Hello, from London!

[ske]

Hello everyone,
ive been interested in rotary engined cars for some time now. first came across it when i heard of a 12a powered Ginetta G27, driven by Mark Walklett (son of Ginetta founders) in which he was very successful... It was then banned from racing when they fitted it with a 3 rotor!

i have had many unusual cars. currently have a 1963 Ginetta G4 racecar, and a '85 Ae86 20v.
other cars ive owned include marcos, renault alpines, skyline, nissan 200sx, pontiac firebird,
But..

i would love to own a 1st gen RX7, and use it as a fast road, track/drift car
Just went to see one the other day in croydon, but someone had already put a deposit down. a 1985 in green, same owner 20 years..

My plan would be :
13b n/a on injection (200+bhp)
turbo 2 gearbox
salisbury LSD
Rack and pinion (?? possibly ford conversion, or 2nd gen subframe and rack)
half cage

thing that worries me the most is the steering box, the one i drove couple days ago was terrible, but even with a new steering box, i suspect it may not be ideal.

thanks alot, hope to meet you at some events in future
Shad

[codge]

Hi Shad, Welcome.

Don't worry about the steering, you'll get used to it.
Our car was my wife's daily driver for much of it's life and she's very slightly built, with arm muscles like knots in string.

When I say someone's on the Forum about the steering she just laughs and makes a Charles Atlas arm flex.

Codge

[Steve-A]

Welcome aboard.

You soon get used to the steering box, after a few weeks you'll forget it's anything other than normal The series 1 and 2 cars have a slightly better steering boxes than the series 3 cars. Also it's well worth putting some time into adjusting the steering box and make sure all the steering bushes and ball joints are in good condition. There's lots of links in a steering box system and it all adds up.

[ian65]

Hi Shad,
welcome to the forum.....
That's quite a car history you have there....
That green car has been for sale for a couple of years but he didn't really advertise it properly and turned down offers on what, at the time, was a high asking price..... for some bizzare reason, at the last minute, he's collapsed on his price and basically given it away... strange goings on!
As for the steering box setup, on most 1st gens, the youngest of which is now 28 years old, this leads to awful steering unless the car had been properly maintained all it's life or has had the steering adjusted and parts replaced as needed.
My first 2 rx7's, back in the 1980's were almost new cars and I didn't notice any difference coming from a rack and pinion car to a steering box car... in fact, I didn't even know rx7s had a steering box until 2002 when I bought another 1st gen and its steering / suspension was dire and I looked into it.
The main problems are the number of ball joints and points for things to go out of adjustment. Even a perfect setup will lack some feedback in the dead ahead position but it perfectly usable..... but a worn setup will be a nightmare to live with.
Check out Ramons build thread, he's just done the FC subframe swap and put a 2nd gen rack into his car.
The best place to find a 1st gen for sale is the 'spotters' thread on this forum..... hardly any 1st gens come up for sale in the UK that don't get flagged up in that thread and Codge maintains a database of all UK 1st gens so might be able to give you some feedback on a particular car.

Cheers,
Ian

[ske]

thanks for the welcome, and info

i think the 1st gen rx7 seem like a very underrated car
i have been tempted by the lure of an fd, but i love old skool, simple mechanicals and retro looks

i have also thought about doing a group B style car, or a homage to the '78 record breaking bonneville car . i think both would look great.

im sure the steering box would be good for road use, just thought for track it may be beneficial with rack and pinion

[ian65]

every now and then ovr the years I've been tempted to buy a FD but the complexity and reliability issues worry me too much and I buy something else.
Any prospective fd buyer/ owner should read Niks epic thread on his love/hate affair with his FD....

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=967


A tale of love, passion, triumph and despair all wrapped up in an amazing thread about his FD.

[mpk490p]

Hello everyone,
ive been interested in rotary engined cars for some time now. first came across it when i heard of a 12a powered Ginetta G27, driven by Mark Walklett (son of Ginetta founders) in which he was very successful... It was then banned from racing when they fitted it with a 3 rotor!

i have had many unusual cars. currently have a 1963 Ginetta G4 racecar, and a '85 Ae86 20v.
other cars ive owned include marcos, renault alpines, skyline, nissan 200sx, pontiac firebird,
But..

i would love to own a 1st gen RX7, and use it as a fast road, track/drift car
Just went to see one the other day in croydon, but someone had already put a deposit down. a 1985 in green, same owner 20 years..

My plan would be :
13b n/a on injection (200+bhp)
turbo 2 gearbox
salisbury LSD
Rack and pinion (?? possibly ford conversion, or 2nd gen subframe and rack)
half cage

thing that worries me the most is the steering box, the one i drove couple days ago was terrible, but even with a new steering box, i suspect it may not be ideal.

thanks alot, hope to meet you at some events in future
Shad

Welcome shad, what's your budget? I can offer some of what your after, my first gen is for sale

[Lucky]

A tale of love, passion, triumph and despair all wrapped up in an amazing thread about his FD.

Stop, I'll blush lol Anyway, don't take my car as representative, some of them are really bad

Joking aside, FDs are definitely a mixed bag nowadays, always have been I suppose, but the gulf has widened between good ones and timebombs. The Yen price meant for a good few years unscrupulous importers were bringing in the utter dregs of the Japanese auctions, and a neglected FD is going to hurt you pretty badly sooner or later. Prices have tumbled in the UK as a result and it's now getting very hard to tell the good ones from the ones that are basically a grenade with the pin out... unless you know what you're looking for. I have to say, I probably wouldn't buy a Series 6 again, they're just too old now and have a lot of problems you can't necessarily spot, such as the engine wiring loom getting brittle from the heat and the copper breaking down inside the insulation. This will cost you an engine pretty quick. The solenoids for the turbo control system and vacuum lines (the Rat's nest) will also be fried and frangible by now and any one part of this horribly complex system going mutant will at the very least mean the car runs like a three legged dog if it doesn't actually kill itself completely. There are good ones to be found, but the later the better, most definitely.

I enjoy driving, modding and just owning the FB at least as much as the FD, though at a different pace admittedly. A Group B rally rep sounds like a good project (and far more exclusive) than an average FD like so many others

[ske]

thanks for the offer of your car, i want to start with a pretty standard car (ideally a series1, asking too much i know!)

Nik, i have read most of your fd thread (will need a couple more days to finish it!) but very interesting and well written

i think the fd is the possibly the best 'modern' jap sports car, but the reliability side is an issue, and yes a nicely done fb is going to be more unusual, and easier to live with longer term

[ske]