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poopy brown or what I call dark bronze is the original color on mine. Mone has been indoors all the time and retains the original color. I’ll get a pic and post it soon.
The original colour on mine. Built 1984. Maybe mazda changed the colour over the years.
Going to attempt to use a Toyota VCV to add some cold start idle air to my ITB setup. Hoping this provides enough air. Fits 8mm hoses. If it's too much air, I can manually adjust the flow with the set screw. The inlet will attach to air filter element. The outlet will tee into the two idle air ports on the throttle body.
almost to set my rx7 on fire, flicked the high beams on and smoke started pouring out of the stalk/ indicator assembly... looks like ill need the auto electrician back again!
cleaned all of the windows inside and out using metal polish gel, difference is DAY AND NIGHT, all these years ive been using metho!
rewired the coolant temp sensor for dash - another tick off the list!
New upper radiator hose and thermostat cover installed to clear airbox. Was going to replace the lower also but whoever designed the lower radiator port and water pump port angles was a sadist. No reasonable combination in 45 and 90 bends come even close.
today, i put in new rear lower links, and konis orange shocks off a mustang. i was going to go the route of using the energy suspension stuff for the lower links but found out my driver side rear was bent
These only have about 25k original miles on them, most of which was spent on fair weather days and the car was always stored indoors. So they still have most of the original clear coat on them. The only place that lacks the clear coat is where the old wheel weights were. I just hit those with some 120, 180, 320, 400 wet, then 600 wet sand. It cleaned up the white residue but those parts aren't nearly as shiny as the rest of the wheel.
After DGRR last year when I got home the car was running rough. Opened the hood and every nut and bolt holding the carb together was loose or at best finger tight. Carb was spewing gas all over too. Made a mess. Tighten it all down was good to go, or so I thought.
Fast forward to about 2 months ago and cold starts were getting bad. Drain the battery bad. I got some new battery cables from rockauto and that helped me crank it longer. Not the solution to the cold starts. Had spark and good compression, seemed to be a fueling issue. Anyway I just rebuilt the carb and what a difference. Its amazing how you tend to ignore small signs over time before realizing what the issue really is.
I'll post details in my fat nikki thread later. It was an educational exercise for me as well.
changed the differential oil and fuel filter. The fuel filter was really really hard to remove. And sticking the new one in was harder. Is there a professional mechanic's trick? I had to sand down the barbs and leave a 45 degree angle. Yes, it is kluge.
Sun kicked my ***! Or was it the heat and humidity? I can barely move. Maybe it is because I'm 63? Doing this sure was easier 2 years ago!!!
Ever since I bought my car 20 years ago, the reflective red "PRESS" labels on my seatbelts have been an orange colour due to UV exposure.
I disassembled them, remove the labels and had reproductions made with UV resistant inks and protective clear coat. It even has the factory neon/fluorescent reflective finish. This is the prototype only, but the results are still great. I am getting a batch made for Australian series 3 owners. I believe our series 3 RX-7s had different seat belt stalks from US and other markets due to our local safety standards - plus we had rear seats with lap/sash belts. Interestingly, the JDM models with rear seats only had lap belts, while European models with rear seats had no seat belts.
Ever since I bought my car 20 years ago, the reflective red "PRESS" labels on my seatbelts have been an orange colour due to UV exposure.
I disassembled them, remove the labels and had reproductions made with UV resistant inks and protective clear coat. It even has the factory neon/fluorescent reflective finish. This is the prototype only, but the results are still great. I am getting a batch made for Australian series 3 owners. I believe our series 3 RX-7s had different seat belt stalks from US and other markets due to our local safety standards - plus we had rear seats with lap/sash belts. Interestingly, the JDM models with rear seats only had lap belts, while European models with rear seats had no seat belts.
That's a neat idea. Worn seat belt labels on the receivers have always bugged me. The 79 / 80 (US SA's) are a solid red color. I never thought of taking them apart and applying a label. Let me know if you expand to include the earlier ones.
There are a couple of websites that sell complete replacement seat belts. Not that I've heard of a seat belt failure on a vehicle of this age, but I imagine the belt material doesn't last forever and the sticker showing signs of fading could mean it's time to consider replacing the entire belt.
That's a neat idea. Worn seat belt labels on the receivers have always bugged me. The 79 / 80 (US SA's) are a solid red color. I never thought of taking them apart and applying a label. Let me know if you expand to include the earlier ones.
Thanks! Not sure how all the different belts are constructed, but I did look at a lot of photos. Some latches appear to have a red plastic button (FC and FD have these too), which would be easy to simply respray if faded. I won't be making any other styles as I only have access to the Australian series 3 style. These were originally made with an adhesive reflective foil sticker applied to a metal sprung button. I tried to post more photos showing the process of disassembly but the forum wouldn't let me (told me I had 14 images when there were only 5 and then my post took several hours to appear, WTF?).
Originally Posted by chuyler1
There are a couple of websites that sell complete replacement seat belts. Not that I've heard of a seat belt failure on a vehicle of this age, but I imagine the belt material doesn't last forever and the sticker showing signs of fading could mean it's time to consider replacing the entire belt.
Thanks. I think it's just the nature of the stickers Mazda used on Aussie series 3. Mine were all light orange when I bought my car when it was only 14 years old. To put that in perspective, the 2002 Spirit R is now older than that. Virtually every Aussie series 3 I've seen has the same fading. When I tried to get my car back on the road 8 years ago I needed to obtain a roadworthy certificate. It is pretty standard in these tests that they require you to re-straighten the seat belts and in some cases replace the ratcheting part. When were all checked and approved then and I haven't driven the car since - the seat belts are fine. The seat belt material can fray or the stitching can wear or become loose. We have services to re-web the seat belts if this happens. No way I'm replacing with aftermarket seat belts.
My aussie delivered silver '85 looks like that^ .. Maybe it depended on paint colour which badge you got?
Interesting. I don't think there is any rhyme or reason to this. There is a single part number from Mazda in the parts catalogue. Where different styles or colours are indicated (including where they are for different body colours), this is usually specified in the manual.
I see 3 possibilities:
1. the silver/white ones we're seeing were originally the dark colour and it faded/wore off.
2. there were 2 different styles in the parts bin during assembly and it's a lucky dip.
3. there was a change in style or supplier mid-model year and only units from a particular month onwards were the darker colour. This would explain why the replacement part if bought new from Mazda was also the darker colour. I think of several examples of where this has happened. One recent one is that all the parts that used to be yellow zinc are now silver zinc (I this is due to carcinogenic nature of the chromate used in the old yellow/gold zinc process.) You'll see this is if you buy brand new bolts, brackets, headlight actuator rods etc.
