Anyone know of any first gen RX-7’s rusting in someones yard? I need a donor car for a project, a rusted out RX-7 would be perfect, but a RWD Corolla/Tercel, Pinto, Chevette, Impulse, D-50, Mighty Max, B2000 would also work. I’m, not looking for a restorable car, I’m looking for something ready for the junk yard that I can strip the driveline, wiring harness, pedal box, and other misc parts out of. Must be a manual tranny.
I’m building one of these…
:tup: to the project. why not use a focus? the zetec can be mated with a mustang t5 tranny for one of those, and its a great motor. i say this because one of my buddies and i (both own focuses) were talking about doing one of those with a turbo zetec motor, and how insane fast it would be. it only takes 174hp with that car to have the same weight to power ratio as a ford GT
Cost. zetecs are expensive, the bellhousing’s are more expensive ($450). It’s something I would eventually upgrade to, but right now I’m trying to keep to a low budget. One of my goals is to run this in GRM’s $2007 challenge next year. If I sold my race car I could do it, but I don’t want to sell my GTI.
That was in car and driver wasnt it? Its like making your own atom.
I said it before, and I’ll say it again - I hate you, Mike. I really, really hate you…
If you need a hand with it, let me know.
zetecs are expensive? i bought my spare motor with 20k miles on it for $200. a t5 tranny goes pretty cheap on ebay. but i can see your point if you can get an entire donor car for like $200 or less. so :tup: and GL on the project, keep it updated in the DIY
nice project man GL with it
i’ve always been a fan of these caterham
I have been thinking of this for a couple years, ever since I saw the 5th gear episode with them in it, they have an entire race series in England for these. The C&D article just made me think it’s time to start the project because it’s just starting to catch on here, and I’m sure a race series like the one in England can’t be far off.
Yeah, too expensive, but not so expensive that I can’t do it in the future. The T5 is a little on the heavy side too. What I would really like is to gut an AE86, but all the riceboy drifters stole all those to waste on drifting. Another option is a 4G63 head on a D50/Mightymax block, that would be light and have good power, same ballpark as the zetec. The best option for cost and weight is an RX-7.
b18c5 ftw!
Won’t work, spins the wrong way, I would have 5 reverse gears and one forward gear 
otherwise I would love to use a Honda engine. The newer 2.0’s and up spin the right way, but too expensive.
yeah mna, if i were u i would cahnge the design up a bit and do a rear mount 4-cyl. then u have more options and more popular cars to pull motors out of. i mean, ur really only gonna need to put down mid-200hp range to have a bombing fast car. turbo d-series would be optimal(light, fast and cheap). i too have also been thinking about building a car. At first i was thinking, start small, build a go kart type frame and mount on a sport bike motor. that gives u a good basis and u learn really cheap how to do it and fab everything. then u go for a bigger vehicle like a street car. All in all i think its a great idea and its really doable. are u going to weld the frame urself? i was thinking that an easier way to do the frame was to design something and cut it out in styrofoam, put it together, then wrap in carbon fiber. anyways, goodluck man
Cool idea, but that would not be a Lotus 7 replica.
ahhh yeah i didnt realize ur trying to stick to those plans. i wanna see how it turns out, and how the progress goes.
So what it spins the wrong way. Mount the rear diff upside down and you are all set.
That could work, but lubrication might be an issue, and I don’t know what tranny I could bolt a honda engine to. I would be happy with a discarded D15 or D16. How tall are those engines?
theyre not more than 2.5’ ppl will usually be willinig to give away those motors. only problem is finding a transmission to fit it. uve got my interest so im gonna go google some things, hopefully ill be back with a solutioin
I was actually just thinking of a d-tranny. weld the diff inside, and cap off the left axle hole (and by left, I mean driver’s side). Run a custom axle (READ: driveshaft) to the rear “custom” upsidedown diff.
I know it’s a pipe dream, but I don’t know anyone who’s said it can’t be done.
in theory it should work. but would the tranny hold up??