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Any things you can share about racing a turbocharged RX7 would be greatly appreciated too.
thoughts;
your setup with the radiator in the back is actually going to work out really well.
cooling is always a problem. i think you have enough radiator, but you'll want more oil cooling. 2x stock coolers are probably the easy start.
you want an intercooler that is pretty big, and the turbo intake will want some filtered cold air. this is where the radiator in the back is going to really help, in a normal FC, you end up with an IC, oil cooler radiator sandwich, and its hard to get enough airflow to everything to keep it cool. you could just mount the oil coolers where the radiator was, and then put an IC in front of that and call it a day. or you could stack them like a 1st gen, where the IC goes on top of the oil cooler, you put a sheet of AL (or whatever) in between, run it to the grille with something to adjust the height at the front, and then adjust it in the opening until temps are ok.
300hp seems to be a hard hp number to hit, its traditionally either a stock turbo that is maxed out, or a big aftermarket turbo that is running as little boost/power as possible. just a for instance here, but my FC (running an REW engine), was either going to be running a stock turbo with some bigger wheels (i want to do some testing, but i like the V trim), at around 280 hp flywheel, OR i just bought an HKS manifold, and with a 60-1 on it, i'm looking at about 360hp again flywheel. to tune it down to 300hp, i need to be able to run like 8psi, and a restrictive exhaust. which would probably make it pretty laggy.
i know there are some new turbos that maybe change things, my practical knowledge is dated
The car feels pretty magical with 210whp and 5:14 gears already haha. Not sure if I really want to double the power at the wheels in this chassis.
I do have plans for a tube chassis car though...
It just feels magical because you never have to let off the gas
The car takes power pretty well with a big enough tire. I'm running 3.73s not 5.14s so there is quite a difference there. As you know the steep rear gear is not needed with the extra power.
First I got distracted because my lady wants a motorcycle of her own, so I bought a '77 Honda CJ360T and did a frame-off resto. Still waiting on tins to come back from paint.
After that it was back to work prepping the hillclimb car. I've contracted Anze suspension to set up some new dampers for the car and Andrew Wilkstrom to consult the setup. I'm going with a set of JRZ RS Pro double adjustables. Was going to choose Penske's, but the fronts would be fully custom and problematic to replace should I have an off. I should have the dampers in hand in early April.
With that job delegated, it was time to reconfigure the rear of the car for greater strength and efficiency pushing air to the radiators.
Step one - learn to carbon fiber.
I made a mold of the rear hatch glass and then vacuum bagged a thin carbon skin. Learned a lot, but was ultimately not entirely pleased - not strong enough.
Round two I modified the laminate using 2 different types of carbon fabric and some 1/16 ultra light balsa wood as a core. The result is WAY stronger and still well under 5lbs total.
Needs a little more finishing, but I'll do that once I add the air scoops.
Next up I'll be making a set of manifolds for the radiators so I can make things as efficient and neat as possible.
Also on the list - putting new brake lines in my tow rig.
Lifting the bed to access the rear line sucked. The things we do for racing.
Excited to hear more detail on the shock setup. Looks like you've been having some fun.
+1
I've always been suspicious of the anze penske struts since penske didn't make struts to my knowledge until recently which anze struts aren't based on... (most dampers aren't really designed for side loads...)
JRZs are supposed to be really nice, right up there with penske and ohlins
The dampers invoiced at $4,7XX. I'll be purchasing a number of spring sets to help fine tune them so that's a floating number. Also going to grab a new set of GC camber plates since I don't like the design of the AWR plates I have currently.
The dampers invoiced at $4,7XX. I'll be purchasing a number of spring sets to help fine tune them so that's a floating number. Also going to grab a new set of GC camber plates since I don't like the design of the AWR plates I have currently.
I don't like the GC plates much...
Since the upper spring seat sits on the bearing retainer instead of the bearing itself, when the suspension compresses and the damper moves (with the arc of the lower control arm). it's pivoting on a surface that's not really a bearing or contoured nearly well enough. I think it leads to binding...
I have the newer version of the AWR plates that have huge bearings (3/4" ID instead of the standard 5/8" bearings) and the spring seat is supported by the bearing itself so it pivots with the bearing. (and the bearing is actually big enough to support that load)
that being said, most things AWR makes are pretty sloppily put together, so it might needs some fiddling (mine came with the wrong width snap rings in them)
Since the upper spring seat sits on the bearing retainer instead of the bearing itself, when the suspension compresses and the damper moves (with the arc of the lower control arm). it's pivoting on a surface that's not really a bearing or contoured nearly well enough. I think it leads to binding...
I have the newer version of the AWR plates that have huge bearings (3/4" ID instead of the standard 5/8" bearings) and the spring seat is supported by the bearing itself so it pivots with the bearing. (and the bearing is actually big enough to support that load)
that being said, most things AWR makes are pretty sloppily put together, so it might needs some fiddling (mine came with the wrong width snap rings in them)
When did AWR change the design? Mine are only a couple years old and have the 5/8" hole.
When did AWR change the design? Mine are only a couple years old and have the 5/8" hole.
I bought mine when I upgraded to the 50mm bilsteins, according to my photo album spring 2014. I'm pretty sure mine were the first set of the new ones. My rear hats are also upgraded with bigger bearings too. They use a QA1 WPB12T.
Oh yeah, we're racing the red RX7 at LeMons at NJMP this weekend so I've been prepping that too. Nothing much to share other than the Clutch Masters pressure plate that didn't work at all so I had to swap the old stuff back in - thanks for eating 2 hours of my time, Clutch Masters.
What pedal box are you running and what master cylinder setup again? I am still trying to get my stock GXL brake booster to work with my full bridge engine using a vacuum accumulator but starting to think that floor mount pedal box with a dual master cylinder setup might be what's needed...
12-03-16, 11:12 AM
