VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 So I thought I would go ahead and start a build thread on our RX7 project. First, a little history about who we are and how we got here. We are a small team based in Birmingham, AL just minutes away from Barber Motorsports Park. A mutual friend of ours started the team back in 2018 with the purchase of a 1998 Acura Integra GSR. A few of you might remember the car from when we ran it in EC at Barber in 2018. Because that car was already "overprepared" for ChampCar, we eventually ran it in WRL with the B18 engine in GP2 and then later spent a metric ton of money doing a K swap and then racing it in WRL in the GP1 class at several events with mixed results. After several years of racing with cars that cost twice as much as ours did and fighting all of the usual FWD issues, we decided to part ways with that car last year and to start over. Of course, the easy button would of been to buy an existing race car and go racing! But, we aren't very smart so instead we decided to spend more money and build a car just for ChampCar. After carefully reviewing the rules and much discussion we decided to build my forgotten RX7. Everyone has an old RX7 tucked away in a barn, right? Well this particular car was a running driving 1987 RX7 base model with several mods done to it to make it a reliable, dependable track car. I purchased it back in 2009 for $300 and dragged it out of a ditch in the middle of the woods. Years later I would receive a call from a Texas Ranger that the car had been reported stolen in 1997. No worries though, because I had a title! Ha Anyway, so I fixed up the car and got it running and then spent a bunch of money and bought all of ISC Racing's suspension and coolers and did a few track days with it. Eventually I lost interest in it because of how slow it was in a straight line and did what any sane person would do and put it in a barn for 8 years! BTW, that's the best way to grow mold in a car. If you want to ruin a RX7, put it in a barn for 8 years and forget about it. Will ruin one every time. But, it's perfect for building into a race car. So that's what we (myself and my friend Wes Holland) have been doing since September of last year, slowly turning our RX7 into a C class ChampCar. But this car will not have a rotary engine. Instead, we've decided to do something more insane (most likely never before done) and install a M112 Mercedes V6 engine and transmission into the car. So I will fill everyone in with some updates to show where we are. Attached are pictures of our old car and pics of the RX7 when we dragged it out of my parents barn. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 Here are some pics after we got it home and cleaned it up a little. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 After removing the melt sheets and mocking up the drivetrain. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 Custom fabricating the engine and transmission mounts. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 Mounting the seat with a drop floor to fit tall drivers. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 Mounting the ATL fuel cell. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 Fabricating the exhaust using old Mercedes exhaust piping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 Cage work done by Mark Stewart at Kirk Racing. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelPal Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 Well this is just delightful! What’s the target debut of this glorious piece of machinery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 11 minutes ago, MichaelPal said: Well this is just delightful! What’s the target debut of this glorious piece of machinery? We are planning to hopefully have it running and driving by July 1. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim161c Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 This is the type of build that makes Champcar so interesting and unique. A true builder series where anything is possible. Nice build. 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 13 Author Report Share Posted February 13 10 minutes ago, jim161c said: This is the type of build that makes Champcar so interesting and unique. A true builder series where anything is possible. Nice build. Thanks, it’s been a ton of work! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Chris Huggins Posted February 13 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted February 13 I can’t wait to see this! I heard a rumor from a mutual friend. this platform has so much potential from the large fuel tank, good suspension, and good swap points. i also love these engines, two of them are in my driveway and I took a m113 to over 450k miles. They are solid! Good luck and sign me up for a seat when the time comes! It’s gonna be a rocket! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 2 hours ago, Chris Huggins said: I can’t wait to see this! I heard a rumor from a mutual friend. this platform has so much potential from the large fuel tank, good suspension, and good swap points. i also love these engines, two of them are in my driveway and I took a m113 to over 450k miles. They are solid! Good luck and sign me up for a seat when the time comes! It’s gonna be a rocket! Thanks Chris. You have first dibs for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 (edited) How much hp does this engine make? Aren't those Trans a 1:1 5th gear? Sweet build! Edited February 14 by wvumtnbkr 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 m112-v6-engine-highlights.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvumtnbkr Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 2 hours ago, Chris Huggins said: I can’t wait to see this! I heard a rumor from a mutual friend. this platform has so much potential from the large fuel tank, good suspension, and good swap points. i also love these engines, two of them are in my driveway and I took a m113 to over 450k miles. They are solid! Good luck and sign me up for a seat when the time comes! It’s gonna be a rocket! Dude. Traitor. Lolz! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 (edited) 2 hours ago, Chris Huggins said: i also love these engines, two of them are in my driveway and I took a m113 to over 450k miles. They are solid! Yes they are. And if you decide you need more power... Picked up this one about a month ago, summer driver to go with my '99 ML320 winter driver. Good engines. Looking forward to the rest of the build! Might be worth looking for one of these from an M113: Edited February 14 by mender 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 (edited) 44 minutes ago, wvumtnbkr said: How much hp does this engine make? Aren't those Trans a 1:1 5th gear? Sweet build! 215-224 hp. 1 2 3 4 5 6 R 4.459 2.614 1.723 1.245 1.000 0.838 4.062 Edited February 14 by mender 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Coan-Burningham Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 4 hours ago, VinnyV81 said: later spent a metric ton of money doing a K swap and then racing it in WRL in the GP1 class at several events with mixed results. I drove my fastest lap ever at Barber in this car. I hope the RX is almost as fast (if you ever give me a chance to get in it). Good luck with the rest of the build, I know you guys will do it right. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 1 hour ago, wvumtnbkr said: How much hp does this engine make? Aren't those Trans a 1:1 5th gear? Sweet build! The Edmonds number is 215 which is what we are using for the swap calculator. Trans does not have a lot of overdrive and if we run stock computer we will be limited to 6300 RPM’s so max speed would be 125 MPH on a 22.7” tire. Six speed trans with .83 6th gear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinnyV81 Posted February 14 Author Report Share Posted February 14 1 hour ago, Rodger Coan-Burningham said: Rodger you are always welcome to drive any time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip Posted February 14 Report Share Posted February 14 16 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said: Dude. Traitor. Lolz! He's just a track slut..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Magic Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 Cool build, we race a 230 slk in several series with a m111 supercharged, we have bought 2 6 speed crossfires (320 slk copy) for 1500 bucks each to make m112 racecars from in the future. Will be interesting to see how well the stock ecu takes to tuning. The m111 supercharged motor runs a haltech because of all the issues we ran into with the various limp modes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted February 15 Report Share Posted February 15 That transmission mount is fantastic! I love all the fabrication here, awesome stuff. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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