So it's looking pretty damn good that I'll be moving down to the Fort Myers/Sarasota area this summer, and bringing with me my single turbo BB '95 car and my newly acquired 20B zero turbo BB 94 R2 track car

I know Tom/Theorie and Matt/Tiggy are in the area, and recently had a great interaction with Zak/tiktakman. What else is going on in the area? Looking to definitely get in the car and rotary scene down there in a big way

 

I'm on the space coast in Melbourne

 

I welcome you to florida! I live in palmetto which is the next county over from sarasota. We used to have car meets pretty frequent, but people have gotten busy with their lives so it has died off. There is quite a few rotary enthusiasts around, but there mostly into drag racing. (im not one). There is autocross events that go on in central florida areas though and some drifting events, pm me when you get settled in, ive never seen a 20b car before.

 

Have you guys ever made it up to the FIRM racetrack?

 

No cant say ive ever been to that track before, looks like it would be good for your vehicles though

 

^Cool thanks. A few buddies and I plan to get into an industrial garage space in the Northport area..... install a lift, tinker on our FDs. Any other rotary guys reading this interested in getting a piece of the action shoot me a PM

One of them used to TIG weld for a living, so we'll be able to make custom exhausts etc. I'll probably be porting and building engines as well, mainly for friends and family.

Stoked to get down there

 

Rich,
Rocket and I are in the Melbourne area. Seems Florida used to have bigger rotary presents but like others have said many have just moved on.
We have a small group in our area(Melbourne) and then there's the Central Florida Rotaries group in Orlando, that meets up once a month.(good people).

Steve

 

This is the last thing I saw for the Tampa area

https://www.rx7club.com/se-rx-7-foru...-meet-1082741/

I don't think it got very far.

 

Welcome to Fl, I used to live in Bradenton/Sarasota now in Tampa. My FD is in venice which is south of Sarasota at my mechanic house. He has a FD and has some rotary clients. There is still a few FD owners over in Sarasota I know of. Bradenton Motorsports has a drag strip and you will see people from all over the bay area bring some badass rotary powered cars there. Also there is a known rotary shop in Sarasota that is good building and tuning rotaries. Servicie | Repair of Rotary Engine Vehicle - Lowe Performance Bradenton Motorsports Park Bradenton, Florida

 

^Thanks for that, I've hung out with Jeremy Lowe a bunch because he's friends with Tom. I need to check out their shop soon.

Officially down in sunny Florida..... the 20B car is still up in NJ for the next few months, but I drove the single turbo BB '95 car this morning like 50 miles from Rotonda West to Venice and I'm not missing the A/C..... yet

 

uh oh, rich is in the area...

i live a little bit inland but used to live in St pete.


you will definitely miss the A/C when the humidity really hits hard and temps get into the 90s+. the hot days with afternoon storms can be the worst if you ever lose any airflow(ie work in a shop without a fan/AC or have crappy air circulation in your car). there's days where sweat is literally streaming off my face while i'm working outside, so yeah, i like having air conditioning to get a break from it.


honestly not sure how the scene is here, i do know no one has been beating down my door to even get quotes. though my location kinda sucks but specialty service is specialty service. used to have people do 1000 mile round trips, now its like a 45min drive is a big hassle.

the lack of it all caused me to ignore even registering my car, now it just sits at the shop and periodically gets started to run fuel through the system. there is local meets in tampa and orlando but not sure about the myers area, that's where i'd start, if i cared anymore.

 

You need to move to Virginia.

 

perhaps in a few years, once i finish the half million projects i have in fixing up this house to try and get some value out of it. i'm almost starting to enjoy working on homes more than cars though at this point. lol

 

And it's probably more lucrative

 

yep, not that it hasn't crossed my mind to take a change in occupation

 

Where have you settled?

 

Currently staying out in the Englewood area, looking at getting a house in Fort Myers

 

I have a place there. Love it for 6 seperate 1 week stays starting in Septemger until end of May.

 

Also have a very knowlegable realtor if you need one.

 

The Firm is a good track, very laid back as far as safety is concerned but that's what you get for a smaller track, I believe they have changed owners a few times recently as well. I haven't run a track day on the road course yet, but plan to once I acquire a trailer and finish the cooling upgrades to the wife's car (I would recommend trailering your car as the dirt road leading into the facility can get a bit washed out and rough.) We rallycross up there from time to time and know a few of the guys that run it. Really a good group of guys. David is a great instructor both rally and road. They use the facility for many different thing such as military and law enforcement training. When they do the Rallycross they use part of the road course and gokart track along with the rest of the terrain. The course is in pretty good shape.

Nice to see another Rotary guy down here. I'm up in Tampa, can't wait to see your car in person on of these days.

 

Well welcome to FL! I actually visit family in Sarasota every few months.

My FD is in forever hibernation mode, but ditto on the AC. It gets rather sweaty down here!