New project car...

R2s99zoom · May 7, 2007

New project car... '87 RX-7

http://www.rick2.net/imagegallery/main.php?g2_itemId=312

1987 RX-7...

picked it up today after the autocross... doesn't currently run, but it was on the cheap... and our theory is that it wont cost much to get it to run... tho, even if its toast... was cheap enough that we wont feel too bad... will make a great parts carcass if we find a similar year'd car...

and in SCCA its legal for STS2 (technically legal for STS since it currently has a rear "jumpseat" - but thats heavy and its coming out... so STS2...) but, one cool thing about the base model car... my MX-5's wheels will bolt right on... so we can use my race tires... and with those, its still legal for ESP...

Soo... we can mod it up to street prepared for auto-x, and some club racing class that isn't too crazy, too...

Here comes the fun!

Sb00 · May 7, 2007

w00t! w00t!

congrats! sounds like a good time! hehe

if you guys need a hand with anything let me know, hell even if you just need someone to sit around and watch you guys work while drinking a beer, sign me up for that job!!

autoXtC · May 7, 2007

congrats rick!!! how fun...you'll probably be racing that way before i even get my miata... i have no $$$ if i did i would have bought a mia right away...but cant...hehe u can take CSP and then some after with that RX! lucky guy...oh boy would christian love to drive that when you're done with it... we'd all love to take it for a test drive hehehehe!!! if u need any help at all...dont hesitate to call us up... we'd love to get dirty and learn a thing or two about rotary's and how to maintain them...or we can just sit around like steve and supervise...open up a beer sit back and relax!! heheheh...jk we'd love to lend a helping hand!! heheheheh project car = good excuse to get dirty!

alphanumeric · May 7, 2007

ahhh.... i almost creamed my pants

so what do you guys need to do to wake her up again ? will it involve a 20b ??? hehehe sign me up to sit around and watch as well. congrats on the purchase !! i rode in the red 7 at autoX and it was relatively balanced.

got_miata · May 7, 2007

the wheels have differen't bolt patterns between the miata and rx-7.

anyways you mechanic rating is high if you can fix a rotary(hippy)

Rotary_Powered · May 7, 2007

Congrats! nice car, post this up on the rx7/rx8 part of the forum.

LX_StreetGlow · May 7, 2007

very nice bro

...... argh i want it so bad as a project (drift car)

alphanumeric · May 8, 2007

aleks u shoulda seen that 240 drifting the whole course

LX_StreetGlow · May 8, 2007

the black s13????? i saw it

R2s99zoom · May 8, 2007

alphanumeric said:
ahhh.... i almost creamed my pants so what do you guys need to do to wake her up again ? will it involve a 20b ??? hehehe sign me up to sit around and watch as well. congrats on the purchase !! i rode in the red 7 at autoX and it was relatively balanced.

ehe...

well, step 1... charged the battery overnight...

my dad tried to start it this morning, and it sounded like the starter was weak/going bad...

i worked till 9pm so i didn't get to help with any of this...

he checked the fuel pressure, and its getting full pressure... just no fire in the engine... but it cranks, so its not seized...

pulled the plugs to do a compression test, and they have oil on them (not rare, the cars been sitting since at least july06... and part of how a rotary works is pulling oil from the crankcase into the combustion chamber... so an engine sittign for a long time, thats not too rare...)

he noticed the plugs looked BRAND NEW when he wiped off the oil. like right out of the box new.

checked the wires... they were backwards. (13b rotary engine has 2 rotors, and 2 spark plugs per rotor.) the wires for the front rotor were plugged into the back, and the back to the front.

went ahead and checked compression, and its a little low... so the apex seals may still be worn out, or maybe just not right due to sitting for a while...

sprayed the intake with ether while cranking it...

she fired up and bleched some oil smoke... (apparently enough that my dad was worried the neighbors might see the smoke and call 911 to report a fire, lol...)

real quick, tho... the oil sitting in the combustion chambers burned out, and the car was running perfect... idled great... revved fine... he called my cell phone and left a voicemail holding the phone to the exhaust...

took a few runs up and down the path from the gate to the shop... gets to 3rd gear at least fine (not enough room to run it faster ehe...) needs the bushings in the shifter replaced, its real sloppy...

he ran it for a while and said it runs great...

gonna let it cool off overnight, and try and start it cold in the morning, to see if it will start w/out ether now that he exercised the apex seals, and find out for sure if it needs that rebuild or not...

all the while I was slaving at work, and he was having all the fun!

and no, I can't afford a 20b... ehe... tho i did find an engine i want BAD: 13g turbo...

http://www.racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=Engine

it only costs about half of what I owe on my MORTGAGE... (silly)

so... i'll keep yall posted on what the verdict is on if we have to tear the motor down or not...

and if we do, it should be about the same time JP has the parts to start his engine work (maybe a little sooner.. i'm trying to find room in my schedule to go and take a few laps around my dad's neighborhood sometime this week! lol!)

depending on how things line up... may have 2 mazda projects next to each other in the shop at the same time

alphanumeric · May 8, 2007

yeah keep us updated. school is done this week for most of us so we can stop by and maybe hand u guys some tools or like steve, just "supervise". that'd be nice if all it needs is the apex seals. i cant wait to see ur 7 and jp's miata get their zoom back

rjs_protege5 · May 9, 2007

im jealous... congrats brotha!! hit me up if you're gonna need any help!!

Moms · May 9, 2007

i reccon that there is mighty fine pickins i do say so myself i reccon.

R2s99zoom · May 10, 2007

Car wouldn't fire cold...

cranked and cranked and cranked...

2 theories were leaky injectors flooding the engine, and worn out apex seals... a third tangent idea was just crap gas that sat for a while...

(i've been working all week so only recieveing email updates and voicemails on the status...)

Dad used some super secret injector troubleshooting thing... and drained all the crap old gas out of he tank and filled it with new premium Chevron with Techron (TM!)

cranked it and it fired with some smoke... then cleared out and ran perfect.

So.. he's got some of his superultralasercrazymagic tests to try on it the rest of the week while goto my deskjob to find out if its leaky injectors or just super crappy gas that sat and jelloed for almost a year...

its *really* annoying how busy this week is at my day job... by time saturday comes up, he's gonna have the dang thing purring like a damn kitten...

but at least i'll be able to take a few laps around the neighborhood

Guess maybe I should just start planning out suspension mods... cos tires and suspension should come far before any power mods... stock, the car has MAD more power than my miata, ehe...

autoXtC · May 10, 2007

OH YES ROTARY POWER!!! hehehe how much fun is that...looks like the car is getting a good start... before we know it that thing will be even more beastly than it already is!!! hehehehe keep up the good work..and keep us posted on the progress of the rotariness!! hehehe

shalezoom3 · May 18, 2007

just came across this....badass. I am trying to get the okay from my gf to purchase an '86 rx7

but sorry guys, it won't be rotary powered....chevy 350 is my route

alphanumeric · May 18, 2007

shalezoom3 said:
just came across this....badass. I am trying to get the okay from my gf to purchase an '86 rx7

but sorry guys, it won't be rotary powered....chevy 350 is my route

so you should rebadge it to a MX-7 ???

GoFast · May 18, 2007

ahhh im jealous! i bought an 88 RX7 as a spare car for 100 bucks! it ran and everything! looked ugly as monkeys butt though! then i gave it to a buddy who needed a car and he gave it away too. sort of a pay it forward type of car, but i wish i had it for autox!

R2s99zoom · May 19, 2007

shalezoom3 said:
just came across this....badass. I am trying to get the okay from my gf to purchase an '86 rx7

but sorry guys, it won't be rotary powered....chevy 350 is my route

traitor!

I will hate you forever if you replace the hotness that is rotary with a lowly piston engine.

unless you give me the rotary you're throwing away... then I will love you forever

Rotary_Powered · May 19, 2007

Lol, The LS1 (yes I know the 350 is another engine) is a very good choice for power. But the true advantage of the rotary engine is not it's power nor it's weight, for the LS1 weighs only sligtly more; no, the advatange of the rotary lies in it's compact size and predictable linear nature, the perfect ideal engine placement which provides amazing agility that can truely be appreciated at the limit.

New project car...

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