This is going to be a build thread centered around my '84 but I have a lot going on with Rx7s around here so I will include a few of our other projects from time to time. My family has been into Rx7s since 1994 and over the years we have accumulated a few cars and parts.

​​​​​A little history of my car: My grandfather acquired it in 1998 with a blown auto trans, and went about manual swapping it. He then used it as his autocross car from 2001-2004. After the '04 race season it was parked in the barn and never touched until August of 2020, when it became mine.
I have spent the past couple of years gradually getting it roadworthy. Sofar I have: Bought a new (used) tank and did a full tank restoration (clean,etch,seal), I made all new fuel and brake lines, rebuilt all the calipers, replaced all the rotors, a new aluminum rad, fixed some rust, new plugs+wires , plus a million small things. Today I rebuilt the OMP, replaced the bushings in the idler arm, and installed my Dad's old RB header + midpipe. Before I bore you too much here is a few pics of my car.





My plans are to make the car a fun driver, with reliability in mind. It will be getting new wheels + tires (Konig rewinds), and a new Racing Beat muffler. The car needs very little to be put on the road. The plan is to have it ready in the spring, in time for deals gap.

With my car out of the way here is one of my other projects.

This '79 spark yellow, I like this car for no reason, it's rusty, has a locked engine, and will be a complete money pit. Hopefully I will choose to spend my time working on cars more worthwhile but I probably will work on this one anyway. ​​​​​



​​​​​​There is a racecar, my Dad's GSLSE and a few that are future projects. Around here there is no shortage of projects, being bored, and having too much money is definitely not a problem. I figured that it was time to start a build thread to keep a timeline of what I do and hopefully keep my word for having this car road worthy by spring.

 

Awesome.......we like build threads.......Good luck and keep us posted .....

 

Both cars are more than worthy of a restoration! I would follow your plan and get the Tornado Silver 84 up and going as it will be the quickest and easiest. Once you have it running and driving well, the 79 will definitely be fun to dig into and restore. To me, it's more fun to restore a 7 when you currently have one as a driver already. Something about driving one car motivates me to work on the other.

 

That is the plan, the 84 is not too far from being put of the road, a few more suspension bushings, a carb rebuild, installing the new muffler, and some new tires, an it will be ready. Hopefully getting it on the road will encourage me to work on more of the fleet, I hate to see awesome cars sit. But yes my 84 is getting done first. There are so many distractions...

 

I can relate. I have so many project cars that is super hard to focus on just one. It's fun to tinker a little on each but I do need at least one of my 7's roadworthy at all times as I fix things on the other cars.

 

I am now building my 84's exhaust and need a presilencer/resonator, what have you guys used? I know that racing beat has been the standard in rotary exhaust for years but their recent quality issues have me worried. I have looked into some vibrant performance resonators and they look promising but I don't know what to expect from them. We have had troubles in the past with burning up mufflers and presilencers in our rotaries, but haven't built a new exhaust in a while and I hosetly dont know what will last. Thanks for any help, I can't wait to finally shut this car up!

 

For the past 6 months the GSL has just sat collecting (a lot of) dust. Finally today I did some notable work on it.

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First I replaced the speedo cable, the old one had been ripped out for whatever reason. Then I installed the carb I had rebuilt a few months back, it took a while but I finally got it all back together.


​16 dusty years in a barn didn't make the engine bay any prettier, I plan on giving it a good detail soon. I also just got some new all seasons for the stock wheels, I figure they would be a good fall/spring/storage tire. Still haven't decided what I want to put on the 15's. Next step is to address a leaky brake caliper, and finally bolt up my RB muffler.

 

Glad to hear that you've made some progress on the 84! Any progress on the 79?

 

Kinda. I have compression tested one of the parts cars and it seems to have an OK engine. The original plan was to then swap that engine into the spark yellow. But recently a white 80 has gotten my attention, it is cleaner in and out, and was originally sunrise silver. So one of those cars is my next project. I will choose whichever is the easiest to get going. Here is a photo of them both. And yes I need to stringtrim, these cars weren't supposed to stay were they are very long.
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​​​​​​We said before that there are many distractions, sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy store with all these rx7's for me to work on.
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I didn't realize that you picked up another SA! Well done. Build the white one first and then the yellow one. No reason not to other than time and money. I run into that here and there with my projects. I have a Beige 84 GSL-SE that I've been working on for a couple years. Pecking away at the car slowly. 20 years ago, the car would have been done a year ago lol. But with me working two jobs and having to do a lot around the house with 8 kids, it's difficult to spend the time I once did on the restorations. I'm hoping to accelerate the restoration but time will tell.

 

Wow 8 kids! That is awesome, and a handful I'm sure. From the posts you have made on this forum you seem to involve them with your car work a lot, that is really cool. It is the best working with your dad/grandad. When I put the rebuilt carb on my 84, my grandfather was the one who assisted me in getting in running. Him and my father both have taught me all I know. Also everything takes time, I certainly hoped my 84 would of been on the road sooner, but I'm taking my time and doing things right, (That's what i tell myself anyway).

 

Taking your time and doing the job right is absolutely essential. Always do the job right the first time, that way you don't have to do it again due to sloppy and rushed work. It's ok that your 84 isn't on the road in the time frame you had in mind. It will make it that much more enjoyable knowing everything you've done is right.

I do try and involve my kids in all of my projects. I try and make working on cars exciting and when I take them for cruises, I try to make it a small adventure. At least with the little kids. My older kids could care less about the adventure, they just want to drive the cars lol. They are the next generation of caretakers for these cars, and teaching them everything I know is key to leaving behind a proper RX-7 legacy.

 

Two huge steps have now been finished and I couldn't be happier. Firstly I installed my RB muffler that I have had since 2021. I must have gotten lucky because it sounds pretty good, it is louder than I would like but not droney or metallic. I think I may install a new presilencer down the road, but it is not immediately needed.

Today I mounted my new wheels and tires, they are 90s Enkie 92's with some 185/70/13 "Laufenn" all seasons I got off of tirerack. I think both look pretty good on the car.




I am very pleased with how this car has came along. With the rebuilt carb it is now running great. And the wheels and tires make it look much more presentable. This car is so close to being roadworthy. I have to decide if I should put it on the road with this little time before salt season.

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very cool fb, I love that grey color. I have a question about your exhaust because I am looking into opening up my completely stock exhaust system. At least a little bit. Do you have the RB catback or is it just the RB muffler? They look pretty similar other than the bit of tubing that wraps over the rear axle area on the catback. is the rest of the exhaust system stock? Either way hearing that it doesn't sound metallic is very encouraging. Keep up the good work!

 

Thanks! The exuast is mostly Racing Beat. It has an RB "Street Port" header. That header has dual outlets but after the header flange it merges into one 2.5 od, then it has an unknown brand bottle resonator then it goes into the RB "Power Pulse" muffler. Down the road I may install a Vibrant Performance resonator/presilencer to cut down on the noise. But as long as it doesn't have any tinny sound it doesn't have to immediately be done.

 

I have accomplished a lot on my GSL over the fast few months. Firstly I replaced the swaybar and radius rod bushings, they were in dire need of replacement as they were 40 year old originals.

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I also installed a reman front drivers caliper, and messed with the seal in my driver's rear calipers parking brake. I replaced the limited slip gear oil in the rear end, and filled the transmission with redline MT-90.

 

I also converted the car to screw in lug studs, I wish I had bought the ones off of Atkins Rotary, I bought the ones I did because they were about 1/8 longer. What actually showed up was different than what was pictured when I ordered and I wouldn't have been able to use them if I didn't have access to a lathe.


I don't like how far they stick out but they will work.
Then lastly I replaced the fuel pump. This car has always had a fueling problem and I finally found out exactly why, this was what my line coming from the old pump looked like:

I remember the line being tight when I put the pump in more than 3 years ago, but I didn't realize that is eventually became crimped like this. So today I installed a Holley 12-427 low pressure pump. I mounted it to the car because the original fuel pump mount was too crowded. It is bolted in with some mountain bike tube to allow it some vibration. I plan on making my own Aluminum or sheet metal cover to protect the rubber lines and fuel pump.

And with that I have to figure out why my headlights do not work, call up Hagerty for insurance, and head to the funnest place in the world... the DMV. Speaking of, does anybody have an idea for a custom licence plate?

 

This past weekend was grind time, I knocked out lots of the little things that the car needed to be road worthy. They say that the last 10% takes 90% of the time and that has definitely been the theme for this car. Yesterday I got plates for the car and tomorrow I am going to take it for its first test drive. I cannot wait to finally drive my car for the first time!

 

Awesome……nothing like the first drive……enjoy

 

First drive!! The car ran great and drove very well. I did however loose the speedometer 1/2 mile in and the return fuel line started leaking on the way home. I was however able to go fill the car up and then drive some on the Blue Ridge Parkway. In total I probably put close to 40 miles on the car. Cannot wait to fix a few of the little things and drive it more!




Time to change my signature from future weekend driver to just weekend driver.

 

Wow! Had not realized that it had been this long since I have updated this thread. However a lot has happened with my GSL. From the begging of February to the end of March I struggled with a fuel problem that ended up being a rusty tank of gas. Afterwards the car ran ok but then seemed to have a weird timing issue, a manual ECU seemed to help, however did not completely resolve the issue. I replaced the plugs, wires, and just this week, the coils. The coils have made major difference and may have solved my problem completely.

Mostly this car has become my weekend daily driver, and it has been pretty great!



​​​​​​I still have a hefty list for this car and I will list some of it here.

Brakes: Rattle in the rear with a pull to the left from the front.

Reverse Lights: Need to figure how to wire manual reverse lights into an auto car harness.

Speedometer: Still doesn't work, speed by rpm works but speedo should be fixed.

Radio: Previous owner stripped all the speakers from the car, any recommended audio upgrades would be very appreciated, I am going to be using the factory head unit.

Paint: I need to paint the windshield trim and mirrors, I am trying to make the car look as presentable as possible without painting the body.

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Nice job on the car.

The head unit in my 82 died and I am going to put in a Bluetooth amp and new speakers in all 4 corners.

I am thinking that 84's had switched to a DIN unit, but somebody might want to pipe up on that.

Even if I had a the ability to put in a DIN unit, I think I would still be looking at a Bluetooth amp due to the age of the wiring. I am running all new 16 gauge speaker wire.

In prep for installing the amp, I had the alternator rewound. Even after 42 years the alternator was still putting out 49 Amps, it now puts out 65 Amps.

 

You should look at the rack & pinion swap from MT theory for the steering.

 

The 84-85 had a double din unit. I am keeping the original just for that classic look. I have thought about mounting a modern Bluetooth unit in the glovebox and keeping the original. I think a very basic setup would suit me fine given my inexperience with car radios, and a complete lack of knowledge about what a proper system should sound like. I have however thought that it would be really neat if I could wire in an aux or bluetooth connection in place of my cassette deck signal. Then I could interact with my factory head unit and use my phone for playing.

As for the rack and pinion swap. MTheory seems to have a very well-done kit, however at the price I have other priorities for this car. I also have the tools and capabilities to make my own if I wanted to. As far as first gens go, my 84 has a fairly tight steering box.

 

I used the connection between the tape deck and the head unit in my car. It used an AT plug (Used to be used on early PC's also) and there is a thread on how to make the connection work. I found it 14 years ago on here.

It worked well, but the head unit had been failing even before I got the car from my Dad. I always thought it was due to my Dad blowing the speakers, turns out the head unit was going bad. Discovered that when I replaced the speakers.

I am planning on mounting the amp in one of the storage bins.