Got my '84 GSL running. I took it out for a spin around the block with year old temporary tags on it and wow the thing has *****! I flew all the way through first, then chirped big time and had the back end lift up in second, then chirped the tires again into third. I was so impressed by a car that barely stays running without giving it gas and holding the choke out.

My friend got in it and basically scared himself of it. He replicated what I did down the street. Then he pegged it and whipped it sideways around a corner. All he could say was "Dang man, this could beat my car!" He still can't get over how much of a monster this car is. I can't either. I love it. I'm so pumped about this car!

He drives a 1987 Volkswagen Scirroco II 16valve which is a quick car and has a lot of power off the line. It seems though my RX-7 is the oldest and fastest car of the whole group now. Well except for our friends Pulsar NX which is in pieces though. Someday we'll have to race them all and see for sure. :p

 

Good to hear man. Make sure you take good care of it now that its running...

 

Well I have to get it running all the way. It likes to idle well and stay running every once in a while. Otherwise it just idles to 1k and putters and dies.

I'm looking into putting a whole new carb on it though and hopefully helping some of the problems. There have been so many lines and tubes and hoses and wires cut and replaced and cut again that we don't know if anything is hooked up right or if the carb is tuned right to actually run.

By the way, anyone have a link to a relatively inexpensive carb/intake kit?

 

I forgot the crappy phonecam pic my friend took of it where you can see the missing side trim on it and the original brown with gold fleck paint under the newer maroon/red with red fleck paint.

 

direct fire solved my nightmare
when ever i came to a light it would idel for a sec stumble and die EVERYTIME

now it just purrs

btw nice car

 

That is awesome to hear, but what are the mods done to it? And yeah, that is a pretty good looking car even without the side molding. lol

 

Nothing so far. We can't explain the power coming from it. Does anyone else ever feel that every car coming off of an assembly line may look and be basically identical but they have something extra to them. They were just meant to be faster and mysteriously more powerful than others? I do. I've driven and ridden in cars that should only be 110HP and run a 17 second 1/4 time but happen to beat a 175HP car with a 14.8 1/4 time. It's odd but it does happen.

 

The biggest problem so far is that there have been hoses cut, moved, lost, taken out, or hooked up weirdly so that we can't figure out what goes where. Also the alternator has a giant crack in the housing and bracket surrounding the bolts. This could mean some form of power loss which is throwing the engine out of whack and killing it.
Also to keep it idling and running I have to hold the choke out and keep holding it out. This leads me to believe there is some sort of opening in the carb that is allowing too much air into the engine which is killing the air fuel mixture and it's not igniting. We have to spray a ton of carb cleaner/starter into the carb and air cleaner before it will start.

 

Yeah, these cars rock big time. My '83 GSL has only 80 miles on the rebuild and I can chirp in second without trying. I'm sure I could chirp third easily, but I'm trying to be gentle with it for a while. My car, however, is not entirely stock.

 

You can take the Pulsar. My friend has one and I can kick his *** (though I have some mods, I probably could have before the mods too)

Oh and do the rats nest removal. That will simplify your mess of wires and hoses. I have a Sterling carb and defenitely recommend it. Its a rebuild and heavily reworked stock carb. Check out PB&J Racing for that carb. I think theres a long waiting list right now though.

Otherwise find yourself a used 2 barrel (weber, dellorto, etc) on the for sale forum or on ebay.

 

a lot of the power in older engines comes from the break in period. if the original owner followed the break in period and maintained the car, the "old" engines seem to always feel new or have "more power". engines that we not broken in properly wear prematurely and feel sluggish. i can agree with your feeling though, when i get in any one of my 7's and really wrings its neck, i get an certain enjoyment out of hearing the redline buzzer and some tire squealing now and then. and even though i do ruff her up a little, i always make sure to keep my cars maintained to the fullest extent. congrats on your experience and may you keep them coming! its always nice to see a fellow ohio member!!

 

Hey, where in Dayton are you located? I have a extra carb laying around. Maybe we could take a look at that idle problem. And maybe we could race our 7's

 

Dies at 1k? How many miles on the engine? Mine idles at 500rpm, and the only problem is that if you don't give it enough gas it dies, especially in reverse. The size of the car has a lot to do with the acceleration

 

hehehe

sounds like fun

i remember when I first got my 7. I was just like that


now imagine modding it, and making it even BETTER. hard to fathom a stock 7 being better, but it does happen.

 

to even drive my car i also have to hole the choke out and i dont know how to fix this so i have rigged up a peace of wood to hole it out so i dont have to, but since it is out i have my car idleing at 1500 any lower and it dies so i gota keep it there and it eats gas like crazy not even funny. it was idleing a 3000 but i cna only get it down to 1500 now so i guess i have to keep it at that

 

I would seriously reccomend checking for vacuum leaks. Plugging as needed, maybe even a rats nest removal. And then If that doesnt solve it a carb rebuild and a new carb to intake gasket. Odds are an idle problem stems from a lack of vacuum.