1990 Mazda RX-7 Street Car (turbo LSx, Powerglide, 8.8")
11-14-2011, 09:58 PM
#42
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Ask and you shall receive...
I "finished" getting the torque arm setup installed tonight (all by myself I might add
). I put countless hours into cleaning all of the components up and applying liberal coats of POR-15. I've been working on it after work for the last week or so. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I will say, the narrowed rear end makes my 275 drag radials look tiny. That may be a sign I need 315s and some 17x11s . Anyway, here's where I'm at with it right now:
I "finished" getting the torque arm setup installed tonight (all by myself I might add
). I put countless hours into cleaning all of the components up and applying liberal coats of POR-15. I've been working on it after work for the last week or so. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. I will say, the narrowed rear end makes my 275 drag radials look tiny. That may be a sign I need 315s and some 17x11s . Anyway, here's where I'm at with it right now: Last edited by DavidPHumes; 12-26-2011 at 11:44 AM.
11-15-2011, 08:15 PM
#45
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OMG...i just had to pick my jaw back up off the ground! Beautiful car and a nice build that should make gobs of power and be very fast looking good while doing. Solid rear/4 link is also a unique upgrade. Been highly considering building one of these. Anywho, good luck with the rest of the build.
11-24-2011, 05:06 PM
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Thanks man!
I'm still trucking away at this thing.
Last weekend I worked on the roll bar a little bit. It came with a real flimsy coat of gloss black paint that chipped easily. I'm too cheap to pay the $$ to have it powdercoated so I grinded all of the paint off and painted it with 2 coats of POR15. It turned out looking good, but not perfect. I'm OK with it though since the rest of the car isn't perfect either (some would argue otherwise but hey, I'm a perfectionist).
I also bought a mount for my GoPro to put on the roll bar.
I also had to trim the gas tank cover to clear the rear cover for the rear end. It turned out good after a coat of POR15
There's still 2.5" of clearance between the rear end and the gas tank... I'm not the least bit concerned in the two ever coming into contact.
I'm still trucking away at this thing.
Last weekend I worked on the roll bar a little bit. It came with a real flimsy coat of gloss black paint that chipped easily. I'm too cheap to pay the $$ to have it powdercoated so I grinded all of the paint off and painted it with 2 coats of POR15. It turned out looking good, but not perfect. I'm OK with it though since the rest of the car isn't perfect either (some would argue otherwise but hey, I'm a perfectionist).
I also bought a mount for my GoPro to put on the roll bar.
I also had to trim the gas tank cover to clear the rear cover for the rear end. It turned out good after a coat of POR15
There's still 2.5" of clearance between the rear end and the gas tank... I'm not the least bit concerned in the two ever coming into contact.
12-01-2011, 10:27 PM
#47
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So randomly I was looking through threads on the forum (No Rotors) today and stumbled upon the tucked chassis harness. I decided to do it myself tonight...
SAM_0049.jpg?t=1322799441
Extended for the fuse box relocation:
SAM_0050.jpg?t=1322799833
Twisted, soldered, taped and heat shrinked. These aren't going anywhere.
SAM_0051.jpg?t=1322799429
I swear my car is red, not orange!
SAM_0048.jpg?t=1322799452
SAM_0049.jpg?t=1322799441
Extended for the fuse box relocation:
SAM_0050.jpg?t=1322799833
Twisted, soldered, taped and heat shrinked. These aren't going anywhere.
SAM_0051.jpg?t=1322799429
I swear my car is red, not orange!
SAM_0048.jpg?t=1322799452
12-04-2011, 10:25 PM
#49
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Yes Nick I removed the dash. I've never done anything like this and thought it was easy, so 6/10. You're selling your car anyway 
The summation of my weekend:
SAM_0076.jpg?t=1323029589
Here's the finished wire tuck:
SAM_0071.jpg?t=1322949207
I removed the brake booster and sanded it down for paint (black wrinkle coating):
SAM_0073.jpg?t=1322961787
And here's the new location for the fuse box. Ignore the long bolt - just there to mock it up.
SAM_0068.jpg?t=1322949219
The whole "while I'm at it thing" is killing me, but once the bay is prepped and painted I will be a happy camper I think (also I'm going to put the motor in and turbo stuff to get my clearances right and really figure out what I'm going to do about my radiator/tranny cooler setup).
Basically what I did was remove everything possible from the bay. My dad told me to just sand down the paint in the bay by hand with a scuffer (since the Mazda paint is a pretty good base as it is) so I did that twice. On the frame rails I had put undercoat so I had to grind most of that off which you can see... that really sucked. I also cut out the upper cross support for the radiator, as you can see. I cut it a little too much on the left side but that's OK because I'm going to weld those two pieces together for reinforcement (and do the same on the driver's side). I also cut out some of the studs in the bay that weren't needed.
I still haven't decided what to do with all of the holes in the firewall. Part of me wants to weld in pieces and really make it clean, but if I ever need some of them in the future I'd kind of be screwing myself. I think I might make plates that bolt into plate to cover the holes. It wouldn't look as clean but it would be safe and they could always be removed if I wanted to in the future.
I also cut the holes for my FMIC. I figured one picture was good since you all know what holes look like. The driver's side sucked because there's an existing hole there meaning a hole saw can't be used. I took my time with a reciprocating saw and grinder and it looks great. After paint I will put some U channel molding around to finish the look. I also notched the firewall for clearance with intakes, wiring, etc. With my Granny's mounts I was REALLY close before, so I figured while I was doing it (a common theme). I will bondo it up to make it look factory.
SAM_0077.jpg?t=1323058422
SAM_0078.jpg?t=1323058523
SAM_0080.jpg?t=1323058553
The summation of my weekend:
SAM_0076.jpg?t=1323029589
Here's the finished wire tuck:
SAM_0071.jpg?t=1322949207
I removed the brake booster and sanded it down for paint (black wrinkle coating):
SAM_0073.jpg?t=1322961787
And here's the new location for the fuse box. Ignore the long bolt - just there to mock it up.
SAM_0068.jpg?t=1322949219
The whole "while I'm at it thing" is killing me, but once the bay is prepped and painted I will be a happy camper I think (also I'm going to put the motor in and turbo stuff to get my clearances right and really figure out what I'm going to do about my radiator/tranny cooler setup).
Basically what I did was remove everything possible from the bay. My dad told me to just sand down the paint in the bay by hand with a scuffer (since the Mazda paint is a pretty good base as it is) so I did that twice. On the frame rails I had put undercoat so I had to grind most of that off which you can see... that really sucked. I also cut out the upper cross support for the radiator, as you can see. I cut it a little too much on the left side but that's OK because I'm going to weld those two pieces together for reinforcement (and do the same on the driver's side). I also cut out some of the studs in the bay that weren't needed.
I still haven't decided what to do with all of the holes in the firewall. Part of me wants to weld in pieces and really make it clean, but if I ever need some of them in the future I'd kind of be screwing myself. I think I might make plates that bolt into plate to cover the holes. It wouldn't look as clean but it would be safe and they could always be removed if I wanted to in the future.
I also cut the holes for my FMIC. I figured one picture was good since you all know what holes look like. The driver's side sucked because there's an existing hole there meaning a hole saw can't be used. I took my time with a reciprocating saw and grinder and it looks great. After paint I will put some U channel molding around to finish the look. I also notched the firewall for clearance with intakes, wiring, etc. With my Granny's mounts I was REALLY close before, so I figured while I was doing it (a common theme). I will bondo it up to make it look factory.
SAM_0077.jpg?t=1323058422
SAM_0078.jpg?t=1323058523
SAM_0080.jpg?t=1323058553
12-04-2011, 10:45 PM
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That's Ok man, there's a lot more fish in the sea. I'd have built an LS foxbody over this car but I've had this thing since I was 17 so there's a lot of other value to it. Do whatever makes you happy... although stomping on the throttle in an LSx RX-7 definitely makes most people happy I once made a Rotard almost **** his pants on a highway on ramp. Somehow he still wasn't a believer after that ride.
I once made a Rotard almost **** his pants on a highway on ramp. Somehow he still wasn't a believer after that ride.
12-09-2011, 08:44 AM
#54
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Tonight I picked up this beast. Patent pending on the engine transportation.
But seriously, I was going to borrow my dad's dually when I said **** that, I'm using one of the rental minivans from the shop to pick this thing out. Worked magically. The van definitely is no SRT4/RX-7 in the handling department lol
SAM_0137.jpg?t=1323405724
And here's the main attraction. 2005 L33 5.3L with unknown miles. It is SUPER clean (considering it came from at truck) and I even got to check out the cylinders with a boreoscope before buying - they looked good. I paid $550 for it. I think that was a pretty good deal on my end.
SAM_0143.jpg?t=1323405815
SAM_0141.jpg?t=1323405805
But seriously, I was going to borrow my dad's dually when I said **** that, I'm using one of the rental minivans from the shop to pick this thing out. Worked magically. The van definitely is no SRT4/RX-7 in the handling department lol
SAM_0137.jpg?t=1323405724
And here's the main attraction. 2005 L33 5.3L with unknown miles. It is SUPER clean (considering it came from at truck) and I even got to check out the cylinders with a boreoscope before buying - they looked good. I paid $550 for it. I think that was a pretty good deal on my end.
SAM_0143.jpg?t=1323405815
SAM_0141.jpg?t=1323405805
12-09-2011, 09:13 AM
#57
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Thanks, I will be keeping it updated.
Man, it worked better than the Duramax would have. Way cheaper too lol. T56 in a GTI is a pretty good accomplishment, good thing it's light lol
Man, it worked better than the Duramax would have. Way cheaper too lol. T56 in a GTI is a pretty good accomplishment, good thing it's light lol
12-26-2011, 05:26 AM
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Thats funny about the engine in a mini van. I put my complete lq4 in the back of my two door Tahoe that has a 4" lift and 32" tires on it and only managed to rip the carpet and scuff my speaker box in one spot. It was a bitch getting out without an engine hoist too. My buddy Tim and I put the Tahoe at the bottom of the drive way and let all the air out of the tires with the engine stand hanging off the tailgate attached to the motor. I should have taken pics but it was late at night. Keep up the good work I'm right behind you on my turbo build.
What did you do with the explorer rear end stuff? Do you want to sell it?
Also be sure and put that anti roll bar from the black car on the red one. It will make the car drive straight as an arrow. David Wolfe of Wolfe Racecraft here in Texas went 6.50's in the 1/4 with a torque arm stock suspension mustang similar to what you have there.
Doug
What did you do with the explorer rear end stuff? Do you want to sell it?
Also be sure and put that anti roll bar from the black car on the red one. It will make the car drive straight as an arrow. David Wolfe of Wolfe Racecraft here in Texas went 6.50's in the 1/4 with a torque arm stock suspension mustang similar to what you have there.
Doug
Last edited by Wire guy; 12-26-2011 at 05:41 AM. Reason: added question and additional comment
