The car is back from the repairer and is idling well and the squeaking from the alternator pulley or belt has been fixed. A new pulley kit was installed but it required machining to fit and a serpentine belt installed. An idling relay was also replaced. I drove the car home and at two sets of lights had a chat with drivers in the next lane about the car. There is a lot of interest in it as first generation RX7s are rare on the road. There are a few photos of the new pulley and belt plus the radiator which has a brass core.

New pulley and serpentine belt installed. The pulley required machining to fit.

The radiator fitted with a brass core.

Close up of belt and pulley.

Glamour shot.

I wish I looked that good at 40!

It has been raining for the last 5 days so it is good to have some fine weather.

There is a local car club meet tonight. My son was taking the Honda DC5 Integra or Acura which creates great interest with its Spoons Sports K20A engine. We might take Breezy instead for its public debut.

 

Breezy and my son's Honda DC5 Integra/Acura arrived early for the car meet. There were three RX7 first generations and one RX4 Coupe. The car attracted much interest from observers and it was nice to be able to exhibit a rare piece of Mazda Australia motoring history.


Breezy and the DC5


DC5 at the car meet. The car always attracts a lot of interest

 

The plastic lens covering the light on the rear-view mirror has one of the four locating pins broken. I thought this is going to be challenging as the rear-view mirror base must have been cut down from the 1981 to 1985 RX7 one to fit the reduced space (see photos). However, the review mirror is a Series 1 or SA model unit no doubt pulled from the Mazda Australia parts catalogue. The Series 1 or SA lenses can still be purchased new from Ringwood Mazda, Melbourne.





NOS replacement available from Ringwood Mazda, Melbourne

 

Yep, the series ones you can still get even here in the states. I did mine a few years ago. Also if you have the jiggles when driving with the mirror, it just needs a short vaccum hose attached the barb on the arm holding the mirror and it pushes up against the glass. That tube was stock OEM but it always gets lost. Your car never disappoints.

 

Thanks for the tip on the rearview mirror and kind words. It was just a small issue but highlighted the uniqueness of these cars.

 

A big improvement on the old lense. The new lenses arrived from Melbourne in 2 days.

 

A package arrived this morning with 2 x 555 brand pitman arms from a vendor selling old stock




NOS interior parts, especially RHD ignition surrounds, are always rare. These are Series 3 or 1984 - 1985.
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We headed out to the northern beaches and here are some of the photographs at Coledale Beach.. The first photo is taken directly east into the sun. The latter shots are looking west towards the beautiful escarpment. The car performed well around the winding coastal road. The idling was perfect and the new pulley and serpentine belt fixed the squealing with the previous dual pully set-up.

Photographed in almost an easterly direction above Coledale Beach.

Facing towards the east with the surf club in the background

Facing west, the beautiful escarpment.

Facing west towards the escarpment with the very nice home built to maximise the views over Coledale Beach.

 

Interesting sky as I'm headed out for a drive.

 

These snaps were taken at South Beach this afternoon from the headland. There was quite a bit of interest especially from an RX8 driver who did laps around the headland.
Looking towards South Beach

 

We had an interesting day yesterday with my sons driving the vert north along Lawrence Hargrave Drive to the Sea Bridge while a car in front took rolling shots. Justin and Tyler from Street Scene in the Australian Capital Territory came to film Breezy as a story will feature later in the year about the car. Street Scene features all types of Mazdas including MPS3, MPS6, SP23, Cosmo, R100, RX2, RX3 and RX7s. Breezy is a former Australia Capital Territory Car so there is some interest. I drove behind the RX7 and the exhaust note from the 12A turbo engine was awesome. My sons drove the car very well considering their limited time behind the wheel.

My RX7 Coupe is still in the workshop. I believe there has been a spike in Mazda rotaries generally which is great for enthusiasts and businesses who cater for the community.

I opened one of the plastic storage containers in the racks in the garage and found parts I forgot I had. It's like Christmas all over again!😁 Some of you may be interested in a few genuine parts which I found nearly 20 years ago.





I purchased these sunrise red doors 20 years ago. They came from a very low mileage car and are spotless in terms of rust. Excuse the mess in the corner. I have new guards, header panel, rear panes etc collected over the years.

 

A few more photos from Sunday

 

The Honda is in the workshop so the old Mazda is going out to my son's car club meet. These are photos of the car idling. I own three Mazdas, and all are red! The newer car is my Mazda SP25 which is the best car I've owned - 2.5ltr engine, 6 speed manual transmission





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My son took these photos on arrival at the venue for the meet😁 The old car's classic lines never date and it more than holds its own against the newer models and the Fords, Holdens etc.

 

These are photos taken by one of the group organisers for the Club at night. There was great interest in the car and the coupe, which is yet to make an appearance. It is good to know people are very interested in Mazda rotaries and I hope to see more at the club.

 

Love those wheels!

 

Thanks. They're Enkei Shurikens from the Enkei 1984 catalogue and period date the car well. Each of the six cars reportedly had distinctive alloy wheels. This photo I previously posted was a car for sale in Australia many years ago. I believe it may be car No 2 but it is near impossible to confirm as there is so little information about them. Note the distinctive wheels which are similar to the Mazda rotor shaped wheels.

 

The car has just returned from completing repairs which were planned when I purchased the car.

The car had been lowered to the max and beyond with the rear springs cut.

The car sits near 2 inches higher now following a suspension and steering rebuild. This is a continuation of the process which was undertaken by a local workshop specialising in high end restorations including the repair/restoration of many R100s, RX2s, RX3s and RX7s. The repairs included

Renewal of all silver pinstriping on side protectors
Excellent secondhand front bar
New genuine Mazda front header panel
New genuine Mazda lower front apron
Repairs to bottom of front guards due to scraping of paint

I'm sure you can sense my frustration with the lowering of cars and subsequent damage .





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This convertible is currently for sale in Adelaide, South Australia. It is a CCA - Convertible Cars Australia model. Love the genuine Mazda yellow and I hope it goes to a good home for restoration.

 

A few more photos of the highlighting the renewed silver pinstriping, new underskirt panel, new header panel and replacement bar plus repairs to underside guard paintwork.

 

Wow! Looking good. Mines lowered about an inch but thats as far as I would want it to go. What really gets me is the stance crowd with the huge camber and of course lowered as well. Ruins the whole car just so it looks like an old worn out matchbox car.

 

That is a sensible drop. These cars have classic lines for their age and a modest drop is fine. The damage associated with lowering the car too far could have been avoided with a 1 inch drop. It is fortunate I had the panels to repair the car and the body shop was able to locate an excellent front bumper.

 

My youngest son and I drove out along Lawrence Hargrave Dr to Bald Hill this morning. This is the view at Bald Hill Lookout looking South East. Stanwell Park beach is immediately below us as well as the small village. There was a bit of interest with couples who came over to have a look at the car. The car performed well on the drive which is mostly between 50 to 60km due to the winding road around the coastline.

View from Bald Hill with view of ocean and coast line.



the beautiful view of the ocean and coast from up high. A number of couples stopped to have a look at the car which is looking its best. My son drove the car out and back and drove it well. He understands the necessity to keep the revs up and is a rotary convert.

 

These photos were taken by professional photographer Justin Tyler. They were taken for an article on the car by MazdACT which will feature later in the year. They were taken from another car heading towards Lawrence Hargrave Drive and the Sea Bridge. Thanks, Justin, for the superb photography.

Photo taken by Justin on the Northern Distributor heading towards Lawrence Hargrave Dr and the Sea Bridge. The classic lines of the old 7 are captured beautifully

Heading north on the Sea Bridge with my two sons in the car.

Heading north along Lawrence Hargrave Drive, approaching the Sea Bridge from Clifton.


Another of my favourite snaps, with the Enkei Shurikens period dating the car. I was driving behind the car and the sound from the 12A turbo rotary engine was outstanding. A number of drivers dropped in behind the car or stayed in the other lane to look at the car and hear the rotary music..

Heading South just out of Coledale along Lawrence Hargrave Drive. My two sons had a great day driving the old car.

Heading North just out of Austinmer. In the background is the beautiful Illawarra Coast Line. This route is very popular with car enthusiasts and Sunday drivers.


Driving South on the Sea Bridge, with the Illawarra Escarpment to the right (West) and Pacific Ocean to the East.

Excellent view of the Illawarra Escarpment and the Sea Bridge, heading South.

 

My son is taking the car to a funeral for a local car enthusiast who died unexpectedly last week. His widow had asked if it were possible for Holden Torana enthusiasts to bring their vehicles to the funeral. Although her husband was a Holden and Ford enthusiast, she reached out to my son to see if the old 7 could come to the funeral.