Ok, there are 2 bolts that i can see holding the thermal reactor to the engine, but how in the dilly do I remove those!?? (will be trying to remove as you read this, or untill the end of this saturday)

 

haha..."how the dilly" thats funny. Im sorry i have no idea how to help you (maybe you could try a wrench? ). I just coulnt resist the comments...

~T.J.

 

sorry im not the cussing type, um well ok i'd try a wrench cept there is no way i can angle it right to get them off cause the thermal bubbles out in front of it...im pretty sure thats what this thing is, well its big andround and looks allmost like a muffler stuck on the side of the engine..

 

Actually there are FOUR bolts, two are above the reactor.

Without the special Mazda wrenches, probably the only way to get at them is to remove the intake manifold first.

Now you know why I waited to put a different engine in before I put headers on my '80 Didn't see how I could easily get at the durn thermal reactor nuts! SO, put the headers on a different engine and swap engines, leaving the T.R. safely bolted to the '80 engine.

 

eya... dangit i have all but those dang four bolts, how much is the tool where do i get it??

 

I managed to take my thermal reactor off without any special Mazda tool. I can't remember exaclty how I did it, I do remember it being a royal pain in the ****! The weld on top of the reactor is right in the way. I think I ended up using a short socket, and universal joint an extension and a really long bar....half the battle was trying to find the right size, it's a pain to figure out because you can't really see what's going on. I can go out an look later if you need the size, good luck with the project. -George

PS. Bottom bolts ones are eaaasy compared to the top.

 

I think the Mazda tool was just something similar to a distributor wrench, you could probably make one yourself by putting lots of bends in a generic 14mm box wrench and welding a T-handle to the other end.

Barring that, the intake manifold is only 6 bolts

 

Smoke wrench/torch will do it LOL Sorry couldnt help myself...

On my 80, i removed the intake manifold but the motor was bad anyways, so I had to

 

Allrighty,i'll have to go buy one or sumthinto mess around with and bend, it's kinda half on, and it does sound like a chainsaw on crack hehe i kinda liked it tho. I have the muffler on so far and I got one side of the cat unbolted that was a pita... thanks again and i belive it's a 12mm bolt holding it on?

 

Do you know what Crowsfeet are? They're little wrench heads that fit on the end of a socket wrench... they might work... Just a suggestion. Check your local auto store...


Jeff

 

Thanks for the advise everyone, I'll give it another shot today.

 

I now have the 3 bolts that can be seen off of the TR. And the 4th hidden bolt is keeping me from enjoying my RB header.

Since the original date of this post does anyone have any updated tips on how to get that last bolt off?

I'm thinknig about just drilling/cutting through my reactor to make more space for a socket. I didn't want to trash the TR though in case I want to return my car to stock one day.

 

ah hell, now you guys have me dreading this.

 

Holy ****, are you saying you've been at this for *4 months*?!?!

EDIT: I'm stupid, your avatar is the same so I thought you were the first guy that posted this. Hahaha....

The intake manifold is fairly easy to take off, why not just do that? It'll take you an hour or two. You don't even have to remove every single cable, etc - just enough to get it out of the way for a minute while you undo that last bolt. You gotta get that reactor off somehow!

The only annoying thing is you'll need to drain the water out of the motor, and you'll need a new gasket and water o-rings And you'll need to clean the old gasket **** off the motor before you reinstall it. Don't reuse the old stuff.

 

I've only ever installed, then removed the thermal reactor on a '74 13B, but it wasn't very hard. Maybe I've got some really awesome cheap tools? Oh well, I've got to remove one soon on a '76 13B. Should be fun!

 

I got it off! The thermal reactor I mean. I used a heavy hammer to bend a wrench. I don't know what this type of wrench is called, but it is shaped like an S. You will know what type of wrench to use from the picture.

The nuts to remove the TR are 14mm. However, when I went to the local used tool store to find a 14mm S shaped wrench they had none. So, I used the 9/16 end of the wrench shown in the pic.

No welding, no special equipment necessary. I beat it into shape against the concrete in my driveway.

Oh yeah, I put WD-40 on the nuts the day before. The link below has two pictures.


http://www.deal52.com/rx-7%20tool.htm

 

That's what the factory tool looks like, except the unbent end had a T-handle on it for more leverage.

 

Be thankful its not an RX-2. I damn near had to pull the engine to remove the reactor.