sat for 16 years and it has problems
11-09-17, 11:40 PM
#1
3D Printed
Thread Starter
sat for 16 years and it has problems
First things first, I've been using this forum for a lot of my trouble shooting (really helpful stuff by the way), but this is my first post so here's the "short" backstory...
Over this past summer I picked up a 1982 RX-7 with some frame damage and a lot of rust along with a 1980 with a much better body and interior. Both cars didn't run, and as far as I know, they had sat uncovered in a field for nearly 16 years. As I tore into the '82 it became clear that it's future was as a parts car, the '80 however was still decent so I left it in one piece. Before taking everything out of the '82 I ran it on starting fluid and it idled like it was new. After that I tore everything out and now have all of the parts smaller inside the car and the engine and trans sitting on my bench. When I tried to start the '80 it sounded like the starter was slipping (however that would happen). I ended up checking if the engine would spin and sure enough it was frozen. At the time I thought it would be a good idea to take a breaker bar and try to break the engine loose. I figured over time it had rusted internally so I sprayed some PB Blaster in the plug holes and intake ports (the intake manifold had been removed by the previous owner and was sitting in the "trunk"), and had at breaking it loose. Long story short, I got it loose, I rebuilt the carb, went through and fixed a bunch of electrical issues, dropped and cleaned the fuel tank and system, etc... Basically I made it road worthy. After a bunch of fiddling with the carb I got the car running subjectively well. Over the couple of test drives I've done it pulls good, shifts fine, and over all works better than it should for what it's previous 16 years were. At the moment I'm about ready to get it emission tested but my biggest problem is that it smokes like crazy. I relies that it's a rotary, but on cold start and on decel/ coming to a stop after moving for a while it smokes blue bad enough to suffocate anyone near it. I've premixed 1:2 premix oz:gasoline gal. and the OMP is working (although I haven't tested it to see if it's in spec). I'm worried that I did some damage to the engine when I broke it loose causing extra oil to get into the combustion chamber under some circumstances. Now then here's my questions:
Is there a chance the engine is OK and something else is the issue and if so what should I try?
If the engine is toast without a rebuild, could I swap the engine from the FB (which ran fine) into the SA? Would the SA carb, intake manifold, and thermal reactor/exhaust system work with the FB engine?
If the SA stuff doesn't work with the FB engine, would the FB carb, etc... work with the SA wire harness and other emissions stuff? Would it be necessary to swap the exhaust from the FB too, or is that even possible?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance.
EDIT: I forgot to mention above that both cars are NOT equipped with California spec emission systems.
Over this past summer I picked up a 1982 RX-7 with some frame damage and a lot of rust along with a 1980 with a much better body and interior. Both cars didn't run, and as far as I know, they had sat uncovered in a field for nearly 16 years. As I tore into the '82 it became clear that it's future was as a parts car, the '80 however was still decent so I left it in one piece. Before taking everything out of the '82 I ran it on starting fluid and it idled like it was new. After that I tore everything out and now have all of the parts smaller inside the car and the engine and trans sitting on my bench. When I tried to start the '80 it sounded like the starter was slipping (however that would happen). I ended up checking if the engine would spin and sure enough it was frozen. At the time I thought it would be a good idea to take a breaker bar and try to break the engine loose. I figured over time it had rusted internally so I sprayed some PB Blaster in the plug holes and intake ports (the intake manifold had been removed by the previous owner and was sitting in the "trunk"), and had at breaking it loose. Long story short, I got it loose, I rebuilt the carb, went through and fixed a bunch of electrical issues, dropped and cleaned the fuel tank and system, etc... Basically I made it road worthy. After a bunch of fiddling with the carb I got the car running subjectively well. Over the couple of test drives I've done it pulls good, shifts fine, and over all works better than it should for what it's previous 16 years were. At the moment I'm about ready to get it emission tested but my biggest problem is that it smokes like crazy. I relies that it's a rotary, but on cold start and on decel/ coming to a stop after moving for a while it smokes blue bad enough to suffocate anyone near it. I've premixed 1:2 premix oz:gasoline gal. and the OMP is working (although I haven't tested it to see if it's in spec). I'm worried that I did some damage to the engine when I broke it loose causing extra oil to get into the combustion chamber under some circumstances. Now then here's my questions:
Is there a chance the engine is OK and something else is the issue and if so what should I try?
If the engine is toast without a rebuild, could I swap the engine from the FB (which ran fine) into the SA? Would the SA carb, intake manifold, and thermal reactor/exhaust system work with the FB engine?
If the SA stuff doesn't work with the FB engine, would the FB carb, etc... work with the SA wire harness and other emissions stuff? Would it be necessary to swap the exhaust from the FB too, or is that even possible?
Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance.
EDIT: I forgot to mention above that both cars are NOT equipped with California spec emission systems.
11-10-17, 05:33 AM
#2
It sounds like the engine in the 80 has failing oil control rings. This requires a rebuild of course, but the engine will continue to run fine, it will just smoke like mad.
The 82 engine can be used in the 80 by using the distributor from the in the 82 engine. You will also need to use the exhaust system from the 82 as the 80's thermal reactor is't compatible with the later block. You can use the intake manifold and carb from the 80 on the 82 engine and swap over the emissions rack to the 82 engine with little effort. You will of course have to use the 1980 transmission but you keep the original flywheel on the 82 engine. No need to swap it over. Other than that... I can't think of anything else really. Its all pretty straightforward.
The 82 engine can be used in the 80 by using the distributor from the in the 82 engine. You will also need to use the exhaust system from the 82 as the 80's thermal reactor is't compatible with the later block. You can use the intake manifold and carb from the 80 on the 82 engine and swap over the emissions rack to the 82 engine with little effort. You will of course have to use the 1980 transmission but you keep the original flywheel on the 82 engine. No need to swap it over. Other than that... I can't think of anything else really. Its all pretty straightforward.
11-10-17, 07:21 AM
#3
Waffles - hmmm good
iTrader: (1)
You can try an oil treatment like Lucas in an oil change for a bit to see if those dry oil seals will come back to life. You don't say how long you've run it smoking, but if you give it some time it may get better.
11-10-17, 10:24 AM
#4
3D Printed
Thread Starter
Well it's a relief to here that the other engine will work in the 80. Unfortunately, the previous owner had taken the exhaust from the 82 and welded up all but one of the joints. In other words the entire exhaust system is just two really large pieces. Would the entire exhaust system from the 82 fit under the 80 without any mods to the tunnel or hangers? If I'm correct, the 82 was 2 inches longer but perhaps that was just the body? Also, the intake manifolds have tubing that on the 82 runs to what looks like the cat, and on the 80, there is an entirely separate pipe that works as the vent for the thermal reactor. Would swapping the exhaust require the intake manifolds and possibly the carbs to be swapped too since I still need to pass emissions? When I get outside pretty soon I'll upload some pictures of the manifolds etc...
11-10-17, 12:08 PM
#5
Well it's a relief to here that the other engine will work in the 80. Unfortunately, the previous owner had taken the exhaust from the 82 and welded up all but one of the joints. In other words the entire exhaust system is just two really large pieces. Would the entire exhaust system from the 82 fit under the 80 without any mods to the tunnel or hangers? If I'm correct, the 82 was 2 inches longer but perhaps that was just the body? Also, the intake manifolds have tubing that on the 82 runs to what looks like the cat, and on the 80, there is an entirely separate pipe that works as the vent for the thermal reactor. Would swapping the exhaust require the intake manifolds and possibly the carbs to be swapped too since I still need to pass emissions? When I get outside pretty soon I'll upload some pictures of the manifolds etc...
IIRC the extra length is the bumpers and not actually the car itself