My Restoration Project (12A rebuild part)
 

As some forum veterans may know by the threads I've made, my plans for my 82 FB is to restore it. My dad is the original owner of the car so it has been in the family since the day he saw it on the delivery truck on the Oak Tree Mazda dealership. I took the project to restore it and bring it back to life after my dad left it sitting outside in the California weather for a few years because there was an oil leak at the oil pan gasket by the exhaust manifold causing a big smoke screen whenever it accelerated from a stop light. Along with miscellaneous issues with the engine I've encountered, I have always tried to fix or repair the issue myself such as the rebuilding OMP, re-gasketting the oil pan, to changing the catalytic converter to pass smog (which I did successfully and legally). The engine so far throughout its life though has not had any major problems except for the usual showing of its age due to the high miles put on it (171k unopened).

Over the past few months I've been collecting engine parts to start focusing on getting the mechanical side of the car to be restored to like-new conditions. Later I will focus on the exterior and interior cosmetics that need to be redone. I purchased all the necessary parts for the internals minus the rotors, eccentric shaft, oil pump, etc.

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Since I am a full time student I do not have the time at the moment to rebuild the engine. Also I do not have the garage space and engine hoist to remove and rebuild it either. So I drove my car to Ben aka Karak of Rotary Evolution in Yuba City to have him rebuild it and supplied my parts to him. I have full confidence and I know other members can vouch the same that he will perform great work on the rebuild. When he had the engine out and torn apart he called me to say that everything looked great but amount of chrome flaking in the core of the rotor housings would make them unusable when putting the engine back together.

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Thanks Ben for taking the pictures for me!

So I decided to find brand new 12A rotor housings. Mazda has discontinued them and I only know of two places in the world that has a few pairs left in stock. Although, I hear Mazda might consider re-manufacturing these housings. Well my rotor housings should be on their way soon and I will check my car for the first time in over a month when I deliver them to Ben. I miss my car so much I have dreams of driving it lol!

I will keep this thread updated along the process of my engine being rebuilt. I hope this rebuild will last me another 170k miles or more now that I have acquired so more more knowledge from the members of this forum. I'll be trying to keep it as original as it was when it left the dealer lot with all the accessories it had with it like the louvers, premium sound system, leather, etc. Here are a few recent pictures of it.

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That is a lot of flake on the housing. I think I can get the new housings for $400 each

Hey Justin how you been? You can get them through Mazda Competition? I thought they didn't have any on stock or do they for members?

Boyee-
same boat as you - collect all the new parts, pull 12a THEN discover I need a rotor housing too. Feel Yor Pain ;)
Lucky to find NOS housings!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

Nice project, look forward hearing how it runs with the rebuilt engine!

Hey Stu! Oh yes finding NOS parts can be a challenge usually a combination of knowing where to find them and luck as well. Were you able to find the rotor housings for your SA or was it for an FB? I really hope Mazda will reproduce more 12A parts so that the prices can go down! Since most of these 12A parts are dwindling the prices have been going up like double! My Series 2 housings should be on their way already. I'm glad I found the correct housings because although I think older housings are compatible, little things like mounting points for the rats nest and other things are either missing or moved to another spot. So for me everything is still original. I was thinking though if I would ever decide to buy original Mazda catalytic converters because those two parts are super expensive!

I think they have it for members, I am not 100% sure. It didn't stop me when I was processing the order, i didn't submit the order tho.

Wait I still don't get it. I thought you autocross so are you a member of Mazda Motorsports? I think you can get pretty much any Mazda part discounted. On their website it didn't say they no longer had any but somebody I know who called the Motorsport department told them they didn't have any 12A housings available I think.

sweet man! so glad to see the origanal ones kept origanal.

Yes, I am a member and can get any Mazda part discounted.

Here is what happened, I was submitting the part number of the 12A housings and they let me process the order through the site, I got all the way to the payment page. During the whole time, The site never told me if the housings are out of stock. However, this doesn't mean that they will have any for sale, so maybe your friend is right about them being not available.

P.S. I just checked the catalog, it said housings from 74-80 12A and 74-78 13B are discontinued and crossed out. So, maybe the 81-83 12A and 84-85 12A are still available...

ahh so perhaps Mazda Motorsports have some on hand then for the members. But I know of where one brand new SA housing is. I will have to think of you Justin whenever I need parts lol

Came home tonight and found these waiting for me :bigthumb:
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These Brand New OEM 12A rotor housings!!! Aren't they absolutely beautiful? I'm guessing these are 1 of probably less than 10 sets left in the world. At least that I know of. Anyways I'll be dropping them off to Ben on Sunday hopefully and that should be the last thing needed for re-assembly! :icon_tup:

Look at all the boxes I've been getting in the mail recently. NOS interior, exterior, and engine parts! All for a great restoration and :goodrebuild:

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I am so excited and ready to be driving my GSL after its been gone for over a month!

Update: Just came back from Ben's shop Rotary Evolution and saw my car for the first time in over a month! Damn did I miss her ahaha! Dropped off the rotor housings and snapped a few pics of whats been going on. My car should be done by the end of this week hopefully and start the process of break in.

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my repaired/refurbished cracked FMOC done by Pacific Oil Coolers. There was a thread where they were mentioned by Stu I believe and I decided to go with them to fix my oil cooler crack leak. Also my chemically bathed radiator.

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Parts!
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Saw my housings..
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This time I'll be always running a little mix of two-stroke through the gas along with my OMP to preserve my new housings so they don't end up like that in another 150k+ miles.

I can't wait to hear the engine run!

Hey Boyee-
Nice find on the housings! Ah Feel Yor ...Joy!!
also found 2 sets of NOS 80-style housings thru friend in Europe - along with all new irons. Now have a more-or-less new spare 12a when The Day Comes. May your hunt for NOS trim be as sucessful!! THAT'S a tough one - New/Old Mazda parts are disappearing QUICK
:(
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

Congrats!

I'm sure glad I sprung for new housings on my last rebuild - - several years but only a couple thousands miles ago. Even at that time, they were pricey, but were still pretty available.

80 12A EGR irons were already very hard to get, then - - the guys at Racing Beat spent a couple weeks finding me a set that they thought were worthy, and gave them a light lapping.

Ditto
 

Nice thread, Boyee! I have the same exact model, year and color. I bought mine for $475 from a guy who had it setting for sale in a grocery parking lot. It had been clipped across the front bumper and right front quarter panel. Only the bumper frame forks were bent, so it didn't cost me much to get them straightened. Now I am in the process of restoring mine as well. I look forward to reading your updates. Thanks for posting your project.

Hey thank you for your comments!
Wow Stu those are beautiful housing and irons! I wish 12A crate engines could still be available! I would scoop up these new 12A parts if I had the money because like you said, 12A let alone first gen RX-7 parts are dwindling fast! Best of luck to your rebuild!

DivinDriver - you did it the quality way like me! Fortunately my irons had virtually no etching so I didn't require lapping. And wow California early 12A irons.. I'm glad your builder was able to source them!

Hey Colonel - Great to hear about another car just like mine. I rarely see any Maya Golds driving around let alone the same year and trim level! I want to see some pictures of your car and what you have done with it so far on your restoration. Check out some of my older threads about me finding some more hard to get parts and replacing them in my car. Good luck!

Maya Gold
 

Thanks, Boyee! I'll see if I have some pictures of it on my flashdrive. I know I sent some to my best friend last year. He's the one who got me turned on to the RX-7. He bought one brand new in '84 when we were in college (he's a rich kid). I also have a picture of my rear seat conversion (a work in progress). It's the only "non-original" change I have made to my RX-7 thus far.

Very Cool! I would love to see pics of your gem!

SO heres the update!
I just came back from Ben's shop Rotary Evolution and brought back my car. Yes she runs! On the first crank too! Soooooo smooth and it feels sooo great to be driving her again!
More details later and pics/vid soon to come after I clean up.

that's a smooth ride you've got there, and it's cool to see a rebuild. i always enjoy seeing someone go through the progress of taking their car to a new level with a rebuilt motor. also, where do you get that visor for the rear windshield? :Wconfused

argh I can't find my mini SD adapter for my transflash phone card because I have pictures of the engine going in my car and the first start video on my phone... but I have these pictures taken after I washed and detailed my engine bay.. more and better pics should be coming soon. It feels great to drive her again. It's so much fun too! My engine started right up on the first crank after the oil has been cycled through of course. But pictures first! :)

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So it turned out I arrived at Ben's shop a little too early before my car was done but he was super cool staying until 10PM to get my car up and running! I was there to witness my engine being put back in and all the hoses and wiring reconnected.

Although a little mishap with the oil cooler set us back a little bit. Turns out another crack appeared on my upper hose bung so Ben is going to take it to a local welder this time and try to get that fixed. I thought Pacific Oil Coolers should have tested and inspected it before they sent it back. Well I don't know how it went with them since I didn't send and receive it. For now I am using Ben's REPU oil cooler (thank you!). We retrofitted it to fit my car and it fits perfectly like it was made for the first gen (it's a little bigger too)! So if anybody so happens to get a hold of an early model 13B oil cooler we can tell you how to adapt it to your car! HAH!

So once my oil cooler is fixed our oil coolers will be switched and my engine will be just the way it was brand new! yes! I have about 300 miles on her already and everything has been working flawlessly. First oil change at 500 miles. Should I use 10W-30 again or stick with 20W-50. I have a full case of Castrol GTX for both viscosities.

Also does anybody recommend premixing? I heard it should preserve the life of my engine so that at another 170k my new rotor housings shouldn't have as much chrome flaked off like the originals.

Thanks for everybody's comments and support! And thanks especially to my builder Ben for staying late to get my car done fueled by energy drinks and cigarettes lol

Hmm.. interior or suspension next...

It was a dealership option to have the louver (rear visor) installed. These ones I see rarely but have seen some for sale here. There is a thread right now about the brackets needed to have the louver fit on the hatch window. There was another thread similar to this one also a couple months ago.

Another update: got videos of my car running! I'll upload and post those up later tonight. :)

Cool deal. :) Let me know if that CC switch fixes your problem. :)

Hey Kent,
I have not put in the CC switch in. I should since it looks brand new and mine is all crumbling apart from being sun baked. I actually took apart my CC switch and it was dirty inside. So i just cleaned it up and put it back in and ta da!it works again and so does my cruise!

---Elliot

vids!

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89...h_MOV06912.jpg
Start up with choke. Kinda loud in beginning from clutch fan.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y89...h_MOV06915.jpg
Starting after engine is warmed up. Sorry it's kinda dark

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Is this normal? It backfires when warming up with choke on. Clogged cat? The section right before the car gets a little orange when warming up with choke on revving at 2-2500 rpm for a couple minutes.

Also has anybody had experiences with Atkins Rotary oil filters? They claim they are made by the same makers for Mazda.

Any other break-in techniques anybody recommends (besides oil change at 500 miles)? Premix for the life of this rebuild?

Thanks! Any answer to any question is appreciated.