Build thread

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speedjunkie
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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Mon Apr 17, 2017 9:14

I'm still planning on doing some RE-A sleek lights at this point. I'm just waiting to make some more money haha. I'm going to get the FEED combo lights at the same time.

Those SBG lights are very functional, but part of the reason I want to change my headlights is to get rid of the popups. I'm tired of dealing with covers breaking and with water getting into the wiring and making them dance haha. Otherwise I'd just get those. I think I told you another local guy made his own headlights like the SBG ones, right?

A lot of FD guys are sick of their crappy headlights. There are a lot more options these days than there used to be. We're pretty lucky.

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RX-7 Chris
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Re: Build thread

Postby RX-7 Chris » Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:14

HID's instead of LED's?
1984 RX-7 GSL-SE [size=84]My restomod project[/SIZE]


1964 Ford Galaxie 500XL flat black w/ white interior, 2 dr fastback, 390 thunderbird, C6 auto, 2500 rpm high stall converter, shift kit, AC, Holley 750 cfm

[size=100]RIP 1983 RX-7[/SIZE]

My Car Blog

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speedjunkie
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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:14

I'd rather do LED but I haven't seen a way to make them low profile enough to not cut into the car. I might get the HID kit for the RE-Amemiya lights, but most likely I'll try LEDs first. If those don't work I'll buy an aftermarket HID kit. I'd still save money doing it that way.

I got my surprise today.
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I already tore a couple of them down haha. I'm going to test fit them (tonight probably) and see what size lips and barrels I need.
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And before anyone asks, this is basically what I'm trying to do. I don't plan on making them gold, but I want to swap to 3 piece and have a fat lip, at least on the back. Mine won't be near as fat as these, but at least a couple inches hopefully. I think I'm going to try to find somewhere that can put a brushed finish on the faces and then I'll either clear coat or get a tinted clear on them. Then on the lips I haven't decided on polished, chrome, or black chrome.
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speedjunkie
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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Wed Apr 19, 2017 9:14

I took the car to Denver this afternoon to meet the previous owner and to pick up a harness for the racing seat. I stopped by Wine Country first to pick up the harness. I got a Schroth 6pt with cam lock and it's HANS compatible, something about being a 3" until it goes over the shoulders where it drops to 2".

Then I went to meet up with Justin. All these years I thought he really didn't care. Come to find out, he's missed this car since he sold it to me haha. His wife even came down and brought their kids so she could see the car. It was 12.5 years ago so I really didn't remember too much what either of them looked like. His wife said "nice to meet you" as they were leaving, so now I'm wondering if this isn't the same wife from back then HAHA. Anyway, I took Justin for a ride and he asked if I wanted to sell it back to him. That's not likely haha.

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Re: Build thread

Postby Ranger » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:14

I miss my FD a lot, so I can sure relate to that story. Five years gone now and I still wish I hadn't had to sell it. Pretty impressive you've had yours so long. Anyway, about headlights, what about one of the Evo-R kits? Still expensive but cheaper than alternatives. Can't say if the bulbs are any good though.

http://www.evo-r.net/product/RX-7/Sleek.htm

speedjunkie wrote:I got a Schroth 6pt with cam lock and it's HANS compatible, something about being a 3" until it goes over the shoulders where it drops to 2".

That's actually only true of older HANS devices---the belts go over the top of the restraint, and some of the old ones were narrow around the shoulders, and/or didn't have anything to hold the belt in place. So with a 3" belt, it would hang off the edge and could possibly slip off. But harness manufacturers still like to say "HANS compatible" for marketing purposes. IIRC full-length 2" belts aren't legal with most racing bodies.

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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:14

I've thought a couple times about selling it, but I was way in the dumps at those times and I'm glad I didn't. Even my mom told me I'd regret it lol. I will say that these past few years haven't been the same as the first several. I'm not near as passionate about it now as I was before. I do still love driving it though. It's actually hard for me to work on it now because I love driving it so much, functionally it's right where I want it. So I don't want to put it down to do the work I need to do.

The Evo R headlights are known to be not great quality. A lot of people still get them, and the buckets I have right now actually came from an old Evo R kit. But I'm not crazy about their kits overall.

Ah ok. I had no idea what he was talking about until he explained it. And honestly it still doesn't really matter to me. I had a credit on my account with them and figured I'd use it on some harnesses, I just didn't know they'd be so expensive. I don't really care about the certification at this point, but I might someday. Unfortunately that day will probably be after these expire lol. He tried to get me to buy two sets but I really just needed some kind of restraint for the racing seat while I have it in the car.

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Ranger
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Re: Build thread

Postby Ranger » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:14

Out of curiosity, how're you mounting them? I can't remember if your car has a rollbar or not. But there's definitely a right and wrong way to mount shoulder belts. Submarine belt(s) too. (Which, BTW, I should note are very important...in case you haven't mounted a harness before / weren't explained that.) Also, since you don't really need certified belts, if there's something else you might want to use that credit on, you could probably take them back and find old belts for cheap or even free. Just because a harness is expired doesn't mean it's bad, but it does mean it's not legal for racing, so a lot of racers have no use for them and just ditch them. When I get a roll bar for the Integra I'm going to use a harness that's long expired, but was never installed.

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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:14

I have a harness bar in the rear that replaces the rear strut bar. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to mount the other four though.

I didn't think to ask them if they had any use or expired ones. They don't take returns, although they worked with me on the Cobra seats I got originally. They gave me a credit after taking a good amount as a restocking fee, so I'm sure I'd get screwed on these too lol.

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Re: Build thread

Postby Ranger » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:14

Gotcha. In case they didn't come with instructions, pretty good article here on how to wrap the belts through the adjustments / mounting rings.

http://www.jegs.com/instructions/471/47 ... nstall.pdf

As for where to mount the other belts, you might be able to reuse the existing lap belt bolt hole for one. The others, I'd just drill through the floorpan if you can. Get some Class 10 bolts (eye bolts if your harness came with clamps for mounting), thick square washers for reinforcement, and two Class 10 nuts for each bolt, one of them locking. That setup ought to pass pretty much any open track safety inspection as long as the belts are mounted in the right spot.

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speedjunkie
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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Thu Apr 20, 2017 9:14

Ok thanks!

The rail for the racing seat has several holes and different places to mount the belts, I don't think I'll have a problem finding a place for them, but we'll see.

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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Sun Apr 23, 2017 9:14

I got the racing seat all mounted in the car yesterday after removing it and trimming the shoulder bolster. It was a complete PITA, but it's in. Unfortunately I still sit kinda high. I decided yesterday that I'm definitely going to make my own seat out of aluminum and use the stock rails. While I had the seat pulled out I attached the eye bolts for the harness, although I still need a couple eye bolts to put on the shoulder straps.

Today I took the car for a drive so I could get it warmed up and listen for the knocking noise again. I heard it a few times today but when I got it on jack stands again I couldn't hear it anymore. I never hear it when it's on jack stands. Zico was moving the exhaust and it looks like the hanger has been hitting the diff brace. I'm not sure if that's it or not, but it looks like it most likely is. I also heard a weird noise coming from the resonator in the midpipe, but I don't think it's loud enough to be the noise.

I also looked for the leak on the transmission too. I think it's coming from a bolt higher up on the side, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I also noticed oil is leaking out of the rear seal on the tranny, so I'll be ordering one of those too.

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Re: Build thread

Postby Ranger » Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:14

For the shoulder belts, how're you planning mounting the eye bolts? Obvious answer is drilling through the bar, but I don't think I'd trust that. Better to weld a tab. Or you could just do the wrap around method using the 3-bar brackets that should've come with the harness. That's the easiest anyway. I'm no expert though...maybe ask a local shop that will tech for SCCA / NASA.

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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Mon Apr 24, 2017 9:14

My rear strut bar has the holes already for the eye bolts.

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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Fri Apr 28, 2017 9:14

I replaced the seal in the back of the transmission yesterday. I'm still not really sure where it may be leaking elsewhere. I hope that's it thought. I noticed the ends of the midpipe were still warped a little and leaking exhaust, so I took it to different places today to see about getting them machined again but didn't find a place, and after looking at again it didn't look that bad so I'm just gonna just reinstall it.

I dropped off the wheel faces today at Luftkraft Fabrication. They're going to strip the current coating off, put a brushed finish on them, and then do a tinted clear on them. It's a little pricy, but not insane.

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Re: Build thread

Postby speedjunkie » Tue May 02, 2017 9:14

That's it. I'm done with Firefox. This BS has shut down on me for the last f-ing time. I had a long post typed out and it crashed on me, I lost everything. Almost broke my computer again lol.

Sunday Zico helped me put some filler on the passenger front fender and I sanded it down. I need to do that a few more times. Although I'm thinking about just taking it somewhere since I have a bunch of other dents that need to be taken out. The filler I got from Dale's is called Icing Lite Gold, Zico said it's the best stuff he's ever used.
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I requested that Luftkraft call me when they finished with the brushed finish on the BBS faces and before they cleared them, and I'm glad I did. They were pretty shiny but they said every part of them had the pores sealed during their process. They're doing a brushed finish on the faces of the spokes now, and in the sunken center part. This is what they looked like today.
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And this is what I'm going for. I also decided against the tinted clear because I want the beautiful brushed finish to be very clear, so they're just going to clear coat them now. I'll probably get new center caps that have BBS in silver instead of gold, and I'm not sure what to do for the bolts yet.
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Although I think a charcoal color would look good too.
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