More progress on the FB

[MikeLMR]

Not as much as I\'d like though, still waiting on bits from the US

[MikeLMR]

2

[MikeLMR]

3 . check out the dust from the body work !

[MikeLMR]

4. last one I promise !

[Fish]

Mike, car looks stunning. What bits are you getting from the US?

Dan

[MikeLMR]

uprated and lower springs from racing beat , an uprated front ARB to counter the oversteer a little and possibly a set of polygraphite bushes for the front end

Once the suspensions sorted I can think about the engine

[t2rew]

it looks the mutts nutts mike. did you say somthing about dust. cant wait to see it when you clean the filthy thing.

[MikeLMR]

loads of dust under the bonnet ( the radiator panel is actually black)  

got to sort my exhaust next ... its blowing near the down pipe and its damn loud , going to weld it up for now , hopefully Wookie will be sorting me a decent system soon

Thanks for the comments guys , this was the first time I\'d seen the car in 1 1/2 months and I didn;t realise how much I missed that rotary howl  ( lack of plates is the only thing that stopped me taking it out for a drive

Mike :wave

[clive]

Hi Mike

Looking real good ,

What are the wheels ?  they suit the car really nice.

All the Best Clive
e-mail: clive@mazdarotaryclub.com
web:    //www.mazdarotaryclub.com

[MikeLMR]

they are compomotive ML\'s (minilite copies)

I saw some cars in australia with panasports and decided I\'d quite like a set like those on mine + the amount of sidewall flex on the standard tyres finalised the decission

[dankilleen]

I am currently importing a panhard rod and Tri-link setup from the states - you mentioned the rear end binding issues inherent in the 1st gen rx7.

The panhard rod replaces the watts link as transverse location of the rear diff.  This device attaches to the chassis rail on the drivers side and to the passengers side lower shock mount.  Between these two points is a simple bar which when positioned correctly will lie parallel to the ground (needs some welding).

The Tri link actually replaces both the upper rear control arms with a single arm.  This arm bolts to the transmission tunnel at one end by way of plate and to the diff housing at the other (needs some welding).

Oh yeah, the only bushes left will be those on the lower control arms as the replacement parts use rod ends (replacing these with nolthane) - a bit noisy maybe, however the benefit found in suspension control (and no binding) should be worth the hassle.

The above will only really work if you\'re lowering the car maybe 1 1/2 to 2 inches as the panhard bar will not work at standard ride height.

I am also importing other pieces from the same company - http://www.gforceengineering.net.  Turn in spacers which raise front roll centre once you\'ve lowered the car and give 100% ackerman steering geometry, also plastic front tension rod bushes which believe it or not allow more verticle strut movement without binding than uprated rubber/nothane replacements due to their spherical design.

Anyhow, keep the above company in mind â€" in months of research for the parts I have purchased, he (Jim Susko) has been the single most useful/helpful individual bar none.  

Good luck for the build up of your car.  Looks in great condition.

Danny

[MikeLMR]

Hi, Danny

Sounds like you are planning to do some serious competition with your car , mines more of a weekend warrior so I\'m probably not going to go as far as changing the rear suspension geometry. I\'ll only be changing the ride height by about 3/4" anyway (probably less due to the sagging of the old springs)

I\'m seriously condsidering poly bushing the front end at the moment , I was dead set on doing it but the thought of pressing all those bushings in has me worrying as I don\'t have access to a hydraulic press.

Some guys on the US forum are currently swapping a VW MK2 golf/jetta steering rack into the 1st gen with no bodywork modifications ! looks like it might be a fairly easy swap too. I might have a go if its succesfull , apparently the steering geometry is unchaged due to the size of the VW rack being identical to the length of the old cross bar.

[dankilleen]

Could you let me know some more info about this (steering rack) .I had considered changing this in my car, but was unaware of an alternative to use.

Thanks
Danny

[MikeLMR]

http://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=178816&perpage=50&pagenumber=2

hopefully it\'ll work

Mike

[MikeLMR]

the conversion not the link that is