clubstylus

well i have huge brakes on the front and seperate front and rear master cylinders with bias control on the pedals. The rear discs are the smallest you can get. Nothing smaller will fit over the ford studs!

Back to the wiring! If you cant beat them join them! i popped to my local ford breakers and he had a complete sierra stalk set which he was more than happy to swap for my escort set! So wiring is now easy, difficult part is fitting it but i will sort that! also, I dont have the wiring plugs that fit to the back, can i buy the plugs anywhere? or is there a crimp that will fit the terminals on the back of the stalks?

Simple answer no. Its easier to chop a good 6" out of the donor loom then solder the donor and new loom wires together, remembering to thread heatshrink on first. Alternatively use in-line crimps (as had been done to your Escort switch tails), but ONLY with a proper crimper (£30 ish).

The switch pins are not marked so you need the colour coded wires to see what goes where. Drawings to follow by the weekend (no pressure).

Steve.

the pins are all numbered on the back of the stalks so i can use crimps and still identify the correct terminals. I ground the end off of a red bullet and it fitted snuggly over the terminal but i dont know how long it would stay attached. Spose i could put a drop of solder on it.

any help with the wiring would be greatly appreciated though

There are about 5, from memoery, different wiring confiurations for the Sierra stalks, I found the easiest way was to sit with a Haynes manual and a multi meter and work out which pin conneted to which when a switch was toggled, btw pin 15 IIRC links one side to the other.
I didn't have the plug to fit on the back of the switches when I built my Cat but I took the switch into LSUK (Lucas as was) in Ipswich and they sold me a load of the female "pins" that fitted which were crimped on to the wires and then I used heat shrink round the "pins" for insulation. I have still got some of them but I am in Aviemore atm and they are in Suffolk.

Well not much of an update really but I have been on my hols and busy at work before that.

I got back in the garage today, I think some of the reason that i have been putting it off is the wiring aspect. Did i mention i dont like wiring!

I started with some more heavy work and fitted the engine and turbo, some slight modifications needed to the steering column and a little twist of the compressor housing and it looks like it will fit. Although its tight, but I have solid mounted the engine so there shouldnt be any movement.

I am still waiting for my Mazda Cosmo engine mount to arrive which i will be using as a gearbox mount so i can i can get that bolted up. I think the Cosmo (japanese sedan with 3 rotor engine) engine mount is the right size for me to use. I didnt want to solid mount the gearbox as from previous experience, there is a lot more vibration from the gearbox than from solid mounting the engine.

I refitted the front clam so i could see how much room i have left for a Radiator, intercooler and 2 oil coolers (n/a is sooo much easier). I was pleasantly suprised at how much room there is. I am using a Pace radiator for a cosworth (50mm thick) as Rotaries need lots of cooling. I want to V mount the intercooler rather than just putting it in front of the rad. This would be easy and gives the cooling for the boost but on track, i think i would struggle to keep the water temps down.

I have tomorrow in the garage as well so i will hopefully try to get the coolers positioned so i know what ali welding i need to get done.

I need to get my soldering iron back and then i will crack on with the wiring loom for the car and the ecu

I should have a bit more time to make some head way over the next few month.................. hopefully

Good to see you getting some time to sort thigs mate. I have been waiting for progress reports!

If the Pace cooler is the rs500 one then it's the same as I ran in it and directly behnd I had the matching Pace rad and no problems at all with cooling. However, you may be right in going v mount as the Cosworth may not need as much cooling. It did work well though, so just food for thought.

crappy weather down here for us southerners but i did a couple of hours. Well what i thought was a lot of room, turned out to be half what i thought when i bolted a wheel on and turned it full lock. I have an inch either side of the radiator on full lock so hopefully nothing will move

I dont really have enough room for a proper v mount, i will put the rad right up front in the nose, it fills the whole nicely and i think i can plumb it in ok. I want the front to remain flip front so everything needs to be attached to the chassis leaving the nose to flip.

The intercooler will be sitting above and behind the rad just in front of the springs. The 2 holes in the front panel above the lower unlet will feed air straight to the i/c over the top of the rad. I will duct them so the i/c and rad have 2 seperate unblocked air flows.

I'm not sure about the oil coolers yet but they may have to go under the intercooler. I wanted to fit them in front of the front wheels which is where they go on the RX7 but i'm not sure if i will have enough room.

Good thinking, I knew those holes in the front would come in handy for something

Never thought much about oil coolers. From what I remember just trying to find room for ducting to the intake from in front of the wheel area was a headache so good luck with that!

He he - the performance is going to make you re evaluate what you considered to be fast cars.
Problem is - nothing else feels fast anymore.

well it looks its going to start of at about 250 - 300 hp but i can go from here. Should still be quite nippy though


it seems people are begining to see the light on MRC with the v8 conversions, when are you going to get yours done?

Yes it is good to see some acceptance on there. It is the only forum I know of that has had that mentality but I think that's because they like the fact that it's not a piston engined car to start off with.

My Rx - LOL - after gathering dust and bird poop I let it go to Craig. I am investing in the business (quite heavily) later this year as the area is now receiving a much needed make over. So not spending anything if I can help it and throwing money into a pot so borrowing can be minimised. Because of this I am down from 5 cars to just 1 now, the Lex (not including my wifes BM). With any luck I should be back in the stupidly quick car market within 18 months if all goes to plan!

I have had a few chats with Craig about what can be put in what when the time comes so we will will have to see but it will not be this year.

still got no pictures but i have been doing stuff. I just forget to take pictures until i log in. Although there is not much to see.

All the brackets are made for the intercooler and rad and i have had the relevant mods made to the in/oulets of them. I have also made the complete exhaust. It was a lot easier than i thought it was going to be. The turbo is on the drivers but for several reasons i wanted the silencer on the passenger side.

Paul had the same issue when he had a cosworth engine in it. I have made the exhaust tcome out of the turbo, round the back of the engine above the gearbox and though a small silencer and then back down and into the silencer that i have fitted in the passenger side sill.

I wanted it there so it balances some of the weight with the driver, doesnt deafen me (i'm not fussed about the passenger ) and loses as much heat a possible before it its enclosed in the fibre glass sill. Rotoary exhausts are much hotter than piston engines, especially turbo charged ones. I then painted the hole thing in black heat proof paint.

I also made the gear box mount. The gear box has a bracket near the back with a hole in it that points directly down, i bolted a big rubber engine mount to it and then bolted a thick plate accross the 2 chassis rails which locates the bottom theaded part of the engine mount. That should stop it going anywhere but still give some vibration prevention.

I have measured the prop and it looks like i can use the one that came with the car and just weld the rx7 yoke on it. So no balancing etc.

Looks like I have to cut a hole in the passenger side foot tunnel so i can fill the gearbox with oil.

I wired and plumbed the fuel pump in, I'm using a bosch 044 which will flow over 500 bhp in a rotary. It is under the back next to the fuel tank. There is a small swwirl pot attached to the bottom of the tank already, If its not enough to stop fuel starvation i will try stuffing the fuel with foam.

I actually started the engine/ecu wiring yesterday which was a lot easier than i was anticipating, trying to tie it in with the main loom and the electronic dash isnt quite as easy. I have almost finished in the engine bay, i just need to mount and wire in the coils, then i need to get in the car and sort the wiring out in there although i will need to sort the steering out first so i can mount the stalks, make the dash and fit the electronic dash and the ecu display unit.

note to sf: Must remember to put oil in the diff!

I fitted the exhaust system this afternoon and went to fit the prop but i dont have the bolts to bolt it to the diff flange. Any ideas??.

The wiring is mostly done, i just have to attach some things to the dash when its made and the front lights and indicators. I also have to do the radiator fans and the boost controller.

Next on the list is sort the steering column and dash out.

Prop bolts usually m10 fine

And use threadlock, don't want that to come loose while driving.
In the dutch kitcarclub 3 different people had propshaft coming loose while driving in the last 2 months.
Luckily without major damage, but could've been worse.

thanks for that, i have found the bolts on ebay of all places.

I need a steering column bush now, any ideas?