Well since I sold the SR20 Altezza I've been itching to build something else but this time fingers crossed I'll actually get it onto a track. While Martin is sorting the KP61 (The keeper), I've been looking on donedeal for the right base car, I finally bit the bullet and bought a 2004 Mazda RX8 231bhp model. I drove one of these for a few weeks years ago (Thanks D) and it left a lasting impression on me but you would feel cheated having driven an FD3S...

Kieran who joined up to Irish Rotary recently was looking for running gear from the above for an MX5 project so that suited me perfectly, alongside Bear aka Ross, we went up to Dublin, viewed the car and trailered it back to the workshop I'm currently breaking it to fund parts. I would love to stay Rotary and fit a 13B from the FD3S however reading up on the conversion on RX8Club.com and Brad Hackers thread on DW the cost of just getting the engine in and running on a single turbo alone would be the same as building a full equiped car running an SR. So cheap and cheerful it is.

Over the next few months I hope to build something useable with the help of D.R.T. Automotive, I hope we can turn out something unique. The plans for the car is to cage it (Thanks Mr. Stone), SR it and basically drive it on trackdays, hope to have it ready for around Easter all going well.

Current Spec :
Mazda RX8
SR20 Blacktop Engine, loom, ecu. Thanks to Gem
RB25 Gearbox, Prop, Shifter & Adapter Plate. Thanks to Alan Sinnott

Only have the car a sort while so will be spending time gathering parts for now along with Kieran who will getting the MX5 sorted. Here are the pic's of the car that we took on the way back from Dublin. I don't imagine there will be many more pic's for a few weeks. Shocking I know, the pic ***** is loosing his touch.








These engines really are tiny !



Small update, the original heart is gone, time for the transplant LoL



And she's back home for a couple of weeks to go on a diet before she gets treated to a proper cage



Well it only took a couple of hours but already looks way better, started with full trim, still have to take out the doorcards, heater matrix, loom and sound proofing but happy for now...

 

Ive done some reading up about drifting the rx8. I know very little about pro drifting but I hear it gets difficult with the rx8 not being struts in the front. Something about lack of adequate turning radius. Do you plan to do anything about it? Check out this article. Thats where I heard about it. And good luck with your build.

http://www.superstreetonline.com/fea...#ixzz1glBWHkle

 

subed

 

interested to hear how well this setup performs - keep the info coming .

 

That's a nice beginning. Too bad she won't be powered by our beloved engine
I understand the cost part though, really.

Any idea on the cage design? Based on it the rear brackets behind the seats may or may not be thrown away.

Will you seam weld the chassis? A new heart and kidney from the black market are cheaper than that but still...

 

Looks interesting man. SR20 Altezza? was the white one with the Silly wide Work Meisters?

 

we definatly have struts up front... just saying.

 

lol I was thinking the same thing when I read that. wut? lol

 

In that article I read this is the statement I'm referring to:

"Unfortunately, a double wishbone setup is not very good for drifting. A lot of drift cars that have the most angle run a MacPherson setup. There is one less wishbone for the suspension to hit when turning."

 

Not really sure why your doing a SR, but whatever.

While thres is no way to get 60deg angle as easily as 240s up front since the 8 has a uca



How ever this doesn't mean it isn't possible to get good angle, you can make custom tubular arms to fix this. And honestly while it helps, you don't need 60 deg of angle.


This is plenty enough, JTPs old rx8 setup. Even without all this crazy suspension work, you can still get decent angle with just modified knuckles.

 

I will be adding more lock to the car but until I get started on it I can't comment. I have no doubt whatever the challenge there will be a solution, just might cost a bit more

Cheers fella...

Will do fella...

I would love to triple rotor her however we have no rotary tuners in Ireland so we have to go the UK so just to get the car there and mapped would be over a grand (€1,000euro) on its own and building a triple rotor is very expensive here.

I will be leaving the design up to John Stone however I have a few inputs I will be aiming to put across in laymans english

I won't seam weld the car to start off with as I just want to fit a weld in cage and time is against me. Organs already up for grabs, don't drink or smoke should be worth a few bucks LoL

Silly wide, well they were 18 x 11JJ up front and 18 x 13.5JJ at the rear, is that silly ?

Here is the build thread for the Altezza :
http://www.driftireland.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=10993

And here is the feature on speedhunters :
http://speedhunters.com/archive/2011...e-balance.aspx



LoL

We'll sort it dude however I won't manage forklift angle

Thanks for that mate, thats why I joined up the forum, god knows the how too section helped big time with the dash removal

Lokks like you can get lock from them alright

 

Darn, too bad you won't seam weld the chassis from the get go. Stripping a car down twice sucks but if time is a concern then you can't help but skip the process.
The lack of rotary tuners and good builders in europe is a shame. Even the costs border on robbery at times.

What engine did the car have? Some rb20 powered cars shared the az6 aisin gearbox that we have. You already have the transmission part dialed in but having a tranny with different gears lying around is always good.

 

SUBBED. good luck with build

 

I may try sort it out while its getting the cage if it can be turned around quick enough then I'll get it done, hope to have her built by the end of Sept... Pip in WGT is very good, he built an n/a triple rotor RX8 years ago, it was awesome.

Which car ? The RX8 had the 231bhp model and the Altezza had the SR20DET engine from an S14, the rb25 box should work perfect for what I need however I would love to fit the box from a 350Z but the sheer size of it and fabrication costs don't make it an option for me.

Cheers Jake

 

You also have Saenz up there that offers a sequential gearbox that works for both the sr20 and 13b-msp engines. Just making you hate your budget :p
Our 6sp transmission will work with the sr20 anyway, you may want to keep it as a spare...

 

Saenz ? I just don't want this dragging on years, I want to get some seat time this year

 

http://www.saenztransmissioneurope.com/
Not the best transmissions of course, holinger and quaife would be better options but still... they're local to you

 

Cheers for that fella

Not much of an update, been busy with moving and work. These are fiddley little ******* to strip, plenty of hidden clips and bolts. got the boot stripped out, my god the amount of **** coming outta this car, I can't wait to see what the final weight is...


Stripped off the rear doorcards also and the locking system on these should be a ***** with fibreglass doors... The more panels that come off the more wiring I find, stripping the loom is gonna be a pain in the sack !

 

just out of curiosity, how many hours did it take stripping this thing from where it was when you got it, to where it was now?

 

If you know where the clips are located or don't care about them i'd say less than 3 hours.

 

^+1

subbed to this thread

i'm interested to know as to why you chose the RB transmission...i realize there are other options - just wanted to know any specifics. (ie. less fabrication work, easier fit, better gearing etc.)

 

About 4hrs all together, this forum is very useful for directions and how too's...

I care a small bit

Strength, rs20 gearboxes give up the fight at around 350bhp, I plan to run 400bhp+. A friend over here is running 425bhp on the same spec as myself.

I'm going to throw the Work Meisters on tomorrow for a look and see how they fit

 

Quick update, I got bored of stripping panels and the wiring loom is just gonna be a ***** so I moved onto removing the sound proofing. I started in the boot and on the right hand side chipping away, what I had noticed is that there had been a pretty big oil spill with the previous owner and what you could call the spare wheel well had been filled. What happened next was brilliant, the oil had soak into the sound proofing over time and the centre section just lifted off, no hammer or force needed, the glue came off also with the proofing so a quick wipe of a cloth brought it right up. Curious to see if this would work again I got some waste oil and used it on the glue on the sides of the boot and it lifted it. At the rear bench I spread some oil on a small corner and let it soak in overnight, hoping (desperately LoL) that it would work again. Unfortunately it needed more time and I don’t have patience so I hammered away and used some petrol to lift off the glue. Job done for the back half, gonna get stuck into the front half of the car later on. Here are some pic’s for now :

Notice how the centre section is practically mark free compared to the rest… Pity it is not an overnight process….

 

heatgun ftw!

 

Nice! haha how are you not scared of ripping your 8 apart!!!

scribed for build