"KIMI" - The RPM 1st Gen S2 (with bits of S3...)

[Casey]

Thanks guys, I\'m still really chuffed we seem to have got her ready for a trip to RS8, which was the first objective we set the RPM. She may look a little "tatty" up close, but she\'s pretty solid overall (and excellent for her age!). With more time and effort she will gradually get better. My thanks to the rest of the RPM team for their support in getting this done in time :Thumbs-up

I\'m annoyed that my insurance covernote, supposedly posted from the brokers yesterday (their office is only about 20 miles from me) didn\'t arrive today, so I still can\'t get the tax sorted :mad: I\'m out all tomorrow, so the earliest I can get the tax sorted now is Thursday.......

[A7RXY]

Casey, can you not do the tax on line if the car was on a SORN ?

[Casey]

I thought about that, but the DVLA website says to allow several days for delivery of tax disc, so it may not arrive in time. I suspect also that my new insurance wouldn\'t yet be registered on the DVLA database, as it takes a while for this to happen - it certainly was the case the last time I tried it

If the covernote doesn\'t arrive in the post today (whilst I\'m out) then I\'ll be driving to the broker to collect it tomorrow and then take it straight to the PO for the disc - I will not be defeated :Laugh

[Steve-A]

Tax is a bit of a pain isn\'t it.

How did it feel too drive her to the MOT station? Did she live up to expectations?

[Casey]

^^I\'ll get the tax sorted one way or the other

The route to the MOT station was only about a mile, but I took a longer route, and picked up some fuel on the way. The roads were all 30mph and built up, so no chance to get my foot down. Kept under 4,500rpm as I didn\'t want to risk anything enroute to the test!

However, she felt willing, and pulled well, just had a bit of trouble finding the gate to 3rd gear :o - I\'m so used to the short-shifter on my RX-8

Brakes were surprising good, although the bite is way UP the travel - only have to touch the pedal to get some retardation. Maybe I adjusted the handbrake too close for the MOT!?

Really looking forward to a longer test run as soon as the tax is sorted.

Got some curious glances at the Tesco petrol pumps! The Janspeed exhaust is quite "raspy" too, so that drew some attention....

BTW, is is worth using V-Power or Momentum, at least every now and again (for the additives), or just stick to regular 95RON?

[David Nock (RIP)]

Hi Malc.
Don\'t think the handbrake adjust will have an effect on the footbrake? (unless you\'re binding badly....and you\'d sense that.....plus one or both back hubs would get mad hot in that case). More likely that pads are newish??

V Power, divided opinion on this. I say it\'s great to give the car an edge....more response and smoother running. The wife swears by it and to prove it she knew when I\'d put V Power in. Ladies don\'t seem to do fill ups do they?

A thorough scientific test I saw said if your engine is a high worker and stressed, V Power is of real benefit. If it\'s a lazy old donkey you\'re wasting your money as the higher octane won\'t help it. So you have to be objective, put a few tankfuls in and see what you think yourself.

It\'s great at junctions, petrol stations and the like isn\'t it? The 1st Gen really turns heads.

[Casey]

Hi Malc.
Don\'t think the handbrake adjust will have an effect on the footbrake? (unless you\'re binding badly....and you\'d sense that.....plus one or both back hubs would get mad hot in that case). More likely that pads are newish??

Yep, the pads have plenty of meat and look almost new, so could be that.

V Power, divided opinion on this. I say it\'s great to give the car an edge....more response and smoother running. The wife swears by it and to prove it she knew when I\'d put V Power in. Ladies don\'t seem to do fill ups do they?

A thorough scientific test I saw said if your engine is a high worker and stressed, V Power is of real benefit. If it\'s a lazy old donkey you\'re wasting your money as the higher octane won\'t help it. So you have to be objective, put a few tankfuls in and see what you think yourself.

OK, I\'ll fill up the tank with V-Power to start with, then try a tankful of Tesco 95 to see if I can tell the difference

It\'s great at junctions, petrol stations and the like isn\'t it? The 1st Gen really turns heads.

My RX-8 doesn\'t get any special looks around here as there are so many of them in Essex. I got more looks in 10 minutes at the FB than in a year in the RX-8!

[Casey]

Hooray, insurance docs arrived today. I skived off a customer project to go home, collect the documents I needed, then headed to the main PO and we now have a TAXED, MOT\'s FB:Party

Was planning to take her for a test run this evening - it\'s been a beautiful day here but......

Got home from work about 6.30pm, stepped out of my daily (Honda Jazz) and it started to pour with rain . It\'s still raining now and gettign dark, so the extended test run will have to wait until tomorrow!

[rossonza]

fb in the rain? what more could you ask for!??! haha

[Casey]

^^^ :Giggle As we\'ve not treated the surface rust underneath yet, I don\'t want to expose her to wet roads if I can avoid it :p

[Casey]

HELP!! I did a short run of about 10 miles, up to 50mph and stopped half way to do some checks;

Good news;
1. Engine, g/box, clutch OK
2. Electric fan working well and is more than adequate to cool the rad.
3. Steering is much better than I\'d been led to believe :Laugh

Bad news;
1. Now I\'m more "tuned in" I did sense the brakes were binding a little; no noise, just a sense of a little drag. After 5 miles, with no more than a little light braking, all four discs were very hot. Backed off the handbrake adjuster a little and drove 5 miles home with hardly any brake application and discs still very hot. I hardly have to touch the brake pedal before the brakes are applied, almost like they are half on already? Any ideas? I\'ve had a quick look in the Haynes manual, could it need there is an adjustment for "free play" on the pedal - is this something to try? The odd thing is, with the car jacked up, the wheels spin with only a small amount of drag and the MOT guy didn\'t make any comment either when he tested this. Not keen to do 100 miles to RS8 with risk of brakes overheating :2eek

2. Minor issue maybe. Noticed a slight dripping of oil from the bottom rear of the diff housing. It\'s not coming from the drain or fill plugs, but appears to be running down from the very top of the rear diff housing. There is some sort of plug (pressure release?) on the top of the housing, but I don\'t think it is coming from there. Is it possible that corrosion has eaten a hole at the very top of the housing? I\'ve cleaned the area now to see what happens when the car is standing, but I suspect this leak will only occur when the oil is being thrown about by the diff gears. No time today to jack the car up and take a better look.

I\'m off to work now, but I do have all tomorrow free, so any advice on what I can try tomorrow would be gratefully received! Hopefully can get it fixed in time for RS8.....

[Steve-A]

If the wheels spin freely when up in the air then I can\'t see it being the brakes binding? Compared to the other cars I\'ve driven recently the FB brakes do seem to bite early in the pedals travel, and are in pretty damn powerful. Not really sure what to suggest other than double check for dragging by jacking the car up and do one run in your rx8 then in the fb and compare the heat of the disks. Disk brakes DO get hot and if the disk was cold enough to touch comfortable after a run that means the brakes not working. If its dragging you\'ll find it get so hot you may see dis-coulouration of the rotor and should feel the heat in the wheel or just radiating off the rotor before you\'ve touched it.

The diff housing is a 2 piece thing, and there is a seal line than runs vertically that joins the front half of the diff with the pinion gear and stuff to the main axel. Mine was a bit weepy. Just as a temporary fix you could always smear some RTV silicone round its join if that looks likely.

The plug on top is simply a tube into the diff covered with a plastic cap, it is a vent valve. I suppose if you\'ve overfilled it slightly it could be splashing out a bit.

[Ian65]

if the wheels are hot from normal road use, then the brakes are binding... maybe all the time or maybe just being slow to release after being applied

The only proper solution is to rebuild the calipers and clean out all the rust and crud to ensure a smooth operation.
this is the repair kit for the front calipers.... series 3 and series 2 kits are the same ones, the pistons are identical...

http://www.rx7fb.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=134

I rebuilt mine a couple of months back...

http://www.rx7fb.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=93&start=30

Easy repair.

my car now brakes in a straight line, wheels stay cool and performance and economy is up

.

[seanp]

Looking Forward to Rotorstock and seeing Kimi running :-)

[David Nock (RIP)]

With all four discs hot I think I would pedal adjust as a first step. Is the push rod into the master cylinder adjustable? Should there be some free play and there isn\'t any? Otherwise slow to release....? Master cylinder again.

A full brake bleed is very easy on the FB. Pre ABS and all that complication. Ian mentions dirt and crud.... it might help shift it although it won\'t do the job of a rebuild.

Start at the rear O/S wheel (farthest) and slacken the nipple with a good titchcy little socket, immediately retightening. (The socket frees the nipple without rounding it off, but then you want the feel of a good openend spanner for the actual job).

One RPM sits in the car, another has a bleed tube on the nipple. Put brake pressure on and then the wheelman shouts \'Down Fast\' as he loosens the nipple. Woosh..fluid into the air as the tube flies off....no not really.
He retightens before shouting \'Up\', at which point the pedal can be released. Repeat this 3 or 4 times then move to shouting \'Down Slow\'. The trick here is for the wheelman to close off the nipple during the downstoke. Repeat this \'Slow\' business 3 or 4 times.

Then move on to the N/S back. Then Front N/S,  finally front O/S next to the master cylinder. All the time you have to watch the resevoir and keep it topped up with fresh fluid.

Mrs Nock and I are the world champs for this job on the FB. I keep trying to give her the wheelman\'s job but no luck so far.

Rear axle....always a weep/drip on mine and most others I know of. As a problem I think it can be ignored.