Hey Guys,

I own a Thunderbird and recently the transmission went out and I need to find another daily driver and use the bird as a drag beast.

I got my car towed home and my dad told me about his friend Ralph who's selling two RX7s (1983-85RX3?) for 1k. One has a brand new engine in, but is having electrical problems but he says he might have pinpointed it, the other has the dash torn off because he's lazy. He's going to be giving me a brake booster and all the goodies he had planned for his car too (bushings, etc) for free.

I'll have to let my dad buy them then pay them back week by week (I could have it paid off in a month tops, no bills as of yet except for gas, I'll be moving to Houston to make $20/hr soon though).

Anyways, please tell me, is this a good deal and are these little cars fast? It's also a standard and I've only driven a standard once (my dad owns an RX-8, boy first gear has some major power because I kept almost stalling it out but I finally got the hang out of it).

Thanks,
Eric M. Pelezo

 

Bump

 

Alright,

I've decided to buy the two RX-7s. Where I will be able to store one of them is beyond my wildest imagination (already have a thunderbird, BMW, RX8 in my garage).

The guy said on one of them the dash was apart, does anyone have instructions on how to put them back together?

Thanks,
Eric M. Pelezo

 

The reverse of disassembly. There's a good chance you won't get every bit fastened properly if you didn't unfasten it yourself.

If you're looking for a more complete car - I have my ex-daily driver for sale in Houston. It's more money, but I'm willing to bet you'd get more goodies and less headache in the whole process.

 

But, putting a car together gets you knowing the car better

It's definately a good deal, but, think economically. Scrap the one without the good engine and sell it on here for parts

That way you don't even have to put the dash back together. IF it's a good dash, there's plenty of people on here willing to buy it.

As for your question on if it's fast, it's quick. Light weight and low revving. The motor isn't like your T-Bird, but you know that from the RX 8.

Any questions, feel free to ask. We really don't bite around here. I mean, if they can put up with ME. . . . Welcome to the forum.

 

Hehe,

Thanks, I got to see her for the first time today, she's now sitting happily in my drive way (1985 13B [GSL-SE?). All mine, the parts car will be coming soon, I've got to get him to tow it to my house.

It's a kind of metallic dark translucence color, almost light grey. It's got oxidation spots all over the roof from it sitting out in a field for a year but I plan on getting a body kit, new rails and what not and re-painting the whole thing.

The engine is a B12, it's got 114k on the clock, but, it's also a brand new engine in there. The only problem I see is there some minor oil coming out (or more like it’s on the block, I can't visually see it when it sprays or if it drips, etc) around the right hand side of the block. There's also crude all along the bottom side of the carriage, but I think its just mud and what not from it sitting out in the field.

Interior, it's very good. There's a few cracked parts towards the rear so I'll probably junk yard hunting soon, the dash is in great condition (it's missing the defroster covers at the front). It's also got the visor thing on the back windshield that looks pretty cool, it also keeps prying eyes away!

The gauges kind of faded away in the middle of the MPH near the needle, but it actually looks kind of neat with orange kind of glowing.

The seats are in 95% mint condition, there's about a 1/2 inch tear on the driver side, but it looks so new.

The little bucket things in the truck don't have covers on them like I thought they might have so I'll have to investigate into that at the junkyard.

The hub in the back of the rear axle has a gasket that leaks a little bit; it's also got a mild shudder if you will sometimes. I've been told by the owner that the driveshaft probably needs to be replaced (the original one is still on there).

The AC does not work, the fans work, but the compressor doesn't kick on, of course I think it's just low on Freon so the compressor won't kick on, it's not something I'm too worried about because I usually drive with the sun roof open, windows down.

It reds at 8k RPM I believe, my thunderbird reds at 6k, it wont let you get that high if you wanted to though, it shifts at around 4.5k so it's a real low RPM car. This little toy of mine is a rocket; I managed to pass my step moms new BMW up off the line just testing out if it had enough power to pass someone. I plan on modding it of course, but for right now, I'll use this until the 12A is good enough to be used as a daily driver.

My only questions are;

1. What kind of radio is this? DIN, Double Din? Can I buy a conventual’s one from Best Buy or take my old one out of my thunderbird?

2. What kind of exhaust is recommended, the inside of the rear of it seems to be rusted and rattles at around 1k on deceleration, no big rush though.

3. I can probably talk a person who makes custom T-Bird gauges into doing them for the RX-7 club, of course there would have to be a lot of demand and the prices are around 70$ shipped. Who's interested?

Thanks,
Eric

 

got any links to custom gauges so we can know kind of what they look like.

for exhaust/mod stuff check out racingbeat.com or mazdatrix.com 2 of the more popular places.

 

http://www.geocities.com/slhrbacek/

That's his minor website, I asked him if he wanted me to build him one (http://www.zexyracing.com is my latest) but he didn't want the help, he's a big do it your self guy.

I don't know if he plans on touching a Mazda, but it wouldn't hurt to try because I own a thunderbird too!

Which is the better exhaust? I'm looking for something a little loud, not too ricey.

Thanks,
Eric

 

mazdatrix sells racingbeat parts. so either way. I am putting a Racingbeat system on my car, it was free so whatever. if you can afford it go with them if not just get the header and do you own thing.

 

Thanks,

Racing beat promotes flow, but not loosing any right? I don't want to sound like a ricer with straight pipes.

1. What kind of radio is this? DIN, Double Din? Can I buy a conventual’s one from Best Buy or take my old one out of my thunderbird?

Thanks,
Eric

 

The Racing Beat system gets rid of that metal scraping sort of noise you can hear when you start revving it. It doesn't really sound ricey, but, you can't expect it to sound like a muscle car Unique is a good word for a rotary with ANY exhaust.

As for your stereo, I have no clue about the stock setup, but I've got a modern CD player put onto mine, installed it myself (okay, I cheated. The one that was in the car when I bought it was semi-modern, being a mid nineties Blaupunkt )

 

Yeah,

My exhaust looked rusted in the inside of the muffler in the back where the tips covered it up a little, maybe it sitting out in the field caused that. How much does it cost for the headers, exhaust, and everything to mount it?

I've got a Sony Xplod cd player in my thunderbird right now and I would like to swap it in, but I also like the stock system a lot, it looks pretty cool to me. There's no CD player or anything modern in it so that's going to kill the whole aspect of the stock player.

Thanks,
Eric

 

A CD player kills the look, but, there's certain things that the look just don't cut it for

As for your exhaust, it cost me, around $700 for the entire racing beat setup. Real easy to install, too. When I got mine, the tips were almost to the point of falling off, so rust is nothing, lol.

 

hehe,

Well, I bought the car for $500; the exhaust is going to cost more than the whole car! hehe

A CD player does indeed kill the look, but I can't stick with a cassette player, my MP3 cds are now collecting dust.

Thanks,
Eric

 

Well, I spent $700 on mine, so don't feel too bad. You just made me realize that between car and exhaust I've spent $1400. . . .

 

Well,

This is what I'm looking at as of right now;

1) Racing Beat Full Exhaust - $700
2) Paint Job - $1,000
3) Miscellaneous Interior Panels - Trunk - $100 [--Iffy--]
4) Car - $500 (x2 - Parts Car)
5) Better Sound - ??

Where do I mount subs at? What kind of speakers are in the back and front? Is there a FAQ on audio for the GSL-SE?

Thanks,
Eric

 

4 inch in front 6.5 in rear. If by chance that dash is black you seriously need to PM me IF its from the 83.

 

No,

It's a blue color, I haven't seen the parts car yet personally but I'll find out as soon as we get the junk cleared out in the garage and put into the attic.

What size tires/rims are best? I've got a friend willing to sell me some pretty cool looking 15 inch rims, I've heard that the 16 and 17 inch rims look ugly and weigh more. It's a four bolt pattern, not sure on the exact size of them though.

Thanks,
Eric