Project: "Last RX-7" by Herblenny

[Herblenny]

Brief information about me...

My name is Philip Sohn. I been in rotary scene for over 10 years and have owned my share of rotaries (RX-2, RX-3, 1st gen RX7, 2nd gen RX-7, 10 or so 3rd gens, RX-8, Eunos Cosmo 3 Rotor, etc).
Here are few pics of the cars I've owned..

1993 MB RX-7, 1972 Orange RX-2 coupe, 2004 Lighting Yellow GT RX-8


1985 GSL-SE RX-7 mint!


1991 RX-7 convertible (first rotary I bought)


1973 RX-3 coupe (track ready)


1993 RX-7 base blk/blk (my first FD)


1991 Eunos Cosmo 3 Rotor


1994 SSM FD (My other project)



I also run one of the biggest rotary car event called, 'Deals Gap Rotary Rally' (www.DealsGapRotaryRally.com).


And if someone ask me what my specialty is, it would be 3rd generation RX-7. I've owned more of these than any cars and have built 3-4 of them in the past. I personally think FD3S RX7 is the best car Mazda has produced and one of the top sports car available in the 90s and still one of the best today. For the past 8 years, I been collecting rare parts, manuals, magazines, and been lucky that some vendors appreciated my build and sponsored me (Thank you Exedy USA, WORK Wheels, Disc Brakes Australia, and Bride). Last year, I made it on to the cover of Modified Magazine and recently featured on S3 Mag.



Modified Mag feature: http://www.modified.com/features/mod...o/viewall.html
Modified Mag feature about my event: http://www.modified.com/events/modp-...y/viewall.html

After over 10 years of owning and now my life is starting to change (Married and with a young son), I am wanting to build my "Last RX-7" and go out with a bang. I been studying and researching about 3 rotor RX-7 and that is what my "Last RX-7" will be.

From Now til SEMA 2012, I will be posting here my build process... Pretty much from a stripped chassis to show/track ready RX-7. This is almost 10 years of making in which that I been collecting parts for about that long... and how things comes around in full circle. So, please check often as I'll be posting detail process of this build.




Now to my build!

Friday Nov. 4th, 2011 - It was my last day at SEMA 2011 in Vegas, talking to some of my sponsors and checking out the cars at SEMA. But my main goal was to find a vendor/sponsor who will show my "Last RX-7" next year. After talking to few, I approached my sponsor Disc Brakes Australia (http://www.dba.com.au/) who graciously supported me in the past with my other RX-7 and RX-8. I had this 5-10 minute spill all lined up and asked the owner of DBA about my car being at their booth next year. After 2 sentences out of my mouth, owner said, "Sure!". I didn't know what to say at that point.. I think I just mumbled on and finished pitching the car even though I already got an OK from the owner. He said, he will love to have the car and right and there, my dream of building a car to SEMA has begun!!!

Sunday Nov. 6th, 2011 - I flew back to Birmingham, AL day before and I got sick. This is the day I'm heading to New Orleans, LA to pick up my rolling chassis to begin my "Last RX-7" project. I was pretty sick in the morning where I went into UAB Hospital ER to make sure I was ok to travel. They gave me some antibiotic and I decided to head down there to pick up this 1993 Red RX-7. With help from a good friend John Lewis and loaner trailer from my best friend Leo Huang, we drove to New Orleans to pick up the FD.

And here it is!











Thanks to my friends in New Orleans, Jack and Jonathan from Gorilla RE (www.GorillaRE.com) I got the car loaded and then we went out to eat

Monday Nov. 7th, 2011 - We left New Orleans and headed back to Bham to drop off the car at my friend Walker Morgan's shop. He is by far the most professional and best fabricator in town. His skills are by far the best I have seen and he himself have worked on several SEMA cars and such. His company webiste is: www.mpfab.com

Car leaving New Orleans


At Walker's Shop! www.mpfab.com

[OMGz Turbo]

LOL I FREAKING KNEW IT! I have that modified issue im like...i know that car....And its awesome


Sick collection bro

[c7scayman]

Never heard of the Eunos Cosmo. Looks cool.

[TalonTsi97]

Awesome collection, can't wait to see where ya go with this one.

[SvicksTc]

Awesome and sick collection of roataries...

That is some pride and dedication to stick it through with rotaries all those years..

I loved mine for quite some time..

[davin]

Look forward to meeting you at DGRR.

APONOUT?

[Herblenny]

Awesome! You'll have a good time at DGRR and I believe good number of people are heading down from tri-state area.


Anyhow, bit more update...

Wednesday, Nov. 9th, 2011 - Been searching for my missing parts and trying to put my engine together so we can test fit it in the car.

Here is my 20B/3 Rotor, built D series engine. Engine was built by my builder Luis Canizales. I consider him to be one of the top builders in the country.



Test fitting the motor mounts.


Different flanges for the manifold.. trying to decide which ones to use.


Ready to transport!


Wednesday Nov. 16th, 2011 - I was going to install the engine earlier, but due to rain, I didn't get to until now.. I decided to delete PS, AC.. So, I used Mavel manual rack to install the 20B.

In the engine bay!

[OMGz Turbo]

So whats the advantage of a 3 rotor over a regular rotary? I was never into these cars...All i know is they sound crazy up high in the RPMs


Now a 3 rotor has how much of a horsepower/displacement gain over the original. Are you turboing or naturally aspirated

[Herblenny]

Originally Posted by OMGz Turbo

So whats the advantage of a 3 rotor over a regular rotary? I was never into these cars...All i know is they sound crazy up high in the RPMs


Now a 3 rotor has how much of a horsepower/displacement gain over the original. Are you turboing or naturally aspirated

3 rotor increases displacement by another 33% (1.3 to 2.0). The engine 3 rotor/20B came from a car called Eunos Cosmo (I posted pic of it on post #1), a luxury brand of Mazda (like Lexus or Acura). Cosmo 20B was the most expensive Mazda in the history of Mazda.. back when (1990-1995), it was sold for over 60K USD. It was also first in automotive world for 3 rotor engine, central touch screen navi/climate control, seq. twin turbo, etc.

Regarding power, this is the engine that won twice in Daytona 24hr (same short block with different compression rotors) and NHRA 3 rotor drag cars. HP potential is over 1000 and because of its displacement you gain quite a bit of torque.

I'll be doing force induction...


Update

December 6th, 2011 I got a call from my fabricator and he said he checked on the pricing for the Stainless 321 and going to order some for the new manifold set up. This means, my old SS 321 manifold with Racing Beat header flange is for sale!!! If you are interested let me know

Here are pics of my old flange set up!

Here are the pics and placement of the turbo.. Turbonetic T76 BB.





In the car with Hinson 20B /Pettit Subframe with this manifold with Garret T76 with T4 Undivided flange.

[laser92dsm]

Wow! You have such dedication. I have always been curious about rx-7's I have always wanted a clean T2 FC, but that is easier said than found. I will be watching this thread a lot and I cant wait to see the progress. Good luck with the car!

[davin]

Just to put everything into perspective, dropping a 3 rotor into an FD is $40,000.00 on average.

[Herblenny]

Originally Posted by laser92dsm

Wow! You have such dedication. I have always been curious about rx-7's I have always wanted a clean T2 FC, but that is easier said than found. I will be watching this thread a lot and I cant wait to see the progress. Good luck with the car!

Finding a clean 2nd gen or 3rd gen is a task... especially since these cars are 20 years old or older for 2nd gens. But that being said, finding a clean unmolested on do happen. My SSM FD is 93, black interior, with only 32K miles with mint original paint (I'll most more about this car later). So, things are out there.. but you need to be patient and willing to pay if you find it


More update.. getting close to today's update ;)


December 8th, 2011 - My fabricator/friend Walker Morgan has explain to me how he was going to build the new 20B manifold. We've decided to use bit more expensive, 321 Stainless for the new manifold. I'm excited to see how its going to turn out!! Until then, I need to start working on the wiring for the car..

Here is a translated DSSC wiring diagram... Only one in the WORLD!!!



Also, I realized I didn't mention much about my engine...

20B/3 Rotor is from a last year made Eunos Cosmo which each engine is stamped with a letter and a number. Earlier series are just numbers and last series starts with letter "D". This one is the later more stronger motor.
I actually bought this short block several years ago from Hector Gonzales, former NHRA modified class racer in Miami. He was going to use this engine to build his drag car but ended up selling it because of some financial issues.

[lepichichi]

This is sick, Good luck on the build man.

[renn]

vr rx-7's ftw!

[Herblenny]

Originally Posted by renn

vr rx-7's ftw!

LOL! Its not going to stay VR... unfortunately

[02vwgolf]

You clearly are very experienced when it comes to rx-7s... cant wait to see how this turns out!!!

[SvicksTc]

oh damn 3 rotor, nice!!

This should be good, ill be watching for sure!

[one8turbo]

Originally Posted by davin

Just to put everything into perspective, dropping a 3 rotor into an FD is $40,000.00 on average.

What does that $40k cover? just curious

[Herblenny]

Originally Posted by one8turbo

What does that $40k cover? just curious

Hmm.. Cost will vary pending how you obtain your engine, what you are going to do, what you are going to run, etc... I've seen low as 15K + car to over 100K.


Update.

December 9th, 2011 - Today, I was thinking about stripping my MB FD and start thinking about what I'm going to do to the exterior of the car... I started looking over some old builds I did and thought about turning my MB to what my Blk FD last looked..

My 1st FD / my 'black fd' and how it last looked in my possession..





I'm going to start parting out the MB this weekend!!!

[02vwgolf]

Originally Posted by Herblenny

Hmm.. Cost will vary pending how you obtain your engine, what you are going to do, what you are going to run, etc... I've seen low as 15K + car to over 100K.


Update.

December 9th, 2011 - Today, I was thinking about stripping my MB FD and start thinking about what I'm going to do to the exterior of the car... I started looking over some old builds I did and thought about turning my MB to what my Blk FD last looked..

My 1st FD / my 'black fd' and how it last looked in my possession..





I'm going to start parting out the MB this weekend!!!

HOLY **** THIS IS INCREDIBLE... IF THIS IS WHAT YOUR OLD CAR LOOKED LIKE I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THIS DONE