Bought car had been parked 5 yrs. Seal blew with maybe 1 hour run time, car was still on the stands. Shut her down as soon as the billowing cloud appeared, read some threads, Kentetsu had used it with good result. Small investment, dumped it in, results in 15-30 minutes. I never looked in radiator or motor. Have since drained and flushed system without adding any more alumaseal and it's been A-OK. Knocking on wood while typing.

 

Just got back from Mazdatrix got some lube. Im going to change the oils after the MPH meet.

 

Changed the vacuum modulator on the tranny. Thanks guys... yes there WAS pink in the vacuum hose. Upon inspection, I could see that the old part was faulty. I will still be watching my fluid closely for quite a paranoid while... Things are all just a little different. Shifts more smoothly. NO smoke... not just relatively "no smoke"! Future's looking brighter.

 

woohooo!!

At this rate if you keep plugging away a drive to Sin City may be possiable for you come May

 

Got my new alternator bracket installed on the 1985 GSL. Powdered coated mine in Extreme Smoke Chrome.

 

Doing some body work, coming out okay so far

 

From the build thread update, but still pertinent:
When I crank the engine it melts that wire so I am assuming it's the Main Relay. That wire just goes straight from the 2nd gen fuse box (all the wires in the box are 12v+ hot, no duh) and none of the other wires are having an issue so I think it is the Main Relay. Will find out on Monday, have one on the way!

Some progress on the FMIC and finishing wiring tonight, pretty happy with its direction so far!

Wrapped up the wires near the firewall and cleaned them up tremendously so they actually look presentable now


Took out battery tray and cleaned up the wiring on that side a bit


TB side without battery tray and cleaned up wiring


How the engine bay looked after I couldn't take the mosquitos anymore
[/QUOTE]

This is how I plan on setting mine up as well except I think I'll keep the filter inside the radiator surround and run ambient air up to it. Will have to see what I'm feeling like once the FMIC piping is all in and what I have room leftover for.

Should give you a markedly better response on your car and a peace of mind! Also, I thought about your wife's business today at work due to some alarm system issues we had. I hope you got all of that sorted out and that her business is going strong!

KansasCityREPU - You're really selling me on going with a chromed alternator (even just brushing and polishing it) in the near future - clean looking install!

 

Didn't do a thing, but my wife noticed this under the wiper, left by someone with an awareness of fine automobiles.

 

^ LOL Awesome!!

 

My husband washed and waxed Smooth! I will time her this evening.

 

Went to a Dealer-sponsored meet in Puente Hills today - mainly organized by the local Miata club, but thrown open and advertised as a "Fun Day" for all Mazdas.

Well over 100 cars in attendence. Maybe a third rotary-powered, including an ancient Capella with holes rusted thru the hood in a dozen places.

Total of four 1st Gens, two of which were SAs, and mine was the only '80 in attendence.

3 of the four show prizes went to Miatas (big shock - their gig after all) & best modified went to a nicely race-prepped FC.

Hottest day of the summer so far, well over 100 or I miss my guess. I'm still slammin' fluids, heh.

Was a good time, all in all. Car got much love and bugged-out eyes. I avoided sun poisoning. Win-win.

 

DD same Capella that was at WHiV?

 

where did you get that bracket from?

 

Niiiiice

 

Front lip

 

Got the FMIC and piping all finalized tonight!

Will be making brackets out of flat steel tomorrow morning probably and getting it all finished up. This is what it will look like though, pretty happy with it.







Also reunited my hood with my car, such a glorious reunion



Can't wait to get it running again!

 

So, wait - the guy had enough RTV to goop quarters on, but didn't think to slather some on the rest of the mating surfaces? Dude.
I bet actual freeze plugs cost less than $0.25....

 

I bet that was the source your smoke problem all along!

 

Yesterday my friend took the car to work and had it up on the lift to see about getting the speedo gear off. He got it off and what did he find? Nothing. The driver gear (the one inside the tranny) wasn't installed. It all makes sense now...this tranny was originally in a '79 SCCA race car. The speedo gears in the SAs apparently aren't compatible with the FB (and Miata and FC) cable-driven speedos, so they opted not to put the driver gear in the tranny when they rebuilt it. They plugged the speedo gear into it but it never drove anything, and in a race car, who cares?

I come along and get a full 12A and this tranny as a sweet package deal. Sell the engine and keep the tranny for myself. It had never occurred to me that someone would build the tranny and not install that gear. If I would have known before the tranny went into the car, I would have been tempted to pull the tail shaft off and put one in. But 20/20 hindsight...the tranny's in for the long haul and isn't coming out anytime soon, so no speedo for me. Plenty of iPhone speedo apps if I need one....and it'll be more accurate than whatever I put in the car anyway. I hate to lose an accurate odometer reading, but heck, it's my auto-x car, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

My friend mentioned that the exhaust was making noise back there (I'd noticed it being a little noisier in the back than usual). I took it out for a ride and it seemed to get worse. Once parked at the grocery store, I had a look and found that in my haste to get the tranny back in, I hadn't bolted in the exhaust hanger just ahead of the passenger rear wheel! The thing sounded like it was going to come off. I babied it home, got it up on jack stands, and bolted it in place. Sound gone. Still one more sound bugging me...a thumping when I give it any gas. Sounds like it's right behind me (the driver). Took another look under the car and found that the watts link pivot bracket wasn't tight. Maybe 10-15 ft lbs torque on that nut. I torqued it down to 80. Hoping that takes care of that noise. Another friend is coming over in a few and we're going to go out for another spin to see if I'm free of odd sounds.

fm

 

May I ask what material you made it out of? And got started preping the new rear end. May have gotten one with an lsd it seems.

Sent using RX7Club for Android.

 

Another test drive later and the thumping noise is still there. Had my friend drive while I attempted to locate the noise. Seemed to be more on the passenger side. Checked underneath from the outside while he put it in first and reverse and moved the car. I think it's the lower links...when there's a sudden load on the drive train, the links compress...jackhammer slightly...and because the diameter of the bolt that goes through the heim joint is slightly smaller, I suspect that heim joint is slipping. I got the car back into the garage and, with the car on the ground, re-tightened down all of the heim joints on the lower links and the watts links to spec. The lower links were much looser than spec...maybe 20 ft lbs if that.

There is another possible source of that noise...the short watts link heim joint collar may be hitting the bracket it's mounted to. The only way to fix that is to buy a shorter link and extend the heim joints more so that the collar doesn't interfere with the bracket. I'll take it for a drive tomorrow and see if things have improved.

On a side note, my friends and I went to the Monterey Historic Races today and saw two Mazda 4-rotor cars take 1st and 2nd in the 1981-1989 FIA Mfg. Champ. Cars and IMSA 1982-1991 GTO, GTP Cars races. The RX7-92P took first while a 4-rotor FC took second. The sound of these cars firing up in the paddock cannot be described...I don't care if you're a V-8 nut or not, you can't help but be impressed when one of these things revs up.

This bad-boy won the race. The V-8 Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs didn't stand a chance.



The two 4-rotor Lemans 787b cars that were out there. The one in the foreground was driven by Yojiro Terada, who piloted one of these at the '91 Lemans. His teammate Johnny Herbert piloted the one that won the '91 Lemans. My friend got a great pic of Terada and his wife in the paddock.



fm

 

Awesome photos, fungus mungus.

If I had any idea that was going on, Id have for sure tried to get off of work.

For someone who aspires to someday be involved in vintage car racing, it just doesnt get much cooler.. and at Laguna no less...epic.

Cant wait for vacation season to end, so everyone can go back to work and school, and I can take a little time off to work on my cars, and catch some cool events like that one.

 

One of my dream cars right there. Not really to own one, just to get to experience one. Lucky for you man - hope it was amazing

Pics didn't work earlier, I ended up moving them around. Here's the one I like.

 

Just getting to see 787 and 792 beat it up around the track at Willow Springs last year was the crowning achievement of all the Sevenstocks I'd attended.

(Excepting maybe the one where I got the trophy, heh.)

Can't imagine actually getting to watch them CONTEND (and conquer) on the track. Envious!

 

Finished patching the second rust spot through the left rear wheel well. This one on the wheel well side was minor. On the wheel well side it was 1/16th inch wide and about 3 inches long when I noticed it. on the inside it was 6 inches wide and four inches high. The rust was between the sheet metal. It looks like it started with one of the spot welds between the inner and outer sheet metal. There was so much damage on the inside but this is not structural so it was just getting rid of the crud and making sure it doesn't come back. This is on the 85 GSL I converted to an EV. My GSL-SE has none of this but I think the first two owners never drove it in any kind of weather. (I have their service record note books through about 1999 which detail gasoline fill up in addition to all other services.)

The photos are of masking it off for primer and flat black and then the appearance after removing the paint masks.