We've all at one point or another struggled with our cars. While struggling, we've learned A LOT about how things are done, am I right?

Well, I've been learning/working on my rx7 most of the summer. It never hit the road this year which really bummed me out.

I started out with a simple "Im going to rip out the engine, leave it stock because it runs good, and paint the engine compartment"

It turned into me replacing some gaskets, new intake manifold, carburetor, exhaust (header back), cleaning, etc.

I put it all back together, and here is what I learned:

1. There is an O-Ring for the oil level unit on the oil-pan. It still likes to leak a bit.
2. The oil-pan gasket -> it needs liquid gasket or it leaks like a sob.
3. Do your research before you buy a Holley 600. Scratch that, its too big for a stock 12A.
4. When upgrading your carb setup, you may as well upgrade your fuel system.

Moral of the story, I need to rip things all apart again and buy a smaller carb.

 

www.sterlingmetalworks.com

That's where you can get the right carb.

I've learned that it's a damn old car, so expect every bolt to break. Also because it will take a lot of force to break them, expect to hurt yourself when they finally snap.

The blood you drip all over the engine bay from nicking your fingers in the tight spaces only adds character.

You will experience more pride and satisfaction after all that pain than you will paying someone else to do it.

 

What I've learned working on my 7:

1) What not to do.
2) Air tools are my best friend.
3) ...followed shortly by the guys at the auto shop and my mechanic.
4) Brute force is sometimes the best answer.
5) It is possible to grow a garden in your car.
6) There are always pieces left over.
7) Where that buzzing is coming from.
8) The 1st Gen Workshop manual is one of the greatest literary works of the 20th Century.

and so on... lol.

 

I learn to use anti sieze, PB Blaster and Loctite when dealing with my RX-7. Gotta love a RX-7 from the northern states!

 

1. Antiseize, Antiseize, Antiseize.
2. Hylomar, Hylomar, Hylomar.
3. You will never stop all the leaks on a rotary. 6 faces of alternating steel and aluminum with oil passages between them all simply won't seal. Carry an extra quart or two, and a paper towel.
4. And an ignitor.
5. Wrenches and droplights should be cushioned by your foot when dropped. Brake rotors should not.

 

1) When working underneath on a concrete floor, make sure something soft is under your elbow before trying to break loose a nut that's been there for 30 years.

2) Proper use of Helicoils

3) The stock exhaust system on an SA gives new meaning to the term "What the....?!?"

4) Most things that the factory intended to be disposable, can be repaired with the proper motivation (like, "It won't run without it, and you can't buy them any more")

5) Manual-adjust drum brakes require frequent attention if you want them to be anything more than a parking brake.

6) When you replace a part that still functions at all, keep it; you might need it later. Today's "trash" is tomorrow's "best-available spare."

7) Carburetors are like bears: The amazing thing is not how well the bear dances, but that the bear can dance at all!

8) "Breaker Bar" has two very different meanings.

9) Hydrate.

10) There's a good reason why the stock carb mounting nuts are NOT made of stainless steel. That reason is: they won't stick to the magnet when you drop the @#$&*@#( thing down in there... and you WILL drop it down in there!

11) There's always a better tool that you don't have.

 

Word.

 

HAMMER
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object we are trying to hit.

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL
Normally used for spinning steel Pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

PLIERS
Used to round off bolt heads.

HACKSAW
One of a family of cutting tools built on the original sin principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS
Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH
Used almost entirely for setting various flammable objects in your garage on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a brake drum you're trying to get the bearing race out of.


DRILL PRESS
A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your coffee across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying.

WIRE WHEEL
Cleans rust off old bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes you to say, "Ouc...."


E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR
A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit.

CRAFTSMAN ½ x 16-INCH SCREWDRIVER
A large prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end without the handle.

BATTERY ELECTROLYTE TESTER
A handy tool for transferring sulphuric acid from a car battery to the inside of your toolbox after determining that your battery is dead as a doornail, just as you thought.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS
See hacksaw.

TROUBLE LIGHT
The mechanic's own tanning booth. Sometimes called a drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found under RX7's at night. Health benefits aside, it's main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading.


AIR COMPRESSOR
A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 miles away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to a Chicago Pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 30 years ago by someone in Japan, and rounds them off.

PRY BAR
A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

 

^ I have never actually laughed while reading any other post. Thank you.