Got an 85 track car, stripped down. No interior except a corbeau seat, steering wheel, and a one piece aluminum dash I made that weighs no more than 5lbs.

The guy who owned it before me was building it for spec RX-7 so it's got tokico blues, chopped strut posts (bleh, gonna chop them again and probably weld something back in place with overlap and get some camber bolts or something, maybe just remake at the angle I want). I have no idea if he ported the engine but since it's spec7 I am guessing no. It idles rough, I can get it to idle around 1100 rpm. It's been oil pump modded, runs premix, has a upgraded fuel pump (I'll post the brand later). I've taken it on the track a couple times and it runs pretty good, sometimes it gets a little fuel starved at around 5500 RPM at WOT or if I go WOT too quickly after upshifting (you have to ease the pedal down, I am used to my 09 GT which has a dummy cpu that does the thinking for me).

Most of the stuff has been stripped, fuel line leads to regulator (I think). And now I am just starting to babble so on to my point of this thread.

I plan on taking the engine out and porting it for some extra HP. I've got funds to do it now and I need something new to do on weekends/after work. I've got 2 complete nikki carbs and 3/4 of another and a complete Mikuni PHH44 that I cleaned up and got half *** running (sounds great at high rpm but loves to die at low RPM if you so much as look at the gas pedal too hard).

So the basics AFAIK when porting for other upgrades you may need are a upgraded fuel pump, possibly upgraded carb to supply more air and more fuel. Also an exhaust to complement it. I think I have the exhaust covered, it's basically totally open and loud as all hell (pics later when I get home). I am looking at having around 1.5-2k to spend on this build on just the engine.

I was going to buy the seals and everything from Racing Beat as well as the porting templates (unless someone can provide me with drawings, I have a Mitsubishi waterjet and can cut most anything within .004" and plenty of 16ga aluminum sheets in stock). I've got a 2 car garage to work in, engine jack, car jack, jack stands, oil pan, floor dry, tools galore (will buy anything specific I need), compressor with impact. Sound like I am on the right track? The most engine work I've ever done was breaking down an old german inline 4 pinto engine out the back of a 1970's Lola road car. I am good with my hands (I work in a fab shop, transitioned from welder/fabricator to CnC operator/manager).

Planning on doing the whole thing as a race engine though so stuff like carbon apex seals and whatnot gonna be happenin.

So am I on the right track or am I gettin in over my head? And yes, I have a copy of the FSM

I've watched

this guys

video series a few times over and it doesn't seem like an overly complicated process, and my car has much less stuff attached to it to deal with. I think the most complicated part is going to be either getting the ports exact or tuning the carb afterward.

Be back tonight with pics and possibly a video walkaround.

 

Didn't see a way to edit my above post.

Link to the image album

Lots of pics. Looks like a modified nikki to me so far and modded exhaust.

 

Nikki looks stripped but fairly stock.

 

Yus. The innards haven't been modded but it is stripped. Right now I am trying to determine if the throttle linkage is hooked up correctly.

Following THIS guide.

My throttle linkage does not look like that but I also don't think the nikki is modded for mech secondaries either (only connection to the secondary linkage is the secondary vaccum diaphragm... If I understand the nikki exploded drawing correctly that is.) I have no idea if the vaccum spring has been modded.

I am basically trying to find a place to start on this car and trying to come up with the best option for a sustainable track car.

Maybe I should just get this thing half running and look around junk yards for a 13b swap?

 

Had jury duty today and got released from it around 2ish so I had a little time to pop the carb off and take a look and some more pics.









Looks like the manifold butterfly valve has been removed. Since I am using vaccum secondaries instead of mechanical do I have the correct throttle linkage worked up based on the above pics?

Thinking about breaking it down and grinding the innards.

 

Sorry for so many double posts but this forum seems to lock you out of editing after so long.

I broke down one of the spare nikki's I had and pulled out the butterfly rod. I am gonna mod the rods and get them ready to replace in the good nikki, maybe pull the whole thing down and smooth the insides and clean it and rebuild it.

Still got another spare nikki if I break it.

My question is on grinding the secondaries, since the butterfly plate goes in the middle of the rod, do I need to leave some material sticking inside the chamber to form a seal where it rotates?