barn find vert
 

A while back I found a vert sitting in a friends steel building (barn sounds cooler) and decided that it would be a great idea to bring it home. $500 and a trailer later, and surprise it lives in the shop rent free now. At this point I thought a few years was fine to restart a rotary and got sidetracked into the horrible mouse smell in the interior, after a complete removal I realized that before I bought anything I should try and start it. I checked the vitals, poured some oil in and cranked over by hand. I noticed that the coolant was a little low (foreshadowing) and topped it off. After a lot of cranking, nothing. Came back the next day with a compression tester, and before I got to that I noticed that it had eaten a little coolant somewhere (more foreshadowing). After a quick compression test I got something close to 100-100-60 in the front rotor then in the back rotor I got 0-0-0, like literally nothing not even a twitch. At this point the fun cheap project turned into an expensive long project.But, I had experience replacing engines so what's the difference here. So, a few bolts, a few pictures, a little time, and a lot of elbow grease later; pop, out it came. Once it was out, a few long bolts weren't going to stand between me and the solution to the mystery so apart it came. And lo and behold why it was parked, very blown coolant seals, and broken water jacket grooves with an apex seal spring in them. The whole engine was covered in black gummy carbon+water+time junk. After much cleaning it looked much better. And after an oxy-acetylene torch and a hammer my side seals finally beat out of the rear rotor. Thats roughly the state it sat in for the rest of the summer, work and other projects that were much closer to being finished kinda ran over it and it sat in the back of the shop for a couple of months.

Fast forward a few months and school rolls around so now i don't have enough time to work after school and newfound wealth from the summer that needs spent. Everything was uncovered, cleaned, checked, and cleaned again. Then, enter clearancing side seals, I don't know how you guys do this but it took me like 3 weeks off and on and 5 messed up ones ahhhhhhhhhhhh I finally got something that looked like it fit. I did make a 3d printed tool for it if anyone out there wants it. A few more cleans, and I put most of the basic block together. That was about a week ago, since then I have waited on the roller bearings for the front to come in. While I was waiting I reassembled the interior (somewhat) and made the radio work (it's the little victories for motivation that count).

After getting a lot of ideas and insights from other people's build threads I decided its probably time for me to give back a little and create my own.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...746f61c5e.jpeg
how I found it
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...740845559.jpeg
shop looked so clean back then...
Might've been scared by the 4 ton engine crane behind it
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...884589ae6.jpeg
almost exactly how I found it
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...25d4d8ca9.jpeg
man, is that a rats nest
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...bec3b5257.jpeg
that's when he knew: this is gonna be a long rebuild
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...9d6dc2e0c.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...be9d7dd76.jpeg
ill be danged I haven't bought a special tool yet
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c074a5060.jpeg
where it sits right now



BUT; I am a spring of seemingly dumb questions, reader beware

One more pic, thought this might be useful to anyone

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...106efbdc2.jpeg
this stuffs called like structural steel or something, makes a really good flywheel stop.

I'm not surprised there was no compression, seeing the inside of that engine. Were there any broken seals, or did carbon & time do it in?

Luckily the rest of the car looks pretty good. Washing & polishing should bring that paint back around :)

No the seals were all in there but they refused to move :). I actually found that the coolant groove in the front iron was busted and glued back together, and the coolant grooves in the center iron were bulged on both sides.

the car is really in great shape for around here, a little rust in a few spots but overall really clean.

agreed, i think it will polish up and look really good

Thanks man I really hope so, I might need to color match the bumper, the previous owner plasti-dipped it black then peeled it off and it looks really weird if you look closer at it.

Before breakfast project
 

Well I decided to go out early and get to work. The top worked alright since I got the car but recently it just quit. After a little digging I found out it was beeping to indicate that it was obstructed even though there was nothing on it. I removed the trim panels around the motors, which the fsm was really helpful for actually. If I disengaged the motor clutches the top moved freely, and when I put them back in everything was great. Surprise! I decided that since I was in there I would put more grease into the gearboxes that were in there, so out they came, apart, in goes the grease, put them back, then set your time machine to x2 and viola. Now they work and they’re a little quieter than they were.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...86b8cb267.jpeg
I’m case you ever wondered what’s inside them, gears
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...47adc90eb.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c1ab1d0f3.jpeg
for future reference, do not take the black motor cover off unless you intend to check or replace the brushes as they are a pain to get back in.

after breakfast issues
 

After breakfast things got progressively more insignificant.
I fixed the cracks in the trim pieces using a soldering iron and a zip tie like a TIG welder, worked surprisingly well.
I then decided to play the game of replace a fuse and see what works now and how soon it blows.
Todays lucky contestant; interior lights
Actually not much bad happened here, the door lights and the key light began working and for some reason a beep that was really faint all of the sudden decided to become loud. The dome light still didn't work and in troubleshooting I started seeing all sorts of sparks, turns out the positive wire came unhooked and was going wherever it wanted (hence the blown fuse). I didn't have another rivet to put it back on and much less a gun to put a rivet like that in so I replaced the whole assembly with a different style that fit quite nicely.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...35249e746.jpeg
need to learn to take pictures before I put things in the car
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1b2400c24.jpeg
now how slick is that?

After that victory, time to dive into a deep deep hole.
My warning light cluster is pretty corroded in some spots and not many of them work
After a while trying to fix the traces for the clock that were corroded away I gave up and deleted the whole clock assembly because it was probably the worst of the corrosion anyways.
I sanded all the contacts and tested all the bulbs, and reflowed all the solder joints and replacing any burnt out traces with wires.
Now If I install it and turn the key on these are the lights I get
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...befb6a94f.jpeg
airbag, brake (it is on) belts and washer fluid, Door light does not work if the doors are opened
Keep in mind, ECU is hooked up but there is no engine or harness, but does that have anything to do with it or should they all be on?

That brings up a few more questions that arose.
First, the beeps; when I pull the lights fuse it's really faint but once I put it in it gets loud again, its the same beep as the one you get with the door open and the key in the ignition, except it goes beep, beep beep, beep beep, beep beep, beep beep, beep beep, beep(the one in the movie attached) and that's it, doesn't do it anymore. My airbag light does flash, there is no airbag or anything related to the engine harness, is that why?

And, intermittently I get a triple beep from the power steering computer, the FAQ section says that its stepper motor related but I'm not really sure what that means, does this have something to do with the absence of the pump?

Most of the issues you're having will be related to the cold-solder joints in the body CPU. It's the black box with three (sometimes four?) connectors on it, sitting by the interior fusebox.

To fix it, you need to take the CPU apart. Use a soldering iron to heat each joint until you see the solder turn liquid, then add a dab of fresh solder (not too much!), then remove the iron and let it cool.

The same goes for the warning lights and in some cases the logicon.

I'd disregard the power steering beep entirely - especially since there is no pump. You can unplug the computer for now to stop the beeping; it's the small silver box under the dash by the steering column, with a long white connector.

I don't know anything about the ABS system unfortunately, but I would do the above steps first as that might fix it. The CPU & warning light solder joints are the usual culprits.

I’ve gone through the warning light box entirely, should they all be on in a case like this?

So you think that the beeping is caused by cold solder joints not the stuff missing?

I think the door light, the beeping from the door chime, and possibly the airbag light may be CPU solder related.

The brake light could be, or it could be low brake fluid.

The power steering is probably due to the pump being missing. That's why I would unplug the computer for now, just so you can isolate that beeping out and diagnose the other things.

Alright I’ll have to check that out tomorrow, the brake light is just fine, I meant that the parking brake was on and it goes off if I take the brake off.

All the solder I have is lead free, is that fine with the lead solder on the rx7 boards, I really don't like to work with lead solder but I can if needed.

I forgot about the handbrake activating the light. I've only recently put the bulbs back into my warning lights.

I think lead-free is fine, although I tend to prefer the lead stuff. I think the main problem with the OEM joints is that they were too cold when soldered and didn't bond properly, and also they didn't use enough solder.

alright that makes life easier, might have a 3rd go at the dummy lights and see if I can get anymore.

I wonder if I can just bypass that whole second board full of diodes and straight wire the lights?

ive had them take more than one try too.

way back in the day my buddy had a gauge pod there and built a replacement thing, it was pretty simple, you could totally do a bunch of LED's and make it really tiny

I don't mind it I just want it to work :)

Well turns out my end play bearings are coming from Japan. In the meantime because they aren’t getting here till December I ordered some from banzai so if anybody wants to buy a pair I have a set for sale. So what follows is a series of very small projects.

First: when I bought the car the gauge bezel lived in the passenger seat and all the mounting tabs were broken off. For the top part I jb welded some 1/4” nuts to the top plastic of the dash and ran bolts through. And for the bottom part I am currently running a zip tie chain, not the best fix but it’s on there.

Second: the passenger seat wasn’t bolted down. This one actually bolted up unlike the drivers seat that I had to do some welling and uh creative drilling to get it to sit straight and not pointed at the handbrake. These are supposed to be Toyota tundra sport seats and they honestly fit pretty good.

Third: The radio was flopping around everywhere, so after about an hour of design and 7 hrs of printing it’s now mounted. I still need to make the wooden top part but it looks much better.

Fourth: I opened up the body control module and everything looked great in there, the beeps must be something to do with all of the airbag components missing.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...729907e5e.jpeg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...7b9628172.jpeg
Probably not the most interesting update I know but if you guys want a thread on harvesting and drying corn I’m sure I could pump out more updates :).

GUESSING GAME LEVEL: easy
 

Found one of these in each parts can for the door cards, I’m guessing previous me took them off.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...66342f4d2.jpeg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...3e9ef32d6.jpeg

Well I’ve been quite busy with a lot of things but I guess it’s time to catch up what’s happened in between.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...1c92ca890.jpeg
Here is the engine as it sits now, I was tired of waiting on shipping from Japan so I ordered some front roller bearings that got here in a few days. I have the other ones now as well as a front and rear main seal kit from atkins if anyone is interested in shipping from PA instead of Washington/Japan.

The next task: install vacuum pipes and wiring harness. The first thing I did was bust up a check valve so I ordered a few from dale clark and they seem to be pretty nice. But as soon as I went to install it onto the car, I found a problem.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...2d8a3747d.jpeg
Yeah it seems as though I am the only person on here that has done this or is going to admit it but I put the fill tube in backwards.(I replaced this iron and it shipped without the tube) The cable bracket was hitting on the fuel lines so it went bye bye but the nipple hits on the solenoids and I’m not sure how to get a new one to stick to the other side. If anyone has any ideas I’m kinda stumped on this one even though it seems so simple.
As always thanks for reading and happy thanksgiving!

Tube problems: fixed
 

Turns out whatever I was on when I installed the tube meant I didn’t tap it in there very hard and it came right out. I decided to replace it with the one from the other iron. Best way to get one out is to grab around where it expands at the top with vice grips, heat the bottom with an oxy torch and then beat up on the vice grip. Bingo. Turns out the injector clips were busted so while I was waiting I turned to the auto shifter that was EXTREMELY sloppy. Whenever I pulled the shifter out it seemed like there was no bushing at all. Idk if it’s going to stay auto or not so I printed a little sleeve on the 3d printer and it seemed to fix the problem. I can provide the stl if anyone wants it.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...97c0e7600.jpeg

Small update, the engine is mostly all dressed to go in but I still have a few vacuum questions.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...812443ea93.png
yea Ik it’s a really bad picture
Are the things labeled d.v. the green check valves?
And does anyone know where the heck the vacuum line from the back of the cruise motor goes??
proper update coming soon just wanted to see if anyone had an answer to those because I can’t seem to find anything.

check valve problems resolved, engine in
 

Well after going through all the broken bits of vacuum hose the d.v things in the picture are in fact the green check valves, and the cruise motor tees into the hose labeled H on the diagram.
Not much to say here, I put the engine in and for some reason it was really a pain, took a lot of adjustment, force, and wiggling but it's finally there. As of right now almost everything is hooked up except for the radiator, liftoff t-about a day.
Haven't done too much looking yet, but the short range tps doesn't pop out it just stays in, I can pull it out but there's like no spring in it. Im trying to see if I can fix/ repair/ run with it.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a9240a15b.jpeg
Now just cut the chain... Nothing to say about the crane that can lift the car.

Heard some noise today although significantly less than I wanted to.
HERE/HEREs the link to the video of what it did. A little bark on starter fluid and then nothing. Got a few similar tries like this after but nothing much. Next I unplugged the TPS because of the problems I mentioned earlier, then it proceeded to backfire out of somewhere and cause an engine fire :lol: everything seems okay it was extinguished quickly.
I'm thinking the next course of action is to charge the battery and try to start it with the intake pipe on so the air meter works, I cannot tow start it, its an auto.
Im not sure wether or not I should plug or unplug the tps after that little bang there. IDK if anyone reads this thread any help would be appreciated.

The car will not run without the AFM connected. Occasionally you will get a pop or a brief startup, but it's usually less than 1 second before it dies again. It's also a good idea to go over all the other sensors. Particularly the green rectangular one on the back of the water pump housing.

I almost forgot about that sensor. I can't seem to get the starting fluid to travel all the way up the tube and down the manifold, hence why it was off. When I went to start it the wire was broken for the starter solenoid so I used my starter switch, I just realized that the ECU had no idea the car was being started and probably was doing some really weird things. So up on my list is to de-flood, fix that wire, test the thermo sensor. What do you think about the tps in the state that its in (seems to slide fine but doesn't have the spring to pop back out), should I plug it in or not ?

The TPS probably won't matter, I think the ECU ignores it during cranking and warmup.

It's a good idea to get everything as close to "normal" as you can just to eliminate possibilities. The ECU does have a wire that it uses to sense that the key is in the "start" position and the car is cranking. This may also affect whether the fuel pump runs, since the pump doesn't run when the ECU doesn't see the engine turning. Not 100% on that.

With the green thermosensor disconnected, the ECU assumes a default of 176° F coolant temperature. So there is zero cold-start or warmup enrichment being applied. It's more likely that it didn't have enough fuel than that it flooded, though anything is possible.

So in short, plug in everything you possibly can first. Then try diagnosing if it still won't start. Otherwise you'll be chasing every disconnected sensor trying to find the problem.

Alright thanks, I’m pretty sure the thermosensor is connected but functional I’m not sure about. I’ll check that first and then fix the wire on the starter as well as hook the air intake back up.

I got the starter to work on the key and put all the intake piping up to the air filter on. I noticed a check engine code that turned out to be for the thermo sensor, turns out it was unplugged. I plugged it in and cleared the code but if I understand right it takes a while for it to come back. Checked spark and it has really good spark though the plugs seem pretty old. Crank Crank Crank, pull plugs, seem oily but not gassy. Add oil, crank crank crank, nothin. If I add starter fluid itll sputter to life but won't keep running. I can't seem to get it to use the fluid it just puddles wherever I put it. I probed where the Thermo sensor is supposed to be connected on the ECU plug and my meter reads 0.01 volts??? The fsm says idle engine cold=.4v-1.8v and 68F =about 2.4v. Im thinking about getting a new one, but wouldn't this put it into cold start mode being low like that, id expect overfueling not under?

That definitely seems like it's a problem. The voltage looks like it's out of range.

The ECU has a fail-safe, which is that when the sensor is disconnected or out of range it assumes the temperature is 176 degrees F. So if the sensor is failed it will lead to under-fueling when cold. The benefit is that when the car is warmed up, you can drive around all day with the sensor unplugged and the ECU won't care.

EDIT: Quick test, does the car behave any differently with it disconnected? Does the voltage at that pin change?

Alright, I was under the assumption that the voltage raised as the car warmed up from 1.8 to 2.4

Looking at it again, you may be right. It says "Idle (Engine Cold): 0.4V-1.8V", and then "Water temperature 20C (68F): 2.4V". So maybe it should be at 0.01V if it's cold enough. I don't know what measurement shows on that pin when the sensor is failed though, so I'm not sure.

I've only ever tested by removing the sensor and using a heat gun to watch the resistance change, but unfortunately you need to drain the coolant to do that.

Is the ECU ground securely bolted down?

Yes it is I just remade the bracket why do you ask? I think my next course of action is to try and take the thermosensor out/measure resistance somehow.

I said man, what a cool shop . .. . .And then I saw, "shop looked so clean back then..."

And then I laughed. . . .So true. . . ..Soooo true. . .

:nod:1000% it can never get clean, Maybe because I hadn’t started working on the car in that picture. I will say I am very fortunate to have the shop space I do.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...11eaf4823.jpeg
SQUIRREL, old fog lights were out and the new ones came. Not really that yellow if you ask me but certainly not white so I’ll see what they’re like.

I pulled the CAS and pushed on the AFM while I spun the CAS, and took THIS video here. You can here a faint clacking sort of blinking in and out I believe that's the injectors but even after all that clicking and fuel pump running when I tried to start it the plugs were still dry and no pops were made. Thermosensor ohmed out just fine (I removed it). But when I measured the voltage at the ECU I got -12 volts with the sensor connected but still ohmed out alright at 3k ohms, not to brag about my heated shop or anything:). So according to the internet for the voltage drop to occur the other end needs to be connected to something, so im guessing to get the FSM spec is for probing the connector when its connected ill try it later. My next guess is fuel pressure maybe, I can hear fuel flowing when the pump is on but I don't know if the regulator is just passing it all over.

Are you sure the timing is set right? It's been a long time for me with FC's and you should search to verify. Line the yellow mark on the pulley up with the tit on the front cover and pop the blind cover on the CAS. The tips of the CAS rotor should be aligned right before the pickups. Again, search to verify.
Even without fuel it should start and run on fluid, not just sputter.

Thats how im setting it, if the yellow mark is the first mark on the pulley. If you watch the video I counted that as burning all the fluid we gave it though I could be wrong. It’ll definitely run on starter fluid but I was trying to spray it through the afm and it seemed like it wasnt going anywhere. When I sprayed through the throttle blades it burnt it.

Pull the AFM, give it a solid shot into the intake tube and then put the AFM back on. Your video didn't work for me, the link is not open to the public or blocked by my organization.

Have you verified that you're getting fuel to the rail and if you've done that have you checked base pressure?

That’s what I’ve been doing, it’ll run for a little bit but once it runs out of fluid(fairly soon) it’ll just die. My plan today it’s to check fuel pressure/flow and maybe pull the fuel rail.

Molotovman brings up a good point with the timing. It will usually run with the timing pretty far out, but it's good to get it dialed in to eliminate that possibility.

When you installed the CAS, was the dimple on the bottom CAS gear aligned with the pointer on the body of the CAS?

There are a few things that need to be aligned:

- Front pulley at first mark (yellow) aligned with pointer. Which you say you've done.
- Dimple on the bottom drive gear on the CAS aligned with the pointer on the aluminum body of the CAS.

Then, with the cover off, try to install it as straight as you can. Watch the tooth alignment inside for reference, so you can see if it moves when you install it. As it slides home, it will always move a bit, but it should land more / less in the middle of the adjustment slot. Adjust it so it matches what it looked like with the dimple aligned, and then gently tighten the lock nut.

That should put you close enough that timing isn't an issue, and then you can dial it in with a timing light later on.

Yep that’s what I’m doing, might do it one more time tonight if I get a chance.

I re-timed the CAS to be sure and checked fuel pressure. I plugged a gauge into the end of the pressure line before the filter, the fsm says that with the pump running the minimum is 90psi in getting around 50 so it must be time for a new fuel pump. Notes: 50 psi is a lot so when you think you’re just going to pull the gauge out a little and let it drip think again:).
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e8f054f53.jpeg
It’s after filter in this picture but before the filter is the same I checked it.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...53cc059b9.jpeg
After about 7 minutes off.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a7b04b471.jpeg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...59e3d6a6f.jpeg
You vs the guy she tells you not to worry about
Don’t recommend the carter fuel pump from rock auto, doesn’t use the factory connector and I don’t really wanna hack up my sender unit to make it fit. I think it’s the sock it’s really gummed up, I’m going to have to take it off and recheck fuel pressure.

I can't remember, did you service the injectors while you had it apart as well?

I sent them to atkins to be cleaned and flow tested, never got the flow chart so I guess they’re alright?

The sock was definitely part of the problem, if I put the gauge straight on the pump, I get 70 psi really quick. The issue im having now is that it seems to be leaking out of the o ring on top of the pump since I only have 60 psi when the pump is installed. Has anybody ever tracked down one of these for less than the 45 dollars Mazda sells them for? Atkins sells one for a Miata that looks really similar but they also sell one for a third gen that looks similar too???? Im going to keep looking for now, $45 is a lot for that little thing:), might go to NAPA and see what they have. The car might run on 60, if I get a chance ill try it tomorrow.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...e679406ad.jpeg
Autozone part numbers for factory plugs, I just ordered new ones the old ones don't look great.
EDIT: I re-read everyones advice to make sure I checked everything mentioned and realized that my phone was autocorrecting the whole time and putting the little boxes in, sorry about that.

EDIT2: The part number is the same for the FD one(BP0213ZE5), I see 41 dollar kits that come with pump sock and o-ring so they definitely exist nobody sells them though.

Double check those plugs when they come in. Copper isn't necessarily a problem, but Rx7 spark plugs have a unique shape with four pie cuts around a straight center electrode. BR7EQ leading, BR9EQ trailing. Those Napa parts may be correct, but verify before installing.

Hopefully you can find an o-ring for less than $45.

These are from autozone, they arrived yesterday, theyre ngks and have the same shape and number and even the T and the L for leading and trailing.

Really; $45? Are you talking about the O Ring at the end of the fuel pump that goes into the tapered shaft of the fuel pump sender?