Hello! 73 RX-2
07-02-13, 12:12 PM
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Hello! 73 RX-2
Hello fellow rotor heads! My name is John and I am new to the forum, but I have lurked as a guest on here trying to dredge up information for a good while now. I have a 1973 Mazda RX-2 that I am working on getting back into excellent condition. It has an 85 12a with holley carb and an RX-3 SP 5 speed tranny.
Here is the link to my photobucket album
My 73 Mazda RX-2 Project Photos by JCHand1984 | Photobucket
It has been in my family longer than I have - my dad bought it in 83 and I was born in 84, so it's been with me my entire life. I wanted it as my first car, but thankfully it didn't work out (a boy's first car tends to get wrecked!). It sat in the garage for a long while after my dad "threw a rotor tip" racing some random truck (still beat it) and he gave it to me after I got back from Iraq in 2006. I payed a mechanic that my dad knew from back in the day to put a new engine in it, his name is Tony Rivera, son of Luis Rivera who owned the Mazda/Honda Shop in Denver Colorado back when we lived there in the 80's. Tony installed an 85 RX-7 12a with (very) mild street port into the car and rebuilt the Holley carb. I then towed it back from Texas to my home state of Alabama and tried to drive it regularly, but it was always very hard to get started, so the pain of spending 30 minutes just to get it running prevented regular outings.
The last time I drove the car, 2 years ago sadly, it became very hard to disengage the clutch and as I drove it home it got worse. I parked it and from that point on it wouldn't go into gear, I rebuilt the slave and master cylinders to no avail. Eventually I half gave up on it and just started it every couple weeks to keep the engine from deteriorating. A new baby kept me too busy and broke to do much more than that.
Finally with a new job and more income I am getting around to fixing this thing. I'm sure you all know, but sourcing parts for this thing can be a PITA. I took the transmission off and checked out what was going on in the bell housing. I found a bunch of pressure plate teeth in the bell housing *DING* well there's you're problem! I hadn't been driving or shifting hard, I guess years of stressful driving with my dad at the wheel and the foul influence of time finally took its toll.
The car had an aftermarket flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate and as I'm sure some of you know aftermarket parts can be hard to identify. I did know that the clutch and pressure plate were 215mm and it appeared that the flywheel was one of RB's lightweight steel flywheels, and the flywheel's friction surface would have no problem accepting a 225mm set up. 215mm pressure plates are no longer produced, so I figured that I should go ahead and upgrade.
I called racing beat to confirm that my flywheel would work with a 225mm set up, and based on my measurements they said it would, so I ordered their street/stip clutch and PP. RB was very patient and helpful as I tried to describe the parts over the phone.
When I got the parts I towed the car up to my buddy's shop and we attempted to put them on. The clutch fit into the flywheel as we expected but the pressure plate made contact with the flywheel outside of the friction surface. Turn out my flywheel was an older model - it didn't have the cut outs around the outside of the friction surface to make room for the bigger pressure plate. I also did not have the hardware kit that is required with RB's design. I had to get a new flywheel to make this work.
After being mad for a week that I had to spend another $300 on a new flywheel I went ahead and ordered it from RB, along with the hardware. I will be installing the parts tomorrow if everything looks like it will work, along with a new starter, new Royal Purple gear oil in the tranny, new engine oil, a new throw out bearing and pilot bearing, and a new battery relocated to the trunk.
I will be taking pictures of the process but don't expect a detailed walk through. Wish me luck!
If any of you read this whole thing thank you, and thank you all for welcoming me into your community!
Here is the link to my photobucket album
My 73 Mazda RX-2 Project Photos by JCHand1984 | Photobucket
It has been in my family longer than I have - my dad bought it in 83 and I was born in 84, so it's been with me my entire life. I wanted it as my first car, but thankfully it didn't work out (a boy's first car tends to get wrecked!). It sat in the garage for a long while after my dad "threw a rotor tip" racing some random truck (still beat it) and he gave it to me after I got back from Iraq in 2006. I payed a mechanic that my dad knew from back in the day to put a new engine in it, his name is Tony Rivera, son of Luis Rivera who owned the Mazda/Honda Shop in Denver Colorado back when we lived there in the 80's. Tony installed an 85 RX-7 12a with (very) mild street port into the car and rebuilt the Holley carb. I then towed it back from Texas to my home state of Alabama and tried to drive it regularly, but it was always very hard to get started, so the pain of spending 30 minutes just to get it running prevented regular outings.
The last time I drove the car, 2 years ago sadly, it became very hard to disengage the clutch and as I drove it home it got worse. I parked it and from that point on it wouldn't go into gear, I rebuilt the slave and master cylinders to no avail. Eventually I half gave up on it and just started it every couple weeks to keep the engine from deteriorating. A new baby kept me too busy and broke to do much more than that.
Finally with a new job and more income I am getting around to fixing this thing. I'm sure you all know, but sourcing parts for this thing can be a PITA. I took the transmission off and checked out what was going on in the bell housing. I found a bunch of pressure plate teeth in the bell housing *DING* well there's you're problem! I hadn't been driving or shifting hard, I guess years of stressful driving with my dad at the wheel and the foul influence of time finally took its toll.
The car had an aftermarket flywheel, clutch, and pressure plate and as I'm sure some of you know aftermarket parts can be hard to identify. I did know that the clutch and pressure plate were 215mm and it appeared that the flywheel was one of RB's lightweight steel flywheels, and the flywheel's friction surface would have no problem accepting a 225mm set up. 215mm pressure plates are no longer produced, so I figured that I should go ahead and upgrade.
I called racing beat to confirm that my flywheel would work with a 225mm set up, and based on my measurements they said it would, so I ordered their street/stip clutch and PP. RB was very patient and helpful as I tried to describe the parts over the phone.
When I got the parts I towed the car up to my buddy's shop and we attempted to put them on. The clutch fit into the flywheel as we expected but the pressure plate made contact with the flywheel outside of the friction surface. Turn out my flywheel was an older model - it didn't have the cut outs around the outside of the friction surface to make room for the bigger pressure plate. I also did not have the hardware kit that is required with RB's design. I had to get a new flywheel to make this work.
After being mad for a week that I had to spend another $300 on a new flywheel I went ahead and ordered it from RB, along with the hardware. I will be installing the parts tomorrow if everything looks like it will work, along with a new starter, new Royal Purple gear oil in the tranny, new engine oil, a new throw out bearing and pilot bearing, and a new battery relocated to the trunk.
I will be taking pictures of the process but don't expect a detailed walk through. Wish me luck!
If any of you read this whole thing thank you, and thank you all for welcoming me into your community!
Last edited by diabolical1; 07-02-13 at 03:36 PM.
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07-06-13, 06:48 AM
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Well we did get the thing back together Wednesday night. Man, getting the transmission back on was a major pain! Anyway, I know I said I would take pictures of the process but I didn't, I'm sorry. My hands were full of transmission the whole time and we were getting too frustrated to worry about it. In fact the install took so long that we didn't even get around to doing the battery relocation yet, but hey! at least I can drive it now!
We did have a bit of excitement when I let my friend drive it. He drove down the street, was gone for 5 minutes or so, and when he came back we could see a fire in the engine bay! Turns out a piece of rag had been left in in the engine bay somewhere and landed on the header! Man, I was worried for a minute!
The power still is not what it should be, I'm going to have to check and see what is going on with that. My brother's R100 with a street ported 12A will throw you back in the seat. Sure, it's a tad lighter but it shouldn't make that kind of difference. The only difference on his engine set up is he has a Webber while I have a Holley. I'm starting to wonder if my engine was street ported at all.
I did take a few camera phone pictures of the car. I'll try to put them on photobucket tonight.
By the way, would anyone want to buy an old light weight steel 215mm flywheel?
We did have a bit of excitement when I let my friend drive it. He drove down the street, was gone for 5 minutes or so, and when he came back we could see a fire in the engine bay! Turns out a piece of rag had been left in in the engine bay somewhere and landed on the header! Man, I was worried for a minute!
The power still is not what it should be, I'm going to have to check and see what is going on with that. My brother's R100 with a street ported 12A will throw you back in the seat. Sure, it's a tad lighter but it shouldn't make that kind of difference. The only difference on his engine set up is he has a Webber while I have a Holley. I'm starting to wonder if my engine was street ported at all.
I did take a few camera phone pictures of the car. I'll try to put them on photobucket tonight.
By the way, would anyone want to buy an old light weight steel 215mm flywheel?
Last edited by Handyman84; 07-06-13 at 07:01 AM.
07-06-13, 07:40 AM
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Oh with the new starter it hasn't been hard to start now, even with the choke cable not working. That's just another thing on my list of things I have to do.
07-08-13, 08:44 AM
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Ok so I got more pictures up this morning. Mostly having to do with the clutch components. Go check them out!
My 73 Mazda RX-2 Project Photos by JCHand1984 | Photobucket
My 73 Mazda RX-2 Project Photos by JCHand1984 | Photobucket
07-20-13, 09:15 AM
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So I'm going to be looking for things to upgrade this car now... any tips on where to find the 84-85 RX-7 GSL LSD? or a rear sway bar for this car? I know finding shocks is now impossible and I may have to go coilovers... any tips?
07-20-13, 10:18 PM
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Wow.. Nice rx2... We have one and it defiantly doesn't look like that.. Although ours was a barn find.. Literally.. Found in a barn that was collapsed on it.. Looks good!
07-21-13, 04:00 PM
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Thanks for the complements ladies and gents.
In other news I may have the opportunity to get my hand on another RX-2 that has a 13b in it, but hasn't been running in a few years. What would you guys estimate on it price-wise? Other then not running it's in good order.
In other news I may have the opportunity to get my hand on another RX-2 that has a 13b in it, but hasn't been running in a few years. What would you guys estimate on it price-wise? Other then not running it's in good order.
