RX-7 Convertables
 

Hi all,

Im an Aussie, in Australia there is lots of 86-88 RX7 Convertibles but it seems that nobody wants to buy them, can anyone tell me about them? did they have design flaws or something?

The convertables are one of the best 'verts made, and are very nice. Unfortunately, they are one of the lesser performance oriented models, due to the added weight.

yeah, thats what I was gunna say

Ya, I'm sure if there were turbo verts they would sell easy.

I thought the aussi verts were turbo. :/ I remember hearing that all Aussi FC's are from Japan so that would mean they have a TII engine and all.

thats an understatment

but a great car for just cruzing around

Oh I don't know. Maybe. If so I don't see why they wouldn't sell. With the extra power and the ease of pulling more power from them.

verts are great; they can take all Hillmans, minis,vw's, with no problem at all lol but I still like mine !!!!

I think that the best made 'vert is the newer miata's. Second place goes to a turbo vert, which is what Aussie Rx-7's are.

As for the best looking s4 vert on the planet... check out JonEQuest at: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...heck+corksport

That vert is truly sick- I have been toying w/the idea of an amemiya replica front end- but I think a turbo swap is first priority.

I want drop top boost!

RX verts are some of the flexiest verts out there. Mazda did not do much to stiffen the chassis after 'cutting the roof off.' All makes of verts creak and moan, especially after 10-15 years, and RX's are particularly noisy in that regard, especially if you put some aftermarket coilovers on them.
I still love them even though they are pathetically slow, in na trim that is :D

You don't know much about the 'verts do you???

Mazda didn't "cut the roof off" like a Celica or pre-90's mustang. The Mazda RX-7 Convertible (just like the Miata) was designed to be a convertible from the start, with custom designed re-enforcements and stucture. The 2nd gen RX-7 was designed from the start to have a convertible in the line.

It was built at the Hiroshoma Factory on it own custom line (unlike most other convertibles which are shipped as coupes to the states and then chopped off and minimally re-enforced).

Almost everything from the suspension, to the electrical and harnesses was custom to the convertible. Not some modified hack job.

If you are getting rattleing and a weak body chances are that your convertible has been in an accident. My 88 with over 130K miles on the body is remarkably tight and solid with few rattles. Certinly way fewer rattles than a 95 mustang GT convertible that I owned 5 years ago.

Maybe this C&D article will help you:
http://mazdamark.com/88FC3S1.jpg
http://mazdamark.com/88FC3S2.jpg
http://mazdamark.com/88FC3S3a.jpg
http://mazdamark.com/88FC3S4a.jpg

I have to agree with Icemark on this one.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...postid=2294232

I love my vert...its stiff and stable up to 130mph with the top down:)

but no problems at all with rattles

My car creaks coming off of steep inclines, but it is very stable on the flat road, and very stable sideways. :D

Looks a lot cooler sodeways with the top down.

My Turbo 88 Convertible rattles a bit lately, but only 'cause i had the convertible motor stripped and rebuilt to make it work, and a piece of trim has disappeared (to be replaced soon). Other than that, had it up to 180kph and beyond. The speedo only registers 180kph. Loves the hills, just keeps pulling up them, and corners fine. Performance wise, it's great!!

Yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about and you do because you posted that Car & Driver write up online and take it to heart. I'm impressed :rolleyes: I've only owned two of them on top of four TII's and have completely redone every last one of them over the last 15 years, incuding the ground up build of my latest TII conversion. Why don't you actually look under the car and compare all that 'extra bracing' with a TII side by side like I can and have and then I'm sure you will agree with me. :p: But then again, you also probably believe that an na vert can be fast (sorry guys, but thats just MY opinion). Can you name all the extra bracing, and vert only parts, I mean the ones not mentioned in that vague propaganda article, I can. Please, there is some, but hardly enough to make the car rigid, especially since much of that (but not all) 'extra bracing' is a pathetic attempt at best. Given, 'cutting the top off' was an overstatement, but I only said it like that because the car is still real flexy. The fact is, the verts are flexy flyers, period. I never said they rattled anyways nor did I compare them to any other vert. BTW, how many specifically desigend verts have you driven to compare it to? Mine doesn't rattle, none of them have, but they have all creaked and moaned going in any and every driveway or off angle, even with all the extra bracing I have put on. They have never been in an accident and my current vert is one of the cleanest verts out there, if I do say so myself. But they are/were also slammed with stiff coilovers which doesn't help in that dept at all. However, they also did that, though to a lesser extent, before I put the stiffer suspension on. Both of mine have and so have any of the others I've been in to some degree or other, and I'm sure yours does also. :D

Nope, that's here in NZ, where most FC's are Japanese imports.

Australia got the same basic lineup as the US: Turbo coupe, NA coupe and NA 'vert. :)

If you really did compare you would know that there is considerable increase in bracing and re-enforcement. Be it extra gauge metal or completely new/added on panels.

Different than the coupe:

Front cross section (rad panel)
Front shock towers
Kick panels (including sub sections)
A pillers
Entire front suspension Sub-frame
Engine mounts.
Running boards
Lower seat back to lower B section
B pillar
B section cross bracing
Integrated roll bar (part of the top assembly, but acts a seconday build up to the B section cross bracing.
C section (as the coupe does not even have that)
Rear upper cross section

In addition the 90-91 'vert adds dash beam re-enforcment and anti-sub re-enforcement.

I may have missed a couple of others, because I am not looking at the car this moment.

How do I know this (beside the published word), because I have owned both coupes and 'verts and have comparied.

Considering the extra 200 lbs or so that this adds it is pretty remarkable the increase in stiffness.

Now compare that to most other convertibles. Convertibles Like the Celica or Solara, or 900 or even the 330ic where the manufacture does build a coupe first, then ship it out to someone to cut the roof back off. Typically in these cars you may get a new B section and a couple of beams running under or next to the body rails.

While yes the RX-7 coupe will be stiffer, the RX-7 convertible is almost just as stiff/solid with the top up (and the car in properly maintained condition) And the RX-7 convertible is radically stiffer than almost any non-Mazda or non-german convertible made.

I love my 88 vert, sought it out when I wanted a vert for play. Now, at 123,000, it is back to like-new and I use it daily, rain or shine.

Very glad I got it

What, you'd rather them have added *more* weight to the car in an effort to make it stiffer? I feel that my vert handles as good on stock suspension as a coupe on stock suspension, given equal tires. What more can you ask for? The designers had to compromise between chassis flex and weight/performance/fuel economy. Think about it...people who put in rollbars/cages stiffen the car up, but suffer an equal loss in acceleration due to the weight increase.

FWIW, I couldnt ask for much more from my vert. The thing drives like a new car down the road.

Gotta love the verts!
 

I love driving my 'vert, it's the nicest riding cruiser I've had, and no, it doesn't squeak or rattle (much) :p:

I can't wait 'til I can afford to finish the tII conversion. By the time I'm done, it may of been cheaper to import a RHD Turbo! IMHO, a turbo 'vert is the baddest looking Rx-7 built!

It does strike me as funny that they were the most expensive Mazda sold in this country, but eBay is always full of them, and they can usually be bought for $3000-$4000.

A '90-'91 vert with low miles books for $7000-$8000, but you won't find anyone willing to spend that much on one. I for one love the fact that no one (around here) has ever seen or even heard of them before.

It started snowing today, time to put the Summer toys away 'til next year...

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...postid=2296845

Ah I see. My mistake. :dunce:

THanks everyone, im definitely seriously looking now, i can source out a Twin turbo 13B or a Twin turbo 20B really cheap, i've done a number of engine conversions allready like nissan RB30 and Toyota 4age so i should easily be able to put in a motor that was originally made for it, and yeh theres quite a few turbo rX7's over here, with 5speeds to so i'd imagine they be quite good. BTW does anyone know some good bodykit manufacturers that make bodykis for them, and im guessing a coupe one will fit a vert.

i cant wait to drive a rotary, ive had a 12A rotor on my desk since i was a kid.:D

Twin turbo 13B? Do you mean the 3rd gen 13bREW? The second gen 13bt (single turbo) is a straight swap to the vert, while the REW is a very difficult and expensive swap. The power potential is very close between the 2 as well. Unless there is some novalty in having the REW engine over the TII engine, the TII engine is the way to go.

The FC vert is a great car. I had one for over 3 years, and I plan on buying another one soon.

did they ever buld a hardtop kit fo the rx verts like the miatas have??

Ive never seen nor hear of one. The middle targa section alreay is hard though:D

My Vert may be slower than a regular RX-7 but who cares? With a drop top and the open sky I am having twice as much fun as with a steel roof caging me in. As for power, I am planning on adding a turbo to my 6 port NA engine. Unless I can complete a deal for a TII engine that I am working on. Either way I will get to have my cake and eat it too. You can add power to a vert. but cannot make a coupe a convertible very easily. As for all out performance. If I wanted that I would probably go with a built first gen. For practically nothing you can build a respectable track car from a first gen. I bought my vert. for one reason, it was BECAUSE it was vert. not in spite of it. Once you go topless you will never go back.

John
...... yes the blue one in the avatar is mine.

John,

If you need a turbo setup I have a couple of 87-8 turbo conversions available to be built to spec. Price range is $2500 out the door, or $3000+ installed. They are a drop in, plug in conversion for 86-88 NA cars. There is more info on my webpage at www.rotaryresurrection.com.

Turbo verts OWN...

:owned:

I will agree with Kevin on that because he built my vert/t2. And he will do one hell of a job with your car if you can get him to work before 3pm. hahahahah
whats up Kev

The RX-7 vert is light years ahead of the miata as far as top design. The Miata was really the budget little brother of the RX-7 'vert.

The TX-7 top has a glass rear window (with defroster) and the hard targa section, so you really don't need a true hard top.

I love my 'vert. Exept the top ripped in the lower corners on both sides! I'm gonna grab a raft fixing kit or something and fix that later tho, black duct tape is the fix for now :-p

I decided against the TII conversion because I simply cannot find another S5 TII to tear the drivetrain out of, and if I DID find one, I would try and restore it before trashing it, cuz these things just dont seem to be that common! :-p

Hey hypntyz7, I think that rear wing off the 3KGT looks cool like that :-p I might grab one someday.

Another possibility for a wing is the ones off of the 240SX, they have the kind that grab the back edge of the trunk lid. Even the hatchback version 240SX wing should work with a little modification and they are common as hell.

i've been researching turbo conversions for my own s5 coupe, i'm thinking to save alot of trouble finding a whole drivetrain from a s5 you could just find a tranny, driveshaft, rearend, from an s4 and then get an s5 engine...im pretty sure it would all bolt up as most of the drivetrain parts are pretty much the same from what i understand and you would have the clutch type lsd rather than the viscous from the s5. just some thoughts.

Still stiff after 12 years
 

Originally posted by RX-Heven
RX verts are some of the flexiest verts out there. Mazda did not do much to stiffen the chassis after 'cutting the roof off.' All makes of verts creak and moan, especially after 10-15 years, and RX's are particularly noisy in that regard, especially if you put some aftermarket coilovers on them.
I still love them even though they are pathetically slow, in na trim that is

WHAT?

Why not spring for a new top...it isn't that much? If you have any plans to keep the car...

Apparently you have never looked on autotrader.

Priority one...no more duct taped top!

ordered a new rear section of top, black vinyl, keeping the current targa, $650 installed including refitting of all weatherstrips

another quick question
i keep looking but i couldnt find ANY INFO on weight distrubution of the vert AT ALL
if anyone happen to have any info on it i'd appreciate it

RX-Heven :
LET'S MAKE IT PERSONAL. YEAH, THAT WILL HELP!
I'm sorry you don't like 'Verts. I've owned a lot more RX-7's of all engine and chassis combos than you claim.
I respectfully disagree with you.

To keal1998:
The 'Vert is a truly enjoyable car to own.
A NA 'Vert is definitely underpowered, (especially with a automatic). The weak point on all RX-7's is the engine. Take care of it and you will be fine.
There are lots of ways to get more power if you aren't happy with it.
I have put bigger engines into some 'Verts on occasion. (20B, Chevy V8, Chevy V6, etc). All still handled great. Maybe not race track ready, but still fun.
Isn't fun the operable word for a sports car?

Nothing personal taken on my part, sometimes I just feel like being an ass :bootyshak Whenever was it said I do not like verts? I love them and wouldn't want to drive anything else except for my 20b car, if I ever get it done, and a drop top Ferrari. I haven't owned a few of them and dumped tens of thousands of dollars into them because I don't like them, but then again, I'm only claiming that.
Speaking of claims, what vert did you put a 20b in?

A white 89, that had a 5 speed and a dead rotary.
I put way too much money into the conversion. It was sweet, and fast. But it was also fragile.
That car is what got me into alternative powerplants.
The car now has a LS1 Chevy V8.
It's a lot faster than the 20B and more reliable. The conversion was easier and cheaper, also.
Check me out on the V8 site.
www.torquecentral.com
And no, I'm not trying to start another V8 flame war.

Verts own....so every one against can shuddup... lol

weight distrubution ?
no one ?

what about it...50/50

the coupe is 50.2/49.8 if i am right
the convertible adds quite a few pound to it and its still 50/50 ?
thats cool

Since most of the additional weight appears to be towards the back of the car, I'd assume they have a slight rearward bias compared to the coupes.

But...remember the hatch is not there...so can we really base it off that.

Duct Tape: $1
Raft Kit: $2.50
New Top: $650
My montly spending money after college, food, girlfriend, rent: $10-$20?

Hmmmmmmm :-p

The tears are only 1inch long :-p

i remember the convertible weight around 200 more than the coupe, they distrubute that extra weight that even ?

kim307 has a nice vert, with a t2 coversion... sweet looking machine if i do say so myself ;)