tookey bird

iTrader: (1)

why is it that from 83 and up there are no oil coolers made for a 12a engine..just curious to know..fyi still learning about this car

PercentSevenC

'83-85 12As had what is commonly referred to as the "beehive" oil cooler. It is located under the oil filter and uses the engine coolant to cool the oil. They're not as effective as the front-mount air-oil coolers that earlier 12As had, and are prone to leaking, but they were probably cheaper for Mazda to produce. You can install the oil cooler, lines, and radiator from an earlier 12A car if you want.

tookey bird

iTrader: (1)

ooo interesting that makes sense thank you

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

the 84-85's have the oil cooler mounting locations already in place in front of the radiator and have nuts tacked to the mounts for the installation of a front mount oil cooler. mazda did this because the 84-85 GSL-SE's had a front mount oil cooler and they made all of the X-7 bodies identical. all 84-85 12A RX-7's can be retrofitted with the front mount oil cooler and you can use the radiator that came with the 84-85 7's and use an SE oil cooler.

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

some ppl use FC oil coolers.

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

The one exception of the bodies being identical as far as I know are the transmission cross member mounts between the manual and automatic.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

^^thats exactly spot on. teh auto trans mounting points are actually a few inches towards the rear of the car. good catch! i have an auto to manual convesion in a GSL that i did, sitting in my garage as we speak!

peejay

My early-build '84 (it had the 3.933 final drive!) appears to have both mounting points in the floorpan.

I don't remember if my '85 did, anymore.

I've never seen an automatic 1st-gen, but I'd imagine that the 3-speed units could use the same mounting point, and the 4-speed could not because the overdrive was just sandwiched in between the pump and the rest of the geartrain, making the whole thing longer.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

pete, i once had an early build 84 SE that had both trans mounting points. i've never seen another one and wasn't sure if it was stock or not..now that i know that it wasnt modified then i think it to be rather scarce...