Well, one week and 30 hours into it (in addition to my full time job!), I have to say that this site has been invaluable. I bought a rust free all original (down to the radio) FB with 120k miles for $700. That's the good news. The bad is that it had everything wrong with it - exhaust smelled like coolant, difficult to start and there were all kinds of griding noises from the rear. So I started from the back and worked my way up:

- Dropped the gas tank, emptied and inspected (luckily very little rust). Reinstalled with new rubber hoses and fuel filter. Added Seafoam and 2 gallons of gas to clean out the carbs.

- Drained the LSD- stunk to high heaven! Replaced oil with synthetic gear oil and LSD treatment. I've heard lots of opinions on mixing those two, but it has to be better than the sludge that was in there.

- Removed transmission mount and inspected - didn't see/feel any problems so I reinstalled. The previous owner said he had them replaced, but I can't say for sure.

- The U-joints were shot, so I dropped the propeller shaft and replaced front and rear U-joints for $20 total! Thank goodness the 81 has replaceable universal joints.

- Replaced MT oil with 50/50 gear lube and ATF. There are some posts on this site that say it helps clean things up, so why not give it a try?

- Replaced Alternator and Air Pump belts. Removed AC belt until I can get the AC working.

- Replaced Distributor Cap and Rotor- already had new plugs and wires.

- Added AlumAseal straight to the radiator (no flush or anything) as recommended by Kentetsu. I ran it for a few minutes, let it sit overnight, and the next day, no white smoke! Let me say a big thank you to all who contributed to this post: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/engine-coolant-seal-repair-maybe-750774/
Later I did a radiator flush and added more AlumAseal to the new coolant for good measure.

- Went to the local U-pick salvage yard and found a fuse box and air pump from a 2nd gen RX-7. Not sure the air pump is interchangeable, but it was dirt cheap. Also pulled an electric fan out of an early 90's Taurus V6 3.8l since my fan clutch is stuck on warp speed- really, it's all I hear when I drive! All that for $37.

- Removed fusible link box and replaced with 2nd gen fuse box and new fuses. I could have just used new fuses on the old fusible link box, but the new fuse box is expandable, so might as well.

- Updated alternator with S4 (70 Amp I think). It was $100 compared to $150 for an S5 (80 Amp?), so I went cheap. It's still a huge increase from the stock 55 Amp Alternator.

- Got frustrated with the efan install. I think I'll look for a used clutch fan to keep everything original.

So, after doing all of that in a week, I'm bushed! But it's running great and for the money, I can't complain. Next up is the brake caliper rebuild (front and back), carb rebuild, and 2GCDFIS- got a 2nd gen coil for $18 and I've read it's a great upgrade.

Thanks again for all the help. I certainly wouldn't be able to do this on my own without all the expertise. I'll post pics soon.

-Todd

 

Here are some pictures of the new project. I got the new 2GCDFIS installed and discovered I had a bad leading ignitor. Switched the leading to trailing to fix the idle stumble and am now in the market for a spare ignitor or two. Aside from the tach not working due to a bad trailing ignitor, it's running great. It's amazing how well these things run on 2 spark plugs!