rat nest and exhuast questions
 

I'm dropping my fuel tank this weekend to clean it out good and cleanup some under body rust, The exhaust is pretty rotten so i might as well drop it. But when i put in a new one I was thinking of not putting the cat back in since i plan on getting rid of the rat nest and the air pump any pro's or con's to this will i lose to much back psi any insight would help. thanks

Is it a first gen? Losing the cats will make it LOUD. but there is a noticeable gain in power in the top end. However, because of lack of info on car I dont know your setup. if you are running a stock carb......maybe it would be a good idea to leave it as close to stock as possible, NIKKIS are unforgiving somtimes.

Doh sorry It is a stock 1985 rx-7 se I dont plan to mod it as it will be a weekend fun car. Main reason for removing rat nest and air pump is to clean up the engine bay.

It'll run like crap and stink too.


*Weber+Header=WEEKEND FUN*

The stock nikki wont run quite right with all the emmission controls removed, but you may send the Nikki to a local forum guy "STERLING" www.sterlingmetalworks.com and he can rebuild and retune/heavily modify the nikki to make it really rip for your app.

I've seen sterling site it has a lot of good info. But i prefer to play with myself first either i learn how to do it. or fubar it and pay twice as much to have it done right.

Ahh, I've done this..... and you wont be satisfied; there will always be doubt with the tune. Is this a If you go ahead and do a nikki,
GOD BLESS TBI.

Nikkis run fine with emissions removed, it's not a big deal or that hard. Methanol, I don't know your rotary experience but you are new here so don't blow that kind of smoke. Maybe you couldn't get your Nikki to run right after emissions removal but many here have.

Ugh, Not to be rude but I knew a comment like that was coming.

I didnt specify it was just my opinion, but Im not really that new here, this is a new name, beacuase My old e-mail address was disabled for no activity because of the 8 months at Bagram AFB, afganistan.:) And, Note that I encouraged the nikki; and the tinkering....

:dunno:

BTW, Im not a Rotor mechanic, Im an aircraft mechanic; some fundamentals (maybe not this one, it was simply based on a few personal experiences) apply, and although mine ran OK, I always had a doubt in the tune just because I'd done it myself with no prior experience with NIKKI 4bbls.

Agreed. I've switched mine back and forth between full smog and non-emissions several times over the years - in fact, debating doing so again right now, as I'm worried about wearing out emissions parts that are near-impossible to replace now.

It takes some tinkering sometimes, but I've always eventually gotten it running the way I wanted.

The Nikki may be a bit finicky, but it's still just a carburetor. It doesn't have a magic predisposition to "smog only" operations.

That said, the car will 'smell' more without emissions. Why this should be is obvious, and is left as an exercize for the student.

Tuned properly, it smells no worse than any pre-emissions car.

well with my grandfathers funeral last weekend I have only managed to get the car up on jack stands got the rims off looks like I'll be getting new calipers to go with the brake lines also found out last owner had a pipe welded to the exhaust head so if I can fix that I my be getting a a new exhaust header. the gas tank has been drained and is ready to drop and clean hopfully this weekend also got the new wiring harness for the motor. Keeping my fingers crossed

You do not have a SE. The se is fuel injected.:)

Do yourself a favor and leave the rats nest alone for right now. Until you get more familiar with the engine and how every thing works. I have seen way too many threads after members have removed the rats nest and they now have issues because it was not done correctly.

You can still remove the air pump but make sure that you do not put back the stock exhaust with the catalytic converters or you will destroy them.

If you just want to eliminate just the converters and don't want to pop for a header system then you can get just the converter replacement pipe and it will still be a bolt in from your exhaust manifold to the connector pipe. You can one at Racing beat or mazdatrix, part # 16203. Only draw back is that it will be loud and I would not recommend it unless you put in a silencer after wards. :)

Also sorry for the loss of your Grandfather.

My old exhaust setup was stock - except for a Racing Beat cat replacement pipe - and in my opinion it didn't get much louder :)

Opps sorry it is GS with carb not the SE I've read the online tutorial on the rat net removal it seems pretty straight forward step by step instruction. but as you suggested I may hold off as to car is running eh ok for having a burnt wiring harness ( new one arrive today ) a leaky rusted out exhaust. Steering is sloppy by a couple of inches but heck it's 24 years old I'm looking maybe getting the Energy Suspension Hyperflex Kit - Mazda RX7 79-85 off of Ebay for 170.00 ( ANYBODY have any experience with these) to go along with some other new suspension part's and replacing the caliper's and putting in new bearing's after turning the rotors. After years for re building mopeds I decided to try something bigger I'm sure there will be alot of trial and error but I find I enjoy researching tearing stuff apart and putting it back together again.

Where at in Indiana are you? I'm in the Hoosier state as well. If you live anywhere close I may be able to offer my assistance sometime....

I live in Westfield just north of Indy right off of U.S. 31/32

Bushings are good, but a lot of work to install all of them. If loose steering is the problem...

1. Install 2) $7 idler arm bushings from Mazdatrix.
http://www.mazdatrix.com/getprice.as...m=32-329B-1524
2. Adjust the steering box. A search should turn up several threads.
3) Install new tie-rod ends. I use Moog from rockautoparts.com $100+
4. Have the front end aligned at a reputable tire shop.

That should get it back to somewhere near stock. Then I would replace shocks, springs, sway bar and bushings with aftermarket parts.

Yes i have bookmarked the steering box adjustments but figuard since i going to be replacing the tie rods and what ever else looks bad as i go i thought it wouldnt hurt to replace all the other junk in there and it would give me the chance to clean the parts that are there.

fuel tank is cleaned painted and ready to go back in fixed the bad ground wire i hope. new wiring harness is in. Rear brakes are done tires are getting remove from the rims tomorrow so i can re finish them. lots of little misc stuff done. going to look at a donner car tomorrow hope it has good front calipers and exhaust (motor and transmission is gone)