Rebuild Project 1987 GXL RX-7
 

I was originally planning on getting rid of this car because I had originally bought it for my brother (If you can call him that :wallbash: ) and well after he had completely destroyed the dash and most of the inside of the car he decided that he no longer wanted it and gave it back to me. So at first I was looking at it and figured that I was out of 3,000. He had stripped the dash, gotten rid of the gauge cluster, thrown out the AC unit, and all of the wiring is all over the place just hanging about. Basically all that's left in the car in some interior, the firewall, the steering wheel and column, the wiring, and the seats. So after getting extremely pissed off at him (Which I still am BTW) I decided that I would rebuild this car no matter how long it takes me. So here are a few details.

On the good side the car runs great he borrowed over 1,200 dollars and put in a few new parts I really don't know which I know most are a brand called corksport. Because I am a computer Geek and I pretty much know nothing about cars I am in need of a lot of help. but I really like this car and I will rebuild it not matter what even if it means doing a majority of the work myself.

OK so the Bad I need a new gauge cluster so that I know the readings for the car, a complete new dash, new interior, new seats, new ac unit, new ac motor, Interior, and new seats. That's all I can think of for the moment though.

So if anyone can or is willing to give assistance I would really be great full. Also yes I know I am either completely insane or completely stupid for wanting to do all of this myself but I will learn how to now matter what and no one is going to stop me either.

P.S. Watch out computer geek on the loose with a wrench.

Wow! Someone who's like me! I'm a bit of a nerd myself, and don't know much about mechanics, the people here are usually very friendly - and I'm sure you'll find someone to help you out.

Go for it. Lots of parts at the junkyard. Download the FSM. Buy a Haynes manual and get to work. I didn't really know much about cars before I got into 7's and now a few years down the road I've fixed most major issues with the car and learned a whole lot about how it works and what is the cause of most issues. I think if you apply yourself and aren't afraid to ask questions (after searching of course!) you can do just about anything you want. There's more than enough information here to accomplish what you're trying to do.

Check the classified section. People are always selling every part you're going to need.

couldn't have said it better myself... :icon_tup:

I started out as a Nerd, then I moved to cars. Lots of the same skills applied for cars that applied in being a nerd. Wanna know why? Because nerds use there resources very well. Ive never asked anyone not on the internet how to do anything that retains to my car. Ive done a Full T2 swap and a 6 Port Turbo. Everyone asks me how I magicly got tons of car knowledge, simple, I read.

You're more then welcome to PM me anytime you have a question and Ill try to help, I know my post count isnt high but Ive spent more time reading then asking, because usualy the question is already awnsered on this board.
~Chris

Thanks
 

I just Sent you a pm with a few questions. Also thanks for the offer of help. Talk to you later.

OK for some reason I cannot edit my original post so here goes I have a bit of an update. In my original post I asked for help in locating an ac unit but in fact what I am looking for is a blower motor for my car. Silly me I am still learning what all of the parts that I need are called :rolleyes:

Okay not being able to edit my previous posts is kinda silly but whatever. Anyways I have just rented the car trailer and I will be picking it up and moving the car to my home in California on the 3rd of July. So heres hoping nothing goes wrong so that I can start the rebuild soon.

OK so here we go more questions and pictures. OK so I got the 7 running today with a make shift gauge cluster and warning light cluster. Starts fine sounds great. But when I took it for a test drive I keep getting a repeating beeping sound but the only warning light that I got was to add coolant. OK no problem I pulled over at the gas station and topped it off. But on my way back I got the same repeating beeping but this time no warning lights whatsoever. So hence to say I am a bit confused.

So anyways I am going to go ahead and add some photo's of the car. I know that some of you are going to be shocked and heart broken over what this car looks like so please take this as an early warning. I have also noticed that I have an exhaust leak somewhere in the middle of the car. I know that is not the most accurate description of where the problem lies but still. So what would be the best was to seal that up or do I need to like replace that part of the exhaust completely.

OK so finally my last question for the day is something simple. The control panel that turns the AC/Heat on is that the Logicon Unit or what would that be called. Thanks for the help in Advance.

P.s More photo's on the way

OK so here are some more photo's I do not have any of the engine compartment but if anyone wants to see I will upload them.

When did the beeping happen? If it was when you were at high RPM's then it might have been the Redline buzzer. It buzzes when you get into the redline (which from what i hear is actually good for the RX7).

If that is not the case then your guess is as good as mine, my car is not running yet...

OK so with this next set of Photo's I have this white plastic box like thing. I believe it to be the vents for controlling air flow from the AC/Heat I am right or is this something else?

The beeping happens as I drive down the road but I am barely doing 40 MPH that is why I am a bit on the confused side. OK this is the last set of photo's if anyone would like to see more I will take some but until then I am hoping for some good replies thanks in advance for everyone's help.

OK so after a few months here is an update to what's going on with me and my rebuild. I just installed the new heater core and the car is running even better now. I have found a parts supplier and they are cutting me a good deal with everything that I need right now. So today I broke my gauge cluster bezel trying to get some rusty screws out and well it broke in half so now I have to order one of those as well T T.

So as of right now I have gotten the new heater core installed and I am working on getting my instrument panel to read rpm's while the car is running. but since I am not having any luck I have ordered myself a new gauge cluster and the wiring harness that it hooks to. I just hope that is the problem and nothing more complicated.

So anyways that's what I have been up to with my 7 the rebuild is taking longer than I thought but money is also tight. So I will update when I have some more parts installed. later.

The tach not working is most likely caused by a bad Trailing coil. This is where the Tach gets it's signal

OK so if it is a bad trailing coil how would I replace it ?

Trailing coil: First check the one in the car as per the FSM.

Next, if it is bad, take the old one out. It is like 2 or 4 bolts that hold it in on the back of the driver's side shock tower.


Also, that car is an SE, not a GXL. (4 bolt wheels among other things).

yo man did you ever find out why the "add coolant" warning comes up?
That happens to me too
I will fill it up with coolant, but soon after I start driving it starts buzzing, I don't understand why.
(I'm such a noob :/)

I have an se myself.


I may be able to help you out with a crack-free dash (you're going to have to find a glove box though as mine is in peices currently) and i do have a gauge cluster as well, also crack-free.

It's non cruise and i took the pop-up knob off since my gxl knob was missing. It's the knob that just opens the headlights, not the one that opens them AND turns them on.

I have seats in ok condition. A few of the usual small rips and tears but nothing major. I'll let them go cheap since they'll cost a little bit to ship.

Definately check your trailing coil. I have two extras that aren't doing anything if you need one.

Just shoot me a pm and we can work something out. I have ALOT of parts i dont plan on using any time soon. See my sig?


BTW, i'm not 100 percent sure on this so take this with a grain of salt. Your coolant buzzer may be going off due to bubbles in your coolant. What i would try is burping the coolant system. Take the cap off and run the car until bubbles stop comming up. If it never stops, your coolant seals may be shot. If the bubbles stop, cap it, cut the car off after letting it warm up and unplug the battery for 5 minutes or so to reset the computer. That's just what I would do. Maybe somebody else can chime in on this?

Thanks for all of the help in getting my 7 fixed guys also NoPistons I shot you off a pm. As for the coolant problems I will try burping it tomorrow but so far it have only asked for coolant once after the install of the heater core so I will keep an eye on it and see what happens.

Yep....
 

So I was driving home from my gym today and it started to rain pretty well this is when I discovered that my windshield wipers do not work. So can anyone tell me how to test them to see what part of the windshield wipers are bad?, Also can anyone tell me how to find the section of my cars FSM that contains reference to the trailing coil?, because so far I yet to be able to find it and it is starting to bug me. Thanks for all of the help in advance later.

Your relays are most likely bad in the switch. Mine are as well.

pretty cool yo.

Where in CA are you located?

I am in South Lake Tahoe, You?

Ouch, farther than I thought. I'm located near L.A.

Well maybe I will see you around sometime I am going to be heading off to the navy hopefully in January and my port of call is going to be LA

OK so I am in the process of ordering all of the parts that I need but I need to know the name of one part. The part is the black box that connects the heater core to the blower motor.

I hope someone can help me with this so that I can order the proper item. Thanks for the help in advance. Later

?????
 

Can anyone please tell me what in the heck this black box is or what it does?

This is what I am talking about in the below picture.


http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/q...oject1033a.jpg


Any and all help in finding out what this box is, what it does, and what it hooks into on the other side of the firewall would be great.

that box looks like the heater core. But i have not messed with mine so i can't say for sure.

On right by where you add coolant there is a little wire ( coolant level senor connector ) that measures the colant level if that lose/broken/ or not on it will keep buzzing.



That black box might be the blower motor but dont hold me on that. The heater core is in the heater unit and thats behind were the control switch( heating /cooling console ) would be.

Nope the white box to the left is the heater core & the box on the right is the blower motor. What I need to find out is what the black box in the middle is.

Thanks for the help though

P.S. As for the coolant issue all I had to do was burp it.

OK so after a little while I have all of the parts that go under the dash coming. which should be here by next week Thursday. I also have a new logicon unit on the way so that I can actually turn the heater on. Plus a new windshield wiper and hazard switch on the way so that I can use my windshield wipers. So that is what I am up to so far this month and I will hopefully be adding photo's soon. Thanks for all the help guys talk to you later.

The black box you have circled is part of the air conditioning system. The heater core is the big white box in the center, and the blower motor is in the white box on the far right.

OK this is is good to know what it is but what does it hook to on the other side of the firewall ?

ac lines that go the firewall

looks like you are catching on pretty quick! Nice work so far. I am glad you decided to keep it. If it runs great but only needs cosmetic work done, you are in better shape than most of us FC owners. :)

In a way, I'm in the same boat. I found a guy that was willing to give me the engine from a 1987 rx7 turbo 2. He had gotten it from a yard sale and was going to rebuild it but something changed his mind so he gave it to me. I do have some mechanical experience. But not all that much. All I have now is the engine and the transmission. But the plan is to rebuild the engine, buy a knew tranny, and find a shell a like and slap it in there then just start modifying things from there. My question is, around how much would it cost for me to rebuild this engine myself??

Keep up the good work man. Don't give up on it!

As for a rebuild, should be somewhere around 800. I could be wrong, it's been a long time since I've looked up rebuild parts luckily.

Rotary Resurrection offers decently priced rebuilds, as do some of the vendors on here. A little research will go a long way.

OK so I just have a quick question I just got a rebuilt logicon unit and when I plug it in all if does is make the blower motor door open and close repeatedly. So is the logicon unit bad because I just installed the blower motor like 10 minutes before hand.

Any help would be great thanks.

OK so an update I have everything installed that goes under the dash. So now I have the ability to finally put my dash in yay!, I will hopefully be adding photo's later in the week. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me in this restoration project and now that I have it back together it is time to modify it. I am thinking a body kit, and a few engine mods but those will come later. Thanks and I will talk to everyone later.

First get it running right before you waste $$$ on any body kit. That will just make the car harder to sell.

Plus you never know, that engine could be a dud for all you know. Drive it for a few months then worry about other stuff.

I would also mod the engine first, at least that won't kill the re-sale of the car.

Well the snow hit last night and since I have yet to be able to procure a properly working heater for the 7 I am putting it in storage for the winter and I will be driving my full size bronco in the mean time. I am already missing the gas mileage of the RX-7. :crying:


P.S. I will still be working on my car from time to time so no worries it will get done.

OK so an update.....Although it hurts me to say so I have been offered a rather nice amount of money for my car. Although I do not wish to give it up a certain favor has been asked of me and well it has put me into a position that I will be accepting the offer. It's almost triple the amount that I paid for it including the upgrades and parts that I have put into it. So it is not like I am losing out profit wise I am just losing my car.

EDIT * Fear not I will be buying another RX-7 very soon. They are just to damn addicting to stay away from. So I will be back. :goodrebuild: