A few days ago I bought my first 3rd gen, although not new to cars or rx-7's this car is quite a challenge to work on but all well worth it and the car feels 10X better.

Let's uncover the car


Removing the throttle body proved to be more efficient than removing the whole intake.




After that was out of the way I removed the cables and peaked at the plugs with my flashlight and found the the spark plugs where [B]backwards![B] :sigh:

No wonder I had a miss and low power

I moved on to the filler neck and got it out of the way.

 

Removed the old cables. Look at the RE-Amemiya VS Stock? The RE's have solid bras inserts

Dielectric grease on those bad boys


Dielectric grease on every coil


"You can have any beer you want as long as it's a Corona"


New Vs old

Anti Seize


Although I have done dozens of spark plug replacements on RE engine I have always been nervous about stripping the thread. The FSM recommends 15ft/lb but this seems to be only doable with the engine out the the car. I did what I always do and snug the in then do it by feel and have never had a problem other than once one of the plugs got a bit loose after a while, better than a stripped housing

For gigglred I went as tight as I could on some junk housings I have, to see what would happen. It took quite a bit of force to achieve failure. The ceramic in the plug broke but I doubt the threads are okay.


Moving on.... I got the cables and spark plugs as well and they look good.

 

Fuel filter wasn't as bad as most people paint it. I know it's a PITA but need to be done though I can see why it gets neglected.


Use exactly this and some needle nose pliers and a small flashlight.


Make sure you clock things right.





Align the car


I set me camber to ~-2.5 degrees in the back and didn't have time to finish the front.


Premix

 

It's amazing what some little TLC can do to these cars. Great writeup!

Dale