RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum - First timer with a 89 vert

Hi everyone, my name is James Price. I live north of Atlanta GA, and this is my first RX-7. It's a black '89 convertible, with a bit of a frankenstein going on. Let me explain: one of the po's blew up the engine, and replaced it with the block of an '86... bolting on the '89 pieces where possible, blocking tubes, splicing wires, and generally making a mess of things. He also seemed to have been in the process of 'smoothing' the body - the Mazda & RX7 symbols are gone from the back lid of the trunk (a few patches of rust there), and several of the light lenses have been painted black. The owner I bought the car from (different than the previously mentioned owner), purchased the car two years ago, and attempted to bring it back into shape. He purchased another 7 (90) model, that had a trashed body, but a decent engine. He fixed the 90 engine up, and was intending to swap it into the vert. He removed the engine, xmission, ecu, harness, etc from the 90 model, and did away with the body. Things happened, and he wasn't able to get it done. He got tired of having his garage full of junk, and sold it all to me for $1400. The car at this point idles poorly, won't hot start, and won't pass emissions. It does pull strong when it's on the road.

I'd really like to turn the existing car into a dd for a while, until I can clean up the 90 equipment, do some general body & paint work, etc. I've replaced the alternator (rectifier died), cleaned the battery terminals and battery, tested the tps, checked the airfilter, oil, and coolant, and have been generally spending time getting to know my new vehicle. I've wanted one of these cars since I first read about the Wankel in late '89 or '90, so I plan on fixing this car, and keeping it.

Like I said, though, it idles rough, and won't hot start. I'm going through and making a list of parts that will fit on both the 86 and 90 drivetrain, and where possible, going to go ahead and replace those parts too (like the catalytic converter). The current engine looks like it sat in a junkyard for a while, and it looks like a lot of the bolted on 89 parts are out of a junkyard too (yellow writing on the parts). Here's a couple of pictures:

Does anyone know what the piece sitting on the airfilter is? It was in a plastic bag, harness still attached, when I bought the car. I've left it there until I can i.d. it and figure out why it's still attached.

I've enjoyed reading through the forums, and hope to contribute, as soon as I get my feet wet.