| jtbshaw |
03-10-2008 10:30 PM |
You folks make me feel old...
Where to start.....there's too much to write so I'll just give a summary.
I've been a rotary owner since 1986, when I purchased a 1984 GS model and didn't take me long before I blew the engine. That started my education of rotaries. Since 1986 I have owned 21 RX7s, all 1st and 2nd gens. In 2002 I started up a speed shop in south Alabama and the local Mazda dealer had me work on any rotary that came through, with exception of oil changes and tune-ups. One of my oldest friends was the service manager and the dealership had no idea or training on how to work on rotaries (welcome to a small town dealer). This is where I grew a dislike working on FDs, and probably the reason I have yet to purchase a FD yet.
The last RX7 that I fully built was a 1983 GSL that I replaced almost everything on the car with new OEM or aftermarket pieces. I did everything except for the aggressive full bridge-porting (which was done by a very good friend of mine Fernando Rivera). I built the car to go turbo, but never could ween myself from the nitrous. The car dyno'd at just a hair over 409whp, on a 100 shot of the juice. Plus, I stripped it down to where it weighed in at 2242 lbs. Fun car to say the least. More details can be seen here, on my old cardomain page: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/852654.
I have since sold my speed shop to a local guy and now own and operate a full fabrication shop that builds almost anything. We offer anything from roll bars/cages, strut tower braces, some rotary exhaust, to anything specialized. We have a nice hydraulic tubing bender that can bend up to 3" - .120 wall steel (thick stuff!), to Tig (Miller Syncrowave 350) and Mig (MillerMatic 250) welding on steel, stainless, or aluminum, or plasma, laser, or water jet (5 axis) services.
IOW, I can't seem to depart from the rotaries. I love 'em, and always will. I look forward to one day owning a 3 rotor!
Todd B. |
