Newb thinking of rallycross with 88 GXL
 

Hey guys,

Now bear with me, I'm only 18 and not all that experienced with racing, rallying, or rotary engines.

Here is the low down, I've got a 88 RX-7 GXL with a completely beat interior and a non turbo rotary with almost non existent compression. It will start but it has almost no power what so ever. It's also done 200,000 kilometers on the same engine. Brand new clutch, everything mechanical works good on it. 70% on winter tires.

There is the basic tech rundown on the car, now my situation: like said I'm 18 but I work as an apprentice mechanic, live on an acreage and own 8 vehicles at the moment. Now despite having so manny cars, I don't have a play toy. Nothing at all fun. So, ive been looking into amateur rally racing. And the RX-7 is the only car i've got that fits the bill.

So now my question. The rules for this amateur rally racing is simply to have a helmet, nothing beyond that is required. Were should I go with this? If I should go somewhere with it at all? the engine will need to be rebuilt or replaced that is for certain. But what should I do for that? I've got 3 chevy 350's sitting around right now that I've been thinking of, but I'm not exactly sure what is required for that swap.

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

i believe rallycross is done for the season but auto cross starts tomorrow. drop in dates are available.
we have had one RX7 fully built for rally. he moved to Ontario though. not sure what happened to the car. we have an FB that does rally cross and is a contender for RWD class.
everything you want to know about getting into any racing at all in the calgary area is on this page http://cscc.speedracer.ca/forums/index.php?action=forum
feel free to ask any questions you may have an come out and watch some events. a very welcoming crowd.

That seems like a bit overkill for what I'm thinking of getting into. Basically I've done some research, and to get started you can drive you daily driver car and compete with it. You don't need to spend all that money on suspension, driveline and safety upgrades right off the bat.

What I really want to know is would it more cost effective and easier to just buy or build another rotary and put it in. Or, drop in one of the 350's I've got around with all the mods that entails. Or weather I'd be better off getting something else because the RX-7 just isn't that good at rally.

that will depend. doing a swap will generally put you in a very undesireable class and you won't have a chance at being competitive in most disciplines. there are some ways around this but if you really want to learn how to drive the car, i'd rebuild/buy the stock motor so you learn how to be fast without relying on horsepower as a crutch.
Rallycross is done until next winter. TSD (navigational rally on public streets with stockish cars) hasn't released their dates yet. so if you really want to get into racing something without a lot of money invested. i'd say autocross for now until winter. get a helmet (snell 2000 or better), some brakes and see what you can afford for tires/whats available. register for an autocross event, show up and listen to the sage advice of the event crew.

drop-in/very little prep time = rallycross, tsd, autocross.
seasonal series/months or years of prep = rally, road race, time attack, chump car.

Thanks for the sage advice syritis. I'll keep that in mind. Although I'd assume that if I wanted to be competitive in any rally event of any sort I would need a ground up build like some of the ones I've been reading up on here right?

I guess I should move this to a more newbish area of this forum, as I can see I'll be asking a lot more questions.

in rally yes cars a built from the ground up with cages paint and sponsors.
rallycross, is mostly factory street cars. I seen one rally car attend, but other then him the most prepared car has tires, brakes, coilovers and weight reduction.

the only difference between autoX and rallyX/snowX is the time of year and locations. this is why is suggested autoX, so you can learn the format, get to know some people and learn about set up. many participants do both autoX and SnowX.

There is a RX-7 in my local rallycross region that runs. it works fine. just go out and do it.

weather you auto-x or rally-x or both the most important thing is just to get out there and start doing it.