Oh and the top inside shroud between radiator and nose of the car removed too. In case you haven't noticed. This is now officially a radiator thread with more thoughts of the trip sprinkled in.

I didn't have this photo in my collection. I found it in my stream!! Sent it to Kenny right before the bomb exploded. A pic of the compression boys stuff minutes before his retyping do the compression check..https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c24b5d7e58.jpg

There's that incriminating deep socket that began this saga... have used a 13/16 deep socket to remove a plug in a pinch. Must be held square to plug so only contact is on plug hex. Compression tester guy apparently didn't... Guess i walked away minutes before all this began,had i heard your car start i wouldn't have gone another step & could've dealt with this in minutes. I had a trunk full of diagnostic equipment,tools,supplies(plugs),fluids,jump box,etc... had planned to meet another member there from here to give him some direction with a driveability problem. Appears everything worked out for you in the end,shame i couldn't help you,but then you wouldn't have had the adventure you've chronicled here.

Thank you!!!!
 

I'd also like to say this. The "guy" at the late night driveway is to be thanked and commended for his help and his kindness albeit in a meth kinda way. It's a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover. In the end his contribution was no more or less than the many new "friendly strangers " we encountered. The motel owner went out of his way as told and a huge thank you to him as well. Thanks To Carlos and Kenny for being at the other end of a cell phone when a friend needed help!! To Tim,Robert, Crit, Mike and (is it Susan?) Mikes girlfriend, there's s place right there sitting next to the rotary Gods for people of your ilk. To Brett and Alex for being there at the village and giving unselfishly of your time. To Phillip and Holly and the whole DGRR gang for putting on an extraordinary rotary rally and picking my AWARD WINNING Rx7 to be 2nd... To Tommy... man... I'm short on words.. for your undying unyielding never quit on any friend attitude..to... akio uchiyama... the father of the first gen rx7 for starting the whole shootin match. To my cindy never freaking out and keeping the faith. To my Rx7 for getting us there and back... you picked a strange way to finally get my attention but in the end it was all perfectly appropriate. Thanks to all that read this and commented. Thank you to Ray for putting a large part of the idea in my head to start wrenching myself. I'm waiting for those igniters!!! Lol.

Mike..!!! Funny how things work or in this case DIDNT work out!!! I'm laughing my ass off thinking about all those resources you just mentioned,.. woulda coulda shoulda!!! Glad you were in the mix..!! All part of the 2017 DGRR Chronicles

I just noticed they are the same brand.. moto-rad. Perhaps they're ok? Perhaps not? I'm thinking the 167 makes sense in this hotter Climate. Yes?

You want to make sure the t-stat has the small hole and it should be toward the top when installed.

Th bottom one has a small hole on top with s small brass pin that's flattened. The 167 above does not. Is that an issue?

The brass pin one is the preferred style.

that figures. I'm trying to understand the difference. Is it like s pressure valve or a slow relief valve? And do you recommend I avoid using it?

Paul,the lower t-stat in pic is wrong type,was this the one in your car? Your oe t-stat is for a bypass system and has a spring loaded plate on the bottom,the other in your pic appears to be this type though from angle in pic can't be sure. Oe also has a jiggle valve that helps burp air from cooling system on refill,some just drill small hole in flange which accomplishes same thing. Mazdatrix shows clear pics of what t-stat looks like on their website. Personally have had crappy luck with aftermarket t-stats,so go with Mazda part in my car. 167 degrees is when that t-stat you're talking about you have opens,won't necessarily make your car run cooler. Pretty sure oe is 180 degrees,where you live likely won't make any difference with the 167 degree one as long as is bypass type. If i ran that where i live in cooler weather,it would guarantee no heat and probably screwwith water temp sensor,ecm & quantity of injected fuel as ecm would think engine not fully warm + likely increase in fuel consumption. Since you're that far apart,consider replacing water pump if it has much more than a few years/miles on it.

I agree with GSLSEforme, your in this far, whats a couple extra gaskets and a water pump for piece of mind.

I should also note that a new radiator might be a little bit more then having one tanked.

$126 shipped to your door
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https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/we...LfAaOHWg%3D%3D

$149
http://www.autozone.com/cooling-heat...20591_107695_0

Mike!! Kansas!! First off thank you for the quick feedback. Once I saw how much is out of the way I already decided the water pump was very accessible and as far as I know it's original. 120k. Probably a no brainer. I have to look and see the manual how intense the change our will be. Don't forget I'm wrenching for the first time. I'm thinking it should be in my wheelhouse. Think I can get a Mazda water pump still from dealer? On the tstat Mike the one in the bottom came out of my 84se I think. The top one is new from black dragon two years ago. Sounds like it's not advisable as you pointed out. Makes perfect sense to me. The 180 is the one you think I should opt for?

On my radiator.. its original. It had never been a problem. It looks good. It's solid at the bottom. It's dirty as expected. I tapped along the whole bottom with the end of my socket driver and it truly sounds and feels solid. The fins all look uncompromised and no mold at the bottom or evidence of corrosion. I'm taking it to a rad shop to have it tested. I like the idea of original if it passes the test can be dipped stripped and painted. $80 I think. I'll be painting it myself. Your thoughts welcome.

Obtw.. while I'm in there and all these things are out of the way I'm taking some steel wool to the areas of brackets that have a light dusting of surface rust. It's minor. Then I'm masking and painting everything I can safely get to in the nose.

RockAuto is a good place to get parts. They have a water pump and gasket for $20 + shipping. I don't see the inner water pump housing gasket though. Make sure to pay attention to the small thin washer that is used as a spacer on the water pump stud that does not have the gasket cover it. It's the stub on the top left (passenger side). I also like to use a small amount of orange/red high-temp silicon on all my water pump and t-stat gaskets (both sides of gasket). Not much, just enough to get it to ooze out.

Restoring things gets to be a habit. I did a water pump replace and ended up powder coating most of the engine.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4fb06307cd.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...694ee0742c.jpg

Tell me what you guys think on this. I'm a little wary of the zone and advanced for their new radiator versus my original reconditioned. Am I wrong thinking this? Better to have a brand new zone than an original w 120k on it that's dipped stripped and painted and pressure checked? The $126 vs $80 isn't enough to be stupid. Tell what you think. (?)

is that the one you sold then the guy had second thoughts so you tried to sell it for him? I saw it it looked great. Price was fair too.

Yep - that's the one. He was able to get them both sold. He took a big loss. I was happy with the price I got and found my current 1979 GS and just fell in love with it.

You'll be fine with rehabbing the rad you have. If it had failed that's a different story. Use the dupli-color high temp engine paint if you paint it. That's what I used in those pics.

dupli/color hi temp paint and orange red Siilicone ..Those are the little details I wouldn't know to do or apply without your help. Thank you!!

Paul,the oe radiator is well made and is very effective at keeping the engine cool. If yours is not corroded,consider having it professionally gone through. Mine at 137k is original,though in late 90s i had it to my friends' rad shop where he pulled it apart,cleaned and flushed the core and soldered all back together,tested and painted. He gave it a 100% bill of health. There were no leaks,i pulled it to replace oil cooler ruined by a bird strike & since it was out... now a good time to look at your oil cooler mounts,the rubber part in particular. If one of these fails,the cooler drops down a bit and rubs on sway bar til it rubs a hole in it-seen it on a couple SE cars. While on subject of oil cooler, the foam seal that goes on bottom radiator/oil cooler area gets a little rotted on some cars. I have used the foam intended for sealing window air conditioner units successfully on several cars. This seals against belly pan so all air coming in the front of car at grille opening goes thru radiator/oil cooler instead of around it

I've read threads that warn to be careful of certain water pumps that have different geometry I.e. Bad flow characteristics. Rock auto a good source for a water pump ?or should I investigate a Mazda oem! If they even still sell one. After all it's an 85 SE.