500 buck! How'd I do guys?
It's a 79
This is my first 1st gen, you guys got any gen specific tips or tricks?

 

Well technically 2nd, you can see the one in the background but I haven't touched it since I bought it.

 

I'm not an early SA expert, but I thought those dashs with the speaker cutout were pretty rare,
Yours (besides the pimp paint job) looks to be in pretty nice condition.

 

See I know none of that stuff!

 

I know very basics of these like I know the gsl-se was fuel injected and had the good rear end but that's about the limit of my knowledge,i know the basics like 12a in the rest, and I'm definitely not new to rotaries, I have 4 second gens, I just need to know anything you guys can tell me issue wise I'm gonna run into with mechanical things different from second to first.

 

nice find. actually u got the car for free. that turbo is worth what u paid for the car if u sell it. don't know why ppl do their interiors like that. sunroof looks like an aftermarket add on. i've never owned one with a sunroof and just going by what the factory ones look like. what's the story with the FB?

 

I'm gonna build it back to run that turbo :-D and I picked up the fb for 150 from a crackhead who was gonna scrap it. Didn't really want it just couldn't stand to see it get crushed. It runs but dies with any throttle. Carb needs a rebuild.

 

Very excellent. The red dash has got to go.

 

While I do agree that it's kinda in your face and tacky, it was done very well, and would prolly look worse if I tried to reprint it or scratch it off.

 

Repaint, not print lol

 

Nice find. Does the car currently run or does it have issues? What you got is different from every other RX-7 in a few ways. 79's were the only 7 to use the early points ignition system with 9V ignition coils and external ballast resistors. On top of that, it also used an externally regulated alternator. There are also a few other small things that are different on 79's such as the fuse panel which uses those cylindrical fuses, not the standard auto fuses seen on later cars. Also, the emission system is quite a bit different as well. No cats were used for emission control, just a part called a thermal reactor (basically a large chamber used to burn off excess fuel) and some other related parts downstream of the TR to help with that burn off. Part time trailing ignition was controlled through relays and solenoids in the emissions system, and the points distributor is a fair bit different and uses a different cap and rotor than the electronic units.

Its quite easy to change both the ignition and alternator to the later systems used on 1st gens, and you can even easily convert to a FC alternator if you want since the wiring is almost identical. I cover the proper way to convert the alternator to an internally regulated unit to retain proper function of the tach/voltmeter assembly and idiot lights, if you wish, along with the choke ****. There is an easier way to do it if you don't care about retaining these parts functioning properly.

Moving on to the back, the rear axle likely still has the drum brakes. Be careful with these, they do need to be adjusted periodically since back in 79, Mazda didn't put auto adjusting drum brakes on these cars. To top this off, I don't think the wheel cylinders used in these drum brakes are available anymore and a substitute must be installed if they go bad. Previous owner of my 79 swapped them for late 90's Mazda MPV wheel cylinders which were pretty much a direct swap.

Since you plan to turbo the car, its not likely you will be keeping the rear axle for long anyway, so this might not concern you. The 1st gen axle is not known for its incredible strength. It does fine on stock or even moderate power upgrades, but once you surpass about 200hp I think, the axle is likely not to last long. Even the GSL-SE axle, considered about the strongest one in a 1st gen, can be broken quite easily at power levels under 300hp. Directfreak, who owns one of the most powerful 1st gens I've seen street legal, snapped a GSL-SE axle at about 305 hp on street tires (someone correct me if I'm wrong, been a while since I saw the thread where he mentions this).

 

Awesome info!!!!^^^
Also there's this

The motors, yes plural as in both of them are completely torn down in the back of the car :-/
More goodies from car


Turbo hat I guess it's called? It fits the massive Holley on the box of parts In the car

There's plenty more aftermarket stuff I haven't taken pics of yet.

 

Also I have a 67 thunderbird with a trashed frame that has a 9 inch rear end.... My dads lookin at doing something stupid like that lol

 

Your gonna run into way more things just due to the level of disassembly and apparent modifications, than you would due to the differences between generations. Rotary Power is right, 79's had an Ignition setup w/points, a different alternator and external voltage regulator. Things that are upgradeable with later parts. Same with the axle and brakes. The transmission is also unique to SA's. It has smooth case with a longer shift lever shaft and it's placement is slightly shorter as compared to later ribbed case transmissions.

Yours does have the "early build" speaker dash and dash trim. (the chrome strips, not the red paint) Your door pannels may be a little different too. If the door tag is still ledgeable, you'd find a 78 build date I'm sure. The sunroof is an aftermarket add on and the seats look like they are from a FB model.

 

Seats are FC seats which puts me back in my comfort zone lol and I have rebuilt a 13b, same basic principles so I'm not lost on that. The FB runs so my plan was for the time being dropping that motor into it to get it on the street.

 

Hard to tell for sure from the pics you posted, but it looks like the ballast resistors have already been removed, along with them possibly a couple more things. It would be a good idea to go over the whole engine bay harnesses to make sure nothing has been wired wrong and fix anything that would need to be fixed. A haynes manual is excellent for this, or download and print out the FSM electrical section. The 79-85 haynes manual is best suited to the 79 RX-7 since it actually is mostly based on a 79.

I can't see it in the pic, but a dead give away of a real early 79 is a RIGHT hand side hood prop rod. Later 79's and the rest of the 1st gen run had left side prop rods, but early ones got the right side rod used on JDM cars. My car has the right side mounted one and has a build date of august 78, vin says its #13086 off the line. Can't remember the actual number of 79's produced, but I think it was somewhere around 60000-70000 cars. Total 1st gen production was around half a million IIRC.

 

Hood prop is on the drivers side I'm not sure whether you would consider that left or right.

 

That would be the left side, so that means it's not a real early 79. Either way, looks like you got a decent car there. Good luck with your project, I look forward to following it.

 

first step, replace those ugly rice rocket red interior parts with the correct parts. second step, compression test. third step, begin restoration.

 

nice find, good luck on whatever it is you wish to do to it.

 

Another good luck wish from me, looks good and awesome that it comes with tons of extras. Good luck!

 

At least your engine is out. That makes it easier to start a restoration.