Hi all. Picked up my first "project car" and my third car. Should be fun balancing work between them all!
This journey started almost exactly a year ago. My mother's best friend from highschool was taking a drive through the countryside and came across TWO FBs sitting outside next to a barn on wood planks. She used to have one in highschool, and threw some pictures up on her instagram. Naturally, I had to ask if they were for sale. She went back and left my contact info with the house owner. Two months later, I received a phone call. One year later (present day) my friend and I are the proud owners of 85 and 83 RX7s. We paid $1500 for the lot. We both consider ourselves very mechanically inclined. However, both of us are new to the rotary setup. We understand how they work, and have a good understanding of typical rotary newbie concepts. This is quite an undertaking as I am familiar with LS motors (not sure if that's a swear word here) and have never owned a manual car (always wanted to).

That being said, I have perused many of the forum pages, although at this point in time I am unsure of my first steps to get it running. It is safe to assumed that the motors are carbon locked, as they haven't ran for ~15 years. I have read the write up regarding carbon locked motors, and have a good understanding of it. However I will run through a list of things that I have noticed and if anyone cares to chime in with their thoughts, or provide additional details, that would be absolutely fantastic.

To the naked eye, no mice have been living in these, or in the bays. Everything is complete, the motors look quite clean, the wiring (again to my naked eye) looks to be unmolested by wildlife/people. The clutch has absolutely no movement (stuck to the floor). The brakes "work" when pulling off the trailer and pushing the FB around the driveway. The gas pedal is completely stuck, which makes me assume that the carb linkage is locked up, or something related to that. The parking/E brake barely moves, with the majority of my strength I could pull it two clicks. But the sunroof pops and has a great seal!

Odometer says just over 100k. Carfax stated 10k with an odometer discrepancy, so that has me curious.

You will be seeing me around in here asking quite naive questions and I will appreciate any input from anyone.

Pictures attached.

I am the owner of the black 83 GSL, while my pal owns the white 85 GS. I have only included interior photos of mine, as he will post his at some point. I will be attaching bay photos in the future when I get the chance.

Thanks for reading the lengthy intro and cheers! Located in NE Ohio for those that would love to be a mentor!

 

Welcome!! I am from Northeast Ohio and would be happy to help with anything you may need! Definitely a great find! Those cars are both very restorable and it would be amazing to see them back on the road!

Did the owner provide any history on either car?

 

Welcome to forum

 

Glad to see you are around. I am in the Canton area.

Not much history associated with them. He apparently bought 3 of them at the same time from an older family friend. Moved them all into his barn with hopes of restoring them. A little over a year ago, moved the 83 and 85 into the yard. I just got around to getting it home for an initial power wash, and vacuumed out the interior. Only found one mouse skeleton in the engine bay!

I honestly have no idea where to start. So far I know I want to do a rats nest delete, and to get rid of the AC stuff. Gas pedal is frozen, although I was able to get into the carb and carefully spray some PB blaster onto the exterior carb parts. Today I plan to pull the plugs and start the Marvel Mystery Oil "injection" in hopes of unlocking the motor from the carbon lock. The belts are all seized into the pulleys. Cut the AC belt and had to pry it out of the pulleys. I pretty much know that I want to replace the calipers/rotors the whole way around.

He said to his knowledge the fuel pump was the only thing bad. Do we think it would be a bad idea to throw a battery in just to see what all works? I would not even try to crank but I am eager to see something work!

I also plan to clean off the moldy/mildew-y seats and steering wheel.

Any tips/tricks/where to start would be appreciated!

 

I recently started to restore my old '83 GSL and it's interior looked as bad or worse than yours. I just used some diluted vinegar (started with 30% cleaning vinegar and cut it about 6:1 with water) - that did a great job at cleaning up the mold/mildew... I followed up fabric/carpeted areas with a wet/dry upholstery cleaner. It went a lot quicker than I was anticipating, only a couple of days... Pics in my thread here: https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...ation-1147179/

 

I think it would be ok to try and power the car up with a fresh battery. You'd be surprised to see what likely still works. The carb can be freed up as can the engine. Doesn't mean the seals aren't stuck, but it's honestly worth a try. I like MMO. It does a good job. If you need any help I can always shoot you my contact number. I have plenty of parts if you end up needing them as well.

 

welcome to the board.

this is definitely a nice find. congratulations!

after 15 years, i would probably start with the fuel system. you mentioned the carburetor needing some help, and my guess is the rest of the system will hardly be in much better shape.