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So I had another back surgery in June of 2018 and that wasn't conducive to allowing me to work on the car for a bit. I'm glad to report that the back is now fixed and since then, we've finished her up. Let me try to recap whats happened in the last year with pictures:
Ok so to summarize: We finished up the suspension, repaired some undercoating in the wheel well, got R1 brake ducts, got the SBG sway bar mounts, rolled the front fenders, got some sweet new wheels, corner balanced and aligned it, got a nice Mazdaspeed front strut bar, and installed the Garage Alpha fuel surge cover. Track day tomorrow. Will report on how well the surge cover works. I plan on running it down to around 1/3 of a tank.
So the other day i was helping another RX7 friend fix his AC in hsi car [PowerFC relay trick] and afterwards I took him for a spin in mine and was showing off my nice R12 AC system. Everything worked great! A week later I drove the car to a friend's house to get detailed and wouldn't you believe it, the AC blew hot! After I got it home I started troubleshooting it and the compressor wan't turning on. So I jumpered the pressure switch per the FSM and it kicked on but the AC still blew hot. Next step was to check pressures and check for leaks. I pulled out my black light and found a bunch of UV dye all over my compressor. I started looking into buying a reman compressor or a new one and they were sold out or unavailable. I then explored rebuilding the compressor. I found sources for the gaskets, shaft seal, bearing etc and ordered everything. I was told it was going to be 60-90 days for the gasket set after checking 3 locations for it so I tossed the idea of rebuilding the compressor since I'm on a short timeline. I went back to the garage and looked deeper at the leak. That when I noticed the pressure relief valve on the compressor was popped. This would explain the no refrigerant. I went to NAPA auto and grabbed a new relief valve and installed it. After I installed it, the system still wouldn't hold pressure. A bit distraught, I started looking into other places for leaks. I pulled the cover off the evaporator and didn't see any dye in there so I decided to swap the O rings on the compressor since I had some sitting around. The rings I pulled off were pretty bad! After swapping them, the system held vacuum! So I gave the system a good 30min suck down and charged it back up with some R12 I scored from a friend. But the question still remained: why did the blow out plug pop? Looking at the underhood sticker, it says 1lb-12.2oz of R12. Looking at the FSM, it says 21.2oz R12. When I last charged it up, I put 28oz of refrigerant in it! So I'm thinking I overcharged it and popped the safety valve. When I charged it this time, I put a can and a half of refrigerant in it [21oz or so]. I followed the FSM to a T and serviced until the sight glass cleared and it was about on the dot for the refrigerant amount [I do have a scale too]. So now once again we have nice cold AC in the car just in time for me to drive it 12 hours to store it for 4 years
I used to always huff when I would read things about the AC in the rx7. @DaleClark has made a lot of comments singing the praises of the AC and I was never a believer. I was never a believer because the AC in my Rx7 has always been sub par. It would idle HORRIBLY with it on, I would feel it cycle on for 10s and off for 10s constantly when cruising on the highway and I could FEEL when the compressor engaged. It was like a large noticeable drop in torque and the car felt noticeably slower with the AC on.
Im here to take back everything I’ve ever felt and said about the AC in this car. Those are my vent temps with R12 (blower speed 1) cruising on the highway on a 96*F day. My compressor doesn’t cycle on and off every ten seconds and I don’t feel it engaging. The idle doesn’t absolutely suck and chug with the AC engaged either. All my issues in regards to that were because I horribly overcharged my system. Since I’ve done this repair, it’s like a new AC system
AC blows cold, car has been detailed, and I’m moving to japan next month. This is gonna be my final update on this thread for a long time (probably to the tune of 4 years). Thanks for reading and supporting everyone and we’ll see ya next time!!
Subjective but this is one of the best build threads on the forum; fixing parts that don't usually get fixed with part numbers, tips, and resources. Good luck.
4 years from now when you get back, your FD will be worth $150,000
Have enjoyed your thread. Tom
This message is aging well it seems.
Not much for updates but I did see my baby last month. Went home on some vacation and saw her in her resting home. I’ve been slowly gathering parts, namely black interior, but I have grabbed a rear Mazda speed strut bar, and an HKS twin power as well (that I installed when I saw her.) What better way to say hello to your car after two years apart?
I installed the Twin power under the Brake booster. I removed the Fuel Pump Resistor and used its mount bolt for the install. The plug and play harness was neatly zip tied into place along the charging harness to prevent touching the steering shaft.
Next update in another two years? Probably. One part I WILL buy before I leave Japan is a set of Recaro RZs. This post will also age well I promise.
What an absolutely beautiful car and great build thread. Really dig the stock look and even the moderate updates you've done. Those CE28s look amazing.
So I finished my four year tour in Japan and I took the time to pick up a number of things. I’ve collected an entire set of black interior, a handful of Mazdaspeed goodies, and got set up in the new place.
While it was in storage, I was told the brake lights were stuck on. I guessed this was the issue: the rubber stopper broke. I got some replacements for all of the pedal stops while I was at it.
I picked up this authentic Mazdaspeed Short Shifter while I was in Japan. I even have the box for it!
I took the car to my local auto hobby shop and got all the fluids changed out and swapped out the fuel filter (second time in ownership! First time was about 9 years ago.) While I was under the car I looked more into my clunking rear end. Turns out the Pillow ***** in my most outboard spot of the LCAs have gone bad. I can induce a lot of forward and aft movement in those particular bushings. I replaced all these bushing in 2015 with new OEM and used new seals at the time. They have roughly 18k miles on them and SEVERAL track days (probably more than 10). I’ll need to look into more robust pillow ***** in the near future. On the way home my car wanted a snack and ate a finch. That was pretty gross to clean out but it was small enough that there was no damage fortunately.
I got my mazdaspeed rear strut bar installed that I brought back with me.
For Christmas, I got a new center console panel (finally!). This is something I probably put off for too long. My old one literally just rested on the center console. Every tab was broken and one of the screw bosses for the shift boot was also broken. It was a pretty pathetic piece of trim and was long overdue to be replaced.
While the car was in storage, there was a small rat problem. I found some rat turds on the UIM and found my alternator boot was chewed through. My cruise control cable foam chafe guard piece also has some gnawing on it Luckily JP3 makes a nice red replacement.
And then the final Mazdaspeed goodie from Japan: an authentic oil fill cap. I ordered a new oil cap seal from Atkins, but I don’t think it’s exactly the right part for it. It works! But I need to research the correct replacement for it.
Next big plan
I have an entire set of black interior ready to go for this. I plan to tear all the interior out, line each panel with flocking tape or closed cell foam to prevent squeaks and rattles, and I’d like to put some replacement speakers in it since I’m sure 3 of 4 of them are blown :P More to come in the next few weeks.
05-17-19, 04:35 PM
Luckily JP3 makes a nice red replacement. 
