Page 01: Introduction
Page 02: White RX7
Page 03: Green RX7
Page 04: Engine
Page 05: Let the fun begin!
Page 06: Engine bay work
Page 07: The V8 drop-in
Page 08: IT'S ALIVE!!!
Page 09: Clutch & Radiator
Page 10: Driveshaft & Exhaust
Page 11: RX Unleashed
Page 12: Dyno and Weigh-in
Page 13: Alternator, Fans, Gauges
Page 14: SUSPENSION!
Page 15: Seven Not Stock, 2006
Page 16: Paint & Quarter Mile
Page 17: Saying Goodbye
Page 18: Conclusion.
The next 3 months at school absolutely flew by, I landed an engineering intership at a company called Innotec, which meant I worked there in the summer rather than at home. So this meant that I wouldn't have the whole summer to work on my car... but rather two weeks. But I had everything ready to go for my two weeks home, I set the goal of driving my car to storage rather than towing it.
So it was time to get started, yet again! The T56 transmission uses a push-style hydraulic clutch, very similar to that of the stock RX-7 setup. These similar setups made integrating the new hydraulic setup into the RX-7 a lot easier. I bought a 7/8� clutch master cylinder made by Tilton for starters. The stock master will NOT displace enough fluid to disengage the clutch. The stock Mazda master has mounting holes at clock positions 2 and 8, whereas the Tilton has mounting holes at 12 and 6, so a custom bracket was fabricated to use the existing firewall holes. To save some weight, the bracket was made of a chunk �� thick nylon material, though steel would have worked just as well.
I purchased a -3AN braided steel line, 36� long with a -3AN straight fitting for the slave end and -4AN 90* fitting for the master end. The stock T56 slave uses a special �male roll pin fitting�, that is nearly impossible to find. Most think that you can�t use the stock fitting because it is crimped on, and not reusable. I found a way to reuse the old fitting by boring out to the edge of the block and tapping it for 1/16� NPT threads. I then used a 1/16� NPT male to 1/8� NPT female fitting (the gold one, EAR 981603) and a 1/8� NPT male to -3AN male (the blue one ATM 3280).
I used the rod that came with the Tilton master cylinder, re-threaded the Mazda pedal connecting piece and it worked perfect. The setup was bled to get the air out of the line, and assumed good to go.
I used a 26x19� aluminum Howe Racing radiator for my setup. Mounting this required a few special brackets. These brackets were fabricated from various pieces of flat bar bent and drilled to fit the radiator and hold it in an upright position. I would recommend lining the brackets with some rubber so that engine vibrations don�t allow the steel brackets to wear holes in the softer aluminum... aluminum is much softer than steel. I found some radiator hoses at Napa that fit, passengers side #20801, drivers side #21160. I also made an inlet into the passengers hose for the steam tube coming from the heads, this was made with some metal tube and a 3/8� nipple.
