It required several years for Graeme to pluck up the courage to 'come out'! But now that he has, he's like a pig in mud. Strangely, certain people hate to admit they have a hankering for a particular make or model car - or at least until such time as the stigma has fallen by the wayside.
Indeed, this scenario applied to Bendigo-based Graeme McPherson who up until the age of 21 wasn't prepared to admit a fascination with the rotary. "Ultimately I felt I was old enough to make my own decisions, so I decided to look out for something I could build up," he explained. But what Graeme hasn't told you is that as a motor mechanic with his own performance shop, he's able to play around a little more than most. And by the looks of his Mazda, it must make life that little bit easier.
It started back in 1990 with Graeme attending a local Mazda dealer auction and spotted a discoloured RX-3 sedan sporting a less than average drive line, but with a good interior and straight lines. The real bonus though was a cost of just A$325! Graeme initially wanted to get it onto the road with an extend-port engine sourced through the local rag. The front and rear suspension came in for a complete freshen, but only to the extent of new bushes, plus he graced the front with a Volvo four-spot disc brake conversion.
Thanks in part to a lead foot and a couple of quarter mile meetings where the car produced a relatively lacklustre best of 14.8 seconds, the engine in the faded mercury blue RX-3 cried enough. "As I owned a rotary I decided to learn as much as I could about them, and that led to me building a new bridge port engine." However, the BP lasted only three weeks before Graeme sold it to his brother David. "Lacking an engine and needing a quick fix, I purchased and fitted a draw-through turbo motor."
The combo proved to be somewhat agricultural consisting of a stock 13B engine topped with an untouched T04 Garret turbo and 45mm Weber carby. That said, it was enough to push the car to a much better 13.2 second quarter. But as is often the case, the improvement really was the beginning of the end! Yep, Graeme couldn't help himself and before long the engine was out and work began. Anticipating vastly improved grunt, he replaced the RX-4 four-speed with a 3.7 first gear Supra five speed fronted with a Maztech adaptor and secured via an owner-fabricated crossmember.
Rather than stuff around with a half-hearted clutch, Graeme bit the bullet by having Bendigo Specialist Brake and Clutch bolt together the heaviest-possible pressure plate, to which Graeme added a clutch plate secured with his own brass buttons. A modified GT Falcon tailshaft is there along with a Ford nine inch diff narrowed to the stock Mazda width. Internals include 4.56 Strange gears, full Detroit Locker and 28 spline axles. Brakes are stock Ford drum, hanging below reset stock leaves and stock shocks.
It turns out that when Graeme scored the Mazda it was a one-owner with just 63,000 miles on the clock. As such a decision was made to retain as much originality as possible including all badges and moulds and fresh mercury blue (Spartan acrylic) applied by Graeme's brother David. The interior has been designed along a similar line in having only an additional AutoMeter boost gauge and Shift-lite. Trim is original.
Kicking off a new bout of power-making mods, Graeme played with the bolt-on package, fabricating a high-flow high-volume inlet manifold, he high-flowed the turbo and locked a Series 2 RX-7 electronic dizzy at zero degrees. Graeme also added a 14 pound spring to the non-adjustable wastegate and backed the engine with his own-design three inch exhaust manifold and mandrel bent system with single stainless Super Turbo muffler.
Back at the race track, improved performance proved a catalyst for further modification with the emphasis on fine tuning. Indeed thanks to modified fuel delivery, jetting and tyres, the diminutive Mazda picked up to a best 11.6 seconds at 114 mph on M&H Racemasters. Most important was designing a fuel system able to keep up with the engine's demands. The combo includes an original tank with two half-inch fittings, there's a remote filter, Holley Blue electric pump and half-inch line leading to a pressure-sensitive Malpassi regulator, and a Holley Blue reg modified to return excess fuel to the tank.
In improving weight distribution, Graeme transferred the battery to the boot. Mind you, with the Mazda seeing regular street use, Graeme opted to maintain a luxury item - the original fully functional factory air conditioning is in place!
The next phase in the engine's development was to treat the housings to owner-designed port changes. Graeme added a high volume factory oil pump, the end plates were dowelled and the eccentric shaft cross-drilled. Then came two of the most significant changes to date. Graeme tossed the 'little' 45mm Weber in favour of a much larger 55mm item while swapping from road Racemaster tyres to 8.5-inch slicks.
Thanks to numerous jetting and spark plug heat range changes, the car picked up considerably and almost immediately made its way into the 10.7-second range. Its best time in fact is a 10.62 at 126.4 mph which is bloody unreal considering it's a genuine street car with totally stock suspension. Weighing in at 920 kg plus driver, the draw-through turbo 13B requires in excess of 365 horsepower to propel the car over the quarter at those speeds.
Think about it for a minute, cos it really is an interesting scenario. No nitrous, no intercooler, no fuel injection and just 14 pounds boost, and yet Graeme's RX-3 is belting out numbers expected from much more hi-tech rotaries. Maybe that's why his McPherson Performance Centre (+ 61 3 354 441 447) is the place to go. Yep, he's gained a reputation around the area all right, with the proof of his ability coming with a blue sedan.
Mind you, that's about to change as the RX-3 is to be returned to original condition. The current driveline though should make its way into a much lighter Mazda. Just how light only time will tell, however theory suggests that if Graeme was able to build something weighing a mere 800 kg including driver, with the current power level it would run around a 9.84 at 134 mph. Now wouldn't that be something! A draw through carby turbo rotary running in the nines!
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