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hi fellow petrolheads,
I tought a share my latest project with you guys, I bought a first gen RX7 with the engine on the driver seat and the gearbox on the passenger seat 
so that should be a easy fix .............or not.
some photo's of the pick up.
The chassis seems to be in a pretty good state, some welding to do , but not a lot the engine supose to be good, the gearbox is broken
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Last Edit: Apr 6, 2018 6:23:52 GMT by fat-stig
If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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So the first thing to do was to source a gearbox, A quick search on a buy and sell page got me a nice 5 speed original gearbox.
It bolted straight to the engine and after a couple of hours it was in.
I bought a shiney alloy radiator, because the one that came with the car was in a very bad state, looks good i think
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If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,222
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shall be watching this with much interest! Looks a good base.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
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ian65
Part of things
Posts: 276 
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interesting project, looking forward to seeing how you get on with it.
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Yes, SA22C / Series 1 . The separate external bumpers were only used on the series 1
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Last Edit: Apr 5, 2018 23:32:31 GMT by timmy201
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So after we got the engine in, we could start it. after a couple of drip of fuel in het carb she firerd right up. The previous owner had told me that the engine was fine, but the gearbox had failt.
Un fortunalty all the brakes were seized, so we could not drive it. But the engine did run nice and started cold and hot ok, so in theory this should be a good motor.
In the last couple of wheeks the final picture of what the car should be like formed in my head. I think it is goining to be some what of a 80's race car, something like they won the 24h of Spa with.
So in order to get it in that kink of state I set out to dismantel the thing.
maybe thats where my true tallent lies, dismanteling cars 
got all the carpets out, dashboard lost the fight so eventualy it came out in one piece
I ordered 15kg of dryice and some alcohol en started removing the sound deadthening, I can tell you for sure, there is a lot of the stuff in a RX7
real nice job under the pedals 
still some stuff left as i run out of dryice, but 90 % came out within 2 hours of work.
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Last Edit: Oct 20, 2018 20:04:11 GMT by fat-stig
If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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Apr 10, 2018 17:06:18 GMT
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Little update :
A couple of weeks ago I bought a rearaxle with a LSD. 
After reading a couple of topics about racing the RX it came clear that the Original setup has some design faults in it. So I have decided to modify the Original setup to a simpeler 4 links setup with a Panhard rod, mutch like a lot of escorts are using.
stripped the rearaxle of all its brackets
dropped the Original axle
removed the Original tank
made some new axle brackets
getting them in the right place
first try of witch wishbone lenght would be handy
meanwhile I had a lot of parts coming in from different suppliers, the biggest order came frome my favorite UK shop ( rallydesign ), got front and rear shocks , big brake discs, fuelcell, and lots of smaller stuf.
Also got a new set of wheels fitted with Nankang NS2r semi slick tyres
could not resist trying them on the car
Also the rollcage has arived, not sure how this will turn out. I realy think a got the wrong fitting kit, but customcages are telling me that it will fit this car ( they send my some pics of the wrong car ) so that didn't help to clear the discussion. I going to make the rear suspension prior to fitting the cage, because it makes it easyer to get in and out of the car.
next update hopefully shows the new rear suspension setup
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If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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1979 mazda rx7 rebuild luckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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Apr 11, 2018 13:50:07 GMT
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Interesting work, although it almost seems a shame to gut out the least rusty Series 1 I've seen in ages. Just out of interest, why do you think a Panhard rod will work better than the Watts linkage? In my experience it's so easy to forget hat RX-7s have a live axle that it's difficult to imagine improving its location and control by a significant amount, given the work involved
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Apr 11, 2018 14:33:15 GMT
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OOOOOOOOOOOO rotary love....
Really nice example too, best of luck with it
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Enjoy the ride
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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1979 mazda rx7 rebuild ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Apr 11, 2018 15:46:41 GMT
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Interesting work, although it almost seems a shame to gut out the least rusty Series 1 I've seen in ages. Just out of interest, why do you think a Panhard rod will work better than the Watts linkage? In my experience it's so easy to forget hat RX-7s have a live axle that it's difficult to imagine improving its location and control by a significant amount, given the work involved There is also the question of the IVA too, given recent changes. Some very intresting work however! I await to see what direction this take. |
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Apr 28, 2018 18:02:31 GMT
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update time  ChasR , The dutch DVLA is not that difficult with some alterations. But it is going to be a trackday car so its possible it never sees the road again. after some serious thingking and looking at differend ford escorts setup i came with a final design. Made a model and cut it out on the plasmatable    reinforcement plate  reinforcement plate spotwelded  trial fitting in the car  tacked in place. Next job on the list is to modify the axle bracets a bit, so I can run longer wishbones And then I can start fitting the rear shocks Thanks for watching |
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Last Edit: Apr 28, 2018 18:51:49 GMT by fat-stig
If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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May 14, 2018 17:55:30 GMT
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update time
After I tacked the boxes in place I could work out the length of the rods.
Made a set of rods, with left and right hand threath on each side.
to get the rod length equal i had to remake the axle brackets.
So I made a cad design and cut them out on the plasma table
also made some reinforcemends for the shock towers
Welded them in place
I also removed the old shock tower and made a new bigger tower to accomidate the new coil over shocks. I bought a set of Ford escort MK2 rear shocks of Bilstein
I have looked a different options for front and rear shocks, but within my budget I could choose between B of C quality brand adjustable shock or a A brand non adjustable shock. so that is what I choose. I don't thing i'll adjust the shocks after a first adjustment, so why bother with less quality witch i'll never adjust.
I have also figured out a awesome front suspension upgrade with high quality shock absorber , but thats for a later update.
very happy with this suspension set up, next is going to be the Panhard rod .
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If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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May 14, 2018 19:19:51 GMT
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Watching with interest.
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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1979 mazda rx7 rebuild luckyseven
@luckyseven
Club Retro Rides Member 45
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May 14, 2018 20:24:02 GMT
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Interesting so far. Lovely swaged holes in the shock tower reinforcing... but won't that make for a horrendous rust trap? I know it's a track car, but it still rains in Netherlands, right?
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May 14, 2018 21:09:17 GMT
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nice job and well equiped workshop
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May 15, 2018 18:15:51 GMT
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Thanks guys @ luckyseven, the underside is open, so no water can be trapped. But indeed we do have some rain in holland |
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If it doesn't fit you need a bigger hamer
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May 17, 2018 11:45:07 GMT
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real nice fabrication, look forward to future updates |
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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I so want another FB (or an SA22) but the only one's here seem to have gotten really expensive lately. Love the fabrication skills here and certainly looking forward to seeing the final result. Are FB/SA22 more plentiful in Holland? (by plentiful I mean cheaper! ) |
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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