Hello to all,

I'm a new member but an old rotary lover and need some advice. I've recently lost my long term storage and really need to restart the engine in my 79 GS. The car has been mostly stored under cover outdoors for the past 7 years. The first few years of storage I would start the car and drive it short distances to warm everything up. However I don't think I've started the car in about 4 years.

I live in West Texas which is a very dry climate if that helps. I probably should have sold the car several years ago when I found my 69 Camaro, but just could let myself get rid of my first brand new car. Yes, I'm the origianl owner.

Other info, the car has approximately 74k miles when stored and ran very well. I had just finished restoring the interior and had installed a limitied slip disc set up out of an 82. New braided brake lines etc. I was trying to get it back in shape to do some parking lot gymkahana's. Any way the Muscle car bug hit and the RX7 has been lying in wait.

If any of you could give me some hints or advise on what I should do to resurrect the 12A and other subsystems ie fuel, oil, cooling, I would appreciate the help.

Thanks,

Kris

 

1) Unplug the ignitors on the side of the distributor.
2) Pour a little oil down the carb.
3) Make sure you have drained the old gas and have fresh gas in the tank.
4) Change the fuel filter.
5) Turn the engine over until you see oil pressure on your gauge.
6) Plug in the ignitors and start the car.

 

Make sure you remove the fuel pump fuse first.
Once you do what Mrrx-7 has stated then it is time to do a full change of all fluids. Meaning oil/anti-freeze/gearoil/trans oil/ and flushing the brake fluid out.
Then you will need to inspect all of your cooling hoses, recommend you actually flush the system and put in a new t-stat.
After that you will have to see how it runs and replace parts accordingly.
If the weight of the car has been sitting on those tires that whole time there is a good chance that you will be replacing tires also.

 

Thanks guys, keep it coming .

Yes the tire are dry rotted and will need to be replaced. First thing first, I need to fire this puppy up.

Kris

 

Stock 79 has point type ignition. The points will likely need to be cleaned or replaced after sitting dormant this long.

 

In the FAQs at the beginning of the forum is a thread on 'Bringing Your RX7 Back To Life'. covers pretty much eveything you need, good writeup.

Welcome to the forum and your return to the Darkside. In my sig line is a link to the online FSMs, carb mauals, etc.. That and the FAQs should get you up and running. Btw. since you're an original owner, posting pics is a must.

 

Good catch, Wulff!

Indeed, the points ignition will require a different recovery than the electronic ignition we usually think of. For example:

-sparkplugs: the usual BR8EQ14s are wrong because they are gapped at about 0.050. The points system will reqiure about .025, which cannot be coerced from pre-gapped plugs, so you gotta get the right ones.

-no ignitors

-requires a 'condensor', as well as points, which are available from Mazdatrix. Note that the condensor is matched to the ponts and coil system.

-requires 2 ponts and 2 condensers.

-you can 'static time' the distributor with the help of a 12v. bulb equipped with two alligator clip leads. Big help in getting engine started.

I can usually start an old engine simply by squirting some MMO thru each plug hole. I figure that the MMO works well enough to seal the apex seals and is volatile enough to burn off quickly enough to not foul the plugs seriously.

 

welcome to the forum. first things first. check out the faq page, archives and use the search button as much as possible for any ?s you have down the road. If you don't find them in there, then ask us. real good info in there. Check it out. also the links in trochoids signature. download and read. Change oil, tranny oil, lsd oil, brake line fluid, basically all fluids if its sat that long. get new spark plugs, spark plug wires(might as well), change fuel filter, empty gas tank and clean(drop it down), run seafoam through the system. This could cost you a lot to just get her running and she might need rebuild from sitting so long where the seals aren't good any more. so stick with your decision cause she could be a money pit!! get new dis cap and rotor two, bleed brakes, and empty old coolant. hope you stick with her and fall in love again with this wonderful sport car. God bless

 

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/other-decarbonizing-rotary-featured-article-281207/

 

Woops, i forgot about the bring back to life thread. O well. hope all goes wel, and pics are a must.

 

Thanks to all who have already responded. It appears that the 1st gen communitiy is alive and kicking.

I did upgrade the ignition to a factory set up out of an 81. I really got tired of maintaining the points. So, I'll follow the recomendations of unplugging the igniters.

I'll check the car tomorrow to find out if the engine turns freely by hand.

I'll try and find some photos of the car in it's glory years during the early 80's when I spent many weekends on parking lots wearing out sets of Goodyear Wingfoot tires. I'll also try and post some current photos ans soon as I can.

Some of this is starting to come back to me ( I guess I spent too much time around small block chevy's lately). My first love has always been rotaries since I was introduced to a little orange 72 RX2 which was driven by a very pretty 19 year old girl. That was followed my a 76 Cosmo 13B and finally the 79 RX.

Oh, after 28years, I still have the girl too.

Keep it coming.

Kris

 

Too bad you still don't have the RX2, but it sounds like keeping it's driver has been well worth it over the years. You may be one of the few lucky ones that has a rotary mate, that is a big + for any rotorhead. Post pics of her too, lol.

 

Yesterday I tried using Seafoam for deflooding the engine, and once again it worked great. I dumped about an ounce down the primary barrels on the carb, then cranked it over and it started right up. I noticed again that the performance of the engine was excellent once it started up (no need to pull the plugs and clean them, or anything else that is associated with the typical de-flooding routines).

You probably have some other issues to correct before you get to this point, but I figured I'd throw this info out there for you just in case it comes down to flooding. Good luck!

 

To all,

I got the car back home this evening via a trailer. I was seriously considering geting the car running and selling it, but watching the car move down the street reminded me of why I waited 6 months to buy this car in the first place. I just love the lines of a first gen.

Anyway, good news the engine seems to turn by hand. So in a couple of weeks I'll move it in the garage and start the process of firing that engine.

I'll post another report soon.

Thanks,
Kris

 

Glad to hear you sticking with the 7, and yes the lines are beautiful. Good job on the girl too, haha. Keep us updated

 

I started the resurecton on the 12A yesterday morning. I've emptied the fuel tank, drained the oil, and removed the plugs to add MMO.

Everything seems to be going very well. I've added MMO and the engine has been turning. I've added MMO after several minor turns of the crank. This morning I decided to turn the engine by hand to see if if would turn several complete revolutions. I've found that it seems to have found a spot that it does not want to budge by hand. So, I've added more MMO and will more than likely leave it over night.

Am I doing this correctly? How much time should be allowed for the MMO to do it's job?

Thanks to all.

Kris

 

If the MMO doesn't loosen things up within 48 hours, try ATF, it's harsher on the dried out carbon buildup. If you run into a spot where the engine stops, don't force it, work it back and forth. You can also turn the engone backwards with no harm.

 

Thanks Trochoid for the encouragement. If been turning the engine counter clockwise base on another post I read. If turning it clockwise won't hurt, I'll try that also.

I have not poured any MMO into the carb barrels, so perhaps I need to to this also.

I'll be patient with this. I'm leaving for Canada tomorrow and won't return until Friday. It will have most to the week to soak.

Kris

 

Well,

It's been another week with MMO in the engine and I still seem to have 2 places where the engine stops. I've marked the crank pully so that I can keep up with any progress. The engine seems to turn about 1.5 turns in either direction then stops.

Today I added MMO in one of the stop positions by adding MMO to the plug openings and a small amount through the carbs. I'll be leaving again tomorrow and the engine will be soaking for at least another week.

Assuming this does not do the trick, will ATF mixed with the existing MMO caused any problems or should I try something else first?

Thanks to all.

Kris

 

Sounds like you're looking at a busted seal. Pull the exhaust manifold off and look in through the exhaust ports while rotating the motor. You can see in there well enough to give a quick check to the apex seals. Make sure that they are still in one piece, still in place, no parts missing, and move freely when pushed on (use something made of wood for this, no metal of you'll cause damage).

Anyway, that's probably what I'd do next if I were in your shoes. Good luck man.

 

I'm not sure if I understand how it's possible for an apex seal to break by just letting an engine sit static for several years. The car was running fine when it was parked.

I have not attempted to start the car since, and have only turned the engine by hand. I still believe one or more seals are frozen and need more convincing to loosen up.

Will mixing MMO and ATF have any detrimental effect?

Thanks to all for your ensight and advise.

Kris

 

Add the atf, no problem. Open up the butterflys and pour it down the carb.

 

I thought ATF could damage oil seals.

 

If that's the case, then our power steering pumps and automatic trannys wouldn't last long. They have similiar rubber seals. I think the problem lies with higher mileage engines where the oil seals are worn, but not leaking because of carbon builsup. Once the atf removes the carbon, the seals begin leaking. People mistake this leaking for seal damage where there seals were worn to begin with.

That's my personal take on the issue, I'm sure others will disagree.

 

I don't like ATF because of what it does to cats and spark plugs. I don't think MMO is as harsh on them.