mazda rx-7 SA22 - major chassis rebuild!

[GTRfan01]

hello,

i recently got the aoshima rx-7 'daytona 24hr' SA22C series 3? and, well, wasn't impressed....
and here's why,



what a great chassis.....

so, as i had a few days off work, and with rain pouring down it seemed like a good opportunity to do something Ive been wanting to do for a while.
a complete space frame chassis build.
I guess it will now be what we in australia would call a sports sedan, possibly trans-am in NZ and elsewhere i think??

anyway, there are no progress pics as such as i was really winging it, its been chopped and changed many times so there was no point of pics as i went as is didnt know if
it was going to work! haha

but i can say how it kind of came together.
step 1 was to build the main floor, to which the subframes then connect to.
i simply made it to the dimensions of the floor pan of the rx7. however i think i need to trim some from the wheel wells.

i then worked out the hubs i was going to use, which came from an aoshima VIP car kit that i actually bought for parts for another project. (good way to get 20" rims!)
this gave me where the wishbones etc would need to reach.
i also used the diff and some of the wishbones from this to get some sort of idea on where to progress from there.
i could have used the wheels that came with the kit, but these has the srew in type fitment that old aoshima kits have, plus no slicks..... so on a set of fujimi watanabe race wheels/ tyres.

so here is where its at, everthing is sratch built apart from hubs, brakes and upper wishbones.





unfortunately the rear tyres have a weird dip in them, as you can see from the pictures, does anyone have any good ideas to fix this? i was going to build up the centre of the rim under the tyre....



i only just got the engine in the post today, which is what has got me to put these photos up now that i can make some more progress.

here are some more photos with the body loosely on.

PS; dont expect regular updates, this build takes more time than i have, so its a long term commitment for me!

[nugundam93]

wow, definitely a long-term project with the level of scratchbuilding. still, i'm here for the long haul. looking good so far!

[da_ashman]

Great work so far! looking forward to more!!
What Engine did you get?

[GTRfan01]

thanks for the comments.

da_ashman;
i just got a tamiya rx7 R1 that has the engine in the kit.
Part of the reason being i will simply cast a copy of this engine block....or should i say rotor housing, and also make a cast of any other parts i need.
Then the rx7 R1 kit is still complete and able to be built in the future.
I will then scratch build the rest of the turbo, piping etc

also, this tamiya kit has the engine and gearbox separate (gearbox is actually cast into the chassis) so that also gives me some freedom whether i have a gearbox off the engine or a transaxle up the back....

[lasagna99]

an impressive work,really....

for the rear tires,you can "fill" the centre of the rims with glued plastic plate until you get the good tyre profile.

[GTRfan01]

Originally Posted by lasagna99

an impressive work,really....

for the rear tires,you can "fill" the centre of the rims with glued plastic plate until you get the good tyre profile.

thanks

i will try that with the wheels

[GTRfan01]

I'm back into it!
Progress has been slow but I've got a bit done;

casted a rotary engine, transaxle and turbo
scratch built the intercooler, exhaust and intake manifolds and piping.
and raided the parts bin for radiator, steering wheel, pedals and shifter (all from Peugeot gr.B rally car i think)

After leaving this one in the box for a few months i found that the chassis had warped a bit, probably a few causes at work there.
I cut a few sections, re joined them and braced the chassis, making sure this time it was all square.
I then let it sit dead flat while everything dried so it should be ok now.

I have done alot of the floor and transmission tunnel, modifying a few parts of the chassis as i went.

anyway i'll let the photos tell the story.

[Cookster007]

That's a lot of work in that space frame. Look forward to watching progress on this build.

Cheers
Anthony

[GTRfan01]

Originally Posted by Cookster007

That's a lot of work in that space frame. Look forward to watching progress on this build.

Cheers
Anthony

thanks.
hopefully i get to painting soon!

[da_ashman]

Looking good!!