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My wife isn't completely on board, but that will never change. My 94 RX-7 Adventure!
Where do I start!!! I purchased the 94 Vintage Red Touring that turbojeff listed on the forum a few weeks ago, and it finally arrived this past Sunday. I had been looking for project car for some time and had always had interest in FD’s since I purchased a 06’ speed6 and an 09’ RX-8 years go. I had just started browsing the forum, after years of abstaining, when I stumbled across his listing. What more could a car guy ask for? A 100% stock FD with less than 80k miles on the odometer. Sure it needs some work and probably a paint job (which scares the **** out me), the mechanical stuff is no problem, but I have zero experience with body work.
So after putting about 50 miles on it today I found that will be a great project for my dad and I. There are a few things that have left me scratching my head, like the oil pressure gauge and how it seems to have a mind of its own. The fact the my radio antenna doesn’t like to go all the way up or that the power windows go up and down at normal speed sometimes and slower than a snail others.
I have been a frequent stalker on this site for years, but I have learned so much over the last few weeks, just reading and taking in as much as I can. Not sure how much new information a newbie like me can contribute, but I cannot express how much I appreciate all the information that the forum provides.
Please forgive me for any stupid questions that I ask from this point on.
Here she is in all of her glory!
Oil leak coming from above the from leading spark plug. (Just realized how bad this picture was)
Why is one underbody tray plastic and the other one metal?
Damaged front fender. Already have a new Mazda one ready to go on.
New headlight covers that came with the car need to be painted and installed.
23 years old and no rust anywhere. A nice surprise!
That's it for now. Hopefully more to come in the near future.
The windows are sticking in the rubber weather stripping so you can replace those or lube them with some silicone spray. The window motors will eventually wear out if you don't do something about this one.
If you need any parts please let me know. I have a decent supply of both aftermarket and OEM parts.
Good luck with the car. I'm sure you and your dad will have a blast together and once you have this car 100 percent you'll be the proud owner of a truly great sports car.
I've been debating on whether to have the car painted or get the things necessary to rebuild the engine this winter. I want to drive and enjoy the car in the spring, but I am a bit of a perfectionist and don't want to roll around with all of the nasty key scratches. Engine runs fine and doesn't really smoke, but I know that I am on borrowed time with the car having almost 80k miles. Opinions?
I don't recommend rebuilding an engine "just because", more often than not you open yourself up to other problems. An engine rebuild is a big, major thing and unless you're in REALLY good hands or are an excellent mechanic things can go wrong. Enjoy the car as it sits.
I just realized that you're in Indiana, you're in reasonable distance to Banzai Racing which is a first-class rotary shop. When the time comes they can do the job right.
Since the paint generally looks good you may wan to see if you can find a professional detailer that can work on some of the minor imperfections in the paint to make it better. There are methods for filling and wet sanding minor scratches and repairing dings that cost far less than a paint job and can really make a car look great. A paint job is another big, intrusive process that you don't want to do unless you really need it.
Unfortunately, the paint has multiple nasty key scratches on both quarter panels; I tried to wet sand them out with 1500 grit and it wouldn't touch them. I bought the car knowing that it would need a paint job, but I might wet sand and polish the entire car so I can enjoy it for a few years before I spend the money on a respray.
The engine rebuild shouldn't be an issue, my dad is a mechanic and has worked on a few rotaries in the past. I plan on buying a complete rebuild kit from atkins so I have everything necessary. I planned on making a trip to Banzai for a tune if I ever buy a Power FC. I don't plan on doing much to the engine besides all of the normal reliability type mods that I have read about on here, maybe a downpipe and a cat back.
Getting the build started. Ran into some unforeseen problems after taking off the bumper cover. Hoping that I can find some replacement parts on here from someone who has upgraded to a 99 front end. Excited to keep pushing on and getting the engine out, start the rebuild and get the car back on the road.
Dog house removed.
Mounting bracket that wasn't bolted to anything and was just sitting behind the re bar.
Cracked re bar. Front bumper had been repainted before and they got overspray on everything.
Save the styrofoam on top of the bumper, that can be hard to track down.
Yeah, looks like the car was punched in the nose at some point and the metal bracket for the bumper support was mangled. That metal bracket is typically well attached to the fiberglass support bar.
Was finally able to get down to my dad's house and got the engine all stripped down. Next step pulling the thing apart and finally making the decision on whether or not to do a street port.
Vacuum lines were so hard and brittle that even the smallest movement caused them to break. I was super careful removing everything and still broke three solenoids.
Oil leak on the front housing was coming from a breather tube on the under side of the upper intake manifold, not the oil filler neck tube as I originally thought.
Last edited by kenpo1441; 04-08-18 at 07:41 PM.
Reason: Spelling
Man, that is definitely an original engine. Surprised you didn't check the compression before pulling it out...... you may have some useful life at near-stock power levels at 80k miles. Then again, original coolant o-rings can be finicky. Regarding the decision to street port or not, a lot of comes down to your usage and goals for the car
FDs like yours are becoming more and more rare as we approach 2020, great pickup and enjoy the process
Finally got the engine torn down today and everything looked pretty good, but both stationary gear bearings are worn to the point where copper color is starting to show through in spots. Another interesting thing that we found was this...
There was some gasket sealer typer material along with some fine, circular pieces of metal on the pickup tube screen. Fortunately it looks like the screen did it's job, because there was no evidence of contamination in the oil pump or the rest of the engine. It does appear that at some time the oil pan gasket was replaced with RTV and that could be where the material came from.
Last edited by kenpo1441; 04-15-18 at 08:33 PM.
Reason: Picture didn't upload properly
Both housing are very smooth with no cracking or flaking. There is some carbon build up that wouldn't come off with parts cleaner so I'll need to figure out a way to get it off.
Same story with the irons, carbon build up that needs to be cleaned off.
Things have been progressing slowly, with only getting a few hours each week to work on the car. Zinc Plated Items Fresh Hoses Fuel system, all new seals and injectors cleaned and tested by marren. All clean. Thought about removing all of the wiring for the emissions system, but chickened out. Almost ready to go back in. Resurfaced Flywheel Engine back in Powder coated wheels
Made some good progress yesterday, we were able to get the remainder of the drivetrain installed, changed the fuel filter, pilot bearing and painted a bunch of stuff. Hopefully one more day of work and then we start it up.
10-18-17, 07:55 PM
My wife isn't completely on board, but that will never change. My 94 RX-7 Adventure!
