its funny when they turn around to make a face/complain about the noise, they are clearly surprised its not some kind of lawn care device gone mad...

 

Lost my only key and made a thread in the First Gen Technical section. Anyone know if it's possible to remove the ignition cylinder in a first gen?

Posted in three different part out threads hoping someone will have a whole set for me. Can always hope!

I'd like to replace the following parts with a different key:
Ignition cylinder
Driver and passenger door cylinders
Glove box cylinder
Driver and passenger storage bin cylinders
Rear hatch cylinder

Also need to start figuring out timing on this stupid car before I get a new key so I can start it up once I get a new key. Gonna post about that whole issue in my build thread - kind of stumped with it right now.

 

You could probably take the hatch cylinder out quite easily then take it to a locksmith. They can make a key for it that should work in your ignition. When you said you lost your only key are you saying all your locks worked with the same key? If so, that method should work, but my ignition key is different than my door and hatch key.

 

You got half of it, KansasCityREPU got the other half! I'll do the quote here in just a minute from my other thread. I could go to Mazda but they'll probably charge me more than having it cut somewhere else - I'll be doing some calling around here in just a minute to find the most cost effective option.

You've got the other half completely correct - the key code! I'm curious as to where you got this code off of now, in the event of this happening again and I don't have such a helping hand from a forum member to get my key code. I am also considering a writeup on the subject just in case anyone else runs into the same issue, that's another thing I was hoping to accomplish with this build thread.

That was from j9fd3s on my other thread about losing my key - it's a huge help! Don't think I was going to freely offer up my key code for my car, that would be stupid.

So I've got three different locksmith places within 10 miles of where I'm sitting, each with an open tab on the computer right now, that I'm going to call and get a quote of what they'd charge me to electronically cut a key.

I'll maybe have a spare made so this doesn't happen again...

Very cool to know the build date of the car and that it was sold at Morrie's Mazda Dealership in Minnetonka, MN which isn't too far away from me right now. I believe that my original FB (K9 Tornado Gray with maroon interior, got TII swapped and sold a little over a year ago) was sold from the same dealership within a few months of this FB. Kind of a very cool coincidence between the two cars that I would have never known.

So end goal of the day is to get a key cut from a locksmith or Mazda if they're cheaper. Then I have a beater to work on and probably won't get around to trying to start the car today - just will make sure the key actually works.

Called Morrie's Mazda in Minnetonka and got quoted about $14 for a key blank so I ordered two of them, should be in tomorrow. Then I'll bring the title for the car in with my driver's license and get both key blanks cut according to the key code in the system. I'm a little nervous about it and I'm considering going out and pulling the code off the ignition to make sure it's the same...but I don't know if there is a code stamped on there or not. Decisions decisions...

I'm also going to have a key made for the rear hatch cylinder so I can open it without having to go to the driver's door and hit the switch every single time. I'm going to add power locks to this car with a key FOB and I'm thinking of just getting one with a three way setup, lock + unlock + hatch release. Would make life much simpler than running two keys for the car.

 

And I'm going to have the rear hatch cylinder re-keyed to be used with the same key as all the other locks. I'll post back tomorrow night with my findings on whether the code the key is cut with works or not!

 

evening all, it's been a while. This week I've been finishing off and tidying up all the loose ends from an engine swap and bodywork repair after being crashed into by a fool.

Getting there...







What d'you reckon? Pretty pleased meself, since she's pretty much come back from the dead!

 

Love your work. Gotta be one of the nicest 1st gens in Pommyland. Did you make that strut brace?

 

Removed my headliner this evening in prep for a roll bar installation.

fm

 

Most kind! The strut brace came courtesy of a semi-tame Kiwi over here but I think it's Canadian originally - pretty well-travelled! It had a badly mullered sticker on it that I think said CP Racing. My Google-fu is weak and the only info I could find was threads on here saying "My CP Racing strut brace doesn't fit at all" but this one must be a good one cos it went straight on. I just had it chromed because it rusted really badly

 

Beauty!

Very clean and nicely organized engine bay.

 

I like that tower brace quite a lot... and the shock-loaded engine torque brace is very nice, too. Well done.

 

Where can you find a tower brace like that nowadays? REspeed was the only place I can think of. I miss my old RB tri brace... Now people think theyre made of gold and want $600.

 

Nice catch on the shock-loaded engine brace, didn't even notice it on my scroll by the picure. That's an awesome idea with the flex in the stock motor mounts - didn't know anyone made anything like it.

 

Cheers, guys. The torque damper (engine brace, whatever you want to call it) is an FD-specific R-Magic one. On the FD it mounts from the upper inlet manifold where the lifting eye goes and runs over the brake servo to the inner wing (that's on our RHD cars, I guess the servo's not there on US models). I just made up an extra bracket to mount it to the defunct threaded holes where the rat's nest stuff used to mount on the centre iron.



It's not the most amazing piece of engineering, just a nylon bushing inside that resists movement but it certainly makes a massive difference to how much the engine moves about. Especially on deceleration, it tended to bang around with the 48IDA on closed throttle plates but the brace stops a lot of that




As to the strut tower brace, I went through some older pics before I got it chromed and it was definitely CP Racing, who I think are gone now? Like I said, my google-fu didn't find much about them. It was quite funny when I got it; I couldn't get up to the guy selling it for ages, and it was too big to post but he lives in London and I drive trains through there so he met me on one of the stations with it.

...then all I had to do was carry the bloody thing about with me all through a ten-hour shift. In the end I got so many peculiar looks I thought "might as well enjoy it" and started taking photos of London landmarks through the brace. It was funny watching people looking around trying to work out if I was mental or they were on a hidden camera show or something

St Paul's Cathedral;


The Shard (tallest inhabited building in Europe)


The Lever building and famous statue "Strength" on the Thames Embankment


The Water Carrier nymph on Blackfriars Bridge with the London Eye in the background...


You get the idea. Most of the time it was propped up in the train cab. What a complete PITA that day was, lol. Next time I'll just pay for a courier!


Anyway, when it was chromed, the CP Racing sticker had to come off (or what was left of it) and so I replaced it with the RX-7 emblem from the stock FD strut brace. Wasn't sure about the chrome at first, it was properly expensive and I thought it might not "go" with the car. It cost a couple of hundred quid, though I had the undertray re-galvanised and some other bits at the same time. Made me feel better that a mate had the front bumper off his '72 Charger done as well and that set him back the best part of seven hundred pounds!

 

Hilarious!

Chrome is a horrible, expensive, addictive habit... and utterly irresistible once you start.

I started with just redoing the lug nuts. I thought I could quit at any time.

But then I started doing the hard lines (brake booster, heater transfer)... and before you know it, there I was, throwing several hundred dollars into what may possibly be the only chromed stock SA air cleaner on the planet.

But it just looks so damned GOOD! https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-non-.../#post11458874

 

That's quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen And I thought I was on the verge of some OCD sort of engine bay condition, I've clearly a long way to go! Love how you've even recreated all the decals on the air cleaner. And the attention in detail in the bay... even down to the little covers on the end of the strut threads.

Humbling!

 

Hey Nik da Greek, I put the same rad in my car after putting A/C in. The original rad just couldn't keep it cool enough. I also tried an electric fan at the same time but ended up putting the stock fan back on. My next step was to modify the fan shroud to fit the e fan. I see you simplified it by flat aluminum across the back with the fan mounted there. Just wondering if it has been cooling well for you like that? Looking good!
Thanks

 

I messed with dual belts on an FB today. It was fun.

 

Nik,
Those pictures of London through the eye of an RX7 part are one of a kind - I commend you on your ingenuity. Says a lot about your sense of humor and love for the car, nice to see!

 

Soon....







Thank you Jesus (ArmyOfOne) for all the work, you're a life saver brother!

Unfortunately I'm on crutches (found out I have a fractured sesamoid bone in my left foot), so can't do much that requires standing for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.

 

How did you get a fractured sesame seed bone in your left foot? Haha get better man.

 

oohhh the damper looks very interesting ... if time allows will see about mocking something up tomorrow



.... and I'm still waiting for my 5 year rotor lol

 

The motor has turned 21k miles today!! S4 NA 13b..
After a whole 1.5 years and still going like a champ!

 

Thanks for the compliment! I had the E-fan fitted before I went to the uprated rad because the viscous fan didn't fit too well with the Gilmer pulleys. My original one was just too far gone though, and insane though it sounds it was almost the same money to get my original Mazda one re-cored as it was to order a lovely shiny alloy one from the USA, including import tax and shipping. Madness!

Have to say, it's a superb thing, too; fitted perfectly and I didn't have to modify a single thing. The aluminium shrouding was because if anything the radiator is too effective. It was cooling so well that the thermostat was permanently closing itself off almost as soon as it opened. Mind you, it's been cold since the car's been back together. If it runs a bit hot when the weather warms up then I'll put some hinged louvres into it like they use on Audis and some Volvos. They open under air pressure when the car's moving but when the fan kicks in the venturi effect sucks them shut and makes sure all the air goes through the fan.

...not actually sure if "venturi" is the right word there but hopefully you know what I mean


Too many words, better use some pics. This is the thing I did most recently... take one cheap eBay keyring (from Bulgaria, strangely);



pull it to bits. Drill some holes in it. Tap threads into the holes



Heat up dipstick. Bend the hooked end straight. Cut thread onto newly straight end.



combine the two with lots of thread-lock



Voila! Funky dipstick end.



....yep, it's Christmas. I've no money. This sort of nonsense lets me pretend I'm still working on the car and cost all of about three quid

 

quick pic of the Stop Bully car I received from body shop owner yesterday whoa this thing is going to look so awesome .... oh this is not one of the two in my current sig