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Hi, so I've typically been a Subaru guy, but a couple years ago I picked up a cheap RX8 Shinka. Recently just swapped out the engine and fell in love with the noise it makes.
Anyway, been looking out for a project Rx-7, and one popped up for $1200 locally. Just got her towed yesterday. She's scruffy but seems pretty complete. Looking forward to getting her going again.
Details:
Car fox says 258,000 miles, LOLOLOL, 100,000 more than the odo,
No idea about the engine, other than it turns over but won't start,
Exterior is pretty straight overall aside from dings on both front quarters,
Missing door protectors
Front lower bumper is pretty messed up,
Riding on z wheels, but I have a set of clean stock FC wheels, and a rough set of black rattle-canned vert BBS wheels,
Hood appears to be made of lead and will be the first thing off the car,
Interior is ragged and needs a lot of love,
A good part of it is loose and tossed in the back, hopefully including door sill trims, original radio etc.
Pictures
Looks complete
Manual windows
Cracks and breakages
Interior trim
Pretty dirty but dry and bug-free - maybe a few ants running around
After a quick wipe down - hood was up so still filthy
Car will be a project with my 9 y/o who's showing some interest in cars. plenty of cleaning and interior work, as well as getting the 13B running again.
Last edited by kabz; 07-02-21 at 10:18 AM.
Reason: space out pics
Thanks for the good wishes.
Nate Rist had a few suggestions for me on the engine, 4 port irons and Rx-8 rotors. I'd like this Rx-7 to pack a bit of a punch.
I didn't get much today as I watched the Grand Prix then spent a bunch of time derusting my Rx-8 brake rotors. Car sat since since 2014 to 2021, so the rotors were pretty bad, and brakes a bit juddery unless used really gently.
I also found that my clutch pedal bracket has cracked and will need to be replaced. And I also need to get it registered. Riding about on a 30 day permit for now. Great car though.
I had meant to compression test the 13b in the Rx-7. It does crank over at least. No tinkly noises! I ordered a few things for the car: sunvisors, and some less cracked taillights. My next few posts, I'll be compression testing the engine, and going through and cleaning what trim I do have, including doing my best to clean and recondition the seats, and fix the front quarters dents.
Wanted: I do want an OEM aluminum hood. Color no problem, though blue or whilte would work best. NA preferred. Interior trim also needed. Dash pieces, center console, etc. I have the carpet and storage bins, and most of the pillar plastics.
Couple of pics:
Rotary twins.
Love this interior. Cleanest $1200 car ever.
Last edited by kabz; 07-04-21 at 11:12 PM.
Reason: Added pics and needed trim details.
This came out a bit nicer. I emptied a can of Bissell PRO Oxy Power Shot into it, then came back and went over everything with 1/4 cup baking soda into 1 cup hot water. Then washed the baking soda off with a microfibre and a bucket of clean water.
Well, I can hardly say I wasn't warned, but the dash on the car is so bad that I really had to suck it up and pull it. The plan is to clean it up as much as possible, then repair as necessary with fiberglass, then cover in blue Alcantara, or whatever cheap knock-off will work.
I also need to pull the carpet, in order to clean it up properly.
After a couple or hours or so of disassembly and wrestling with stiff connectors, and many (further) splintered bits of 'plastic' this was the result:
Dash filth
Overall filth
Driver side filth
Passenger side filth
Carpet filth
Thanks to my lovely wife for helping me pull the dash out.
Thanks for the kind words. I definitely want to do something reasonable with the interior.
Thanks for the note on the pressure washer. My wife has been 'pressuring' me to get one for a while to clean windows etc.
So, one nice thing about this project is there's always something small I can accomplish. So up next is some cleaning on the shell, then reconstructing some of the broken trim, then some glassfiber and Alcantara wrapping. Need to remove all the bad tint also.
Bride fabric is in hand. I have a bunch of Alcantara samples coming, a momo corse wheel coming from Thailand, and a generic cf shift **** that should work out pretty good.
A bunch of work to do on the interior, but the real meat is pulling the engine and seeing what needs to be done for the rebuild. To that end, I read the faq a few times, then just started into it. This is after a couple of hours, somewhat assisted by my smallest child.
Intake piping, undertray, radiator out. Casualties - one undertray bolt.
A bunch of work to do on the interior, but the real meat is pulling the engine and seeing what needs to be done for the rebuild. To that end, I read the faq a few times, then just started into it. This is after a couple of hours, somewhat assisted by my smallest child.
Intake piping, undertray, radiator out. Casualties - one undertray bolt.
I was lucky there. While all the stuff in the engine bay and exterior engine parts were still old and nasty the actual main part was rebuilt a few hundred miles ago. Was kinda lame to get an engine rebuilt but bolt on all the old worn out stuff.
Pulling the engine isn't too big a deal on its own, but since you need to pull the upper intake to get the harness off it's very time consuming. Luckily you have a helper!
Also, be careful when pulling it not to crunch the headlines on the steering rack (mine aren't leaky but they're pretty banged up).
Really interested to see how the interior turns out after the alcantara.
I was lucky there. While all the stuff in the engine bay and exterior engine parts were still old and nasty the actual main part was rebuilt a few hundred miles ago. Was kinda lame to get an engine rebuilt but bolt on all the old worn out stuff.
Yeah, I'm planning to clean up what goes back as best I can, with an emissions delete, as pre-96 cars here in Texas are exempt from emissions. Just a safety inspection is required.
Pulling the engine isn't too big a deal on its own, but since you need to pull the upper intake to get the harness off it's very time consuming. Luckily you have a helper!
Also, be careful when pulling it not to crunch the headlines on the steering rack (mine aren't leaky but they're pretty banged up).
Really interested to see how the interior turns out after the alcantara.
Yeah, I swapped my Rx-8, so not too worried. Just taking it carefully. What are the 'headlines'?
And yeah, the Alcantara ... It's a bit scary to me, but couldn't be worse than before, unless I really mess up. I will keep trying. Nothing saying I have to have the interior done, before I put the engine back in!
Yeah, I swapped my Rx-8, so not too worried. Just taking it carefully. What are the 'headlines'?
The "headlines" are a typo on my part, I meant to type "hardlines".
There are steel lines that run from the passenger side of the steering rack to the spot where the soft lines from the pump connect. These lines can be damaged if the engine swings into them when removing it.
The "headlines" are a typo on my part, I meant to type "hardlines".
There are steel lines that run from the passenger side of the steering rack to the spot where the soft lines from the pump connect. These lines can be damaged if the engine swings into them when removing it.
Thanks, makes sense. I was thinking about a power steering delete anyway, so I could remove the power steering pump. It's not a heavy car.
Made some serious progress on prepping the engine for removal. Power steering pump, A/c pump, alternator, air pump are all off. Inlet manifold is just held by some vacuum lines, then should come straight off. There was nothing in the a/c system, so felt able to remove it.
Not too much to note, aside from a major oil leak around the OMP. Planning to delete this, and just premix with 2 stroke oil, Idemitsu etc. Vacuum lines totally hard and in the main just fell off their nipples.
I also worked a bit on the tint removal, and with windex and some black bags, the tint cam off the back window pretty easily.
Thanks, makes sense. I was thinking about a power steering delete anyway, so I could remove the power steering pump. It's not a heavy car.
I currently have depowered steering (haven't driven the car yet) and it's fairly stiff when stationary. I imagine it's really only an issue when parallel parking though.
A true manual rack would be easier on the arms but you lose the 15:1 ratio and end up with a 20:1 ratio.
07-02-21, 10:13 AM
Jonathan's Blue Mazda 1987 Rx-7 Sport Coupe
