Here's some build pics of my street car as it suffered it's "setback"...

...a 10" engine / radiator setback combined with a 7" dash and 6" seat rail setback. My goal for this little project was to be able to remove my rear bumper ballast and still hook-up on the street. It may look like radical surgery, but it's not that hard...I used a Sawzall and a MIG welder. Even after the engine setback modifications, the body still looks stock from the outside.

Basically, I moved the little 357 Chevy back as far as possible while still being able to wiggle it's distributor past the base of the windshield. The cowl panel goes back on, but is easily removable when the hood is up.

RX-7 transmission tunnels are HUGE! The original tunnel sheetmetal was moved back 9-1/2" and the seat brackets back 6", so the shifter is now closer to the driver...making it easier to reach 3rd while being pressed back in the seat. The original molded carpet still fits with slight alterations.

The added seal panels are made from 18ga cold rolled steel sheet. The stock firewall sheetmetal is still there, just moved back a bit in the center for "valve cover clearance". The stock RX-7 pedal assembly was spaced back away from the firewall using 7" long aluminum spacers and uses extended pushrods...

I made a tunnel for the steering column, then added 7" including universal joint to the steering shaft itself. The steering shaft retains it's collapsible feature. The above pic shows the lightened dash understructure before the stock cover was added.

Moving the engine back now reveals the RX-7's ugly stock front crossmember. Since the crossmember no longer supports the engine, I made a lighter weight tubular version that is much more appealing, and now doubles as a radiator mount...

The engine now sits entirely behind the front axle. The front motor plates are from a 410 Sprint Car, and I added bellhousing mounts at the rear to make transmission maintenance easier. In the pic above you can see the right side bellhousing/firewall mounting point just above #8 sparkplug. This car has no transmission crossmember at all. Inside the top of the strut towers you can see the aluminum spacers I made to increase the front suspension travel. The upper spring seats are threaded and adjustable, and the front struts have been taken apart and re-valved.

The new tubular front suspension components I made are quite a bit lighter, and use kevlar lined rod ends rod ends at the pivot points. The new strut bars feature tubular aluminum (originals were solid steel), and the lower control arms have been lengthened 3/4" per side to correct the front camber at this car's higher ride height.

Even the radiator got moved back. The alternator was moved below the motor plate, just above the front suspension's new crossmember. Here's the steering u-joint that was added, it's from a 2nd gen RX-7...

I used an RX-7 alternator, mounted below the motor plate.

I routed the exhaust pipes out of the side of the extended collectors, and made some caps for the collectors themselves. Now when i uncork the pipes, it flows straight out the collector, not out the side thru a dump pipe. I made some short collector extensions that I add which feature a "tongue" that extends up into the collector to seal off the rest of the exhaust system, making the collectors more effecient. V-bands were used on the mid-pipes to make transmission/clutch maintenance easier.

The car now weighs 2330lbs (2530lbs including a 200lb driver), about 325lbs lighter than last year, even though it still has original glass, stock seats, a full exhaust system and the Huge Magneflow muffler. Depending on fuel load and rear bumper weight, distribution varies between 47/53 and 43/57.

The ignition boxs and coil are now inside the car, behind the firewall. The new radiator mounting could not get much simpler or lighter, possible because now the engine is mounted directly to the chassis (no rubber). I may build a carbon fiber duct between the radiator and nose, but it runs cool just like this. Even in 98 degree heat, it still idles at 185 degrees.

Here's a pic of the outside of the car. No roll bar or cage, no added chassis stiffeners, just an RX-7 built for fun on the street...and a random test-n-tune or grudge night here and there. It's never been on a trailer as long as I have had it, and gets driven everywhere it goes. Under the rear is a narrowed 8.5" GM 10 bolt w/ a Detroit TruTrac and 3.73 gears, as well as adjustable shocks and a custom torque arm suspension.

Still looks kinda normal on the outside...hard to tell that there's 95lbs of lead added inside that pinned on rear bumper in the pic...

I told ya it was still going to look stock when it was done! I need to add power windows now, as the setback dash now covers the window cranks (the doors must be opened to roll the windows up/down). With the exception of the firewall and trans tunnel mods, the car pictured here has a completely stock body- no wheelwell trimming, no mini tubs, no subframe connectors, no roll bar, and no chassis reinforcements. All upgrades are bolt-ons, including the rearend/Torquearm upgrade. The only (2) additional holes have been drilled in the car, in the top of the transmission tunnel, for anchoring the Torquearm's front yoke assembly. Even the hangers for the exhaust system were made to use existing holes in the chassis.

I still need to make a few extension panels to cover the area between the cowl and dash. The carpets are also getting re-dyed, and should be re-installed shortly. The little black knob ahead of the driver's door opening is the adjustable prop valve for the rear brakes.

A gauge panel was made to fill the area where the stock stereo used to reside. It's attached to the support structure under the dash, so when the dash cover is removed, the gauges stay connected and in place.

Who says you can't faceplate 2nd gear in a Ford Toploader? Parts for 3rd & 4th gear conversions are available off the shelf from Liberty, but Proshift is the only upgrade available for 2nd. I took a set of 3rd/4th Liberty parts and modified them to fit...Here's a pic of a trial fitting of 2nd inside the main case. The Toploader now has been faceplated in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. Keeping the 1st gear synchro makes it easier to drive on the street, as you can slip it in and out of gear while idling at a stoplite.

To lighten up the all cast-iron Toploader, I made a .065" sheet steel tailhousing for it, eliminating the pad for the trans mount and moving the shifter mount pad to the passenger side of the tailhousing (allows fabrication of a smaller/lighter shifter mounting bracket). At one time we did use an aluminum tailhousing from a SROD (3spd + OD), but that limited us to a 28 spline output shaft. Fabricating our own from steel saves weight due to use of thinner materials and allows for a more efficient shifter bracket location. There is no trans mount on this car.

BELOW- A 7/8" brake master cyl plumbed to a lineloc and a 3/4" clutch master for the hyd t-bearing.

I changed to a really tall Strip Dominator intake with a 1/2" plate under the carb...the custom made air cleaner base drops the entire aircleaner 3" and almost completely hides the changes. Basically, it keeps the air cleaner at the same height as it was with the low manifold and no plate. It's pretty tough to tell which carb i'm running...my big Holley fits under there, but so does my little carb w/ the tucked in solenoids...

I really like playing the underdog with the little 625cfm Carter. Nobody thinks you're serious when you tell them that's what you have. The little solenoids for the 175 shot are mounted directly to the plate and completely hidden below the air cleaner base. Holley jets (68n, 65f) are pressed into the brass nipples between the solenoids and plate. Also in this shot is a homemade thermostat housing, made to allow the upper rad hose to pass under the crankcase breather's crossover tube.

Here's a shot of the hood's underside, modified to clear the setback engine location...

Below is the biggest tire that will fit in the stock 1st gen RX-7 rear wheelwells...a 275/60-15 MT "ET Street Radial", DOT legal and measures just a shade over 28" tall. There is about 3/8" clearance at the front and rear of the stock wheelwell opening, so don't try this with a bias ply tire that will grow taller at high speeds. Clearance between the inner sidewall of the tire and inner fender is close at about 3/8", what we would consider the absolute minimum for a car that still has some body roll. The 275/60-15 Drag Radials are on 15x8 Weld Prostars with 5.5" of backspace. The 8.5" 10 bolt GM rear axle has been narrowed, and measures 58" wheelflange to wheelflange with the brake rotors/hats installed. The front wheels/tires are 15x3.5" Weld Prostars with 1.75" of backspace. Stock RX-7 front hubs were re-drilled to 5 on 4-3/4" to match the rear.

The entire exhaust system is hung with (4) stock RX-7 rubber hangers, 1 here before the axle, and 3 around the muffler. The sheetmetal bracket serves to isolate the rubber from the full heat of the pipe.

Here's a shot of the Torque Arm Suspension in the car. The nose of the TA is actually anchored up in the top of the tunnel with 2 huge rubber pucks. The shackle plates that connect the nose of the TA to the anchor assy do double duty as a driveline loop. The equal length exhaust merges into a single 3-1/2" pipe for the trip back to the muffler.

The 3-1/2" pipe fits up and over the axle with plenty of room...

Here you can see the adjustable lower links...

Everything tucks up pretty tight...no ground clearance issues...

The giant Magneflow muffler had to be notched to clear the RR tire...

Here's an update on my bellhousing project for the car...
Basically, I am building my own bellhousing to adapt a Ford Toploader 4spd transmission to my old school SB Chev V8. I can buy one for around $450, but it's a heavy 1/4" thick steel monster, and I prefer building my own lighter parts if i can. I'm not concerned about it not being "SFI certified", as it's just a fun street car and i have no desire to make it legal for the track.

The mock-up began with an old 400 block and an empty transmission case. I am using the alignment bar from my rearend narrowing jig to keep everything straight and true. I spent a couple nights machining some steel pucks to fit in the block's main bearing bores and also the bearing bores in the transmission case. The pucks have an 1.501" hole in the center so that my alignment bar will slide inside everything to keep the engine and transmission bores concentric. I made a ring to center the plate that the transmission will bolt to, and a tube spacer that will set the desired distance between the block and transmission face. I have also made the rear plate that the transmission will bolt to, and have laid out the the flange that will bolt to the block and serve as a pattern for the block plate that will fit behind the flywheel.

I'll snap some pictures in the next day or so. Working in my spare time after hours, I expect it will take me a week or two to get it done. The transmission is getting some special work as well, getting faceplated in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'm adapting an aluminum tailhousing from an SROD overdrive trans to replace the Toploader's stock iron piece to shed some weight. Also machined down the Ford throwout collar so that I can use my existing Chevy hyd throwout bearing.

Here's the pattern I made out of 1/4" steel. All the hole locations were laid out, centerpunched, and drilled 3/16" so that the pattern could be transferred to the blank piece of 1/8" that it's laying on, which will be used to make the block protection plate. The steel pucks on the right are the pilot rings and spacer that i mentioned in an earlier post that locate everything in the correct positions for mock-up. Later this pattern will get the bolt holes drilled and the large center hole will be cut out, turning the pattern into the flange for the front of the bell...

Here's the drawing I used to lay out the block bolt pattern...

This is the block plate after it was cut out and drilled. The large hole in the center is for the crank's flywheel flange to stick thru, and the 2 larger holes on the sides are for the locating dowels in the block...

This is the pattern after i drilled it out and cut the center out. It is going to be the forward flange of the bellhousing that bolts to the block, the large hole in the center is necessary to clear the flywheel...

Here's the block plate on a block. The upper "wings" were added as mid-mounting points that will hang the back of the engine at the firewall...

Here's the block plate and flange on a block. The block plate will be sandwiched between the block and bellhousing as shown. I'll soon be creating a hole and pocket for the starter.

Here's a pic of the rolled ring welded to the bellflange. All the holes still fit perfectly...

The mid-mounts incorporated into the block plate allow me to easily remove the bellhousing/clutch/flywheel from the car without needing to support the engine. Greatly simplifies my clutch and transmission maintenance.

Here's the alignment bar in place in the block, as well as the spacer that sets the depth between the block and trans case...

Here's the trans case in position located by the pilot rings...

I had to take it out of the fixture to make sure i had created enough room to install a SoftLoc clutch, so i figured i'd snap a few pics of the progress.
I started making patterns for closing in the bell by laying out the the top section on posterboard. I quickly realized it was much easier to just cut out slightly larger pieces of posterboard, hold them in place on the bell, and simply apply a little pressure by running my finger around the edges of the steel. This puts a small crease in the posterboard and transfers the exact shape needed, a much quicker way to create a pattern...

The transmission plate is still only tacked in 4 places. After all the rest of the welding is done, i'll put the bell back into the fixture, cut the tacks, and re-position the plate for the best alignment possible before welding it in place. I doubt there will be any need to machine the block or transmission mating surfaces.

Still need to make a pocket for the mini-starter that's going on the car...

Added a cutout for the mini-starter's drive...

Added a starter pocket to the bell as well...

Here's the finished bellhousing...

Here's an experimental clutch slipper control made from a $12 hydraulic storm door closer. The cylinder connects to the clutch pedal on this bracket. The cylinder was modified by adding about 4" of 5/16" threaded rod to the end of it's shaft...

Turning the black knob adjusts the release rate, adjusting the nut on the threaded rod moves the point in pedal travel that the cylinder becomes active...

I'm using this slipper control on a Ram diaphram pressure plate, and using a Ram sintered iron disc. This is a more street-friendly alternative to the high-maintenance McCleod SoftLoc clutch, which uses a Long style PP that needs frequent adjustments of the pressure springs and occasional pressure plate shimming. My version can easily be adjusted from the driver's seat, and does not effect normal street driving.