80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Hello folks, I just bought an 80 RX-7. I bought the car from a guy in Phoenix off of craigslist. He was the original owner and kept every receipt. I know deals are out there because I got one!! I bought this car for $1000!!!
Anyhow, I have been working on this car solid for 2 weeks! It is really starting to come around.

This is my first post but surely not my last. I have been lurking around the forum for about 2 months now and have found some valuable info from the forum.
I have many years of automotive experience restoring and racing cars. I have always wanted a 1st gen SA22. My sister bought one new in 1980 and ever since have wanted one.

After 2 days of owning the car, I put a full Racing beat header and exhaust system on the car. Combine this with getting the secondaries on the carb to work have really made an improvement to the car.

Also new tires, new struts, trans mount, new tune, and tons of other changes are really adding up to making a nice car!!

Let me know what you think!!!

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Very nice.

Welcome to the forum.

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

more pictures added

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Two more pics

challer2000

Great find and welcome to the club!

Mickster

iTrader: (2)

Your kidding righ? One grand for that piece of junk. You way overpaid!
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Seriously dude, that's one sweet ride. If you got it for $1K then you practically stole it. Welcome to the Club! No more lurking. Keep us posted on your experience.

The pics are great!

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

beautiful car. great deal to boot!! i'm pleased with your progress!! nice job

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Thanks and I really have been having fun with this car. I picked it up two weeks ago and since then have done the following:

Washed, detailed, waxed 3 times

New tires/wheel caps

New struts and front suspension work (actually modified newer model RX-7 struts to fit) These are Monroe struts. Much improved ride quality

New transmission mount (HUGE HUGE HUGE difference in smoothing out all drivetrain vibration. If you are getting ANY driveline vibration.....change it)

Serviced the drive shaft

Adjust timing on engine

New sparkplugs

New filters

Changed oil to Royal Purple Synthetic (now before I get a flame war on synthetics, I changed to oil to Valvoline 20w/50 at first. Engine continued to smoke like a mosquito truck. Changed to RP and all is smooth and NO SMOKE. Not sure if it is the oil or just driving the car. The previous owner let the car sit for like 6 months. ...actually could have been all the seafoam I put in the tank that was smoking!!!

RB header and twin pipe exhaust system

Fixed horn

Fixed factory radio and replaced speakers (I am still "on the fence" about changing the factory radio. I want a CD player, but the "old school Clarion" is kinda cool. Bad thing is the factory radio has a weak right channel and the radio dial slips turning the stations to the right. Not sure what to do here..... Ideas???

New wiper blades

Changed rear end oil and trans oil to Royal Purple synthetic

Hooked up front driving lights

Replaced rear hatch struts


Now current items that need addressed next:

The fumes in the car with the windows down are KILLING me!!! I found out that my rear tail light gaskets are NON EXISTANT!!! I feel the partial vacuum in the car with the windows down are pulling in fumes through the leaking housings. New gaskets needed

Replace door gaskets

Recover passenger seat. Again, here I am considering either covering the seat or changing passenger seat to a cobra race seat to match the drivers. Not sure what i want to do here. Cobra is kinda a PITA to get into and considering keeping the passenger seat stock... any ideas??

Electric cooling fan upgrade to replace factory fan

Direct fire MSD ignition

Cold air induction to Mazda air cleaner assembly

This should keep me happy and going through the rest of the year. Next year I am sure more upgrades will come. I feel the power and performance will be sufficient for a while. The engine seems very healthy. I need to check the compression.
I am wanting to keep the whole car "old school" so I will not be doing later generation turbo engine upgrades. I am considering doing a street port and a Camden supercharger next year. That should give me sufficient power and still keep the "old school" charm!!!

Thanks for the comments and let me know ideas!!!

chris_g

iTrader: (29)

Wow, nice car!

Welcome to the club, enjoy your stay and keep us updated!

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Thats a really nice 80 SA GS you have there. I like the front air dam. I'm partial to SAs.

You have a really nice interior too. I would take it all the way back to original if I was you.

- Replace the racing bucket with a stock seat
- Replace the steering wheel with a GS 4 spoke one.
- Is that stick shift **** stock, if not get the stock one.
- Keep the Clarion. Instead wire it up to accept input from an mp3/ipod. Theres an article in the archives about it. I replaced my 4" speakers and added this mod and it sounds great.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...stereo+in-line

- Nice wheels but you might want to get some old school waffles, redo them, and have RWL tires mounted. Put them on for shows or outings.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hlight=waffles



Your gonna have fun with this car for sure.

pinoyremix

i would say before going to a camden..try putting a new carb on..i personally like the look of the two barrel carbs..thats why i own a dellorto...but there are also webers, muniki, and even holley..

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Amazingly clean car! I paid more for mine in 1989, and it was in much worse shape at the time.

You're a lucky man; enjoy it!

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

"i would say before going to a camden..try putting a new carb on..i personally like the look of the two barrel carbs..thats why i own a dellorto...but there are also webers, muniki, and even holley..
__________________
83' Rx7 S: dell 48mm Dhla w/ rb intake, RB Header & presilencer & power pulse muffler, rb springs, tokico blues, mazda speed strut bar...eventually holley red w/ fpr, autometer oil and water temp


I like the look of the 2 bbl webers also. I had 48 IDA webers on a bug years ago. Fun car but I was always piddling with those carbs. The stock nikki performs flawlessly. Almost fuel injection like!!

I question how much drivability will I lose going to the 2bbl weber and how much real all around performance (not just peak) will I lose. (stock motor)

I know when I go to a ported engine the 2bbl will perform much better.

Any thoughts??? Is going to a 2bbl beneficial on a stock motor??

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

You bet, but as always with a large 2 barrel you can/will have some drivability issues. Only a modified nikki (aka Sterling) can get you the performance that a large 2 barrel can give you. Of course none of this is worth doing unless you put a free flowing exhaust setup on. Don't bother if you keep the exhaust stock.

I have a Dellorto 48 DHLA on my stock port 12A and its a lot of fun. Gets 17/24 mpg.

pinoyremix

out of the 2 bbl carbs..the dellorto 48 is probably the most drivable..it fixed most of the problem that the weber 45 and 48 dcoe had...even has a choke...one thing you have to remember with a 2bbl..you cant floor it a low rpms cuz it will just bog..but once your moving..thing just wants to keep going...a very noticeable difference on a stock port motor...if you still want drivability..stay with a sidedraft carb...the downdraft have great power...but thats on the top end..

pinoyremix

i knew Tg was going to get in before me..lol

blackdeath647

iTrader: (2)

that car's pretty awesome, i like that steering wheel also, nice find, welcome!!

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

"You bet, but as always with a large 2 barrel you can/will have some drivability issues. Only a modified nikki (aka Sterling) can get you the performance that a large 2 barrel can give you. Of course none of this is worth doing unless you put a free flowing exhaust setup on. Don't bother if you keep the exhaust stock.

I have a Dellorto 48 DHLA on my stock port 12A and its a lot of fun. Gets 17/24 mpg."


I do have the RB header and dual pipe exhaust... It made a big difference!!! I like the drivability of the nikki. Nice to be able to pull the choke out, hit the key, high idle till warm....go!!
BTW....what about fuel injection??? I have heard about megasquirt... I went to Megasquirt's website and just found a forum. Where to folks go to buy the components?? How is the driveability? I am sure there are plenty of threads about the MS.... Just kinda started tinking about it today.
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80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Also I saw your 17/24 mpg.... MUST be driving conservative!!! I will be checking my MPG this tank.... I am expecting prolly 12 MPG!!! Just too hard to keep from "running the revs!!"

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

I've reliably gotten 18/20mpg overall off a stock setup, & I'm not all that light on my feet.

So, your mileage may, uhm, vary.

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

I'm getting 17/26 in my car and I drive anything but conservative on my SP12A. If you get 12 mpg there something wrong with your car.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

No, 17 is with my foot in it a lot. It can dip to 15 if I'm really pushing it. Unless my wife is in the car, I'm pedal to the metal a lot of the times. Getting 12 would mean somethings not right.

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

time will tell... I think the milage will end up being a little better than 12 but prolly not much more than 14. Remember my car is a 4 speed car. 4500 RPM hiway cruising is not out of the question!
It does seem to be running rich. When I adjust my idle mixture down, the engine hunts up and down. Back it out to where it makes your eyes water....she is running happy! Plugs look OK though. Does not look like it is running overly rich.

Just looking at the gas gage... I am just a little over 1/4 of a tank and have drivin 142 miles.....does not look too good!!!

I will update when i fill her up. JC

challer2000

Is that mostly city driving or highway… I seem to average 200-250 miles per tank depending on much I get on the pedal (with a stock setup running rich).

80's old school

iTrader: (7)

Mostly city driving. It does seem to be running a little rich. Also how many of you have 4 speeds??