Laf12

I picked up my first car almost a year ago. It's a 1985 gsl se. Has almost 270k miles on the body, but the previous owner swapped the engine to another 13b which now has about 100-150k miles on it. The car runs great. I only payed $500 for the car and a lot if parts. He gave me the glass sun roof with leather carry bag, new seat, ac compressor, mis. Interior parts and a car cover. I love this car. I'm so glad I had the chance to buy it. I did a compression check and the rotors were both at about 100psi. The guy I bought the car from toke good care of her. For the past 23 years he has had a 85 se in he's driveway. This was his third, all of which were the same year, color, and all were se's. I could tell he was bummed that he was selling it.

I'm planning by the end of this summer to get new shocks (Kyb gr2? Are they decent?), new RB springs, brake pads, rotors, new rims, and spacers until I get better rims. I want to get a muffler delete because it would be the cheapest way to make it sound better but I know it's probably going to be crazy loud. Will a muffler delete work with back pressure? I'll be driving it daily.

So far I've painted the calipers, undercoated the wheel wells, painted the faded trim and wipers, put new NGK plugs in, a new distributer cap, oil change, air filter. The only problem the car has given me was that it didn't start for about a month. It seemed like it was just flooded but then it started with plumes of smoke coming out the back. Hopefully it was nothing serious. The car runs great now. It's a blast to drive up here in the mountains of Santa Cruz. Let me know what you guys think of my plan or any ideas you want to share. I'll post pictures soon. Thanks!

rotordogg

iTrader: (4)

Ahh, the excited banter of a young, fresh RX7 owner. I personally thing you started with the best possible car, although I did love my 12A.

270K on the chassis is a lot. I'm not sure what kind of cash flow you have but I would start looking at high mileage items to replace before the rims. The KYB shocks are fine for comfy daily driving. If you want a stiffer, more sporty ride, go with the Tokicos. I think you are in the right place to get the springs replaced. Check the ball joints, control arms, bushings, etc.

The fuel injectors are pretty old. They may be leaking a little and causing your flooding condition that keeps it from starting. There are lots of threads on here on how to de-flood a rotary.

He said the compression was 100, but was that per rotor face? If he just took the highest pressure amount, there is still a chance of one blown/stuck apex seal. I would do another compression test if not.

Muffler is all personal preference. Does it have the stock manifold and catalytic converter? If so, removing the muffler will do nothing but make it louder. I would suggest RB header and presilencer with your stock muffler or the RB muffler. You can then try removing the muffler but I personally think that is way too loud.

Can't wait to see the pics!

Laf12

This was the first day I got it, thanks for the input!

Laf12

I did the compression test with the valve removed from inside the tester. I didn't disable the gas though. Does that mean it was a wet test? All I wanted to know was if the apex seals were still intact. I have videos of it put don't know how to upload them to here...

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

You only remove the valve to check to even bouncing of the needle on the compression tester to ensure each rotor face has compression. Install the needle and the compression tester will lock at the highest psi on one face. It gives you a rough baseline to go by. You will also want to disable the fuel by removing the fusible link for the EGI. Its in the upper fusible link block on the left strut tower.

You car looks nice! I like Tender Blue Metallic a lot. Not a lot of them running around anymore these days. When was the car painted last?

Laf12

That paint is pretty rough from sun damage. The dash is also faded and cracked, but the rest of the interior is in good shape. The P/O said it had a macco paint job years ago.
The P/O had a car cover too. I wish he would have used it.