Ok guys so finally I got my hands on the car. Sat in a carport for 7 years. I've started work on it and i'll list what i've done so far. It runs pretty well, but has some issues aside from what i've already done.
changed....gas tank, fuel filter, spark plugs, oil & filter, transmission oil, radiator flush and fill with new radiator cap, upper vacuum hose and some other lower hose that I don't know what the purpose is. Needs......a ton more. Brakes appear to be working just fine, although rusty and will need to be cleaned up and painted with new pads. Rotors, bearings and a ton other stuff to be done to it. pics will be attached if I can figure out how.

 

Greetings from the other side of the hills and congrats on snatching a 7. I have an 85 GSL as well. Here's how to attach and post pics:

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Here are some pics. gonna drop the tranny and install the new clutch kit when it arrives. Brake rotors turned and new pads installed. New clutch master and slave installed. Bearings cleaned and repacked. More in depth maintenance will follow but for right now i'm just trying to get it road worthy again.

 

Scored some new tires for the 7 the other day. Was waiting on buying larger wheels and tires together but I found these brand new at a used tire shop. Got all 4 mounted and balanced for $140. Too good to pass up so i'll be riding on stock wheels for a while it looks like.

 

Good deal! At least it gets it off the ground for now. :-)

 

Meant to say thanks before LizardFC for the schooling.

 

So now i'm attempting to pull the transmission so I can install a new clutch. This thing sat for 7 years in a carport and is in amazing shape considering. I think that the friction material on the clutch is shot and thats why there's no power to the wheels when I try to drive it. All I can do to get it up and down my driveway. Engine seems to be running very well so I don't think that's it. It will go through all the gears when the back end is off the ground, just no power under it's own weight. Anyway, it's a slow process as I have never done this by myself before. Lots of rusty bolts on the parts of the exhaust I need to remove so i'm taking it slowly. Hopefully I can get the tranny out without screwing it up.

 

Started pulling exhaust parts off. Can you say Rusty?! I see i'm gonna need a whole new exhaust. Good excuse for a full racing beat system I guess.

 

Got to love rust. Without it our projects would be done on schedule and at the price we were planning, lol!

 

Yeah exactly. Except on this there's this wire temp/sensor thing going into the side of the pipe that i'm afraid i'm going to break since it's so rusted on. The rest doesn't matter. New exhaust will be the fix and get rid of the air pump too.

 

Got the tranny out today. Clutch was definately shot. no friction material at all. Some kind of leak too but I can't tell if it's the rear seal or just the oil pan gasket. We'll see. Thats me on the ground with the Autobots t-shirt and my friend Robert helping.

 

New clutch kit also for your enjoyment. Nothing fancy, just an oem clutch kit. Not gonna race it. Gotta get me a mullet wig though so I can relive the good ole days once she's back on the road.

 

Also my husky Shadow, who wanted to help but was more like in the way since he thinks he's got to be up my butt all the time.

 

Oh, I meant to ask all of you very knowledgeable folks out there......If it is the rear engine seal leaking and not the oil pan does that = a rebuild, or can the seal be replaced with the engine still in the car? Thanks.

 

Rear seal can be done in the car pretty easily. You will have to remove the flywheel to get to it. This will be the hardest part of the job, but once that is out of the way, just pop the old seal out and use it as a driver to install the the new one. Reinstall the flywheel and you will be right back to where you are now. Hope this helps. Good luck with the build!

 

Helps a ton. Flywheel has to come off anyway since I have to get it resurfaced before putting the clutch kit in. May just replace the rear seal to be safe. Thanks Cfamilyfix

 

Looks like a good project you have going there! Awesome Husky too lol

As for the rear seal, its cheap and if the flywheel is off then you'll definatly want to change it. I'd do the front and rear main seals on the trans too, also don't forget a new pilot bearing

 

yeah I want to change it anyway but i'm not sure which part to get. I've never gotten this far into it before. Looked at partsgeek and think i'm looking at the right part but i'm not sure. Maybe when I get the flywheel off i'll know. will this seal be right behind it? Thanks for the advice and help.

 

I think i've got it figured out. Just pry out the old rear seal with a screwdriver (gently of course) after getting the flywheel off. I read one post on here somewhere that the flywheel nut is 54mm. So do I need a 54mm socket, or a 2 1/8 socket? Thanks.

 

Don't forget the pilot bearing. Get a new one and its seal. They're cheap and
always should be changed when doing a clutch job.

I went to Sears and got a 1/2 " socket for the flywheel nut and used my 600 lb.
impact to get it off.

The hardest part is getting the actual flywheel to pull off after undoing the nut.
Some heat and a large hammer blow on the edge a few times (careful not to
damage the surface on the edge) and it will come off. Leave the nut on there loose
but threaded on so that it doesn't fall off and drop on your face/foot/hand etc.

I head over to Raleigh on I40 pretty often, I have a silver 1980 SA and it always has
a black bra on the front.

 

how do you guys put the flywheel nut back on? doesnt it have to be torqued to over 300ft/lbs or something?

 

Set my impact to 300 lbs and hit the direction to forward

 

^Same here, just go till it stops turning lol. You'd be hard pressed to damange anything unless you crossthread it or something....

 

Yeah man I've got a pilot bearing and a new seal with the kit. Some other type of bearing too so I guess I'll try to figure out where it goes and replace it. I'm not in Raleigh unless I have to go for training. I'm much closer to you actually since i'm assigned to Davidson Co.

 

Bringing a 1st gen back to life, awesome! If you haven't done it, buy a new clutch slave cylinder and get a rebuild kit (carry with you) to go with it. If it hasn't gone bad, it will and a new one is cheap insurance and the kit will come in handy when the slave cylinder dies on the road which it will. Every 1st gen RX7 I've had has had it fail at least once. My SE which I've had forever has gone through at least four. I had it blow on me 150 miles from home but the woman (now wife) that was with me was impressed with how quick I fixed it and the fact that I happened to have the parts. Too funny.
One thing to keep in mind. When the slave goes, the pedal usually goes to the floor and the slave pukes fluid all over the tranny. However, if your pedal goes to the floor and you can pull it back up and the clutch still works, except for the pedal sticking to the floor 25% of the time, that usually means a bad master cylinder.

I don't know how much you plan to invest and with things the way they are you might have to make trade offs, I sure had to but I put the money where I thought it would make the car reliable and safe for a 27 year old car. I see some of the mods people are doing on this board and I wish I would win the lottery. This guy's work is incredible:
https://www.rx7club.com/20b-forum-95/daves-first-gen-20b-work-progress-963681/

Another thing I would do is convert it to an oil cooler like an SE has or a '79-82 has. You can probably get the parts at a salvage yard and you can buy new SS hoses for around $150. It's a good investment.

What oil did you use? I've always used Castrol 20W-50 which was recommended by a rotary rebuilder and it's seemed to do fine for over twenty years. Mazda says not to use ANY synthetic but I read somewhere that there is one brand they recommend. I've heard people use it and don't have any problems. From what I've read, part of the problem is how the synthetic burns in the combustion chamber. Your mileage may vary.

If this is your first RX-7, remember, check the oil frequently, I've got my owners manual in front of me and it says on the third page to check your oil every time you get gas. That's a bit excessive but they do burn oil since they inject it into the engine to lubricate the apex seals and probably the other 100 seals on the rotor. On the next page of the manual, it says to check the coolant level every gas stop. I think they're going a bit overboard but Mazda got burned when people bought rotarys and treated them like an American car and neglected maintenance and killed off their engine. Since you have an '85, you have lights for low water and low oil plus the oil and water temp gauges. You've also got a light that tells you when the windshield washer fluid is low. When you finally get tired of seeing it, you can disconnect the sensor on the washer fluid reservoir, just make sure you don't discount the pump motor.

I don't want to sound like an RX-7 snob when I asked if it was your first one, I just wanted to point some things out to you if it is your first one that will allow you to get the maximum life out of your engine. If it is your 1st one, I'm impressed, most people that don't know them can't get a RX-7 that sat for seven years, running, let alone seven weeks! Good job! I'm surprised the engine didn't self destruct due to electrolysis, the previous owner must have used good antifreeze! From the pics you posted, the car looks to be in pretty good shape body wise, I can't tell about the interior from the pics but the engine compartment looks like all the hoses and solenoids are hooked up which is excellent since hooking them up from scratch can be a nightmare. There's a vacuum diagram on the hood and it seems close to what you have (at least that's my experience). I've got a Haynes shop manual and it has a decent set of diagrams for the 12a and it has a supplement for the 13b in the SE but get whatever manual you like.

Oh yeah, make sure you use aluminum anti-seize compound on anything on the engine that is aluminum, especially the spark plugs. Also, don't pull the plugs out when it's hot or you might take the threads with them. The stuff sticks to everything so have a rag handy.

If you go to salvage yards like a pick and pull, it's a good idea to snag the igniters on the distributor, get both of them and carry as spares. I've got probably five in mine right now, it should be clear I'm paranoid. I carry spare:
1) Complete distributor and several igniters.
2) Fuel injection computer.
3) Fuel injection air flow meter.
4) All radiator hoses.
5) Rebuild kit for clutch master and slave.
6) Fusible links.
7) Oil.
8) Coolant.
9) Brake fluid.

Another thing you can pick up is HID lights from EBAY. I bought some for around $150 and they are real HID Xenon lights, they come with two ballasts, the new headlights with the lens, the HID bulbs that are replaceable (in fact, the light housing come with blue halogen bulbs you could use elsewhere for some reason) and a wiring harness. Installation couldn't be simpler, no cutting of any wires.

Since, your car is over twenty years old so you should replace the rubber brake lines and the clutch line. I bought SS brake lines from Mazdatrix for $100. I got the clutch one from Banzai racing for $25. Good investment, I also ended up using silicon brake fluid, I bought it for the clutch since it's not supposed to absorb water which I hope lengthens the life of the clutch hydraulics and then I figured, since I replaced everything on the brake system except the steel lines, I might as well use silicone there as well so I don't need to carry two different types of fluid. Despite its reputation, it's not hard to bleed silicone fluid, I used a mityvac and it bled easily. The radiator hoses should be replaced as well along with the heater hoses.

If you spend around $500 for preventative maintenance, it will save you bucks in the long run. I see you turned your rotors, how close were they to the limit? If you ever have to replace them, I bought a set from a guy on EBAY. I guess he has his own CNC machine because he called me about a possible problem and he said the blanks he was going to machine for my car (SE's have different stud spacing and they use studs) might have a problem if he drilled them all the way through so he dimpled them and slotted them and they were cheaper than new ones. Fit perfect too. Did you rebuild your calipers? If not, you should either rebuild them or buy new ones since your car sat for seven years. I ended up buying new ones because I figured the brakes is one place I don't want to skimp on even though money is tight.

Make sure you are using the best antifreeze you can buy that will prevent corrosion or electrolysis. If you just put in water, the iron-aluminum facing parts make a battery and it attacks the aluminum. I don't know what the best fluid is, I used, Zerex?

Oh yeah, I had to buy a new pigtail (it's the electrical part of the ignition switch), I was putting in new panels that I'd bought from a yard and I moved one of the heavier wires from the pigtail and the black part the wires attach to and has the contacts on the other side popped out. Talk about depressing, it cost around $125 which is a lot of money, especially when it lasted only a month. I disconnected all the fusible links (too lazy to disconnect the bat) carefully took it out making sure to catch the little springs, put everything where it was supposed to go (luckily the copper contacts have tabs that are different sizes so you can only put them in one way and the tiny springs only fit in certain holes so you know you've at least got that part right). Then I carefully put it back in the ignition switch and immediately put some thick (wide) wire ties around the switch, so they went around and between the wires and on the other side they went above where the key goes. I put, I think, four all together and it worked so my advice to you is get some good wire ties and do this before the 20 some odd year old plastic crumbles and the electrical part separates from the white part. Don't move anything before you get the wire ties in place; I've seen them crumble due to age.

I didn't mean to write War and Peace, must have gotten carried away. Keep the pictures coming and good luck!