Hello all you rotary nutters!

[Modified Dave]

Dave Pratte here. As my username suggests, I write for Modified Magazine and was actually the guy who wrote Phil Sohn's recent cover story. I'm also an avid racer (you can read about my most recent racing experience here: http://tiny.cc/dcnYC ). Although I've never owned a rotary-powered vehicle, I was lucky enough to test drive AutoExe's RX-8 at Fuji Speedway in Japan a few years ago and was blown away by how well it handled. It wasn't the most powerful car I've ever driven, but coming from a Honda background I really enjoyed revving it out to 9k rpm and the superb handling balance really left a very positive impression on me.

In fact, having recently completed a Infiniti G35 project car for Modified Mag, I am now planning on buying and building a RX-8 as a new project for the mag. I'm currently shopping for a '05 GT, though to be honest I'd prefer cloth seats and no sunroof so may end up going with a base model instead. Or maybe I can find a GT or Shinka without a sunroof (not too sure if that's a possibility).

If any of you have advice about RX-8 shopping (keep in mind I don't want to spend more than $15k, so no R3 for me) or what sort of build you'd like to see in the magazine (I'll also post all the product test results from the build on this forum), I'm all ears.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here on RCC and contributing what I can once I start my own rotary adventure.

[angelofragnarok]

Dave,

Welcome to the RCC! I just read the article on Phil and it was inspiring journalism! Being the owner of a 1984 RX-7 that is still stock and running, I am very happy that you did an exclusive on rotaries. It seems to be once in a blue moon that someone actually delves into rotary technology for a magazine, and considering how many people actually own rotary-powered vehicles it's almost an injustice to ignore us.

As for the RX-8 w/o a sunroof, I do not believe that is possible with a Shinka. If you are looking to buy an RX-8 online and wish for a price under $15k, I recommend buying an automatic. Most hot sites such as ebay and usedcars.com have AT for thousands less than a MT RX-8.

Also, on a personal note my first car is my current car, an '04 RX-8 winning blue with a MT and sunroof. So I'm pretty new to the rotary world as well. :) Hopefully if you have any questions the people here can answer them for you.

Zamir

[Herblenny]

Awesome! Welcome Dave!!

[Max777]

Welcome!

You should do an FC3S project car, no magazine has within the past 10 years (that I know of) and it will satisfy a lot of the people that want to see more "affordable" builds...

[Whizbang]

FB left in the closest lol

[05rex8]

welcome to the forum!
I am looking forward to your rx8 build :)

[Modified Dave]

Max777, that's actually a really interesting idea that I hadn't considered. The FC is a great car that I've loved since I was a teenager (many years ago...lol), and it would be a lot of fun to build one. I'll have to give it some thought, but I do love the modern comforts and amenities available in the RX-8. I'm also amazed how affordable '04 and '05 RX-8s are given their original sticker price, so although it may not be as affordable starting point as a FC (or a JDM RHD FD, which I can buy locally for about $7k) it's a great bargain for such a modern sports machine.

Angelo, I've got to have a manual gearbox. This car will be track-tested from Day 1 and used for some autocross and street class Time Attack (and maybe even some drifting), so an auto trans really isn't an option. If I can't get a manual without a sunroof, I'll just have to find a carbon fiber roof panel that I can use to delete the sunroof. Less mass up high on the chassis is always a good thing and I'll need the headroom when wearing a helmet at the track.

[Whizbang]

15000 in an FB. Dear lord. You can find a good car for 1000. Honestly i would run out of ideas around 6000.

[ZGN]

Welcome Dave to the forum. Thanks for helping promote RCC!
Great job on Phil Sohn's cover story!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

[Modified Dave]

Thanks guys. I'm thinking about bringing the new project car down for the Deals Gap event if I find what I'm looking for before then.

[Herblenny]

Max777, that's actually a really interesting idea that I hadn't considered. The FC is a great car that I've loved since I was a teenager (many years ago...lol), and it would be a lot of fun to build one. I'll have to give it some thought, but I do love the modern comforts and amenities available in the RX-8. I'm also amazed how affordable '04 and '05 RX-8s are given their original sticker price, so although it may not be as affordable starting point as a FC (or a JDM RHD FD, which I can buy locally for about $7k) it's a great bargain for such a modern sports machine.

Angelo, I've got to have a manual gearbox. This car will be track-tested from Day 1 and used for some autocross and street class Time Attack (and maybe even some drifting), so an auto trans really isn't an option. If I can't get a manual without a sunroof, I'll just have to find a carbon fiber roof panel that I can use to delete the sunroof. Less mass up high on the chassis is always a good thing and I'll need the headroom when wearing a helmet at the track.

I think 8 would be better as a build up car for Modified Mag than FC.. I say this because you'll have far larger community and wider range of demographics getting into 8s than FC (also FC's, you'll have to choose from NA vs. FI and most products have been developed over the years vs. newer 8 market where new products are made currently). And I know more people who has an 8 are the ones who need more info vs. FCs.. Most FC owners can find information about them fairly easy.. where as 8's, its kind of a cluster fuck... especially when it comes to FI.

Far as I know, if you are looking for base 8, you should go with 05+. 04's minus GT had single oil coolers... and if I remember, 05's is when all the models had dual coolers. I definitely recommend dual oil coolers on any rotaries... More so than upgrading your rad.

I hope you get your car before DGRRX and hope you could make it over!

[all_rotor_or_no_motor]

i read ur aticle nd thats how i joind this site nd i agree with every 1 id lik 2 see a nice build up on the rotary power. id like 2 see an old school project or feature.if it wasnt for the old school there would be no new school nd also becuse of me owning a nice 82 rx7 gsl

[05rex8]

I think 8 would be better as a build up car for Modified Mag than FC.. I say this because you'll have far larger community and wider range of demographics getting into 8s than FC (also FC's, you'll have to choose from NA vs. FI and most products have been developed over the years vs. newer 8 market where new products are made currently). And I know more people who has an 8 are the ones who need more info vs. FCs.. Most FC owners can find information about them fairly easy.. where as 8's, its kind of a cluster fuck... especially when it comes to FI.

Far as I know, if you are looking for base 8, you should go with 05+. 04's minus GT had single oil coolers... and if I remember, 05's is when all the models had dual coolers. I definitely recommend dual oil coolers on any rotaries... More so than upgrading your rad.

I hope you get your car before DGRRX and hope you could make it over!
all USDM 6 speed MT 8's have dual oil coolers; even the base models
the automatic 8's have the single oil cooler as well as the JDM 5 speed and 6 speed MT

[Modified Dave]

Interesting stuff. So as long as it has a manual gearbox, it should have the dual oil coolers? I'll have to visually check when I start test driving cars after the holidays. Sounds like an '05 GS with cloth seats, no sunroof, and a manual gearbox will have the dual coolers and should therefore be a good starting point. Will most likely end up with an '05 because there's a ton of them for sale around here right now for $12-13k with nice low mileage, whereas the '04s all seem to have quite a bit more miles. It's not exactly prime time to sell a car like this in Toronto, but there's still a surprisingly good selection of '04 and '05 to choose from. I'll let you all know how it goes!

Phil, I've gotta say, I am intrigued by the idea of doing a Rotrex blower on the 8, mainly because I installed a Rotrex on my EG Civic race car and it made a ton of power (went from 240whp to 412whp). Would be interesting to see how the Rotrex works on a Renesis by comparison, and if you read my story about the Rotrex install you'll see there's a lot to like about it as a forced induction approach. Low heat, low engine loading, no chance of an overboosting booboo, etc. Anyway, feel free to check out the install and dyno test story here:

http://www.tune2win.com/index.php/project_cars/project_eg_kraftwerks_k-series_race_kit_install_dyno_test/

Does anyone make a Rotrex-based supercharger kit for the 8, or will I have to fabricate my own mounting bracket?

[RotorDad]

Welcome to the site, I look forward to see any rotary powered projects. Congrats on working for a great mag.

[Max777]

I think 8 would be better as a build up car for Modified Mag than FC.. I say this because you'll have far larger community and wider range of demographics getting into 8s than FC (also FC's, you'll have to choose from NA vs. FI and most products have been developed over the years vs. newer 8 market where new products are made currently). And I know more people who has an 8 are the ones who need more info vs. FCs.. Most FC owners can find information about them fairly easy.. where as 8's, its kind of a cluster fuck... especially when it comes to FI.... blah blah blah...

Dear Mr. Herbs,

I understand your point of view, and I agree with the reasons listed, doing an 8 would make more sense and be more practical, which is often how you want to run a business...

However, let me ask you this: when have sports cars been about being practical, efficient, and making sense? Is that why we do it, is that what we're into? Even if these factors come into play, in the end, is "practicality" what our cars are about? Let's take your car, or Titanium's FC as some great examples. With the amount of money, time and energy invested into projects like that, in the end, is it worth it? I say hell f****** yes!

Why? Because we love them! We don't care, about the fact that we often spend more time under an Rx-7 rather than in it, we don't care that we put $10,000 times the amount into cars that were often worthless from other people's standpoint, and we get more joy out of bolting on a boost gauge, starting up a motor we just rebuilt, or getting the fastest time of the day at the autocross than some blokes who win a million dollars playing poker. This is our passion, this is what we do, and we can NOT nix a good option simply because it "doesn't make sense" :D


There you have it,


Maximilian Petrov-Schrepfer.

PS: I did not post this as an argument, rather only a statement of my personal opinion.

[05rex8]

Does anyone make a Rotrex-based supercharger kit for the 8, or will I have to fabricate my own mounting bracket?

No it will have to be custom made. On rx8club.com there is a guy from Australia that did a rotrex sc build on his 8. Here is the thread: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=159352&highlight=rotrex

Not sure if it has much useful info in it, I just glanced at it briefly. But he would be a good person to get in touch with about the Rotrex SC on an 8.

[Modified Dave]

Cool, thanks for the link 05rex8. I'll give it a good read.

I did a Google search and found that Knight Sports makes a Rotrex-based supercharger kit for the 8, but I think I'd likely build my own kit after the experience I've gained supercharging my Honda with a Rotrex C38-61.

[dave5678]

Modified Dave
First of all thanks for doing a rotary story in the most recent Modified Mag. I picked it up at the shoppette on post here in Germany as soon as I saw it. It was an awesome read... hell I still read it when I am in my 'other office' haha!

Second any rotary you do a build on will be awesome! I hope the RX8 works out for you though I always thought about getting one as a DD but RX7's are so cheap for me in Germany... cheaper then what it is in Canada.

[BurnVktm]

Welcome to RCC. I too, am new to this forum but have owned rotary powered cars for years now.

I also enjoyed the FD story in the recent Modified Mag. I am currently having "my super engine" being built by Arizona Rotary Rockets(AZRR) for my FD.

I also have an 2003(04) Rx8 N/a with some nice mods making about 220whp(est) by the Cobb A/P.

If you have any questions regarding the FE and upgrades your planning to do on your Rx-8 (once you get it) I would be willing to offer my trial and error knowledge. Keep in mind though, I'm not an expert......Yet.

[dave5678]

Welcome to RCC. I too, am new to this forum but have owned rotary powered cars for years now.

I also enjoyed the FD story in the recent Modified Mag. I am currently having "my super engine" being built by Arizona Rotary Rockets(AZRR) for my FD.

I also have an 2003(04) Rx8 N/a with some nice mods making about 220whp(est) by the Cobb A/P.

If you have any questions regarding the FE and upgrades your planning to do on your Rx-8 (once you get it) I would be willing to offer my trial and error knowledge. Keep in mind though, I'm not an expert......Yet.

Lucky... Wish I was back in Chandler/Tempe(lived in Chandler till April 2009) with my FD so I could have them work on it. Haven't found a rotary shop in Germany yet...

[Modified Dave]

dave5678, are you Canadian military? I'm Canadian too (live in the Hamilton area). I was actually just over in Germany in August doing a story with a U.S. military guy (based in Wiesbaden) who built his USDM STI for the Nurburgring. We had an absolute blast in Germany and the Nurburgring literally changed my life. It's without question the ultimate destination for any real car guy or speed freak. This trip was the cover story on our December 2009 issue, I think.

BurnVktm, thanks for the offer -- would love to know what mods you did to get your 8 up to 220whp. If I could street-legally get mine up to that number all-motor, I'd be very pleased. Shoot me an e-mail at planetdave "at" mac "dot" com whenever you get a chance, because I'd like to learn more about your setup.

I've found a really nice '05 with 66k km on the odometer (about 40k miles), cloth interior like I want, no sunroof (like I want), and a Mazdaspeed front bumper for $13.5 CDN. I'm sure I can get the price down at least $1k with a bit of haggling. It's dark grey in color which isn't the best option for a magazine car (doesn't photograph all that well), but it's the best one I've found so far. I haven't made an offer on it yet (going to have a mechanic-friend check it out for me first), but if it checks out mechanically and its Carfax history is clean, I'll likely buy it. So I might have my 8 as early as next week. w00t!

[Herblenny]

That 8 sounds good Dave. I do miss my 8 some days...

[Rotarytech7]

Het Dave, the cover story for Phil's FD was very inspiring to me as a rotary fan...i think it is a good idea to have an FC build...im 19 and i Love the FD, its my all time favorite but its way to expensive for me right now...i currently own an FC and i would like to see one placed on the cover of Modified Mag, u know just to be inspired and also to get some ideas. So hopefully i'll be seeing more FCs featured in the magazine along with other rotary powered cars, even though the Rx8 build doesnt sound bad either but my personal opinion...i think u should consider doing both :] so thanks again for creating the FD story and for taking in consideration our ideas..Godbless

[dave5678]

dave5678, are you Canadian military? I'm Canadian too (live in the Hamilton area). I was actually just over in Germany in August doing a story with a U.S. military guy (based in Wiesbaden) who built his USDM STI for the Nurburgring. We had an absolute blast in Germany and the Nurburgring literally changed my life. It's without question the ultimate destination for any real car guy or speed freak. This trip was the cover story on our December 2009 issue, I think.

Not with the Canadian military(Best snipers in the world!!:biggthumpup:) but a DoD Civilian now a days...

Anyways The Ring is my goal this spring and/or summer as its 80euros for 4 laps... even though I drive 80kms everyday on a brandnew autobahn which is all unrestricted I stll want to go and say I did.

[Modified Dave]

Not with the Canadian military(Best snipers in the world!!:biggthumpup:) but a DoD Civilian now a days...

Anyways The Ring is my goal this spring and/or summer as its 80euros for 4 laps... even though I drive 80kms everyday on a brandnew autobahn which is all unrestricted I stll want to go and say I did.

You MUST go to the Ring. It would be a tragedy for a car guy not to go there if they're in the area. It's beyond cool just being there and lapping is well worth the price of admission.

Hey Max777, you'll be happy to know that we're featuring a FC on the cover of Modified in April. It's a pretty sick Time Attack built machine!

[dave5678]

You MUST go to the Ring. It would be a tragedy for a car guy not to go there if they're in the area. It's beyond cool just being there and lapping is well worth the price of admission.

Hey Max777, you'll be happy to know that we're featuring a FC on the cover of Modified in April. It's a pretty sick Time Attack built machine!

Will do and keep us posted about other articles you write. I will be sure to pick them up!

[Modified Dave]

Hey guys. Just a quick update. I just picked up this '05, cloth interior and no sunroof like I wanted. The plan is to build it as a STX legal machine and take it to the Solo 2 Nationals. I haven't done much autocrossing the last four or five years (mostly been road racing and doing some Time Attack events), but I used to be a very active cone dodger back in the day and I'm looking forward to getting back into it (though I'm sure I'll get my ass handed to me at the Nats...I'll be there so I can produce a good story for the mag and hopefully not embarrass myself too badly in competition). I'll also take it to some lapping days, maybe a Time Attack or two, and will be track testing all the mods made in a step by step fashion so I can document how the car's performance has improved throughout the project.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/RX8.jpg

My first STX legal mods have arrived already and I'm looking forward to bolting them up tomorrow.

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/G2_5.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/G2_3.jpg

The rims weight 19 lbs, which is among the lightest on the market in a 18x9. I've used RE-11s on a C6 Corvette with good success for Time Attack, so it'll be interesting to see how they work on the 8 for autox.

Got some other good stuff ready to be installed too, but any advice or feedback you guys might have about how to go about building a competitive STX class 8 would be greatly appreciated. Long-term I may look to do a custom Rotrex supercharger install or maybe some kind of engine swap, but for this year the plan is to max out the build as much as possible within the STX rules.

[Herblenny]

Nice looking 8 Dave!

And tires that I been wanting :)

Congrats on your 8!

[Modified Dave]

Hey guys. Just a quick and long overdue update on the 8. The project has been slowly evolving the last few months, having done a BC coilover kit to go along with the upgraded wheels and tires, followed by an ARK MFD install with Racing Beat oil filter sandwich adapter so I could hook up their oil temp and water temp sending units. After that I did a few fixes to weak spots on the 8 using parts from Black Halo Racing, namely their ignition kit, fuel pump and clutch pedal. Then I moved on to some exhaust side tuning using a Racing Beat header, a very high quality motorsports catalytic converter from Milltek in the UK (cat is made by HJS Motorsports) and a resonated Racing Beat midpipe. I've left the muffler section stock for now, just to keep it very quiet and civilized for the street. Will swap it out for something lightweight and loud eventually :) Here are links to all those stories, JIC you're interested:

Wheel & Tire + brake pad and fluid upgrade and track test:
http://www.modified.com/projectcars/modp-1009-2005-mazda-rx-8/index.html

BC coilover track test:
http://www.modified.com/projectcars/modp-1010-project-mazda-rx8/index.html

ARK MFD install:
http://www.modified.com/features/modp-1011-2005-mazda-rx8/index.html

Black Halo Racing fixes including ignition system, clutch pedal and fuel pump + dyno testing:
http://www.modified.com/projectcars/modp-1012-project-rx-8-performance-and-reliability/index.html

Exhaust Side Tuning and dyno test story:
http://www.modified.com/projectcars/modp-1101-project-rx-8-exhaust-side-tuning/index.html

Up next we've got a full-on Renesis engine build (already underway), due to a low compression engine that I haven't been able to fix with the usual methods (ignition, fuel, combustion chamber cleaning, etc). Still sorting out the build sheet for the new Renesis, but already have my hands on a Racing Beat porting template and instructions and will definitely be going with upgrades seals as well as a full blueprint and balancing. May either stay NA with lightweight rotors or go FI with a s/c or turbo setup. Kind of kicking around the remote-mount turbo idea at the moment, but ultimately I want/need a reliable setup for track days, so will have to research all my options further. Here's a few pics of how the engine looks at the moment :)

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/MasterFerg.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/RenesisTD1.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/RenesisTD3.jpg

Got the engine cleaned too, so will have to paint the irons before they get all rusty looking.

Joe Ferguson, the engine builder I've teamed up with on this, is a name many of my fellow Canadian rotards will be familiar with, and Joe may even come down to the Deals Gap Rotary Rally with me this year. Looking forward to meeting many of you at the rally this year! We're going to do a feature in Modified on the car voted Best In Show at the rally, so I'll be bringing my photo rig so I can get some sexy rolling close-ups like these ones I snapped of my 8:

http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/RX8FallRig.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/rx8rig1sm.jpg

And a few static shots for good measure:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/RX8graffiti1sm.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh314/Modified_Dave/RX8sunset2sm.jpg

[Sephitrask]

you know, I was wondering what had happened with this project when I didn't see it in the last Modified. Look forward to seeing it at DGRR!

[Modified Dave]

Well, I have to apologize for not making it out to DGRR again this year. Last year it was my Achilles tendon (oh snap, literally), this year it was the engine build for the RX-8. My buddy Joe Ferguson and I have been working on a pretty sweet Renesis engine build for a long time now, and after a lot of waiting around on parts and some machine work we finally had everything together to do the build and swap it into the car. This happened a week before DGRR and I was hopefully I could break it in and do a quicky tune in time for the drive down, but things didn't go quite to plan (as usual). The engine was throwing a misfire code and I'm still trying to track down the source. My latest theory is a bad knock sensor or knock sensor wiring, having already looked at the fuel and ignition systems prior to DGRR.

Anyhow, I'm seriously bummed out about not making it this year, but hopefully Phil keeps this event going one more year for me :p

As for the engine build, the full story on it will be in the July issue of Modified but here's a few deets JIC you're curious.

-Racing Beat lightweight rotors, good for 10.5k rpm
-Goopy Performance refurb'd housings and apex and corner seals (we EDM wire cut the rotors to allow for the deeper seated FD seals)
- full rotating assembly including clutch and flywheel professionally balanced
- ported irons and LIM using Racing Beat templates and instructions
- all new OEM gaskets, springs, seals, rings, etc
- Mazdaspeed rotor bearings, flywheel (ACT ProLite) and pulley set (main and alternator, deletes a/c)
- Bully Stage 4 clutch kit

We're hoping to make some good all-motor power out of this build (once I get the misfire dealt with and the engine fully broken in, of course). I'll post up a dyno plot once she's tuned.

A few pics of the engine build, just for fun:
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2757
assembling the rotating bits to send out to the balancer
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2753
porting the irons...
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2754
Checking the porting against the template
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2756
Goopy refurb'd housing looking minty fresh -- they not only bring the chrome surface down to a flat, uniform, matte finish that's ideal for seal break-in and seating, they also media blast it so it looks like new from the outside.
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2758
Pressing in the Mazdaspeed race bearing
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2759
A rotor and Goopy (apex and corner) seals ready for assembly. Notice how Joe has marked them all up so he knows where to put each one after having carefully clearanced them all prior to assembly.
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2761
Lets build an engine!
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2763
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2764
http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_forum/picture.php?albumid=331&pictureid=2767
That's Joe's old school 616 up on the hoist, waiting for a 13B swap and some other goodies. He's planning to bring it to DGRR next year.

[GySgtFrank]

I'm very glad to see someone from the publishing world take an interest in rotaries. Like you, I've owned cars that were far more powerful. It's just that there's something about the powerband and RPM potential of the rotary that keeps drawing me back. The enjoyment of running a rotary hard is greater than what I get from the more powerful piston engines that I've had. It's kind of a visceral thing for me. On the street that powerband is also a lot more useable, you don't have to hit 120 mph before things get fun.

[Modified Dave]

Totally agree with you, Frank. There's something really special about the sound a rotary makes and the way it delivers its power. For me this really came to light when I test drove AutoExe's RX8 demo car in Japan (about 4 years ago) at a private test day that Yokohama tire organized for some western journalists up at Fuji Speedway's handling track (sort of a glorified go-kart track that they also use for drifting, not the big GP course). At this same event I was driving all sorts of modified piston engine cars, from HKS's GR STI and Evo X to a modified MINI Cooper S and even a E90 M3 with that high revving V8. Coming from a racing background, I just loved the way the RX-8 felt in the corners and under braking, but was especially taken by the way the Renesis revved. I think they had the fuel cut set to 10k rpm, so I imagine the engine was quite modified but it was still normally aspirated so wasn't making a ton of power. But it was just so smooth and had a lightness to it (if that makes any sense -- the sensation was that the rotating mass was much lighter than a piston engine), it was really different and appealing to me. It was after that day at Fuji that I decided my next project car would be a RX-8 and here we are. My hope is that the engine build I've just completed will provide a similar feeling to the AutoExe car -- I've gone with lightweight everything, from rotors and flywheel to clutch and pulleys. If my calculations are correct almost 20 lbs of rotating mass has been eliminated during the build. If you can't tell, I'm really looking forward to getting this motor broken in and tuned so I can start to give it a proper beating! :hat:

[GySgtFrank]

I'm very interested to see how the light weight rotating assembly works out. I've always thought the strength of these engines was their ability to rev to high RPMs. If there was some way you could get the RPMs high enough and still feed the beast efficiently, they should make very good power. It's a thought I've been kicking around for a long time , but never had the time or money to pursue. I had a 1975 REPU with the 4 port 13B back before there were RX7s. There were times I took it to around 12K rpms momentarily, stupid I know, but I was a dumb teenager at the time. That truck took all the abuse I could shovel it's way and kept asking for more, it never did quit or give me any trouble at all. That little 80 cu in engine put the fear in quite a few V8 musclecars at the time.:biggthumpup:

[Modified Dave]

Don't worry Frank, you're not the only one who abuses their rotary, and I don't even have the dumb teenager excuse (unless we're talking maturity level, in which case I fall well within that age range). LOL, ok I just failed at the internet. Trying to fix...

http://www.facebook.com/v/10150558703197265