1981 Rx-7 Build

[lokirx706]

Be a man, stay rotary. What's the point of collecting cool JDM shit, and tirelessly working on a classic japanese car just to make it a wannabe muscle car that will handle much worse than it did while spending extra time and money trying to wire the pig up.

My buddy had a ported 6 port 1-4 streetport and bridge 5,6. Shit would revv past the 8k limit on the dash until it bounced off the limiter. I used to believe that turbo rotary was the only way to go, but that car proved me wrong.

I am not going to debate the fallacies commonly held about V8 swapped Rx-7s. I know serveral locally, and I am not going to delve into that here. Ive owned several Rx-7s both first and second gen, ported, unported, and boosted. All have advantages, all have disadvantages.

I havent decided on an option, and I dont plan on it anytime soon, this 12a runs great, and its got great compression. It isnt going anywhere, and for now Im more worried about lateral grip.

[lokirx706]

Clearanced the fenders and quarters, car is driveable now, enjoying the New Year!

[SamPet]

She's a sexy bitch

[lokirx706]

These came in the mail.... Thanks to Techno Toy Tuning!



While waiting for those I HAD to figure out a solution for the rear bump stops. I couldnt lower the car anymore because the factory bump stops are HUGE! I took them off to cut them down and they fell apart. They are essentially a hollow piece of rubber with a flat washer glued to one end which a bolt goes through and attaches it to the body. Finding replacements was difficult, and I was about to repair them when I just cut down some front bump stops and epoxied a washer to the top of them. Problem solved!



The RCA's lowered the front about 3/4" so I lowered the rear close to an inch to cancel out some of the rake. Its a commonly held notion that first gens handle better with the rear about 10 mm taller than the front. This is closer to a 15 mm difference, but I like the way it looks. If only this snow would melt, and the salt would get washed off the roads, I would like to test drive this thing!!

[orion84gsl]

I know how you feel about the snow and salt. There were a few days that warmed up here and I was tempted to take mine for a spin. If you (or anyone reading this) is in the market for SA/FB coilovers, T3 is now producing them similar to their AE86 coilovers. I suspect I'll be ditching the RE-Speed gear eventually to swap to something a little less "make-do" ish. I love your build and your take it slow and easy approach. I have a set of rear Datsun 240Z flares but every time I test fit them I don't like them. What did you do to fit them over your side moldings?

[lokirx706]

I know how you feel about the snow and salt. There were a few days that warmed up here and I was tempted to take mine for a spin. If you (or anyone reading this) is in the market for SA/FB coilovers, T3 is now producing them similar to their AE86 coilovers. I suspect I'll be ditching the RE-Speed gear eventually to swap to something a little less "make-do" ish. I love your build and your take it slow and easy approach. I have a set of rear Datsun 240Z flares but every time I test fit them I don't like them. What did you do to fit them over your side moldings?

I saw the TTT coilovers, couldnt justify the price for them at the time. Also didnt realize the fronts were re-tubed to 2 inch with Koni inserts. Would prefer that they did big bearing struts instead of small bearing ones. I may purchase a set in the future.

I bought some 3M trim adhesive and took the mouldings off. I cut them shorter and shaped them to replicate the oem appearance. I cleaned all the adhesive off the car and the back of the trim and reapplied it with the 3M adhesive.

The rear flares will never fit properly, they are too wide of an arch. I cut my quarters to follow the line of the flare. Not for the feint of heart. Which really you are going to have to drill and cut your quarters and fenders anyway for Datsun flares. So it isnt too much of a stretch.

[Nick475]

nice! great work so far. i really like this

[lokirx706]

The TTT RCAs have cured my bump steer! Now if only it would get warm and sunny out here!

And rain like crazy to wash the salt off the roads!!

[lokirx706]

Boogered up the rear axle holes, had to source new ones and start from scratch. Had to wait quite awhile for parts like this,





So that's whats been happening the last few weeks. Sourced all the parts and,











Mmmmm.... Its good to be driving a rotary again...

[lokirx706]

A local photographer was taken with the 'ole FB at the Dayton Cars and Coffee. This resulted in some high quality photography!




Big BIG thanks to Trapspeed photography! I love their work!