Sprocket's Competition

[j2k4]

Hmm.

The hit he would take dealing this car doesn't bode well for the other situation, does it.

Storage for one, storage for....ah, I don't want to think about it.

You, Craig's list and Sigfrid's wallet could cure this thing in a reasonable time-frame, my guess.

But.

I will try to remain optimistic.

[clocker]

Things have changed- yet again.

For the last two months the owner of the car has been facing a transfer to Europe (France, specifically) but that has ended.
Since he's staying, we started to forge ahead and try to (semi) complete the project.

First on the list was the suspension, which had basically collapsed last time the car was driven.
Rather than fiddlefuck around we decided on a "scorched earth" approach...just replace everything.
So, we now have four new shocks, new springs, new shock mounts and most of the suspension bushings have been replaced with an Energy Suspension polyurethane kit.
Since the entire suspension was off we decided to go ahead and redo all the brakes also so all four rotors were turned, all calipers rebuilt, new Hawk pads all around, new stainless brake hoses, new hardlines fabricated and the booster/MC were replaced with a custom setup I built (larger twin diaphram booster from an Acura, larger bore MC with integrated proportioning valve from an Infinity, custom machined rod to mate the two).

We also decided to attempt a retrofit of a FC manual steering rack, replacing the stock FD power unit. This looks promising and the final necessary part should arrive today (fingers crossed!).

This Saturday we'll begin reassembly, starting in the rear.
We optimistically expect to have the back finished in one day (rumor has it that the new bushings make reinstalling the the suspension pieces very difficult...we've opted to ignore these dire predictions).
While Sigfrid works on the back, I'll be finishing up the steering rack install since it has to be finalized before we can do the front...if it ain't gonna fly, we need to know now.

The next weekend the front gets put together (considerably easier than the rear), brakes get bled and she should be on her wheels again.
That's the plan.

I'll get pics up after our Saturday session.

[j2k4]

Good.

Been wondering when you'd roll it outside for a walk-around.

Of course, there's another car in the way, isn't there?

I'm on it, and relief is on the way.

[clocker]

We also decided to attempt a retrofit of a FC manual steering rack, replacing the stock FD power unit. This looks promising and the final necessary part should arrive today (fingers crossed!).

OK people, you can uncross your fingers and carry on...the package arrived.
It was missing the steering knuckle we needed though.
"Oh," says the vendor, "made a mistake and grabbed the wrong piece, we'll ship out the right part tomorrow."

That's all well and good but means I won't know till next week if this cool rack swap is going to work out.
Damn.

[aside] I also got another package (different vendor on eBay) that contained two inner tie rods and two tie rod ends (all new) so I can properly depower another rack. This rack (as yet unbuilt) has a faster steering ratio than the manual rack we're installing and is being prepped for possible install in either my car or Sigfrid's V-8.

I have three racks in my attic and have just been waiting for some money to continue.
Purchased from Mazda, the four tie rod pieces I got come close to $300 ($80 apiece for the inners and $60 apiece for the ends).
The package was on eBay for $39.95 with free shipping.
How could I resist?

The clincher was the qualifier in the ad, "OEM Brand Parts".

Opened the package today, removed the boxes and just had to laugh.
The parts are made in China and the company name is "OEM Brand Parts".
No relation whatsoever with Mazda or whoever was the original supplier but I had to admire their gall.

Parts look OK so I'll be using them.
I'll assume that the extra cadmium, mercury and lead will only make the parts better and the child labor force was having a particularly good shift.
[/aside]

[j2k4]

I'm stifling an array of conflicting reactions just now.

As another aside, when time comes, what do you think of this...

http://www.knfilters.com/search/prod...Prod=57-1500-1

...for the Stealth?

It's CARB-legal, hear tell.

Might as well get a bit more mileage and performance on the trip, eh?

There's also this...

http://www.stealth316.com/2-freeboost.htm

Free horsepower is good.

[clocker]

The solenoid mod seems straightforward enough but will make little to no difference on your trip since you'll barely be boosting at all on the highway in fifth gear.

The air filter looks mildly interesting but I have to wonder why you give a rat's ass if it's CARB legal or not.

[Detale]

Maybe he's worried he'll get fat??


I thought there were going to be pics bud?

[j2k4]

The solenoid mod seems straightforward enough but will make little to no difference on your trip since you'll barely be boosting at all on the highway in fifth gear.

The air filter looks mildly interesting but I have to wonder why you give a rat's ass if it's CARB legal or not.

Agreed as to the first, but hey, it's free, and...

...CARB legality, while of no actual moment, creates the impression I'd be 'doing my part' while in your lovely state.

Hell, I might even order up a set of headers with a complete cat-delete exhaust to install before I hit the road, just to flout Colorado law.

Not that they'd notice (or so I'm told).

[clocker]

They wouldn't.
Little to no recourse even if they did.

[clocker]

Saturday update:

For a change, things went better than expected yesterday.
With most of the suspension pieces in hand, we hoped to get the rear of the car assembled and, as we began, that seemed a realistic goal.
The 3rd gen RX7's rear suspension can fairly be called a "multilink" setup and figuring out the proper assembly sequence took about two hours on the first side.

Using the experience from side one we were able to complete the second side in about 45 minutes.

To begin, she looked like this...

(toe control arm already in place)
Later, it looks like so...

At this point the entire rear end is buttoned up.

We decided to move forward and see how far we could get.
The front end is (comparatively) simple and we got it completed as well.
"Mostly completed" would actually be more accurate, there is still the steering to finish*- waiting on tie rod ends and the missing steering knuckle- and the sway bar links need replacing, but most of the major assembly is done and the entire brake hydraulic loop is now intact.

Speaking of brakes, here is a shot of the new passenger side hardline.
Doesn't look like much in the photo, but it's a world of difference from the nasty, halfassed job the original builders left us with.


Moving to the driver's side, we see the new booster/MC assembly that I'm really dying to see in action.


If my research into brake systems is correct, we should now have as good a system as possible using the stock calipers and rotors.
Again, this is a major cosmetic improvement over the system as delivered.
This car was factory equipped with ABS and it's relatively common for it to be deleted but properly doing so requires a bit of fab work, which the original builder(s) neglected to perform.
Completely redoing all the hard lines makes for a much nicer install and was really pretty simple- well worth the effort (and surprisingly cheap...we needed three pieces of hard line- 1 x 30" and 2 x 20", total cost was $12).

With any luck we have wheels on the ground next weekend.


*Ah, the steering.
All 3rd gen RX7s came factory equipped with power steering.
Why Mazda built a small, light sports car and never even offered manual steering as an option is a mystery that has plagued owners for a long time.

So, for folks wanting manual steering there have been only two options- depower the original rack or find an aftermarket rack that would work.

Depowering the original rack is straightforward but there are a few physical features that leave the newly manual rack unsuitable for our particular application.
The aftermarket racks available are quite expensive (in the neighborhood of $1000).

In the forums there would be the occasional plaintive cry wondering if the commonly available 2nd gen manual rack could be adapted for use but these inquiries were generally ignored.

I was able to find two threads where someone claimed to have done it...the first was extremely light on hard info- he basically just said "Hey I did it and it works!", the second was a bit more helpful.
Combining the meager data from both sources- and my conveniently available manual rack- we decided to proceed.
Actually mounting the rack went pretty easily- the brackets need a bit of tweaking and the bushings need some work but in general, it's about as close to a "drop in" mod as one could ask for.

The second thread starter mentioned the steering knuckle issue which I had preemptively tried to address but bad delivery times have delayed us there.

I was also aware of a potential problem with the tie rod ends- the taper of the FC ball joint stud doesn't match that of the FD hub/spindle and the offset is a little weird.
There is a Nissan pickup truck rod end that is reputed to solve both issues and we are prepared to purchase them if necessary but decided to bolt everything together just to see what it looked like.

This is where we ran into a problem not mentioned by either of the two (supposedly) successful swappers.
Even with the rod ends fully extended on the inner tie rods we don't have enough length to get the wheels pointed straight.
If each rod end was @3/4" longer we'd be fine, plenty of thread engagement and enough adjustment for the alignment, but no one mentioned this problem and until I purchase the new rod ends I have no idea if they are longer or not.

This is of course, the price one pays for following old, poorly detailed build threads.
Giant problems get glossed over leaving one to wonder if the original poster was either lying or such a wiz that the problem didn't faze him.
Either way, it doesn't help me much.
I'm really hoping to get this sorted out by next weekend because if the manual rack isn't going to work we need to explore our other options- can't drive with no steering.

Wish me luck.