Open Heart Surgery!
 

So this evening I started my open heart surgery operation on my FB. Thanks to a dowel pin oil leak I've begun the process of pulling my motor and replacing all the gaskets since they are all 25 years old and have not been replaced.

I didn't have the money to deal out for the full rebuild kit and I'm hoping that doesn't come back to bit me in the butt but i have a feeling it will. Oh well, at least I'll know what I'm doing the next time around!

I haven't gotten around to much yet, just draining fluids and what not so far. Ive disconnected everything from the radiator except for the heater hose and the 2 lines for the automatic transmission on the lower left. I also took off the under engine cover obviously to do that and I got the fan off.

Tomorrow I'll get more done no doubt since most of my time today was just spent doing prep work like washing out the garage floor, getting bolt bags ready and labeled, taking pictures, etc.

I'll keep this thread up to date with pictures and what not as the process goes along.

First question of the surgery however. With the automatic transmission, is it required to drain the fluid from it if I'm pulling the engine but leaving the transmission still in the car? I'm pretty sure I should but I wasn't 100% and I'd like to avoid a catastrophic spill if possible.

best of luck with getting the leak fixed.
I'm fighting one myself after puting in a new engine :/

With manual trany the oil wont spill during this kind of operations and i doubt that automatics are any different in that aspect. So can't say for sure.
Howere I would drain some of the fluid out,, you can inspect the fluid to see if it needs to be replaced or not. It's never a bad idea to replace the fluids in a 25 year old trany .This is the easiest time to do it, since you will have greater access to your trany now then ever.

I just scalpeld off a piece of my garage's anatomy today (removed auto tranny from the garage to get rid of it after sitting for a few years collecting dust). The life blood (red tranny fluid) shouldn't leak if you simply loosen and carefully remove the four flex plate-to-torque convertor bolts through the top inspection cover. This leaves the torque convertor in place and fully seated so no claret can escape.

Please remember to support the tranny so it sits basically at the same level as stock. I had a tumor fall off (torque convertor) as I lifted it funny to get it up on the floor jack to wheel it to the curb. None of Jimson's crimson spilled at the time (I got lucky) because I kept the tranny level and kept the open end of the lump up.

UPDATE TIME!

Since my last post I have finished draining the coolant and pulled the radiator out of the car. I also pulled the air box out and the fuel lines are disconnected, as well as the brake assist tube. I couldn't get my stupid oil plug loose so I might be forced to drain that after i get the motor itself out. The car is up on stands now as well. I don't think I'm forgetting anything lol.

So its been a while since I've update.. 2 weeks or so to be exact. In that time, everything has changed. The motor is completely out and torn down. I have the master rebuild kit on order from Atkins Rotary (expected delivery on Tuesday), a new radiator and water pump with hoses, and the exhaust all coming in the next week or two.

We have had our slew of problems of course thus far but to date we have no broken bolts or catastrophes to be spoken of.

However, pulling the motor without the transmission is more complicated than we anticipated. The second engine hangar (the back one) is tied on with one of the transmission bolts, meaning in order to use it you have to completely disconnect the bolt, slide the motor forward and then replace the nut, bolt, and hangar in order to use it. We chose a different route. We chose to use a block of wood and floor jack to support the engine and transmission to prevent them from dropping while we unscrewed the bolt all the way. We then went to the hardware store and got a much shorter bolt to fit in one of the other transmission bolt holes (see picture). This enabled us to use the rear hangar making the pull itself much easier.

As of today all I am doing is major clean up work. Wire brushing the housings turned out VERY well. They look like they were chromed. The Irons I'm just going to clean off i think instead of painting them, it would just be another couple days between me and driving the rx7 again!

Hopefully the rebuild kit will show up soon so I can get started putting things back together. No doubt I will have lots of questions for you guys.

Here are some picture of the project thus far:
http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/8616/p5290202.jpg

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/8708/p5290205.jpg

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/7838/p5290206p.jpg

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/787/p6040214.jpg

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/6018/p6040215.jpg

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4240/p6070216.jpg

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/9562/p6070222.jpg

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/3051/p6070225.jpg

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/5839/p6070227.jpg

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/79/p6070229.jpg

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/9053/p60702302.jpg

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/514/p6070230.jpg