running 10's is a little open ended as a goal, there are LOTS of ways to do it.

https://www.rx7club.com/rotary-drag-...-motor-937424/

Jay's car is a LIGHT, NA P port, and he's in the 9's i think...

there was also a guy, i'm spacing on the name, but he was running 10 flat in an FD. stock engine, stock turbos, lots of boost, excellent driving,

 

What is "real"? How do you define "real"?

Horsepower is cheap. Longevity, however, costs money, how long do you want to go?

I did both of these. At the same time, even. I did have the benefit of having access to enough shop resources to do the fabrication myself. And I did learn a lot, like "damn, next time I'll just do a bridgeport because there's a heck of a lot less fabrication involved"

If you can engineer a System, you could probably do it. BUT, and this is the but, it will not be very optimal and it definitely will not be the first shot. It takes experience to do things on the cheap, and experience can be very expensive. On the other hand, once you get it, it can never be taken away from you.

 

Ok thanks for the info, I am basically ruling out pp until I'm older and have a larger budget,right now I'm thinking turbo bridge high psi and see where it lands me hp wise,but I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed with anything over 400. That should also get me in my target drag times too.

 

it sounds to me like you're skating uphill no matter which way you slice it ....

my advice would be the following:

get an T2 (an unloved and lightly damaged one might be in your price range). yes, it is heavier than the Gen I cars, but you can shed weight since you're changing your mind to a track-only car. they have a much stronger aftermarket support than the Gen I cars ever had and ever WILL. period. i don't know what your skills are a fabrication, but in the long-term it has to be cheaper to buy a ready-engineered, ready-made part as opposed to engineering one yourself - unless you have programs and a machine shop at your beck-and-call.

you already have the driveline - no need to convert to one and they will take significant power right off the bat. you can then focus on getting a decent engine in it and getting it to run. not to mention, you will get a feel for life with a rotary. also, if things get too hot before it actually gets serious, you can bail out with minimal loss.

that's my advice. feel free to take or leave it.


you seem to be somewhat open-minded and that's a good thing. it's actually probably the best thing you have going for you right now (in the context of this thread).

another piece of advice is crawl before you walk. this is yet another time you've mentioned a bridge at high boost and then quoted power that you can make with stock ports. making bridgeports (physically) is easier than making peripherals, but i don't think you're "getting" the potential they pack when turbos get involved. they have ridiculous flow on both ends.

https://www.rx7club.com/new-member-r...rimer-1039179/

look up the following:

ErnieT
TurboR1
Aaron Cake

there are others that I'm forgetting, but start with those ....

 

https://www.rx7club.com/time-slips-d...-rwhp-1000747/

yet another car

notice please that is 500hp on pump gas, and a mostly stock engine, that is ~5 years old. the only real tricks are that he spent a lot of time tuning it, and its a very simple car. simple = fewer things to go wrong.

 

Save your money and go to college (yes, i'm a dad)

If you must waste your money on cars (which i completly understand BTW), work w/i your means.

Miata's make great track cars (if that's what you are looking to do - didn't say what your real objectives were), or something like a used GTI or Mazdaspeed3. You'll have a lot of fun and not break the bank

Final soapbox statement, anything over 300 HP on the street is a waste and will probably get you in trouble (with the law or in a hospital)

 

My VW (the running one, I've three) made 115hp when new, but most of those horses probably died a long time ago, since I drove a 2.0 WRX today and driving it below 3000rpm and staying out of boost felt faster than driving my VW at max effort.

And I think the VW is more than adequate for street duty without being a d-bag, so you say more than 300 is a waste, I say more than 60 or so is a waste...

 

Yes,don't worry,college is happening,the numbers I'm saying are accounting for saving some for college.


On another note,I may have just run into what might become either my daily driver or a flipping project. A 76 datsun 280z for only 600 bucks. I feel that's gonna be a car that will give me tons of experience,and if I do a good job,some cash too.

 

half bridge and a T51 is a mostly stock engine?

 

The point is stock components are handing 500hp.

 

You'll find that stock components are all that people really use since aftermarket components don't exist...

 

That should make for a great car to cut your teeth on. My first was a '67 Triumph GT-6 i bought in high school. I spent a bunch of money on it, but nothing i couldn't afford at the time and learned a lot in the process.

BTW, don't ever buy an old English car as something to cut your teeth on. I ended up completely rewiring the thing (from scratch) and had to source parts from England. I would think parts for an old Z would be more readibly available (and reliable) and the older ones are becoming somewhat collectable, but not so much so that prices are crazy.

 

agreed. plenty education to be had and good, solid support out there for Z cars.

 

After a bit of research,if I keep everything including initial cost below 2k I should be able to safely get my money back assuming I get it running and not broken. Also this model is slightly more collectable as it has the older style more minimal bumpers before they got big and ugly.

 

And that is like a tenth of the going rate of a decent Z car anymore, assuming that it isn't rust held together by paint and inertia... in which case that is about half of what they go for :/

 

Peejay, true. true. and ... true.

it's been a while since i looked in earnest (over a decade), but even rust bucket Z cars (as opposed to ZX cars) were still fetching some good monies.

 

Yah, I've realized that I will have to add 240Z to the list of cars I'll probably never own because everyone else wants one too. (Say, remember when 911SCs were cheap because nobody wanted them?)

Actually I do have a friend with a 240Z that he would get rid of cheaply, but last year he went to move it and he removed large sections of undercarriage by putting his hand on it and grasping. Bodywork just crumbled. And this was a car that lived in California its entire life until it found a spot in his driveway. Sad, really. At least 911SCs are galvanized.

 

lmao, i do! i also remember when Nissan restored a bunch of Z's and put them in showrooms, and then they didn't sell! i had a hard time deciding to sell my Tr3, just for this reason. i don't think i can really justify buying another, even though in every un-measurable way its the best car i've ever had.

 

Well i came across this today http://brainerd.craigslist.org/cto/4678977981.html what are people's thoughts? I'm hoping I might be able to knock price down with a partial trade. This is only 15 minutes away from me,he says it has 126k miles and the rest of the interior is decent apparently decent from what he says. He also says the brakes needed front rotors and calipers,rear hardware and wheel cylinders. How much will that set me back if I replace with brembo or another name brand? I will need a crash course on brakes now. Any advice on this?

 

i'm actually chuckling out loud a little because when i wrote my last post, i deleted something similar to what you wrote here [i didn't specify the 240Z and of course, no 911 reference].

as for the SC ... [sigh] ... i remember the last days of that. i'm not too discouraged though. in terms of air cooled affordability, they're still the best thing going - at least, they will be until the "backdate"-'tardos start paying attention to people like Bruce Anderson.

 

price is ok. car has been repainted very badly at some point. its been hit in the front, its got the wrong bumper, and all the panel gaps are off. these cars would have passed the marble test when they were new.

since you're in the great white north, you need to go look for rust under the bins, basically the first place these rust is where the rear suspension attaches, its a relatively easy fix, but still.

brakes are cheap, you could probably do a major service on the engine, and the brakes for $300ish? if you're going to go for big power the brakes should probably be step one anyways (and then its going to need tires)

if its not too rusty in the back, it would be a good starter car, as it probably will run ok, and just be ugly

 

Well that's great to hear,he never said anything about a crash,that could drop the price. I'm going to see it tomorrow and will check thoroughly for rust and take many pictures so I can get advice.
I don't mind the ugly,eventually.body work Will come,until then it's a sleeper.

 

he probably bought it like that.

see how the bumper is crooked? see how its a 79-80 bumper? see how all gaps between all the panels are sloppy? the car didn't roll out of the factory like that.

 

Upon inspection of the photo the front bumper is cracked badly. Seeing as I'm his only local inquiry I might be able to talk him down to 4. Anyone know where I can find conversion parts to convert the engine to a rew?

 

Ok,so I'm gonna look at the fb tomorrow and then the datsun on Wednesday. Any other tips and things to look for other than rust? how much rust is acceptable and where are absolute no rust areas? How can I compression test an engine without a tool? I'm gonna get my hands on one soon,just don't have it right now.