1UZ swap into Series 2 RX7

[Muzza_NZ]

Hi Simon,
that's interesting, the hilux diff fitted up no problems at all. Mind you the 9" is a tad larger than the hilux one and it looks like your watts linkage mount is further to one side.

We got the guys at Royce Clive Engineering to change all of the mounts over, as they had a full jig. It only took them a couple of days.

How far are you from finishing your conversion? What disc/calliper combination are you using with your diff?

Muzz

 

[bigblockford545]

The car has to be finished by "Summernats" Jan 3rd. I've used Ford EA Falcon rear brakes as the handbrake is built into the caliper in a similar fashion to the standard handbrake.

Everything bar the engine conversion ( and tail shaft) is done lol, I intend to pull the smelly rotary this weekend and trial fit the 1uz. If my measurements are correct all I'll have to do is build a new center link steering rod to clear the damn rear sump. I'm using a Ford C4 bolted up using a Dellow housing.

have fun

Simon

 

[Muzza_NZ]

that's an impressive turn around if you can get it all done and pretty by Jan 3rd! We'd originally planned on getting this project finished by early November, but that didn't happen, so best guess now is probably early January for certification... would probably be sooner but the holiday season tends to slow things down...

best of luck

Muzz

 

[bigblockford545]

What exhaust manifold are you using to clear the steering box on the rhs?

thanks

Simon

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Hi Simon,
we used the flange plates off the standard one and had to build up a custom header as none of the stock ones would fit. Chris made it up using several donuts and parts of the original, it tucks in just under top of the box, and clears quite nicely. One of the exhaust studs is too long and touches the box so it'll need to be replaced with a shorter one. I'll grab some pics of it tonight.

Muzz

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Modified drivers side exhaust

Howdy all,
here are some pics of how we had to modify the drivers side header to fit around the crappy RX7 steering box. In hind sight it probably would have been better to convert to rack and pinion...

You can see that the header hugs the block quite nicely, but still has room for the engine mounts. The 3 stud exhaust flanges will need to be changed or the header piping extended so that clutch slave cylinder can be mounted. Incidentally, you might notice that the cam cover on the drivers side has been removed, that's to make it easier to slip the engine in under the clutch master cylinder.

Swapping the brake booster to one off an auto one gives enough clearance for the engine to go in without any real problems.

Alternator still fits in standard location, except now the belt only goes from the crank to alternator, so we've used an 835mm belt and hinged the alternator off the top mount to let us tension it properly.

More blah tomorrow, hoping to get it running in car tonight... fingers crossed.

Muzz

 

[Muzza_NZ]

it's alive!!

Got the car running sweetly last night, it sounds really good (loud but good). Had a couple of problems with a loose pin on an ECU connector which meant it wasn't getting crank signal, but once I sorted it, she purred like a kitten.

Here's a couple of pics of it running, and yes those are a couple of celebratory beers sitting on the inlet manifold, just shows how smoothly she was idling. That's Chris in the background, who is obviously pretty happy that it goes!

Muzz

 

[bigblockford545]

Let me be the first to say congratulation!!! :beerchug:I hope I won't be too far behind you.

have fun

Simon

Looks like I'll be doing something similar with the exhaust thanks.

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Cheers Simon,
there's still a lot of work to do before it's roadworthy, but at least now it makes the right noises!

 

[Tacoma_Kyle]

Right on!

I got a question. Ok my roommate is a hardcore RX7 guy. He was bitchin sayin yours is a 1st gen. I said its AU dude who knows. So is it a 1st or second gen (series 2 = 2nd gen ????).

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Howdy Kyle,
I guess that the series 1 - 3 are first gen, the series 4 - 5 are second gen and the series 6 (batmobile) onwards are third gen, judging by the body shape, but I'm no rotary expert, I just like the idea of replacing the oily, stinky roundy roundy engines with up down 8 cylinder ones!@

 

[1uzfekp60]

Looks great Muzz, keep us up 2 date.

Ken.

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Cheers Ken, will do.

 

[Tacoma_Kyle]

Ok that was the misinterpretation---we thought series 2 meant 2nd gen.

He was all up in flames lol. But he did think the 4.0l V8 was pretty neat.

 

[cribbj]

Hey Muzz congratulations! When that motor fires up it's one big hurdle crossed, isn't it? Best of luck getting it rolling soon.

John

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Cheers John,
yeah it's a great feeling to see all of our hard work starting to pay off. I got pretty nervous at first when it cranked but didn't fire, all sorts of thoughts running through my head about mistakes I could have made etc.... such a relief when it actually started.

It was bloody loud and all of our neighbours came out to see what the hell was making such a horrible racket. All of the male neighbours came and had a beer with us to celebrate, and to reminisce about their similar projects and the joy in hearing them fire into life.

Hopefully another 4-6 weeks and it will be fully road worthy... I really can't wait.

 

[4000GT]

Awesome!

I was out driving today in mine Just got tuned. Though have a couple of drivetrain issues to sort... torque rears its ugly head!

 

[rx7 s1 1uz]

first up muzz well done mate.

second up just looking at you earlier pictures looking at your brakes etc it appears to be series 1 brakes but saying that series 1-3 the parts can be changed over so you never know. only thing that are totally different and cant be changed over between s1-3 is the tail lights s1 have a lot smaller tail lights and are very old school looking.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.asp?id=130725824#qna if you have the same tail lights as this car you have a series 2-3 (note some also have a middle section), if not you have a series 1

Howdy Kyle,
I guess that the series 1 - 3 are first gen, the series 4 - 5 are second gen and the series 6 (batmobile) onwards are third gen, judging by the body shape, but I'm no rotary expert, I just like the idea of replacing the oily, stinky roundy roundy engines with up down 8 cylinder ones!@

 

[Muzza_NZ]

Cheers lads,
4000GT - have you got some pesky clutch slippage happening?

rx7_s1_1uz - Its an '81 so I'm pretty sure that it's a series 2, but we also have a donor (read - rust filled crapper) car which is a series 1.

The brake calipers now are series 6 front and rear with Beemer discs on the front and silvia ones on the back.

 

[4000GT]

yeah slipping only in fourth gear... all other gears perfect. I am guessing I need to get a couple more mm machined off the hydraulic release spacer.

Though the issues I was referring to were diff mounts, they are a little too soft / worn for so much torque so soon...