Just bought my first RX7. Won't be the last.
01-06-20, 11:31 PM
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Just bought my first RX7. Won't be the last.
This might be a long one but I am a mechanic who just dived headfirst into the world of rotary engines. It's exciting. My apologies. I love pretty much anything with a spark plug. I've been digging through the internet for over a month on the hunt for what I believe to be the most useful and CORRECT information I can find regarding my car and it's engine.. Mostly it's engine. And the forum that's always got the best write ups is this one right here. So I made an account.
I just bought a 1982 Mazda RX7 FB with a 5spd and a carbed 12A rotary engine. I'm a big fan of the old school Japanese sport bikes, I own 2 KZ1000LTDs and some other fire breathing land yachts on two wheels. It's about time I got myself a Japanese sports car. I always liked the look of the FB and rotary engine's have always been interesting to me, but kind of expensive. The first rotary I ever picked up was a Wankel 303 out of a snow mobile in the middle of a junkyard. It was pretty well roached and is currently boxed up, in pieces. I plan to modify some 12a or 13b rotor seals and see if I can't bring it back to life. One thing at a time though.
My new sports car hasn't ran in a quite a long time. Some kid bought it cus' it looked cool (hey... that's what I did too lol) but he wasn't a mechanic and when it quit running (after what I can only assume was a savage beating, he literally said "oh ya, I drifted the F*** out of it"), it sat in his parent's driveway collecting dead leaves. Has a thick, nasty layer of dusty mud that all cars seem to get when they sit for a while. I went and looked at it in the dark without a flashlight. It was like 10 degrees outside. I only looked under the hood, the rest of the car wasn't nearly as interesting as that badass 12A. I got him to take 500 instead of 900. Far from the first engine I've ever brought back from the dead, but definitely the first rotary. I started with a nice heavy 2 cycle mix in a gas can. As much as I hate using starter fluid in anything that has trouble with "cylinder lubricant"... well.. I might've used a little in my excitement. The P/O told me he thought it had ignition problems. The cap was popped off the distributor but looked shiny and new. Quick inspection of the underside, reluctor and sensors. Nothing out of the ordinary. Popped it back on. Threw a jump pack on it and heard a fuel pump running. Crank, crank, crank, crank, nothing. But the puffs were steady and consistent. So far so good.
A shot of starter fluid seemed to kinda **** it off because it started barking at me. Jump pack went dead, time for a real battery. A little more starter fluid and a solid 12 volts got a nice steady rumble that lasted for about 8 to 10 full seconds. It died when I touched the throttle. I felt like I should take a break while I was ahead and went home to do some more reading on this thing. Couldn't help myself, went back less than an hr later and checked for fuel delivery at the carb. Both fuel lines were dripping fresh gasoline. I turned the key and it popped right off.. like dude... IT SCREAMS!!! my god man.. I can't believe how awesome this thing sounds. Youtube videos don't do it justice. But it doesn't like to idle and I have a massive oil leak at the oil cooler, right were the lines go in. The garage is full of smoke and it smells like weedeaters hahahahaha
Today, alot of stuff got tore apart. The hood is off. The carburetor is off. The radiator is out. The "rats nest" is removed. Air pump is removed. Mechanical radiator fan is removed. I found a crack in one of the threaded bosses on the oil cooler. I'm currently researching aftermarket solutions, something that mounts somewhere else with a 12v fan on it preferably. Next thing on the list is to remove all "unnecessary" BS off of that Nikki carburetor. After a bit of reading on this forum, this carb is more than capable of supporting my HP/driving goals at this time. I discovered some RB headers after getting the car up on the lift. Absolutely NO muffler anywhere in the system. I also discovered an almost rust free undercarriage. I'll look for the appropriate section to post my build status. But this is just a quick breakdown of where I am right now. I can't wait to learn more. Also, Is it cool If I put down Youtube links to videos of my car and the build? I'm in the process of making a series basically. Only problem is, I swear alot. I'm working on it, lol. Don't wanna step on any toes tho so I'd appreciate some input there.
Thanks guys,
Tim
I just bought a 1982 Mazda RX7 FB with a 5spd and a carbed 12A rotary engine. I'm a big fan of the old school Japanese sport bikes, I own 2 KZ1000LTDs and some other fire breathing land yachts on two wheels. It's about time I got myself a Japanese sports car. I always liked the look of the FB and rotary engine's have always been interesting to me, but kind of expensive. The first rotary I ever picked up was a Wankel 303 out of a snow mobile in the middle of a junkyard. It was pretty well roached and is currently boxed up, in pieces. I plan to modify some 12a or 13b rotor seals and see if I can't bring it back to life. One thing at a time though.
My new sports car hasn't ran in a quite a long time. Some kid bought it cus' it looked cool (hey... that's what I did too lol) but he wasn't a mechanic and when it quit running (after what I can only assume was a savage beating, he literally said "oh ya, I drifted the F*** out of it"), it sat in his parent's driveway collecting dead leaves. Has a thick, nasty layer of dusty mud that all cars seem to get when they sit for a while. I went and looked at it in the dark without a flashlight. It was like 10 degrees outside. I only looked under the hood, the rest of the car wasn't nearly as interesting as that badass 12A. I got him to take 500 instead of 900. Far from the first engine I've ever brought back from the dead, but definitely the first rotary. I started with a nice heavy 2 cycle mix in a gas can. As much as I hate using starter fluid in anything that has trouble with "cylinder lubricant"... well.. I might've used a little in my excitement. The P/O told me he thought it had ignition problems. The cap was popped off the distributor but looked shiny and new. Quick inspection of the underside, reluctor and sensors. Nothing out of the ordinary. Popped it back on. Threw a jump pack on it and heard a fuel pump running. Crank, crank, crank, crank, nothing. But the puffs were steady and consistent. So far so good.
A shot of starter fluid seemed to kinda **** it off because it started barking at me. Jump pack went dead, time for a real battery. A little more starter fluid and a solid 12 volts got a nice steady rumble that lasted for about 8 to 10 full seconds. It died when I touched the throttle. I felt like I should take a break while I was ahead and went home to do some more reading on this thing. Couldn't help myself, went back less than an hr later and checked for fuel delivery at the carb. Both fuel lines were dripping fresh gasoline. I turned the key and it popped right off.. like dude... IT SCREAMS!!! my god man.. I can't believe how awesome this thing sounds. Youtube videos don't do it justice. But it doesn't like to idle and I have a massive oil leak at the oil cooler, right were the lines go in. The garage is full of smoke and it smells like weedeaters hahahahaha
Today, alot of stuff got tore apart. The hood is off. The carburetor is off. The radiator is out. The "rats nest" is removed. Air pump is removed. Mechanical radiator fan is removed. I found a crack in one of the threaded bosses on the oil cooler. I'm currently researching aftermarket solutions, something that mounts somewhere else with a 12v fan on it preferably. Next thing on the list is to remove all "unnecessary" BS off of that Nikki carburetor. After a bit of reading on this forum, this carb is more than capable of supporting my HP/driving goals at this time. I discovered some RB headers after getting the car up on the lift. Absolutely NO muffler anywhere in the system. I also discovered an almost rust free undercarriage. I'll look for the appropriate section to post my build status. But this is just a quick breakdown of where I am right now. I can't wait to learn more. Also, Is it cool If I put down Youtube links to videos of my car and the build? I'm in the process of making a series basically. Only problem is, I swear alot. I'm working on it, lol. Don't wanna step on any toes tho so I'd appreciate some input there.
Thanks guys,
Tim
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