telus.net

I am in the market of an FC RX-7 N/A 5 speed. I was told my many people that I should not get the car because it wouldn't run great or many stuff need to be replaced.

However, I want to have fun and get my hands dirty. I really want to rebuild my own RX-7 in my garage.

Aside from brakes/suspension upgrades, I want to ask you something about the engines and stuff.
Here are my questions:

1. As we all know, the FC is a really old car. I am wondering if it is worth it to buy an N/A to restore?

2. Is it hard to restore an RX-7? I have no mechanical experience whatsoever except changing oil, brakes, and suspension.

3. Does a Helms or Haynes, or other factory manual helps or talks about rebuilding the engine?

4. These will be changed:
- Spark plugs
- Plug wires
- Mobil 1 Synthetic Engine oil + compression restorer
- Oil filter
- Fuel filter
- Radiator fluid
- Timing belt
- TPS adjustments
- Water pump
- Air filter


Are these enough to make an FC run like new? Thanks in advance!

telus.net

Also, please feel free to tell me what should be replaced and what not.

telus.net

I just changed the title..

mazdaspeed7

Timing belt........ Youre kidding right?

Unless you get a beat to hell RX7, little or no restoring will be necessary. Just a tune up. Replace the fuel filter, the spark plugs and wires, change all the fluids, set the TPS and idle speed. And then just replace anything that needs replacing. The braking system should be checked, and replace anything thats necessary.

The haynes manual is decent, but you can download the FSM from a few sites around the net. Do a search in the 2nd gen section, there was a post a while ago that listed every RX7 FSM on the net, and the address for it.

Since you want a n/a, you definately want a S5(89-91 one. The electronics are much better than the S4(86-88), and the car is just more modern and refined.

Last, but definately not least, since youre in the market for an FC, you should check out my 90 GTU thats for sale. Click the picture in my sig, and again on the first page of my site to see pics and specs. I have a longer list of all the mods if you want to see it. Just the major ones are listed on my site.

mazdaspeed7

One more thing, feel free to hit me up on aim if you have any questions about n/a's, or my car. I have A LOT of experience with n/a RX7's. My AIM SN is af24179

rx_7_driver

Synthetic Engine oil <------ do not use this in a rotary engine Synthetic Engine oil is not good for it keep to the old fashion stuff

telus.net

thanks guys!

Does the transmission need rebuild?

RX7GT

I think it is time for you to befriend a mechanic or at least someone who has some more mechanical experience than you.
There really is no way to tell whether the trans is bad unless you drive it first. I once had a customer that brought his 95 (new at the time) Miata in to my shop complaining that it would not go into gear properly and it shifted only with much force. I took the car out and found it to be working perfectly. It turns out that the guy had been used to shifting an old Ford truck which needed to be slammed into gear. I got him to relax and learn some finesse on the Miata. After a bit of practice, he loved the tight shift. I also gained a loyal customer that day.
You may well have a bad transmission, but don't assume that because it is old or doesn't shift like you are used to, that it is bad. It may just be different. Take it to a mechanic that you trust (there has to be one somewhere) and get them to drive it and tell you if it has symptoms of worn gears or synchros.
btw: good point about synthetic oil-----> STAY AWAY!!
Use conventional oil for best results in a rotary. Not only is synthetic not good for a rotary, based on experience I would never use it in a car with worn seals because it tends to leak profusely .

Wormiez

Hey I noticed that you are from BC Canada. I'm from Vancouver BC canada. Hit me back on my icq at 1402883 i can get you hooked up on some private mechanics and garages that can help you are restoring your car. Oh yeah Visit www.Bcrx7.com you can get alot of help there too.

MtnRacer

Grrrrr...
No, No, No! Absolutely untrue. Not to rekindle the "debate as old as time itself," but this is old information. When synthetics were initially brought to the market, Mazda did not recommend using them in their rotary engines because they were unsure of deposits synthetics might leave. The synthetic oils of today burn 100% clean, and there will be no issues of deposits in your engine. Honestly though, you should be changing your oil often enough where the benefits of a synthetic would be neutral anyway. But if you'd like to drop the cash, go ahead, it won't hurt your engine.

Steve

P.S. I'm 99.9% sure the above story is correct.
P.P.S. I'm 110% sure that synthetics won't hurt your car.

rx_7_driver

where did u here that from?????
i order alot of my parts from mazdatrix.com
and this is what they said about oil in a rotory:


The Rotary engine has an oil injection system that injects small amounts of oil into either the intake tract, carb, or rotor housing (depending on year/model). This is needed to lubricate the various internal seals and surfaces.

The injected oil MUST BURN, and must burn clean. The root answer to the question is that not ALL synthetic oils burn, and not ALLof them burn clean.
The ones that do not burn accumulate until they foul the spark plugs.
The ones that do not burn clean can leave residues of various substances (like ash? plastic? non-organic sand?) that accumulate until the spark plugs foul, or a seal sticks -- could be apex seal, side seal, corner seal, or oil control ring. The normal consequence of a stuck seal is an engine tear down.

In the many years we have been involved in rotary engines, we have NEVER had a problem with GOOD petroleum based oils. They work fine! They are less expensive than synthetics. (We use Castrol 20-50 GTX). They burn clean, etc. etc.

The problem with answering the original question is that it is NOT a simple yes or no. We DO simplify it to a "NO", but that is because we do NOT know whether the specific brand of synthetic the customer has in mind will work. AND, if it does not work, how long will it be before the damage shows up, and how bad will the damage be? Maybe it will take 10,000 miles, maybe 50,000 miles?? Maybe the engine will fail due to something unrelated to the oil, and there won't be enough left to determine why the failure happened.

WE are not willing to take that gamble, are you ?

Then, take a minute to think of WHY you want to use a synthetic. If a rotary engine (properly maintained, oil changes at 3K intervals, etc.) can still be running fine at over 200,000 miles, the engine does not need any more cooling, the gas milage will not be any better, etc. etc. WHY do you want to spend more $$ and gamble on engine and/or spark plug damage? (If you are into the fossil fuel thing, pollution, depleting our resources, etc. then you should not be driving ANY car!)

We are not chemists, and we do not have the time, $$'s, nor inclination to do 100K mile tests of various synthetics in rotary engines.

We DO use synthetics in the transmissions and rear ends - it works fine.

Anyway - that is the MAZDATRIX version of the synthetic question.


here is my $0.12 about it
(the first $0.10 is free by the way )
i am trying to start anything this is just what everyone i know tells me about what kinda oil to use but what u r saying is true i would like to know where u got the info from........ u never know i myself might switch to synthetic oil if what your saying is true but till the its the old fashion stuff for me

Rpeck

From everything I have read ...they say DO NOT use synthetic oil during the engine break in period! That to me means.. the engine does either 1. not break in with synthetcs, or 2. breaks in much slower. So I put my thinking cap on and realize "break in = engine wear" thus, your engine will wear out less with synthetic based oil. I personally have 197,000 miles on my 87 N/A original motor, and I have used nothing but synthetic blend Castrol Syntec (grey bottle not full synthetic) 20-50 Oil since I have owned the car .. 140,000+ miles and its still runs flawless & passes california smog tests.

sunshine

iTrader: (3)

Change ur oil every 2000 miles.
Change the tranny fluid to Redline MT-90. Its good stuff.
Make absolutely sure u got the right spark plugs (NGK 7's and 9's - ONLY)
Use good quality oil filters (ie OEM, or K&N)
Buy a good air filter right off the bat, K&N stock replacement or a cone.

vaughnc

telus.net,

Hey welcome back. If you're wanting to build up your own car, why not go with a Turbo II from the start?

The above posts are right, not much to restore unless it's really rusted. You can always tear down the engine and turbo if you'd like perform a minor rebuild now

-- vaughnc

PaulC

I have to agree with vaughnc get a T2 to rebuild dont waste your time with a NA you will get better performance out of a T2 and you will be much happier with the final result. Unless you get a convertible then you'll want to eventually untertake a T2 conversion on it.

telus.net

If I could locate a Turbo FC, I would definetly think about it. In my area, there are no turbo FC for sale, aside from turbo supras.

Also, I want a very light car to start with, so N/A will be my best bet.

From what you guys suggested, I will not rebuild the car, but retorque everything to make it less prone to failure.

I will change these things:
Engine
- Conventional Oil + Compression Restorer
- K&N Oil filter
- OEM fuel filter
- NGK Spark Plugs
- Performance Spark Plug wires
- Water Pump
- Vacuum hoses
- TPS and Idle adjustments
- Radiator Coolant

Transmission
- Manual Transmission Synthetic Oil
- Transmission conditioner
- Clutch Fluid

Anything else I need to change, please notify me.

jmseven

You CAN use Mobile 1 syn oil. It DOES have a lower FLASH POINT and it WILL burn off. I challenge ANYONE out there to use Mobile 1 syn oil for a year. You WILL notice the oil will dissapate. After a year, breakdown the engine...let me know if you see any deposits or sludge left behind.

I have used Redline 20w-50 in my old T2 on the second engine (@30K). I did NOT see any deposits when it was broken down. Nor, did I have any probs w/ my plugs fouling. I chgd the plugs every 10k or less....no difference in carbon deposits on them. My intake track was cleaner then my first rebuild(factory engine @ 60K)...the regular oil left sludge.

You CAN use regular oil, just use 10w-30. Chg the oil every 3k miles and it will run cln.

In regards to the breakin-in period on a rebuild or new engine, it is only 500 miles...not really break-in..it is just to let the seal seat.

VetteKiller

I don't know if that Compression Restorer stuff is good for a rotary or not, I'd ask around before I dumped that in.

Jerk_Racer

Don't forget about Victoria British for getting all those little pieces. Pieces such as window trim and weather stripping. That's all stuff that goes to crap with the ravages of time and exposure. http://www.victoriabritish.com/ for all your restoring needs. They are very reasonably priced. The catalog is sent to you FREE! Get one and buy stuff. If you have an FC I know you'll need something from here.

jerk_racer@hotmail.com

MtnRacer

I use regular oil myself because synthetic oil is bloody expensive and there's absolutely zero performance increase. However, I don't think it causes any problems because of numerous testimonials ever more rigorous than jmseven's AND because of my Rotary friend who IS a chemist(30+ years) at aerojet, and puts synthetic in his. But like I said, your oil changes will be so frequent, that ANY benefits from synthetic oil will be nullified, and synthetic would get really costly. I spend the big bucks on my K&N oil filters =P That's good enough for me!

Steve

tak

I know this isnt the place, but i didnt want to waste a thread on my little question. I am also new to the rx-7 scene. I am a great fan, but still deciding what to get. Definately a 2nd gen, but i was wondering if anyone had a compilation of information i could read on them. I pick up things here and there, and im reading posts as far back as i can, but any info that will help me out with the diffrent series models, and diffrences, and everything would be excellent. If not oh well. Thanks

tak

BTW: You can save money by not buying a timing belt :P

Rotary engines dont use valves, therefor no camshaft, therefore no timing belts...I think

Jerk_Racer

Hey, cut them some slack. This place is essentially for learning. If somebody occassionally wears their ignorance on their sleeve, so what? Let's give them good scoop without making them feel that 7 owners are jacka$$es (myself excluded as I am a jacka$$ without knowing most of the time). Welcome the noobs for we weree once there. Be it on this forum or just learning how the f@#$ a rotary works in the first place. Most stuff I read here on the forum I consider guidance. What I feel I've learned I have done myself. This is the internet after all, take it for what's it's worth. Getting your hands dirty is a good teacher. Still so much to learn for me...

telus.net: spend a lot of time with the "Search" feature. It's good stuff plus it'll save you much heat.

jerk_racer@hotmail.com

tak

Serious. http://www.howstuffworks.com has some bad *** stuff on engines, rotary included if you want to learn ;]