so what was the engine like internally ?

usually no comp on the rear housing = buying a good condition housing replacment and lapping of irons. Was anything salvagable ?

 

i wondered because the one on my vert finally fell apart completely after tryin to repair it.

 

Ahhh, my first love was an FC back in the day. I later got an FD as a divorce present to myself and now I "graduated" to an FB. The circle of life...

 

Ok. So i got the motor apart tonight and found the back rotor housing has a apex seal embedded in the housing tearing the rotor up. pretty sure im gonna need a new housing and rotor...






front housing and rotor is all good.

 

Great thread! This car is neat and clean, reminds me of my first grey rx7 with red interior but that was NA not TII like this bad boy. Looks like you'll be doing some engine work so good time to get a street port. Have fun working on the car and bringing it back to life.

Keep up the good work.
-NJGB

 

You need to pull it out and leave it out. The reason you can't find a rebuild kit is because its not worth rebuilding, lol. 80's ABS is terrible, and even when the unit is working, its nothing too write home about.

If you just want a challenge, then go right ahead, but the results will surely leave you underwhelmed.

 

Anyone know if a JDM motor will plug right in? my car is turbo and i can use my wire harness, i dont see any issues.

http://got-jdm.com/86-87-88-jdm-13bt...ness-p-68.html

 

sure it will go in. just make sure you stay in the same series (series 4) to make it as easy as possible.

also pm japan2la. he is a importer on this forum and many people have had very good results with him

 

Yeah i think its more cost efficent and better to have extra parts to order the jdm motor. Ill order it tomorrow.

 

Ordered motor, got a abs unit to replace my very leaky one, got a silicone vac. line kit, as well as a duel pully alternator pulley because i plan on pulling the egr/acv/air pump crap. i got plock off plates as well,

im broke

 

More Engine Pics....








My used ABS unit came in. No leaks so far. Only problem was it was 2 inches shorter than the one that was in it. Yet the part number stamped in it matched my number. I assume it may be for a s5 or a later version.




Everything else fit like a glove. Wire harness wire diagrams all the brake lines. So I fabricated a bracket with 2 nuts and a bolt.

 

looks good...please dont put some stupid body kit and stretched tires on it.

 

lol I hate riced out cars... no she is staying stock.

 

Hope that ABS unit lasts longer than a few thousand miles...

 

ok. I need some opinoins on what I should do with my blown motor....

1) Rebuild it... I local guy highly reccamended will charge $900 in labor and I can get all the parts for 10% over cost at the dealership (like 60% off)

upside= i only have 64,000 on my motor, the motor will be spankin new
downside= slightly more money, im gonna need a rear housing and rotor. and a OMP valve with lines.

2) Wait it out for finding a s4 JDM motor for $1,000 shipped

upside= low cost, extra parts,
downside=how long will it run?

3) guy I know has a JDM S5 motor ecu and uncut wire harness. very low miles and very high compression. $1,200

upside= good shape, ok price, higher hp motor
downside= conversion issues, not keeping it stockish

Whay would YOU do???

i am leaning to the rebuild at this point...

 

With the rebuild you have a much higher certainty of reliability and bulletproofing. So, you're looking at $900 + housing + rotor + rebuild kit? Just check your tolerances on your surviving parts before making your decision, at only 64k you should be in good shape.

 

its not terrible, you've been reading too much BS on teh internets. we brought an ABS'd car to the racetrack for 3 years, the system actually works quite well. it will make the tires octagonal though!

 

That's a tough one, the rebuild is looking to be double the cost of the s5 motor (what is "very high compression"?) and is inferior in almost every way:

- weaker irons
- lower comp rotors (debatable depending on intended boost,but it sounds like like higher comp would be more enjoyable for your purposes),
- heavier rotors
- inferior turbo design

Provided the S5 motor is in as good condition as you claim, I would go with that option. Converting is as simple as swapping the s4 front cover/omp and using s4 sensors/accessories, which you already have. If you feel like extracting the maximum potential from the engine you can get an rtek 2.1 but this is not necessary for it to run.

The only advantage of rebuilding the s4 would be if you had some substantial porting planned.

 

Not exactly-- I only speak from personal experience/observation.

My car came w/ ABS, it was ok when I got it, but did not provide a firm pedal or confidence inspiring stopping power. Thought it was the fluid so I flushed and bled it multiple times, still mushy and inconsistent. Replaced the MC...still crap. Took it to auto-x and it was a joke. Finally it actually started leaking so I pulled it, re-bent and flared the lines and it is great.

Perhaps if one has never driven a modern vehicle 80's abs might seem decent, but I only ever found it even marginally useful in the rain; in every other situation it was a hindrance even when functional. I have also driven mkIII supras and while that abs system is better than the FC's it still pales in comparison to modern systems, and is not something I would want on my car.

On a side note, even the FD abs is not very good (so I have read....in books and magazines) and it is still much better than the fc.

 

I intend to keep the abs unit functional because im trying to keep the car original and clean.

I got some big and exciting news comming up next week about my RX-7.

 

Got my new duel belt alternator pulley installed today, as well as cleaned and tested the switching solenoids and since I had my silicone vac lines/hoses kit come in I replaced the vac lines on the rat nest.

Tomorrow i gotta get some odd hoses and clams / vac caps and hardware. In prep for the new motor next week. also need to sent out the injectors and get a soft gasket kit.

Sorry for the lack of progress as restoring this rx-7 is not cheap and ive been working 6 days a week.

 

Why not upgrade to atleast the FD 100 amp alternator while you are doing all this work?

 

great find brother!

 

Wow this is exactly what I want. I need to find some of those seats. I have the same combo except in the NA SE form.

Car is looking great! Really looking forward to waht you do. I would reccomend doing suspension bushings. Just finished the front end up and it really livened up the car! I had a similar find, with 77 thousand on the clock. I'm up to 92 thousand now

 

i would rebuild. your surviving 64K stuff is going to be nicer than the used stuff