As I may have mentioned in my introductory post my father had passed away several weeks ago and his prized 85 base model Rx7 was given to me by my Mother. Last weekend I had a little time and got her running. All fluids were low as she sat for more than two years in his garage, unliscensed and untouched. Filled all fluids hooked up battery.....started like a champ!!! Smoked pretty good till she warmed up and had a slight miss. My son and I took her out for a cruise and man o man the memories came flooding back!! I was with him when he purchased this car and spent many hours driving around with him in it. It has a little rust starting over the rear wheel wells and he had a small fender bender on the front left but very fixable. The only major thing is that there is a considerable amount of brake fade and the pedal will fall somewhat sitting at red lights.....gotta pump em!! The miss mostly disappeared after about an hour though. Anyway I had forgotten how cool this little car was and what fun it is to drive!!!! It doesn't have near the horsepower as my 88 corvette but it is a whole different class of cool and fun!! I hope the pic posts ok with this if not sorry Ill get it figured out sooner or later!!

 

Brake pedal falling at idle is a classic sign of brake booster leaking. Easy fix!

 

congrats - your dad will be pleased! Great story. Hope it stays in the family. We are here to help that happen…
Rear fender rust is in virtually every Gen 1 RX7 - even my All-it's-Life SoCali 1980. I pulled the tail lights and coated the inner back fenders with POR15 to stop it (which it did, cold) but it will take new sheet metal there to correct it. Get on it, ts only getting worse!

And agree, fading brakes likely failed Brake Master Cyl. Can be an issue on a car that has sat!
New Br. Masters avai from Mazda still. prob about $140. The aftermarket are cheaper (ebay has them for $40 or less all the time) but sometimes you DO get what you pay for! I had to swap in several until I got one that (so far!) works. I'd get the Mazda part next time.

Enjoy!

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Great story; sounds like a keeper that can be 100% again with only moderate work.

 

Your car looks GREAT! The story behind it is similar to me and my first car actually. I'd love to see the car some time and would be glad to lend a hand working on it! I'm hosting an RX-7 meet at my place on 9-27-14. Would love for you to come out and meet some fellow rotary owners and eat some great food and I would be happy to help you fix your car if you brought it out.

 

nice story. take good care of it and it can be passed on to your son later on.

 

I see your in Vermillion!!! Last weekend my kids and I were at Cedar Point for my works Family Day!! Looks pretty close to you. Man I would love to meet up with other enthusiests!!! Trouble is I work most weekends and its hard to make events not local.... Its a bummer but thats life. Also before I drive that far in this car I need to really go over everything....nothing worse than a big surprise far from home!

 

Great story!! Good to see that you are creating the same memories as you had with your own son! I have not been to any local meets myself but I hope to get to some next year. If you have not already checked out the Ohio Rotaries site, here is the address Ohio Rotaries ? Index page

 

Y'know, I may have met him many years ago, if he bought the car in very late 1985 after seeing what the 1986 models were like.

 

I'm hosting an RX-7 meet at my place on 9-27-14.

What time should I be there?

 

Dave is a wonderful host. Alas, I will be out west visiting family and won't be able to make it this year.

 

I see you are in Troy, that isnt far from me. Fairborn here.

Anybody wanting to attend Daves meet plan on being there sometime in the afternoon. A lot of folks will be there all day long!