Observation. With the double pulley on the drive shaft, does it require more space between fan impellers and rad?

Never mind last comment. I'm not seeing straight!! Lol double is on alternator

Aad you have the Banzai alt tensioner bracket. I have one. Very well worth it.

Kansas I'm learning Rotary on an exponential pace lately thanks to guys like you and Mike and do many others. Who knows? I might actually be considered a "mechanic " after I get a few projects under my belt?!?!

After I get through this hoses, tstat, rad, water pump project I'm going to enjoy driving her a little bit (this not being to drive it thing really really sucks btw) then move on to a air pump delete w a 5-6 port upgrade!!!

As for the latest on those project events I'm sort of dragging my heals due to the fact rad shops in this area aren't open weekends. I work 8-5 5 days and I really want to meet the guy doing my rad. Guess I'm going to have to let Cindy just drop it off and cell call the guy to get the low down. Found a shop near by so I'm just going to take the plunge and have her drop it off/ pick it up for me. I also havent ordered the water pump, tstat, pump gasket from mazdatrix yet but will do so tomorrow. In the meantime I'm slowly installing the other hoses in their respective places for later final connections. Going to mask off some areas in front of and behind the radiator area and paint them up to spiff the bay up a bit.

Makes proper belt tension easier.

Make sure to also get the gasket behind the waterpump housing and the tstat gasket. The tstat may or may not come with one.

reference:

https://www.atkinsrotary.com/store/M...-Pump-Gaskets/

Finally after many days of foot dragging I got my rad to a shop today. Now that that's done I will order a water pump/gasket, 180 tstat, from Mazdatrix. Hopefully everything will fall in place by next week. Between now and then I should have that nose area touched up w black satin paint. Mike has been a big help and it's been determined that my steering box is a big ?. I have no idea if or when gear lube had been addressed so that's also on my list to check out while I'm in there. Guess I'm ordering oil filter pedestal o rings too since they're cheap and it's barely seeping right now. Mike enlightened me too on addressing the idler arm pitman bracket. The stock one is a joke. He told about a Moog bracket replacement that should greatly improve my steering characteristics. Between addressing the steering box and soon the idler arm I should see a noticeable improvement in my steering. More on all this while I push my lazy ass to move forward with a little more enthusiasm.!! Lol

Yeah, I replaced all the steering bits with MOOG parts. They all had zirc fittings to grease them and
initially made the steering kind of heavy until it got settled in and used a bit. I grease that idler arm 2 times
a year because it gets cooked by the header heat.

exactly what Mike said. And, it only makes sense so close to the header. The stock pivot point on the pitman arm is off of a GLC Mazda. What a piece of crap it is. The plastic bushing is so small and thin walled that it probably disintegrated a couple months after I put s new one in two years ago. It's on my short list of upgrades.

Box of goodies showed up today from mazdatrix. Now I await my radiator... ugh. I have a need for speed..

Got my radiator back. What a disappointment. I'm really not sure what happened but it came back with bracket soldered back on but quite sloppily. It was dipped, pressure checked and flow tested according to the rad shop guy but it just wasn't right yet. No paint. Didn't pull the top and bottom off and rod the core. He said it was in great shape and didn't need any of that. I'm taking it somewhere else for a second try. If it turns out more money than I can spend I'm going to feather the shitty solder job and prep it and paint it as is. After I reinstall it I'll flush it with Prestone flush and run distilled water through it a few times. I should've flushed the system BEFORE I took it all apart but I wasn't thinking clearly. Now I'm going to wait and install the new water pump and tstat after I get it all flushed out. Thanks to Mike for his guidance so far. More later!!

I had a similar experience with a rad shop before. I will never take another rad to a shop again. I'll pay the extra for a new rad. I can understand wanting to keep things original, but the rad is one place I will compromise on new over original.

I blasted and repainted the rad on my old GSL-SE

Before

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f6fef763b4.jpg



After
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8595f6bffd.jpg

Well Kansas I'm likely to do the same. Close inspection of it says it's solid and still effective. No leaks. The only reason I even removed it is because it's the right thing to do starting with all new hoses, tstat and water pump. The car is a cream puff but that doesn't mean the cooling system is. Evidence of that shows on every hose I removed, no cut away, with corrosion on the steel tube ends. I know the system isn't clean. If I have to spend $200 on doing it right I may have to pass for now and just hope the flushing and refills on distilled water run/flushes gets it close to right. Once all that is over I'll install new tstat and water pump. This isn't the technically correct way to do this but funds won't allow, for now $200. I've got another rad shop to check out but I'll ask the right questions this time. Pic of tstat housing indicates corrosion in the system. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...3fdccff666.jpghttps://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1403327c30.jpg

On the above engine, the t-stat neck was completely rusted through. Lucky I had a spare. The only reason it still worked was because the hose and clamp didn't allow it to leak.

I would replace that t-stat neck.

affirmative! Mazdatrix doesn't carry that one anymore I'll try elsewhere. Any suggestions?

Just found oem on eBay for 29.00. Think I'll grab it. Only 2 left.

Ordered. Thanks Kansas! I felt the same, so did Mike. Just another hurry up and wait for it moment!! Lol

Tstat housing came last night!! Today I've decided I can't afford a core rodding (225$ estimate) so I'm going to start flushing rad before it's installed.

This may seem a bit of a waste of time but before I put radiator back in place I poured vinegar in it and letting it sit and agitating every hour. Researched it and seemed like a good idea to me. It works well on coffee makers so why not here(?) I'm going to paint it tomorrow after it dries out. Bought VHT 500 degree gloss black paint. Man I am jonesing to drive it again. Haven't driven since DGRR

Minor setback.my fault. I got the wrong tstat housing. 12a not 13b. Here's the difference. https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1abdd3629a.jpgAnybody reading have one?

Well it's been a month and a half since DGRR and it's still on jackstands. Searched a lot of places for new tstat housing but no show. I bought the wrong one as j mentioned but took the 12a tstat housing to work where we have a dozen first class welder/finishers. One such was Ed. His work looks like jewelry. After he finished it he said "buy me a drink at the bar next time I see you there"... think I'll buy him a few. His work below. Shows old one and the new one side by side. Looks like stock.https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e9a537b875.jpgBefore
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...eefb50bd1c.jpgAfter

Oh yea!! Finally got the radiator painted today. Been hot and very humid but between rain storms I got it done. Used VTH 500 degree paint. Looks good enough to continue. Hoping to get it back tomorrow. Getting closer to a drive soon. Phew this sucks. Lol!! https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8244d86b69.jpgBack
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...9dce205898.jpgFront.. not perfect but solid and clean again.

Looks like a box o' hoses there behind rad. Let's go,paints' dry by now . Don't be slacking now,get this done,you have other things to do to this car yet...lol