One of my kids bought an 85 FB a little over a year ago as his first car. We picked it up cheap, only $500. We were actually able to drive it home although it was running poorly.

Initially, I rebuilt the carb and went through the rats nest replacing all the rotted tubing and got it running a bit better...it was never quite right, but he was too busy driving the heck out of it for me to do anything but put the fires out so to speak.

Over that year I put a new clutch master cylinder on it, a complete brake job, whatever came up. I got to test drive it each time, of course. About 4 months ago my son bought another car that gets better gas mileage and is easier to start, etc. He held onto the RX for while but having two insurance payments was hard on him, and he did not ever drive it. (He works about 38 hours a week and goes to school full time)

FInally he was talking about getting rid of it. I could not bear the thought of seeing the little Mazda leave the family so I bought it from him on the easy payment plan. It is no show car, nor will it ever be. It has some scary rust underneath, the body needs work and it has 220,000 miles on it. Ive seen FAR better examples go by on Craigslist for around $2500 all the time. However, at this point in the little car's life, I will be working on it more than driving it so I expect that I can improve it and preserve it somewhat.

I think a normal person would not bother with it, but the way my life is, I will NEVER have the $2500 to go and buy the nice one. (Don't get me wrong, this is no sob story, I
make pretty good money) it's just I am spread pretty thin...5 kids etc...

I have several old motocross bikes (I race vintage class), an old streetbike, a couple vintage mopeds, an old boat, etc... the point is, all of my toys were bought for next to nothing, and whatever value or usefullness they have now has come directly from my hands and my toil, so it is very satisfying for me to take my 1972 Kawasaki for a spin on the weekend, even though it's it black primer. Ive neve passed another one on the road thats for sure. Ive seen plenty of candied trailer queens at shows mind you.(It's a 2 stroke triple)

I like the RX7 because it's a bit different and they are becoming quite scarce. To me, the motor almost feels like a 2stroke...not alot of rotating mass or moving parts and revs to high heaven.

The challenge for me now is not to have a mental breakdown since I now have far too many mechanical mouths to feed! Boy have I got a long list for the little Mazda already!
The way my life works is this: When work is busy, I get tons of overtime...Ive got money but no time. Then when it is slow, I have lots of time but no money. Ive taken to ordering parts from Ebay in the busy weeks so I have something to do when it's slow...

See you all around the board!

 

Nice post, nice lifestyle.

 

I have and always will regret the day I sold my T500.

Pics of the triple please

And the 7

t500trial.mp4 Video by jdallis33026 | Photobucket

 

Glad you're here. What did you have in mind for mods? Direct fire? Long primary exhaust?

 

Great story and glad to hear someone is willing to save a little 7 Many people on here know way too much and are always here to help! Any pics for us to look at?

 

Will look forward to the pics!!

 

The Rx:




This is my triple as it looks now:


Although Ive had it looking better, this was a spray can job that I took my time with, it lasted about 2 years before flaking off, then I bombed it flat black.



Here's two of my MX bikes, a 1975 KX400 and a 1981 YZ465

 

Great post! Love the pics. Always nice to see someone willing to bring these back from the edge of oblivion and fix them up. Bikes look cool too!

 

Nice Ford too.

 

The car looks relieved that you adopted it. I hope you and it have a long and enjoyable relationship.

That bike makes me think of my youth - - that how motorcycles are supposed to look!

 

Made some progress making it run a bit better today. I don't think I want anymore out of this thing than to run like it should at this point. I am going to avoid any "performance" minded mods until I get the rest of it's issues tightened up a bit. It could use an exhaust. We put a new muffler on it, but the pipes from the cats on back are crappy.

Time to do some body work and see what I can do about the undercarriage. (Need to buy some ramps I think.) Not much ground clearance! IVe got jack stands, but Im a little worried about the placement. Might burst through the frame!

Besides being generally rusty underneath, the BIG issue is on the drivers side near the rear suspension ... Im going to see if I can reinforce it at some point. Weld some plates or rods in even.

 

Reminds me of my main squeez 74 CB550. Been through a few paint jobs.... and a crapton of miles

 

Does that 3 cyl sound like a 20B?

 

Sexier.... Three independent exhaust pipes. Like three angry chainsaws!

I love the factory pipes, but three seperate resonators....... uuughhghhhhh sexy.

 

I figured I would just update this thread rather then start a new one. Ive been working on it here and there.....Ive got it all in flat black now...I put a fuel pump in, and Ive been working on the steering which was all over the place....the idler arm was shot, but still there is play. Gonna tackle adjusting the steering box next.

The fuel gauge stopped working after I had dropped the tank, I was thinking the float might have been stuck--I did remove the sending unit at one point...however after a couple trips, it started working. Guess I hit the right pot hole and it came unstuck......

Im glad about the fuel gauge. It sounds like a minor thing, but---Im good at putting up with issues...I can adjust, and limp along with anything...very handy sometimes in this world...but Im getting to the point in my life where I want things to work. The fuel gauge not working was just one more little thing that was adding up to a tipping point where Im thinking to myself, "why bother with this thing?"

I was a little let down that the idle arm did not solve all of my steering issues, but oh well....

Now Ive got to do something about the miss off idle, the drivers door (rusted and window wont work) , rusty frame on one corner, heh heh.....

 

nice car take good care of her