Old IMSA/SCCA RX2 Racecar Resto
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,414
Likes: 0
From: Southern Cali
I will have to disagree with you a bit here.. the original C&D RX-2 was White & Blue, not sure if "Mazda" blue, but blue none-the-less! 
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...d_past-feature
Here it is restored by Downing...
a little inspiration for jgrewe
-Bern
_
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...d_past-feature
Here it is restored by Downing...
a little inspiration for jgrewe-Bern
_
Awesome shots of the C&D car. The original owner said he pulled the suspension set up ideas from that car. IIRC, Racing Beat used to sell the aluminum double sway bar blocks my car has.
The side exhaust intrigues me.
I went shopping for tubing for a new cage. The 35 year old ERW tubing didn't really instill confidence... I'm going with some 1.5" x.120 wall DOM to keep it looking period correct. You didn't see a lot of 1.75" tubing in the cars built back then.
I have the cage that I cut out of the car and I'm torn between doing an exact copy or doing a better job that will make me feel safer. At the very least I want to keep it so it looks original from the outside when its on track. I'm thinking, copy most of it and add more modern door bars on the drivers side(originally single bars on each side).
The side exhaust intrigues me.
I went shopping for tubing for a new cage. The 35 year old ERW tubing didn't really instill confidence... I'm going with some 1.5" x.120 wall DOM to keep it looking period correct. You didn't see a lot of 1.75" tubing in the cars built back then.
I have the cage that I cut out of the car and I'm torn between doing an exact copy or doing a better job that will make me feel safer. At the very least I want to keep it so it looks original from the outside when its on track. I'm thinking, copy most of it and add more modern door bars on the drivers side(originally single bars on each side).
20 mile driveway
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 248
Likes: 0
From: Lake Arrowhead, CA
I will have to disagree with you a bit here.. the original C&D RX-2 was White & Blue, not sure if "Mazda" blue, but blue none-the-less!
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...d_past-feature
Here it is restored by Downing... a little inspiration for jgrewe
-Bern
_
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...d_past-feature
Here it is restored by Downing...
a little inspiration for jgrewe-Bern
_
"Before the 1973 Mazda RX-2 has even emerged from its trailer, Don Sherman is nitpicking. "That's the wrong shade of blue," says the former editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, laying eyes on the Mazda for the first time in 30 years.
Nearby sits a 1972 Ford Pinto, also sporting a fresh bathtub ring of blue paint — but, Sherman insists, it's in the proper shade of navy. His memory is trumps, except for the July 1973 cover shot of the magazine — it shows the Mazda's nose and Sherman in a driving suit. Both of these cars have appeared in Car and Driver only in black and white.
Bedard is eager to leave the track as the cars are photographed in the sumptuous waning light. Suddenly, a tiny crack opens in his heretofore impregnable wall of indifference. "You know," he says, gazing at the Mazda, "it bothers me to see it in that shade of blue."
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[/IMG]Bern, jus sayin'...I felt the same way as Sherman and Bedard when I first saw the 2 at Sevenstock.
I always thought the original would have looked better in it's current Mazda blue.
Actually the "navy" blue of the Pinto is a shade light...and Sherman restored that.
The faded photos I took of Walt at M-O in '74 show how dark the navy was, it looks almost black in those shots.
One more distinction was the C&D RX2 had rotor shaped "00"s at one time for its numbers.
BTW, Don Sherman still has his red project '80 RX7 w/ RB 13B Holley conversion car they did a feature on, in his personal garage. Remember that article?...way cool.
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Last edited by RB RX7; Jun 17, 2010 at 02:01 AM.
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,414
Likes: 0
From: Southern Cali
"...That's the wrong shade of blue," says the former editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, laying eyes on the Mazda for the first time in 30 years.
Nearby sits a 1972 Ford Pinto, also sporting a fresh bathtub ring of blue paint — but, Sherman insists, it's in the proper shade of navy. His memory is trumps, except for the July 1973 cover shot of the magazine — it shows the Mazda's nose and Sherman in a driving suit. Both of these cars have appeared in Car and Driver only in black and white.
Bedard is eager to leave the track as the cars are photographed in the sumptuous waning light. Suddenly, a tiny crack opens in his heretofore impregnable wall of indifference. "You know," he says, gazing at the Mazda, "it bothers me to see it in that shade of blue."
Bern, jus sayin'...I felt the same way as Sherman and Bedard when I first saw the 2 at Sevenstock.
I always thought the original would have looked better in it's current Mazda blue.
Actually the "navy" blue of the Pinto is a shade light...and Sherman restored that.
The faded photos I took of Walt at M-O in '74 show how dark the navy was, it looks almost black in those shots.
Nearby sits a 1972 Ford Pinto, also sporting a fresh bathtub ring of blue paint — but, Sherman insists, it's in the proper shade of navy. His memory is trumps, except for the July 1973 cover shot of the magazine — it shows the Mazda's nose and Sherman in a driving suit. Both of these cars have appeared in Car and Driver only in black and white.
Bedard is eager to leave the track as the cars are photographed in the sumptuous waning light. Suddenly, a tiny crack opens in his heretofore impregnable wall of indifference. "You know," he says, gazing at the Mazda, "it bothers me to see it in that shade of blue."
Bern, jus sayin'...I felt the same way as Sherman and Bedard when I first saw the 2 at Sevenstock.
I always thought the original would have looked better in it's current Mazda blue.
Actually the "navy" blue of the Pinto is a shade light...and Sherman restored that.
The faded photos I took of Walt at M-O in '74 show how dark the navy was, it looks almost black in those shots.
-Bern
_
:
From what I've read there were different rules for the rotary in different years of the series. At first they were allowed what we would call a street port, then no porting, then bridgeporting was allowed in the later engines(single dist. engines).
Never hearing/seeing this car in person my guess is that it is a street port.
Never hearing/seeing this car in person my guess is that it is a street port.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 31,859
Likes: 3,243
From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
From what I've read there were different rules for the rotary in different years of the series. At first they were allowed what we would call a street port, then no porting, then bridgeporting was allowed in the later engines(single dist. engines).
Never hearing/seeing this car in person my guess is that it is a street port.
Never hearing/seeing this car in person my guess is that it is a street port.
its a bridge. its actually the loudest thing ive ever heard, i was at the laguna event, and that little rx2 drowns out the 787, two camel lights cars, the imsa FC and SA....
Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,414
Likes: 0
From: Southern Cali
From HISTORY OF MAZDA MazdaSpeed Heritage Site
They Bridgeported the motor first, then IMSA outlawed all porting...
-Bern
They Bridgeported the motor first, then IMSA outlawed all porting...
Bedard had heard about an engine builder who had some experience with the rotary, Jim Mederer at Racing Beat in Anaheim, California. Mederer, who had worked on several professional race teams, and his partner Ryusuke Oku, had just recently started a performance parts business for Mazda rotaries. Because they both loved racing, they were always working on racing modifications as well. C&D hired Racing Beat to massage a stock engine to produce enough horsepower to make the RX-2 a competitive race car.
Bedard and Sherman estimated that the engine must produce at least 160 hp to be competitive and they vowed they would not put it on a track until it did. The stock engine produced around 95 hp.
Mederer had bridge-ported the rotor housings. This is done by enlarging the original intake port and opening up an eyebrow-shaped passage above the standard port. It works by containing the corner seals, enlarging the intake and increasing the timing duration. When they put the engine on a dyno, they found that it far exceeded their requirements. They admitted to 198 hp in the magazine in the series of articles Bedard wrote about the car, but privately he said they got over 200.
Bedard and Sherman estimated that the engine must produce at least 160 hp to be competitive and they vowed they would not put it on a track until it did. The stock engine produced around 95 hp.
Mederer had bridge-ported the rotor housings. This is done by enlarging the original intake port and opening up an eyebrow-shaped passage above the standard port. It works by containing the corner seals, enlarging the intake and increasing the timing duration. When they put the engine on a dyno, they found that it far exceeded their requirements. They admitted to 198 hp in the magazine in the series of articles Bedard wrote about the car, but privately he said they got over 200.
-Bern
20 mile driveway
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 248
Likes: 0
From: Lake Arrowhead, CA
From what I've read there were different rules for the rotary in different years of the series. At first they were allowed what we would call a street port, then no porting, then bridgeporting was allowed in the later engines(single dist. engines).
Never hearing/seeing this car in person my guess is that it is a street port.
Never hearing/seeing this car in person my guess is that it is a street port.
All the while the carbs were more and more restricted as "RS" carbs were flowing some great numbers and performed quite well on street cars.
They took away the megaphone exhausts, made them run straight pipes, then mufflers later on...these were the first mandated mufflers on any race cars...not because of decibel limits but because the Mazdas were cracking windshields of the cars they were passing.
They finally had to make the RS series an all front wheel drive series to finally exclude the rotary. Bill Spencer had switched to a GLC and had to rebuild/refresh the 4 cyl every race...rather than at the end of the year with his RX2.
The one that always bothered me was when they added 500 LBS! to the GTU RX7s for Sebring after the 270 hp RX7s showed so well in their debut at Daytona. They were so slow they removed 250 lbs...but they were still way over production weight.
Some things never change.
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 7,051
Likes: 1
From: San Antonio Texas
Those were the days... it seemed like every other race they were trying to slow down the rotaries. .........
The one that always bothered me was when they added 500 LBS! to the GTU RX7s for Sebring after the 270 hp RX7s showed so well in their debut at Daytona. They were so slow they removed 250 lbs...but they were still way over production weight.
Some things never change.
The one that always bothered me was when they added 500 LBS! to the GTU RX7s for Sebring after the 270 hp RX7s showed so well in their debut at Daytona. They were so slow they removed 250 lbs...but they were still way over production weight.
Some things never change.
I was playing with the suspension parts tonight, doing some sand blasting etc. I powder coated the first parts in my oven from this thread: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...r+coating+oven
They turned out pretty nice. I'm doing everything that moves under the car and the front subframe in chassis black. It's a semi-gloss that has a 65% gloss rating.
They turned out pretty nice. I'm doing everything that moves under the car and the front subframe in chassis black. It's a semi-gloss that has a 65% gloss rating.
While digging through my boxes looking for things to powder coat I have a couple questions. This is my first stock type old school car. (tube frame GT3 RX3 was the first RX I ever left any DNA on)
Anyway, two questions. The two piece driveshaft has a rubber isolator mounted on a bracket. I sand blasted the bracket, but the rubber is torn completely away and the bearing is still on the shaft and I'm left with a "ring". Are these things still available or do I need to make something race car worthy?
Next, the steering idler arm(pass side) is fine, swings nicely, not loose. How can I take it apart to blast and coat it? I think I remember somebody sending one out to be rebuilt. It there a cap on the bottom under all the rust and junk?
One more thing, any links to where I can find new rubber boots for all my balljoints?
Anyway, two questions. The two piece driveshaft has a rubber isolator mounted on a bracket. I sand blasted the bracket, but the rubber is torn completely away and the bearing is still on the shaft and I'm left with a "ring". Are these things still available or do I need to make something race car worthy?
Next, the steering idler arm(pass side) is fine, swings nicely, not loose. How can I take it apart to blast and coat it? I think I remember somebody sending one out to be rebuilt. It there a cap on the bottom under all the rust and junk?
One more thing, any links to where I can find new rubber boots for all my balljoints?
any driveshaft shops should be able to make you a 1 piece driveshaft but I feel that you should wait until the motor/tranny are installed. For balljoints and such, try RockAuto. I bought 2 sets of everything for my 2 RX-3s.
Keep up the good work bro. I'm watching your progress which is more intense to the things I have done.
Keep up the good work bro. I'm watching your progress which is more intense to the things I have done.
While digging through my boxes looking for things to powder coat I have a couple questions. This is my first stock type old school car. (tube frame GT3 RX3 was the first RX I ever left any DNA on)
Anyway, two questions. The two piece driveshaft has a rubber isolator mounted on a bracket. I sand blasted the bracket, but the rubber is torn completely away and the bearing is still on the shaft and I'm left with a "ring". Are these things still available or do I need to make something race car worthy?
Next, the steering idler arm(pass side) is fine, swings nicely, not loose. How can I take it apart to blast and coat it? I think I remember somebody sending one out to be rebuilt. It there a cap on the bottom under all the rust and junk?
One more thing, any links to where I can find new rubber boots for all my balljoints?
Anyway, two questions. The two piece driveshaft has a rubber isolator mounted on a bracket. I sand blasted the bracket, but the rubber is torn completely away and the bearing is still on the shaft and I'm left with a "ring". Are these things still available or do I need to make something race car worthy?
Next, the steering idler arm(pass side) is fine, swings nicely, not loose. How can I take it apart to blast and coat it? I think I remember somebody sending one out to be rebuilt. It there a cap on the bottom under all the rust and junk?
One more thing, any links to where I can find new rubber boots for all my balljoints?
Google scotts old rubber for bushings and stuff.
-billy
Well I've been busy this week. I decided to play with the big oven more instead of working on the chassis/body.
What is that saying? "A picture is worth a thousand dollars" or something like that...
I find that I'm missing the transmission mount to the chassis. If anybody has one let me know. Trades??
I'm ordering some 'wheel silver' powder on monday to do the steelies required by the rules. I'm having a hard time finding the proper gloss that doesn't require an extra step for clear coat at a 40-50% gloss.
Rear quarter is next, then cage.
What is that saying? "A picture is worth a thousand dollars" or something like that...
I find that I'm missing the transmission mount to the chassis. If anybody has one let me know. Trades??
I'm ordering some 'wheel silver' powder on monday to do the steelies required by the rules. I'm having a hard time finding the proper gloss that doesn't require an extra step for clear coat at a 40-50% gloss.
Rear quarter is next, then cage.
Yea, keeping the dual sway bars. I am going to make a different link to attach them though. The lower bar that was on the car was worn almost halfway through right at the second bend. I think a few years as a GT3 car with its ride height requirements did it in. IIRC GT3 only says nothing can touch the ground with both tires on one side flat or nothing below the rims themselves, its been years since I read those rules though.
The RS cars had a 7" ride height minimum so they were fine back then.
The RS cars had a 7" ride height minimum so they were fine back then.
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 31,859
Likes: 3,243
From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
Anyway, two questions. The two piece driveshaft has a rubber isolator mounted on a bracket. I sand blasted the bracket, but the rubber is torn completely away and the bearing is still on the shaft and I'm left with a "ring". Are these things still available or do I need to make something race car worthy?