Made 8 runs last Fri. and was only
able to power shift into 3rd twice.
Anybody using the engine stabilizer
brace notice an improvment to their
3rd gear shift ?
Luckily when lined up against a Z06
I got it in 3rd and turned a 12.69
He turned a 13.1
I was running 12lbs boost, intake,
exhaust (resonated mid) SMI, Nitto
drag radials. B&M short shifter, toe
links and radius rods.BTW, I had no
wheel hop with the Nittos at 15 lbs.
Was wondering also if the shortshifter is making it more likely
to miss 3rd ?
Jack

 

I have heard that the engine torque brace makes hitting third alot easier. The short shifters are a double edged sword. They make the throws crisper and closer but I think my friends stock shifter is a hell of alot easier to hit third in.
I have the Pettit short shifter in my FD and I once threw it from 2nd to 5th as clean as can be. I thought I hit third perfectly until I had no power. Then I thought I blew something, turbo, vacumn line, etc.. All that crossed my mind before I realized I was in 5th. I ran through at an impressive 13.8@88mph in 5th and was eliminated from my class. I felt like a complete retard. I am getting an engine torque brace now to keep the tranny in line for that third gear shift. What rpm do you launch your Nittos at?

 

Yeah I really felt like an idiot
missing 3rd time after time.
Nobody knew me there so I guess they
attributed it to my age (55).
Glad nobody knew I raced formula fords for 9 yrs. and mini sprints
for 9 yrs. HeHe !
I warmed up the Nittos real good and
launched at 5k.

 

What were our 60' times? I could not launch for ****. My best that night was a 2.01 60ft. I was launching around 4800 and dumping but my clutch was pretty weak and would not hold at all by the end of the night. I consistently kept getting worse and worse until I threw down an impressive 2.4 60ft slipping the whole way down the track. I tried a few burnouts but I would either bang rev limiter or start to slide so I never got to really heat them up, but I was also told not to heat up anything but slicks. Just to clean them off and line up.

 

I have used the engine brace and it works. I was always worried about doing damage to my car though. I now run the urethane motor mounts and I like them better and 2-3 shifts are no problem. One or the other will work.

 

I have solid motor mounts, solid diff mounts, a tork brace and transmission solid mount on my FD and I still have problems with explding the 5th gear syncro and locking collar shifting to 3rd... it help's a little, but it won't solve the problem.. I killed 3 transmissions in a row last fall over a 3 month period.... I'm also using the B&M short shifter, I'm thinking about going back to the stock shifter untill I can afford a DOGG mission... lol, like that'll ever happen...

 

My 60ft time was 2.03 112 mph
I actually pushed the clutch in an
extra time, thinking I missed 3rd
again.
ErnieT seems to do a lot of racing
so I took his advise on launching
with Nittos.
He posted a while back that the Nittos had to be warmed up more than
the other drag radials.

 

I haven't mis-shifted 3rd since I went through my 1st transmission the beginning of this year...all due to the engine torque brace. Best $2.00 I ever spent!

 

What is this brace? I haven't heard of it. Where do you get it and what does it do?

Thanks

 

the brace goes from the motor to the fender wall to keep the motor from moving when torque is made , find pictures and buy one for high dollar or make one for a dollar or two

 

This isnt the best picture of a brace, but here it is on my mechs engine.. Its in the far left of the pictures, behind the brake reservoir...

http://www.jt-imports.com/DSCF0163.JPG

Jason
www.jt-imports.com

 

Duboisr,
They arent that expensive.. I heard a couple people made them though for about $20. I have yet to only see RIKKI`s though..

Jason
www.jt-imports.com

 

any have any custom ones made for the 2nd gen?

 

The internal shifting parts of the Rx7 tranny's have a poor design for POWER shifting. I have mis-shifted 3rd gear so many times I came up with my own fix it. The only down fall is the tranny will have to come down and the tail housing has to come off. The shifting Rod get's alot of wear from your everyday driving. That shift rod pushes the 1st and 2nd gear fork, 3rd and 4th and 5th and reverse fork's. When the tranny is in 2nd gear just about to get shifted into 3rd gear, there is a pretty big gap in between the gear forks, the shift rod slides into the gap(between 2nd gear and 3rd gear) and we have a mis-shift. I have welded the the 3rd gear shift fork to a point where there is no posibility the shift rod could fall in between the gap and mis-shift. Basically if the shift rod tries to fall in between the air gap, it will push on the weld and push the 3rd gear into action and not mis. If I find alot of people intrested in this Idea I will try to get some machine shop to custome make me some 3rd gear shift fork to a very precise fit. I did the welding to the 3rd gear shift fork for my personal benefit. From my experience it really works I have banged a third gear into some N/A bridgeport 11,000 RPM engines and no more mis -shift.

 

Wow, is this a remedy for the imfamous 3rd gear mis shift. Dependong on price I would be interested.

 

Judge Ito, does the tranny end up in neutral when this happens? I have missed third gear twice and ended up in neutral, although the shift lever appeared to be in gear. I had hunch it was the selector rod wearing out I think you just confirmed my thoughts. I'll have to investigate this some more this fall when I tear my tranny down again to replace the 5th gear syncro.

I much, much more frequently hit fifth gear when trying to power shift third (probably my driving style). Because of this, I have broke the fifth gear syncro twice in the last 10,000 miles. I only need to miss a few times to break it too. This is using the upgraded syncro, upgraded shift select spindle, a Mazdaspeed short throw shifter, Rotorsports urethane motor mounts, and Unobtanium diff mounts, all of which drastically help, but do not eleminate this problem.

I think a fifth gear lockout device would be the cure. I currently have a shift select spindle torn apart and am reverse engineering it. I hope to be able to design something to replace the fifth/reverse shift select spindle, which could be used to lock these gears out when the driver wanted, and still give the appropriate resistance for selecting gear when it isn;t lockedx out.

 

I've found that a lighter weight shift **** makes hitting 3rd easier since there is less enertia to colapse the "select spindle".

I installed a shot shifter, a carbon fiber M-speed ****, the increased spring rate select spindle, M-speed motor mounts, and the torque brace. Missing 3rd isn't a problem.

 

get a short shifter. it makes missing third a lot harder.

 

Yes.. since the shift rod falls in between the shift forks it will stay in neutral even though the shifter itself seems to be in gear, the problem is internal. The Rx Truck I use to own, had the 3rd gear fork remedy and it work very good. never missed a third gear shift. Ill make one welded for free if anybody is doing a clutch job on there 7 and we could take it from there. who is going to be the lucky one???

 

am i chop liver here JK when i break my trans you can fix it and mod it

 

The way your doing does wicked burnouts that will be sooner then later...

 

i didn't really have that problem with my TII since we changed the shifter bushings. the FD i did it so many times!!!! good thing the 5th gear syncro was already busted when i got the car..... i haven't broken a tranny yet. i'm sure i will soon too

 

hey judge ito do you have any pics of that gearbox modification you are talking about.

 

No pics since I have only done this mod for myself.

 

I also have a third gear problem in my 85 FB. Is this also normal in first gens? Third is driving me nuts and I will have to change trannies since I plan to compete in a very twisty road course and for the life of my rexy that third is getting annoying and downshifts are impossible without heel-toe.