Author Topic: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project  (Read 36907 times)

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Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #75 on: October 12, 2013, 03:52:11 PM »
Yea, I only had the camera on my cell phone so the quality is poor, but the trees and road were too pretty to pass up.

Today I adjusted the bump-stop for the nose of the differential since it was about 1/2" away from touching the differential itself.  I think I probably mis-measured how far it needed to stick down towards the diff, and it probably pulled away further after adjusting the rear camber with the adjustable rear subframe mount, doing nothing to keep the nose from moving around.  It went much more smoothly than I anticipated, just jacking up the back of the car, unscrewing the front of the rear subframe so that only a few threads were engaged, prying it down with a crow-bar, reaching up and in to get some vice-grips on the bump-stop to keep it from rotating, and then loosening it up from inside the car.  I added enough washers to pre-load it a little (about 3/4" of washers), and reinstalled.  Overall only about an hour & a half.

Since the back of the car was up in the air & I'd been noticing that when I fill up the tank, if its pretty low there will sometimes be a big rush of air when opening the cap.  I think its a rush outwards, since I can smell fuel after it happens but before fully removing the cap.  Anyway, I figured that my check-and-cut valve was probably dirty or broken, and it was a good chance to check it out.  However, after taking it apart, cleaning it, and checking out how its supposed to work, I'm not sure if its the correct part for the car.




I could blow & suck freely through either of the bottom nozzles, regardless of valve orientation (they were connected together in a chamber, disconnected from the top nozzle), and the top nozzle (in the photos, actually points down when installed on the car) connected to both of them as long as you blew through it (there was a check valve, no sucking).  What seemed odd was how everything was hooked up.  The bottom nozzles were connected to the fuel tank and to the fuel line that runs up to the charcoal canister, while the top nozzle is connected to a fitting that looks like it leads into the cabin of the car, but doesn't have a corresponding fitting, connection, or any sign of it on the inside of the passenger-side bin area (not really a bin since it's underneath the spare tire cover in the convertible, but similar stamping to the bin area on a hatch).




Having no idea where the line that connects to the top nipple goes, (it definitely doesn't seem to run to a vacuum or pressure source near the engine), I can't see how the valve is supposed to work, cut off a potential fuel flow if the car flips, or anything else.  The valve itself looks different than the picture in the FSM too, which leaves me more confused. 

Does this part look familiar to anyone, and does anyone know where that unknown connection to the chassis seems to go/what it's purpose is?

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #76 on: October 14, 2013, 06:53:42 AM »
Still no idea on that vacuum connection to the chassis, but the properly adjusted differential bump-stop made a huge difference.  Prior to the adjustment, launching the car fairly hard would result in what felt like a lot of wheel hop - at the very least there was a lot of banging as I imagine the diff started torquing around as the tires lost & regained grip repeatedly.  Now, launches were much, much more smooth, with only a slight hint of wheel hop if you were very aggressive with the clutch release.  Helen & I repeatedly tested this at the CCM autocross yesterday, where the car performed flawlessly (definitely needs the driver mod tho).

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #77 on: December 10, 2013, 05:49:23 PM »
Aaaannd, thats it for the year - pulling the battery, changing the insurance to storage, and starting to re-focus on the motorcycle.  The tires are starting to show some cords on the inside edge (yay rear camber when lowered), but I did get around 20k miles out of them, plus about 5 auto-x'es per year.  Also, I think I need to re-address the differential snubber, I think the bump-stop there is on an angle to the diff and is not as effective.  Anyway, until next year anyway...

Offline fidelity101

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #78 on: December 11, 2013, 08:04:17 AM »
I have seen that same thing and wondered how and why lol. No real answers, sorry. You also reminded me that I need to pull the battery in mine. Need to do some work on the car before next season, however my season starts jan 4th...

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #79 on: April 05, 2014, 08:43:06 PM »
On the way back from visiting my parents in NJ this past weekend, I dropped by Rhineharts auto parts (1st & 2nd gen RX7 & RX8 recycler) to pick up a new passenger's side fender, since the original rusted out all the way around the rear lower mounts.  Well, after getting it home & looking at it in the fresh light-of-day, the original panel seems to be in overall better shape (besides that rust anyway).  So, I swapped the replacement for the original, and will be finding some sheet metal to bend & weld in place of the rusted bits.  For the moment though, here's the replacement on the car...

Nice & orange-looking, a few dents, with a little rust at the lower rear, and peeling clear-coat.  Oh well... i think i probably saw what I wanted to see when buying it, not necessarily what it was.


At least the car finally has something saying "Turbo" on it though!

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #80 on: April 08, 2014, 07:56:59 AM »
And the original fender:

Not bad looking, pretty straight, except...


This is what's left of the lower two mounting holes.  Yay road salt!

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #81 on: April 13, 2014, 05:41:56 PM »
Just ordered some new tires for the 'vert - Kumho Ecsta 4X high-performance all-seasons. These will go on the original 15" 'vert BBS wheels, so I have an alternative to the old RE01-R's that have turned into slicks.  I'll be driving the 7 daily for a bit while I repair my gf's daily driver, a '91 Toyota Celica GT, which needs brakes & some suspension bushings

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #82 on: April 20, 2014, 12:17:22 PM »
Repairs on the Celica are very slow - almost every bolt is fighting me due to rust.  Plus, Toyota decided in all their wisdom to make one nice, long M12 bolt that goes through one control link, through the suspension knuckle, and through the other control link, with a washer & nut on the end (circled in the image).


Naturally, this is rusted completely solid on both sides, and after a day & a half of torching it, borrowing an impact gun, wrenching on it with a 4-ft breaker bar, and breaking a few tools, it was time to just cut it off.  That felt good at least.  Now time to figure out how to extract the ridiculously rusted toe alignment cams...

Offline ~Groll69~

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #83 on: April 21, 2014, 05:29:52 AM »
I hope you have been able to get that suspension fixed on the celica there
"Long Live Rotary"

An RX-7 is like having a slut as a gf! She will love you, but she will also screw around with the guy at the parts store, most of the local cops, your insurance agent, your apex seals, your bank account and your credit card!!!

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #84 on: May 01, 2014, 02:04:12 PM »
I should have the celica back together this weekend, so I can devote a bit of time & resources back to the 7.  I ended up needing to cut/drill out a bunch of rusted parts, then pay Toyota $150 for new bolts & alignment cam adjusters (ridiculously expensive IMO), and am getting a used replacement suspension knuckle tomorrow.  At least the bushings went easily...

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #85 on: May 05, 2014, 09:24:37 AM »
Now, for the "new-to-me" $40 junkyard suspension knuckle...


Its actually the whole corner of the car, sawzall'ed off. Fortunately, the extra bits came in very handy. The original, trouble-making bolt really didn't pose much trouble after adding a bit of heat, hammering a 18mm socket onto the rounded 19mm head, grabbing a 4-ft section of pipe, and standing on the strut while torquing the bolt. That broke it free enough that judicious hammering eventually got it clear of the knuckle. VICTORY!!!


Getting the whole corner instead of just the knuckle was actually pretty fortunate, since the strut came in handy for standing on & torquing against, I used the drum to hold the knuckle in as I pounded out the bolt, and the brake hydraulic cylinder that was on it was pretty new, while the one that originally was on the car looked original and was leaking. So after replacing that, those short hard lines that go from the cylinder up to the soft line between the knuckle & body, and the brake shoes, the last corner of the car is freshened up & almost ready to go!


Well, almost ready to go... It looks like one of the brake circuits is no longer working. The driver's front & passenger's rear brakes bled without a problem, but there was a constant stream of bubbles coming out of the passenger's front & driver's rear brakes, plus a definite notice-able suction-y burbling noise from the master cylinder while trying to bleed them. Seems like the MC is shot, so I need to pick up a new one & replace that, but then the Celica should be done for a while, allowing me to focus on the RX-7 again.

edit to get pictures working
« Last Edit: May 08, 2014, 07:21:37 AM by toplessFC3Sman »

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #86 on: May 08, 2014, 07:25:02 AM »
The MC for the celica is arriving today, as well as new front ball joints, strut top mounts, and individual rear camber adjusters for the 7.  I had to tighten up the pass side front wheel bearing yesterday, as it felt loose & had a bit of play - not sure what caused that, but its nice & snug now.

Anyone else going to the Furrin Group autocross at US131 on sunday?  Its my first auto-x of the year, I'm stoked!

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #87 on: May 12, 2014, 11:14:03 AM »
Well, the celica is finally done! For now anyway, some bodywork & paint is in the near-ish future. 



On Saturday afternoon I got a chance to address the excessive rear camber on the 'vert from lowering & a heavy ass a bit more.  I had the adjustable sub-frame link, but didn't want to do all of the adjustment with it since it was pulling the differential nose downwards & putting a bit of an angle into the CV joint on the end of the driveshaft. So, time for shorter hanging/swinging camber links!  A lot of the adjustable ones seem to fail since they don't allow for twist or any articulation like the bushings in the stock pieces, and instead bind and eventually break.  I remember reading somewhere on the 'club about cutting down some aftermarket adjustable swaybar links from an integra to fit, so decided to try it. 

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The kit came with basically two male & two female-threaded end links w/ 10mm bore through the ball, plus two bolts with those tapered spacers to allow more articulation of the heim joint before the housing hits anything.  As you can see below, they were a bit longer than the OEM links at their shortest adjustment:


Now, I forgot to take pictures of the rest of this, but I basically had to cut down both ends of each joint so that when it assembled & tightened together, there were about 8 threads engaged, none exposed outside of the female end, and the whole thing was about 1/4" shorter than stock.  The locking nut provided had to go, but when tightened down & installed they can only turn about 45 degrees, so they can't unscrew further.  The thicker of the tapered spacers was about 1/8" too thick too, so that got ground down, while some washers were added behind the thinner tapered spacers to make everything fit.

Anyway, the end result is what looks like about -1 degree camber in the back, not the previous -3ish, and a much more stable, predictable feel from behind the wheel (plus, MUCH reduced tram-lining on the grooved section of highway!)

EDIT: fixed link
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 12:33:42 PM by toplessFC3Sman »

Offline fidelity101

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #88 on: May 12, 2014, 11:31:13 AM »
So that actually worked? the link you provided did not work, those camber links are 50 a pop from mazda with the racer discount, mine are def original so I was looking at them and thought they looked just like small endlinks.
How much did those run for?

Offline toplessFC3Sman

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Re: 1988 Turbo 'Vert Project
« Reply #89 on: May 12, 2014, 12:31:49 PM »
I'll try to get pictures this weekend - I'm going to be under the car re-positioning the bump-stop for the diff nose anyway.  They certainly seem to have worked though, took out a bit of the camber, are still together after about 400 miles + 9 runs at the autocross, and didn't take that long to modify.  I just searched for "blox integra rear sway bar links" on ebay, and there are a ton of people selling them - blox part BXSS-10101-AEL.  They were $40 shipped.

I haven't noticed any additional NVH due to them, but the 'vert is already pretty loud, so it would likely be lost in the general noise.