So the past Autocross has Dave and I wanting to build a car just for racing. We have in our possession a 1988 RX-7 SE sr4 (not sr5) that we are going to make autocross worthy.

Currently it needs:
Tires
Fuel Pump
Possibly new brake lines (we'll pay someone to do these most probably)
TPS (we bought one recently waiting for it to arrive)
Rotors and brake pads

And various non essential parts.

Anyone happen to have any 2nd gen RX-7 parts lying around they want to sell? I don't expect anything from this post except maybe some good resources for parts and if I'm lucky free parts.

thanks!

5/2/2006 9:29:08 PM

isn't there a really good rx7 specialty shop in north raleigh? i can't remember what they're called, but they have a bunch of rx7's and whatnot. i haven't heard anything about them in like 2 years though, so i don't know if they're still open.

[Edited on May 2, 2006 at 9:43 PM. Reason : ]

5/2/2006 9:42:34 PM

i know a guy doing a 2nd gen RX7 LS1 swap and he has a lot of extra/spare parts. ill see if he has anything cool.

once its running well, tires would be #1 for autox

5/2/2006 10:33:43 PM

Questions: have you compression tested the thing? How do you know the fuel pump is dead? What shape is your exhaust in... and do you know if the auxilary ports are working or not?


Now let me chime in, seeing how I own an 88 GTU, which is the sport nonturbo model for that year

You have a 1988 SE. This is a base model for that year--it's a series 4 (or s4--no such thing as sr4, you're getting mixed up with Toyotas). Series 4 was 86-88 and Series 5 was 89-91. Many parts are interchangeable but there are some noticeable differences in engine stuff especially. You need an S4 TPS for an s5 car, which is unfortunately inferior to the s5 unit (but you get the mechanical oil pump, which is nearly bulletproof).

The stock brake lines are shit. Mazdatrix http://www.mazdatrix.com/j-sslines.htm sells stainless steel ones for ~ $84. I have them on my car. There's not much of a trick to putting them in, it's like any other brake line job. You could do it with a flare-nut wrench, a brake bleeder thingie, and a Haynes manual. Your brakes are likely to still grab really low, like you have to put the pedal to the floor, unless you adjust your brake booster pushrod, which isn't too hard or time-consuming as long as you're careful.

If you truly have an SE you will have the 4 lug shit with the solid rotors in back and single piston brakes in front. So before you go out and do brakes, tires, etc. you need to do a 5 lug conversion with the 4 piston brakes--but make sure you get stainless steel brake lines for the 4 piston calipers then. If you're autocrossing you may want to get the BBS wheels off a convertible. They are 15's and weigh only 13lbs. An SE did NOT have a limited slip differential. You will have to swap in one from another nonturbo car like a GXL. A turbo diff won't work unless you have a custom driveshaft.

A friend of mine has about 5 parts cars. He's sold a lot of stuff off them but I know he should have like 3 or 4 fuel pumps lying around. Unless you are heavily modding the engine you can just replace it with another N/A pump. It just requires lifting the carpet and removing some screws and shit.
There are no major 2nd gen specialists around here anymore. Clean 'N' Fast closed a while back. McNair Performance had a guy but I think he left. My buddy who used to work on my car moved away recently, but he's still got those parts cars at his parents' house. zxappeal has some experience though. For instance, he can press out your old, fucked up rear-steer bushings that you are going to want to replace especially if you autocross it.

[Edited on May 2, 2006 at 11:17 PM. Reason : features]

5/2/2006 11:02:22 PM

^ wow thanks. Forwarded this to toast as well. Might be in touch!

5/3/2006 12:09:52 AM

oh shit, s4 TPS for s4 car and s5 TPS for s5 car. s4 is shitty narrow-range TPS that reads 100% with the pedal like 1/4 way down. That's why I'm going standalone. The TPS on these cars are hardly ideal. Make sure you have it set right or you will run rich as hell, hesitate, etc...

also expect to clean the stock grounds and possibly add more, especially to the ECU, b/c of the infamous "3800 hesitation"

5/3/2006 12:46:23 AM

I 'think' we have all the parts to the fuel pump. Just gotta figure out how to put it together again. The car is a bit of a basket case right now. I took the wheels off and the back is in much better condition than I was thinking it was. The fronts need new pads. All the brake lines seem ok but I agree on the steel braided brakelines. I've got a convertable with a turbo swapped in it, thats my daily driver! no parts stealin!

brake lines, 4 piston calipers, Bushings and LSDs are probably next years budget at this point, unless somebody waves some in front of me at a good price

compression is the big ? now. Do we have a good motor or no?

I'll see what I can find out tonight. I need to make a new list of parts I want for my turbo while I'm at it.

5/3/2006 10:20:37 AM

if you are doing autoX build, i wouldnt put stock parts on this, especially if the parts arent there to begin with.

for the brake lines, get some SS lines, get some brembo (or autozone) blank rotors, get some nice pads.

5/3/2006 10:22:16 AM

The concept of this car is to keep it in a class where us n00bs can keep up (E stock or STS2 class). Good pads, cool. Sport brake rotors, cool. I am pretty new to car classing but I dont think I am allowed to go swapping parts too much. STS2 says no clutch pack LSD. Here is where I am confused, it says that rx7 are allowed in sts2 but no LSD unless its viscous. Does this mean rx7's are allowed EXCEPT gsl-se,gxl, etc? SCCA rules make my head hurt.

5/3/2006 10:50:10 AM

just cheat

5/3/2006 10:53:28 AM

Quote :

"isn't there a really good rx7 specialty shop in north raleigh"

mcnair performance? it's on westgate rd. near where i work.. they have a bunch of rx7s out there.

5/3/2006 11:19:14 AM

just found and called mcnair performance to check if they exist, and they do!

Phone: (919) 781-3604

5/3/2006 11:45:51 AM

yeah.. i drive past it every day..

5/3/2006 12:03:55 PM

Sweet, ima havta check em out sometime!

5/3/2006 12:16:41 PM

^^^^where do you work, i work across the street at Westgate imports.

5/3/2006 3:55:57 PM

i work down off of running oak drive across from what used to be japan direct.. at the truss place

5/3/2006 4:01:45 PM

i know what u talkin about, i see all those truss all the damn time sitting outside when i go down to the scrap yard. shits all adding up now. i used to think "what the hell is all that crap doing sitting out side"

5/3/2006 4:03:41 PM

a co worker of mine just bought an old MGB with a carbed 13B in it, and its pretty bad ass

5/3/2006 9:27:44 PM

There are really mixed opinions about McNair Performance. A friend of mine used to take his FD there all the time... they charged him out the ass. One time he had some problem, they drove it around for a while, couldn't figure out what was wrong, and then charged him like $120 for diagnosis. He stopped going to them after that. This guy was also telling me that their best rotary mechanic no longer works there anymore. Anyway, my friend then went to clean 'n' fast before they closed down... but now if he can't fix something he goes to Rotorsports Racing in Kannapolis. They do good work but they take forever.

Viscous LSD was only in the s5 cars IIRC... but good luck finding one on an N/A. Only the GTUs (not the GTU, they're two different models) had it among the nonturbos. FD's have a torsen unit, s4's and 1st gens have a clutch type. As far as a compress test goes, well you can take it to Mazda for the super accurate numbers or you can ghetto-rig a regular piston engine compression tester. The reason why I suggested you do the 5 lug swap is because the stainless steel brakelines for the shitty single piston brakes are different from the lines for the 4 piston brakes, so you will have to buy new ones.

5/4/2006 1:11:34 AM

gotcha... lets just see how long we can get by on the ol' rubber ones.

Anybody know somewhere that will let you practice autocross type driving in their parking lot without calling the cops on you?

5/4/2006 9:05:15 AM

THE STREEZ, Y0! BUZZZZZZZZ!


danville in 2 weeks

there really isnt anywhere w/ enough room to simulate a real event. and you'd feel like a dumbass when you smacked a curb or the cops rolled up. not worth it

5/4/2006 9:41:13 AM

I'm thinking about wearing a wig to the chick school so I can get some more practice. I can't let my dad beat me again!

5/4/2006 2:47:26 PM