An End-of-build Retrospective on my Rx7 Evo GT by gmonsen

10 minute(s) of a 280 minute read

So, I'm cleaning up my engine bay for the 800th time. I need to reroute my air con hard lines down. I was taking some pictures and noticed that I still have the black plastic radiator fans. I've got to find some nice aluminum fans to replace those. Maybe anodized or painted black? And I can still straighten out a few wires and hose runs over the next month. 

G

2-22-2015

I guess I will hold off or let's say, look more slowly... They do make some very nice stainless fans with stainless shrouds that flow 3650 cfm, but, hey. I can use plastic polish and some rubber cleaner and at least make them look new. 

I do have a radiator shroud up top that really hides the fans and radiator pretty well from the front and a bit from the sides. Its shaped to mimic the curve of the front hood closing, so it doesn't cover quite as much as yours.. 

2-26-2015

I have thought about it and its one of the reasons for not going with the three ITB's having the gap between the 1st 2 rotors rather than the three twisted runners that are evenly spaced, if you've seen that. I think one of the Florida guys building a 3 rotor NA has that setup. There is room for a strut bar, but I'll have to make one, because the throttles are located pretty high between the ITB's. I have thought about it a lot over time, but its never been at the top of my list. I will add one along with a tranny brace this spring.

2-28-2015

I've also been working on my first year ZR1. I'm still doing basics, like adding the Corsa exhaust, a new ZF 6 speed, swapping interior from red to black and white, new wheels. Next step this year is upping the power a bit and my biggest improvement will be switching to coilovers from leaf springs. The leaf springs create a funny disconnect between the body and the wheels imho. Its been my daily driver (as much as I drive daily these days) and is generally more like a small cadillac than a sports car just going to the store. These are still pretty fast 12 second 175 mph cars stock and get a bunch faster with any mods.

G

Thank you. The 850 -- at least in 6 speed form -- is an undervalued and under-appreciated car. It is comfortable and fast and I've never had any issues with it. It was said to have electrical issues for example and I've never had any. Everything still works fine after about 80,000 miles. They are essentially worthless on the market, so I have just kept it. I have thought about trading it on a used Aston Vantage and may still do that. But I've had the 850 for almost 15 years and its hard to part with it. I'm running out of space though. 

The M3 has become so valuable that I can't DD it. The ZR1 is a reasonable DD in many ways, as I said, but I think the 1st year ZR1's are likely to become the most valuable of the Vettes since the C2's. Like the FD, you can have as much power as you want. You can get the motor upgraded to 450 whp for about $15,000 or so.

3-2-2015

I'll take a look at them. It will have to go through the space between the 1st 2 ITB's, I am pretty sure. The key is that most of the bars are offset to the front or rear of the coil over top nut. I ran a string between the 2 coil overs and I can definitely fit one between them as far as the width goes. The way they shows them in ads, they never give you a straight down view of the bar, so I can see whether its centered or not. It kni=ind of looks like a few of the Cusco bars, like the 40 and ALC OS seem to be centered rather than offset, but I can't tell for sure. I'll take a look at the improved racing stuff. Thanks, Lenny.

5-1-2015

I've been extremely busy at work, but have had time some nights and weekends to play. Its really nice. I want to explain what's different, but its hard. There's just so much torque everywhere. When you shift from first to second at anything over maybe 6500, it loses traction and the torque really slams you back into the seat. I'm running a 3.90 rear gear, but may go back to a 4.44 for fun. 

I took a deep corn Nardi steering wheel and painted the spokes cream to match my wheels, housings, and headliner. I'm using a custom made old school Mazda horn button that matches my interior a bit better.

G 

My friend Kyle from Speed1 was over and took a quick video of the car warming up. I know it sounds a bit like a bridge port, but its just a big street port combined with scalloped rotors giving a big overlap that sounds like a bridgeport. I like the low idle, so it'll stay rumpty-rumpty.

http://s234.photobucket.com/user/gmonsen/media/Mazda%20Rx7/IMG_2037_zpsdctxtvdg.mp4.html

5-2-2015

5-3-2015

Not much. A 5 minute drive around my roads.

5-4-2015

Okay. I'm getting the hang of this.

5-5-2015

I've got one of those mounts for the rear strut bar and will try that. I may also try lower it a bit more on my head and maybe moving down a bit in the seat. I've also got a go pro suction mount for outside the car. Have you used that? Any issues with potholes?

5-6-2015

Here was the last brief clip from the weekend. The Nardi trim ring fell off going over a bump. It is only held on there by 2 grommets holding 2 allen head bolts. Doesn't work well on the deep corn wheels.

5-13-2015

I painted a Nardi Deep Corn the same cream color as my wheels (and headliner). Nardi actually listed the color of the wheel as "white", but it was a very light silver. I'm kind of torn between this and the all black suede-rimmed Nardi. Any comments?

G 

5-17-2015

Well, I made a few more videos. Got to say I love the Go Pro. Still had the thing mounted to my head, but it comes out okay.

5-21-2015

Video is new to me. Heck, having my FD in my garage and running is new to me. Anyway, I don't know if people enjoy the videos, but I'm going to keep posting them and try to capture more of the sound and feel of the car.

5-28-2015

Photos of headliner and visors...

G