eage8

iTrader: (9)

bilsteins should be an M14 stud... which is way below 5/8". you shouldn't need anything turned down.

Here is what I ended up doing on my old bilsteins (which aren't stock, they're different, so it might not be the same for you:





I used the spacers that came with the camber plates. just make sure the top mount is able to pivot on the stud/bearing after everything is tightened down.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

T3 asked me for some measurements so they can tell me exactly what needs to be modified. Here's what I gave them:











Figured I might as well post them and hope someone else can benefit from the info. I sent them last night so hopefully they'll get back to me today. The camber plate stops right where the threads end and that's the part I'm being told to turn down. I'll keep everyone updated as I find out more.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

yeah, that looks fine, you just need a 5/8" -> 14mm reducer for the bearing. (you need this for most camber plates)

Maybe another reducer for the top spring hat (which is probably 22mm) so it sits centerd on the 18mm shaft.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

If I didn't have to have them turned down then that would be great. I had to call five places before I found one willing to even take a look at it. I'm supposed to go there Friday to get a quote for the work plus cutting and drilling stock housings to fit the inserts. Until then I'll just wait for T3 to email me back. They did supply some extra spacers but nothing that fit over the 18mm part of the strut, hopefully they can fill me in on exactly what's needed to make everything work correctly.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

T3 will probably try to tell you you don't need a spacer for the spring perch... but you do... the machine shop can make that fairly easily.

as far as the spacers it comes with, if you have 4 spacers that are 14mm on the inside and 5/8" on the outside (they all should be 5/8") you should be good to go for that part.

in my picture above the bearing of the camber plate goes into the recess of the spacers.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Here's what I have, plus Ground Control coilovers. The bigger bearings fit perfectly over the threads and stop at the bottom, the smaller ones don't. The tapered down end of all four will fit into the bottom of the camber plates and then stop on a small lip that's machined into it.

ISC Suspension

Give us a peek, we are right in your ballpark! I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Sorry, I already have all my parts for this project.

Got an email back from T3:


I'm heading to the machine shop soon, I'll update when I can.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

I still don't understand why you're turning down the shaft....

The threaded part of the shaft is 33mm

the bearing is 5/8" wide which is ~16mm.

that leaves you with 17mm for a nut and the rest of the spacers which is plenty of room.

the spacers in your drawing add up to 12.75mm

which gives you 4mm for a nut... which is not much... you probably want to shorten the longer spacer a bit.

all you need from the machine shop is a centering ring for the top hat.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

I'm turning down the shaft because T3 wants me to use the spacers like in the pictures. If I don't use spacers at all then what you're saying makes sense, I just need a centering ring for the top hat. Here's what it looks like without spacers at all, the only thing that worries me is the gap that you can see when comparing the two pictures:




Now if that gap won't be present once it's sitting on top of the spring then you're correct and now I actually get what you're saying. The bigger spacers that T3 provided are 14mm inside, they fit perfectly over the threads and also fit perfectly in the top hat, they want me to turn the struts down so everything sits lower and I can actually thread the top nut on. In those pictures the top nut is completely threaded on and hand tight.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

the spring top hat isn't supposed to sit flush with the plate.

the plate needs to be able to pivot on the bearing when the suspension moves and the spring top hat needs to be perpendicular with the spring and not move.

I didn't realize those spacers weren't wide enough (over 20mm) to keep the plate underneath them.

turning down the shat will solve some of your problems, but just make sure you have a washer or something where the shaft transitions from 18mm to 14mm to keep the spring top hat underneath it.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Finally got it figured out... I hope. I went to the machinist and things just weren't clicking. I called T3 while I was there and we figured out that I was sent the wrong spacers. An hour later I had an email that the correct ones were on the way so I give huge thumbs up to Techno Toy Tuning for not only spending a lot of time in emails and on the phone, but providing CAD drawings and making things right so quickly. He said that with the correct spacers and the struts cut to the dimensions above, everything will work exactly as it should. The machinist could be done as soon as Monday and wants me to bring everything up so we can make sure it all fits.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Just an update: I bought front strut assemblies for $25 in order to save time. I brought them to the machinist to cut up so I can drop the Bilsteins in and not waste garage time cutting the ones on my car. Got the bad news that the housings are too rusted and beyond repair, they wouldn't feel safe putting them under a car. So I was on the hunt for new ones and came across a good looking set of front assemblies on eBay for $100 shipped. Almost pulled the trigger until I found these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Front-Shocks-Struts-86-92-Mazda-RX7-FC3S-Turbo-MK1-Mookeeh-/380451234743?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ARX-7&hash=item5894a923b7&vxp=mtr
^^^eBay pic

Brand new for $20 more shipped, can't beat it. I'll probably be doing just the rear suspension on Monday and Tuesday and I'll have to hold off on the fronts until the Mookeeh's arrive and get cut up.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Got the rears on last night and everything went well. The hardest part of the job was getting the interior out and back in.

What do you guys think about this spring seat? It looks like I'm gonna have to cut them off and weld new ones on.


Here's a better picture of why this concerns me:


It doesn't look like there's any way the GC spring sleeve will fit flush on that. I won't know until that big silver lip is cut off but I just rested the spring on it and it just doesn't seem like it will work.

eage8

iTrader: (9)

that's there for the stock spring, because it's not flat at the bottom, its there to hold the bottom coil of the spring.

you can either just slide the collar over top of it, or cut if off and weld a paltform lower down, it all depends on how much adjustment you want, how long your springs are, and how it all fits together.

I would contact ground control and ask them what their kit is designed to do.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

They said that they sent me a kit for an older Bilstein HD Sport shock and not for an insert that goes into stock housings. I guess there was a misunderstanding when I told them I was using the Bilatein inserts. I emailed them some pictures so they can tell me what I need to do. I'm starting to think that just buying the complete Ground Control coilovers with the Koni shocks for $1700 would have been the better move. I'm only a few hundred dollars shy of that and will have made three trips to a machine shop that's 30 minutes away and spend a good amount of time on the phone with T3 and GC by the time this is all done. I know that it will be better than any entry level coilover setup so I'm happy I at least did this but the GC/Koni combo is looking better by the day. Maybe on my next FC...

IAN

iTrader: (3)

I was going to buy the GC coilover kit a few months back but since its winter I had time to wait. But now the Canadian dollar tanked. Would almost cost $3000 with taxes shipping exchange and brokerage etc. LOL Thats to much money for a car that I would be lucky to get $6000 out of it and the paint job cost me more then that LOL.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

That's why I'm an impulse buyer... cause ya never know haha

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

So I finally got the front suspension in. Turns out the threaded sleeves from GC were correct, they have a notch that fits against the notch on the spring perch. It just didn't seem like it would seat correctly but it all seems ok.

Got the housings cut open and drilled:




Inserts went in with a couple welds around because that sleeve kept wanting to pop out


I did layer of JB Weld to keep out debris and a couple coats of paint to match the rear shocks




Out with the old, in with the new:






Bolted everything in when my friend said "looks like you're gonna have some positive caster." D'oh! Installed them sideways... back up on the lift to get them right:



I also replaced the ball joints with a set of OEM Mazda units from Mazdatrix, I noticed they were worn the last time I was under the car. This time I saw the tie rod ends also need to be replaced and I just happen to have a set of Super Now racing tie rod ends that I picked up from a group buy years ago when I had my coupe. I was saving them for a race car but who knows when that will happen so they're going on tomorrow and I'll be getting an alignment, which brings me to my next question:

What kind of alignment should I be looking to get? There seems to be a lot of negative camber in the rear and I don't know if they'll be able to dial some out. I was thinking -1.5* in the front, as suggested earlier. That way I'm not wearing the tires like crazy but still getting some benefit of negative camber. Then again, the car is emission exempt and I can't drive it more than 5k miles per year so maybe I should go a little further. I've read that toe should stay at 0* and I don't know if getting any positive caster is possible but I'll ask. I've always read that getting a good quality race alignment is key, not just a "it's in the green so it's good" alignment. Would it be insulting to ask the shop to make sure it's spot on? What's a good way to go about making sure it's as straight as possible? And before that I have to decide where I want the ride height. Right now it's sitting between 23.5"-25" from ground to wheel well, they're all uneven because I just eyed it up when installing them. Tomorrow I'm going to make sure all four corners are the same distance from the ground with me in it, but where about should that be? I will be driving over the occasional speed bump and some of the roads around here can be kind of rough until the pot holes get filled in.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Here is the ride height as it currently sits. It'll be getting an alignment from a trusted friend early next week and I'm looking for opinions. I've read that 25.5"F and 26"R are good but right now it looks ok so I don't know where to go from here. I will also be replacing the 195/50/15 RE01R's with 205/50/15 RE-11A's around summer time. Right now its LF 23.75", RF 24", LR 23.75, RR, 23.75 and here's how it looks







Also here are pics of the rear camber and the old/new tie rod ends in case anyone cares:

IAN

iTrader: (3)

Were did you get those tie rod ends?

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

I bought them years ago, probably around '08, along with super angle tie rods from a group buy here on the forum. There were two options, a "street" version that was purple and a "race" version that was blue. They've been sitting in my basement with the inner tie rods for years just waiting to go on the "future race car". I needed tie rod ends and these were just taking up space so I threw them on.

I've recently tried to find information on the race version but haven't had much luck. RHDJapan only lists the purple ones and I found one article that said they made a prototype blue but decided on manufacturing purple.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

its cool this is going on a vert!

ride height is up to you, if it gets used on the street, it needs to go over bumps and stuff, so it would be a little higher than a full race car which doesn't. i would find a flat place and make it even (24" would work for me on the street), bonus points for putting a driver in it, while you do it, or you can leave the LF a little high.

front toe, i haven't found this to make much difference in handling (street, and road race, auto-x might be different), but steering feels best at zero toe, so i'd do zero or maybe 1/16th" toe in.

front camber: on the street -.5 to -1 is good, at the track, its tire dependent, but maybe -2.5 and add as needed. on the alignment machine, you may mark -1 and -2.5, so you can go between.

front caster, it looks to be fixed, but i just max it out. haven't played with this much.

rear camber: stock is about -1.3, and this seems to be a good starting place.

rear toe: in my findings this is the most noticeable. i would set the toe adjusters in the middle, and use the rods to set toe to zero. that way you can add rear toe easily, just go a notch at a time. i liked zero toe, with a notch of toe in on the street.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I'm really happy with it. I found my '89 coupe rotted out when I had it back around '09 so it was just sitting until I could find a body to put the rebuilt and ported engine in. Last March an opportunity came along that allowed me to buy a car and I found this vert with 133k miles that needed a rebuild for $1500. Drove it home for $1100, had JPR Imports in south Jersey swap the keg in with Pineapple aux inserts and an RB exhaust and it's been great ever since. I haven't had an Rx-7 to drive since the coupe so I couldn't have been more excited to be back in one. We had great weather for convertibles last year, too.

I'll keep the height at 24", the only problem I have now is that the exhaust scrapes on some bumps and driveways but the front bumper seems to have plenty of clearance. The wrap on the RB header is scuffed/missing a bit right where it connects to the straight pipe. Not sure what I can do about that as it doesn't look like it can really go any higher, but I don't know much about exhaust work either. I could have my friend look at it while he's aligning and inspecting the car.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll have him set zero toe to start, -2.5 camber up front just so I can see how it reacts and whatever he can do with caster, if anything. The camber plates have slots where they mount to the car so maybe they can be slid a bit.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

Interesting day at the alignment shop. When driving I had this awful, loud clunking noise over even the slightest bumps that I could feel throughout my body and I really thought I was going to hate these coilovers. I thought maybe it was the lack of rubber mounts or poly bushings. I was wrong:





My end link bent and dragged the screw through the back of the wheel well. It happened on the driver's side, too, although that side was still straight:


So the screws were cut down but I'm just going to remove the sway bar completely since it and the end link are both bent.

Toe was zero'ed all around. Front caster was around 4-5* up front with no adjustment which I was happy with and rear camber sat at -2.5*, again with no adjustment. But then there are then fronts, which only got a -.3* of camber before the plates maxed out:





So it seems I'm an idiot and installed the camber plates sideways... twice... They need to put an arrow on these damn things for noobs like me who have never messed with them.
Anyway, the drive home was amazing. The car glided over bumps once I actually got the confidence to drive over them and after doing a run through my favorite local back road I had a huge smile on my face, once I was able to catch my breath. No clunks, no harsh vibrations, no bone-jarring bumps. As far as the end link goes: pothole? Too much stress from a stiffer suspension? Who knows? I did search and find a couple threads where people said to watch the end link bolts because they could hit the chassis but I didn't expect anything like that. Maybe that's what did it. Either way I've been reading for years that people remove the rear sway and the car is now the slightest bit tail happy but it happens about 10mph faster that it used to.

I'll flip the camber plates around when I have time (probably next weekend) and just max it out on both sides as long as it doesn't look ridiculous. I just hope it doesn't affect my toe too much because I don't know when I'll be able to get it back to the alignment shop. The first autox events are April 12 and 19 and I couldn't be more excited. I'll probably have the car realigned by then.