jloehlein

The QA1 rep got back to me very quickly - it looks like the DS404 should suit my needs. Thanks. The upper ball joint does appear to be the tie rod end from a 60's Ford truck. I've got a set of Moog replacements. Were you suggesting to change the design or just make sure to use a quality brand?

Thanks - I reached out to QA1, will see what they've got.

Well, it's been a busy past month with a couple track days (including a friend wrecking a car during the first, then us fixing it for the second) and an autocross. I haven't made a ton of progress, but I did manage to get the drivetrain out of the Miata and did a test fit in the Rotus. It seems like I'd only have ~3.5" of ground clearance with the VVT actuator touching the hood. I will try to find some FWD oil pans to see if that would gain me some more clearance. One thing I am having trouble finding is info on the shocks. They're Koni 80-2091, 15.5" extended length, 11" compressed. Even the Koni rebuilders can't find info about them in their systems. Rebuilding cost seems pretty high. The spring rates are ~80lbs/in front and ~100lbs/in rear. I'd be interested in what other folks are using for shocks. I have no plans to race the car, just street drive and maybe autocross it non-competitively.

Good call - it looks like there are a few videos and threads online with Exocet owners paring down the harness. Thanks for the recommendation! Sounds pretty good to me and certainly can't hurt - I'll pick up a can. Ya - I'm mildly concerned about the motor fitting, but after measuring it and measuring the car on the ground, I think I can maintain 4-5" of ground clearance. If it does create a problem, I may just swap it with the non-VVT motor in my Lemons car and mount it a bit higher. As for the Megasquirt, it's a plug and play kit for the Miata that has been running the car for the past 4 or 5 years. Thankfully, I'm friends with the guy who did the VVT swap in the car, so I've got all the details on it.

Good news - I got the donor Miata running this past weekend. It's got a VVT motor from an '02 in it and a Megasquirt. Now to take it all apart and figure out what parts of the harness I want to keep and what I want to re-make. Hopefully I can pull the drivetrain and get it mocked up in the chassis before Thanksgiving.

They're in the most exciting condition...unknown :smilielol5: I sent you an email through the forum, let me know if you don't get it.

Thanks, xcarguy! It's neat to see all the build pics - definitely a lot of ideas. I've gotta wash the frame and then I can start cutting out the rotary mounts and fixing some random stuff. Once I fabricate the new mounts, I should be able to strip and re-paint the frame. Thinking about using ZRC Galvanizing Compound - a friend of mine sails and his anchor is painted with it. If it can stand up to tons of salt water exposure, it should be more than adequate for a frame/ Anyone have any recommendations on how to treat the insides of tubes to prevent corrosion?

Got the frame all stripped down. Just need to separate the floorpan and it'll be completely disassembled. The only thing that gave me any trouble was that one of the serrated sleeves in a rear control arm bushing started wearing its way through the mounting tab. Had to pry the tabs apart to get it out. Contemplating just replacing the rear arms with heims and swage tubes - my Birkin is set up with all heims and it rides great. Thinking about what to do in the front, as well. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16025&stc=1

Thanks, guys. I'm looking forward to making some progress, especially as I wrap up a couple other projects.

With the car being 30 years old, sitting for at least a decade, some shady welding done to mount the rotary, and the fire, I've decided I'm going to pull pull the car down to the bare frame and rebuild the whole thing. It'll be getting a Miata drivetrain because I have a bunch of them and have no desire to mess with the rotary. Here is what the car looks like right now. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16005&stc=1http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16004&stc=1http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16006&stc=1 The body was made in 3 pieces (the two sides and the rear), but they were all welded together after being attached to the frame, so I had to get it off in one piece. After chiseling off at least 100 rivets and a little bit of bending, it's off. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16007&stc=1 If anyone has any good ideas about replacing that burnt section, let me know. My current thoughts are to just cut the sides off (either before the bend at the windshield or right before where the body gets taller for the rear wheels) and re-make both as separate pieces. That sounds pretty simple to me. Anyways, at this point, I'm going to keep stripping the car down. I'm planning on getting the shocks rebuilt and replacing all of the bushings/joints. I found all the part numbers for the joints, bearings and brakes, but if anyone has any idea what control arm bushings were used, let me know! I'm really bad at taking pictures while I'm working, but I'm going to try and do so and force myself to keep this thread updated.

Hey folks. So, I picked up this 1988 Rotus (I believe #44) a few months ago and figured I would post up here to share what I'm doing and hopefully get some help along the way. I got this car from the original owner. At some point in the early 2000s, a turbo rotary motor was swapped in. The car was fast, but never ran quite right. So, at some point over a decade ago, the car was given to a shop where it was torn apart. And then it sat...for a long time. While it was in the shop, it caught on fire. Allegedly, a battery charger was sitting on the passenger fender and something happened that caused it to ignite. Thankfully, a passerby saw the flash, broke into the shop and put the fire out before it spread. There is damage to the passenger side panel, but the nose and hood were off, so they were fine. Here is what the car as I picked it up from the shop where it had been for over a decade. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=15999&stc=1 I got all the parts, including a new fender and the rotary motor, in pieces. Had to mount the nose to see what it would look like. Not bad. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16000&stc=1 I like the brown interior, though there are like 5 different kinds of gauges in the dash - something I'll have to change or I won't be able to sleep at night. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16001&stc=1 Here's the fancy wiring job that was done at the shop. I cut all this out and will be rewiring the whole car. http://www.usa7s.net/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=16002&stc=1

Fair. Gotta love light cars! It does seem like they are Golf rotors with some machine work done. Thanks, all for the help.

Thanks. I've reached out. In the meantime, if anyone knows what they're off of, post it up!

I have an '09 Birkin S3. I'm planning on doing several track days this year to sort out the suspension and any other bugs that we can find. I need to buy a spare set of brake rotors. I know I can order front rotors for a '95 VW Golf, but I can't find any rear rotors that match my measurements. It supposedly has MkV VW GTI rear calipers. Here are the rotor measurements: Diameter: 9" Width: 0.4" Total height: ~1.25" Bolt pattern: 4x100mm Any idea what would fit? I've looked at Miatas, Civics, Mini Coopers, MkIII Golf and none seem to be the same. Thanks in advance.

When I bought my Birkin, the seller sent me a signed bill of sale, I wired the money, then he sent the title. I don't believe wire transfers can be reversed - so that seems like a pretty safe way if you're receiving money.