well, hey all. my name is greg and ive been bit by the rx-7 bug. i recently sold my truck because ive always wanted a car (pics of the truck at www.cardomain.com/id/greg36 sold for 1400...anyways) i was lookin at first gen MR2's because i have loved mr2's since i was a kid but found my newest love shortly after. a 1985 mazda rx-7 gsl...shes only got 109k miles, one dent, NO RUST at all. the interior is great except the drivers seat which is tore. the only problem was the slave cylinder needed rebuilt and that was a 30 dollar repair. i paid 800 for this awesome car and cant say how happy i am about it.

a lil bit bout me...im 17, a senior in high school. i ragged the hell out of my truck, but it still ran great. but with this car, i jus dont feel the urge to get on it...its seen redline once. that one time was when i beat a ford probe from a light last night.

anyways, ive been doin lots of research on these cars...and still have a few questions.

1) why do some of you guys say our cars are slow? like i said, i beat a ford probe and my does not hesitate to get up and go...unless im jus used to my truck bein slow...lol.

2) exhaust question. ive seen many guys post and ask about what they can get to make the car louder. well, i dont want loud...i want quiet to mild. what can i get to achieve this? ive been thinkin bout runnin 2.5 pipe from the header into a "glasspack" (not sure what it is) and then into a deep rice can...but not sure. any help would be appreciated.

3) i have searched for forever and still cant find it. how the hell do i replace my stock radio with a cd player?! lol...i love my music and cars...and cant live with out both at the same time.

anyways, heres the pics i promised...the paint is not anywhere near what the pics make it look like. the clear coat is peeling on the hood bad and the roof and trunk are fading like crazy. the first thing im doing is paint...either silver,black, or stock tan..








and sorry for the crappy pics...i got the digital camera for free, but its better than nothing! lol...thanks for all the help in advance and ill talk to yall later.

 

looks very clean!

1) some of us say our cars are slow because they have around 100 hp at the wheels which is considered to be "Gut-less" but the rotary engine delievers a broad powerband so you cant compare this car with a boingers hp.

2) If your looking for exhaust that performs well and is street legal goto www.racingbeat.com this company is excellent i highly recommend them. The full exhaust adds about a 22% increase and almost any member on here will tell you thats the best upgrade to do.

3) For a cd player i got a Mounting plate from my local hardware store and fabricated it a little so that my cd player worked... Easy to do just takes some time and patience

I attached 3 pictures, 2 of my cd player so you can get an idea of what it looks like. And one of my racing beat exhaust system.

Welcome to Forum, your car looks awesome keep it in that good condition!

 

thanks dan...is their anywhere i can look for a wiring diagram? i guess i shoulda been more specific on the cd player subject. i jus need to know which wires got to what.

glad you like the car dan...like i said, im gonna baby this thing...

 

Nice buy.. I could tell you lived in TN the bremuda grass is a tale tell sign. Anyways, DO NOT PUT GLASSPACK on this car, The rx-7's motor generates lots of HEAT and the glasspack can't handle the heat, it will shatter leaving shards of glass naterial rattling around in your exhaust......SERIOUSLY.

The ricer muffler will be loud.. If you are going that route (i have done so aswell) buy a pre-silencer (www.racingbeat.com) or you will be sorry.

To install a DIN 1 CD player you can buy an adapter, OR I can make you a din guage pannel to hold two gauges and a switch.....

Keep the pics comming as the car progresses.

Oh and welcome to the CLUB..

 

You need to make something for us S2 guys....

 

Ok for the wiring of my cd player I just used a little trail and error and a test light. First find the wire that has constant power, and you have your power. Then turn the ignition on and find the wire with power, then the grounding is a breeze. One thing that helps with this is getting a wiring harness at your local stereo shop, it allows you to hook the cd player up without splicing all the wires.

 

The harness will help ONLY with the power wiring. You'll need to run your own speaker wires...

The stock stereo has two pitiful amplifiers hidden under the storage bins. 25 watts.

As far as mounting a stereo, A guy on here called "Manntis" sells a supposedly VERY nice aluminium model from his site. http://www.rotorhead.ca

 

Looks like a good mounting bracket except on the side it says sold out but it looks like he will be making a new model soon. This might be a good investment except I dont know what other 3 gauges i even need for my NA. Boost pressure and stuff would be nice if i had a turbo... Anyways im getting off topic sorry.

 

Hey nice car, for a second I thought you'd stollen mine and fixed the front seriously same as mine color and all, looks nice, gives me something to work towards.

 

thanks for all the replies guys...its good to know you guys welcome newb's... anyways, where can i find a wiring diagram to tell me which wire goes to what speaker and stuff? ive checked every audio place around here and they dont carry wiring harnesses for it. they said they would have to install it by splicin wires together and tryin to make it pretty. but its 70 to do that and i can jus do it...i jus need a wiring diagram...lol.

 

if you just need to figure out which wire goes to what speaker, just try them....attach the wires from your speaker to the wires on the deck, and set the fade and balance controls, to figure out which wire goes to which speaker.

as far as the power wires, ground, and all that goes, you should get a test light...you need a constant power, (from battery), an ignition power (that comes on when you turn your key on), and a ground wire (its usually the only black wire). not too hard to figure out.

also, if the car has the original stereo, you can simply go to the stereo shop, and get an adaptor to make it a simple "plug and play" install....you just attach the piece from the stereo shop to the car's harness that normally goes into the factory stereo, and attach the other end directly to your new stereo. its so easy. i did it for the first time a few months ago, after doing it the "hard way" many many times previously, and i'll tell ya...its definately worth the $15 or so it costs for the adaptor.

hope that helps

nick

 

There will be NO plug 'n' play on your RX-7.

On the 1st generation RX-7 there are no wires for the speakers... The speakers are hooked to some fairly weak (By today's standards... 25 watts.) amps hidden under the storage bins.

You'll need to run your own wires to each speaker. Just hooking wires up won't do it...

I can tell you, the easiest way is the following:

There'll be a 3 wire plug. One is Ignition switch power. One is illumination. One is power antenna trigger.

There is a single wire. It is constant battery power.

The speaker wires end under the storage bins. There'll be one silver box on either side labeled "Clarion". On it there will be a 1 wire connector (Power), A round DIN style connector (audio from head unit/joystick controller), and a 4 wire plug (Speakers.) I believe rear speakers is driver's side amp. Front speakers is passenger side amp. Not sure if they used connector colors in the FB's, but if you find a blue one. It's rear speakers...

Remove the other connectors from the amps (It'll save you power from your alternator.)

Run wires from your head unit to just under the storage bins and connect there.

You can use the wiring harness for a 1986 RX-7, B-Series truck, MPV, whatever for all this... It should consist of 4 seperate harness parts. A one wire, a three wire, and two four wire connectors.

 

cardomain.com sells the wiring harness for our cars...but i say rewire the speaker wire and put in new speakers too...

here's my setup...(click to pick to see more )



Nice car btw, body looks straight...as for exhaust...just go racingbeat...they have a great balance between tone and flow that you just can't go wrong with...