I'm very experienced with working on RX7's, but NOT electrical issues. I have the opportunity to get a '79 SA with 76,000 original miles for FREE. The car ran/drove great last summer / fall ('03). The guy had it stored under a tarp during the winter. When he connected the battery in the spring, some wires were glowing hot, and it blew the fusable links in the engine bay. He's tired of messing with it and wants it gone. Before I make my decision on wether to pick this up, I need to know where to start on this.

Thanks for any help!
Matt

 

start by getting the car man. I'm sure someone on here will be able to help ya out and if not hey you can make money off parting it out.

 

I know.. I just don't really have the room for another car, and was only going to get it if I know for sure I can fix it semi-easily.


Matt

 

You can start by telling me where the car is so I can come pick it up

 

Well, I wanted to pick it up for a winter car and get it running. It's in rough shape, but is definetly fixable. Maybe if you feel like being incredibly nice, you could help me get it running! Hell, i'll even GIVE you the car at the end of winter if you get it going! heh.


Matt

 

I had the same problem with my 79 SA. There are 2 battery cables . One is black and one was yellow and black. I thought the black one would go to the negative on the battery. I found out that was wrong however. The exact same problem your talking about. I Replaced the fusable links (had to get them from the dealer) and had no problem. I also have an 83 and when I looked at how the battery cable was hooked up, it also had the yellow and black wire going to the negative battery terminal. Hope that fixes your problem for around $20. You have to replace the fusable links anyway, so why not start off with the cheapest fix first? Hope that fixes it!.

 

^yea the best way to avoid that is to trace the cables, had my car not been somewhat race prepped before I got it I wouldn't have thought twice about it either... I can easily see people making that mistake

 

You know what? The battery cables looked exactly the same for the + and - hmm, you guys may be on to something here. I'll think i'll trailor the thing home, and play around a bit.


Thanks,
Matt

 

Yup I've seen fusable links cooked via a battey hooked up backwards too. But that was on a parts car that was destined to never run again, so I can't speak to long-term effects. Start with the fusable links for sure.

 

Rough shape ehh? Pretty rusty? sounds like a good winter beater then I'd follow what these guys have said, seems to make sense to me.

 

Ummm, have any of you guys tried to drive a 7 in the snow? Even with 4 snow tires, you'd better be prepared to keep both hands on the wheel and your medical insurance up to date! A few hundred pounds of Kitty Litter in the back might help....

 

No way - that's a myth. I've driven my RX through snow so deep that it was higher than my frame; it left an indendation in the middle of the road as I plowed. Granted, that was with great tires and it was on gravel, but nevertheless. A couple of things to help:

- You're right about weight... A couple sand bags will definately help - add about 50 lbs or so min right to the rear wheels.
- Get GOOD TIRES... I highly recommend the 'ice' tires (Blizzack and it's clones) - I even wear them through the summer now because they have so much traction... A few hundred every 2nd year is not that big of deal to replace them. I use the Yokohama ice tires (IG721's) and I'd never stray from an ice tire again. Some tires only have the good 'ice' microbubble rubber through part way of the tread, so be careful about that.
- Inflate the tires to proper pressure, esspecially the front. Don't wanna be peddling that flat bicycle tire on ice.
- Also VERY importantly, stick to 185 tires, with 6.3" of road contact. Even 195's (6.7") would make a huge difference and probably be untenible. If you're REALLY concerned, you could even drop to 175 - tires that are too thick don't sink through the snow and you just get stuck. I've seen my Bro's Iroc get stuck in 1" of snow.

If you do all that the RX's are great in winter, and they still stop faster than other vehicles in most circumstances.

 

Well, I drove my '83 the first 2 years I had it through winter. I actually enjoyed driving it, and felt safer than in my FWD cars. I now store that car winters, and pick up a different and unique winter car every year. Why not have another rx7?

BTW... I attached a few pics for those that are interested. Yes, its rusty, but i'll do what I can to fix the bad stuff, and then just drive the thing.


Matt

 

I hate picking up a car like that. Next thing you know it finds a place in your heart and your fixing WAAAAY' more then you orginally intended.

 

Looks like it had a hard life.


My buddy drove his 7 around every winter for 5 years in Ohio. Says he has not had a better snow car yet. The only complante was when the snow got over a foot and the front would plow instead of go over.

 

looks like a good winter beater to me. The rust is bad enough that it's really not worth fixing up so then you won't feel bad driving it in the snow/salt