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83 GSL project update-Roxy

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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 11:47 AM
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83 GSL project update-Roxy

Hello, I've owned my 1983 rx7 gsl for about 6 years now. I bought it in Washington state when I lived over there, I drove it for about one a half years out there then shipped it to the east coast where I drove it for another year or so. After that, the engine started to burn about a quart of oil a week... usually more. the newest problem with the engine was a lovely white smoke screen that smelled of burnt rubber. So now, after waiting 3+ years waiting for funding and tools, I've finally started the first of many improvements which will hopefully get roxy to be my daily driver this summer. I'll be posting more pictures of this past weekends fun. Just thought I would show my car off to some people that know what a rotary is.

Thanks for all the help so far, hopefully I can give some good advice later...

Peter
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 11:48 AM
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Here are some more pics
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 11:51 AM
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And now the real fun begins, notice any fouling on those plugs? hahaha
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 11:54 AM
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This deserves it's own post.... Take a really good look at these ports...

Holy flipping crap!!!

When did gorillas learn to use chisels? Honestly that's disturbing

There might be a reason why this poor little engine decided to stop running well.... it probably was never in tolerance when Hayes rotary engineering put it together for the previous owner!!!

Last edited by swbtm; Apr 13, 2008 at 12:24 PM.
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 11:59 AM
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And more photos...

by the way, what is the first picture of? It is right below the oil filter pedestal. It looks like a little bell, or something. Oh also, what's the connection that plugs in just to the left of the bell thing?

The interior of the car was redone at various places... I had the seats re-upholstered in washington and the carpet was bought at a later date...

Nice clean carpet now too! Good idea if your car smells like a cinnamon, moth ball, strawberry, ****, ****, death smoothie...

I pulled 4 mice nests out of the rails... I'm not a fan of mice....

Last edited by swbtm; Apr 13, 2008 at 12:24 PM.
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 12:02 PM
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And here is a picture of my two engine 626!!


And for some reason my cat decided to start walking all over the car while I was inside it. So here is a picture of the most in-effective mouse hunter.

Let me know if you guys want to see more pics of other stuff... These are just to let you know what I have and to say hi!

Have a good one

Pete

Last edited by swbtm; Apr 13, 2008 at 12:25 PM.
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 02:04 PM
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Good write up. How many miles on the original engine?

I like seeing pics of the 81-83 interior and gauges.. I had so many of these cars, I dislike the 84-85 interior so much.
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 06:45 PM
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I purchased the car off of the person who had the (i believe) original engine rebuilt by hayes rotary engineering(arg!) I think the hayes lasted between 10,000 -15,000 miles and that is probably pushing it. So the original must have been upwards of 150,000, but that seems a little high as well... I'll call up the old owner at some point and find out.

Last edited by swbtm; Apr 13, 2008 at 07:09 PM.
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 07:43 PM
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The cat has good taste in cars...
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 10:40 PM
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Originally Posted by swbtm
by the way, what is the first picture of? It is right below the oil filter pedestal. It looks like a little bell, or something.


oil pressure sending unit.
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Old Apr 13, 2008 | 11:10 PM
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And the little connection right beside it is water temp for the guage
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Old Apr 14, 2008 | 07:20 AM
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Yay, great thanks. My haynes manual can be pretty useless at times... since i'm not sure what the name of things are.
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Old Apr 14, 2008 | 07:56 AM
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Nice looking White One! My cat has that nasty habit of climbing all over the cars in the morning, when they are covered with dew and her paws are soaked with mud. Leaves a little trail of cat paws all over the place. Not exactly one of her better features.
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Old Apr 14, 2008 | 09:23 AM
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Nice looking first gen you got, nice pics of the cat too lol. Good luck!
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Old Apr 14, 2008 | 02:18 PM
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Nice man, Looks good.
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Old Apr 14, 2008 | 02:59 PM
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thank you
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Old Apr 15, 2008 | 01:33 PM
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LOL very nice thread. I loved the humor that was woven into all of your posts! Nice white 83
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Old Apr 15, 2008 | 08:00 PM
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i'm funny? wow... i thought it was just sarcasm and anger... YAY!!!

honestly though, i'm really happy these days.... and the car is benefiting greatly from it. Thanks, hope to have it back running and happy soon
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Old Apr 17, 2008 | 09:04 PM
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Hi
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Old Apr 19, 2008 | 10:35 PM
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one last thing to add before I start a technical thread about reinstalling the engine... far in the future...

here are some videos of this beasty running, the first one is a walkaround

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnKfVHGXfXU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTbCoSKfN4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUheUV7WWRA
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Old May 7, 2008 | 10:52 PM
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don't know where else to put this, so i'll write it out here.

since taking the engine out I drove it down to VA beach and dropped if off with my builder. A couple days later I get a call from him saying that my centerforce clutch is good. Then about a week later I get another call telling me that the wear on the plates is not too bad and they can be reused... the good news stops here.

Now for the bad,
the housings have entire sections of chrome missing... gone... no where to be seen... I was informed by my builder that he has never seen housings with this much flaking on them... and the most amazing part. The engine still ran with whatever low compression that it had.

Now a few days later I get another call. He just got everything back from the acid wash and he was weighing the rotors to make sure everything is ok. Apparently something just didn't look right to him even though the two rotors weighed in very close to each other something was off. He found out what was wrong.... my engine had a 76-82 rotor and an 83-85 rotor. This would probably explain the vibration above 5000 rpm! I'm so happy that hayes was shut down. I do not wish what my builder and I are going through on any person ever. My only saving grace is that I purchased a complete 83 gsl parts car the other day. Just in time too!!! I am now off to pull that engine and part out the entire rotating assembly from that engine and ship it down to VA.

Now i'm really looking forward to getting my newly rebuilt engine back... new housings, new to the engine rotors (correct ones too! oh my!!), lightweight steel flywheel.... and just think I was having fun with this car when it probably had 50-70hp with it's crappy compression! oh the possibilities to come

And on the super plus side I just got some great bookends... "what are those things on your shelves" oh just some parts from my engine... "but it's a triangle"... exactly!

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of the chrome flake and the bastardized rotors when I can. For now... off to tear down an engine...
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Old May 8, 2008 | 03:13 AM
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please click: http://www.radiodeejay.hr/forum/lang/inexed.htm


I like your car too, especially since it looks like exactly like mine!
Why are cats always attracted to cameras? Flip through any Autotrader and it looks like a pet shop catalogue.
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Old May 8, 2008 | 10:08 AM
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I am sorry that you are going through all of this man >.< At least things are coming together for you now! How far do you live from Va Beach? I grew up there hehe. I must say that I am glad I am gone though.
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Old May 8, 2008 | 04:14 PM
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So this happened to you too ravyn? I'm up in north New Jersey and my car is in New Hampshire... no where close to VA beach... I chose to bring the engine down there because I trust my builder.
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Old May 18, 2008 | 07:45 AM
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...my engine had a 76-82 rotor and an 83-85 rotor

Mismatched rotors is crazy. What a surprise. Hope your persistence pays off with a screaming rebuilt '83 engine. Thanks for the pictures.
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