94' r2
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 15
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From: North Carolina
94' r2
Greetings!
My name is Kyle. To start things off, I've been in love with the 3rd generation RX-7 for right many years and finally found an opportunity to pick one up. I owned a 91' Z32 for eight years that I eventually twin turbo swapped and then 5-speed swapped. Near the end of those eight years, I was introduced to the Miata and fell in love. I sold the Z and replaced it with a Lava Orange Mazdaspeed Miata. The FD is more or less a bigger Miata and I told myself if I found one cheap enough, I would sell the Mazdaspeed, but I didn't anticipate finding one so quickly.
That brings me to the '94 R2 that I recently acquired. There's a good story behind the car that I will get to later on, but I wanted to introduce myself first. I purchased it off a pilot in the Air-Force that owned it since 2000. Long story short, he drove it very sparingly, went on deployment in '08, and the car has sat ever since up until a few weeks ago. 75k, completely stock (down to the Mazda cassette player), vintage red, 5-speed, with black interior. I'll upload more pictures, but wanted to highlight the condition in which it was picked up and where it was stored for the last decade. The previous owner informed me the engine was rebuilt back in the early 2000's and had only a few hundred miles on the rebuild when it was parked in '08. I found the receipts for the rebuild in the glove compartment, so that calmed my worries.
I took all the necessary steps to get the car ready to start for the first time since '08. This is my first rotary engine and I've been doing nothing but reading and research for the last two weeks. Focusing on getting it running, verifying compression, and reliability mods will follow if the aforementioned conditions are met. The first order of business was to drain the decade old gas, which was a little over halfway full, and proceed to add fresh 93 octane with pre-mix for good measure. I had a suspicion the fuel pump would be inoperable, and it wasn't a surprise when the car wouldn't start. The current plan is to replace wearable items including, but not limited to: tires (with a production date of 1999), belts, clutch master and slave, fluids, brakes, stoppers for the pedals (disintegrated upon inspection), rotors, rebuild the shifter (fulcrum bushing, lower bushing, and both shift boots are completely destroyed and I've never seen these components in such a state of disrepair), and obviously replace the fuel pump. Planning to get around to starting it up this coming weekend and go from there. Power is of no concern to me, so keeping it around stock power would be ideal. RWD, twin turbos, Torsen LSD, 5-speed, and a sub 3,000lb curb weight??? Count me in!!!
If you guys have any feedback to send my way, please do so! I'm not a know-it-all and I certainly don't pretend to be. These cars need to be driven and enjoyed and that's exactly what I'm setting out to do. Also, if anyone happens to have any of the cruise control components, reach out to me. I love the car, but I hate it doesn't have cruise control and would love to add it. Thanks for reading!
My name is Kyle. To start things off, I've been in love with the 3rd generation RX-7 for right many years and finally found an opportunity to pick one up. I owned a 91' Z32 for eight years that I eventually twin turbo swapped and then 5-speed swapped. Near the end of those eight years, I was introduced to the Miata and fell in love. I sold the Z and replaced it with a Lava Orange Mazdaspeed Miata. The FD is more or less a bigger Miata and I told myself if I found one cheap enough, I would sell the Mazdaspeed, but I didn't anticipate finding one so quickly.
That brings me to the '94 R2 that I recently acquired. There's a good story behind the car that I will get to later on, but I wanted to introduce myself first. I purchased it off a pilot in the Air-Force that owned it since 2000. Long story short, he drove it very sparingly, went on deployment in '08, and the car has sat ever since up until a few weeks ago. 75k, completely stock (down to the Mazda cassette player), vintage red, 5-speed, with black interior. I'll upload more pictures, but wanted to highlight the condition in which it was picked up and where it was stored for the last decade. The previous owner informed me the engine was rebuilt back in the early 2000's and had only a few hundred miles on the rebuild when it was parked in '08. I found the receipts for the rebuild in the glove compartment, so that calmed my worries.
I took all the necessary steps to get the car ready to start for the first time since '08. This is my first rotary engine and I've been doing nothing but reading and research for the last two weeks. Focusing on getting it running, verifying compression, and reliability mods will follow if the aforementioned conditions are met. The first order of business was to drain the decade old gas, which was a little over halfway full, and proceed to add fresh 93 octane with pre-mix for good measure. I had a suspicion the fuel pump would be inoperable, and it wasn't a surprise when the car wouldn't start. The current plan is to replace wearable items including, but not limited to: tires (with a production date of 1999), belts, clutch master and slave, fluids, brakes, stoppers for the pedals (disintegrated upon inspection), rotors, rebuild the shifter (fulcrum bushing, lower bushing, and both shift boots are completely destroyed and I've never seen these components in such a state of disrepair), and obviously replace the fuel pump. Planning to get around to starting it up this coming weekend and go from there. Power is of no concern to me, so keeping it around stock power would be ideal. RWD, twin turbos, Torsen LSD, 5-speed, and a sub 3,000lb curb weight??? Count me in!!!
If you guys have any feedback to send my way, please do so! I'm not a know-it-all and I certainly don't pretend to be. These cars need to be driven and enjoyed and that's exactly what I'm setting out to do. Also, if anyone happens to have any of the cruise control components, reach out to me. I love the car, but I hate it doesn't have cruise control and would love to add it. Thanks for reading!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
It still needs a paint job at some point. Washed most of the clear off, lol. A paint job is way down the line and as long as the body is kept rust free, it doesn't bother me. I've had a "nice" car and it was simply too much of a hassle to keep clean and I'd worry something would happen to it every time I would drive it. It's kinda nice to have something a little rough around the edges.
Congrats! Nice find and at a great price! In my nation wide search and using this thread as my guide...
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-gene...abase-1122701/
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-gene...abase-1122701/
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Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: North Carolina
I've been doing nothing but purchasing maintenance and reliability parts. Silicone coolant hose set, brakes, rotors, tires, shifter components for rebuild, belts, differential fluid, gearbox fluid, oil and filter, fuel pump, viton check valves, and floormats. Only quality parts here as this car deserves nothing less!
