At last, an easy answer to all your 78-85 rx7 steering woes :D
Dont even need to take the engine out to do the conversion.
http://www.cpracing.ca/
Well, when I get around to buying another series I, II, III this will be one of the first mods I do. I assume the kit works for both LHD and RHD cars.
They also do a rather tasty flush headlamp kit.
left hand drive, methinks...???
yup lhd , rhd is a pain as you have to miss the exhaust etc. ... Tim converted his drag car to rack an pinion using a micra steering rack ... looks like a tidy conversion and very tempting to replace a worn out steering box.
Apparently they are working on a RHD kit, so watch this space...
Any idea what year micra steering rack was used??
not sure ... anything that is the right width and rear steer rack + from a similar sized car (not that it\'s really a problem with an rx7 ... more of problem for hotrodders upgrading big yank motors)
Dont know what I have done with my 1st Gen ????? but I have NO steering probs....she runs as true as a nun.????????? Just tweaked all as to spec and feel.:Thumbsup! :Typing
Quote from: oldoneDont know what I have done with my 1st Gen ????? but I have NO steering probs....she runs as true as a nun.????????? Just tweaked all as to spec and feel.:Thumbsup! :Typing
Was pretty happy with the setup on my series III but found the steering very heavy. It made a lightweight car feel like a tank.
Weren\'t some of the later series III\'s fitted with power steering? Or was this just USA?
I have no probs with mine and I chuck mine at corners fast enough to mke some people fill there shorts.
:eek:
I\'ve been searching for an answer to the poo steering box problem for ages. No one wants to do a bespoke conversion & only LHD kits exist so far (to my knowledge). I haven\'t used my car for months cos I just cant stand it any more. I\'d sell it but what would you get for it? It owes me 10k & I just dont bother with it any more. Its crap to drive. 250rwhp & you cant feel whats going on or change direction quick enough. Bunch of dissalusioned arse.
It can rot in the garage untill someone makes a RHD steering conversion.
Maybe, some day,some old schooler will look at it for you !!!:yes :Thumbsup!
Yep, youve been banging on about that steering for as long as I have been on here. I would have had it sorted by now or perhaps you just like to have a moan
Fair comment, but have YOU ever had this steering rack done??
I tryed all the RX folk like WGT & Rxmotors + 3 or 4 localish modifiers & no one was interested in doing the conversion (except one place that wanted £4K!). Seemed to have hit a dead end so all thats left is to moan on about it:Hammer
I run my own business (or it runs me), either way I don\'t have the time or the neccessary skills to attempt it myself. What can you do? Sell it, fix it or moan about it. But there\'s no point in pretending its any good to drive very far like this. Maybe mine is poorer than average, it has been adjusted & Tim reckons its good for a 1st gen.
Perhaps I\'ll use the engine in a kit car & scrap the rest. A rotary 7 maybe? That would be quick!!
what condition are the bushes on the opposite side to the steering box ? Have you tried the car with the stock wheels to see of your wheels are causing the issues ??
Mines a hell of a lot better since i swapped over the control arm bushes and adjusted the steering box.
Shaun
Far as I know, when it was restored all the bushes were changed for polybushes.
Dunno how to adjust it other than tightening the big screw on the top. Haynes Manual doesn\'t say.
Even though the 1st Gen steering and suspension is an old design,it is still a very fuctional and decent design.Even though all the bushes are replaced and steering box reset(tightened up) it does not mean that the whole geometry of the suspension is in sinc..?
A simple misalignment of one side will make the car extremely skittish on the road,which will be accentuated by the use of wider and bigger diametre tyres.
In modern vehicles,the setup will be more forgiving but not in an older car.....................
If all the bushes have been replaced,it could be that no adjustments were made to correct any imbalance.....:yes :guinness
Wish I was closer to you squire,I am pretty positive I could solve your probs....:Thumbs-up Remember it is not the cars fault,but the owner and mechanic who work on it,treat it with love.:)
The best solution to the vague sterring of the Mk2 and 3 is to buy a MK1!
The steering on the MK1\'s is sooooo much better,almost as good as rack and pinion,but not quite.
Regards
Carl
Best bet is to jack up the car at the front, put it on axle stands and get under and get somebody to turn the steering. You should be able to see where the play is. It could be the ball joints as well, there are 4 of the things as well !
Shaun
Quote from: CarlThe best solution to the vague sterring of the Mk2 and 3 is to buy a MK1!
The steering on the MK1\'s is sooooo much better,almost as good as rack and pinion,but not quite.
Regards
Carl
That is so squire,but we used the Mk2 steerings with great effect,in all fairness we travelled at a lot higher speeds on the open roads in the RSA.At the speeds we do in England we should have no probs with steering.or is it the other way round ????????:Laugh HOWEVER on the modified Rx7 race car we used rack and pinion :eek: only because,when we ran radials we ;used\' alot of oversteer on the car (only short course tracks-2mile long),so we really needed the response from the steering.
Quote from: shaunwilBest bet is to jack up the car at the front, put it on axle stands and get under and get somebody to turn the steering. You should be able to see where the play is. It could be the ball joints as well, there are 4 of the things as well !
Shaun
Even that is not fool proof....:) as you still need to put load on the wheels ! The system they use at the MOT stations is what you need.:yes
Find out what Tim from rx motors used on his, go around, take some photos and compile a list of things needed. Maybe one of the workshops would be more interested if doing the job if you gave them all the bits to do it?
Or just find a series 1 steering box, you must be able to find one of those easily enough???
Pr just sell the whole thing to me for peanuts :)
Quote from: travellinbobPr just sell the whole thing to me for peanuts :)
......................................
I honestly have had no problem with my MK3 and if you have read my thread you will know what I do with the car. Some events are on tracks such as Brands, Silverstone and lydden. But we also use old air fields and MOD land which can be as bumpy as hell and I am still doing in excess of 100mph approachingand going through some corners:eek: :eek: And we have had no problem:guinness
i agree £50 spent down pro-align or somewhere simular they can adjust everything up, its ok having new parts but if they don\'t work how they should it will make everything worse 2mm out in one place can be felt far more at the wheel
Mark
Tim did offer me a mk1 steering box, but I poo poo\'d the idea. How much better can it be? (He drive round with a rack in his RX!!)
didn\'t realise that kiwi mazda make one too, don\'t they drive on the same side as us !
Shaun
get out and travel a little
Don I can tbelieve that you have one of the smartest/fastest 1st gens around after spending a huge amount of dosh and you dont drive it coz of the steering!!!! surely the series 1 steering box would have to be worth a try?
Just got fed up with it. It look/sounds/goes great, but I hate driving it as it is. Don\'t feel at all safe or in control.
Yep ok, so i reckon that if it is as bad as you say it is then there must be something fundamentally wrong with it. i.e. a faulty part because i have driven about 20 old skool mazdas and jhave never had cause to \'put one away in the garage\' because it was that bad.
---wheel alignment
---mk1 steering box
---rack and pinion steering or sell to me for peanuts :)
seriously it is such a nice car and you have obviously spent heaps on it surely you would want to use it? therefore get it fixed.
cheers,michael.
I think there are a few points to be considered here in regards to Don\'s car, . I have worked and restored many cars and always advise people you have to be sensible in your approach. spending big money in one area of the car is not really a good idea, you have to start with thinking where you want to go with the car and how you will use it. also a lot of people spend a lot of time in their modern cars with ABS and all sorts of fancy driver aids, then they buy a classic car and expect it to handle, start stop like their new ones, if you think what 20 odd year old cars were like to drive when the gen 1 was new you will get the idea. tyres, brakes and suspension are the most important part of the car, as you will have found out. Changing wheels to huge sizes also makes a big difference, the car will tram line drasticly, show up any issues in the suspension system. You cannot really blame the car and i am not digging at anyone here, but you have to work through everything, check all the settings and bushes correctly, even try it with the original size wheels on it, change the steering box if it comes to it, I\'m sure that is a lot cheaper than making a rotary 7?? as mentioned.. i can honestly say that my gen 1 the suspension bushes and the shockers etc are not at their best, but it is set up as it should be and is absolutly fine to drive. so dont give up, find a decent and most importanly, interested, mechanic who is willing to do a bit of play around. you might find you dont even have to throw any parts at it.. who knows, and you wont know if you dont try.. good luck
As I bought my car off alan i have to agree. The handlking on these cars arn\'t that bad if things are setup ok. Mine didn\'t have any bushes in the idler arm and the car did wander quite a bit. Installed new ones (about 1hr job) and tightened the steering box up and it made a massive difference.
Whiteline do a full uprate kit for the FB as well, maybe it could be knackered dampers or antiroll bars..
Shaun
Tracking has been checked. If you could see under my car (restored all painted, powder coated suspension & running gear, new bolts & bushes etc), it kinda hard to beleive it is something knackered or worn out that is the cause. However, the guy who rebuilt it was basically just a spray painter. He left me with LOADS of problems especially with noises comming from the suspension. So I can beleive that this was never set up to correct specs.
I may now have a lead on a mechanic who could be interested in taking a look at the steering, but he isn\'t an RX guy.
As to not being used to old cars - I have never driven anything else! I started with 20 year old fords so I know what to expect from that vintage. These are nowhere near as easy to chuck around, probably why FB\'s are a dieing breed (that & the short engine lifespan). They look great, but are a bit tank like to drive. Don\'t get me wrong, I am an enthusiast, this is my second FB, but lets not delude ourselves: old escorts or something of a similar age are MUCH more user freindly in the steering/chuckability department.
hi dom.. Was not having a dig with the last post . Just to help you along a little bit,, Just because all the bushes are new does not mean things are ok. Most people when fitting new bushes do so with the car in unsprung position, i.e wheels off the ground, they fit nice new bushes, tighten everything up, and think, excellent job done,, Unfortunalty not the case, the actual correct way is to tighten everything up when the car has been settled in its normal ride position, I move the car around and give it an hour or so to fully settle.. so there is no tension on the bushes, I have driven many cars expecially jags with lots of bushes in this state and they are harsh and twitchy,,, Also tracking can be fine, but does the person who works the gear know how to use it to its full advantage... not saying any of these things are wrong on you car, but just things that are done wrong and will have abearing on handling. good luck..
The other big question is who did the bushes and who did the tracking torque all the bolts up to the reconmended torque settings. Sometimes they just run round with a spanner too and don\'t worry about it and over tighten stuff stopping it from moving.
Shaun
hows the project shaun??
You can bet your ass no torque wrenches were ever used on this car!
How do id a series one box?
Will have to check for you Kevs\'......;)
Pretty sure Shaun had his hands on one sat.
Kevin
Quote from: alban1973hows the project shaun??
Actually coming along nice TBH, i\'ve jimmy rigged a manual fan controller until my replacement thermostat turns up but shes running again !!! Hoping to use it a couple of days this week for work !
Have you seen my other thread ???
Shaun
So thats a series one box then !!!! Would be an interesting thread showing what you have done to swap it over !
ps i\'ll bring the mat back next weekend and have that rear axle please :D
Shaun
6 months in a garage & she starts 1st time!
(still poo steering tho)
Cant put it away now co it wont stop raining long enough to dry out
Does make me want to drive it tho, seeing sitting there
I haven\'t posted any comments before, but, I am so baffled and dissillusioned by all the comments and general lack of knowledge/experience regarding the Series 1s.
Regarding the steering - S1 MkI Steering is the most inferior, with the S1 MkIII being a tad better. However, the S1 MkII is really pretty good. So long as everything (steering/suspension/camber/caster) is correctly alligned the steering on your RX7 should be beautiful. By design, it is admittedly a tight system, but, when you\'re pushing on some winding ones, you don\'t want something loose and floppy in your hands - tee hee.
Poly bushes are an absoloutely fantastic upgrade, but, who fitted them & how???
To ANYONE with S1 RX7 steering problems, should first investigate the condition and wear on their steering box. They have a lot of adjustment and generally seem to last much much longer than people give them credit for. In my early days I had a S1 MKIII replaced by a well known RX7 garage (no names...) for a S1 MkII which was a big improvement. However, once I took my S1 MkIII box apart to investigate how it works, and if it were repairable I saw it all looked pretty good. I tightened it up, painted it, blah blah blah, and then fitted it to my other S1 MkIII - It has since travelled an additional 80,000 hard miles with only very minimal adjustment (so minimal that I don\'t genuinely know that it had any effect).
Anyway, although I have just ranted on, hopefully it will be of some benefit.
In a bit of time, I\'m planning to strip one down and photograph it and perhaps create some diagrams explaining exactly how it works. If any of you guys are interested, feel free to encourage me.
I think a guide on the steering box would be good, not many people are familiar with them these days as they died out so long ago. It\'s certainly a hell of a lot easier to adjust whats there than make something to replace it