Hello RX7Club world.
12-05-22, 11:02 AM
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Hello RX7Club world.
Just saying hello.
Been lurking forums for quite awhile, reading/learning. Pulling the Mazda parts diagrams. Inherited my dads 1981 RX7 GLE - 5spd - Solar Gold with Custom Rust Accents. Hasn't run since late 90's(1998-ish) when I tinkered on it and got it started after sitting a few years. Had brake issues, and remember some other things that with more life experience/knowledge now I know I need to chase out to get it road worthy. It had been sitting in sitting in dad's garage sad and rusting for over 2 decades since. Dad had torn apart the brake system somewhere back in early 2000's. Recently moved it to my own garage.
Not a stranger/adverse to fixing/mechanical/cars, yet know this project is an entirely different level/beast than a repair or fix on my daily drivers. No major system is 'working' so fixing/troubleshooting is a different animal. A lot of questions as I work to get my dads(mine I guess, still have a hard time referring to it as mine) RX7. Basically, since car has sat so long, I know I need to pretty much check, clean-out, restore, or replace nearly every major system start to finish. Not dead set on keeping it 'stock', but that seems the most straight forward path to get it running and on the road, finding parts. Have a garage full of a lot of parts in last few weeks, Almost entire new Brake system booster to Calipers/Rotors, Fuel system rebuild/restore, Ignition system replace Distributor to Plugs. Still waiting on some brake components and trying to find/source rear brake calipers. Working on brakes first, since dad had those completely torn apart and parts/bolts missing.
I guess I will end with my first question. Probably more of a clarification type/understanding answer. So, I know my '81 is an FB generation, and that's ultimately from the VIN/series. A lot of parts and descriptions though seem to refer to the 81 as 'SA'. I had read that some of the 'SA' vs 'FB' references have to do with the US VIN nomenclature/system changing over when Mazda brought this Generation of RX7 to the US market. So is an 'SA' the same as 'FB'? Or am I missing some detail?
Thanks in advance for more the answers and knowledge, and I appreciate all that I have gained thus far here.
Been lurking forums for quite awhile, reading/learning. Pulling the Mazda parts diagrams. Inherited my dads 1981 RX7 GLE - 5spd - Solar Gold with Custom Rust Accents. Hasn't run since late 90's(1998-ish) when I tinkered on it and got it started after sitting a few years. Had brake issues, and remember some other things that with more life experience/knowledge now I know I need to chase out to get it road worthy. It had been sitting in sitting in dad's garage sad and rusting for over 2 decades since. Dad had torn apart the brake system somewhere back in early 2000's. Recently moved it to my own garage.
Not a stranger/adverse to fixing/mechanical/cars, yet know this project is an entirely different level/beast than a repair or fix on my daily drivers. No major system is 'working' so fixing/troubleshooting is a different animal. A lot of questions as I work to get my dads(mine I guess, still have a hard time referring to it as mine) RX7. Basically, since car has sat so long, I know I need to pretty much check, clean-out, restore, or replace nearly every major system start to finish. Not dead set on keeping it 'stock', but that seems the most straight forward path to get it running and on the road, finding parts. Have a garage full of a lot of parts in last few weeks, Almost entire new Brake system booster to Calipers/Rotors, Fuel system rebuild/restore, Ignition system replace Distributor to Plugs. Still waiting on some brake components and trying to find/source rear brake calipers. Working on brakes first, since dad had those completely torn apart and parts/bolts missing.
I guess I will end with my first question. Probably more of a clarification type/understanding answer. So, I know my '81 is an FB generation, and that's ultimately from the VIN/series. A lot of parts and descriptions though seem to refer to the 81 as 'SA'. I had read that some of the 'SA' vs 'FB' references have to do with the US VIN nomenclature/system changing over when Mazda brought this Generation of RX7 to the US market. So is an 'SA' the same as 'FB'? Or am I missing some detail?
Thanks in advance for more the answers and knowledge, and I appreciate all that I have gained thus far here.
12-05-22, 11:44 AM
#2
Mazda began assembling the RX7 in January of 78. These were cars for their own home market. They used the prefix SA22C followed with S/N's beginning with 10000. They launched the car officially in March of that year, the same month they started production of export versions, using the same SA22C prefix only beginning with S/N's 50000. In the US (part of the North American market) the official 1st year of production was 1979 although quite a few cars were shipped over through the summer and fall of 78.
SA production continued, but in 81 the National Highway Traffic Safety Adm. (NHTSA) directed a revised, "standardized" 17 character VIN format for all cars sold here in the US. That forced Mazda to create a new VIN structure which is when they started the FB Prefix. But that was just applied to North American cars and I think a couple of other markets. Most of the world continued to get SA prefix cars until 1986, when the Gen 2 cars were released using the FC prefix.
As far as parts compatibility, all the Gen 1 cars share some parts in common, (79-85) but as the model years rolled on, there were year by year changes that made them less and less like the model that came before them. So your 81 probably has more in common with the first two years SA's than say the 84/85 cars.
To further complicate things, since the 1st Gens sold in Europe, Australia and other markets all continued using the SA prefix, those places started classing the cars by Series 1,2 and 3 to denote those ongoing, year by year changes to the cars.
SA production continued, but in 81 the National Highway Traffic Safety Adm. (NHTSA) directed a revised, "standardized" 17 character VIN format for all cars sold here in the US. That forced Mazda to create a new VIN structure which is when they started the FB Prefix. But that was just applied to North American cars and I think a couple of other markets. Most of the world continued to get SA prefix cars until 1986, when the Gen 2 cars were released using the FC prefix.
As far as parts compatibility, all the Gen 1 cars share some parts in common, (79-85) but as the model years rolled on, there were year by year changes that made them less and less like the model that came before them. So your 81 probably has more in common with the first two years SA's than say the 84/85 cars.
To further complicate things, since the 1st Gens sold in Europe, Australia and other markets all continued using the SA prefix, those places started classing the cars by Series 1,2 and 3 to denote those ongoing, year by year changes to the cars.
Last edited by Banzai; 12-05-22 at 11:47 AM.
12-05-22, 11:53 AM
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Thanks for reply/answer.
I figured from what I had read/found that this was the case, not a straightforward answer due to multiple markets, broad years, and flirting with 'next-gen' models towards the end. Wanted to ask, make sure I wasn't missing some critical detail.
I figured from what I had read/found that this was the case, not a straightforward answer due to multiple markets, broad years, and flirting with 'next-gen' models towards the end. Wanted to ask, make sure I wasn't missing some critical detail.
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