Heyo, long time lurker. Still kind of a rotary n00b. I drove an rx8 for about a year and it got me hooked, but that car just didnt give me the same warm fuzzy feeling that older cars give me, so i sold it in anticipation to buy an rx7. Ive been looking for the better part of a year now, and i just haven't been able to find one in half way decent condition or at all where i live. finally found one that is pretty thrashed. It actually runs pretty well. (i didnt know there was a manual choke on first gens??) Drove it around in the dirt (because it hasnt been registered in a few years) It will probably have a hell of a time passing smog in california. are there any guides for preparing an rx-7 for emissions tests in california? Im gonna be giving it a full tune up in the next day or so. the interior is among the grossest ive ever seen in a motor vehicle (and ive been working on vw beetles for years) and before anything i at least need a new set of seats. What does everyone suggest for replacement seats? i doubt ill be able to find oem ones anywhere near me. Thanks and hello!

also for anyone interested heres my other project a 67 vw beetle thats getting a 12a
TheSamba.com :: Beetle - 1958-1967 - View topic - 67 Rotary Swap

 

no manuals on how to get it past emissions, just a lot of work a and a bit of luck.

 

It runs really well in my opinion so maybe ill luck out. I bought it from a towing company so its got back fees. Will be heading to my local california DMV thursday afternoon. its estimated to have ~600 dollars in back fees :/ good thing i got the car for a steal

 

just tell them to shove the fees up their ***, because the car couldn't have been on the road while sitting at a wrecking yard.


i sound biased, because i've been in that situation before with california and their inflated tax system.

the tow company should be allowed to sign a letter of facts to waive it, of course they will fight you on it in order to just get the money.

 

Oh man i cant stand this state. Last year i went to get a wheel alignment here in town in a VW beetle with a subaru engine in it and they turned me away because i didnt tell california i changed the engine and theyd have to report me.

 

lol

yes, because pre smog cars are all over. and replacing the smoking inefficient 60 year old carbed engine with a more fuel efficient and cleaner burning one should be a punishable offense.

doesn't really surprise me, BAR puts the fear into shops by putting a hurt on their checkbooks too.


anything they can to just get you to buy a new boring car and pay higher taxes and crush your old one.

 

gotta love communist California

 

exactly! Unfortunately the car was only at the yard for like 3 days before i picked it up, so i dont think they will be able to waive anything for me. I dont know why it has such large back fees ill be going to check tho. hopefully there will be something i can waive tho!

 

it's all based on how long it has been since the car was last registered. the fees are basically like paying for past years that the car wasn't registered as if it was somehow magically evading police and destroying asphalt during the unpaid for timeframe, even if it was just merely sitting in someones back yard.

california is the only state that does it, in other states you simply get a hefty fine if your car is registered and you don't have insurance so the chances of an unregistered car being on the road is slim to none to merely moving it from point a to b for storage. i never knew anyone to drive around without tags in california, but the DMV acts like every overdue tag is rolling around out there somewhere.

 

supposedly it was last registered in 2014, so 600 bucks doesnt add up to me, but we shall see.

 

it only takes about 3 years to max out the fees which put it in that ballpark. calm arguing will probably get it reduced, throwing a tantrum will probably get it raised even higher. it all depends on your attitude and luck with the luck of the draw clerk you wind up with.

just be sure to ask how it would be possible to get the fines knocked off or severely reduced.

 

Yeah when i was a kid i watched my mom get thrown out of the dmv by security. Decided that wasnt the way id ever be handling the DMV. Ours is pretty good up here, so maybe i can get them to reduce it but i kind of worked it in as part of the price of the car so either way i got a deal on the car in my opinion. I only paid 200 bucks for the car itself

 

then either way it will work itself out, but saving money at the DMV would be a bonus. however in some cases they will make that as difficult as possible or not possible at all depending on who you get.

 

Yeah gonna be at least a week or two till its road worthy anyway. Anyone know of a good set of replacement seats?

 

rx8

 

do they fit without much modification?

 

as far as i have heard from the 1st gen guys, yes.

almost all the seats in the RX series of cars are all rather close to one another in how they mount.

 

hmm neat. ill keep an eye out for some. I wonder how much it would cost to get the current ones reupholstered or if they are even savable.

 

anything is salvageable but IMO they would cost more than it's worth to do. any decent upholstery shop would probably start at $500 for those seats.

 

Ah man for 500 bucks i can just get a set of these that look really nice: Sparco USA

 

well that's just for one seat but yeah, it winds up being about the same cost not counting fabricating the rails.

 

this might be a n00b question but are the 4 spark plugs the same on an FB?
im looking here: Ignition - Early Rotary & 1979-85 Mazda RX-7 just see that its classified by porting, not by leading and trailing. Reason i ask is because on the RX8 i had to have different kinds for leading and trailing

 

Just got the car in my driveway last night. The body is less than ideal, but the engine is in really good condition. Went looking for stuff to replace, and it looks like whoever had it before me was trying to get it road worth too. Brand new plugs, brand new wires and cap and rotor etc. Going to do the fuel filter, oil filter, change the fluids, etc later this afternoon after work.

Oh i got out of the dmv with $205 dollars in fees. $165 of which are from the rx-7.
Needs a brake and lamp inspection which are pretty terrible around here for some reason. only one guy that does it for old cars. Ive got a new master cylinder from atkins coming in the mail. i need to find a set of rear tail light plate things i think

 

run the 8's in all 4 locations on the early engines, they used to have different plugs but i believe they were discontinued.

nice work on the fees, heh.