Hi Everyone,

I introduced myself and my project in the "introduce yourself" section and was told to start a thread here. I'm a little in doubt how to use your knowledge best. I will certainly update this thread with pictures on my way with the project, but what when I have a question ? Do I then start a new thread in another section ? Or ask the question in here ?

Anyway here is the state at the car now, I bought totally ripped apart so it is a bit hard for me to know where everything goes. It will be a budget restoration with a light street ported and upgraded engine and suspension. The color I'll keep white and I'm planning on getting rid of the side trim.

Parts I need, if anyone have a suggestion on where to get them, have them yourself or just a thought on what to buy I'll appreciate it.

Radiator
Front bumper
suspension Springs
Exhaust, maybe I will weld it togehter myself, but what mufflers then ?

Think that was it for now.

 

Okay, so now to a few questions, I'll keep them in here for now.

I got 4 rotor houses with the car, the two broken ones have a bigger exhaust port, can anyone explain this ?`Pretty sure it is now ported.




Next question:

I noticed the front springs and dampers is not the same left and right ? Is this as it should be on these cars ? Or did someone change one side without the other ? If I need to replace, what dampers do you suggest for a street car on a budget? and Springs ?

 

Nice work.

Ebay on the radiator......just look up the original size, outlet locations etc.

I would think your location will be the hardest part... the cost of shipping and all, but I am not an expert.

I have a set of racing beat springs I am just pulling off, but I am in FL. The bumper would probably cost a bit to ship as well. I would set up some alerts for these parts.

the front strut cartridges ---KYB is the easiest option, but you get what you pay for I suppose.

 

if you want to know where stuff is supposed to go, the manuals really help a lot Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals
the radiator is easy, they are all over ebay, super cheap too

Mazda had different porting for the engines based on the model and the market, so its possible those have been ported, but also possible they are stock. the US cars were 75/38 degrees and the Euro cars had 10 degrees more, 75/48.
also the housing with an H on top is for a car with a catalytic converter, and the rest are for thermal reactors. Japan and the US went to converters in 1981, but Europe didn't switch until 1989

 

Thank for the info. I know the shipping from US is crazy expensive, I might have contacts in Japan and US that could help with shipping, so I will find out.

Racing beat springs ? Are these lower ? Harder ? Price ? And I will try to setup alarms on bumper.

 

j9fd3s: Radiator is Cheap on Ebay, but shipping from US to Denmark is crazy! And are there any issue in using a "H" housing with a normal rotor on one of the rotors ? My plan was to use the two good housing, but one of them is the "H" one.

Luckily there is no restrictions on pollution on these old cars in denmark, so no catalytic converter is needed, and I plan to strip the Nikki for as much as possible and hopefully get a more clean setup.

 

Another question I do have the Haynes repair manual and I will use it alot! But to find these parts and where they are located is not possible in that (or atleast i couldn't)

Where does these go ? Not that I need to mount them now, but I need to know if they are visible and needs a prober paint job, or they are under the car so I can paint them my self


I'm 90% sure these are under the car, or at least something that needs Black paint.

This looks like it could be under the car maybe with a fuel filter on the bracket to the left ? Or am i totally off?

No idea on this, engine compartment, air flow guide maybe _?

 

top part is where the lowertension rods I think they call them. It is where the bar mounts coming from the lower control arms. they go under the radiator area, one on each side bolted to the frame. the bar then connects them to the lower control arms and adjust by tightening/loosening the bolt. that bare will have a 22 or so mm bolt on one end and the other then will be flat on the other end with a slight curve and 2 holes for bolts mounting to the control arms. second picture is of the cover of the fuel pump...so you're on the right track there. not sure about number 3.

search google for front suspension......eh, all diagrams lol

the alerts you can set up on google, ebay and such.

 

welcome to the board.

i love puzzles, so i'm definitely in. i would love to see you put this thing back together.

as long as the port timing on the two housings you're using match each other, there shouldn't be any issue between using "H" or "non-H".

 

This should help with one of the pieces of the puzzle ..

 

Thanks for the explanations Guys! thats awesome! I'm in the process of sand blastning the front suspension parts and hopefully they will get a layer of paint today and ready for some assembly. Plan is the underbody structure parts will be Black and the controls arm will be grey, and the body will be white. Lets see how that goes.

I need some new bushing for the front though, def. the sway bar. A complete kit of urethane wouldn't be too bad idea would it ? RB makes a pretty complete kit it looks like ? Any other suggestions ?

 

yes,

https://www.rockauto.com

 

RX7_Renesis and ATC529R nailed it with the front suspension brackets. My car is pretty stripped right now so I took some more pics for you. Here's those brackets mounted in the car:


The front tension rods mount from these to the suspension arms (mine are aftermarket; yours will be solid rods). The front sway bar also mounts through them. It's impossible to remove or install the front sway bar with both of these brackets bolted in place. I would suggest mounting the bar in these, getting the bushings bolted down and then mount the whole thing under the car.

As said before, the plate with all the holes is for mounting and protecting your fuel pump. It goes up underneath in front of the left rear wheel.



The third part you show is still a mystery.

 

Your mystery plate also is a part of the fuel pump guard. Covers the fuel filter actually. I've saw these on JDM SA's but never on a north American car. Maybe they were used on FB's? Here's how it mounts with the main guard.

 

That's interesting, Thanks Bonsai. My '85 def didn't have that extra guard when I got it. Maybe a previous owner removed it to change the filter.

 

Thanks again guys! It is really helpfull for sure.

A little picture update since i'm mostly cleaning, grinding, welding, and painting I ordered new bushing for the front end but there is up to 6 weeks of delivery :O Seems like new parts is not the easiest on these cars, specially not in Europe.



More parts I recieved like this.

All Joints seems to be in good conditions, except one outer Tie rod. Any one got one ? In europe?

This was the worst rusty parts I found, A grinder and a welder sorted this though.



Started to clean up the bottom floor, was alot of dirt all over. Can't decide if I should paint the complete floor ? Thoughts?

After a good wirebrush the parts a ready for some new paint.

Same thing here, It def needs some paint on the fixed metal, but should I paint the complete floor ? Just for the aestics `?


I Do have alot of painted parts, but they are all stored on the shelf so a bit hard to share pictures of. I will wait until I get my new bushing and complete front reassembled again.

Questions:
I do have alot of heat shielding covers, does anybody have a good picure of their car underneath, for me to se how to re mount them ?
I do have a contact in Japan who could provide me with parts (smaller parts at least ) Where to I search for spareparts directly in Japan ? Is it even possible ? I do NOT read or speak the language

 

Hi Guys,

Small update, Finished the underneath of the body. All old junk was removed, rust grinded/blasted and primed with Zinc, thereafter a full spray of body black paint.









My Plan now is to assemble the rear axle, with all joints and brakes and everything and then mount that to the body. As I didn't disassembled the car myself, is there anything you would recommend me in mounting before the axle ?

ALSO a important question, I might start a new thread on this if nobody replies in here.... Which way is the Watts Link center pieces turning ? I see alot of pictures of the bracket itself away form the axle, but reading someone saying different. My Haynes shows it to be with the bracket away from the axle. Could someone please help me, maybe send a picture of one already fitted ? I'm also in doubt on which way is up and down on the bracket off course. the Watt link arms should be straight forward, either they fit or doesn't I guess. And also the 4 Link arms, there is no wrong way of facing these are their ? '


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thanks guys.

 

there is no wrong way to put it together. put it up loosely with just the 4 links, and then add the watts, it kind of goes one way

 

The only tip would be - don't torque the link bolts down until the springs are on and you have the car's weight on the suspension (jack stands under the axle - not the frame).

 

looking good!

 

I'd love to see a picture of the fuel pump cover mounted on the car when it happens. I'm redoing my fuel system right now but am having trouble figuring out how it bolts on.

 

I'm extremely impressed with the hard work and dedication you've shown to this car! Well done thus far! I look forward to seeing more progress as you go!!

 

I found how it goes. My jack stand was in the way which is why it took me so long. In case anyone else wants to see how it fits.

 

Here is a picture of both covers mounted together over the fuel pump / filter. This is a JDM car.

 

Hi! Looks like you got a long project! I also bought an '83 that sat for 12 years, ugh.
You have any luck finding a pcv valve? If so, any direction would be appreciated.