Pelo.

2002 RX7 , 24k kms, $40k  

https://preview.trademe.co.nz/motors/cars/mazda/rx7/listing/1666419716

On 13/06/2018 at 23:31, cletus said:

Probably a silly question 

But how do you find out about things like that? ^

Have to be a member of the club?

The motorsport nz website has all the sanctioned events. But the calendar itself has a horrendous user interface. 

Join this Facebook group https://facebook.com/groups/1708890559124986 where we to to keep track of everything going on,  and any other local car club fb groups in your area. 

On 10/06/2018 at 19:04, mjrstar said:

Another event today. It was hard to keep up with the guys that have done the event for a number of years. I was about 6 seconds off the lead time over the 4km run.

 

The 180sx was badass with super with super wide race rubber all round and a sequential box.

808 wagon with 13b sounded wicked and the rx3 was pretty mint /fast too.

The rx7 was pretty angry too with a v8 presumably of the ls variety.

 

video here:

https://youtu.be/Hj1-zOtpkiQ

 

 

Good turnout for that event! Is that road steeper than it looks?

I considered joining but it was a bit far to drive, so I went to Thames Valley Car Club flying 1/4 mile sprint. There were only 8 competitors.

On 12/06/2018 at 11:03, rotor_dude said:

The old series 1 strikes again lol

 

Would love to build one of these for circuit racing, 13B PP

 

Have a few hot wheels versions lol

These nice chaps in Welly just painted and stickered a replica of this car  

Fun times on the Hauraki plains. Hitting 200+ kph at a Standing & Flying 1/4 mile event hosted by the Thames Valley Car Club.

Kiwi Rotor meet at BurgerFuel a couple weekends ago

https://www.facebook.com/events/151137652396011/

copypasta:

VHS overview of rotaries in Aus

I cn c ur pink bitz

Track day!

On the 6th of May I went to an HD Auto day at the Hampton Downs club circuit. I went here last year and it was good fun. It is organised by Hampton Downs themselves and more info can be found here https://hamptondowns.com/hdauto/ 

This time my friend joined me in his 180SX.

There were about 40 drivers and a good range of cars, including a Porsche Cayman, some brand new BMW M6s, a mk2 Escort rally car, a Corolla E70 with a 3SGE, 300ZX turbo, and a Nismo GTR... which got smashed into a wall

A new Impreza and Mercedes turbo thing

MX5 powered by a rotary 13B, na with a carburettor!

This very fast RX7 with a ported single turbo motor, imported from Japan as a track weapon. You could hear it from the other side of the track!

The morning was very wet but it dried up after lunch.

My car with a fair bit of mud on it. I had a high speed spin into the grass (thank the gods!) in my second session. Unfortunately not on camera. I was being chased down by the white RX7 and I was paying too much attention to my mirror instead of my line and balance at 130 kph in the wet... backwards into the grass! There is a lot of run off on this track, the GTR went off at about the only place its possible to hit anything.

I got a new GoPro for Xmas, so of course I've been spamming Youtube with self indulgent driving videos. Here's the one session where the GoPro GPS worked.

And a split screen view of a session with the 180SX

Before the track day I made up some prototype intercooler ducting using foam rubber, cardboard, and duct tape. It made quite a difference. The stock duct doesn't fit the Greddy intercooler very well so to make it work properly you really need to make a sealed duct. I also experimented with an intercooler water spray but it wasn't much use with cardboard ducting!

I figured out last time that my water temperature and boost gauge can't be seen with my helmet on, so I did a temporary cable tie mounting to the center speaker bracket. 

Sometimes I take my car too seriously. Why not have some fun with a few stickers?

One of the recently printed club stickers! #notoldschool

And a wee Pistonheads Grin sticker 

The car ran perfectly with the new coils, my tyres are still in good health and it was a very fun day out.  I'd like to get some semi slicks and sway bars eventually, the RE003 road tyres do a good job but they are a compromise.

Way more stylish than a new Hiace.

Wow, I've owned this car for a whole year now. It has been fun, sometimes frustrating, and very expensive.

Since my last post, I've moved out of the apartment, into a house with a garage, and also have a baby due in July  So I want to tick a few things off the list before our lives are taken over by a flatmate we can't kick out for 18 years...

After fitting a lot of new parts in the last post, I went to the Leadfoot festival for a friends stag party. I almost didn't make it after a coolant leak returned. Ever since the first track event at Pukekohe, the coolant level sensor has leaked water under pressure. Just a tiny pinhole leak. The sensor couldn't be tightened as its all plastic, and the head had separated from the thread. So I covered it in gasket goo and it gave no trouble for ages. Then going to Leadfoot, there is a fun road over the hills. I stopped at a lookout, smelt coolant, and discovered the leak had returned. It was bodged and I forgot about it. Damn. So back to gentle driving for the rest of the weekend in Whitianga.

Here are the lads cars.

And the stag himself. Skyline drivers eh...

Leadfoot is a fantastic event, don't miss it!

Then I moved house the next week and Rotary Reunion was the next weekend. Did I have time to order and fit a replacement part? No! Lets try the world's favourite bodge, JB Weld!

It worked ok. Got the car back together late Friday night and cruised to Taupo. No leaks appeared thankfully.

ReUnion was a bit of fun, but it rained torrentially all weekend. So no drags, mediocre burnouts, and risky track driving. I videoed a lot of it but the driving footage is barely worth watching. The yellow Bomex FD is currently my favourite car in NZ!

So the car ran like shit all weekend. It turns out the coils I bought second hand were failing at anything above cruising temperatures. Buy cheap, buy twice...

I research upgraded coils, such as the fancy Smart Coil options like this http://www.sakebombgarage.com/ign-1a-high-performance-ignition-system-fd3s-rx-7-lhd-mount/ but I ended up buying new Mazda coils locally. A big hit at $900.

Another mission getting the intake manifold off, replacing the coils for the 3rd time. At least I'm getting faster at it. Now the car runs better than ever! Smooth all the way to redline, smooth idle, faster, and better fuel economy. Here's a quick jaunt down a private road.

By March the JB Weld had begun to leak. Now let's deal with this properly. The sensor disintegrated as I forced it out of the thermostat housing.

New OEM sensor and gasket ready to install.

Much better!

Another few litres of coolant, another hour spent bleeding the coolant system. This is very important on a rotary, as air in the coolant can cause hot spots, which then destroy coolant seals, which then needs a rebuild. A very expensive thing to overlook! This Lisle funnel is a great tool, it makes the bleeding process much faster and easier.

https://imgur.com/oSuhuKm

The factory spoiler has been refitted, I like it just as much as the smooth no spoiler look, but got sick of the rubber plugs. The paint on the spoiler and mirrors is ruined, one day they'll get resprayed.

Here's the car in front of our adorable white picket fence.

Last week I installed the old school Blitz blow off valve. Now my car goes CHOO-CHOO! It isn't too loud thankfully. In theory it should help with faster boost response, as the factory one is a normally open bypass valve that only closes under boost. I tried running that valve open and it sounded RIDICULOUS. A constant whooshing noise when the turbo isn't boosting, and a very loud CHOOOoooooooooosssshhh sound when shifting on boost.

On the 6th of May I'm going to a track day at Hampton Downs. https://www.facebook.com/events/385654548577468/

Then planning on Chrome again this year, although having a fresh baby may interfere with that...

At this stage I just intend to keep the car reliable and not mod it any further, apart from reliability related upgrades. Oil catch can, water injection, budget intercooler water spray... The list of stuff i WANT to do is huge of course!

So how much has an RX7 cost over one year of ownership? I'm a geek and track every cent I spend on cars in a massive spreadsheet. Here is a breakdown of costs. To be honest it's a shock, and I hope the second year has a better fun to dollar ratio.

AE82 FX GT with an old boy driving it. So rusty

Went mountain biking instead. No ragrets.

Kp Starlet

Mmmmmm RPF1 wheels...

Wow that bad is it? Why? Its just down the road from me so ill go for a look

L200 and an XJS

A few more pics, I didn't get any video this year though.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FeAInenUnNL58uEj1

What a fun day  Our Stag enjoyed it too, despite being forced to lug around a crankshaft...