Evan's New Rx-7 Project Options

[awd4kicks]

We Just picked up a new project today. It's not a DSM, but I thought it would make a fun little race car. Then Evan seen it and showed some interest. So being the cool dad that I am, Evan will get to drive this car for a while. Then when he's done, we can get all kinds of serious about making into a track bullet.

Here are some rough pictures of the project as it exists:





The power plant is the key to this project value. Don't worry the hood will be one of the first things to go.

[awd4kicks]

Evan and I took advantage of the warm day to get started on the RX-7. Like any low buy-in project we expected to find many rig jobs and needed repairs. We found plenty.

We pulled the 7 into Joshes shop and gave it a quick look over. The starter was missing as I stated before but the upper mounting bolt and part of the starter was still left attached to the transmission and the power cable connector was broke. We put a new end on the cable and mounted up the new starter.

We found a rything nest of wires that started in the rear where the battery was relocated and eventually figured out that the previous owner(s) had wired up all basic essentials to run an engine through old school manual switches.

With a little help from Josh's jump pack and a jump from my truck we got the 302 to start and run. Unfortunately it is now obvious that there is a catastrophic failure internally. It sounds like a rod bearing is out because the engine is hammering during any running time.

So it's a bit of a set back. The low price still makes this project a deal, just not as good as I had originally hoped. We will now begin to check the traders and e-bay to decide what the new power plant will be.

We could open up this engine and put in a cheap crank kit or we could just find a cheap, used 5.0 roller engine. LS1 with a t-56 comes to mind, Evan has mention the 350 and LT1 GM engines as well as an RB-26.

We will probably stick with the 5.0 because all of the mounting hardware is already in place. Pulling the engine will allow us to get rid of all the unnecesary crap and clean up the mess. I don't want to use an old non-roller 302 or one out of a truck or Lincoln, because we want it to have as much potential as possible for the cheapest price.

Let me know if anyone knows of a cheap power plant that might work and then keep a look out for the next installment.