Chattanooga TN area Rx-7's
 

Are there any Chattanooga area people on the forum? Tried a search and didn't really get anything solid. Any of Rotary Services in Chattanooga crowd around here?
Just checking to see. Trying to get back in touch with a few people and see how many rotary cars are still around the area.

I'm in Knoxville but I find myself down there at least a few times a year. Don't really know any of the owners in Chatty but I've seen a few first gens around town. There's a guy that autocrosses his pretty regularly at the events down there. There was an SA at Bug-a-Palooza last year that looked pretty nice.

I go to Bug A Paluza every year with my Bug. I didn't see it there. I know there's one of the Chatta VW guys that has one. He's posted about it on the VW site. I used to work at Rotary Services before we closed it several years ago. I still talk to a few of the rotary guys that worked there. We used to have a lot of RX-7's around Chattanooga. But I don't hardly see them around anymore. Thanks for the reply. Maybe I can get up around Knox sometime and check out the cars there.

This year was my second year. VW's are my girlfriend's thing but they're rubbing off on me. She just got a '71 Super so we'll probably be in that next year. Never heard of Rotary Services, there was an actual rotary shop in East TN? No one around Knoxville will touch them. I know a few FC and FB folks around Knoxville. It's been a long time since we actually got a meet together though. Maybe if we can find some Chattanooga 7's we can get the two groups together.

That would be great to get a few cars together and hang out. We used to have a small group and hung out at the garage. Yeah, for several years there was a shop in Chattanooga. I think it's been closed now for at least 8 years. One of my best friends owned it and he worked on rotaries since the 70's. He used to train Mazda technicians back in the day. I worked there with him for a few years until we closed it down. I still have a lot of NA plates, housings, coil packs, injectors. Got rid of a lot of stuff over the years.
I'm trying to get my '61 sliding ragtop Bug ready by April for BP. Not sure if I can do it or not, lol.

haha I live in munford TN about 25 min away from memphis and I think im the only 7 owner around here ive nvr seen any others!! rly sucks!:dunno:

You're pretty far away from us. I figured there would be some rotaries in Memphis. It seems that usually bigger cities tend to have more RX-7's than smaller towns. Yeah, it sucks when you don't have anybody to hang out with that have a common bond of a certain car.

:I kno rite! nahh only one ive ever seen was a 1st gen drivin by two gay guys :/... not even any rotary machanics around here..:scratch:, and its hell trinna find parts or one at a salvage yard if your rly lucky! and im 17 and not many ppl my age even knos what an rx7 is...not even any tuners running around.

Im just north of Chattanooga a few miles in Ooltewah. Just picked up a 90' Vert. I am new to rotaries. I have seen a few rx7s in the area over the years though. Occasionally I've seen a fb driving around (stock) and a yellow s5 convertible. I havent seen them though since the summer. There was a hardtop fc being worked on at Fausto's Power Garage in ooltewah a couple of days ago though. Theyre around here, just few and far between.

I'll be passing through tomorrow and again on Sunday. Holla if you see a black vert FC up and down 75.

Grease Monkey, I live in Cleveland and there's a couple of guys in Ooltewah that apparently all they do is 7's. I know where their place is but have never met them. It's not a business as I understand, but father/son and some friends. And they all mess with rotaries. Other than that, since we shut down years ago. I know of no one else. Otherwise if you need any help, gimme a yell and some of my rotary crew can try and help you out. Keep watch on this thread for some possible "area" gatherings.
Lizard, have a good, safe trip this weekend. I'm going to be messing with my FB this weekend. So if you see a bright red FB, or possibly a slammed white '68 Beetle, it's me. Gimme a yell. I'm going to add you guys as friends on here, so we can possibly get some cars together sometime.

Supposed to be going to pick up a GSL limited slip rear end, heater core, wiper motor and a couple of other pieces for my '85 This weekend. I'm going to convert to the LSD and disc rear end. Had a whole car for this years ago. I ended up selling it and ditched my plans for the conversion. Hopefully get the parts and make it happen. I'll post pics if I get the parts.
Everyone have a great Thanksgiving.

Thanks, the trip went well. Picked up an '88 vert with a J-spec S5 SP turbo swap in FL :D Hooray for 17mpg on the highway!

The GSL rear is well worth the swap. They do tend to wear out though since they are a clutch-type. Might want to rebuild it before you install. The brakes are a good swap too, if anything just because it's easy to change the pads. Probably lighter, too.

Wow, you made a good score. That sounds awesome. You'll have to get some pics up when you can.
I've never heard about the wear on them. I need to check inot that. The brakes were my biggest reason for wanting to swap. Rather have a disc all the way around. I agree, changing pads is easier.

Some shots:

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1322102139
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1322102139
https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1322102139

Sweet! That's a nice car. And it's got a TII hood on it. 2G cars are one of my favorite 'vert cars. They look really good. Glad you were able to get it. Bet it was fun driving it back home. Got any plans for it?

Thanks! Yeah, the hood is carbon fiber but I'm not sure what company made it. It's got the typical 2nd gen issues... idle surge, grinds in 2nd and 5th, exhaust leak, etc. but nothing too major. It wasn't the most fun I've had in a seven... Jacksonville to Knoxville with no license plate and the seat was stuck forward so my knees were in the steering wheel :sweatdrop

Not many plans for this one yet, other than fixing the issues. The guy gave me a lot of extras that he never had time to install - short shift kit, front and rear camber kits, S5 tail lights, and a boost controller. So I'll put all that on too. It's going to share autocross duty and give me something to play with while the first gen is apart.

Thats a nice looking vert LizardFC!

Thanks Grease Monkey, where you from?

I am a few miles north of Chattanooga in Ooltewah.

Oh duh, totally missed the other post you made up there!

Haha, no biggie. I had to go to Nashville to get my vert. I've only had it for aout a week now and am already in love with it lol Im having a time getting all the electrics fixed and erratic idle on warmup cycle. Whole radio is completely dead, windows, airbag, etc. all need attention. Does the vert you just bought have any electrical weirdness?

It has an idle surge... lopes between 1200 and 1500. It actually idles normal while it warms up. Hoping to fix that with a TPS and BAC adjustment today. Other than that, surprisingly no gremlins. The guy seems to have done a good job with the wiring. He used the Jspec S5 engine harness and ECU but kept all the interior wiring factory. The only things not working that I've found are the cruise control and the A/C.

Aren't these things fun? Nothing better than cruising around with the top down on a nice day. Too bad it's only gonna get colder for awhile. Got any pics of yours?

Mine has a s4 front bumper on it I think :scratch: It also looks like a different pass. fender judging by unpainted parts that are still blue in color. All in all it looks pretty good. Just needs some small repairs. Here are some pics:

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...125_160035.jpg

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...125_160018.jpg

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...125_160327.jpg

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...125_160349.jpg

Oh yeah, very nice! Sweet ride! Glad you finally posted some pics. My VW club is having a toy drive tomorrow at 1 if you wanna drive up and hang out, drop off a toy. It's open to all cars.

Here's the stuff I got today. He said he's pretty sure it came out of an '84. I know 84-85 have different rotors and outer bearings. And S3 axle housings are different. But I'm not sure by looking at it, if it's S3 GSL or not. I got the 3rd member too, just didn't post a pic of it. I'm mainly concerned if it's the correct S3 brake set up.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s.../84GSLlsd5.jpghttp://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s.../84GSLlsd4.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s.../84GSLlsd3.jpghttp://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s.../84GSLlsd2.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s.../84GSLlsd1.jpg

If you're missing two of those BBS 'vert wheel centers, I think I have 2 or 3 full sets of them. If you are interested, I'll make some pics so you can check them out. I did have a wrench for them too, but not sure where it is.

Looks good Grease Monkey! Doesn't look like it has a scratch on it. Nice score :D

Thumpgun, IIRC the S3 axles were a little bigger than the S2. I don't know how to tell the difference by looking at it though.

Just found a great conversion kit to put TII brakes on front and rear of your FB. You have to get the rotors, calipers and axles for it, in addition to the kit. Pretty nice though, and I have always wanted to do that. I may save up for that and just use the 3rd member out of what I got yesterday, for the limited slip. Of course, I could go ahead with what I have and save cash and get the disc on back for a lot cheaper.
Just venting my ideas. Hope you guys have a great weekend.

I've heard that swap is an ordeal, but I guess a kit would make it easier. Does it involve redrilling the rotors for the 4x110 FB bolt pattern or swapping over hubs to the 5x114.3 TII pattern? The TII brakes are beastly... I'd be afraid the car would front-flip with that kind of stopping power :D I like the GSL brakes just fine. They have enough power to lock the front wheels with slicks on them. They do fade though, so I need some better pads.

Thanks, have a great weekend yourself.

No, You get the kit and instructions. But you have to provide TII rotors and calipers. It's 84-85 big bearing axles. It only works with the 5x114.3 lug pattern axle, which is sold seperate from the kit. It's brackets and mounting hardware to convert to 2nd gen rotors. So you get big brakes and 2nd gen bolt pattern all in one.
Lol, Yeah the TII brakes probably would flip and FB over! I think the GSL rears will be fine. I want to change that 4x100 bolt pattern. I have always hated that you have hardly any wheel options.

That sounds pretty good. Bigger brakes and unlimited wheel options. I feel ya, I've got two sets of LE wheels for mine so I can at least run 205's, but I'd rather have something wider.

I'm sorry, 4x110 bolt pattern. Typed it wrong, I just saw that. The kit seems pretty nice, I'm very interested in it. i think I'm going to check into it more. It's from RE Speed. If I decide to just use the GSL rear I have, I'll still only have about 2 wheel choices. I'm thinking of maybe doing wheel adaptors if I go this route.

RESpeed makes some good stuff, although they've been pretty slow lately. I'm still waiting on some tucked front bumper brackets for the FB that I bought as part of a group buy two months ago. You might wanna PM Sam before you buy and make sure they have a set ready to ship.

It's just an idea, for now I'm going to go ahead with the GSL brakes for now. Been out there cleaning up the calipers. One looks like it sat in water, it's rusted and gunked up under the rubber cap. Get them cleaned and turn the plungers back in all the way. Check the rotors, see if they still have enough meat on them to use.

Finally got the calipers apart. Took quite an effort, but got the brackets off. It broke the base on my old bench vise trying to take them loose, lol! And broke both bleeder valve's off even after soaking them in Blaster since Friday. I'm going to get some remanufactured calipers and use these for cores. The 3rd member and axles are ok, so no problem there.

Yeah, much better off replacing the calipers as well as the rotors. They're probably really pitted from all the rust and may even be warped.

Yeah, I'm definately getting new rotors. Wanted to rebuild the calipers, but that went south. New ones will be better anyway. Going to change out all the rubber lines to steel braided. New bearings on axles, clean up the housing, paint it. Hopefully go ahead and do all polyurethane bushings on the rear end while I'm there doing all of this. Do the front after I get the RB suspension kit and new Tokico's to go all around. I'm going to photo the whole process, so maybe I'll get some good pics out of it too.

Sounds like you have a lot of work going into it. I'm going with the RB/Tokico combination as well, as soon as I get the struts and a lot of time and warm sunshine. Keep us posted on the progress.

I've wanted to do suspension improvements on this car for years. It was really just a want and not a need. I think it's time now that it deserves some more upgrades. The motor is great and all I want to do to it is eventually go with big intake and carb. Thinking more on the Weber but don't want to rule out the Holley until I have more info.

Spent some time cleaning up the axle and soaking the bolts on it yesterday. It was too cold for me last night though, I didn't do anything out in my garage, lol. I'm hoping to get more done on these next few sunny days we have coming up.

It's been giving me time to make plans and decide on parts. Especially since I'm working on other car projects as well.

LizardFC, if that vert dont have a nice exhaust I have a almost new Apexi GT Spec Turbo Exhaust listed for sale at $700 but will take $550.
Seen in this pic (with other FC stuff for sale)....



thumpgun, the respeed kit is nice. I have the big brakes on the front and rear and kept the 4x114.3 bolt pattern buy having the turbo disk drilled to 4x114.3
Real easy bolt on stuff and really helps the car out. If you plan to do suspension, dont waste time or money on the springs and shocks as the respeed coilover kit is well worth the little extra and over all will make you happier.
If your ever up in middle tn i can show you my setup or look for my build thread.


To all: most of the TN rotary peeps seem to be in Knoxville or Middle TN and we in middle tn welcome anyone to hang out with us. Heck I have been known to drive dont to the atlanta meets to eat and then drive back home.
holla

Thanks Fire, I'm going to check out their coil over set ups. I'm going to look for your build thread and check out what you have done on your car. I've thought about coil overs before, but always figured I'd do just fine with the RB set up. The car is really just to play with streetwise and back roads.

Have you ever heard any feedback on the Master Bushing Kit they sell, from Energy? The graphite empregnated bushings? I wondered how this compares with the polyurethane bushings.

I'm interested in the big brake kit. But since I have the GSL parts I think I'm going to go ahead with it. It's really more of a "want" than "need". I think I'll be able to live with the performance of the GSL set up.

Thanks for all the info and for the invite. I would like to try and check out one of your hang outs when the weather gets warmer. Now I'm going to look for your build thread.
Thanks man, later.

i have family in both chattanooga and munford, so you could almost add 1 to the list ! lol but i never travel in a rx7 it seems

If you want to push some free power out of the stock carb, here's a Nikki mod thread some of us had going in the first gen section: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/nikki-carb-modding-964025/ I chose to build my own rather than going aftermarket, and I'm really happy with it. I also ported and dimpled the intake manifold.

I've heard nothing but good things about the RESpeed coilover kit. A lot of the first gen guys swear by it.

I have the full RB kit + KYB adjustables on the Vert and I'm pretty impressed with that setup. Stiff as a board but still rides nice.

The vert has a full RB turbo-back, but thanks anyway. Maybe we could get a TN-wide meet going next year? Something besides DGRR.

Wow, that carb thread is insane. I have never messed with carbs. I watched my buddy rebuild a Nikki at the shop years ago, and I was lost. I'll have to read through that stuff again. I just read a lot of the posts and was checking it all out.

So you're really happy with your RB kit? That's what I have pretty much intended on doing for a long time. I figured coil overs were just too expensive and more than what I needed. But I have considered them. I have been checking out the RE stuff and it's pretty nice. Read and heard good reviews about it.
I figured RB kit and Tokico Blues or Illumina's would probably be ideal for what I'd be doing. But the coil overs with Illimina's would be way more tuneable and probably superior.

Thanks for any info and idea's, tips and opinions. I'd rather compile a vast amount of knowledge from several people. And try to make a better decision based on expierience's, testing and know how. So any opinions and advice is always welcome. And much thanks for everyone's input so far.

Yeah, a TN wide gathering at some point would be pretty cool. Maybe we can gradually work towards planning something. Or at least a regional state gathering, West, Middle, East.

Got the housing cleaned up. I wire brushed it good, cleaned it and got a coat of paint on it. I still have to get some new calipers and e brake cables.

The heater core has started leaking inside the car. It stained the carpet and ruined the insulation under it. I took out insulation and cleaned up the floor. I have to get a heater core and make plans to change it out.
I need to look in the manual and get the run down of it. I'm sure it's going to be a time consuming "fun" job, lol.

My wipers stopped working and I can't figure out what it is. I've checked fuse, wiring and I plugged a different wiper motor up without installing it. And it still wouldn't work. Any idea's?

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...SLhousing1.jpg

Yeah, the RB kit on the FC is rock solid. Can't wait to see what if feels like on a much lighter car.

Bad time to have a heater core go out. I haven't had to change one yet, but it looks like it's up under there pretty good. Probably a job.

I'm betting it's the switch that's killed your wipers. The FC's are famous for burning out the old solder joints in the switch and I bet the FB's do the same. Not much you can do to test that theory other than to plug up another switch and give it a try. If you're electronically inclined, you can open it up and check all the solder points on the circuit board.

Oh, and the rear axle looks really nice! Quite a difference.

I got this a some time back. I was having trouble with my turn signals. Then finally found if I wiggle the wires under the dash, they work. So I never installed this. I guess I need to try and change this out and see if it does anything.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s...85GSswitch.jpg

Always good to hold on to old parts. You never know when you might need them! Hope it fixes the problem.