RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum - Heater Blower Restoration with Photos (NEW)

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Heater Blower Restoration with Photos (NEW)

Taking the lead from this 3rd gen thread

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...photos-993190/

I decided this was necessary after finding a mouse nest in the core. Darn things made taking the dash out to disinfect everything

sort of a must... every vent, the fan blower, carpet and all soft goods have to be steam cleaned too! Joy.

Continuation of this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati.../#post12394293

Here’s what I used for the foam for the blower with McMaster part numbers. Similar to the heater core foam used, I would prefer

to use the orange silicone material with adhesive backing. It’s easier to work with and more reversible than the jbweld and black

foam I used here.

8647K22 Weather- and Abrasion-Resistant Foam Sheet, Blended EPDM, Ultra Soft, 3/16" Thickness, 42" WD, 1' LG
93695K54 Oil-Rst Fire-Retardant Blended Buna-N Foam, 50 ft. Adhesive-Back Strip, 1/4" Thickness, 1/2" WD
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...54d8f1e300.jpg
It helps to have a shop vac handy to clean up the eraser boogers and old foam dust.

I also did this to an NA miata heater core and heater blower; similar steps overall. That one I actually used and had time to troubleshoot a few things. The black foam was a little too stiff to get a consistent seal on the fresh air flap when closed. Adjusting the cable got it to seal well. That is also why I would lean towards using the softer silicone (and maybe even a little thicker material) on the fresh air flap in the blower.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...de73e13cf6.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7be977e88e.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7b73e6ba18.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4e78b00e7b.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...482bafc8a7.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c6624b9901.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...882846f67a.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...062f94444a.jpg
Using the nut (unscrewed until the top is flush with the threaded stud) push it against to pop off the fan blade. Setup this shot after the blade was already clean.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e3502d58d1.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ebd847d708.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...02d9447e79.jpg

Got everything all set and ready to go to shoot gray…

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...00f937a2f5.jpg
The darn thing didn’t spray at all, just dribbled out, since the metal was bare and clean, so I decided to use the only other color in the house.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1414ea63e7.jpg
Remember proper ventilation! I did not and had blue stuff everywhere.

Making a new gasket to replace the old one, using the same black foam sheet as the flap

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ded2d266b0.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...739483e700.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d2adc3c49b.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...5cbfe5f75d.jpg
The existing foam was in pretty decent shape, decided to replace it anyways.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...91a7cb1ec3.jpg

Scrape as you pull up, otherwise the foam tears and leaves a lot more stuck to the flap. I ended up using lacquer thinner to clean up the remaining foam, just pour it on and wipe (scrub) away.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...63f6aa92ca.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f6667c2fb3.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...630bfe81e9.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...34e356adf1.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...dc4f2637df.jpg

Here's a pdf of the entire thread if anyone wants an offline copy.

That came out great, nice work!

Will close this thread, as it is a duplicate.
Stu A
80GS
AZ

Members,

This thread will remain open and available in the main 1st Gen section. Thank you, @swbtm, for refreshing your original thread with photos hosted on RX7Club!

If anyone is interested in seeing the original thread, it can be found in the archived section here: Heater Blower Restoration with Photos (OLD)

The only difference between the 2 threads are the photos. My apologies for any confusion this may have caused.

Anyone ever find a replacement for the blower resistor which is NLA?

So the blower fan is rotary powered too?! Awesome.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ec35601626.jpg

T_G I have yet to do it, but I can take my three ohm meters and see if they agree on a resistance from the couple of resistors I have off my cars. Once we have that, digikey or anywhere else really would be able to source a replacement resistor. Heat dissipation on a standard resistor would be a concern. I would imagine these things have to exist in some form in 90's cars, just have to find the right parts to measure and compare.

I noticed that a lot of the Ford resistor packs look very similar to the 1st gen Mazda RX-7 ones. Maybe a trip to the pick-n-pull is in order to get an assortment to try out. They are NLA from Mazda unless J9 knows otherwise.

Requesting this thread be moved over to the archive. The "new" thread is more useful with the pictures than the "old" version at this point. Thank you.