I have a 79 that was stored inside a climate controlled garage for 8 years before I purchased it. I drove it the night I purchased it and it had nice power. Compression test showed pretty good, even numbers. In the process of making it a reliable daily driver, I've done away with the rats nest, fresh plugs and oil, installed a ported stock intake manifold with a modified stock nikki, a rb header and rb air filter assembly. I can't tell any difference in power. In fact...I think it has less power now. I'm thinking the carb is a hack job because of the trouble I went through to get it running, but now it starts good and runs smooth. Anyway, will points or wires do this to me? I haven't replaced them, but they look good. Also, I'm running pre-mix and there's a lot of blue smoke at idle, so do I need to back down on my mixture?

 

Sounds like your running too much 2stroke for one. Wires and all make a decent difference, more spark = more burn = higher release of energy from fuel. Also sounds like you need the carb tuned, you may be too rich or lean and therefore not going to see the true potential of the setup.

 

umm, are you running the RB header to your stock exhaust?

 

Is the fuel filter clean? Is the fuel pump able to support the new carb? Verify correct ignition timing and consider upgrading to electronic dizzy. You won't see much benefit from the carb, intake, header unless the rest of the exhaust system is free flowing as well.

 

you'll need an exhaust upgrade to fully realize any gain, also check the fuel filter as suggested.

 

Full RB exhaust makes a noticeable difference. Just the header means there are still restrictions so the engine can't 'breathe' the way it needs to for you to see gains.

 

79's need all the help they can get in the ignition department.Rotaries thrive on ignition upgrades.
Too much premix oil will kill power,you only need a VERY small amount,somewhere in the 200:1 range.
Stock mufflers are very restrictive.
A light flywheel will really perk up the response,especially on the older 12A with heavier rotors.
Its not too hard to bump a 101HP 12A to 150HP with bolt ons.Thats pretty much unheard of with a modern engine,and just goes to show how much Mazda detuned the 12A for the sake of emissions and fuel economy.

 

how is gaining 50 hp from bolt-ons unheard of when it comes to modern engines?

 

Can you name any other comparable normally aspirated engines that can make 50% more power with bolt-ons?

 

^^ I would love to get 185 out of my protege engine (135 stock). Which bolt ons do I buy for this?

 

Well also if your intake manifold is not PORT MATCHED then it can create turbulance causing less power....

 

Typically you can "bolt on" a Turbo, they usually won't stay on long with Zip Ties and duct tape.....

 

now i know what you mean, i wasnt thinking of it as a percentage of all of the motors power.

 

Are you sure your secondaries are actuating on the new carb? If not you'll definitely be down on power.

 

I agree, watch the premix, it can rob power. As for the carb and manifold, if it wasnt done right then you will lose bottom end power, and possibly power everywhere. Who did the carb and manifold?

 

id suggest an upgraded ignition. newer dizzy and stuff

 

first of all, even if you hook your header up to the factory exhaust, you should feel a big difference in power. i just put a straight pipe on my 83' RX-7 still using the factory muffler, it is way faster and louder but not unbearable like i was told. anyways, i suggest check to see if your throttle plates are opening all the way, maybe the throttle cable is loose.

 

yes, first and foremost is beef up that ***** fuggin ignition.. then check your compression

 

OK, I have a dual exhaust set-up, but it's not yet installed, so the run was with open headers.
New fuel pump and filter.
Carb was done by a guy who after receiving the carb, I don't have much confidence in. It was full of sand when I received it, linkage was bent and balloons were used to cap vacuum ports!
Anyway, I'll keep tuning once I get the rest of the exhaust on.
I'd like to look into upgrading the ignition. What is a nice inexpencive set-up? I just can't imagine much power gained from ignition. I would expect more reliability, but what do I know??!!
From what I've read 130:1 is about right on pre-mix and that's what I used...maybe a bit more.
RX7CARL: you and Sterling get my business next...this carb and intake set-up I bought has been a joke! I look forward to dealing with you two.

 

You can go a lot thinner with the premix.Trust me,I went too heavy once and it killed my performance.When a 300HP TII motor starts to feel like a 12A,you know theres a problem.Once I ran the tank out and got my OMP working again,ALL the power was back,just like that.Do some research on oil ratios for rotaries.You can definately go lighter than 130:1.
The 79 has a unique ignition system made for the thermal reactor and it represents almost the oldest design in rotary ignition tech.It cuts the trailing ignition so the engine purposfully wastes gas in order to keep the reactor hot and working.Combine that with 26 year old coils and breaker point ignition that changes timing as it wear(which it does any time its running) and youve got a potential for missfires,weak spark and poor economy...more so if you pump the engine up to increase HP without adressing these weaknesses first.
The 81-85 system is the best way to go.Its readily availible and drops right in.The later style electronic ignitors arent the most reliable,but they can be replaced with an MSD 6A,which will furthur increase HP with its capacitive, multiple spark discharge,while at the same time curing the fragile factory ignitor problem.Even just one MSD on the leading ignition is enough to get some more power and ensure that you wont get stranded.
Switch to later 12A sparkplugs,and get some fresh ignition wires.
Drop in some new coils.Either some hot aftermarket coils like Blaster 2's,or get some factory FC coils.The FC coils are good for 500HP applications and FC guys rarely need to upgrade them.Run either choice of coil in a direct fire application,bypassing the distributor cap and youll be in love with the power gains and smoother idle.
Believe me,its well worth it.I ran this very setup on both my 12A and 13B and it was like night and day.The direct fire,wasted spark setup works so well on the long,narrow rotary combustion chamber that all rotaries starting in 1986, use it from the factory.

 

Do not doubt the power that can be gained by upgrading the ignition. I'm still amazed with the setup I'm running, and it cost me less than 50 bucks.... By far the most hp per doller gain for any mod so far.

 

I'll do some searching on the ignitions set-ups suggested on this site, check my timing, grab new wires and I'll watch my pre-mix.
Thank you.

 

All i gotta say is first gen guys (and girls) rock. Sorry guys its just awesome that we have this kinda community. Brings a friggin tear to my eye....j/k. I gotta try that 2nd coil swap. Sounds nice, is it too difficult?

Fred

 

dude what generation is your protege. i got one too i love them cars. i beat the **** out of mine daily.

 

Next on my list of to-do's.