i saw a 1st gen vert to day in kansas city iv never seen one before did they make these or is this custom?!?

 

It's custom. Some guy made a lot of them a long time ago.

 

It's custom. There were a few modified in '81 and '82 called RX7 "Avatars," and these were sold at dealerships for around $50,000--- which was a lot of money back then. To their credit, these 12A-powered cars were also turbocharged and performed significantly better than stock RX7s of the day. If you can find one of these cars now they should be worth a lot, but I don't know if they'd be worth 50K. Not likely IMHO.

Beyond that, there have been a few 1st gens that have been made into convertibles by induviduals, with varying degrees of success and failure.

 

Do a seach. There's a nice thread about the 'Verts and Targas made back in the 80's...

I'd sell my left nut for a Targa...

 

Here's a couple threads... and a pic
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ht=convertable
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?p=339989
9

 

here's one

 

I hear you ! But what could anyone possibly do with your left nut ?

 

luiml73, not a bad photochop, but the chain gives it away. Love that body kit though, is that an intercooler I see?

 

I could use it to get some of the REPU parts I am needing. Then I could keep both of mine in tact.

-billy

 

"In financial news, the U.S. dollar took another beating today, losing 1.5 cents against the Euro and a full ten cents on the almost-priceless left nut..."

 

Thanks, I know about the chain, but I was too lazy to fix it

that is the 20B IC. Now I have a new one though.

 

In the US, Pacific Avator built 126 convertible RX-7s between 1979 and 1987, their individual build number is on a plate in the engine compartment. There was a range of body kit and engine options. The most powerful option was a turbo charged water injected 13B which put out just over 300hp.

In Australia, Mazda supported the construction of six which obtained government compliance certification in 1994.

Several people custom built ones but there were real problems of stiffness once the roof was cut off. This is why it was necessary to make extensive structural modifications.

I have an Australian model which had two U beams bolted and welded underneath the floor plus fore and aft strengthening to the firewall and rear wheel arches.

A gen 1 vert looks really great.

 

Several were sold through Mazda in the US.

Fitzwarryne, do you have a picture of the U-beams, or can you describe what they look like? Mine has rectangular underneath.

 

cosmic bang. There are two 3mm sheet-steel channel beams. These beams run the full length of the wheelbase

The construction method used was the steel was bent to shape, then each beam was first bolted to the floor pan using 14 Huck bolts tightened slowly to keep everything straight. Next the beams were mig welded to the pan, the cross member, the scuttle and in front of the rear axle. The steel was precoated with Glazurit a two pot catalytic paint, recoated after welding then the entire underside was tar-coated.

Other steel was added as an inner skin ahead of the doors, braced to the firewall and in the area behind the seats. This gave both rigidity and side protection.

In contrast, the Pacific Avator conversions had an X shaped brace under the floor pan, and 1/4 inch steel plates on the rocker panels. One good point was a metal bar was bent round the back of the body opening.

Both used 626 trunklids. Mazda must have a common design computer program!

The PA conversions included all gen 1 models and were lhd. The Aussie version was only the s3[1985 model] equivalent to the American GSL-SE and were all rhd.

I was not aware any of the Aussie model went to the USA, only that one, possibly two, were exported to Singapore.

Tried a photograph but the result was unclear as the tar did not take kindly to flashlight. If necessary I will measure up the cross section and send you the dimensions.

 

ericiscool, what color was it?
ive got a black 83 with the japanese battle flag on the hood.
i cut the top off it in december.
damn i thought i was gonna be the only one in KC with a convertible 1st gen.

 

 

smnc:- was the RX-7 in the Sports Car Graphic magazine a targa top modification made by Pacific Custom Coach? The advantage of the targa top over the convertible was it retained a lot of laterial rigidity. It was also far cheaper not requiring a complex folding soft top.The only real problem was what to do with the panels when the sun shone. The Ford Capri had a great design feature, the trunk was designed so the targa panels fitted under the lid so there was minimum loss of storage space.

 

I wish I knew.

I've gotten lots of info on the convertables, but none on the Targas.

I got the pic of the magazine cover 3rd hand, so I really have no info on it, and have never seen any other Targa pics.

 

Look through the old issues of Rotary Rocket magazine, if you have them. I think they contained ads for targa conversions. I don't think a targa would have a lateral rigidity advantage vs. a convertible with comparable bracing. Both need additional reinforcement. One advantage of a targa might be no need to periodically replace the top and tonneau cover.

 

With the Targa top you retain the body from behind the door, which still gives you part of the original box stucture. As you said the convertible needs additional strengthening which in the PA case was a steel bar running around the body opening. The cost of designing and making a soft top was substantial, while the Targa panels were easily moulded from the original roof line.

In the case of the PA strengthening, there may have been two models. One source says there was X beam under the floor plan, another says there were beams running alongside the transmission tunnel.

The Aussie Mazda convertible version was well engineered as it had to get approval from the Federal Government by producing structural analysis data and a prototype. Conversions of used vehicles was forbidden. The Design Rules were really strict and killed off the kit car industry due to the difficulty and cost of getting approval. A minor example, I recently thought of fitting a tow bar, but there was no production approval. To fit one I was quoted $1000 of which $600 was for a report by a structural engineer. Even then there was no certainty it would be approved. None approved modifications wipe out your insurance cover!

 

Here's a link to info on the Pacific Avatar convertible

http://www.winisp.net/gsl-se/convertibles.htm

JP

 

I question how much the "body behind the door" would be worth structurally, by itself. Braces behind the seats, bin area, and shock towers are necessary in any case. Any competant fabricator can design and build a soft top mechanism, and indeed several have done so for the RX-7. (I am actually thinking of re-engineering mine.) They have also been adapted from a Mercedes or Alfa Romeo.

By accounts I am familiar with, the PA was well-engineered. It has been a long time since I examined the bracing on a PA version, but IIRC it matched the diagram below. This general layout was also used in other conversions. BTW, not all models used a 626 trunk lid.

We should have a registry or web site for convertibles. What do you think?

 

Cosmicbang:- your idea of a register of convertibles is great.

There must be several versions of the Pacific Avator. In John Matros's book "Mazda RX-7" pages 56-57 it says there is an X shaped brace under the body. The photograph shows another small brace down to the door [this keeps the top of the windscreen stiff].This is not shown on other photos which sometimes show a roll bar which is a good stiffening feature. The Matros second photo shows, through the 626 trunk lid opening, the diagional braces down from the body cut out bar not on the PA diagram.

I agree the soft top mechanism is a clone of the Mercedes SL, but the cost can be really high. Two years ago I was quoted $1200 just to replace the fabric and three windows using the same Mercedes waterproof cloth.

 

Could you post photos of your progress?

 

Are you referring to the short brace which goes from the top of the windscreen A-pillar to the top of the door (creating a triangular area in the location of traditional vent windows)? If so, that is not a brace for the windscreen, but a brace/guide for the side windows. The windscreen itself is braced by heavily reinforcing the A-pillars and along the top of the windscreen.

A "clone" of the Mercedes top would mean it is the exact same size, and I don't know whether that is the case or not. $1200 is not a bad deal for good materials, quality workmanship and installation, especially if it is not a standard model. It's important to shop around and get recommendations. You get what you pay for, and some of the cheap Mercedes replacement tops can look really bad.