ok ive always wanted an rx7, please dont burn me for this but ive been restoring crxs, so i like those small cars.
im not familiar with the rx7 or the nitty gritty of the wankel.
im a quick learner though.
so today i believe whole heartedly that I am going to be in possession of an abandoned 1981 mazda rx7 once all the paperwork goes through.
i found it behind an old shut down tinting shop down a short dirt road next to 5 other abandoned very old looking vehicles. its not on private land, its on section 8 land. its on a tiny path and i dont even know how it got down there. the body looks all fine the rear tires have a little air but the fronts are totally deflated. the paints still ok (that red orange color) My uncle can haul it out with his mega winch on his flatbed.
the license plates say it ran up in 1991. the interior looks mint and i the abandonment laws here can be as short as 40 days without a reply from the original owner (who may have passed away)
is it possible to start these rotaries after all this time with some precautions before starting? Im very interested in restoring it and I am good with mech and body. this would be my first rx venture.is it possible to save it? i could use some detailed feedback because this actually means a lot more to me than just some random restore. if this is in the wrong forum i apologize as I am pretty new to this site.

 

I would pour some oil down the carb and pull the engine over by hand. In fact I would let it sit for a few days and do that again.
I would expect to have some difficulty getting it started, and in fact the engine may be shot altogether. There has to be a reason it has set there for all these years.

 

theres a few cars all hidden back there under an overgrown shed. thgey all have new jersey plates which have run up over 15 to 20 years ago. the store which is shut down since 1998 still has all the original store stuff in it. we think the owner died, got arrested or just took off because he stole cars maybe? we're in maine so its not very common to see 4 hidden cars all with jersey plates on them hidden from the road for years....i am going through the claiming process of abandoned vehicles right now. besides i can tow em all out anyways, if anything i can scrap em all but id love to get the rx running. barely any rust on any of them. just light surface rust even underneath. i took my jack and plywood back there and checked it out, frames solid on the rx. wish me luck man thanks for the info. if you have any other ideas let me know. i have all the old school gearheads in my area brainstorming right now.

 

I would take the carb off and rebuild it. The longer you let the oil sit in the engine the better off you are. I would use Marvel Mystery oil in it.
Make sure the battery is very strong and the battery cables are good.

 

After the carb is rebuilt - the Nikki carb hates being idle and degrades quickly unused - pull the spark plugs, change out the distributor cap and rotor, get a good battery and also good jumper cables because you're going to need all of that to start this beast. Let it spin without the spark plugs in place to clear out all the junk that will have been loosened by the Marvel Mystery Oil.

Once that's done, put in brand new NGK spark plugs, pour a half cap of the MMO down the carb throat and then hook up the jumper cables to a car with a good electrical system with someone in the driver seat of that vehicle to keep revs up as you attempt this next part.

You need someone sitting in the driver's seat of the 1stgen and someone standing next to the open carb. Use Gumout's Carb Cleaner or Prestone Starter fluid. Take a long screwdriver and open the secondary butterflies while the car is dead and spray some of the stuff down in there. Let it sit for a minute and then have the person in the 1stgen crank on the ignition key to start it. "Fog" the carb as the engine turns over with your carb cleaner or starter fluid.

It's gonna start but you're going to see a TON of smoke coming out of the exhaust and anyplace where there is a leak in that exhaust...ignore it all, but keep the revs in the 2000 range until the smoke dies down...now is a good opportunity to see if the semi-auto choke still works but don't try it for about a minute and a half after you get it started.

The last thing you want to happen is for the engine to stop while you are attempting to start it...make sure the person in the 1stgen understands there will be smoke and that they absolutely must feather the throttle to keep it going and that they will be needing to keep at least 1500 rpm on the engine to keep it alive and running if it's been down that long.

Mario III