rx7lives

Thanks for the link, I was going to use Black Dragon for my new carpet and it's nice to have someone vouch for the quality. I'm trying to ditch my pimp red burgundy or whatever color it is and go for grey. I've got all the parts but the headliner and carpet, dash and I want to put leather seats in. I had the original red leather seats that were in perfect condition and like an idiot, I didn't take care of them.

A friend had an SE with the grey interior and it looked really nice.

rx7lives

Wheel bearings shouldn't be hard to get, Mazdatrix has them at:
Front Brakes, Rotors, Hubs, Calipers

I just ordered mine from Kragen and they were a perfect fit, they even had my transmission input shaft bearing. Since you're doing the front bearings, buy the bronze punches to put in your bearings. I think you can get them from Kragen for less than $20.00 for three of different sizes. It makes a difference since the bronze gets the abuse and not the race. I saw one guy put in the front bearings by putting the outer race in the rotor and then putting the bearing in place and then he pounded on the bearing. Bad idea, it even left marks on the race from the bearings and they're hard as hell steel I think.

Funny thing, for over 30 years of wrenching, I've always tightened the front bearings by feel and then backed off until the cotter key fit and the wheel turned nice and there wasn't any play. I figured that since I was doing all this work and since I have the tools, I'd break out my torque wrench and do it according to the Haynes manual I have. It turns out that for an RX7, you do just tighten up the bearing until it starts to bind and then back it off until it unbinds and the cotter key fits. That was disappointing. It's a good idea to re-torque them after a couple hundred miles. Make sure the races (inner and outer) are 100% seated.

I don't know why the rotors are different sizes unless the 79-80s are one size and the 81-85 12a's are a different size and the SE ones are also different. Measure yours and you should be OK. Order the parts and bring the originals in when the come in from wherever you ordered them from. It should be obvious if they're the correct parts but this would be a problem if you order them by mail instead of from a parts place.

Good luck. It's a great feeling knowing you've replaced the entire braking system except for the hard-lines and the proportioning valve. Just don't do something stupid like I did. After I bled the master cylinder, I used a Mityvac to do the calipers (worth buying) and like a moron, I didn't tighten one of the lines completely that went into the master cylinder. I was wondering why the pedal was slowly going to the floor like it had a leak. It was also a waste of expensive silicone brake fluid.

You might want to consider using silicone fluid for both the brakes and the clutch. Unlike regular brake fluid that is hygroscopic (it absorbs water which pits the surface where the seal seals over time which is why it's recommended you flush the system every once in a while). People say silicone is hard to bleed but I've never had a problem but makes sure there isn't any residual normal brake fluid.

Redliner223

iTrader: (6)

Hey, thanks man.
I forgot all about Mazdatrix, I really don't know how I forgot about them.

demongo

iTrader: (2)

Had a question about stockinteriors.com carpet--are their RX7 carpets (1st gen) like the original two-piece passenger compartment carpets from the factory? Or are they a single-piece?

All the ones I've seen available are the molded-and-rubber-backed single-piece aftermarket type, which I have *no* interest in using.

Input appreciated.