I removed the starter and it turned out it was just a bit sticky from sitting for so long. Checked the electricals going to the starter and everything checked out. Put on the car, pulled the EGI fuse and the engine began cranking for the first time in 13 years

I replaced master and slave cylinder for the clutch and removed the seats because the seat rails were pretty rusted out. I got the fuel pump out of the tank and im working on dropping the tank out of the car so i can clean out all the rust. Its pretty bad in there, im really happy i didnt try to start the car without checking. I'll post some pictures this evening if i get around to it

 

Some pictures of the progress

cleaned up the engine bay a little while working

HellaFlush

The gas tank when I just pulled it out of the car


Yum

Flushed the gas tank out with water and it already looks much better than in the first pictures. I will be looking into ways of cleaning it completely in the days to come

 

Kerosene or e85 should work best for cleaning, and are your cheapest options. If it's that rusty I'd pitch it out and source a better one. Just FYI there are several different tank sizes between models and years so try to get one like yours.

 

Work in progress


Looks heaps better than before, gonna see if i can get my hands on a pressure washer and blast the rest of whats hidden out of there. Im not really keen on using powerful solvents because I have to worry about how im going to dispose of them properly. All ive done so far is rinse the tank out with water and rock it back in forth with water and rocks inside. Im going to take a closer look at the fuel pump and the rest of the fuel system in the days to come.

 

Wow! Great job on cleaning out your tank ! Looks way better .

 

Thanks! I have way more confidence in the car starting after cleaning it, but i still want to make sure there is no chance that i will have to drop the tank out of the car and clean it again. It was such a pain in the ***
I have to clean the fuel pump as well and check to see if i can save it as well. More to come

 

Looks like a very beautiful car. Red was always my favorite 2nd gen color. congrats, and i cant wait to see more pics!

 

You'll have to put something in there or it will continue to rust. Especially since water has been in there. Kerosene is great because it has solvents that break down the build up and oil that will soak into the metal for rust protection. As long as you wet the grass kerosene won't harm anything. Just don't go dumping into the storm drain though...

 

Thanks for the tip, i'll definitely look into buying some kerosene for the fuel tank

 

Congrats on the new ride

 

started the car for the first time in over a decade today and things didnt go too badly. the car started up on one rotor for a brief moment but then the other one caught on as the engine revved up to 3k as it should. The idle speed slowly came down and stabilized to around 800 RPM. Once the engine was up to temp i gave her a rev
after i did so, i noticed the engine was inching above its normal operating temp so i shut the car off immediately. The idle became rough after revving the engine as well but it was butter smooth when the car first started up The coolant was fairly low and is very old, so i will address that issue before firing up the engine again and adding gunk out to the oil. Overall i am very satisfied with my progress with the car
PS: no exhaust leaks on a 20 year old car + the car sounds AMAZING. Rotary power!

 

That's awesome, you brought it back from the dead! What are your future plans? Street, track??

 

the plans for now are to get the car on the road and reliable for as little as possible. This will a street car and a daily drive, however, there is something to be said about a well balanced street car. I have just as much respect for tuners building well rounded street cars as well as purpose built race cars. Just look at some of BMI's touge episodes and you'll understand what im talking about.

I plan on keeping the car N/A this summer and focus on upgrades boosting handling and overall feel. Doing things like coilovers, tower struts, sway bars, brakes as well as making the car more reliable.

 

That's great plans you have for your FC, to keep it simple, and more money in your bank account and pocket .

 

An excellent plan.

"A well balanced street car" is far more difficult to build than anything else, primarily due to the conflict between performance and comfort.
Besides, IMO, the entire design of the second gen (especially the S5) was focused more towards a GT machine than outright performance (remember than even as the S5 was being released- having grown ever more portly and luxurious- Mazda was readying the FD, which would be an altogether different animal).

Brakes are easy... overhaul the calipers ( the rebuild kits are relatively cheap and the calipers are simple, so just proactively do them all), make sure the hoses are good and rebuild/upgrade the master cylinder. Resurface or replace the rotors ( basic blanks are all you need).
In terms of braking performance, the pads are the most easily changed variable.
Good street pads work when cold and get better as normal temp is achieved, race pads don't do **** until they reach temps you should never see on the street.

Suspension is also pretty simple.
Mazdaspeed bushings (20% stiffer but still rubber, so minimal NVH penalty) and some nice shocks/springs.
Unless you splash out for some higher end parts (and have the ability to set them up right), coilovers really only have two advantages over the stock setup- you can lower the car and run wider tires, neither of which are really a great idea for a street car.
Hardly a day goes by that I'm not faced with road conditions that could be fatal were the chassis a few inches lower and given our crumbling infrastructure, I'd expect normal roads to only get worse.
Wider tires will be heavier (especially noticeable on a NA) and aerodynamically worse (both conditions can be mitigated with cubic dollars, of course). Also, in adverse conditions (rain/snow) the narrower the tire, the better.

As for chassis braces...
I've tried several strut bars, the only one that made a difference was the Mazdatrix four point that ties to the firewall. Can't comment on "handling" improvements but it definitely mitigated dash creaking, so I'm assuming it was doing some stiffening at least.
Before investing in a rear swaybar, try running with no rear bar at all, many people seem to prefer it.

/end idle musings...

 

thanks for the tips! right now im focusing on putting the fuel system back together and getting the car to stop overheating. I drained all the old coolant and took a look at the thermostat while i had the opportunity. Tested it to see if it work in some hot water and it opened as it should. I flushed the rad and started adding fresh stuff. Got as much of the air bubbles out as possible but the car still seemed to inch past normal operating temp at IDLE. I also noticed that the rad doesnt seem to suck coolant back from the overflow tank

I'll take a closer look into it once i have the fuel tank mounted in the car so i dont have to run the car out of a bucket

 

It's possible your radiator cap needs to be replace if it's not bypassing (siphoning coolant from the overflow tank). When the coolant gets to a certain temperature the bypass will push up and create vacuum to draw coolant from the overflow tank. Also be sure to check the over flow hose that it is not clogged, or leaking. And maybe replace your thermostat.

 

Because buying rims fixes all mechanical problems on an RX7
Local forum member was selling these for a good price and I always loved the way crown vics look on these cars. Should be ordering a new wave of parts by the end of the weekend to come in sometime late next week
PS: stock rims are 15" while crown vics are 16". the angle just makes the rims look smaller than stock haha

 

Glad to see these wheels go to good use!

 

My parts finally came in today and I wasted no time in getting down to work. Replaced spark plugs, air filter(which was previously chewed on), and new pads and rotors all around. I also purchased a new rad cap (13psi) as i suspected the old one had past its expiry date. Unfortunately the car still overheats at idle
I'm begining to suspect the water pump itself isnt pushing enough coolant through the system. Going to look into it this weekend and see what I find. other than that issue, the car drives fine considering how long its been sitting
I can't imagine how fun this car will be once i can keep the engine cool

 

Good to hear your FC is back on the road again .

If you haven't I would say look at your thermostat too, and check the fan clutch. With the engine off spin the radiator fan there should be some resistance. If it spins freely you need to replace the fan clutch, because it is not spinning at the same speed as your engine and will not be able to keep your coolant temperature down.

If that does not fix your overheating problem, there are other areas to look into as well.

 

checked both those areas, there is resistance in the fan and she blows pretty strong

 

Ha ha ha "she blows pretty strong". And she gets hot and bothered very easy .

Well I noticed you said the coolant was low and old. Did you completely flush the radiator, add new coolant and bleed the cooling system? If so, is the water pump belt tight enough?

Only thing I can think of is like you said maybe your water pump is not operating correct.

 

got rid of all of the old crap that was in there, bled and burped the system just as the owners manuals suggested. Last time i drove it around the block the coolant light came on but when i parked it and let it cool before opening the rad cap, i had coolant to the top I dont have coolant leaking anywhere outside the car, and i didnt notice a stream of bubbles when burping the system indicating coolant leaking into the combustion chamber.
Ive replaced a ton of parts the other day along with a new fuel pump because the OEM seals in the fuel pump assy were garbage. The car PURRS at idle now. Today im going to do my best to try to diagnose why they gets so hot for me. Keeping in mind the car has been sitting for over a decade, it is possible the rad is just corroded and clogged to hell, much the same way the water pump blades could be non-existant

 

so i pulled the rad cap off to burp the system again to be sure all the air is out. The coolant is up to the filler neck and my coolant light is still on. There is noticeably more fluid passing through the system when the car heats up upon squeezing some of the heater core hoses. When the car heats up, the ENTIRE rad is cool with the exception of the bottom lip which is hot. Is is possible i have almost NO flow in my rad? the car has been sitting for 13 years so it is a possibility