Lisa-san

Hi!

I'll be picking up my 83 Mazda this Sunday. Excellent body and interior condition - NO RUST and almost NO WEAR. $2200 CDN, not certified (although, I'm fairly confident it will pass without too much trouble). I got it started smoothly, but it was revving so high and as soon as I got off the gas, it stalled out. So, at this point I am not sure what shape the heart of the car is in. Tips?

I am familiar with rotary basics - I went through high school for auto mechanics (that's what I wanted to do) and I had a boyfriend who ran 1st Gen RX-7's. However, I have so much to learn so I will be referring to these forums frequently for technical support starting next week.

Before I hand over my money, can anyone offer some basic advice on what to look for visually (on everything but body and interior) when personally inspecting the car?

Short/Long Term Plans: get'er running, then audio & interior

I'm looking to network and meet new friends in the local and surrounding areas who are interested in talking about and learning/teaching rotary basics etc. I'll be shopping for parts. Suggestions and referrals most welcome.

Pics to follow. : )

Thanks in advance for any constructive criticism or suggestions!

Cascadia

There is a lot of good info on this site. If you use the search and the FAQ you will be able to get answers for a lot of questions.

The high revving would be normal if it is being started cold. You should be able to pull out the choke and crank the engine without even touching the accelerator. When I turn on the key, pull out the choke, and then crank the engine, it will start and go up to and over 2K rpm. I try to keep it a little below 2K (with the choke ****), and let the car warm up thoroughly. If you let the car warm up until the choke **** snaps back, it should idle fine. If it does'nt, there probably would be an issue with the carb.

openshot

wellcome i own a 83 as well right now its beening custom. like bodykit.

Wodihor

Welcome to the forum.

As far as the starting, from my experiences you will need to let the motor warm up before it will stay idle with out a choke. I normally hold down the gas just a tad for about 30 sec to a minute. This allows the card to warm up some and will idle. If you have the manual choke, pull it out. It should rev to abotu 2.5 - 3 k rpm and after about 3 to 5 min drop to 800-1k. That was my experience with my 83 GS.

dbragg

iTrader: (7)

before you buy the car id look in the rear wheel weels for rust. id get on the ground and look at the underside of the car to insure the unibody isnt damaged. id also pull out the storage bins or just the "leather" covers on the wheel wells and look for rust. look for rust on the bottoms of the doors.

as wodihor stated, try letting it warm up then see if itll hold an idle. you dont want to rev these things high until it hits the operating temp.

if you get it post pics.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Number one suggestion:

You're really close to RPM Motorsports. Joe and Dan are awesome guys and they run pretty much the only Rotary-specific shop within a thousand kilometres of Ottawa that I would trust with my car.

I would go there and get them to have a look at it for sure.

If you're pretty mechanically inclined, a full tune-up is always a great place to start

- Spark Plugs (NGK BR8EQ-14)
- Spark Plug Wires (Go with NGK as well)
- Distributor Cap and Rotor (any brand really.. Bosch and Borg Warner are good)
- Fuel Filter (any generic one will do)
- Oil Change (4.5L of 10w30 non-synthetic, any brand will do. For Filters, anything but FRAM. I personally grab mine from the 'states because Ogdensburg NY is only about an hour away from me and they have the good Purolator PureONE filters I like so much, but almost anything will do)
- Drain coolant/antifreeze, get a bottle of Prestone "Super Flush" and follow the directions to flush your coolant system out with superflush and water. Then fill with Premix 50/50 antifreeze.
- Air Filter

And you'll want to run your first few tanks of fuel with some sort of fuel system cleaner in it to get the gunk out.

That will get you in a great starting spot. If you're having problems with getting the car to idle once warmed up, there may be a carburetor issue.

Warming up is important though. As Wodihor mentioned, when you start the car, pull out the choke. That should make the car run between 2-3 thousand RPM. Drive it like this until the engine reaches operating temperature. If your choke is working properly as intended it should automatically pull the **** back in when it reaches operating temp and then you'll be able to idle.

Stick your head in the Canadian section. They don't talk tech as much as we do here in the first gen section, but Joe RPM hangs out there, and you'll be able to find out about local rotary meets when they happen.

I've got an '84 GS, which is virtually the same car. If you have other questions feel free to PM me and I'll help where I can

Here's the map to Joe's shop from Kitchener
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en...UTF8&z=13&om=1

Jon

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

still, for 2200 CDN, I'd jump on it if there isn't any external rust, but rust in under the storage bins is the #1 killer for these cars. If it gets too bad it can weaken the mounts for your rear control arms and they can break free of the floor... that's bad...

But if it's as clean as you say, that's awesome.

Other than bin rust, find out if the car has been sitting, that makes it more of a project than people realize. Though the main tune-up I mentioned will get you off to a great start, you'll want to have a look at the front brakes too. The front brake rotors can't be easily removed/reinstalled. Well they come out pretty easy, but the wheel bearings are actually part of the rotor/hub assembly, so when you take the brake rotors out you should replace at least the bearings, races and grease seal. Of course if you're going that far you might as well replace the rotors too.

All that to say, if the front rotors are wearing thin, work the price down a bit

For the time being that's all I can think of.

Jon

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Mine doesn't start up without a few taps of the gas.

So my start procedure is basically 2 full strokes of the gas pedal, pull choke, start, feather gas for a sec as it starts, then it stays at 2.5k RPM until the choke kicks off

Jon

Cascadia

When I bought mine new in 82, the salesman showed me the starting procedure (at least his version, anyway). He said never pump the gas pedal . . . just pull out the choke, and turn the key to crank it. Of course, I took it as gospel, and is the way I've always started it. I have never had to pump the accelerator even once when starting, and it has always fired right up . . . guess I've been lucky!

bad 83

iTrader: (3)

Welcome to the dark side! Alot of us guys that have been around these cars a while will tell you they are very pationate about the 7. I think you will probably need to rebiuld the carb. Don't worry........it's not that big a deal. After you find out more about these cars, it's hard to imagine living without them. If you think the car is worth it, and you have the time to play with it, then go for it!

Lisa-san

Thanks, guys!

Tomorrow, I will own an RX-7 by the end of the day! I am sooo excited! It's really happening.

I will definitely check the bins and wheel wells for rust and keep my eyes open for the leaky fluids.

The seller says he recently did brakes and radiator; I can tell the rad is new, but I don't think I'll have the opportunity to look at the brakes very closely until I get the car home. He tells me that he put $700.00 into it and the previous owner did like $4000.00 and he will get me a name and number so that I can talk to them about what was done.

I think the car has fresh paint because I can see the previous paint colour (white) in the door jams. I am calling the colour "almond". It's got a tan/brown interior and relatively new tires.

Pictures to come tomorrow and I will post any work that I am doing on it as well.

I almost drove by RPM's shop, because I read that he had one here in Breslau. I may consider asking them to do the safety, actually. I wonder if he is able to do the appraisal as well...?

Thanks again so much for your support/advice!

Lisa-san

Well, it's official! I am the proud owner of a 1983 Mazda RX-7!

I had someone over yesterday for a consult and he was able to get it running - seller had cheap spark plugs in. He tells me that I have a good working 12A motor, but it needs some TLC.

Aside from tune-up stuff, I will need to fix the alternator, which isn't doing anything, apparently. Ack. I'll have to get a new one or rebuild so that I can get it started and run it regularly going forward.

The Bad news...
RUST. When I looked at the car two weeks ago, I couldn't lift it up to look underneath and the car looked great all around. This week, when I went to pick it up, we got it off the grass and jacked it up. The belly is in need of a big operation.

I will not be driving it this year and may not bring it to MOTM unless I decide to trailer it up. Highly doubtful, because the other vehicle I'm coming up with (S-10) doesn't tow and we'd have to bring a third.

It's going into the garage as soon as we make room for it and then I'll rip everything out and get started on reinforcing (read rebuilding) the floor and new suspension. How many of you have air ride? I guess I'll think about it.

I tried to post pictures on Monday after I picked it up, but I am having trouble uploading even though my files are less than 2.5K? FAQ doesn't tell me anything new and I am still trying to figure out the Search feature...

bliffle

I bought my 83GS new in '82, it now has 130k, I'm the only one who's driven it and it is still the smoothest running engine I've ever experienced. Sometimes, when waiting at a light, I can't even tell it's running. I start it with the choke and let the engine release the choke. It has NGK EQR8BR14 plugs, tho autolite 2626s work also. I always add 6 oz. of MMO or 2-cycle when filling the tank. One morning it ran rough and made a honking noise, so I plugged the air feed hole to the shutter valve in the air cleaner box and it was OK.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

Air Ride? Are you planning to build a show car? If not I would suggest upgrading the stock springs, dampers, and anti-roll bars. Does wonders for these cars, and is fairly inexpensive. Congrats on the new toy. See you at MOTM!!

openshot

do you know how long its been siting on grass. because grass makes cars rust FAST. that god my 83 was on a drive way. if you need a site to post pics i use www.tinypic.com if you do air ride do i write up on how the car handles i was thinking of puting them on. good for car shows slam the car to the ground.

kgray

Grinding a rusty frame on a classic unibodied car sounds like a cool thing to do...

OneRotor

iTrader: (3)

dont' waste your money on air ride. It adds a ton of weight and complexity to the car. Like it was stated above, just replace stock suspension with factory components and drive it like that for a while. Post pictures of the rust problem that you've got, and we can give you pointers on what to do next.

Lisa-san

I'm having trouble posting pictures... most of them are an average of 2MB and it won't let me upload them and I have no idea how to shrink them...

'84-12A-GSL

upload them to photobucket. (make an account if you don't already hace one) or download "easy thumbnails", it's a free program, and you can make pics smaller or larger.