My wife is letting me have a Wankle with twins
Discussion
OK time for an update! I have had 5 months of Rotary ownership now, over this time i have covered over 2,000 miles, done 1 oil change and already been to a drag strip!
When I got the car I knew I had to get some miles on the engine before giving it some welly. Luck would have it the Mazda Rotary Club hold an annual Rotary meet and this years was in the joyful Northampton which is roughly 180 miles away from us.....perfect to get a lot of miles on the car!!
The down side was the weather, we had biblical rain the whole day and a nice big thunder storm, this did mean not many car's turned up
On the plus side the RX didn't leak and we remained nice and warm and dry 
Also in the Summer we planned a nice trip to Cheddar Gourge for some cream teas and photos.....stupidly I forgot to charge the SLR so had to deal with my phone lol plus the heavens opened (something that seems to happen a lot with the Mazda)
The next adventure was Santa Pod for the JapShow Finale held in October. We have not been to this event in 6 years since we last owned our Supra, it was a fantastic day and a great chance to meet up with the FDUK club and see some other cars. Sadly the racing wasn't as good as it used to be with less big tuners running on the strip and more RWYB types.
Here are some photos from the day:
The final run out we did for the year was a night photo shoot on Exmoor, now in the future I think these need to be a strictly summer even as it was Fecking cold! I will certainly do something like this again when I get a better light.
There will be more updates over Christmas as I have this to fit from my wife
And I have just ordered a load of LEDs to change the guage cluster and switches from green/amber to red.
When I got the car I knew I had to get some miles on the engine before giving it some welly. Luck would have it the Mazda Rotary Club hold an annual Rotary meet and this years was in the joyful Northampton which is roughly 180 miles away from us.....perfect to get a lot of miles on the car!!
The down side was the weather, we had biblical rain the whole day and a nice big thunder storm, this did mean not many car's turned up
On the plus side the RX didn't leak and we remained nice and warm and dry Also in the Summer we planned a nice trip to Cheddar Gourge for some cream teas and photos.....stupidly I forgot to charge the SLR so had to deal with my phone lol plus the heavens opened (something that seems to happen a lot with the Mazda)
The next adventure was Santa Pod for the JapShow Finale held in October. We have not been to this event in 6 years since we last owned our Supra, it was a fantastic day and a great chance to meet up with the FDUK club and see some other cars. Sadly the racing wasn't as good as it used to be with less big tuners running on the strip and more RWYB types.
Here are some photos from the day:
The final run out we did for the year was a night photo shoot on Exmoor, now in the future I think these need to be a strictly summer even as it was Fecking cold! I will certainly do something like this again when I get a better light.
There will be more updates over Christmas as I have this to fit from my wife
And I have just ordered a load of LEDs to change the guage cluster and switches from green/amber to red.
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:31
Edited by Daston on Wednesday 9th August 17:18
Daston said:
OK time for an update! I have had 5 months of Rotary ownership now, over this time i have covered over 2,000 miles, done 1 oil change and already been to a drag strip!
When I got the car I knew I had to get some miles on the engine before giving it some welly. Luck would have it the Mazda Rotary Club hold an annual Rotary meet and this years was in the joyful Northampton which is roughly 180 miles away from us.....perfect to get a lot of miles on the car!!
The down side was the weather, we had biblical rain the whole day and a nice big thunder storm, this did mean not many car's turned up On the plus side the RX didn't leak and we remained nice and warm and dry
Also in the Summer we planned a nice trip to Cheddar Gourge for some cream teas and photos.....stupidly I forgot to charge the SLR so had to deal with my phone lol plus the heavens opened (something that seems to happen a lot with the Mazda)
The next adventure was Santa Pod for the JapShow Finale held in October. We have not been to this event in 6 years since we last owned our Supra, it was a fantastic day and a great chance to meet up with the FDUK club and see some other cars. Sadly the racing wasn't as good as it used to be with less big tuners running on the strip and more RWYB types.
Here are some photos from the day:
The final run out we did for the year was a night photo shoot on Exmoor, now in the future I think these need to be a strickly summer even as it was Fecking cold! I will certainly do something like this again when I get a better light.
There will be more updates over Christmas as I have this to fit from my wife
And I have just ordered a load of LEDs to change the guage cluster and switches from green/amber to red.
Sounds like your ownership experience is a good one mate When I got the car I knew I had to get some miles on the engine before giving it some welly. Luck would have it the Mazda Rotary Club hold an annual Rotary meet and this years was in the joyful Northampton which is roughly 180 miles away from us.....perfect to get a lot of miles on the car!!
The down side was the weather, we had biblical rain the whole day and a nice big thunder storm, this did mean not many car's turned up
On the plus side the RX didn't leak and we remained nice and warm and dry Also in the Summer we planned a nice trip to Cheddar Gourge for some cream teas and photos.....stupidly I forgot to charge the SLR so had to deal with my phone lol plus the heavens opened (something that seems to happen a lot with the Mazda)
The next adventure was Santa Pod for the JapShow Finale held in October. We have not been to this event in 6 years since we last owned our Supra, it was a fantastic day and a great chance to meet up with the FDUK club and see some other cars. Sadly the racing wasn't as good as it used to be with less big tuners running on the strip and more RWYB types.
Here are some photos from the day:
The final run out we did for the year was a night photo shoot on Exmoor, now in the future I think these need to be a strickly summer even as it was Fecking cold! I will certainly do something like this again when I get a better light.
There will be more updates over Christmas as I have this to fit from my wife
And I have just ordered a load of LEDs to change the guage cluster and switches from green/amber to red.
So no problems to note? The reason I ask is I'm looking to get one, and I have a feeling it could be the same guy that you almost bought one from initally that was speccing one up from you. Owns a caravan site in Surry, near Gatwick Airport? His name is CharleP on the MRC forums Anyway here is the link to the car. Tell me what you think
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...Watched this recently. Quite funny how everyone's attention is drawn away from the Ferrari when they hear the RX7 coming!
http://youtu.be/1eIIKKwjV0A
http://youtu.be/1eIIKKwjV0A
Hoddy910 said:
Sounds like your ownership experience is a good one mate So no problems to note? The reason I ask is I'm looking to get one, and I have a feeling it could be the same guy that you almost bought one from initally that was speccing one up from you. Owns a caravan site in Surry, near Gatwick Airport? His name is CharleP on the MRC forums
Anyway here is the link to the car. Tell me what you thinkhttp://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...
Yeah it was Charlie, was a real nice chap and was such a shame it didn't work out. So no problems to note? The reason I ask is I'm looking to get one, and I have a feeling it could be the same guy that you almost bought one from initally that was speccing one up from you. Owns a caravan site in Surry, near Gatwick Airport? His name is CharleP on the MRC forums Anyway here is the link to the car. Tell me what you think
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/m...I have so far had no issues with the car at all
Engine is still under warrentee and runs like a dream. Although the Tuscan I had was quicker the power delivery of the RX feels more raw.The only problems I have faced have been those you would expect with a 17 year old car, things like bushes squeaking and the battery giving up the ghost.
Thought I would get some photos up of the Christmas plans
Currently my dash looks like this
The plan is to swap all the bulbs from the gauge cluster, heater controls and centre console buttons to red LEDs. I have done a lot of reading up on how to do this so fingers crossed won't be too hard (famous last words!). So far the steering wheel is off and all the small trim removed so I can work on it in the garage.
I will also be doing a bit of tarting up in the engine bay and around the car. First things first is to change the headlight bulbs to some higher powered ones as the current ones were a bit lacking after our exmoor midnight run. Thankfully I happened to find a pack that belonged to our old Tuscan and as luck would have it are recommended for the 7 as well!
I also need to clear the paint powder from the intake manifold and clean up the intercooler piping, thinking of spraying it satin black and changing the silicon hose to red
I have also noted a few missing bolts and rusty bolts that need changing.
Holes in the wings, need to find out what went here.
Some Rusty headlight brackets, plan on getting these out and spraying them black.
Plus some missing bolts and some more powder on the top of the crash panel.
All in all not to bad considering the age of the car, I was expecting a lot worse.
Currently my dash looks like this
The plan is to swap all the bulbs from the gauge cluster, heater controls and centre console buttons to red LEDs. I have done a lot of reading up on how to do this so fingers crossed won't be too hard (famous last words!). So far the steering wheel is off and all the small trim removed so I can work on it in the garage.
I will also be doing a bit of tarting up in the engine bay and around the car. First things first is to change the headlight bulbs to some higher powered ones as the current ones were a bit lacking after our exmoor midnight run. Thankfully I happened to find a pack that belonged to our old Tuscan and as luck would have it are recommended for the 7 as well!
I also need to clear the paint powder from the intake manifold and clean up the intercooler piping, thinking of spraying it satin black and changing the silicon hose to red
I have also noted a few missing bolts and rusty bolts that need changing.
Holes in the wings, need to find out what went here.
Some Rusty headlight brackets, plan on getting these out and spraying them black.
Plus some missing bolts and some more powder on the top of the crash panel.
All in all not to bad considering the age of the car, I was expecting a lot worse.
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:38
Just spotted your thread in here It's nice to see a clean one. My Christmas plans are out of the window due to someone hitting me last month and still not having the car back. That said, while it's in the garage my front calipers and master cylinder are getting rebuilt. It's all about reliability first for me.
It's nice to see a clean one. My Christmas plans are out of the window due to someone hitting me last month and still not having the car back. That said, while it's in the garage my front calipers and master cylinder are getting rebuilt. It's all about reliability first for me.Daston said:
Yeah it was Charlie, was a real nice chap and was such a shame it didn't work out.
I have so far had no issues with the car at all Engine is still under warrentee and runs like a dream. Although the Tuscan I had was quicker the power delivery of the RX feels more raw.
The only problems I have faced have been those you would expect with a 17 year old car, things like bushes squeaking and the battery giving up the ghost.
That's great to hear mate I have so far had no issues with the car at all
Engine is still under warrentee and runs like a dream. Although the Tuscan I had was quicker the power delivery of the RX feels more raw.The only problems I have faced have been those you would expect with a 17 year old car, things like bushes squeaking and the battery giving up the ghost.
I'm currently waiting on a black rex to come out of the garage that Charlie uses. Strangely enough they are having issues (not with the car but other things) which is a little concerning from what you said before on a previous post :~( but once it's done it should be 400hp single turbo, which I like the sound of ;-) There is a white one which sounds really good as well. Comes with a fresh respray, engine still has the twins but kicks out 320hp with the apexi ECU, bushes renewed and has Meister R coilovers So I have to decide between power and handling :P Ooh but I like black :PWhere abouts are you from anyway? I don't know of anyone around here with one. I'm from Rotherham. Not seen one around here in easily 10 years!
Hoddy910 said:
That's great to hear mate I'm currently waiting on a black rex to come out of the garage that Charlie uses. Strangely enough they are having issues (not with the car but other things) which is a little concerning from what you said before on a previous post :~( but once it's done it should be 400hp single turbo, which I like the sound of ;-) There is a white one which sounds really good as well. Comes with a fresh respray, engine still has the twins but kicks out 320hp with the apexi ECU, bushes renewed and has Meister R coilovers So I have to decide between power and handling :P Ooh but I like black :P
Where abouts are you from anyway? I don't know of anyone around here with one. I'm from Rotherham. Not seen one around here in easily 10 years!
Sounds like you should be sorted either way. Personally I would go for a good single set up if you want the grunt. You can change the bushes and coils yourself on a set of axle stands and they are not too expensive (when compared to a single setup). I'm currently waiting on a black rex to come out of the garage that Charlie uses. Strangely enough they are having issues (not with the car but other things) which is a little concerning from what you said before on a previous post :~( but once it's done it should be 400hp single turbo, which I like the sound of ;-) There is a white one which sounds really good as well. Comes with a fresh respray, engine still has the twins but kicks out 320hp with the apexi ECU, bushes renewed and has Meister R coilovers So I have to decide between power and handling :P Ooh but I like black :PWhere abouts are you from anyway? I don't know of anyone around here with one. I'm from Rotherham. Not seen one around here in easily 10 years!
I have managed to do a bit more work with the interior this week.
Steering wheel and gauges removed (was great fun trying to balance on my knees on the seat to reach the cables whilst head butting the windscreen).
I have started taking the heater controls apart first, changed the bulbs over to LEDs but have hit my first stumbling block. It turns out the fan dial images have a green tint.
Looking on the reverse of the plastic it looks to be patches of green film stuck over the plastic, so I should be able to either A) Remove this with adhesive remover or B) sand it off with very fine sand paper.
I have also removed the clock spring and test fitted my new boss, will need to fabricate some form of lever/metal pad for the horn so that it works on the new wheel.
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:41
looks very good what you're doing to it there mate, giving it your own twist When are your new wheels going to arrive? They are the dogs danglies the ones you are looking at, I like your taste
Yes I think I will hold out for the black rex. I'll post up a thread once I acquire the monster :P
When are your new wheels going to arrive? They are the dogs danglies the ones you are looking at, I like your taste Yes I think I will hold out for the black rex. I'll post up a thread once I acquire the monster :P
Hoddy910 said:
looks very good what you're doing to it there mate, giving it your own twist When are your new wheels going to arrive? They are the dogs danglies the ones you are looking at, I like your taste
Yes I think I will hold out for the black rex. I'll post up a thread once I acquire the monster :P
Sadly the Work Wheels have shot up by around 30% When are your new wheels going to arrive? They are the dogs danglies the ones you are looking at, I like your taste Yes I think I will hold out for the black rex. I'll post up a thread once I acquire the monster :P
however Rota do a style of wheel that is the same but 1/3 of the price and is avaliable off the shelf Plan on ordering a couple next week.
Wired the heater controls up to test the LEDs, happy with the results. Just need to add an extra LED to the fan direction panel.
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:42
Just a small update, I have had some ups and downs when it has come to the main cluster.
The replacement LEDs turned up and work perfectly. However the light spread isn't the best with the speedo and fuel gauge being the worst effected.
I plan on solving this by adding 3 - 4 extra bulbs around the cluster to even the light out. So far so good....until I got idle hands one evening and decided to attempt to take the speedo face off.
The guide I am following suggested to put the speedo to the max that it would go and then mark that position (the needle attempts to reset if you let go). I then gripped the needle and gave it a pull....all this did was snap the round plastic base (superglue time) but more annoyingly the needle now is 10mm further round than it was so I fear it may now over read
Think the plan now is to get it together and leave the cluster apart, I can then check the speed against my GPS and move the needle as nessasary, or failing that see if Mazda can calibrate it.
Anyhoo this is how its looking:
The replacement LEDs turned up and work perfectly. However the light spread isn't the best with the speedo and fuel gauge being the worst effected.
I plan on solving this by adding 3 - 4 extra bulbs around the cluster to even the light out. So far so good....until I got idle hands one evening and decided to attempt to take the speedo face off.
The guide I am following suggested to put the speedo to the max that it would go and then mark that position (the needle attempts to reset if you let go). I then gripped the needle and gave it a pull....all this did was snap the round plastic base (superglue time) but more annoyingly the needle now is 10mm further round than it was so I fear it may now over read
Think the plan now is to get it together and leave the cluster apart, I can then check the speed against my GPS and move the needle as nessasary, or failing that see if Mazda can calibrate it.
Anyhoo this is how its looking:
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:43
Wow, the first two pics look fantastic. Not normally my sort of car but very cool. I was going to suggest not putting any rear wing or black wheels on but I suppose I'm going against modern tastes.
Hope you get many years of enjoyment out of it. The car that is, not the wife. Well her too I suppose
Hope you get many years of enjoyment out of it. The car that is, not the wife. Well her too I suppose
toon10 said:
Wow, the first two pics look fantastic. Not normally my sort of car but very cool. I was going to suggest not putting any rear wing or black wheels on but I suppose I'm going against modern tastes.
Hope you get many years of enjoyment out of it. The car that is, not the wife. Well her too I suppose
I am thinking a small duck tail spoiler might give the back end that little bit of interest, looks a big flat from some angles as if something is missing. Hope you get many years of enjoyment out of it. The car that is, not the wife. Well her too I suppose
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:44
Had a busy weekend so not too much time was spent on the car, but I did test fit the cluster and even with extra LED's the speedo did not light up at all
So I decided to man up and attack it with some paint stripper as hard as tried I could not remove the needle from the gauge but I did notice that there was a 40x40mm notch cut out of the side of the clear backing. I then came up with the plan of pulling the face off and just rotating it round to the this point and using a small modeling brush remove the green tint from each number.
It took a very long time but last night I finished all the gauges, here is the finished rev counter.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WXjpt6]
[/url]
Tonight I hope to have the extra LEDs soldered in and then I can finally see what it looks like in the car. More photos later....I hope!
So I decided to man up and attack it with some paint stripper
as hard as tried I could not remove the needle from the gauge but I did notice that there was a 40x40mm notch cut out of the side of the clear backing. I then came up with the plan of pulling the face off and just rotating it round to the this point and using a small modeling brush remove the green tint from each number.It took a very long time but last night I finished all the gauges, here is the finished rev counter.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WXjpt6]
[/url]Tonight I hope to have the extra LEDs soldered in and then I can finally see what it looks like in the car. More photos later....I hope!
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:46
Well big milestone hit today! The dash is back together and the new wheel is on!
Just got to shave down the plastic trim a bit as it fouls on the hub.
Also the gauges now look like this
All seems to be working ok, the odo is having a bit of a brain fart and is not displaying numbers. I had a poke about and I think it could be an earthing issue as it would sometimes light up ok but then go dead...
Just got to shave down the plastic trim a bit as it fouls on the hub.
Also the gauges now look like this
All seems to be working ok, the odo is having a bit of a brain fart and is not displaying numbers. I had a poke about and I think it could be an earthing issue as it would sometimes light up ok but then go dead...
Edited by Daston on Tuesday 8th August 23:48
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