SPaikmos

Hi all,

I picked up a 1985 GSL-SE from a friend of mine, who is the original owner. Car has ~167k miles on it, my friend says the seals were never changed. It has been sitting outside since 2004, and was last driven in 2014 when he had to move it across the yard.

Here are some pics of the car: https://photos.app.goo.gl/OzOWvbjdqLkhoa4i1
Feels like opening a time capsule!

Overall, the car seems to be in good shape to my untrained eye. Here are the known issues thus far:

Cosmetic issues:
- cracked taillight and front blinker
- paint peeling on hood
- plastic molding bits are warped
- rubber door gaskets are dried out and cracked

Mechanical:
- Friend says some issues with steering, but doesn't remember what
- Suspension issues, suspecting tie rods
- AC belt is gone
- heater core was leaking, so looped back the coolant lines
- fuel door solenoid is rusted frozen
- lots of corrosion in firewall near clutch cylinder
- dead battery
- need to replace all fluids

I've got a lot going on with the upcoming holidays, so I won't be able to do much to the car until the spring. In the mean time, I'd like some advice to help me evaluate what exactly I have, and how much work is going to be needed.

I know NOTHING about rotaries or RX-7's, and I'm willing to learn. A lot.

I knew next to nothing about cars, and then had to rebuild my EJ205 engine for the WRX after performing a money shift this spring. Took about 5 months, but I got it done and the car runs again! So, I'm willing to put in the time and effort to figure this out, but it's going to be a long term thing.

I'd like to avoid body work, as I know nothing about welding. I just skimmed through woodmv's "barn find" build thread. That is an awesome thread, but there's no way I'm going to pull that off. I hope my car doesn't need that much work!

Goals for the project are to learn about the car first and foremost. I'd like to finish with a daily driver that can handle light track duty, but if I completely fubar it and have a pile of parts at the end, that's ok too. I'm sure you guys would be happy to pick through them. :P

So, to get started, I'd like to know:

- How do I evaluate the chassis, look for rust, etc? What are the common spots to check?
- How do I evaluate the steering and suspension? How can I tell what's wrong?
- Any chance of avoiding the motor rebuild? How can I tell?
- What kind of long term things should I get started on now? I've heard about ATF + MMO in the engine... should I start soaking for the next couple months?

Thanks!

GSLSEforme

Does the car run? Is the engine locked up,have you tried to turn it over by hand? Try to avoid use of atf in engine. If engine is locked up,try to gently turn one way,then the other. 13B engines are pretty reliable and normally have a longer lifespan than 12A carbureted engines.Look for rust in all places a unibody car would collect moisture. You need to address the corrosion issue on firewall,start by figuring out what caused corrosion in 1st place. Likely a leaking clutch master cylinder and or brake master cylinder allowed brake fluid to run down firewall,pull rug back from floor inside car under pedal pivots and look for signs of fluid there and on carpet and insulation.. A common but hidden area for corrosion is under rear storage bins,remove them and look at floor and side of body,inner wheelhouse and area of upper link where it attaches to body. One last thing,do not hook up battery backwards on install. The negative cable is closest to front of car.

SPaikmos

Thank you for the tips!

I was told the car doesn't run, but I haven't tried to start it. Not sure if the engine turns. Is there an easy way to turn the engine? There's a giant fan blade that obstructs me from turning the crank from the top. Can I get to it from the bottom, or do I have to remove some parts first?

The corrosion in the firewall is weird. No fluid in the area, although the brake lines go near there. I don't see any visible damage so it's a bit surprising. I will pull back the carpet as you suggest and start looking for more corrosion on the body.

I'll be traveling for the holidays so won't have much time to work on this; as I said, it'll be a long term project with slow updates. I hope to have more time in the spring to devote to it, but right now I'm trying to collect info on any long term things I should be working on. Not sure that there are any, but thought I'd ask.

An example would be soaking parts in degreaser or something like that. Things that may take weeks or months, since I don't have time to actively work on the car yet.

SPaikmos

It's been a while.... finally got time to start poking at the engine and it's been slow. In March, I was able to turn the engine, and with a spark plug out, I can hear a "swoosh" sound as the engine rotates. So I think that's a good sign. My original plan was to add fresh fluids and see if the car runs. I started by addressing the corrosion on the firewall, and figured out it's the clutch master cylinder. All the fluid leaked out and caused the corrosion. My first order of business was to remove the master and slave cylinders:



Corrosion on firewall behind the clutch pedal.



Clutch master and slave cylinders. The slave cylinder came out in pieces. I got a new one from rock auto, but it didn't come with the plunger part.

I then removed the radiator, and saw a ton of rust. The radiator piping just crumbles in my hand, so I figure I have to replace just about all of it.


Here's the radiator. I guess it still holds water, a lot of rusty / muddy looking stuff came out!


Water pump is corroded. I doubt this can be reused, right?

At this point, I'm thinking it'd foolish to even try starting the engine; I'm gonna have to tear it apart. I start taking parts out of the car in June, but it's slow going. First, I had trouble with the connectors to the air intake, fuel injectors, etc. I finally found out I had to remove the wire around the plastic housing to disconnect the connector, and that made it a lot easier. I then remove the Dynamic Chamber, rat's nest, distributor, and just about everything else I can. Here's how the engine looks now:


Engine is almost ready to pull!

I also pulled the starter motor and took a pic of the flywheel. I'm guessing I will need to get this resurfaced or something, right?


Starter motor was frozen on, but eventually was able to be removed!


Flywheel looks unhealthy....



Right now, I've run into a couple problems and hope someone can help. A ton of questions - if there's a better format or I should start separate threads, please lmk what's best:

1) I need to remove the oil cooler lines. I've read the 1st gen faq, and it advises getting 21, 23, and 24mm wrenches. I understand I need to remove the banjo bolt for the lower oil cooler line, but not sure what the best way to remove the upper one is. I can't get good clearance at the engine (others have mentioned grinding down their wrenches) nor can I get clearance at the oil cooler. I was thinking to lift the engine up a bit, then remove the driver's side engine mount, and then get access to the oil cooler lines, but this sounds... wrong. There has to be a better way.

2) I need to remove the nut on the exhaust manifold. There are two of them, and I got the lower one from underneath the car. However, the upper one is impossible to get a socket onto it, let alone an impact. Any suggestions on this? I loosened the top nut in the photo below. However, the other nut is behind (above) the piping. If I go further downstream of the exhaust, towards the rear of the car, I can probably disconnect after the flat rectangular part, but that seems like it'd be a hassle to pull the motor from there.



3) Parts. I'm starting to make a list of parts I need, and wondering where you go to get them? I want to replace all the rubber hoses and stuff in the car; do I simply go to Autozone and buy rolls of tubing, or is there a better way? I will want to make some hardlines as well, so need to find a tutorial for that. Off the top of my head, here's what I need thus far:

- radiator
- water pump
- alternator (can test to make sure this one is good?)
- starter motor (ditto)
- engine gaskets, seals (are these still available? I'm hoping to rebuild the motor if need be)
- rubber lines
- hard lines
- everything brakes (calipers are rusted, need new rotors, pads, etc)
- everything suspension (I don't even know what I need here... it's all gone)

4) List of things to do "while I'm in there". What are the things I should be researching at this point? My goal is to have a running RX7, not to make crazy amounts of power or go racing. If I can come out of this with a reliable daily driver that's fun to play with and do an occasional HPDE, I'd be happy. I've been hearing things about removing emissions equipment and stuff like that, and wondering what makes sense to do, and what doesn't?

I'll be working on the car regularly now, although I only get an hour here or there to do it. Still, I'll be posting regularly and I've uploaded a lot more photos to the link in the first post, if you want to follow along with the progress in more real-time-ish. Thanks!

SPaikmos

Looks like I got the first two issues solved last night! Also made a few mistakes, two steps forward, one step back....

For the oil cooler lines, I ordered a set of large metric wrenches, 20-24mm. I used the 23mm box end to get the lower oil cooler line banjo bolt, that came off easily. For the upper line, I'm not sure what size wrench I need. The 21mm fit perfectly on the engine bung, but the 24mm was too small. I bought a 25mm and that was too small as well. I was able to get my adjustable wrench on it, but the engine mount cross piece was blocking me from turning it.

I ended up lifting the engine a couple inches, removing the front cross piece, and was able to remove the oil cooler line! Unfortunately, I did this before I was ready to remove the engine, so I left it hanging on the cherry picker for now. I may need to put the engine mount back on there since I need the picker to move another engine, unless it's ok for me to rest the motor on the front cross brace? It looks like the edge of the oil pan sits under that brace, will it be ok?

With the oil cooler lines removed, I now have to remove the exhaust. I decided to remove the covers a little lower on the exhaust and was able to get access to these bolts:


Removed the exhaust cover to get to these nuts, looking towards the front of the car.

I'm hoping this is all I have to do on the exhaust part. Should I remove a piece of exhaust to make it easier to pull the motor?

Now that I I've got the exhaust and cooler lines separated, I have a couple of more electrical connections to remove. None of these wires seem to be detachable. The wires are a lot longer than I'd expect, and they seem to have inline splices in them. I think PO may have done this work, but can't figure out why. Can you guys confirm if I need to remove the entire sensor, or if I should cut the splices off and re-splice later? Both wires are on the driver's side of the motor:


Wire on the right doesn't have a connector to detach it. It is underneath the AC bracket, towards the rear of the oil pan. Looks like I can simply unscrew it?


This wire is underneath the oil filter. It has a connector, but not obvious how to remove it. Do I simply pull on it?

Now for the step backwards. I *think* I've removed all the hoses and wires, so I started unbolting the transmission. I've got all the bolts, except for the upper passenger side bolt, which is impossible to get to. Then it hits me - I don't think there's anything supporting the transmission once it's unbolted, right? So now I'm thinking, maybe it's easier to remove the transmission WITH the motor. Original plan was to pull the motor first, and then pull the transmission later, if needed. But now, I'm thinking it might be easier to pull both together... If so, then I'd have to put the bolts back (and maybe the starter too) and figure out how to disconnect the transmission.

Looking ahead, I started reading some threads on how to separate the transmission from the engine. That sounds like it's going to be difficult. I don't quite understand all the steps yet, but hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I'm getting a bad feeling that this is going to take a lot longer than I want it to....

Anyway, long story short. If any of you know how to remove the electrical connectors (cut? unscrew bolt?) and how to remove that top passenger bolt on the transmission, I'd appreciate the insights. Thanks!

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

You would only need to put a few of the trans bolts back to pull it. Couple on the bottom and one on top. The one on the passenger top holds the lifting hook anyway. Starter does not need to go back in. Make sure the drian the trans fluid first and plug or wrap the trans tail so fluid doesn't drip out. Get the car up as tall as you can on jack stands.

That connector below the oil filter just pulls off. No need to take it off now. Disconnect the main engine harness from the passenger side firewall and just drape it over the engine. The idea is to not have to take stuff off until the engine/trans are out of the car.