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So I've been lurking for a year as I take on this unexpected project, but now I have an issue that I want input on, so thought I'd introduce myself first.
Since I was a teenager, I wanted an RX7, but I had no idea how unique this car is. Now 58, I have one. The car is a JDM with no performance enhancements except it appears to have been a drifting track car. The differential was locked, brake lights and turn signals didn't work, the horn and air bags were removed, the rear wiper was removed, the odometer and speedometer don't work, neither does the A/C, has two gages above the glove compartment that don't work, but the turbo gage does work. It has a crappy fairing kit that looks good but is awful. It's cracking in unsupported areas, the doors ride the side skirts. The hood was replaced because of a front-end collision. Now there's a noticeable gap between hood and fairing, and the hood is hard to open after running on a hot day. Also, when the lights are up, lowering the hood scrapes the body for the lights. It was bought at auction online and imported. Not 5 miles from the dock, the radiator failed. Replaced the alternator. Then the low coolant alarm failed, and I didn't see the gage because of the retrofitted small steering wheel. Long story short, the engine had to be rebuilt. The end plates were replaced. The engine compartment fills with smoke at warm up, and I no longer trust the mechanic when he said that too much 2-cycle oil messed things up.
Mechanic was a life-saver for this unexpected project, but also said that they wired new lights correctly only for me to find out that he swapped polarity on one, and that's why I burned two LEDs. They kept disagreeing with the rebuild shop, so I ended up no longer adding 2-cycle oil. The mechanic said the cabin heat can't be fixed because components were ripped out. Come to find out, it's all there, and I'm still trouble-shooting. Mechanic also said they checked the dashboard light, and the dimmer is bad. They'd be happy to replace if I find a part. Come to find out that the dimmer was just disconnected. It got broken into at the mechanic's, so it needed a new head unit. The center console and a couple of bezels are still messed up, but parts are impossible to find, so i glued, strapped and screwed the best I could.
In spite of that laundry list of problems, it is a great car to drive, gets lots of attention, curiously more than Ferraris and Lambos, my son loves to drive it, and I will not part with it in spite of it being a money pit. It looks much better in the picture than it feels.
Now the car has a normal differential, mild street porting, air pump removed, and the spoiler fell off because it was only glued on (I know, unbelievable!). I have no interior heat, and that's the issue I will cover in a separate post.
Welcome to the club! Sounds like you've had an interesting introduction to ownership with these cars. As the years go by, i think these experiences will just be more and more common, so don't feel too badly.
I was like "You're 58 and you wanted one as a teenager? Come on!" then I did the math and got sad, these did come out 30 years ago now, and 1st gens came out like 45 years ago now...
Welcome to the club. You're definitely in the right place to gt this car straightened out. Between Redbul and I, we pretty much wrote the book on Japanese market FDs. Some figuratively, and other bits actually. I've been working on this for awhile now, a Wiring Diagram book that covers every single one of them. In both English and Japanese, and meticulously organized by sub-generation / production date / VIN range :P
Had to get creative to make the Harness-joining connectors not a complete chaos pit. This is what happened.
Let me know if you want a Build Sheet on your car. Knowing how it came from the factory makes sorting it out a LOT easier.
I don't know about writing books, but I sure have been collecting them. Get the parts manual for your year of car. The exploded parts diagrams are very instructive.
Inherited 94 FD
