Replaced the crusty sunroof filler with a less crusty sunroof filler. Got my rear lexan cut and started mounting it before realizing I was out of self tapping screws..... Flushed out and re-mounted the radiator and filled up the coolant system with some high quality H20 and water wetter after I took the water pump of to drill and tap for my Stack water temp gauge.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...39251115_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...04800075_n.jpg

Made a new fan shroud
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...09754726_o.jpg

Sunday was autocrossing and I picked up a co-driver for the day. I won the class and he took third. Car was rock solid for temps even though it was hot as the devil's crotch (including the humidity of said region).

Interior is now solid gray. First time it has ever been a solid color. I like.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...62841790_n.jpg

Foam for fender flare molds aquired!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...76515375_n.jpg


I may have grabbed too much...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...37243210_n.jpg

Time to make a hot wire cutter.

Hot wire foam cutting supplies acquired. Construction of the rig will begin next week. I'm dry walling this weekend....
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...22889016_o.jpg

And that catches us up to current day. I'm int he process of getting my house on the market as I've purchased a new place and closing is August 28th.

Car is a little bit on the back burner right now sadly.

This is awesome.

can you post a picture of the inside of the sun-roof delete, and maybe one of everything you took out? Do you know how much weight it ended up saving?

I'm thinking about attempting to tackle this in a while...

Im loving this build! Its inspirational as i too am building a gxl for use time attack. Planning to move up north and do hill climb. Keep the good stuff coming!

I'll snap a photo of the inside. The existing plate is temporary and will be replaced when I find a roof skin from a non-sunroof car.

As for what I took out... EVERYTHING. I'll try to throw it on a scale, but I can tell you right now it's not light.

Weights for things I've managed to throw on the scale: All weights are rough, this isn't a calibrated scale.
Rear hatch and glass weigh 52 pounds
RX7 hatch glass weighs 35.5 pounds
The stock exhaust manifold and cat weight 43 pounds
Stock steel hood weighs about 40 pounds (I cut the 10 lbs of webbing out of mine)
Stock RX7 windshield = 26 pounds
3/16th Lexan replacement = 10 pounds

So how does the lexan glass work? Do you mold it yourself? Or bend it in the best you can? The lexan glass is held down my self tapping screws so is that common on other race cars? Can you seal the glass for rainy conditions... i want to get rid of the glass in my car too. Can you post a pic of the water pump with the temp sensor in it? Everything your doing is on my to do list so ya. Nice build keep us updated!

The rear lexan is thin enough that it doesn't need to be molded. The sides are under some pressure, but I'm sure using a couple clamps and the same sealing procedure as replacement glass would yield weather-tight results. Mine is self-tapped for easy removal. One thing to note is that over time lexan will yellow from sun exposure. I got some that has a protective coating, but it's not a lifetime product.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...84069635_n.jpg

It has been a long time since I've updated, but there has been a lot of work going on and more assuredly to come. I basically sacrificed the entire season so I could take my time and do the car right rather than tear-down and rebuild between races.

That mean I got a lot of co-drives.

First, the car got stripped down to a rolling chassis and caged:
https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...38&oe=54AC1756

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...ff&oe=54DA5A16

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...6f&oe=54F26362

And then I started cutting out more metal for the rear-mount radiator setup.

Looks so happy!
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...5d49c2b2c47137

Looks so empty
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...c4fd226c46d9dd

I have more to cut out still, but need an order of tubing to come so I can support the bodywork first.

Test fit
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...91&oe=54E1533E

What radiator is that? Nascar Brah
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...45dd1b56fe0460

Then this happened:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...29418225ae0d07
13B Bridgeport race engine.

I got pretty good at spending money for a while...
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...1f&oe=54ED0276

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...3750a2f1445202

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...404d5271acf5ce

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...b230ce2106c450


Depowered the steering rack the right way
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...48534d906b6d16

Did a little engine bay cleanup
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...d46a70733cd19e

Bought a new toy after being sick of co-driving all summer
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...d5&oe=54AC7BD0

Water feeds for the electric water pump setup
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...a3&oe=54DF7247

Trying to save my transmission fluid from getting cooked
https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...ca&oe=54AAEA73

And then we decided to go race Lemons by making a RHD Datsun powered foxbody Mustang
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...9534e21a66b166

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...cdbb5e0a0ba378

Won a regional award
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...f1ad156e1d7114

Put some high-octane right in her
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...923d3cbd63f3f9


That brings us up to date. Looking forward to a busy offseason. Already hit one hiccup because I ordered an S4 TII transmission crossmember.. I have an S5 TII transmission. Oi.

Next order of business is finding and rebuilding a Ford 8.8 IRS with 5.12 gears and an LSD. Then building a new subframe to hold it in.

And we're famous!
LeMons New England: Many Audis, Many Forgotten GM Cars, and the World?s Most Evil Vanagon | Car and Driver Blog

24 Hours of LeMons New England: The Winners! | Car and Driver Blog

glad to have you back :)

Where are you going to mount the fuel cell with the trunk mounted radiator?

I'm doing a ford 8.8 w/ 5.14s this winter too :) What LSD are you going with?

I'm selling my TII OS Giken with 4.3s if you're interested:
https://www.rx7club.com/ne-sale-want...n-lsd-1073115/

I have a 5-gallon drag cell that will be mounted on the right side to help offset my weight. It's tall rather than wide.

Haven't decided on my LSD yet, there are a lot of cheap (relatively speaking) options available.

Working on the shop while working on the car can be a pain. I made some good progress getting the shop organized though.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...799bd5a6599d06

And then I repositioned the car.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...a63e911f37a6cb
The rug really brings the room together.

And got the rest of my lights installed. 1,500 watts of T5HO.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...f1f98df6041c3d

Realized I had never put the aluminum TII hood on the car. I like.
https://scontent-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/...bf&oe=54DCF996

Decided I can take a lot more weight out of the doors. I'll epoxy in some aluminum braces to keep its shape. Still a lot more metal to come out of it though.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...dec819a2e6176c

Then I started singing the blues
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...fb7fe476377899

Cool job.

Done yet? ;)

looking good! Damn im jealous of your garage set up:drool:

Sometimes I forget how far the garage has come from when I bought this place. It wasn't wired and was all bare studs.

Now I just need more headroom for a lift.....

Meanwhile the missus is getting a brand-new horse barn.

Hey Dave, I've heard about your build a few times, since Paul mentioned that he was buying your n/a 13b for the Miata. I just recently arranged to upgrade from my hillclimb Miata (s6 class - far from being 'fast') to an n/a RX7 as well, and wanted to see what kind of suspension configuration you're running. I only remember seeing John's RX7 this season, should we expect to have three FC's in 2015?

I'm also interested to see where your cage ended up; the rx7 I'm purchasing has half a cage, and I'm trying to decide if it'll be easier to expand that or just start over from scratch. Seeing what you've done to keep Don/Walter happy in this chassis would be superb.

Also, let me know if you need a second set of hands, most of the work I do on my cars is at the makerspace in Nashua, and MA is just a stone's throw away.

Are you buying Winston's car? I'm picking up an 87 GXL running parts car from him for a Lemons rig next weekend.

My suspension is far from finalized. Turner Motorsports is valving some Bilsteins for me and I'm picking up a pair of AWR front strut housings. The rear end is all delrin bushings beyond the rear trailing arm, which I left alone due to binding concerns with more "solid" materials. Rear lateral links have been replaced with Battle Version units with heim joints - same with the camber link.

If you wanted to swing by to check out the cage we can make that happen.

I need to update this build thread badly....

I've owned my place for 14 months now, and in that time I've taken a shell of a building and turned it into a shop I'm pretty proud of. I took 2 weeks off around the holidays and finished things off.

https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...8f&oe=556F29D4

https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...6c&oe=55210449

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...d1c5a87bb1e7db


And hanging out with my other little buddy
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...5a527af862fefb

Made the shop clean, time to make it dirty again.

This is my hot-wire foam cutting rig for making flares/wings/whathaveyous
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...3f&oe=555F3AFD

This will be getting a workout soon.

Prepping the car for the drivetrain to go back in. Heat insulation and gloss white paint.
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...71&oe=5524B595

Then this happened:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...599967170abec3

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...6e7e06703e6a00

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...d7&oe=556F85CA

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...ef3f388a55df4b

Finishing up the rear end gutting for the radiator:
https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...ec&oe=556ED5A0

Left the tow points for easy rear diffuser mounting.

Just got my order of 1" x .095" 4031 in so I can frame in the rear and and get things mounted up.

Also just had these come in:
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/...74&oe=5558A75A

Yeah, I really couldn't pass it up for the price. Is that red one the GXL? I have a friend in Nashua who's parting out a convertible in Nashua to stuff most of its drivetrain in his Lemons car as wel.

I got a really good look at this one when he blew the motor at Burke (and got a good feel for what it weighs when we had to push it to where he could roll back down). There's a turboII shell on Craigslist right now that I've been considering as well, since it already has decent-ish dampers and an LSD. It really just comes down to the amount of workspace I can get. Your shop looks like a dream to work in.

I'm busy all of this weekend, but could probably head down next weekend if you're free, and depending upon where in MA you are.

Yeah the red one is a GXL. The weight of his makes me excited to see how much (how little?) mine weighs.

I'll be going up to pickup the car next Saturday - should be home late afternoon. I don't think anything is planned for Sunday beyond Superbowl shenanigans in the evening.

I'm in the northeast corner of MA. Hour away from Nashua. Hour away from Manchvegas.

Perfect, ive been planning to get down to newtonville to help kiwi with his car for this season. He has been going throigh cars faster than i go through socks.

Yeah he makes my car list look stable.

Racing season is approaching so it's time for me to get my ass in gear. Made a little trip to visit these guys for some suspension advice.

They haven't discovered me yet, but I fear my time among them is short.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...1fe84aa5401377

Great guys. Super helpful. Nice prices on valved Billys!

Time to throw some more money at this pig.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...49d1f9b8954737

That checks off the ignition, and I finally decided to run my Weber 48 IDA rather than my Weber 48 DCOE, which meant I needed that nice shiny new manifold.


Playing with unorthodox fuel cell placement since the radiator eats a lot of real estate in the back. It will be mounted about 5" up on the firewall and boxed in for safety reasons. Centralize all the weight.

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...8c&oe=556FEB62

So now I'm waiting on AWR for my front strut housings and my tig-welding buddy to come down and burn in some 4130 Cro-Mo so I can mount the radiator and start plugging things into the car.

And just because having time and money is over rated, we decided we want to go Lemons'ing. Time for a second RX7! Turns out it's not a GXL - it's a GTU!

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...e7&oe=5583BEC6

While I'm waiting for AWR to finish my strut housings and a local shop to finish my custom fuel cell, I decided I needed to get my ass in gear on wiring. That means I need my seat mounted so I can decide on where things need to be. That means I needed my pedals mounted. That meant I needed to clearance the firewall for the master cylinders. And then I needed to extend the steering column 6 inches.

Busy day.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...12147820359ca2

Always make templates before just cutting into expensive metal
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...d7072319b68cd1

Important things realized by mocking things up. 1: The brake fluid resevoirs wouldn't be accessible with the windshield in. That's a strike. 2: Can't reach switches while belted into the seat. Strike 2. It didn't strike out, so I modified it by eliminating the reservoirs and extended the dash 4 inches.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...584c13882acfc3

Transfer template to T6 aluminum sheet
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...f9&oe=55B680A7

A little time with a plasma cutter and some bending
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...a8&oe=557323A2

I need to add one more hole for my AFR gauge.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...13482cbc91d8d8

That's how you make a 3 pound dash.

Forgot that the car started to turn white too. Weird.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...e0b3afdb3b9646

Custom fuel cell is going together at Racetek.

https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...6f&oe=55AD99D8

Meanwhile at home this happened
https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...ef&oe=55A46699

Looking great Dave! The weather's finally clearing up and I just ordered all the tubing for my cage, I have Saturday free if you'd like a couple sets of hands helping turn some wrenches. We may also get some measurements of your cage and where your bends are, if that's all right with you.

I'm in Nashville for the weekend. Next weekend is open though

No problem at all. I think I got all the measurements I'll need for the cage today, and should be able to get started on fabrication this week.

Alright. I'll be around this week and weekend if you want to come down.

I'm busy Sunday, but could make it down for Saturday afternoon, if that works for you.

:icon_tup::icon_tup::icon_tup:

Rebuilt and rejetted
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...e3&oe=55A67E24

Installed in the car and fabbed up an aluminum heat shield
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...88&oe=55B08C6E

Fuel cell is complete
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...aa&oe=55B01C57

Next up is a little frame notching to fit the cell and then a subframe to further support the cell and the radiator.

After that it's plumbing time. AN fittings add up fast!

I got sick of working within the confines of the rear frame rails. So I got rid of them. Tubing incoming.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...41ab12d9d9171c

Also started wiring up the dash

https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...c6&oe=55E124FF

Could I get a photo of whatever you did for your main hoop feet? I've been considering a lot of different solutions, from using the 'shelf' to going to the floor and trying to box that off, but there's so much complex geometry there that none of these ideas are really appealing. The only idea I actually like is going through the 'shelf' behind the seats, and plating to the rear-inside of the rocker, then welding the top of the plate back around the main hoop.

Thankfully, Don and Walter seem pretty open to whatever works for the car.

Mine is welded to the floor. More direct contact with the frame. I'll snap a pic tonight.

Recent progress:
Wiring everything. This sucks. Lots of time trying different ways to route things so it's neat and then shrink tubing everything.
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...69&oe=55E5A63A

Sidemount alternator setup showed up:
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...e1&oe=55D70734

Waiting on orders from Amazon, Racingbeat and Jegs now. AWR EP strut housings should be waiting when I get home.

AWR housings were delivered today. 10 minutes later and it's all assembled!
https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hp...98&oe=559FE41D

Fuel system plumbing came: -6 AN
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...0f&oe=55DE88D0

Coolant system plumbing came too: -16 AN
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...7e&oe=559E8083

Dash got finished up and installed in the car so I could build out the harness in the engine bay. Total weight is about 9 pounds.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.n...703f5954f010ba

Comparing the old AGXs (blech) to the new hotness. I'll need to machine the shocks to fit my AWR camber plates. NBD.
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...4e&oe=559ADE9B

And over the weekend I picked up this. Lets see if anybody can tell what it is.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...a461342db13986

lotus 7 frame? :)

everything else looks awesome!