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I've been coming to the RX7 club forums for many years now to look for tips and fixes to common(and sometimes not-so-common) problems with my '88 FC, but I finally feel like less of an imposter joining the forum.
My FC originally belonged to my father, he took relatively good care of the car up until about 2015, he had less time to drive it and left it parked for most of the time due to inconsistent starting issues.
In 2017 he registered the vehicle as Non-op, and it sat on our property, untouched and subject to the elements.
However in August of 2020 my father unexpectedly passed away, leaving the vehicle in my mothers name. She does not drive manual transmission vehicles, nor do any of my siblings, so naturally it was given to me.
I have spent the last 2 years working on this vehicle myself, using the information from this forum(and some YouTube videos) to get this car functioning.
I take pride in this vehicle, being able to work on a car that most mechanics wont touch.
Hopefully I will be able to offer some value to the RX7 club with whatever knowledge I have learned.
Here's some pictures of the car when I got it vs how it looks now.
Welcome!
Sorry to hear about your father. I think it's really cool that you're able to keep the car and get it operational again. Look forward to more content on your car
Welcome to the club. I'm certain your dad is proud of you for stepping up like you did. Have you considered what you would like to do with it, beyond just regular maintenance? If different wheels/tires are in the cards for you, you might consider doing a 5-lug conversion to gain the 4-piston brakes and larger rotors up front. 4-lug front rotors are 250mm outer diameter, 5-lug ones are 275mm.
Welcome to the club. I'm certain your dad is proud of you for stepping up like you did. Have you considered what you would like to do with it, beyond just regular maintenance? If different wheels/tires are in the cards for you, you might consider doing a 5-lug conversion to gain the 4-piston brakes and larger rotors up front. 4-lug front rotors are 250mm outer diameter, 5-lug ones are 275mm.
I have considered doing a 5-lug conversion, I have a family friend who wanted to give me their old 5-lug RX7 wheels, obviously I’d need new tires on them but either way it gives me the opportunity to do it without paying for new rims, I just haven’t looked into what the pros/cons would be.
I have also thought about doing a performance radiator with an electric fan, but it’s not like I’m racing it or taking it to the track, so I sort of let that one go for now.
The original stereo wasn’t working so I put in a touch screen stereo with Apple play, it looks very sleek and discrete while the car is off.
I actually tried to add a K&N “mushroom” filter and I broke the MAF in the process, so I had that rebuilt and decided to keep the air box standard lol
other than that I haven’t put much thought into other changes. Any recommendations?
Welcome to the forum and very sorry to hear of your father's passing. You have an awesome car! Did your father buy the car new? How's the interior?
As for the stock intake, it's actually a great intake. It feeds fresh cold air to the filter and is pretty efficient for what it is. Much better than an engine bay mounted filter.
It sounds like you're doing all the right things with the car and if you're restoring the car more, it would be cool to see a build thread on the car in the 2nd gen section!
The story as I know it is, my dads brother-in-law purchased it new off the lot at Mazda of Hacienda Heights. My aunt kinda flipped out at my uncle because its a 2 seater, when they already had a child with a second child on the way, so she made him get rid of it. My dad was happy to take over the payments as he and my mom didn't have any kids yet, so it made sense for them.
As for the interior, its in decent shape for being almost 35 years old. There's some major cracks on the dash, the warning lights only light up when they choose to do so, the plastic vents on the corners have broken apart, the rearview mirror had practically disintegrated, along with many other plastic pieces that were just demolished by the California sun. Additionally the drivers side seat is falling apart on the left side but someone from my church with 40 years of upholstery experience has offered on many occasion to repair it for cheap, I just need to bring the seat to them lol.
I'll take some pictures and share them here hopefully later today.
Sorry to hear about your pops, but congrats on the FC and good job saving it.. Those ski racks are about as 80's as Chuck E Cheese and New Coke, I approve!
My 1st rotary car was an S4 on phone dials, too. Welcome to the obsession!
Sorry to hear about your pops, but congrats on the FC and good job saving it.. Those ski racks are about as 80's as Chuck E Cheese and New Coke, I approve!
My 1st rotary car was an S4 on phone dials, too. Welcome to the obsession!
SO many people ask about the Ski rack, my dad used to drive this thing to Utah and go skiing with his brother, so a majority of the miles are all highway. I don't have the heart to take them off, even though I hate skiing.
The items on the car that are broken and disinterested are items that commonly fail on the FC. The solder joints are likely in need of attention for the center warning lights. Common failure with those. The triangle vents are know for shattering if you so much as look at them wrong. Dash cracks do happen in the hotter climates. I had a 10th Anniversary RX-7 that I was restoring that came from the south and had bad dash peeling and warpage. The rearview mirror usually blackens with weird lines but is easily replaced.
I'm not sure I would have the heart to remove the ski rack either. Maybe some day but not now if I were in your shoes.
06-28-22, 01:04 PM
First-time poster, long-time lurker
