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Originally Posted by Lucky
lol. I guess mine must be one of the uninteresting threads  ops:
I often comment on here but there's a limit to how many times I can post variations on "awesome" before it becomes tedious :lol: I think part of the problem is we don't have your vision or access to your plan of how it's all going to end up, so without the updates ending with a question or a coming next-style cliffhanger, it's sometimes hard to start a "discussion" on the progress. what with not knowing where it is or how well it's going, IYSWIM.
With that said, I fully appreciate how disheartening the internet can be like that. I've frequently spend hours and hours editing photos and writing up show reports just for the thread to get about 100 views and two replies :roll: Sometimes it's easy to feel unappreciated, lol |
I wasn't trying to be hurtful, but maybe that was failing to give due credit. Still when 99% of FBs are rotary or V8 swap for power, it's all been done before, and for many, it is difficult to take interest in what isn't fresh and different.
When I find something I like, the thread's starter has no idea who made his parts, nor who sells copies. That's frustrating.
On a related note, just 2 days ago, some local guy was trying to trade his costly CNC-ported LSx heads for stockers, so I asked him if his had had the swirl ramps ported out, and the guy had no clue what I meant! At least he admitted it, but then he failed to ask what difference it makes! How can guys spend so much on cars, only to not know what they're buying?
Rant over.
Now you bring up a point I appreciate you bringing up:
I have visions and plans, hopes and goals, for my cars, and this RX-7 isn't mine. Not my money, not my name on the title, not built the way I want, or it would have IRS, and be built to see what MPG a V8 can do in it. It is my work, my figuring things out, so I'm invested in it. The goal is to average 40 MPG on the open highway, and work up to being able to spike 50. We looked at a lot of different cars, looking for what was light, low drag, no rust, never crashed, and had enough potential.
Then It needed to drive very different, and much better, than the owner's '09 Pontiac G3. So no 4 cylinder, and no automatic. I chose a known-efficient V6 that's readily available cheap, reliable, low emissions, and that's why I did this. Every other part underhood, and in the drivetrain, is just supporting mods.
The big brake upgrade isn't because she would ever need them, she won't. They're firstly because they're very little extra cost. Second, she'll never notice the difference in handling from the extra unsprung weight. Third, I need to show I can give potential customers truly great brakes for far less than any kit. Especially when no kit exists. And last, I wanted the practice. Besides, there's no such thing as too much brakes.
I'm hoping to retrofit the ABS from an '89 S-10 Tahoe 4.3 A/T 2WDRCSB, or similar.
I only post pics of things that turned out well, pretty or not, because this is a daily driver. If my next customer is willing to pay for things to look show-worthy, great. But this customer doesn't care, and really can't afford everything I want to do, only what's necessary. As soon as I'm "done", she's selling the '09 to pay off this credit card build, which goes farther over the original budget every month. I'm now $200-ish into the hoses and fittings to adapt the GM P/S pump to the Mazda rack, and I don't yet have all the parts I ordered in hand. But what's stressful is trying to adapt the Wilwood clutch master ( sold as a brake master cylinder ) to the Mazda pedal. By far the most stressful part of this entire build.
So the p/s reservoir, relocating the alternator, fabbing brackets to do that, none of that was part of the vision, except to figure out what's necessary to make this swap work, then do whatever I figure out. In that, this build is rather easy because it isn't for show.
Today I'm dropping the axle, which I'm not happy about, do redo my bracketry for the suspension.
Oh, there's one other stressful bit: I have a mystery wire sticking out of the wiring harness I made for this engine. I hope it will fire up with that wire not connected.