Bringing Back the Dead.

[Antnicuk]

I'm not sure if this is the correct section to document my build or should i call it rebuild but i have posted in several sections and i keep loosing them.

I bought Paul Maoudis car. It had no engine, gearbox, front hubs or brakes and was feeling a little sorry for its self to say the least..

The english axle was there but not attahed and knackered.

As you may have a gathered I am a bit of a novice so please post any comments you have, i wont be offended, even if its obvious, it may prevent me from doing something stupid.

Here are some pictures of the car the way it was when i bought it.

[Antnicuk]

First thing I need to do is get it rolling. I bought a Hi Spec brake kit for an XR2, fitted really well to the stylus. Just modded the calliper brackets slightly.



Then i lathed down the hub to fit inside the bell of the disc, luckily my cousin has a workshop with a lathe so it took me a matter of minutes. I also fitted longer metric studs



Callipers.



The completed assembly, the spiggot of the hub does stick out beyond the face of the disc so a spiggot ring will sit on it, it doesnt show in the photo as the disc wasnt bolted on.




Matching pair.



Tight fit behind the 15inch wheels but its enough




I havent fitted them to the car as i'm waiting for ball joint boots.

[Antnicuk]

The car came with an English Axle but the diff is toast. The car has the RT Rear Arches so i picked up a Capri Back Axle complete with LSD and huge drums.






I am considering using the english drums if i can get them to fit as they are in better condition and i think they will be up to the job, plus they are a bit lighter. I would like a disc conversion but would rather spend the £250 on a decent pedal box with brake bias adjuster. It has the original pedal box but i need a hydrolic clutch and it all looks a bit of a dogs dinner.

Next is to grind off all the unwanted brackets from the atlas and fit the English brackets to it.

[Werner Van Loock]

That's some massive braking power you will have there.

Am i correct that the english diff is really in peices in there? Must been a serious bang then. But with a 350bhp cossie, what would one expect then?

At least you have the later bent rear arms, though with the original shocks, might wanna get the correct size for it.
You also have the brackets on the front arms to put the old style anti roll bar. Might come in handy.

Looks like you're going to be busy this winter in the garage. Just like me. But you have the benefit that the body is already fitted. The only thing that makes me worrie.

[Antnicuk]

I have put a kit car through the SVA before and i didnt want to go through it again, thats why I bought this as its already registered, plus i cant resist a bargain.

I have the anti roll bar, will it make much difference?

Do you know what the different shocks are for the newer rear arms?

The axle is just full of all the nuts and bolts, the diff is in one piece.

Hopefull the brakes wont be too big, we'll have to see how it goes.

[Antnicuk]

I have made 4 new link brackets and welded them to the Atlas after dismantling it and removing the shafts. I cleaned it all up with a wire wheel (filthy job) I then cut of the pan hard road bracket and attached that to the Atlas. I test fitted it tonight and it fits really well and is quite easy to fit. I then painted it and sealed the rear cover plate.






The half shafts are just slotted in so it sits on the axle stands while i painted it. I will fit it tomorrow night and then bolt some wheels on so the car will at least be able to be pushed around and put in the garage. I am going to fit discs, I have decided, I reckon i can make a kit up quite cheaply. The English Drums dont fit so that was the decider.





I also collected my engine. It is complete as it was when it was plucked out of an RX7. It will take pic for you as i port it and build it. Most of the stuff on there will be removed as its not needed and it should look something like this. This little puppy was my old engine and put out just under 500 BHP

[Werner Van Loock]

hmmm, you're really moving on. Apparently I don't know anything from the rotary engine except that it's a Wankel, 500bhp from such a small engine?

*uck em Zetec's

How much does it put out in standard tune? And either it has a huge flywheel/clutch or it's a very low engine. Wich one is it?

[Antnicuk]

The standard tune for the model that this engine came from is 200 bhp at 7 psi, the new shape had a slightly different engine but the internals are virtually identicle. The new shape has 250bhp at 10psi but both had small turbos. With a little porting, a big turbo and everything else as mazda intended, 500 is fairly easy to obtain at about 17 psi. Mine ran 350 RWHP at 1 bar and 380 RWHP at 1.2 bar, which is 460 FLHP.

The equivelent to crank shaft called an Eccentric shaft is in the middle of the engine not at the bottome like a piston engine. It may cause me some problems with ground clearnce as there is more engine below the engine than a piston. If its an issue i will just make a new flatter sump with wings to compensate the reduced size.
Here is a bare block picture. they dont weigh much, the bare block is about 60 - 70kg as you can see it here




Here is my graph from the old engine, not the red one in the above picture.

[Antnicuk]

Got the axle on last night and the wheels on it tonight. I can finally push it in the garage now. I need to clear a little tomorrow and then i will push her in and cut the front off I was relcutant but i think it will make it so much easier to fit the engine and work in my small garage.

It was bit dark when i took the pictures but you should be able to see the wheel fitment.

The atlas axle is just over 3 inches wider and the wheels fit perfectly in the new wider arches so i was very happy about that.

how do i make the pictures appear as little ones that you then click on to make bigger?

[Antnicuk]

Well this monirng I cut the front off. I couldnt cut it as far back as i would have liked as there are vents in the side of the wing. Horizontally i went with the middle of the door. I was suprised how easy it was. I havent made the bracket for the font hinge to make it flip front but looking at it, it doesnt look that difficult. It has given me so much more room in the garage and access to the engine bay is excellent.








I quickly bolted the engine to the gearbox and lowered it in to get an idea of how it fits. Its not too bad. I can now see why so much of the gearbox sticks out into the engine bay. Its a bit alian to me as the engine sits flush against the bulk head in the rx7 but the only way i am getting the bellhousing that far back is if i drive by remote control

I think i found a compromise, i can put it quite far back and have about 8 inches between the front of the engine and the inbound shocks but the starter motor which is at 8 oclock on the bellhousing sticking towards the back of the car would then be in the passenger footwell so would require some cutting and welding. Also, the shifter is a little far back but useable. If i bring it forward about 4 inches it will clear the starter motor, the shifter is in the right place, the turbo will have a little more room and i'm still well behind the front wheels. Although it would be nice to get the enginge as far back as possible, i think a compromise is required.

I feel a power bulge coming on , the top of the inlet manifold is going to stick out of the bonnet a little, I can lower the engine but the sump wont have clearance, It is now sticking out from under the car by about 1.5 inches which is as much as i dare lower it. If i had the money to dry sump it the whole engine would sit 4- 5 inches lower which would really help handling but again compromise.......

Any ideas or input would be greatly received

[norma]

Great thread - watching with delight.
You've got some balls to just chop the front off like that, don't think I would be able to!
Well done and good luck!
Alex

[Antnicuk]

thanks....... its only fibreglass i've got quite a lot of glaswork to do and i have never done it before so i will asking for advice

[Antnicuk]

I spent 2 hours this evening just messing with the position of the engine and box, I think i am happy with it.

The shifter is in the right place, the sump sticks below the chassis rails by 1.5 inches at the lowest point. The gearbox has clearance in the tunnel, the front of the engine is about 6 inches behind the centre of the front wheels , the starter motor fits without cutting the passenger footwell and the bonnet fits without cutting more holes. Basically, making brackets to fit the engine mounts to the chassis and a gearbox mount and its in place with no more work fabrication.

I will sleep on it and see what i think next time i look at it, if i think i want the engine further back, i will look at cutting a little of the bottom corner out of the footwell. That way the whole lot will go back further, i could probably go back 3 - 4 inches and still use the shifter ok.

There are several other options which i will consider, 1st: I'm using a RX7 Turbo II box but the shifter on an RX8 box is 3- 4 inches further forward so the gearbox could go back and the shifter would still be in the right place, only thing is the RX8 box looks a little fatter than the turbo II and i only have half inch either side of the box in the tunnel as it is.

For the starter motor issue, the starter is the only thing stopping the engine going further back, automatic cars have the starter motor mounted parallel to the engine pointing to the back of the car whereas my manual starter bolts in the back of the bellhousing, parallel to the g/box pointing forwards. I could machine the back of the engine and fit an auto starter. Probably easier to just cut some of the footwell out though.

SO. My questions this evening are...... How much benefit do you get from mounting the engine further back? Is 3 inches going to make a difference?

and

How much do your sumps stick out below the bottom of the car?


Not much room to fit an Engine mount in there, any ideas on what i could use, the rotary ones are huge.




Shifter is about perfect.... i think




Starter and tunnel clearance. (thats a spacer behind the starter)



Sump clearance..........




No Bulge required.................... its close though, the bonnet is sitting on the inlet manifold!

[stylussprinter]

I spent 2 hours this evening just messing with the position of the engine and box, I think i am happy with it.

The shifter is in the right place, the sump sticks below the chassis rails by 1.5 inches at the lowest point. The gearbox has clearance in the tunnel, the front of the engine is about 6 inches behind the centre of the front wheels , the starter motor fits without cutting the passenger footwell and the bonnet fits without cutting more holes. Basically, making brackets to fit the engine mounts to the chassis and a gearbox mount and its in place with no more work fabrication.

I will sleep on it and see what i think next time i look at it, if i think i want the engine further back, i will look at cutting a little of the bottom corner out of the footwell. That way the whole lot will go back further, i could probably go back 3 - 4 inches and still use the shifter ok.

There are several other options which i will consider, 1st: I'm using a RX7 Turbo II box but the shifter on an RX8 box is 3- 4 inches further forward so the gearbox could go back and the shifter would still be in the right place, only thing is the RX8 box looks a little fatter than the turbo II and i only have half inch either side of the box in the tunnel as it is.

For the starter motor issue, the starter is the only thing stopping the engine going further back, automatic cars have the starter motor mounted parallel to the engine pointing to the back of the car whereas my manual starter bolts in the back of the bellhousing, parallel to the g/box pointing forwards. I could machine the back of the engine and fit an auto starter. Probably easier to just cut some of the footwell out though.

SO. My questions this evening are...... How much benefit do you get from mounting the engine further back? Is 3 inches going to make a difference?

and

How much do your sumps stick out below the bottom of the car?


Not much room to fit an Engine mount in there, any ideas on what i could use, the rotary ones are huge.

image removed by wvl

Shifter is about perfect.... i think

image removed by wvl


Starter and tunnel clearance. (thats a spacer behind the starter)

image removed by wvl

Sump clearance..........

image removed by wvl


No Bulge required.................... its close though, the bonnet is sitting on the inlet manifold!

image removed by wvl

Reference engine position . For road driving it probably wont matter apart from maybe heavier steering(don't know your engine weight) but on track and definitly for competition -------it will have a huge influence on turn in/lack of understeer /early power on exit = faster lap times. Plus generally better handling and good grip from starting for 'say' sprints

[Antnicuk]

well it wont be used for competition but it will be used for track days etc. You think even 3 - 4 inches will be noticable?