run all that well on the RB intake manifold. The reason why you ask? Separate runners vs an open plenum. A V8 has an open plenum, as does the Camden, so any Holley will work. The RB manifold has four separate runners that lead down to the intake ports in the engine. The standard out of the box holley hates running on a manifold like this.
I seriously doubt someone spent the money on an RB holley to plunk it down on a supercharger and not take advantage of all the expensive mods RB does. So on third thought, don't get an intake manifold and do throw the Camden back on it with your holley and keep your foot out of it. You can drive it like old Grandpa, right? No high revs. Lots of short shifts etc. Pretend you're always towing something delicate during the break in procedure and it'll eventually get there.
Get a boost gauge, and get a narrow band O2 gauge. Have someone add a bung in your exhaust kinda close to the engine. Better yet, get a wideband. I mention all this because I don't know how much stuff you know about cars in general so I'm covering all the bases.
On second thought, yeah, maybe you should look for a basic intake manifold for your holley, like the one from Racing Beat, but be warned if your holley is just an off the shelf, out of the box carb that wasn't tuned by Racing Beat to run specifically on a rotary, it won't run all that well on the RB intake manifold. The reason why you ask? Separate runners vs an open plenum. A V8 has an open plenum, as does the Camden, so any Holley will work. The RB manifold has four separate runners that lead down to the intake ports in the engine. The standard out of the box holley hates running on a manifold like this.
I seriously doubt someone spent the money on an RB holley to plunk it down on a supercharger and not take advantage of all the expensive mods RB does. So on third thought, don't get an intake manifold and do throw the Camden back on it with your holley and keep your foot out of it. You can drive it like old Grandpa, right? No high revs. Lots of short shifts etc. Pretend you're always towing something delicate during the break in procedure and it'll eventually get there.
Get a boost gauge, and get a narrow band O2 gauge. Have someone add a bung in your exhaust kinda close to the engine. Better yet, get a wideband. I mention all this because I don't know how much stuff you know about cars in general so I'm covering all the bases.
10-14-14, 09:18 AM
#25
Full Member
Thread Starter
You're no fun, lol! I'm not a complete newbie to the stuff, I do manage my own auto sales and service shop, I just have had very little experience on either carbs or a supercharger. I have a lot of time, energy, and cash tied up in this thing, and I would this to be the last time I open this 12a!
I've been running a boost gauge on it since day 1. She pushes about 7-9 PSI as it sits, but I was gonna get a larger crank , and smaller SC pulley to bring it down to like 3-6, and that's where I'm gonna try to keep it.
As I was chasing the compression dragon, I rebuilt my carb from bottom up, and also got myself a nice wide band AFR gauge, but my exhaust is straight duels back to the muffler, so I gotta figure that out. I was gonna put a collector in, but that would throw everything off. I'm gonna look into getting this Camden to pull neg vacuum, It seems that, and an extremely light right foot might be the answer!
I've been running a boost gauge on it since day 1. She pushes about 7-9 PSI as it sits, but I was gonna get a larger crank , and smaller SC pulley to bring it down to like 3-6, and that's where I'm gonna try to keep it.
As I was chasing the compression dragon, I rebuilt my carb from bottom up, and also got myself a nice wide band AFR gauge, but my exhaust is straight duels back to the muffler, so I gotta figure that out. I was gonna put a collector in, but that would throw everything off. I'm gonna look into getting this Camden to pull neg vacuum, It seems that, and an extremely light right foot might be the answer!