3rd Project's the charm
 

Well, after the engine blew on my FB a few years back, I had it for another year and eventually had to sell it. Now I have the chance to pick up this project.
I know she's not much to look at currently, but I'm hoping to restore her the best I can.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ac8ea3634c.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e7bbccfee6.jpg
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https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f84685ba83.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...3d6dd1cf01.jpg
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Now I already found another FC in the junkyard near me, and managed to snag some goodies from it, although most of the interior has already been torn apart. A friend is going to give me a full set of T2 wheels, so 5 lug conversion here we go!

Unfortunately, the driver side tail light was damaged in the wreck, so I'll be on the hunt for one of those. But everyone does S5 tails so I'm hoping I can get an S4 for cheap. A lightweight flywheel is planned, so I got the counterweight off this engine, although a chisel to get the nut off left some dents, I assume that won't be an issue.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...05a16c0d35.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...bd74e208bc.jpg
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https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...3e273f986c.jpg
Amazing how nice something looks when soaked in Lemon Juice, eh?

And one trip to the junkyard to help a friend try to tear that engine down, and I have a full set of T2 wheels and the front hubs to complete the swap. Hope I can use the single piston front brakes with them.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...80728491a8.jpg

Great start!
Are the single piston brakes the ones on it now?

Ya, they're the ones that came stock. I'm imagining I'm going to need to get 4 pot calipers up front, as I'm reading that the brake discs for the 5 lugs are thicker and won't clear the single piston brakes. I see plenty of new calipers on Rock Auto but they're all single pots and I have no clue if those would work or not.

Wow, looks like you have a lot of work ahead of you! But underneath all that dust it doesn't look too bad.

Correct, to match the 5 lug rotors, you'll need either the 4 piston FC calipers or the S6 FD calipers. They are functionally the same, they just look a bit different. The front brake discs aren't thicker than the 4 lug ones IIRC, but they have a larger diameter.

For the rears, you also need a new set of calipers because the rear rotors are now vented and are thicker.. These are a lot trickier to find nowadays, but they are around.

Good luck, looking forward to more updates :)

Ah, that's good to know! I'm sure I'll be able to find the fronts in due time. Until then, it'll stay with 4 lug, as I'd rather do it all at once.

The calipers in the picture with the cluster and other parts are the rears off the GXL I pulled the hubs from, so I assume those will work, ya?
Getting the shell officially Friday, can't wait to tear into it and see how much of a mistake I've made. :lol:

Sorry, I hadn't noticed the rears there :) Yes, they will work.

So officially picked the car up today and found some more stuff to work on. Boy what a number has been done to this thing. Rear fenders have a slight dent in it, but doesn't seem bad. Can easily be pushed back out. A lot of the nasty over the white is just dust.... a LOT of dust. However, the sunroof seems to have been sealed with... white caulk? Very odd, but I intend to remove that stuff ASAP, as I genuinely miss having a sunroof (my MS3 doesn't have one). Few other things worth noting is that the cranks on the windows pop off rather easily, which I think should be an easy fix. The door handle on the driver side is removed but present, looks like a small white retaining clip inside is broken, hoping that won't be a pain to replace. And cluster surround is missing some knobs, which I'm hoping are just missing, and not snapped off. Will be getting a better count on things tomorrow, but what gave me a happy little surprise, is the stock spare wheel was still present and luckily had a useable tire!

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...8b3c775c4f.jpg

So, I finally got to properly tear into it a little. The wiring is... well, it's seen better days. Trying to get the dash to illuminate actually caused the dash module (with the knobs and such) to start smoking. Luckily I have a friend who's good with circuit boards and soldering who's going to look all the modules over for me.
The sunroof buttons and overhead lights were completely out and I'm going to need to figure out how to repair the actual unit as it's not just bulbs.
The radio worked however, even if the power antenna did not. We managed to get a rough signal on a station, but after taking apart the rear tower speaker box, those speakers are beyond shot. So a full speaker replacement is in order, which I'll probably just run new wires to and run from an amp.
Taking the instrument cluster out, it turns out the speedometer cable is missing the center dowel, is that it's own internal piece that may have slide downward into the cable, or am I going to have to outright replace the whole cable?
But this right here is my most concerning part I found. Cut harness in the engine bay, and I have no clue what it goes too. I know there's not much info to go on in this pic, and I'll get one later with some more surrounding stuff attached, but anyone got any pot shot guesses on what it could be?
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0fe0a56a1c.jpg

More pictures would definitely help, but my crack shot guess/hope is the electronic suspension wires? I looked at the engine bay shot and saw the covers were missing, no idea if it came on your car in the first place. I just know it has 3 or 4 wires...

I think this was a base model, so no electronic suspension to be seen. So that would be best case scenario.
Here's the pictures I got of the wire, along with the harness going both ways. At the end is this sensor, which looks like it could be a temp sensor of some sort? It's been a hot minute since I worked on a rotary (at least 3+ years?) so I'm not entirely sure. It almost reminds me of the reverse sensor from my 91 though, so maybe these wires are transmission related?
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0257fa63d3.jpg
At the end of the harness
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...73c65f7be4.jpg
The cut wires and some connectors near it
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...83c6f20ad8.jpg
Where the harness leads back to the main bundle

Also found this connector under the glove box and not quite sure what it goes to. Any ideas here?
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ee7d6c09ec.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a4389c3401.jpg

And here's just a few bonus pics of the T2 Diff (is the only way to tell the difference between S4/S5 or Clutch type/VLSD to remove the half shafts?) as well as the Sunroof, which I cut the caulking to try and open, but when trying to run the manual screw with a Allen, just makes a click and doesn't move at all. I assume I just need to remove the whole thing and give it a total refresh.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...2d5e8c0ef6.jpg
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So this weekends excursion was all about the sunroof. I got it fully taken off (and broke the A pillar trim in the process, as is tradition) and it was completely seized on one side. Ended up having to unscrew the dang cable out of the copper pipe. I'm going to clean the cable up and hope that the twisting and such didn't damage it, although the gear seems to have stripped the cable slightly at the motor. Hoping not to the point it's unusable. As for the copper pipe, I think any generic copper piping can be used as long as I bend it smoothly and flare it slightly at the ends, right?

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e724e781ef.jpg
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I am an absolute pro in breaking these
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Finally got it out, weather stripping is kill though. Going to have to replace.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...edc734e148.jpg
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Cable wouldn't come out despite my best efforts
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...447e53af5d.jpg
Had to unscrew it, crazy rust in that tube
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...4f0f1280fd.jpg
Managed to slide it open
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...cafe245389.jpg
Timing gear looks like it's seen better days, but still functional as far as I'm able to tell
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b710d17ce6.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...689e77b00c.jpg
Slight damage where the closed motor position sits, but hoping not stripped out enough to be unusable

i really like this project. good luck with it.

After doing some investigating, it looks like that 4 wire that was cut is for the crank angle sensor. There should be a heavy guage copper wire that goes to the alternator... the other end of the harness connects to the starter and then it branches off with the temp sensor looking fellow that goes to the trans, where there are 2 very similar looking sensors, according to the FSM, one is for 5th/reverse gear, and the other is neutral. (#8, and #9).
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0557a9e41a.jpg
Looks like the part you were holding initially.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...12babc89e4.jpg
Alternator line on the left, crank angle sensor on the right with red, blue, green, and white wires.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d5bd80eea5.jpg
#8 and #9
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d46ca5be7c.jpg
#9 (5th/reverse gear)
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6f18c183e1.jpg
#8 (neutral)

I think this one might be for the built-in amplifier. The green wires look like the speaker wires.

Thanks, it's gunna be tough, but nothing I can't handle I hope.

Hmmm, this is good info. I'll give it a closer look on Thursday (got the day off) and get back to ya there, but I don't remember seeing the heavy gauge wiring for the alternator anywhere near where those wires were cut.

Ah, in which case I don't have to worry about it then as I plan to replace all the speakers with aftermarket and using a separate 6 channel amp. I was thinking of staying with the stock radio and modifying it to have more modern features and sound quality, but it seems like I won't be sticking with the stock interior unless I can get a lot of pieces together and a whole new dash for cheap. Otherwise, custom fiberglass interior with a more plush top material.

So here's todays dig in. Found one more wire that was cut (or maybe it broke off? It doesn't particularly look cut clean) that was near the right side headlight, the sensor from the previous pic was absolutely trashed, the alternator wire has the crang angle sensor connector still there, as this seems to be a completely different wire going towards the tranny.
Also seem to have found some surface rust on what I believe is the frame, but it doesn't looks very bad. I assume I can sand that down and repaint it?
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6bb5e87bc4.jpg
The cut wires next to the branch with the alternator wiring.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...79d6593461.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...2da5d81271.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...26fda2c417.jpg
Various angles of the cut wire with more connectors showing.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...fe4f6409a8.jpg
This thing is dead, are the reverse and neutral sensors the exact same?
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7e26aa521a.jpg
Found this just stuck into this, what connector even is this?
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...3771448aef.jpg
Where that new cut wire leads to on the harness
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...cbd378c0bb.jpg
Cut(?) wire near the headlight
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...0d197fd1ca.jpg
Rust on the frame, doesn't look too bad
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a611ff35be.jpg
This mystery part was sitting on top of the brake master, what is it?

I've definitely seen worse rust, should be fine to grind it down and clean it up. Nice project

Very cool project!!! Looks to have been Sapphire Blue Metallic originally, which is a great color! Excited to see where this goes!

This one looks like it might be the fuel pump service connector. Is that a rubber sheath around a yellow connector? If so, when you jump the two terminals your fuel pump should run constantly while the ignition is on. There is not supposed to be anything connected to this normally. Someone correct me if I'm wrong... I'm going off of memory/quick searches because I no longer have that harness.

So just tonight i managed to secure a S4 NA engine with transmission, I won't have it for a few months (guy said he was willing to take payments over a few months for it) and all it's missing is a starter and alternator, which I think I can nab both of those from the junkyard.

Ah, perfect. Grind it down and slap on a new layer of paint there.

Ya, I'm actually pretty excited to see if the paint underneath is somewhat salvageable or if it's going to need a full repaint, in which case I might go for a deep metallic purple.

Indeed it is a rubber surround. Does it need to be jumped or is it just a diagnostic connector of sorts?
Also, you have a 6 port turbo? Mind if I ask what the benefits of a 6 port turbo over going 4 port is?

You'll only want to jump the connector when you're diagnosing the fuel system. Otherwise, just pull the jump wire from it and keep it around.

In my opinion, the only benefit in having a 6-port turbo is cost and availability of parts. Doing a 6-port turbo conversion isn't necessarily the "right way" of doing things, but it's a cheaper way. Finding a TII engine locally is next to impossible for me, and turbo engines and parts are getting pretty expensive, so I made a logical choice and port matched a TII lower and bought all the factory turbo goodies to start with. I also ground out the exhaust sleeve diffusers.

From what I've seen so far, stock 4-port engines will have better low-end torque than 6-port engines with similar setups. The design of the intake ports are just better in 4-port side housings for low to mid range RPMs. Higher compression rotors help to mitigate the difference, but if you have 4-port side housings and 9.4:1 rotors you should get the best of both worlds, assuming the car is set up well. It appears that top end power isn't affected so much by the design of the 6-port housings. If I ever build a replacement engine, it will have the TII irons.