Emaleigh; my 82 GS. -warning picture heavy-
 

I figured since I picked up my third rx7 a few weeks ago I should start my project thread and post some pictures of my "save". Background story I've been looking for another rx7 for a year or so now but was laid off twice and couldn't afford it.
I found this 82 gs that needed some work but the body seemed decent, however it was a CO car. I checked it out and the body is rust free, including the frame, and had no real dings or dents. It hadn't been driving for a while because of a vibration that I assumed was the U-joints... 125k miles, needs paint, runs good, new clutch, and needs some interior love as well. I paid 1200 for it.

These are pictures of when I first got it home.

not a bad looking car at all!! that's one to restore and keep on the road! keep us updated wiht your progress!!

Thanks. I went to sleep before posting what little progress I've made.

I replaced the Front and Rear U-joints which is a pita in these because of the exhaust heat shields and the positioning of the exhaust under the driveline. It helped with most of the vibration. And of course I did the normal clean and wax as well. A lot of driving to see what all needs to be fixed.

The spark plugs were fouled autolites which I automatically tossed out, the spark plug wires were brown and tested for a lot of resistance so I've got a set on the way today. Air filter was nasty as well. Oil was black. So just a lot of routine maintenance, but I'm going to check the tranny mounts later.. Could be why the front and rear U-joints were bad.

From pic #3 looks like she's already taken some blood from you. ;)


Autolite makes a plug for a rotary? Japanese demands N G K!

Haha, she's made me bleed more than a few times.
And I felt the same way about the autolite plugs, and when I called to have the parts store here order some ngk's they asked if I was sure I didn't want the autolites.

man those plugs are beyond done! there's no ground strap left

Yeah, they were pretty bad. It improved my gas mileage by 3mpg replacing them. I'm updating tonight, I've decided to remove all the emissions and refresh the vacuum lines. I've got an oil pressure problem and I think the only way to keep myself from driving it is to make it undrive-able.. lol.

At least they didn't push "Chumpions"

Once again... Does champion make rotary plugs? Don't answer I don't wanna know.

almost positive they do not make rotary plugs. anyone want to chime in on this im also very curious?

I'd never use anything but NGK in my cars. Looking into swapping to the RX-8 plugs at the moment.

So I haven't updated this in a while but here is what is going on.
I fixed the vibrations, it was the transmission mount completely separated from the steel. When I went to remove one of the cross-member bolts I found out it had been cross threaded and I need to re-thread the hole.
Then I replaced my oil pressure sending unit with two different units and got the same reading on both, so I assume that either my oil pump went bad or the front cover o-ring is bad. Going to check both and hopefully that is all it is. If my bearings are just worn out I'll probably end up finding a 13b to swap in.
The water pump was also leaking and whenever I removed it I noticed that the blades are messed up. It looked like the water pump had recently been removed and somebody used sealant to put it back on with. Messy job, I saw a piece of dried sealant in the coolant passage entrance... Like a long strand on the inside of the front plate.

In the mean time I'm stripping the Nikki and cleaning the engine bay. Removing the a/c parts. Probably installing my s5 coil. Replacing the water pump. Port matching the intake manifold. Closing off the intake coolant passages? And anything else that can keep me entertained while I've got a month off from school..

I hadn't updated in a while because I've been busy with school and trying to chase down the low oil pressure issue. Turns out my bearings were non-existent and more or less seized to the eccentric shaft. The housings and irons are all re-usable other than the rear plate because I broke the oil pedastol(ms) off trying to get the rear stationary gear off of the shaft.
Anyway, now I have to try and figure out what I want to do the this thing...
1)Rebuild the 12a.
2) Rebuild the 12a but using an s5 n/a rotating assembly.
3) Buy a used engine. If I do this it'll probably be a 13b...
4) T2 swap.
5) 4.3L chevrolet swap... It sounds interesting and I know you can get quite a bit of power out of them while still getting gas mileage and reliability...

Vote for whichever one you want... I'd rather stay rotary but I just don't know if I have room at this house to rebuild an engine.