kyleDstrong

Hello. First post here, was wanting to wait till I had an rx7, because I don't want to create a pointless account. Anyway, I'm looking for a 1st Gen. I found an 85 for sale, cheap. But its got low compression. I read up on it, and tries to find any existing questions pertaining to it. Best I could find was an 87 with low compression, but if I'm correct, that's a 13b, not a 12a. I assume 85s still had the carb 12a. Anyway I saw a post with a link to a solution, explaining the problem with the apex seals. Something about taking the air filter off, and pouring ATF down the engine, while turning the key for a couple seconds. Then you let it sit for 24 hours, and take it outside, pop in new spark plugs, and start it up, let it run. I'd like to hope that would work. my main question is the fact that its pretty far from me, but I have relatives about halfway between me and the car. Not having a truck (although I may be able to borrow a truck, but can't count on it) id like to drive it back to my relatives house, and do the work. I've looked it up, car drive all the time with low compression, people don't even realize it. The thing is, this is such a smaller engine. I'd like to know, if you'd recommend driving it. Obviously I wouldn't recommend it under normal circumstances, so really not would you recommend it, but would you think it will work without ruining the car. Probably wouldn't drive fast or on freeways unless necessary. If not, I'm just passing up the car, but it is very nice, and id like yo get it. Anything will help. Thanks.




Mazspeed's First Generation Rx-7 Club Page
. that is the procedure I taking about

lduley

iTrader: (1)

where at is the car located? is it in michigan? If its near me I may be able to offer some help

the ATF trick has been debated since the wheel was invented. But, from what I have seen/read, its is BAD, and it makes sense to me, because your putting a fluid (which has MANY cleaning additives in it) into a motor that has rubber o-rings thats are made to hold up to oil, and antifreeze, not tranny fluid,

Also, how do you know the motor has low compression without seeing it for yourself? IMO, it sounds like you want a RX7 really bad, so bad that you may get in over your head. I was there myself, and I lurked the forums and the interwebz for YEARS learning about the engine and the do's and don'ts. Believe me, I know trying to find a good shape 7 in michigan is hard, but it can be done, I actually know where theres a 83 not even 2 miles from me that has been sitting for 5+ years, body is in good shape, but the guy asked WAY to much for it

IF your dead set on the car, my theory has always been this. Go look at the car, even if its 200 miles round trip, take a road trip and look at it, because $100 in gas is ALOT cheaper than a $1000+ car that turns into a lawn ornament because you get frustrated and don't want to fix it.

FYI a 12a and 13b are practically the same engine, all the rules apply to both engines, only the deep insides of them change

kyleDstrong

I just got another text, saying that he took some parts from the car, so I can't really go with it anyway. The car was down in Detroit. I'm sure you can find it on Craigslist, but again, I'm not looking at it anymore. I always have to remind myself not to get into deep, but I'm sure you know how it is. I'll probably look somewhere in Wisconsin, since I'm actually up in the up. I'm not to worried about long term durability with the engine, as I intend on doing a swap this winter. I know most people would say that its pointless, you get power from a rotary just as easy, but I love the sound of a v8, and combined with the lightweight handling of the rx7, it just works for me. I'll find a good one sooner or later.

lduley

iTrader: (1)

oh your up there eh? I thought they were tough to find around mid michigan, 20x harder in the UP

kyleDstrong

Yeah, I have not once found a car in the up, other than for winter. I usually head to Wisconsin, or down below the bridge.



the guy sent me another message, saying he'd put the parts back on the car for sale, if I was still interests. Makes me a little weary, but my foolish heart jumped, and I had hope again. It all boils down to whether you guys think I can make it from Detroit to just below traverse city, driving it. Like I said, I intend on swapping the engine in the future, so long term durability isn't an EXTREME issue. Obviously I do care, because I wouldn't want to ruin a good engine for no reason, but I want to swap in a 5.0or at lest a more capable rotary with a turbo. I'm gonna talk it over with my brother today as well, but we don't have any experience rotary wise, and I'm sure you guys have more to say about low compression on these than we can. If I didn't say already, I don't have a truck right now, so getting a trailer isnt a big option. Maybe a relative will let us use one, but if I can't drive it, I'm probably just gonna find another

lduley

iTrader: (1)

Well, next thing you could do is put insurence on it with towing, and if it breaks down, just make a phone call and have it towed where you want

Tem120

iTrader: (5)

TRIPPLE AAA!! GET IT , 100 dollar plan !

kyleDstrong

How far can you tow with that? I thought most you can only tow a car for a bit,then you have to pay for the tow.

Tem120

iTrader: (5)

you get 4 100 Miles tows . BUT you cant get AAA the day you need the tow you need to get it like 3 days before you do . I made that mistake

atleast here in miami , a 20 mile tow is 100 dollars , So its well worth it

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

2 things Kyle.
..One is if you get a car that is RUNNING Then you can enjoy it,so IF you are looking for a car then Get someone that can help you look at it if you are not familiar with these types of cars.
Secondly,If you get a NON running car then you most likely will end up having a nice lawn ornament unless you intend on "staying up and burning the Midnight oil" on this Forum..To find out the 'ins and outs" of a Rebuild or repair.

Regardless,I wish you the best and If the car you look at is NOT running then there are LOTS more that ARE,so be patient.
I've bought 500 dollar cars that took little to get on the road..you just have to be there when the Opportunity knocks and not have already spent your hard earned cash on a "money pit".
Come to think of it my 500 Dollar car turned into a 400 HP TII swap..!

lduley

iTrader: (1)

My $450 truck has ran for 5 years, has almost 250K and the biggest issue i fixed was rebuilt the front end, and a new fuel pump

Needless to say i'm driving it until it rusts in half.....which isn't to far from happening lol

kyleDstrong

Suppose I should give you guys an update. I intend to do a new thread to introduce myself soon, which means... I got the car. It runs good. Not worried about getting it back up north. At lest I wasn't, untill I got to about Ann arbor, and the rubber hose portion of the clutch system gave out after like 30ish years of service. Spent all day so far trying to rig it up, and tried to run brake line instead, but somehow that didn't work. So after all day, I realized the guy had more than one (like a project 79, parts something and a really nice 81 I think.) so I asked if I could buy a hose from him, he has extras, so now I'm just waiting for that. Hopefully back on the road soon. Its been a long day.

kyleDstrong

New update. Clutch system is pretty much garbage. Got a spare hose and slave from the guy. Current slave bleeder is broke shut, gonna try to swap them out. If that doesn't work, and I'm sure it won't, there's gonna be a poor 85 rx7 sitting on the side of the freeway in Ypsilanti or Ann arbor or whatever. Somewhere near 2948 Carpenter Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48108. Probably gonna get towed and impounded, but if anyone is kind and fast enough, id pay them back plus reward if they got it safe for me. Probably not. Bummed because the engine didn't let me down once. It was a completely random unfortunate incident. Maybe I shouldn't have driven so far, but whatever. I'm leaving my name and number, and giving the previous owner a heads up that they will probably get a call about a rx7 in their name in the impound. Maybe there's still hope. I just want to go home to see my puppy and be happy. Ugh this sucks.

kyleDstrong

Got home, transferred the title right away. Called local Ypsilanti police. They are trying to help, and gonna give me a number to get it safely impounded if it is not already. The situation sucks. Such a simple problem ruined a first day with such a cool car. 11am-9pm trying to rig it up. Half the time pouring rain. Then an all night drive home. The upside is the little time I did drive it, I really enjoyed it. Amazing how cool even a tiny engine can sound with a carb and aftermarket exhaust. The engine ran good even with low compression, but it was taken down by a dry rotted hose. Can't wait to go get it *again*

lduley

iTrader: (1)

so then whats the status? you get it home or is it still sitting on the freeway?

kyleDstrong

Sitting on the freeway, unless it got towed to an impound lot. I'm going back down Saturday with new clutch slave and hose. I can't wait to get it home. When I do, ill post a full thing about it, unless it would be better to just do it here. I don't see why it wouldn't be fixed, but if it didn't, my dads cousin lives close enough that he can help trailer it at lest to his house. I've spent the last couple days calling around the area, trying to see what I can do to make sure its safe. "Budget towing". In Ypsilanti is the worst business I've ever had to deal with, and in turn did not. Mostly because I needed to be there for them to tow it. I've called local police, they directed me to budget towing, that was a no go. Called local police again, said they couldn't do it, highways are state police jurisdiction. Called state police, redirected to Brighton area HQ, or something like that. Didn't listen to me, directed me to: Budget towing. Ughh its annoying. But come Saturday I should have it in my possession. I hope.

lduley

iTrader: (1)

my only thing is, if the slave cylinder crapped out on you, as long as you were moving, you could've kept going, its mainly there to help shift through the gears, not to keep moving, so I'm a little confused

kyleDstrong

I know I probably should have kept going, but at the time, I didn't know what was going on. That and the multiple stops along the way. Once it was stopped we couldn't get it in to gear. I know you can get it moving and shift it, but with so much ground to cover (and serious construction) about 10 minutes away, I doubt it would have worked. Mackinaw bridge too. Not sure they'd appreciate something like that clogging the toll booth while we pushed it forward enough to start going again. I'm sure we could have done something like that, but the car we drove there probably couldn't handle alot of abuse either, and didn't want to have 2 cars stuck down in Ann Arbor.

lduley

iTrader: (1)

sounds like you need more reliable cars/friends

I'd help if I could, I'm in the tri city area, but my weekend is booked

lduley

iTrader: (1)

so it she impounded or did you get her home?

kyleDstrong

https://www.rx7club.com/introduce-yo.../#post11915406

Got her home last night. My day started at 3am, and ended at 1am. Needless to say, I wasn't posting anything till I had slept.

Edit: That link was for a new thread I wrote. I wrote it 3 times, because my phone died twice. And now its invalid. Says I've only posted this one. That sucks. Don't know what happened. If I get around to it, ill write another tomorrow.

lduley

iTrader: (1)

good to hear

kyleDstrong

Well I suppose since I'm not feeling like writing up a whole new thing just yet, and I'm wondering something. The metal rod that connects the crank to the pop up is missing on the passenger pop up. Something I can buy or no?

lduley

iTrader: (1)

ummmmm....what?

kyleDstrong

Sorry, been busy. I figured it out. Headlight retractor rod, I believe. They are on eBay. So I think that's sorted out