Hey guys my 7 has been sitting dormant in a garage for 6 months. What are some tips to waking it up correctly? I hear a lot of things about mmo. the garage had concrete floors its been sitting through a Pennsylvania winter in the garage.

 

That's not so long. But it wouldn't hurt to pull the plugs, squirt a little something like that in there, and soon it a few times.
I'd be more inclined to just dribble in a few drops as it sits and start it up. But I'm lazy that way.
I would however be inclined to change the oil soon. Mostly 'cause that's what dad would have done.

 

yeah it has 135k miles and i'm just concerned about carbon and the integrity of the seals at it's age. it's an 84 gsl-se. i'm mid moving so a rebuild if anything went wrong was not something I was planning on. It was redlined daily and then put away for the winter.

 

So pull the plugs, mm or Lucas, spin it a minute, replug, and go. My 85 sat 5 years with 125000 when I bought it. I did the above, plus a fuel pump, and she fired up.

 

i'd put the key in and turn it...

if you're worried, make sure there's oil and coolant in it.

if you're really worried, pull the plugs, and spin it by hand, and put a LITTLE bit of oil in there. you only need a teeny little bit, too much oil will just make then neighbors think that your house is burning down and call the fire dept.

if you're totally paranoid, restore car from ground up

if you're howard hughes crazy, restore car from ground up, put in a hermetically sealed box, on top of kleenex boxes, and then wander in desert....

if you're salvado dali, go for a ride with babu, your ocelot. you may not need the car for this.

 

Go get some mystery oil and mix with regular oil. Then take a turkey baster and inject into the spark plug hole. You will feel the engine have a slight moan. Then proceed to turn the engine over by hand, (wrench) if everything feels nice and smooth. Then put everything back together, pump and prey. Once warmed up, (after you've driven it). Go put some seafoam in the gas tank and give the carb a nice spraying. I had an rx-7 that sat for 8 years. Worked fine except the oil rings had hardened. So it burned oil on the interstate or when over 6k. Spy hunter style. Just don't poor sea foam directly into your motor or vacuum. Its not ready. If you had driven it for a week i'd say yes. However if there is a piece of rust or carbon, it won't be soft and it could snap off. Think of a wrench inside a washing dryer.

 

Good stuff! I may got the Salvador Dali route.

 

I was going to say the same. How can you not? Great insightful ideas.


Thank you for the notion that I'm not going to blow a seal from a car sitting for the length of time. Amazingly I never burn oil at high rpm even at 135k but all those horror stories of seals blowing after being in storage for periods of time.

 

Seriously, just charge the battery, inflate your tires, check your fluid levels, and turn the key.


6 months isnt a big deal. Just dont make a habbit out of it or eventually you will try to start a car with stuck seals. A rotary needs to be driven minimum once a month. That would be a full drive cycle (to work, out shopping, or just for fun). Dont start it and idle it in the garage for 10 minutes once a month. Thats bad for it.

 

yes! alternatively you can plop a lobster on top of it...

 

agreed, i left my 200k GSL-SE in a field for 3 year, threw a battery into it, and then went to the track for 3 years.... and then sold it, and it got mercilessly beat on for ANOTHER 3 years, and is actually still kicking around.

this is one of the reasons we like 1st gens, they seem to like being totally abused

 

i'd be more concerned about the unibody at that rate but then again mine is in PA and the winters are harsh.

 

I own 2 atm that took the last 3 winters pretty damned well. Although my 85 got some surface rust under the door seal area this year, but luckily I caught it.

And +1 on the first gens liking being abused. My first ever RX7 was raced, then parked for almost 10 years because some old man "left the sport" He had it under a bunch of boxes in his garage behind a long broken garage door. I found it when I was messing around with his daughter in there wayyyyy back when I was in high school. It had been in there buried for so long his 19 year old daughter didnt even know what color it was. Lol.

I put a battery in it, rebuilt the carb and rekindled his interest in it. Not before breaking his heart and planting the seed in his wifes head that he HAD to sell it though. I had it in 2 years, and after I got it I beat the snot out of it. Did the RB 465, then Dell 45, then Sterling'd Nikki/Dual exhaust. I raced it more at its home track at Mid Ohio for *years* while I was at wright patterson, often forgetting premix and testing its limits beyond what any other original engine would even think about. I left that car in my dads possesion for a while when I left on orders, and while I was gone my brother promptly stole the keys and continued beating it everyday, trying his hand at drifting before it was even really heard of. It sat for 3 more years after that, but when I finally got home I put a battery in it and drove it from its shallow grave with half of its tires bald/flat. Started right up too. Smoked a lil, but I still drive that lil motor every single day and I have for 2 years now. It sees 8k rpm every day too

 

bare metal won't rust in CA

 

as a virginia native I used to say that but I just bought a one owner first generation celica fastback from nc and i'm custom fitting floor pans right now because the salt in the air from the ocean has caused some surface and light rust in some places. I have even have one tiny hole in the hood. I'd rather live on the west coast for the reason but amazing cars at cheaper prices alone.

 

I connect the battery, run the fuel pump, pump the pedal a couple of times, crank. Vroom. Some of you guys are weird with all your procedures.

Just six months? Try several years. Thats when you gotta start thinking about procedures.

 

WANKEL=AWESOME :

LOL .... Gives new meaning to "wankeling around in the garage" !!!!!

 

I was wondering when someone would laugh at that. And that is how I really found my first rx7 lol.

 

good job!

 

it was mentioned to me that this first gen engines are the toughest out of all of them and based on what i've been hearing it seems to be true.

 

Thats because it is true. Ill readily sell either of my s3 engines i have laying around because I know that they wouldnt make me look bad by blowing up.