Hey everyone, yesterday I made the decision to pull the trigger on an N/A 1988 s4 FC. given its condition, I'm going to need to perform a rebuild on it to start things off. Everyone on here is probably more experienced than me (especially with rotaries) so I came here for advice along the way. I've done as much of the preemptive background work as I can, but I'll probably need lots of help along the way.
thanks in advance guys.

 

Welcome to the forum!! Would love to see pictures of the car! What part of Ohio are you from?

 

Dayton, and well, this is my “new” FC

 

Welcome to the club. The good news is that you are starting out with perhaps the more straightforward and easy to understand RX7 of all. Series 4 (86-88) n/a are often overshadowed by their fancier S5 siblings, but they have one major advantage. S5 and later have a tendency to go into Limp Mode if the Oil Metering Pump has a bad day. This can also take the ECU out with it. Series 4 is a purely mechanical pump, opened and closed by a rod connected to the throttle body.

There is a site that you should bookmark and download manuals from:
Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals

It might sound dumb, but something I learned is that it's much easier to work on a clean engine than a dirty one. If you're planning on doing a rebuild, It would definitely help to spend a day or two cleaning everything up under the hood. Some clean rags and degreaser from the dollar store will make life a lot easier when it's rebuild time. One thing I would suggest is being careful around connectors. They are likely to be 35+ years old and brittle. In 2011, my 13b's coolant temperature sensor (back of water pump housing) broke during removal, leaving half of it stuck inside the connector. Some Q-tips for these spots might be a good idea too.

 

thank you, this makes a lot of sense. And yes, a clean engine is always easier to work with
this will be my 4th engine rebuild so I have some experience, but it’s my first rotary so that puts most things out the window.

 

Welcome to forum

 

Looks to be an 88 GTU in Brilliant Black! Definitely a car worthy of restoration! Do you know any of the car's history?

 

a little late on this haha but not really much on the history side of things most I know is I’m the 4th owner behind owner #3 who was a technical college student in Lima, he got it near Cleveland if I remember correctly and someone was planning on boosting it as it has an AFR gauge boost gauge and came with 1000cc injectors all around.
beyond that I have little information
the pictures attached are how it looks now

This is from today

This was last week

And this was a month ago with the new plate

 

The car looks amazing! You really transformed the car! Well done!