Just spreading the SA-LOVE


Chris - get us some pics of your ORIGINAL-OWNER SA, Man! Don't hold back!!!

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Stu, I've already thought about a thread with the story and pictures and history and all. After I get home and a few things taken care of, I'd like to do that actually. I haven't seen it done yet and it does make for a rather unique perspective. Regrettably, I have very few pictures of back in the day and those were all Polaroid type. Just got a digital camera few years ago and only have half a dozen or so with that. Currently, I don't even have all those with me right now. Surprisingly, even to me, I don't ever recall even taking a single picture of the engine bay. And I've always kept it clean as a whistle. Also surprisingly (to me) I think I actually threw out or lost my orignial plug wires. That's just not me. But, give it time. Good things come to those who wait.

 

WHOA! Hold the phone. You mean to tell me there are TWO guys that are original owners of SAs in Iowa (within an hour drive) and Ive only seen one??? You need to seriously shoot me a PM when you come back so I can check this bad boy out.

 

You refering to Rich and his Bronze from C/R? We have emailed a couple times and his car looks really clean, with the plad seats and all. I would like to see it sometime for sure. Yes, I will be in touch.

 

Yeah. Rich is a cool guy.

 

A couple pics of mine, taken by Greenman! at last night's little meet Farmer Boys meet in the West:








Dude is one slick-*** hand with a camera. He shot the last one in full dark under parking lot lights, time-lapse. (I'm the blur on the left...)

 

beautiful car makes the pics that much more enjoyable. i wish my air cleaner lid looked that nice...

 

She's a Beaut DD - even w/o the Hollywood Lighting

Hey Chris (Banzai) - get to it w/pix: love to see that window sticker and engine bay - if the SA is _remotely_ as tidy as your Bike then we are all in for a treat. Just remember there is a size limit for jpg images here of 260Kb (I believe) - so if you get photos and have no way of reducing them, fire them over to me and I will run them thru photoshop for a proper sizing.

So. Today's SA Topic: Mirrors
SAs were marketed worldwide with at least SIX different exterior mirror layouts:
1) the cool fender mount mirrors of the japanese home market -electric version for the "Limited" high end SA
2) the same style fender mirror but with a MANUAL pivot head in the 4 lower JDM models
3) the familiar smallish manual/pivoting mirror the US/N.American SAs came with.
4) the electric FB-style mirror that the SA Leather Sport and Anniversary XX 1980 specials came with.
5) the larger, rectangular manual "porsche" style mirrors for the European markets. These feature a fixed body shell, with the mirror glass manually adjustable in the body (pic)
6) similar to (5) but electric (pic). This was "officially" the update mirror for the 1981 FB RX7s in Europe. But my 1980 UK/Australian Parts Book lists these as being available for the 1980 SA, tho I doubt any actually were installed before production switched to the 1981 cars...

Also shown is the "joy stick" dual controls for the electric mirrors, unique to the SA cars.

Factoids:
-SAs after SN SA22C-592956 should have the car's dash electric harness PREWIRED for the electric mirror switch. Another clue is the panel to the lower left of the steering column, that contains the choke ****: if it has a FLAT surface below the choke, this is where the joy stick mounts, so it is likely wired for electric mirrors
-Mirrors 3 thru 6 are fully interchangeable: mount points and electrics all plug-and-play

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Wow Glen! Your RX-7 is sharp! Those Futura RWL tires really add a lot. Outside of the FC next to yours did other 7's show for the Farmer Boys meet? Wish I could have made there.

This thread should be stickied given Stu's ongoing series. Excellent contributions Stu! Well done.

 

Thanks, Mike; we had four -7's show by the end of the night; was a small turnout as a lot of people were busy. two FC,s and FB, and me.

Stu: My car (ser 597799) has the flat area under the dash, and I'm in-process of getting electrics for it. I'm guessing it may take me a while to track down a stock joystick set, though, so in the meantime I'm goint to work something up using an FB switch. Glad to know I can probably use most of the prewire. No in-door harnesses in my car, so the pre-wire must stop at the hinge. do you know if door harness connectors SA/FB are the same? I can usually find some FB's in the yards around here, to harvest for connectors.

 

i would guess they are the same because the power mirrors for the SA and FB are identical

 

Forum member Hozzman just hooked me up today with a pair of power mirrors from his 79SE... and also the door reinforcement plates, and wiring harness/connectors.

I are teh happeh.

Beauty... now, I need to clean em up, then start hunting a switch.

 

Glad your enjoying the errata Mickster
Dave asked to see my 4 NOS spares so I'll see if I can dig them out of the Parts Center and get a pic in the next couple of days to keep this thread alive. Why don't you jump in with some under-the-hood shots??

DD here is pics of the 2 dash harness connectors that the mirror sw plugs into... obv you need to pull the cluster. Best of luck on the switch...
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

oop -
DD on the SECOND pic, the dash connection is on the RIGHT, the smaller of the two mirror connectors, the one that the dash connector actually fits, is in my hand...
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

codeblue you need to get some of yours its really clean

 

Thankye, kind sir.

Can you get me some closeups of your beautiful rare dual-stick switch?

If I can't find one, I betcha I can make one!

 

 

 

i'll snag some close ups for you shortly or first thing in the morning!

 

©ØÐËߣüË - Dude, your style of classic-customization gives me a hard on. Not that I'm likely to ever mess with an original SA at this point, I've always dreamed of a life-sized HotWheel. If I ever do build one your work will be my inspiration.

What gathering were these pictures taken at? How many other RX-7's showed?

 

Code-
No pigeon is safe when that turbine is at full chat! wooHOO! Likewise not a big moddie fan but nice clean presentation. You might actually need that safety flag on the antenna!
Thanks for posting...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

No prob DD - if Dave doesn't post one, I will...
Worst case scenario and you need to make one, I believe I have a Service Bulletin that deets the wiring diagram for the mirrors/switch/harness - ****-load of wires involved. OR: wiring likes same as FB, so any FB wire diagr would tell the tale, assuming wire color codes are unchanged...

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Wires don't scare me... electronics has been a hobby of mine since I was 8 years old. Cars came a lot later. Good physical pictures of the gizmo would be handy though... front, sides... back? maybe one with a ruler next to it, for scale.

Be fun to see how close I can make a hand-fabbed repro look. It's just the kind of fiddly, detailed, stupidly-complex job that I get off on.

 

I can get some better ones after work, unless someone posts sooner

 

here are the pics of the electric mirror controls as promised. if you need more pics please let me know: