Shoemaker Part 2
 

Well it's about that time again. I'm planning on changing a few things for next year.
I have retired the IRS suspension and the 8.5" tires. I wish I wouldve went a bit faster as I knew I could've gone alot faster it was just a matter of getting everything sorted properly. I wish I could've had a bit more time with it but it's time to move on.

So sometime next week DL Racepoint will begin the new chassis work.
Its finally going to get cut up and getting a nice set of big shoes :)

Engine will be replaced by a 2.3L Mazda 4 cylinder.
Thanks Dee for all your tips today that was very cool of you. If you ever need anything just let me know. I'm sure I'll probably need something else from you anyhow. :) :)

I'm not giving up on the rotary just looking to try something different.
Besides I will be running 2 rx-7's next year and thought it would be cool to have
Two mazda's out there with a rotary in one and Mazda piston in the other.

I will be posting pics and updates as soon as I have some so stay tuned.


Goal for next year is to put both cars in the 6's. :)

ahhh shame as the car is now a world wide legend for IRS Rotary cars.
But hey you got move forward if want to go faster.
What /axle bar/driveshafts and CV joints/stubs were you running in the car, are they compatiable with the FD, Im still on stock axles with a KAZZ diff?

You have done a great job and have the record, so that is a great accomplishment and I commend you. But putting a piston engine in an RX7- boooooooo, sorry I just can't get over that. Good luck though.

I like it. Still tossing around the idea of piston power for my 79. Very interested to see the results.

I liked your old shoes better :nod:

Good luck man, sad to see you "jumping ships" on your T2 :(

ok i think u should have just bought or built another car n left urs the way it was as ur car was already running good,,, we know tht u saw how hard it is to deal with irs on an rx7 so dont take this the wrong way we r not hating honestly we r very happy tht u ran wat u ran but we just think u gave up too easy..wat a shame..

+1

+3 on your old shoes
And congrats on our baby daughter :icon_tup: Atleast your brother will be around to get spanked.:)

Holy shit, daughter? I wouldn't have been nagging you about the phone calls if I knew that! Congratulations, what are your plans for the old engine and rear end setup? Hmm...

Thanks.. It feels good being a dad again...

My brother's car will pick up on some of my car's tricks for next year.. :)
since my "street class" car was alway's quoted as a race car, my brother's car is a pure street car.. :) so no one can complain.. :lol:
And now my car can become a real race car.. :) :lol:

For the record, I am not quitting, giving up, etc..
I will still race a 13B turbo RX-7 next year as well as my own RX-7 with mazda 4 cyl.

Don't think of it as quitting but as expanding into another area.
I enjoy challenges and need to keep my mind going or i'll lose interest..

I would've probably kept the IRS for another year but was offered to sell my suspension and couldn't pass up the offer so I figured it was time to move on.

I had my setup going 8.6's like a bracket car and then added a bit more power and tried goodyear 8.5" tires and had no luck with those tires.. I know if I would've went back to my old tires i could've gone 8.0's or better..

I'll save my latest tricks for the other RX-7 for next year.. I really expect that one to go 6's by the end of 2011 as well as my own. So that will make 2 RX-7's in the 6's with both mazda powerplants. (rotary & piston).

I know it's hard for some to see a piston motor in an RX-7 but you have to realize how much work it is go racing with a rotary car and then to have a family on top to that plus add in another rotary race car for next year. I had to do something. So my best move was to keep one as a rotary and make one a piston and race both...

That's cool and all but I would rather sell my rx7 than put a piston engine in it. Sorry, but I'm a diehard rotary fan and call me nuts but I think putting a piston engine in an Rx7 is disgraceful and well.... just not right. If you're going to go over to the dark side with a piston engine setup, then why not just switch over to a different chassis like Dee K. did?

Even if you run a 6 second pass in your piston engine rx7, rotary guys are going to say, " but it's got a piston engine in it, WTF?" and the piston guys are going to say, " but it's in an rx7, WTF?"

I guess it all boils down to whatever floats your boat and what you like. I however think that switching over to piston engine setups because of money or sponsership issues is a total copout.

I wish getting another car was an option.
Unfortunatly completely out of budget.
I can put in tons of hours of labor but money in this day and age is very low.
Besides I really like my car and wanna continue using it.

At least its still Mazda powered.

good luck with the new setup,
hope u will exeed ur goals and
congrats on being a dad again
its the best feeling :)

How so?
Do you have any idea what's its like racing a high hp rotary and how much it costs in both time and money? And then trying to race two of them?
It's easy for "rotary fans" to say it's not a rotary or i would never do that but you have to look at it from my "shoes" :) or perspective to really see what it's like.
I enjoy racing and wanna go to every event.

I removed sponsorship from your quote since getting sponsored with an import nowadays is almost impossible.

Interesting... If this is a baited thread, you're sure catching these guys :lol:

I'll believe it when I see it... but just in case you are serious, good luck with the build

very wise words spoken by a pureist at heart. AND I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH JAY!!!!!

Enzo, I hope your fucking joking here. and if your not, well don't take these words personal, because i know you personally but, you sound like a stupid dick. If your a pureist at heart you would not make this move... period..... I could care less of your reasons. I hope you sat back and analized what your about to do, before u did it. and if you are, please find another shell to put that stupid piston engine in. you said your going to cut your Rx7 right? so go ahead and find another donor piston shell and cut that piece of shit. the least you could do here, since you started the thread, is explaine your reasons for this weak moment your going through. this way, we could analize your reasoning and pick it apart. you will be judged!!!!!!

first congrats on ur baby god bless,,,,,,,second ur a very big talker i give u tht but saying u can hit 8.0 by just switching tires just shows tht about u,,even to hit a 8.5 on ur car was a very big deal it never happenend im sure eventually it would have happened, again im not trying to hate but im being real its very hard for stock chassis str8 axle rx7's to run those #'s on a small tires so for u to be assuming u can do it by simply switching tires cmon if tht was the case u would have not thrown all the hard work for a simple set of tires..

Ito next time I see you I'll explain it in more detail but to sum it up after making roughly 60-70 passes last year I ended up consuming quite a bit of parts and it takes a toll on you physically,mentally, and financially. Whether or not it's the right move is not certain. I believe its worth the effort to try. If it doesn't work it'll be easy to go back to a rotary engine the following year.

TimeMachines thanks.
I've made over a dozen 8 second passes and had my car running on rails.
I tried the new Goodyear 8.5"s and they just didn't work for me.
I had enough experience to know going back with my old tires wouldve been the answer
I ran 8.6's at 156mph. I had the car going close to 167mph. I know I wouldve done it.
It's not that I'm a big talker I knew the car very well and knew what it's capable of.

I had to stay home with the wife so I couldnt make the last couple of races.
I also had someone begging me for my rear setup so I made the decision to move on and have all winter to get the car setup for bigger tires. I felt I did what I said I was gonna do and it was time to move on.

Yes, I do know, that's why I run in a class I can afford and at least it's still a rotary. If I couldn't afford the all motor class, then I would just run a bracket class with a rotary or just go to the drag strip for fun. Point being, I'll sell my rotary before I race a piston engine. Besides, you say you're going to race two 6-7 second race cars...... doesn't sound like you have much money issues to me. :scratch:

And if running the other tires is the only issue, then it should only take you 15 minutes to put them on and run the 8.0. What are you waiting for?

Kinda of hard to do since I sold the entire rear setup hence the decision to do all this.
One car is my own and the other is a good friend of mine and also the shop car.

I love speed and will do whatever I can to go fast. :)
I'm not a bracket kind of guy. :)

Roy's Rx7? Still the same PP combo?

Enzo, I had a hunch that was the reason, I'm going to ask you a question. Do you think Ed Bergenholtz doesn't brake? Do you think Brent rau doesn't break? Do you think every single 4 cil. engine that is being pushed pass their limits doesn't break? Get real.. Enzo it's part of the game. the piston engine falls apart worst then a rotary and don't forget, (we the rotary gearheads) don't have aftermarket companies making all kinds of high horsepower parts like the piston community does, and besides that we fucking bring the noise. So fucking what if you had failures, your just starting and even with being a rookie you did awesome. You think the grass is greener on the other side. and let me tell you it's not. I have seen people play on both sides of the field. and it gets real ugly with piston engines. so what else is there? like timemachine said on the earlier post. you gave up way to easy.. sell out.. Rene Franco sold out to drifting, but atleast he still uses a rotary. Enzo ur behaving like Judah!!!

Every thing breaks when pushed past it's limit... If it isn't then your not pushing hard enough :) Question is where is the limit? :) And how close can we push towards it?

You guys wanna call me a quitter or sellout, but what am i quitting from? I said I would break the IRS record and did. Now it's time to move on.. You guys see it as quitting but I see it as accomplished... I have other goals now.. One of them being to go 6's with a rotary powered rx-7! ? I wanna play on both sides not just one... LOL..

I've always worked on both rotary and piston motors...So I've been to the other side already.. :lol: I love them both. Your right in that there really is no aftermarket parts for rotary engines and it's amazing what they can do with 99% stock parts. Weak areas in pistons motors however can be addressed no matter what it is...

If you guys step into my shoes maybe you'll understand why I'm doing what I'm doing..

It'll be interesting to see how each car behaves next year.

so can I call your car a px-7 lol. good luck let the boards do the talking.

Have AnthonyNYC show you how to rebuild your motor, that way things won't be so expensive.

Leave me outta this one lol!!! There's a big difference in making 600 hp and making 1000 hp!!!

Ok, have the Judge show you

It's not easy. I talk to Enzo at 2-3 AM when he leaves his shop. He is then up at 7AM and heads to a 9-5. Then back at the shop for another long night. I really don't know how he does it. He works alone in his shop which is not easy. When he explained to me how much it really costs to race at a level he is at, I realized it's not easy or cheap. Keep in mind he supports a family, a mortgage in Long Island where taxes are 10K a year and even though he plays, he makes sure his wife is home with the kids. Even with all this going on he still has time for his friends, for advice or a tune. All I can say is that it's not easy.

Forget running a class you can afford. Just heading to the track is a $500 affair. An average weekend for a regular turbo car in the NE is $500 per event. Our tracks are 2-3 hours away. Gas and tolls is about $150, new set of plugs $150, gas $100, food/entrance fee is $100. (it cost me $75 to race a class at fall nationals). Hotel $75 and other misc fees, by the time you add that up you are close to $600 and you have not touched the other stuff yet.

I don't want to see Enzo switch anymore then the rest, but some of you need to chill out. Enzo, did you ever get a 2 piece shaft, extra dowels or even a stud kit to help keep your engine from flexing? Thats stuff is a bit pricy in the front end, but well worth it in the long run.

sure as hell wont be from you :rofl:


Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Ernie all that stuff you mentioned is unnecessary and a waste of money.
Flexing was not a problem of mine..
Want to keep a rotary alive.. Stay off the 2step and rev limiters...

Enzo ... a big respect ... go on and show them how to go fast an both sides of engine tuning...

fag ....:gayboy:
you disrespect me an my family , swat needs to come in and take your car away, and the dvd players .
Rota for life :nod:

Enzo, even tho I want to agree with everybody (I really DO), family and bussines comes first. If its the best option for you, your bussines, and family; then there is nothing to talk about. Good luck out there, and wish you the best!

BTW - I can't root for your 2nd gen anymore hehehehe (had to hate a lil, you know...)

Give it a try before you give up, lol..You should really consider talking to some other engine builders prior to throwing in the towel.

congrat's on the baby Enzo, good luck on the car for next year do wat you do best!

I think Enzo's proven that he can build (or has a builder that can) with the rest of them, nothing to prove there. :icon_tup:

If everything goes to plan, I'll be following in his footsteps (only a couple miles behind, lol!)

Reason he's pulling the rotary is the motor doesn't last him,

Actually Ernie, it's because I can't afford to keep it running...

Anthony, Most don't realize the sacrifice necessary to go racing.. Last Year was alot of work. I enjoyed it alot and will do it again this year.

I just assumed cause Allen and them said you were having a hard time keeping the motor together.
How would a piston engine be cheaper? Wouldn't it be more expensive? You'll still need to freshen up the piston engine, right?

:scratch::scratch: Don't remember that conversation.

Ernie you know what happens when you assume right?

Don't understand why everything is some big secret. Christ, if any of us needs help we help. Allen you said it at mir.

It all depends on how fast you wanta go. I have been running the same engine without rebuild for 3 years, running 7x's in the 8th mile on pump fuel. Cost me 20 bucks to race, 10 bucks on fuel and one hour drive. The faster you go the more expensive it costs. That's why I made the comment of going to a slower or different class. It costs bucko bucks to race in the 6-7 second category piston or rotary. And turbo cars are much less reliable than an N/A setup. I know I can't afford to race a turbo car so I chose to race in the all motor class which can get expensive too depending on how fast you want to go. My main point is that going from a rotary to a piston engine for cost reasons is a lame excuse.

But how do you know this? Have you done it?
I can tell you maintaining a high hp rotary is no joke.
And I had a pretty realible setup.