Greetings all!

So there is a back story to this car. I purchased it 4 years ago (fall 2004) from a guy in South Dakota for less than my engineering calculator cost. The primary reason to buy this car was for the engine: it runs a 1.1L Wankel 12A. The engine needs completely rebuilt, and there is a side story attached to this, as well as the body, drive-train and electrical components. So a little work needs done. The plan for the engine involves research I am doing at the University of Pittsburgh. A faculty member and I are trying to increase the thermodynamic efficiency of internal combustion engines using alternative fuel sources. Preliminary data suggests the injection of air, hydrogen and water within this particular engine to increase its efficiency. Wankel rotary engines are prime candidates for this use due to large surface areas (prevents pre-detonation of hydrogen) and its particular geometry (great for handling high pressures).

Not to get too far off subject: the car needs a lot of work and has sporadically been getting some much needed attention over the past four years. Everything has been stripped out of the car, as seen by the Webshots link, and we started cleaning up the body. To confront the issue of working on the underside, my father and I made a rotisserie! If you guys want some more photos of how it was made, let me know. Now the car is able to be rotated to do work on the underbody, which isn't in too bad of shape for being 27 years old and spending most of its life in harsh, cold and salty conditions.


The current plans for the month of December are to rebuild the rear axle and front axle, sand blast the underside and fix the metal. Paint will then be applied, the suspension will be mounted and construction of a roll cage will begin. Here are some details:

The rear axle:
The cast iron housing is rather light, but the differential accounts for most of the weight. Rear brake calipers and rotor replacements are easily found, with www.racingbeat.com having many of the supplies you needed (rotors, not calipers). The rear axles are held in by a plate with three bolts on the outside of the axle and once removed, the axles come out easily with a puller. The bearings and seal replacements can be found by the company Beck Arnley and are rather cheap. When rebuilding the axle, if you want to change out the original pinion and ring with a ratio of 4.33, look at racingbeat.com, but the stock one, if not damaged or worn, provides a good ratio. The outer bearings and seals on the axles should be replaced, as well as the crush tube and pinion bearing if you take the differential out. It is advised to clean off the housing (by a means that does not produce much heat so you do not weaken the cast iron) and repaint the housing. It takes a full day's work to clean up the axle and replace the bearings, but it feels a lot smoother. And another important note: the bolt pattern on the axles is 4x110 mm (some sources suggest 4x108 mm) and there are wheel adapters out there to take you from stock to 5x114.3. It is really hard to find any good looking and well-performing wheels to fit these axles, so check out www.ezaccessory.com. I'll put up some pics on how to do all of this soon!