My 81 Base, My first car...

[lokirx706]

I bought this for my first car when I was fifteen or sixteen. It was behind a used car dealer near where I lived. The dealer didnt know anything about rotaries and couldnt get it to start half the time. It reminded me of my dads '83 944 and I had to have it. If it makes any difference said dealer had a 1985 Celica-Supra, and a late 80's turbo 300ZX. This drove better and felt quicker than the other cars. And as the dealer wanted it gone, it was much cheaper... $1300 cheap...

It had been sitting out back for a few years and had weeds grown up nearly to the tops of the fenders and the paint had faded some. A buff and polish and the car was amazing, a carb rebuild later and she started without the choke. I couldnt bring myself to park it at the highschool so I bought a $400 1990 Civic hatch for a daily driver. However my 7 and I got into some wild antics that ended in me having my license suspended until I was eighteen... Who would have thought the officer would have a problem with drifting the circle in town? Well nobody said it was a smart move!

Here are the earliest pictures I have of the car,









Unbeknownst to me I had stumbled onto a car that had a cult following, a car that many enthusiasts dream of finding. It had riken mesh wheels on it, rotary engineering upper strut bar, header, and intake manifold. A Mikuni 44pph side draft carburator with a K&N filter and element. Newer Racing Beat plug wires, and a full Racing Beat exhaust. Within no time I had it in a garage, and eventually I traded my Civic for an '85 Rx7 and daily drove that for a few months.



The car needed very little when I got it, however after three years of abuse the ring and pinion had a fist fight which left me limping home with some horrible noises coming out of the back. I quickly sourced a GSL big bearing rear axle and swapped it in. Shortly after that a friend of mine was parting out a GSL-SE and I got the entire suspension off of him for free. I never got around to swapping everything in, and sold it to recoup some christmas money. Besides, I had sweet meshies, I wanted to use them!!









The reason I bought the GSL-SE swap was because I badly wanted 15 inch wheels, Ive always thought they fit the car perfectly. And one day I hit pay dirt. An epic set of Weds Autobahns that a redneck was selling for $75! He had used them on his quad, and just wanted them gone...





I ended up helping a friend out (which I shouldnt have done in hindsight) and sold him the wheels for cheap so he could get a 7. This led me to search aimlessly for another set of dirt cheap 15's. I ended up with a cheap set of 14 inch enkeis ($75) and went ahead and tried them out. They were actually Mustang 4 lug wheels which are 4x108. However I have learned that due to manufacturing variances, many 4x110 wheels fit on 4x108 and vice versa, they do not fit snugly, they just fit.... That said Ive put alot of miles on 4x108 wheels and they fit as perfectly as my 4x110 Rikens. Now I dont want to say every set should fit, but I have had alot of luck so far! The only picture I have, yes they are gold, I didnt like the look, so I sold them on!



Shortly after I added the legendary Gilmer drive :twisted:



I also added 2GCDFIS, a custom 2.5 inch exhaust, a camera mount, and an electric fan...



I also found a set of generic (ARE I think) 15x7 meshies for $100

[lokirx706]

I help out at Ohio-rotaries.com, and in doing so I organize most of our meets...

Here is my 87 GXL from the day I bought it...































This car has probably been to more meets than most on this forum lol, alot of good times. I hope I keep this thing forever....





Some pics I scanned from the year I first bought her...













After driving home from IFO the clouds parted and before I could tuck her into the garage, she was bathed in sunlight.

I LOVE this car!!

[lokirx706]

Next to my 87 GXL 6 port turbo..

[lokirx706]

Late last year.... I traded this car away..... I was without it for about six months or so before I found it and got it back. In some ways, I regret ever getting rid of it. My glass sunroof, and some of my wheels I will never get back. But I treated this car like a garage queen in the nine years that I owned it. I RARELY drove it, and I didnt do much in the way of serious modifications because I didnt want to risk permantly altering anything. (I.E. unable to revert to oem/stock) Now that I have the car back, that inhibition is gone. All I want to do, is make the car exactly what I have always wanted. Here she is the day I got her back....



That is my Miata, my daily, and the girlfriends new toy an '03 MR2 Spyder.





Decided the first order of business was getting it lower, I lopped a coil off each corner and was very unsatisfied. It rode well enough, but I really wanted a proper suspension after having a Miata on a good aftermarket suspension. Sure, I did it correctly, it didnt bounce. Sure its lower, but it didnt handle any better.



Unfortunately the first thing I did after this was order coilovers from a once respected company who I shall not name (Recieved full refund thankfully). I left the community right about the time they stopped delivering orders, and didnt think to research them when I got my car back. This led to me looking at lowering springs, coming up unsatisfied with what I saw. I looked at the TTT setup for a long time, before I decided I could build the exact same thing for less than half the cost. Well, I might have been right, except R&D cost money, so I spent about half the cost in the end

First attempt I took some ebay coilover sleeves and some shaft collar clamps to see if this was even feasible. If it failed I wasnt out much cash, if it worked Id buy decent springs. I used old blown shocks for mock up so I didnt destroy my good shocks, and washers for the spacer as I had no idea how long the spacer would need to be. Mind you, this is all mock up and was never actually used.




What this taught me was that the 2.5 inch spring would never fit into the oem rear shock tower. Either the shock tower needed widened, or the 2.5 inch spring HAD to go. Also the spacer ate up usable travel. Once the weight of the car was on the spring there was very little travel before the spring hat would crash into the top of the shock, it just wasnt going to work.

Enter the Draco 1.8" I.D. 150# springs.



With the shaft collar there is no need for an adjustable sleeve anyway. This spring limits my shock selection to a degree but it fits into the shock tower with no need for a spacer. With some scrap steel an upper spring hat was fabricated although not pictured. At some point the car had been needlessly notched in the hopes of finding a way to stuff the 2.5 inch spring up further to shorten the spacer. No matter, it isnt a structural area, and I suppose it helps showcase the coilovers. lol



Here she is with the front mocked up as well. Given I now had height adjustability I decided to see 'How low can she go?' Well, this is sitting on the rear bumpstops. If not for the bumpstops it could go a little lower. Mind you it was only driven into, and out of the garage at this height, at about two mph.







Here it is on the first test drive after I received my Summit 275# springs for the front, the rear was still a little tall, but I had taken it apart and reassembled it a half dozen times. So getting it perfect wasnt important yet, also I wanted to keep the rear off of the bumpstops.







Here is a picture of the front suspension, it is complete save for the shock inserts I want. Havent decided yet what I am going to go with. Yes the rotors are dual drilled, hopefully soon Ill get the axles done as well. Going 4x100.



And another of the rear, since this picture I have installed 1990 Camaro rear shocks, which are about two inches shorter than the Rx-7's rear shocks.



Another pic of my 7 and Miata. The Miata is on Eibach Pro-kit springs and KYB AGX shocks. I have plans to buy coilovers for it, I bought it with that suspension. But I figured Id put coilovers on the FB first.







Drove to my hometown for no reason other than to test the suspension and waste fuel.



Ive been driving it down the nastiest, bumpiest, crappiest roads I can find. Interspersed with great stretches of twisty roads for testing. It handles exceptionally well, and Ive been aiming for every man hole cover and pot hole I see. So far the suspension has withstood tremendous punishment. Ive loaded it down with weight, Ive locked the brakes, accelerated as hard as it is capable of. No measurable movement from the collar clamps. I want to be -certain- that it is a reliable setup, and I am far from the first to try this so I know it works. But I need the piece of mind that comes with abusing it firsthand.

Also, more importantly.

I ordered a "Made in the 80's - Loved by the ladies" Decal from JNC, very FB appropriate if you ask me



Oh, and I made a little 'Before and After' to really showcase the change in ride height.



Bought a house, progress on cars slowed. Thankfully it has a big garage!



Notice the second bolt pattern? It will soon be utilized... Just ordered some wheels.

[lokirx706]

Teaser shot!!!

[speedjunkie]

Looks good! Glad you got it back!

[24k]

Looks real nice.

[lokirx706]

[speedjunkie]

Looks fantastic!

[djmtsu]

Can you do us a favor, and post the exact parts list (or close to it) that you used for the suspension set up?

Pretty please??

[lokirx706]

Originally Posted by djmtsu

Can you do us a favor, and post the exact parts list (or close to it) that you used for the suspension set up?

Pretty please??

Well I used two ebay coilover sleeves on the front for a Honda off of ebay, paid $50 for a set of four. 1 7/8" Shaft collar clamps at all four corners. Summit 2.5" diameter, 7 inch long, 275# springs, and Draco racing 1.8" diameter, 10 inch long 150# springs. Id reccomend 175/180# springs, maybe 200# even. I havent experimented much, so Im not sure which will work best. I know the 150's are quite soft, with the 275's up front.


Clearanced the fenders and quarters, car is driveable now, enjoying the New Year! Also, going from a 60 series sidewall to a 45 series has been quite a change.....

[estevan62274]

Nice FB man, I was able to buy back my FB after I sold it two years later.


Also, Thx for sharing the parts list for your suspension set up.


Steve.

.

[djmtsu]

So, in the rear you just bought the shaft collar clamps, and the springs? No coilover sleeve?

[lokirx706]

Originally Posted by djmtsu

So, in the rear you just bought the shaft collar clamps, and the springs? No coilover sleeve?

Yeah just clamps, you can loosen the clamps and move them up and down to adjust the height. I am looking into possibly moving to a 2 inch spring with adjusters, but the shock tower will need widened.

I was having some bump steer so I ordered some TTT RCA's, Id recommend them to anyone lowering your car. Also got some lightweight lugs.



The rear bump stops needed cut down, and when I removed them they fell apart. They are nothing but rubber glued to a flat washer, so I made my own. I cut down a set of fronts and epoxied them to a flat washer giving me the ability to safely lower my car some more.



The RCA's lowered the front about 3/4" so I lowered the rear to match plus eliminated some of the excessive rake the car had. I think its looking really good, but I may need to raise it up depending on how it drives.

[GySgtFrank]

Mean looking FB. Very nicely done. Make sure hold onto it, as not many can say they still have their first car.