1979 RX7 SA w/ an fb 12a Revival
 

A friend of mine gave me this gem as a wedding present! can you even believe that?

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1378853524

now the long story short version of this is, I had planned on buying this from a local shade tree mechanic i knew, who had it sitting around for about 9 years.
had him talked into parting with it for $400.

As i went and saved my pennies, my good friend stumbled upon it and offered the guy $600 and bought it right there.
he didnt know i even knew the car existed, and he felt a little bad about it when he found out. i told him i would try to help get it running because i liked the car.
now he was not a mechanic but was willing to try, and i helped him a little bit and advised him what the normal procedure is (air, fuel, spark, yadda yadda)

Now the car would not start, and the chambers were filled with about 1 qt of oil.
He pulled the plugs and rolled then engine over by hand to get the oil out. then started replacing the coils, wires and plugs.

then it sat for a year cause it still would not start.
4 months before my wedding, his grandfather told him to get rid of it or he would take it to the scrap yard, so he gave it to me as a wedding present!

when i towed it home, it would run only if you circumvented the carb and poured fuel into the intake. the carb was almost stripped bare, just the throttle linkage and accelerator pump was left.

i swapped out the carburetor for one i found at a salvage yard (82 fb that ran a year ago), and it fired! Great $125 for a working complete nikki! ran like ass though.

So i scratched my head and started to look at the big picture.

Docket

1. fluid changes (oil, coolant)
2. belt for the air pump.
3. bleed brakes and asses leaks.
4. tires
5. new seats.
6. paint

wish me luck!

as i was saving up to get parts, i went through the car to see what was what. dropped the gas tank to inspect the condition of the lines, and had to replace a few. pump worked well, and the filter was new. rear brakes are worn but still functioning. e brake linkage is loose.

now the odd part. the shifter is about 4 inches back from where it should be. and the trans tub has been cut to accept it. so though the trans might have been replaced at some point obviously. It all made sense when the 79 rotor and cap came in at the shop and looked wrong at first glance. so i looked up an 82 and that is what is on it currently. (bought an 82 cap, rotor is still on its way) so its a full swap out of an 1982 FB!

no clue on the mileage, But the body has 99k and is pretty solid.

So i went home, aired up the tires and pumped the brake s few times and got pressure,
and started it up. it ran like a turd at first, only one rotor firing right. then blue smoke started to pour out the back after about 20 sec or so. and i though "Oh S#17!!!" ... let it do that for a while untill it came up to temp, and shut it off and did some learning on here. once it cooled down, I went back out and got it running again and after about 10 min the smoke cleared up but still ran pretty rough. so i limped it 1 block to a local gas station and put 5 gal of premium and 5 oz of 2cycle oil, and adjusted the the carburetor a bit, and took it back home because the brakes where dragging quite a bit. when i got home i found that the front calipers are no releasing pressure unless you tap the with a hammer.
I figured it might be air in the line, so then i proceeded snap the bleeder off of the driver side caliper. Awesome.

I have fired it up and let it come up to temp every day for about week because now i am just waiting on funds to purchase two new front calipers and mount the brand new 175/70/13 tires i purchased for $50 A PIECE! (what a deal) thanks tirerack!

Then i got impatient and took it for a short pull down my road and got 2nd to about 6k 3 times. after that it started to run much better! Also, good to note that at this point i was COMPLETELY in love with my first gen :)

runs a little better now that i know the top plug is the trailing plug. had the wires reversed!
DOH!
still missing though. rotor should be here, but im sick today so no progress past the wiring debacle.

Pics of the shifter mismatch

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1378941481

Engine bay

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1378941574

Damaged glass.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1378941707

F'd drivers seat.

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1378941778

the last carburetor

https://www.rx7club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1378941831

crappy pictures but better than nothing for now.

Its likely your trans shifter is not in the right spot because you have a 81-85 gearbox in there. the 79-80 trans in what you want. A product called seafoam might be your friend on this one. Pour it down the carb and let it sit for a bit. Put some in the gas tank. Be ready for a smoke show when you start the car back up which will eventually clear and should result in a better running car.

Great story! Bringing life to another first gen Rx7!

thanks for the info Cfamilyfix!

i am already planning on adding some seafoam to the next full tank of gas, also running it through the vacuum system to clear out and gunk that may have accumulated over the years and years if sitting. still have the change the oil & coolant before i run it too much.

i plan on rebuilding the stripped nikki, and purchasing the whole 12a and gearbox from the car i pulled my current carb from and building a spare drive line. (just in case)

it is definitely a 81-85 engine and trans, but none of the previous owners seem to remember anything about this.

once the brakes and tires are on it, i will start stripping the paint and repairing the rust.
i wanted to do a roll on and wet sand rustoleum paint job, but it looks like i should go right down to metal on the out side. the paint is very nasty ... old rattle can job that wasnt prepped right, from the looks of it.

Fun Stuff!

anyone have a black 81-85 shifter surround trim piece i could buy?
:P

i would start to premix the gas. that will help clean everything up. I use the pettit racing premix. 4oz per 12 gal of gas. pauls auto shop in huntsville al has all the used parts you can think of. call him at (256) 880-1685

already premixing (1oz 2 cycle per gallon for now) and THANK YOU! that info about pauls auto shop will is most definitely appreciated! :D

NEW CALIPERS came in today.... but of course its raining, and my garage is full of crap ready to be hauled away. man.... :(

possibly defeated by a very , VERY stubborn lower mounting bracket bolt ...grrr..

offset wrench is not enough, looks like its time to borrow a grinder and knock the surrounding metal down a few mm.

still cant get the mounting bracket OR the lower strut bolts off. but there's more.
tried taking it down the highway to blow some carbon out. at about 80mph and 6k on the tack, i lost ignition in the rear rotor.
....

no smoke. i thought i fouled the plugs again. (fouled them 6 times now....restore with mapp gas and a wire brush cause im broke)
i managed to limp it home about 3 miles. pulled the plugs, rears looked terrible. torched and then sanded them down.

then i went to crank the engine over to blow out the crap in the chambers.. ...
i only heard half of the puffs im use to hearing. ...oh no..

sure as shit. hand over the front rotor plug holes = good amount of air, rear rotor..
all most nothing.

im thinking i broke a piece of carbon loose and trashed the apex seals on the rear rotor.

i called the guy that has the car i grabbed the carb from. and he said that engine ran when it was brought to the yard. ($275 and i take it out) [82 white fb manual, no carb]

any thoughts or suggestions folks?
i need help.

You can try a compression check on the rear rotor, noting what each chamber gets as the rotor rotates around. Just hold your hand on the pressure release button on the pressure gauge and have someone crank it. Could be several reasons you have no pressure there, none of them good unfortunately.

You could take a chance on the 82 in the junkyard, but you won't know until you put it in and hook it up. If resources and time are not an issue you could give it a whirl. For the engine in your car, the only real way to figure out what's wrong is to take it out and crack it open...

yeah i know :( kinda of looking forward to rebuilding a 12 though. which will happen no matter what. ill buy the engine from the donor and see how long that will last while rebuilding the old one.

most likely the seals are stuck in a no compression state. there is a couple of more things you could try but a rebuild is more likely gonna be a more consistant cure.

Whats the story behind the hammer behind the seat lol. Self defense?

it has may uses. mainly for freeing stuck bolts with a quick rap on a a box end.
but its really in there for when the calipers get jammed up.

im really curious as to why, with no compression , it didnt smoke at all really.

anything i can do while the motor is together to try and regain compression?
a rebuild is planned, but i haven't the cash flow for a master rebuild kit.

Maybe the seal springs are compressed, but when the engine runs the inertia pushes the seals out and gives you a compression boost? Usually bad side seals cause smoking.

Buy a can of Seafoam aerosol. Power Foam might be what is called. Ive used it with success. Spray a little at time on each tip and with it with your finger. Massage the seals to free up the springs. Rinse with carburetor cleaner then spray Seafoam again and let it sit. You can even use a tooth brush,tooth pick, or a Q tip the get the carbon from the cracks around the seals. Something else that work for me once was using a heat gun. I let the heat gun sit on the seal wedged against the exhaust port with a little Seafoam on the seal for a few minutes until the Seafoam starting smoking a lot. At that point the rotor tip was like 500 degrees. It popped itself lickity split at that temp with the help of an unsharpened pencil.

first thing to do is to get a good strong battery and perform a compression test on each rotor. you already have a lead on another engine, so try this as a last resort before pulling the engine. the 82's engine is a direct bolt on deal. just make sure you grab the exhaust from the 82, as the 82's engine will not work properly with the 79's exhaust system. you will also have to use the 79's emissions rack (rats nest). basically, you will strip both engines down to a bare block, and anything on the 79's engine, you will bolt to the new 82 engine.

No problems on the battery , or the exhaust / rats nest swap, as this engine and trans is most likely from an 81 - 85. so someone already swapped this one in. which could be the reason no one before me could get it running. its possible that it hasn't ran right since this engine was installed.

I left town for the weekend on Friday morning.
Before i left i bought a can of seafoam and poured about half of it down the opened primary for the rear rotor. and a bout a quarter of it down the front primary, cause what the hell.
I applied it in two stages 1/4 can in the back, 1/8 can in the front. rotate 6 times, repeat.
Its been sitting since then, and i might let it sit here a while like that to let the seafoam try to break down the gunk. The rear rotor doesnt rattle when i turn the engince, so i have some hope that the apex seals are just stuck.

I have not tried to start it or checked compression, but i should acquire a gauge soon.

Also i just brought my engine hoist up from my Fathers place, so getting it out for a rebuild/swap if needed should be a breeze.

the car in the salvage yard has 214k on the chassis and presumably the same on the motor. do you think it wise to purchase it for $275 just for the irons and spare rotors and whatnot?

The apex seal would be jammed somewhere in the thermal reactor most likely. It was ejected from the engine the instant it failed (if it did fail).

im guessing the easiest way to get to them to inspect is through the exhaust ports, correct?

of course it is.....dumb question...im tired.

well the seafoam soak didnt do much. switching to ATF for a soak till the weekend.

Dont use ATF. It will swell your soft seals. Use Marvel Mystery Oil instead.

it doesnt matter, the atf did not help at all. time start removing the engine.

well despair was set aside, and we pulled it down the road to get it to fire , which took quite a while. still no firing in the rear after multiple revs to the redline. it will almost idle now, after the atf and seafoam. but on one rotor, im not expecting anything more than almost.

what would cause a sudden compression loss at 6k.

it doesnt seem likely to me the the apex seals can get stuck in the the compressed state at that RPM.

is it possible that the gear that drives the rotor could have stripped, or broken loose?

also i still have the thermal reactor on it, and that thing looks very difficult to get off (very rusty) i am worried about stripping those bolts. i plan on getting a RB header anyway.
should i just cut the exhaust and try to get the reactor off while the engine is out?

also, id like to know if there are any expedience engine re builders in norther Michigan that i could pay to help me get my first 12a build right, the first time.