How I turned a non-believer into a rotary enthusiast!
 

My friend bought a 1988 white Turbo II (non 10th AE) the other night. I have previously owned a 1987 GXL, modded, and he always joked about how I couldn't mod the engine 'cause it had no cylinders to bore out, high-compression heads, etc. Well, he's been looking to get a more economical but sporty car since his car drinks gas and asks for more (he owns a 1970 Mercury Montego with a severely modified drivetrain).

Recently he's been looking around for a 300zx, or 240sx, but with no luck. The other weekend I was at the junkyard getting the rear window for my RX and one of the employees asked me if I wanted to buy a whole car for $1300. I was like, "not a junk car" He said it ran, it drove, it had a salvage title but that was because the previous owner donated it to them for a tax write-off. It was his manager's car (he bought it when they received it), and they had it in a locked area.

I took a look at it and was surprised to find a Turbo II with only 113,XXX on the car, and the interior looks as good as day one. I immediately called up my friend, and he wanted to buy it. The owner was out of town for the next week, so my friend spent that week learning more about the cars from me as well as doing research on them, and bought it on Sunday night. What a find! I am kicking myself for not buying the car before telling him about it, but he's my bro and I wouldn't screw him around like that.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting this here is because I found a slight problem with the car when I test-drove it....I can't find 5th gear. The shifter is sloppy as hell and I ordered two sets of Mazdatrix lower bushing kits and two sets of top bushing kits from where I work at the dealer (my bushings need replacement as well). My question is, will the replacement of the bushings in his car fix the lack of 5th gear position on the shifter? Has this happened to anyone else?

It very well may fix it.. 5th gear is ALL The way over on the top, and I had trouble getting mine into it when my bushings were out. (no, I didn't take them out.. it came that way!). because the shifter wanted to lift up a bit, and had trouble making contact enough to change gears.

It's not jammed or anything trying to get into 5th gear, right? you just physically cannot find it?

Cool, I've converted lots of people, a few FC, a few FD and one RX-8 so far.

i let my friend drive my half bridgeported car and it was running very rich and didnt make alot of power but his expression was "shit im at 100 already and it still has alot more left"

WonkotheSane, no it's not jammed. I just cannot physically find it. I know how to drive these things, but this is his first car with a standard tranny in it. I followed him home (a distance of about 15 miles) and couldn't tell anything from the outside that anything was wrong. We got to Burger King before his house and he asked, "do you want to drive it?" I was like HELL YEAH (especially since I found it for him), and while shifting up, I couldn't find it. So I put it back in 4th, sped up a little, and tried again. NO LUCK. I asked him, "did you ever put it in 5th while on HWY 101?" He said no he just stayed in 4th, because we were cruising around 60-65 mph. So, it literally is not there, and I'm pretty sure the replacement of the bushings will help, but I just wanted to make sure by asking those of you who may have experienced the same thing.
Thanks! :bigthumb:

Honesty, 5th gear is overrated anyway :) If that doesn't fix it, though, when you replace the tranny fluid (you were going to do that, right?) use Redline MTL Full Synthetic. A bit pricey for gear oil, but well worth it from what I've heard.. Good luck!

I converted a V8 (chevy) guy to 7's. Well not yet, but I'm sure some day he'll definately buy one. I stopped for gas because we were going to head to my friends house. When I was filling up I asked him if he wanted to drive and he said yes. The first thing he said was "ooh this is nice. Man this thing revs quick!" literally 30 seconds later "oh man I have to get one of these. I have a new found respect for RX-7's." And my FC is ONLY a '91 NA. :)

My other friend (when talking with my cousin) "I hate those things, but it does handle nice."
Perhaps he will be a bit trickier (although he never drove it)

i'd be lost without 5th gear, i use it a LOT. i just don't like having the engine above 3000rpm even when crusing down the road.

Man that is where the engine is at home!

That's for sure, but as soon as we get those bushings replaced in both our cars and he gets his 5th gear back, we're going on a day-long road trip, just the two of us, in two different RX-7s, one white Turbo II and one black GXL. It's going to be a bad-ass trip, but he wants 5th gear so his gas mileage doesn't go totally in the toilet any worse than it already is. Staying in 4th going 80mph for a while would really suck some gas, you gotta admit.

Yes I agree 5th is there for a reason, but not liking to have your engine reve at 3000 that seems a little silly for me cause that is where the engine is at home!
But yes 5th is nice for the added gas millage.

that's pretty much what i meant. i keep it in 4th/5th most of the time for the gas mileage, and to tone down the sound too. however if i'm passing someone or accelerating, etc, usually i take it up to redline. then again i try to redline each time i take it for a spin.

just saying, overdrive is useful, especially on a car that consumes more gas than normal.

Good job on the conversion, I have also converted or at least won the rotary some respect. I gave a few guys I work with at work who hate imports period a ride in the 7. They really liked it so the ones who did not convert now at least respect :)

Based on some experimenting I've done with the GL test connector, it appears the engine (at least on the 88 NAs, I assume it's similar across all FCs) will not go into closed loop mode above 3500 RPM. This puts an upper limit on my cruise speed - running for long distances in open loop mode leads to miserable fuel efficiency. Plus, I see *zero* need to run the engine at high RPMs for steady speed cruising.

Regarding people's reactions to my car:
Friend of mine: "Wow, it'll do 45 mph in 2nd, and not only does it not complain, it's downright happy doing it!"
Brother: "Damn... this thing isn't happy till it hits 90 or so. Any chance you could get me one?"

-=Russ=-

in 5th gear at 55 miles an hour where should the car be reving? i have a safc and it reads one thing while my speedo reads another...?

... you're comparing RPM readings on your SAFC and your speedometer? No wonder they don't match...

What car do you have? There are different 5th gear ratios (NA and TII have different 5th gears). Stock tires, or different sizes?

Mine (NA, stock tire size) turns over somewhere around 2000 RPM at 55mph. It makes it clear that it's not terribly happy about it, and would much rather be at my normal 3000 RPM/75-80mph cruise.

-=Russ=-

55mph will be well below 3k. i do 80 at 3k.

sounds like bushings to me, youll be surprised at how different the shifter feels with bushings.

at 55 my tach says im running at about 2400 rpms, on the safc it says about 1200, not sure which it should be, sounds like 2400 from the exhaust. how would i go about fixing this?

also, i got a friend right now looking at getting a TII after he rode in mine, hes in love now. score one more for the rotaries!