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Recently picked up a 79 spark yellow rx7, pretty sure it's an S model due to the 4 speed manual and lack of every option ever. None the less it is super clean, 3rd owner 85k miles, all black vinyl interior, resprayed spark yellow sometime in the 90's most likely, mostly original except the autozone shift **** it came with and a sick kenwood radio upgrade from the 80's!
I now have two yellow rx7's, I wrapped my fc yellow because I think they should definitely have made it in yellow. Slowly but surely I will have all the yellow Rx cars.
I had a few questions about what the S model actually came with, is the passenger side mirror really an option? Cause this car does not have one and doesn't look like there ever was one. I find it odd but if that's the way it came I plan to leave it like that.
Looking for ideas on wheels, 4x110 wheels seem to be impossible to find, also looking for any general knowledge of SA cars too! I'm pretty familiar with rotaries and Fc's but completely new to first gens.
It's been documented several times in the past, but S models came standard with steel wheels, 2 spoke steering wheel and a 4 speed. They only had low / high wiper speeds, lacked a center console, rear sway bar, exterior body moldings, electric rear hatch release, map pocket door cards, tinted windshield band and dead petal foot rest.
GS models came standard with aluminum wheels, 4 spoke steering wheel, a 5 speed and an intermittent wiper setting, plus all the other aforementioned features.
The passenger door mirror was one of several updates that happened during the first years production. All of the early S or GS cars came with driver door mirrors only. It wasn't until sometime later in 78 (Sept - Dec) that passenger side mirrors were added to the cars. Check the build month on your door tag. Early cars also had the hood prop on the passenger side and a fan speed switch w/out any on / off push button in the center.
It wasn't un common for dealers or owners to add things to the S models like body moldings or aluminum wheels. Things like the intermittent wipers, electric hatch release and rear sway bar were not things that normally were ever added to the base S model.
I knew about all the other creature comforts that came with the GS, just didn't see anything about the mirror. My hood prop is on the passenger side (which is pretty annoying), my door tag has seen better days and isn't all that readable any more, but from the sounds of it mine is a pretty early build date.
yep that right hand hood prop is dead give away for the first wave of rx7s that came over here. those will have a '78 build date. wheels on the other hand r available just limited to certain brands. konig rewinds is popular in a 15x7 with a 20 offset. other brands include enkei, weds, panasport, rota, diamond racing. this has also been discussed many times here.
Since the JDM cars are RH drive, they began with the hood props also on the right. There are actually three versions. The earliest ones folded and stowed in the bonnet itself. The 2nd version folded and stowed on the RH inner fender. Then they moved the 2nd version to the LH side on USD cars later in 78. You should be able to find a LH hood prop to install if you wanted.
So, is your car an S model with body moldings and waffle wheels? Some interior and engine bay shots would be nice.
I'll get some interior pics tomorrow, it's all black vinyl, no center console, no storage bins ect. Dash is cracked above the gauge cluster, so I'm in the market for a black dash if anyone has one. Like said above, must of had a dealer installed body molding and the waffles. Hood prop clips onto the hood, as annoying as it is to walk around to put the hood prop on, I'm trying to keep the car mostly factory, well atleast all the weird option stuff like that and the mirror. Looking for period correct wheels, the konig rewinds are kinda what I'm looking for, always loved watanabe's. Bought wheel adapters for 4x100 but they seemed to be slightly off, a friend was gonna let me have his miata bbs wheels which woulda looked good.
Trying to get a clutch/trans issue figured out right now. Doesn't seem like the clutch is fully disengaging when the pedal is to the floor, I replaced the old hydraulic hose and slave already but that didn't help. Supposedly a brand new clutch, read that too thin of a gear oil can cause hard shifting after driving for a bit but even at a stand still with it in 1st and clutch to the floor I can rev it up and have the car start moving. I'm guessing I need to adjust the pedal a little bit, or maybe I just have the wrong slave on it?
Rear storage bins weren't a thing until 81 with the intro of the FB cars. You have an adjustment rod at the clutch pedal which pushes the piston in the clutch master. Do you have an excessive amount of free play before the rod contacts the piston? You mention replacing the flex hose and slave cylinder, what about the clutch master itself? I assume you bled the system properly too. You can see the slave depressing the clutch arm coming from the bell housing?
Doesnt feel like there is any free play, its pretty stiff from the get go. Ive bled the slave a few times now, have not replace the clutch master yet but might be ordering one soon since its pretty corroded looking. Im gonna try adjusting the pedal and maybe put just a little bit of pre load on it.
Can you use a 6 inch scale or similar and measure the distance from the face of the clutch arm to some reference point on the slave cylinder? Measure it both in the static position and with the pedal fully depressed. You should have at least 1/2 or so of travel. If not, your not getting enough travel, the problem probably lies somewhere btw the pedal and the slave.
If you have enough travel, could be the clutch itself inside the bell housing.
Bled the slave some more yesterday, that helped maybe a little bit. Squeezed my fat butt under the dash and adjusted the pedal free play and gave it just a little bit of preload. That helped tremendously, reverse still sounds like a bolt action rifle and still not the easiest to shift at higher rpm's. But normal driving is much more normal now, I'm going to check fluid levels and potentially change it in an effort to fix the reverse grind.
reverse is not synchronized so it's going to grind if ur still moving or shifting straight to it from neutral. when first starting the car in neutral, select some other forward gear like 2nd before going into reverse, all while keeping the clutch depressed. this will stop the gears to allow it to go into reverse without grinding.
reverse is not synchronized so it's going to grind if ur still moving or shifting straight to it from neutral. when first starting the car in neutral, select some other forward gear like 2nd before going into reverse, all while keeping the clutch depressed. this will stop the gears to allow it to go into reverse without grinding.
You know what, I've been doing that for years and just never understood exactly what was going on. Thanks.
09-27-20, 07:19 PM
