My '76 Rx-4 hardtop build.

Buggy · 05-31-2012, 06:23 AM

I'm just playing the waiting game with this car now. I'm waiting on my axle shafts to be finished so I can finish up the rear axle. Hopefully it will be done soon. I'm getting tired of seeing this car in my garage on jack stands.

Buggy · 06-12-2012, 07:35 PM

I spent pretty much all afternoon this past Sunday shortening the axle housing and getting it all sorted out. We got one axle shaft pretty much done. Just one more to go and this bad boy can get put back together! I'm planning on hitting the track with it in July at Toronto Motorsport Park for a Sigma time attack event.

Buggy · 06-24-2012, 07:28 AM

I worked hard on the car the last few days and had it back on the road yesterday. Man what a blast to drive now! With the new higher gear ratio out back it's a rocket! The ride is perfect too. Stiff enough you feel confident to throw it around, but still very comfortable to drive. I had a few problems though.... First one was the car is now too low to get in and out of my driveway. I need two 6 foot long 2x4's to do it. Second problem, and this is a big one, I snapped an axle shaft.

I went to take off in front of a buddy's house and I did a nice peel in first gear full throttle to about 8K, then a hard shift into second full throttle. I heard the tires chirp into second and then SNAP! Had to push the car back to my buddy's house and call CAA.

Guess I'll be on the phone with Sam at RESpeed on Monday ordering Moser axles.

Buggy · 06-25-2012, 06:30 AM

Here are some pictures for ya!
rx4tow.jpg DSC00168.jpg DSC00169.jpg DSC00170.jpg

Ian · 06-25-2012, 05:51 PM

Looking good! Fix her up for the BCM for sure!

Buggy · 06-25-2012, 06:00 PM

The axle shafts are ordered. They should be here in about 2 weeks so I should have it done in time for BCM.

Buggy · 07-12-2012, 06:29 AM

The new Moser axles have arrived. I may get time this week to put them in or it will be on the weekend sometime.

Buggy · 08-02-2012, 06:20 PM

I haven't updated this in a while. I got the new axles in and took care of some loose ends like hooking up the parking brake cables and doing a tune up. The car was starting to run a little rough. I replaced the plugs with new platinum plugs and I tore the carb apart completely. I cleaned everything up and started over setting the idle and everything correctly. Got the car running almost perfect! I had no idea a bridgeport could run so smooth and be so streetable. I drove it at our annual Bruce County Rotary meet and it worked great! Having a few issues with the 4 speed though now so look forward to a 5 speed swap in the near future!

Buggy · 03-08-2013, 07:18 AM

It's time for a long overdue update for my cars! Not too much is planned for the Rx-4 this year. I have to replace a piece of trim around the windshield that flew off the car late last summer. I decided one day to see how fast the car actually went and the trim decided it didn't like that idea.

There is also a small rust hole that developed in the rocker panel that I need to get fixed. I'm still deciding if I want to tackle that myself or just have my body guy do the work. I may also get at the 5 speed swap depending on how my TII build goes this year. The most exciting thing though is I'm getting a gilmer drive setup! It should be here next week. As if the car wasn't loud enough already!

Buggy · 06-02-2014, 05:58 AM

Long time no update! Not much got done on the car since the last update. Did get the gilmer drive on and the trim for the windshield. Also took care of some other things like new battery and I tried to tweak the tune a little better for highway driving. Car was running amazing until it decided it had had enough of my abuse. I was having some good fun with it last week and then half way through 2nd gear it just lost power and started running like crap. It still runs, but not right. Checked both fuel and ignition systems and everything is working fine. Checked compression with a regular dial gauge and nothing really there either. I know something internal isn't right though so looks like the engine is coming apart.

Ian · 06-02-2014, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buggy

Long time no update! Not much got done on the car since the last update. Did get the gilmer drive on and the trim for the windshield. Also took care of some other things like new battery and I tried to tweak the tune a little better for highway driving. Car was running amazing until it decided it had had enough of my abuse. I was having some good fun with it last week and then half way through 2nd gear it just lost power and started running like crap. It still runs, but not right. Checked both fuel and ignition systems and everything is working fine. Checked compression with a regular dial gauge and nothing really there either. I know something internal isn't right though so looks like the engine is coming apart.

Hope its not a hurt motor. Maybe time to turbo it

I have a huge turbo, manifold and exhaust you could use

(my old setup) Only issue wouldn't be cheap

Buggy · 06-03-2014, 05:44 AM

I'm pretty positive it is a hurt engine and yes I think turbo and fuel injection is in the works for it. I may be interested in that setup because I would like 400whp from this car. I know where there is a dual 65mm throttle body setup for sale to fit my 4 port engine I really should buy that up soon. I should tear my engine apart first though to see what kind of damage has been done. It should be minimal because the car stil starts, runs, and idles it's just not right. Also in my dream plans is all new suspension again lol. 4 link setup in the rear and possibly FC or miata front suspension with rack and pinion steering. No more 70's technology underneath me.

Buggy · 01-16-2015, 10:52 PM

I got the engine out and torn apart a few weeks ago. Turns out a combination of things happened. I had too much clearance between the apex seals and the rotors which caused blow by to get behind the corner seals and it burnt the rubber plugs out of some of the corner seals. Other than that, the engine is fine. I had the irons sent out yesterday for cleaning and I'm going to start collecting parts soon. The old girl should be back up and running for the spring with a fresh engine!

Buggy · 04-24-2015, 09:34 PM

Update time again. Parts are on the way and hopefully the build will be underway soon. New goopy apex seals, gasket set from atkins, corner seals and springs from mazda, and best of all a new carb setup! It's going Rotary Engineering dual weber 36 DCD's this time around. Hopefully wake the little half bridge up some more. I also modified my header so the idler arm will no longer hit it when turning. I'll try and post pics of progress soon.

Buggy · 06-23-2015, 10:00 PM

The engine is built and hopefully I'll have this beast up and running again soon. The rotating assembly has been balanced this time and almost everything I can powder coat is getting it so no flaking paint anymore. A few quick pics.

10527525_10153284019345412_6244980224255051750_n.jpg 11351142_10153284019695412_9052154888967298307_n.jpg rx4rebuild.jpg

I have lots more pictures and stuff to post once I get some spare time. Too many things to do right now.

05-31-2012, 06:23 AM	#61
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	I'm just playing the waiting game with this car now. I'm waiting on my axle shafts to be finished so I can finish up the rear axle. Hopefully it will be done soon. I'm getting tired of seeing this car in my garage on jack stands. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place Last edited by Buggy; 05-31-2012 at 06:26 AM..

06-12-2012, 07:35 PM	#62
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	I spent pretty much all afternoon this past Sunday shortening the axle housing and getting it all sorted out. We got one axle shaft pretty much done. Just one more to go and this bad boy can get put back together! I'm planning on hitting the track with it in July at Toronto Motorsport Park for a Sigma time attack event. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

06-24-2012, 07:28 AM	#63
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	I worked hard on the car the last few days and had it back on the road yesterday. Man what a blast to drive now! With the new higher gear ratio out back it's a rocket! The ride is perfect too. Stiff enough you feel confident to throw it around, but still very comfortable to drive. I had a few problems though.... First one was the car is now too low to get in and out of my driveway. I need two 6 foot long 2x4's to do it. Second problem, and this is a big one, I snapped an axle shaft. I went to take off in front of a buddy's house and I did a nice peel in first gear full throttle to about 8K, then a hard shift into second full throttle. I heard the tires chirp into second and then SNAP! Had to push the car back to my buddy's house and call CAA. Guess I'll be on the phone with Sam at RESpeed on Monday ordering Moser axles. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

06-25-2012, 06:30 AM	#64
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	Here are some pictures for ya! rx4tow.jpg DSC00168.jpg DSC00169.jpg DSC00170.jpg __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

06-25-2012, 05:51 PM	#65
Ian REIAN Join Date: Feb 2008 iTrader: (0) Posts: 112 Rep Power: 17	Looking good! Fix her up for the BCM for sure! __________________ 1989 Turbo II. Track Car 1988 10thAE. Garage Queen 400+rwhp

06-25-2012, 06:00 PM	#66
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	The axle shafts are ordered. They should be here in about 2 weeks so I should have it done in time for BCM. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

07-12-2012, 06:29 AM	#67
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	The new Moser axles have arrived. I may get time this week to put them in or it will be on the weekend sometime. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

08-02-2012, 06:20 PM	#68
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	I haven't updated this in a while. I got the new axles in and took care of some loose ends like hooking up the parking brake cables and doing a tune up. The car was starting to run a little rough. I replaced the plugs with new platinum plugs and I tore the carb apart completely. I cleaned everything up and started over setting the idle and everything correctly. Got the car running almost perfect! I had no idea a bridgeport could run so smooth and be so streetable. I drove it at our annual Bruce County Rotary meet and it worked great! Having a few issues with the 4 speed though now so look forward to a 5 speed swap in the near future! __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

03-08-2013, 07:18 AM	#69
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	It's time for a long overdue update for my cars! Not too much is planned for the Rx-4 this year. I have to replace a piece of trim around the windshield that flew off the car late last summer. I decided one day to see how fast the car actually went and the trim decided it didn't like that idea. There is also a small rust hole that developed in the rocker panel that I need to get fixed. I'm still deciding if I want to tackle that myself or just have my body guy do the work. I may also get at the 5 speed swap depending on how my TII build goes this year. The most exciting thing though is I'm getting a gilmer drive setup! It should be here next week. As if the car wasn't loud enough already! __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

06-02-2014, 05:58 AM	#70
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	Long time no update! Not much got done on the car since the last update. Did get the gilmer drive on and the trim for the windshield. Also took care of some other things like new battery and I tried to tweak the tune a little better for highway driving. Car was running amazing until it decided it had had enough of my abuse. I was having some good fun with it last week and then half way through 2nd gear it just lost power and started running like crap. It still runs, but not right. Checked both fuel and ignition systems and everything is working fine. Checked compression with a regular dial gauge and nothing really there either. I know something internal isn't right though so looks like the engine is coming apart. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

06-03-2014, 05:44 AM	#72
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	I'm pretty positive it is a hurt engine and yes I think turbo and fuel injection is in the works for it. I may be interested in that setup because I would like 400whp from this car. I know where there is a dual 65mm throttle body setup for sale to fit my 4 port engine I really should buy that up soon. I should tear my engine apart first though to see what kind of damage has been done. It should be minimal because the car stil starts, runs, and idles it's just not right. Also in my dream plans is all new suspension again lol. 4 link setup in the rear and possibly FC or miata front suspension with rack and pinion steering. No more 70's technology underneath me. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

01-16-2015, 10:52 PM	#73
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	I got the engine out and torn apart a few weeks ago. Turns out a combination of things happened. I had too much clearance between the apex seals and the rotors which caused blow by to get behind the corner seals and it burnt the rubber plugs out of some of the corner seals. Other than that, the engine is fine. I had the irons sent out yesterday for cleaning and I'm going to start collecting parts soon. The old girl should be back up and running for the spring with a fresh engine! __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

04-24-2015, 09:34 PM	#74
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	Update time again. Parts are on the way and hopefully the build will be underway soon. New goopy apex seals, gasket set from atkins, corner seals and springs from mazda, and best of all a new carb setup! It's going Rotary Engineering dual weber 36 DCD's this time around. Hopefully wake the little half bridge up some more. I also modified my header so the idler arm will no longer hit it when turning. I'll try and post pics of progress soon. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place

06-23-2015, 10:00 PM	#75
Buggy I've been Wankeled! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Mildmay, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (0) Posts: 260 Rep Power: 15	The engine is built and hopefully I'll have this beast up and running again soon. The rotating assembly has been balanced this time and almost everything I can powder coat is getting it so no flaking paint anymore. A few quick pics. 10527525_10153284019345412_6244980224255051750_n.jpg 11351142_10153284019695412_9052154888967298307_n.jpg rx4rebuild.jpg I have lots more pictures and stuff to post once I get some spare time. Too many things to do right now. __________________ 1976 Rx-4 hardtop. Half bridge 3B 13B, S5 NA rotors, Renesis e-shaft, stat gears, and bearings, balanced rotating assembly, RE dual weber 36 DCD's 203rwhp 137ft-lbs torque DGRR 2011 3rd place 1974 Rx-4 all original 27,000 miles 1988 Rx-7 TII 320rwhp. DGRR 2012 3rd place