Nars GSL-SE the 'White Comet'

[scarsofcarma]

Yep, makes perfect sense to me. It's interesting to hear the Mazda gauge is at least accurate as far as it goes, anyway. Don't remember hearing of oil pump failure on an RX-7 but given how much work the oil does in a rotary it definitely pays to keep an eye on it. As an FD owner, I'm pretty paranoid about how fragile the Mazda instrumentation is... it basically seems to be very accurate. If it's actually working at all They all stop working sooner or later, that's the downside

Yeah believe me I've had my share of frustration with RX7 electronics, this is my 7th RX7 after all. All my FC's had electrical gremlins, and I'm sure the FD is the same although I've never owned one. Having the mechanical oil pressure gauge is great, but really its the oil temperature gauge I am thrilled about. Ever since my RX3 had one (which was a race car) I've wanted one in all my cars. Having an eye on your oil temperature while you are pushing your engine to its limit is important because as you say, its not really likely that a Mazda oil pump will fail, but rather more likely that your oil will overheat and ruin your motor as a result.

I learned how easily this can happen rally-racing my RX3. Before I fixed the carburetor and ignition timing issues from the previous owner I would watch the oil temperature occasionally creep towards 240 degree's F or more. When I noticed this I throttled back of course and the lesson was learned. Without that gauge, I might've blown that engine at the first race without ever realizing it had issues.

[scarsofcarma]

[RamoNZ]

Love a gslse, I'm so annoyed that Mazda reserved these for just the US!

What's with the other cars? You planning to swap some bits over??

[scarsofcarma]

Love a gslse, I'm so annoyed that Mazda reserved these for just the US!

Well we could say the same thing about the 12A Turbo that we never got :p

What's with the other cars? You planning to swap some bits over??

Those belong to my roommates. But yes, I have plans to swap FC parts unto my FB. Turbo brakes to start with, and then eventually a whole front subframe with either a bridgeported, high revving S5 6 port or a Renesis.

[scarsofcarma]

I got my new Tokico Illumina in the mail the other day. (Thank you Amazon!)

When I removed the LF strut I realized the blown one had been leaking shock oil over everything so badly that a complete strut teardown and rebuild was in order. I also noticed my ball joints were shot so I ordered new ones as well as aftermarket camber bolts in the mail.

After rebuilding the struts and packing the wheel bearings with fresh synthetic racing grease I'm finally getting around to installing the Energy Suspension bushings in the front end. I bead-blasted the lower control arms and strut rods to clean em up before freshly painting them. Why I decided to paint them white I cannot say. Probably not practical...

[scarsofcarma]

Got the ball joints in the mail today so I assembled and installed the suspension back on the car with the energy suspension bushings and replacement Tokico Illumina.

Drives better now of course that there's no blown shock in the front end! Doesn't even feel like it needs much adjustment in the way of alignment either which is a great sign for an old car with new bushings.

[spirit r]

Got the ball joints in the mail today so I assembled and installed the suspension back on the car with the energy suspension bushings and replacement Tokico Illumina.]

Tokico Illumina with Eibach spring my position is one and the car drive greate.
What´s your adjustment on Tokico Illumina? (with racing beat spring???)

SV100427.JPG (172.93 KiB) Viewed 3670 times

[scarsofcarma]

Tokico Illumina with Eibach spring my position is one and the car drive great.
What´s your adjustment on Tokico Illumina? (with racing beat spring???)

Hmm well the Racing Beat Springs are about 20% firmer than stock or 145lb/in front and 112 lb/in rear with a modest 1" drop. I use setting 3 which feels like the closest match with damping for the slightly stiffer springs. Which Eibach's are you using exactly? In the states we usually have either their PROkit, Sportline, or possibly their racing springs if you buy them through Ground Control. Each of those have different spring rates.

[ian65]

Nice work Nar, your car is shaping up really nice Have you polybushed the rear end yet?..... it made a massive difference to the ride and handling on my car when I did mine

[scarsofcarma]

Nice work Nar, your car is shaping up really nice Have you polybushed the rear end yet?..... it made a massive difference to the ride and handling on my car when I did mine

Thanks. No I haven't done the rear yet. I was planning on getting to that once I got ahold of a taller final drive gear. But to be honest I wasn't sure it was a good idea. Racing Beat recommends that you don't put poly bushings in the rear end, I presume because it might increase the tendency to oversteer.

I didn't install poly bushings in the rear end of my FC's for that reason. They were all NA's, and my driving style to drive those cars fast was the same principle as a momentum car on the racetrack... you just lift as little as possible and try and power out of the turns as early as you can.

Thus, having some 'give' in the bushings let the car absorb the shock of the throttle without breaking the tires loose.

But I am willing to believe otherwise in regards to the FB as I have not yet tried bushings in the rear end. It might also depend on driving style of course. How does your feel now vs. how it used to feel?

My RX3 I should mention, was straight spherical bearings in the rear end. It was snappy and harsh as hell lol