yoeddynz

yeah i cant believe how cheap rx's are here- even fd's are cheap. But hardly any oldschool ones left- my 3 is one of less than 15 we know of in the uk left! And 6000 plus were sold. Rust!

I dont think any other 3 is doing as much mileage as mine- only about 2 others i know that are driven- jimbo's and jon's. The others are projects, race cars or just sat looking pretty- which is a fucking crime if ya ask me. All classics should out on the road being used!

So in a land of 60million people it makes it quite a rare sight to see a 3 on the road.

Only one rx4 i know of driven much. About 2 rx2's- one a 12a turbo.

Quite different to back home eh!

I have just copied/pasted some more from exile rotorsport- keep it up to date..

anyways- i'm fucking loving this car. it wouldnt be the same in NZ though- know one knows what it is here and it gets lots of attention

so heres some more stuff....

On saturday I woke up early and got the mtbs ready and all our ridiong gear- then thought id move rx3 out and warm it up etc. but the engine turned over really slowly ! The battery was dead i thought..not a worry- i'll jump start it with the bmw.

but still it turned over really slowly! Fuck it! and i flooded it in the process.

So sunday i dried it all out and tried again with charged battery. still no good

So hannah tow started me- and it started so easy first go. cool.Once warmed up I took it for a right good trashing!!! (as ya do) but even when warm and charged up it turned over slowly- and starter was hot too.

Ran local friendly factors and they found a new starter for me - really fucking cheap too as it had been on shelf a long time- apparantly not much call for rx7 starters....

so last night i plonked it in place and jumped in seat thinking I wonder if its a lot better...

Whirp whirp brrrmmmmmmm!!!

Fucking amazing difference- in fact i have never had a rotary turmn over so quickly ever! Even my chevettes starter must have been ill! Sooo happy!

And top it off - whilst under car it was still nice and clean - nice to work on!

So chuffed- i'm gonna ditch the pushbike tommorrow and while roads are free from mums and their fucking big chelsea tractors (4wds) taking little jonny to school (half term) - i'm gonna drive the 3 into work.

steering has been a bit odd recently. Last weekend i took a mate out for a spin on very bumpy road and on way back to his workshop noticed a clunking sound. Looked under bonnet and Idler arm bushes were all broken up- and arm was able to wobble all over the place

Alan Bryer was able to post me some replacements- thanks very much Alan!!! and I fit them last night. Once arm was dropped out this is what I found...

The black stuff is honestly all that was left of original bushes!!! New ones to be fitted shown.

The bushes were mush!

When restoring the car I thought them to be OK but compared to the new ones they were really hard. should have replaced them then- i replaced every other bush and ball joint in the car. Anyway- seems they must just age...so Check yours. they are exactly the same Items as in FB's btw..and still available

took car to north Wales in easter- 430 miles with out a single blip of a problem! Was cruising faster than most and had some great passing moments where I think I shocked a fair few people behind with its acceleration

Had a fantastic 3 days solid of mountain biking and camping-and the sun shone hard and hot the whole time!!! sweet.

Only saw one other classic over whole weekend- a moris minor traveller. Where are all the cool cars gone- its just a fucking sea of grey out there. Its just not right!

anyway- some photos...

On way up via the A44- wicked driving road in places!

At Coed y Brenin..early morning fryup..

On Monday once back home the 3 got a good clean and wax for behaving well. And touched up flaking paint on engine...

we have 2 big kitty cats - will that do?

is the weather in dublin reallythat much worse than in england?

i aint posted up in ages on here. whoops. Best stay in touch as will be back in nz end of year hopefully.

My rx3 has been going so well. I have been using and abusing it shit loads. Got to see 130 plus in a race against a ford rs turbo. Acceleration was the same but he had more top end. I was pulling 7500 in 5th. naughty. We just did 430miles over easter with bikes on back to wales. Averaged 29 mpg which is bloody good for a rota! Such a good wee usable car. Nice to be able to park it up here and still find it intact hour later too.

I recently bought a rare as '83 series 2 elford turbo rx7. It is rusty as but engine should be good. Its a suck through an su carb setup on a 12a.

Me and 2 kiwi friends are gonna rip it all out today then have a bbq to celebrate my acquisition of 'coolest oldschool suck through carb 160 bhp turbo rota goodness' and drink beer. Summers on the way here. Happiness.

i need a car to test it in. That'll be the rx3 then.

I'll put some pictures up soon as i'm back on computer rather than my phone.

Alex

must return comments leigh. Your car is fucking ace! Hannah and i went to look at one for sale in london. Fuck it was rusty. Alot of people think they are fibre glass so nice are the curves. Nup- and fuck they can rust! We walked away.

As for wheels fellas- i'm bringing a container back to nz at end of the year. With a a car and lots of parts.......

Alex

Not a biggie but I have finally got around to revisiting my rx3's underbelly. This time it was for a bit of preventative tlc.

I had filled all the inside of all box sections with shit loads of Bilt Hamber wax end of summer when it flows nicely. But i still wasnt sleeping- as I use the car in any weather i wanted more protection. So out with a big can of waxoyl and into a bucket of piping hot water. It slowly melted and when satisfied it would spray I attached the supplied pump but it was shit! Thats the reason i never used the stuff years back.

But it was liquid enough to use in a garden hand sprayer so that's what I climbed under the car with. I covered every where that salt might sit- I always give the car a good complete hose down if its spent the weekend on salty roads but if the hose is frozen I wanted the salt to sit on wax- not painted steel. Messy messy job and bloody cold too. I was forever thawing out wax covered hands in bucket- no gloves because I am a real (stupid) garage man with perma-grime (and probably dermatitis affected) hands. Wax in my hair (because real men dont wear silly hats) and I stunk of white spirits or whatever the carrying agent is.

But the car is now protected underneth so I'm happy and can sleep again

basis are good. Back in the day. Rolls and rolls of rubber on shelf.

Id like to but i dont reckon it would be an every day classic like it is here- i'd never be able to sleep at night thinking of all the little fuckers out there nicking bits off it! Even at my olds place i dont reckon it would be safe.

Or am i just paranoid? Do little shits there respect old cars like this now..or do they still just see them as a rolling stock of Trade me goodies to sell?

In britain no one knows what it is and its not worth as much- just some old car.

Nup- i want something like your old cortina- or another chevette, or a viva.

BTW- keep your wagon in its original colours i think.. looks proper time warp

I love the way old cars like yours-not full of Rot- can still be found back home- can not fucking wait to get home!

alex

wow. I wonder if its still alive? Or has the young fella wrapped it around a tree...

Thats what happened to my mint old rotary chevette five days after selling it to a young fella in ireland:(

Just looking back at old times and i'm wondering where my little escort is now?

I sold it to a young fella in Methven back in 2006. where is it now- anyone seen it. I wish i hadnt sold it but always the way eh.

Anyway- i'm coming back to NZ for good next year and want another old car as soon as i'm back- and my old scort would be wicked!

Escorts here in blighty are fucking expensive!!!

yeah- rotors are bloody cheap here;

Our 1st rx7..mint series 3 in original black £600!

our 2nd rx7 - series 3 £150

our 3rd rx7 - series 2 £110- i used that one for chevette build

then we bought a mint series 3 from scrap yard 8 miles away. £200 they said it wouldnt start...i changed the 10 year old petrol and the fuel pump and winner!

Rx3 - I paid £750 !

You can always get a really nice first gen for under £1000

And a really good FD - all original but with rebuilt engine/new turbos - owned by a bloke in our club sat for ages before got £2600 !

Rotarys just dont have the same following here.

alex

Heres the interior when i first went to view it..

and rust...

I just had to buy it!!!

After getting it all together and back on the road I added up all costs inc purchase price and it turned out to be a very very cheap original Rx3- I'm so happy i bought it and went through with the resto!

alex

Cheers

RR forum has some bloody wicked cars on it! I hope the supercharged Kaddett gets finished but it looks like he has lost his mojo

I'm happy just driving mine for now. I'll wait a bit till its warmer then do some suspension mods.

alex

Hello all- I aint posted up on here for ages. But its christmas and tellys crap so I thought I'd post up some pictures of my rx3...

I bought this last christmas- the fella i got it off has had it stored away over 20 years in a concrete farm shed. I'm the second owner. It was last driven 1985. It still had original plastc covers on sunvisors and over rear cards Every thing was in place and original. I still have the original 10 A but I wanted it more usable for long trips so I plonked a 12A and 5 speed out of a series 3.

It took me 5 good months of most nights after work and most weekends to cut out all the rust and weld in new steel, rebuild all the suspension and brakes and paint it.

It is by no means a perfect show car but its solid and I love it! I use it a lot- rain, mud or shine and its one of only two in the uk I know of that are used frequently.

Next things on the 'to do list' are fit new adjustable front inserts and rear dampers. And put a bigger muffler on the back so i can remove centre one. keeps catching bloody speed humps.

Rather than rewrite up all the posts heres a link ya can go to ...

http://www.exile-rotorsport.com/viewtopic.php?t=1090

alex

Whoops- I forgot the rules about posting on ya link. I removed it all and left a dot. ignore it!!

Anyway..

WOW!! cool car and i'm glad to see it aint gonna be butchered, then covered in glue and driven through Repco's car accessory area.

There is a cosmo sitting in a blokes lockup down in Newbury- about 40 miles south of where i live. I wish i could get it off him but he knows what its worth. bugger.

here it is...

alex

I've got one and I lived in CH CH but my chevette is 12,000 miles away!

That is a fine looking car- are there many wagons about because when I get back I wouldnt mind one!

Surely a gemini 1600 motor would fit in easily...? or are they hard to get?

well i thought i have not posted up here since leaving NZ last year...so heres the latest car...

my liitle brown chevette has been built up over last winter here in Blighty.

Its a standard 12A and box outta a rusty £120 series 2 Rx7. Had it on a rolling road and its putting out exactly 115BHP which is about right for one of these 12a's. Its fun and not tooooo thirsty. Surprises lots of cars at the lights and has alot of people trying to guess the engine note when i turn up at shows

I have been using it over summer here and its getting lots of interest as not so many people here into rotors...which is great because they are bloody cheap to buy and play with...except petrol but isnt it getting more expensive there in NZ too?

hers a link as Im a crap typer and dont want to write it all again!!!

Some of you will know this car already from chevettes.com and retro-rides.com

http://www.chevettes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11982

Please bear with me on late replys as I dont always get near the nerd net!

I hope ya like it- i love it!

alex (in cold grey rainy bloody england-looking forwards to coming home)

Triumph is my latest here in england. Escort I just sold recently before leaving NZ and I miss it dearly(sniff)

Filling void with this....

http://www.chevettes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11982

alex

Thanks man.

I think a standard chevette hatch weighs 855 kg and my old rx7 weighed in at 1150 or so so I looking forwards to the difference.

I think i'll go the harder way and raise the tunnel to get it back further otherwise if I do it the easier way I'll always be thinking it could be a lot better handling.

Cheers for offering help- i'm always learning....

every days a school day.

Just sorting out buying a chevette hatch in england- an old mans special in beige!

Perfect.

alex

Hey defcon- thanks very much for link, excellent site- just the sort of info i need!!!

It looks like all the ones pictured have been mounted fairly far forwards and they just bash the shit outta the start of the tunnel to give a little clearnce on bell housing.

This means keeping the standard sump position (pan at front), not having to raise tunnel and having engine mounted off seperate crossmember.

I think i'd rather try spin the sump around (pan at back), raising tunnel, and have motor mounted further back over stock crossmember resulting in better weight distribution...

But then the gear stick might be too far back...

apparently very very early RX7's had the sump pan at the back- i've been told...is this true?

hello all- I'm going back to England in two weeks and will be craving to do another project.

What I'm wondering is I know that a few chevettes have had rotors dropped into them and I'm hoping to find someone here on this forum who has done this fit or has good info on it.

I most interested in whether the trans tunnel needs hacking about and also if the sumps on 12A's or 13B's clears the crossmember?

The reason for project is because I really like chevettes (had two) and rotarys (had an old 7') so why not mix them?

Plus I dont think this particular mix has been done in the UK.

Any info will be really appreciated!

cheers

alex

Thanks for photo- I've definatley got the mounts on my axle but not sure about where it mounts to body. I've got an old chevette rear sway bar- i'll try that in.

but will my car have mounts for it ? I'll have a look but cant remember spotting anything obvious when i was doing the bushes.

My car has the swaybar mounts on the top of axle but can't see any mounting points on car.

where does it mount to car and does a mk 2 one fit a mk!?

If so- anyone got one kicking about they might wanna sell?

alex