Izzy's Custom Cages

30 days and counting until the first road race of the year for the St. Louis Region SCCA. Let the thrashing begin!

I had a very short 2 week “car-break” while between cage projects. The the wife and kid actually got to see me other than when coming in from the shop and heading off to the real job. Now that they've had enough of me, it's time to get to work on Izzy's own racecar in order to get it prepped for the March Regional at Gateway on the 13th.

The top priority on the list is a motor swap. At the end of last season, a sticking throttle cable combined with a  bad choice by myself resulted in a spin and a zinged motor. “When in spin-both feet in” works well except when the throttle stays down as you lift your right foot and push in the clutch.... 9,500 R's plus a stock 12a equals one funny sounding rotary.

So... since I'm still learning the car as well as how to drive, I'm going with a stock 12a from a street car donor rather than a fully rebuilt motor. During the season I'll be tearing into the current motor as well as 3 other core motors to build a fresh engine for next season.

Before the “new” motor goes in, it'll receive a few updates. Oil pan baffle, blocked intake coolant passages as well as a thorough cleaning. While the motor's out, the transmission and clutch will be checked out to make sure things are up to snuff. The Racing Beat header will be modified for O2 sensors for future EGT guages as well as converted from a Y type Street header to a two tube race style. The previous owner installed the street header which was a poor choice considering the exhaust flows through 2 ~2” pipes of the header, into a single 2” pipe at the “collector” and then into a 3” exhaust pipe. Rotaries need to breath, and that's not the way to let that happen. While that modification is being done, the exhaust pipe will be modified to accept a 2-1 pipe (2” inlets to 3” outlet) as well as tucked up towards the body a little more for a little more clearance... especially while loading the car onto the trailer.

The first step was completed today... I actually pulled the car off of the trailer (where it's been sitting for 6 months)! No small feet considering the lack of a running motor and the 10 degree incline to get it into the shop.

More updates and boring pics to come.