I picked up a 93 r1 last year. The car did not run (sat for about a year), so I knew it was a project. I figured it just needed a rebuild and everything would be good to go. The exterior and interior of the car were in pretty good shape for a car this old, so I loaded it on the trailer and brought it home. I have always loved these cars but have never owned one. When I pulled the engine I found it was way worse than I expected. All 3 irons were trashed by cooling wall failures. Im assuming the previous owner did not take car of the cooling system the same way he cared for the rest of the car. Fortunately I was able to find a used JDM engine within a few hours from where I live and got back to work. I tore the JDM down to the keg, put all my USDM accessories and emissions equipment on, and slipped it back into the car. I then had a running bone stock rx7 r1. Unfortunately I noticed a few other items that werent right once I got the car running; the stock airbox was held together with screws vice the clips which were broken off (replaced with hks racing suction), all vacuum lines were very brittle and some broken(replaced), the wiring harness is very brittle and had 2 wires break while placing it back on the engine (repaired), all of the shift boots are torn(2 rubber and the leather boot), the stock radio does not work at all, and the radiator fins are very brittle. I am currently working to get everything fixed, but have also made a few other improvements such as adding the JDM y pipe, hks hard pipes to the intercooler, and a boost gauge. The car still has both stock cats, so I think the exhaust will be the next project after fixing the broken items. Ive used this forum many times already, hopefully ill be able to contribute some more information.

 

Lets see some pics! Lol

 

Lol that post was on my work computer (don't tell), so no pictures. Also it wont upload from my phone, i think the pictures are too big. I'm going to a car meet this weekend so I'll update with some new pictures from the meet.

 

Here is a picture as my son and I were headed out to the car meet. Unfortunately we never made it... lol.

 

Nice and congrats. What happened on the way to the car meet?

 

welcome to the forum. what part of SC?

 

Im near Columbia SC.

I replaced the bad engine that was in the car when i bought it (cooling wall failure on all 3 irons) with a used JDM engine which claimed to have less than 30k miles. It compression tested well enough for me to consider just throwing it in the car, so I did. After getting everything put back together the car ran for about 2-3 weeks making short trips to different places and just testing the car out to make sure everything worked correctly. The first semi lengthy trip was to the car meet, about 25-30 minutes. When i got off the highway i waited in line to turn left at the stop light. When it was my turn to go, I either stalled the engine or thats when the engine just decided to die. It would not restart. After about 45 minutes I was able to get it restarted, but the engine sounded terrible, there was a loud knocking noise which I had never heard before. There was a gas station I could see down the road so I decided to drive the car there to get off of the busy highway ramp. Half way to the gas station the car died again, I heard/felt a thud when it died. I was able to coast into the gas station and ended up having it towed home.

I have not attempted to restart the car, but I have rotated it by hand to verify its not seized. Next I plan to do a compression test and change the oil/filter to check for bearing material. I have not had time to look into it any further due to life having other plans for my time, but im expecting a rebuild and hopefully there isnt too much damage.

 

Dang.

Will be on the look out for updates.

Good luck.

 

 

Nice, I want one so bad!!!

 

Hope its not anything major.