Careless

You have to cut the bellhousing in some fashion- regardless of the make/type of kit you choose.

if you want to mount the starter from the rear of the bellhousing like OEM, then you have to cut a "pocket" for the starter to sit in on the back of the transmission.

As well, my version of the kit also includes a flywheel spacer/adapter.

The input shafts on the mazda and the nissan transmissions differ too greatly in all dimensions to simulate the OE assembly without some sort of economical spacer.

The reason for this is simple if you look at the two side by side;

The mazda transmission input shaft "spigot" (the part on the end of the input shaft that goes inside the pilot bushing/bearing) lines up with the bell housing face. It may be proud about 1/16th as far as I remember, but the tip virtually ends where the bell-housing does.

The nissan transmission input shaft is always about 1/2" passed/proud of the bell housing face on most, it not all, nissan/hitachi/fuji passenger car manual transmissions dating back to the 60's.

So by using a 1/2" spacer, you effectively put the end of the input shaft where it should be. Sounds simple right? Wrong. The entire clutch/pressure plate/flywheel assembly for the 370z is a whopping 52lbs, and the entire assembly is an inch taller than that of the 13B.

This means that you must space the flywheel in order to have the clutch disk splined hub have suitable engagement on the 370z trans input shaft's spline location.

So the flywheel adapter is really the easiest way to do this, unless you want to remove the input shaft and machine it. In a perfect world where we all know how and have the tools to put back Warner-Type syncro-mesh transmissions and had a machine shop at our disposal, that would be the preferred choice. But even if you follow the FSM for reassembling the rear of a 370z transmission, there are two or three "gotcha's" in the manual that they never speak of- and that's only for removing and reinstalling the bell-housing, which should be the simplest of tasks- but when Nissan misses a step, so does everyone following their instructions.

Most customers don't have that.

stevo9494

iTrader: (3)

I can't help much on the price of materials.. But i can search around for prices in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area if you let me know what you are looking for.

I also have access to a water jet cutter PlasmaCAM plasma cutter and a HAAS VF-2 CNC machine. I do not know how to use it, but i can learn. This should help you reduce labor cost.

My biggest concern would be shipping and logistics, since you are in Canada and im in Texas.
Let me know if i can help in anyway.

Tompickrell

Hey there, I have a friend currently trying to adapt the 20B Cosmo engine too a cd009 trans and is having trouble finding an auto bell housing to use the Collins adapter kit, I have full access to a machine shop since you are not selling your kit due to production costs I was wondering if you could supply me with your adapter plate cad file so I could cut , 1 unit, for this project, do you see any reason as to why this kit wouldn’t work on the 20B engine? Please email me as I have made this account for the sole purpose of getting in contact with you (: cheers

Careless

I got a promising update for you guys, but not a guarantee.

I have been working with a CNC Router Table & Waterjet cutting facility that is taking an interest in my designs and has a great rep that enjoys chatting about this type of stuff and seeing projects through in whatever way makes sense, rather than having customers shelve or bin them. I've just sent another adapter plate for a different engine to be machined for quality assurance. I am going to see how they do on this other application, and perhaps look into getting them to work on the rest of the kit for me as well.

The starter mount is really a big issue with this setup due to the cost of machining a 5x7inch block of aluminum. For that reason, I am making a slight design change that does not impact the functionality of the overall product, but will result in the kits actually being practical to produce and affordable for you guys.

Without getting ahead of myself, I just want to say that this project isn't completely dead yet. We just rebuilt the motor for the car that the kit was being tested on, so I will also be able to test this new starter adapter design to verify functionality. As of this post, I am not taking orders just yet. But I am being hopeful, as I'm sure a lot of your are as well.


Thanks for bearing with me on this. More updates to come soon.

sc0rp7

iTrader: (3)

I just wanted to let you know that I’m following this for updates and am also very interested in this setup vs the Collins kit. Thanks and please keep us updated.

Chris

Careless

I will have more information as soon as I redesign the starter adapter for easier manufacturing. It's the real hold-up for this piece, because of its complexity in manufacturing.

I've redesigned a slave cylinder adapter mount that will allow adjustment of depth/preload, and will not cost 400 dollars like the CZP kit that is commonly used on this transmission setup. I just had the CNC guy cut another adapter plate for a different engine and it was CNC router table cut, but the water jet cut samples I got were on the order of Q6 extra fine finish as well, so that is what this rx7 kit will be done with if there is some cost savings for everyone there.

stevo9494

iTrader: (3)

Sweet! Thank you for the update!

foofuklei

im keen!

stevo9494

iTrader: (3)

Hello!

Any updates? My motor just blew on my gslse so im about to pull everything out.

Let me know please! Otherwise, im biting a bullet for a TII swap.

Thank you,
Steven

Sash91

iTrader: (1)

Careless

Test Car just put down 503whp a few weekends ago with no driveline issues. Only the starter mount needs to be adjusted a bit, though I have no way of testing the new clutch slave setup unless I come across a rear iron, eccentric shaft, rear gear, counterweight, and flywheel + clutch assembly. I basically need to mock up another engine in order to complete the design, because we're not taking the engine or trans out of the test car since it's running well at this point. no sense in doing that, and I'm sure the owner doesn't want to either.

i don't want to machine all this stuff and then have to refund or remake parts of it at a loss, so there is still testing to be done in order to reduce the cost, and frankly I do not have the resources to do so right now because I don't own RX7 parts. The changes can be done on a non-running motor, since they're just for fitment & production cost reduction.

But when there are updates, I will update you guys. if I could somehow get a blown 13B for a few pennies, this would be a lot easier- but rotary guys like to hold onto their stuff even if it's unusable. I can understand that. Garage trophies are nice to have around sometimes.

stevo9494

iTrader: (3)

I have a blown gslse motor I could be able to send you. Let me know if you would like to work something out.

blackgamer16

Keep us posted. This is very promising!

Bucketfour

100% keen. I really don't like the idea of changing my rear rotor housing to an auto one to run the collins kit. Please keep up the great work!

peejay

Starter should be simple with a Mazda flywheel (N/A only) and a RX-2 topmount starter. Would only work with a carbureted intake manifold.

All rotaries up to FD have provisions for the topmount.

Careless

that's not a better solution at all. the starter mount we've created works great, there is nothing wrong with it. it just costs too much to machine as is, but I have a solution for that which is being tested soon.

peejay

Whether it is a "better" solution or not depends on your point of view. All of my cars have carbureted manifolds and are set up for N/A flywheels. Any serious high power turbo build is going to throw away the stock manifold and go with something Holley or Weber IDA pattern based. Grabbing an RX-2 started off of eBay for $100-ish is a no brainer.

cvzg77r

iTrader: (10)

Careless

Respectfully, this will be the last post I make in regards to your suggestion:

This kit was not made with carbureted manifolds or N/A flywheels in mind, so you can either design your own kit, or you can forget about it. If the kit works with the stock manifold, then you get the value added benefit of being able to use it with modified/custom manifolds as well

I'm not interested in changing the design of the kit to something which requires the use of any more parts than current described or designed for. The overall idea of how the kit is made is NOT going to change.

Keep in mind that you are commenting and arguing against a starter mount that you have not even seen yet- and claiming that running a setup completely different from what you've not seen is easier, or more simple. Frankly, that is quite silly.

Careless

I'm thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis *finger pinch* close to buying my own table-top CNC to make these kits to my specs and quality standards seeing as some of the machining prices I've received are astronomical and quite frankly a little ridiculous, and at the price I've been given it's starting to make more sense.

stevo9494

iTrader: (3)

I have read the *estimated price* and I am still intersted in purchasing this kit or receiving more information in a vendor thread in the future"
1- Conroy Ganson. Aka. Fourkruzn
2- Project D1
3- MaD^94Rx7
4- Islander.... Neal Adderley
5- Stevo9494 - Steven
6- ayp77 - Andrew
7-Justa2rotor-Tim Brockert
8- cvzg77r
9- Sash91 - Alexander Ivanov
10- Bucketfour

Just updating the list. I found a cheap Tii transmission. I no longer have the GSLSE motor for you but I found an NA s4 motor (eshaft, stat gears, flywheel, bad housings, and bad plates) to donate to this cause if you still need a mock engine.
Help me find a way to ship it and its all yours.

R_PROWESS

iTrader: (3)

I'm interested if i can get it to work with my OSgiken twin clutch/flywheel. If i can find discs with the correct spline, would this kit work?

Shainiac

iTrader: (7)

IIRC, OS Giken uses the same disk thickness and diameter (215mm?) for all of their TS2B clutches. If you bought OS disks for a 350Z clutch, it should work. TOB stroke and end play may not be correct, though.

Careless

The new slave / throwout bearing I have been working on adapting comes in a few bearing face styles, one of which should work with the twin disk OS Giken, which I believe is pretty much the same for most applications as indicated by Shainiac as far as the pressure plate goes. The pressure plate height may be a little different, but for that application I'd have to send an extra bearing adapter of a different thickness just to be sure. Slight bump in cost, but not by much, as it's a small piece.

For hydraulic release bearings, you should always put an adjustable pedal stop, though most people don't.

statique

iTrader: (15)