speedwagon

My 86 rx-7 was the most pleasant car to work on. Sold my Miata NA (cause it was hurting my back) and bought a Jag xj8, what an owners delight! sic. Like the Superformance and the Rotus based car. john

this is also true (but even more so because of the vast amount of electronics) in virtually all makes after the year 2000. we are buying autos comprised of an assembly of blocks just like the old Japanese transistor radios in the 60s, just much more expensive. we are not only not allowed to work on our cars- but we who know how cannot afford the time to do a postmortem and reverse engineer the parts in order to keep them still going. it actually started in the 60s. I have a 2007 highlander hybrid that is not that complex, and a full set of factory Toyota manuals (26 lbs of them) that show very little electrical documentation, but do instruct the mechanics how to remove the box and replace it at the cost of several hundred dollars, when the actual problem is a poorly designed multi conductor cable deep inside the "box or unit". We the people are getting hosed!!

like I said "run like hel" and don't look back. and don't forget that there has been a lot of flooding in the past year. and snow.

I think today it will get weighed, not as finished, but worth only 1/10th as much.

Never used professional equipment, and have never had the steering wheel centered after a so called professional aligned a car for me. So i have 2 4' long hollow steel shelves hanging on mu wall and a level/protractor. set caster by eye. I personally like a lot of caster (added 3 deg to my motor-home and ran 20+ deg in the off road car. And my steering wheel is always centered in the car and in the box or rack. I care others don't. john

There are many good reasons why "flood " cares are totaled and unless this is unusual the car would have to be striped down to the frame and the rust inside neutralized or a new frame built or purchased. An then every other part not hermetically sealed opened and washed. I just recently looked at a 2016 Silverado and ran home fast because it had been in Florida. I took a s-10 two years old to the beach in Mexico with me and started home with a truck that needed a new top panel because I had just primed it, and not painted it. And fresh water is almost as bad. john PS it is worth 1/2 of what you can buy a slightly abused equivalent.

Possibly heat distortion from dragging, either pad backing or caliper.

JB, I printed off your tuning guide. It made good sense to me and I shall profit from your experience. Got a wide-band when I first started messing with rotaries and discovered how easy it was to tune a carburetor with one! Still have some webers and dellortos and still hate them far to complicated especially the 48. But thanks a lot for the info. john Ironically my favorite for draw thru is a 2" SU.

Paul (ptegler) as usual I am behind the 8 ball. But since I am planning to sell the car soon it is time for me to sort through my file on it. may be a while. john

"If it feels good, do it" . Age is of little consequence, stay within your budget. Anyone can learn all they need to take care of a car in 3 years max if they are willing to work. As far as carbs, vs FI- the only thing fi can do better is adjust mixture for air density change ( I ran a single 2'' su on a draw through turbo at pike's peak and it ran clean from 5k to 14k and gave 300hp from 164ci for a very short time. Personally I find computer controlled fi to be easier to work on and more reliable (try to tune a weber 48). As for 2 vs 4 stroke, the 2 stroke hits twice as often and is simpler, more fowl smelling and harder on plugs, but produces about 1 1/2 the power for size and weight, while lasting half as long. I have 2ea 7ish cars with 2 stroke turbocharged rotaries and love them but the day is coming when they will be obsolete. The previous is opinion only. and lastly-- if you have or can get lots of sheckles just find a good maintenance shop and pretend your name is penske. john canning 82 and still partly functional.

Nothing in life is certain, including life itself. Talk to one of those Enron stockholders if you do not believe that.

Just to add a short note. There are members here and elsewhere who keep enjoying life well into disablement. The key is to try to enjoy, we is still here ain't we? john

I am 82, play with the toys in the closet. Have 2ea "7" type cars both with blown 13b rotaries, a 66 Ranchero with a 475hp small block, misc VW dune buggies with either 2010cc turbocharged or 1776cc super reliable engines. A lady who was interviewing me for the position, once asked how I defined commitment, my answer was " if we ain't still having fun, howscome we still doing it". pretty much my answer to life. john

Welcome Scott as a new member to a very friendly and knowledgeable group. I hope that you stay active after listing this car. I bought my superformance after first seeing a Stalker for sale (early model, new or nearly). I liked the idea of local parts. And while I am satisfied with the s-1 I still follow the progress of your cars. john

my experience with all electronic points is that while you do not need to regularly adjust the gap the life is usually no longer than a set of points. And while you usually get a warning when your points need attention the electronic ones just quit. So my off road race engines had points and electronic (preferably Pertronics) was used in my personal use car. With a spare set of points as it takes just a few minutes to change, and time is not of the essence. And as for vacuum advance unless you are staying in the upper RPM range and pretty much in an off/on throttle mode the tractability of a well matched vacuum advance is well worth it from the performance aspect. Worst thing in the world is a VW dune-buggy in rough country using the popular weights only dist. john

I really like the SUs. Got 350hp out of a single 2" 164ci Corvair 9 minute engine ( did get to the top of pikes peak on 3 cylinders). mixture was slightly rich at 5000 feet and burned clean at 14000 (the high boost wasn't the carbs fault) They are hard to learn and I never completely understood them. Still have several in one of my containers) john

Being in the very early 40s group, I can say that ageing is mandatory, maturity is optional. at 12 i had a 1936 harley 61 ci. (1000 cc ) and a 36 ford coupe with a 324 ci flat-head. close to 20 yr with the superformance + a yard (40a) full of toys. john

life does change! Years ago I acquired a wife, 2 kids and then a third kid so my dreams of wining Indy went on the shelf. Then 10 years later the pendulum swung back, and am back off road racing with wife as co-driver and kids as the pit crew, and now as the twilight nears youngest daughter is patiently waiting to get the Superformance S1. Do what you need to do, and find some one to get a car sooner than they thought they could. and yes the kids did leave, and the second wife did run away with what I foolishly thought was a friend. PS sent the cowboy a valentine's day card thanking him.

MV8; Thank you, have printed it, and will tape it to the hoist. Sometimes with all the modern troubleshooting tools we forget that the "old school" vacuum gauge can still give us a place to start, if not the answer. "it's engine, not motor, and in fact really more a pump" john

MV8; I totally agree. Where the factory uses a system just like you describe it can be a year or longer before adding fluid is needed. The radiator is always full and the system is never exposed to high pressure until the much feared "blown head gasket" which is a good indicator of being time to dismantle. The old system of a solid cap and a recovery system works well but only up to a much lower coolant temperature. Besides having only one pressurized system is much safer. john

As stated here before, a "good" metal person can do wonders in place and with a little touch-up it would be hard to notice and "can you see it from the driver's seat?) john

One off cars are as common as wifes at least in this group where virtually no two cars are the same. For the price you get something that you can use and after finishing and shaken out should be an easy sell. And there sure is no shortage of Chevy small block parts (even a aluminum bloc+ heads). Possessing rotaries and one 408 small block ford, I find the complexity of multi cam engines to be a detriment. KISS I much prefer my Superformance S1 But to each his own. john

just to help with car-guy's decision. the cost to transport a car and trailer is not that bad. and time wise I brought a rotus chassis with a lola clone body and separately acquired trailer from Galveston to golden valley az. the trip used up 2 days. And the car was easily registered in Arizona. Would actually have been cheaper to have it transported, but I was in need of the adventure. john (and now I have two of these things)

Edited 12 hours ago by Vovchandr; thanks for a quite complete explanation of what goes on there. I prefer a "winner wins" to buy. But would consider selling there with an unusual offering. john

On my 85 NA engine I had 2ea 2" flow-masters in series and that made the noise tolerable. then I tried 2ea 3" Aero in series, not as quiet but OK until liquid fiberglass started running out the back. Been a long process switching to the ported turbo engine, but I am planning on using the Aeros on it after making a couple of ports to stuff them with coarse steel wool. I have also seen "holey steel" cones that can be inserted to further dampen the noise. And I have never checked the exhaust temp. on a turbo rotary engine but my previous with high hp Corvairs was lots quieter and cooler as the turbo basically converts heat to HP. But the "rx7club.com" guys do not use fiberglass mufflers on the turbo cars. Another route i am considering is blend from 3" round to 2X4 oval for the route to the rear. It is the price one pays for having a 2 stroke engine. john