Abstract606

Hello all, ill try and sum it up quick. Im 19, just made an account so im new here. My grandma may sell me her 1981 stock rx7 and if so, its been sitting for 16 years now in an open garage in south oklahoma, very dry. They parked it after towing it behind their RV. A cheap tow connection ripped the front fender away and the car rolled through a fence and in a field, luckily just some scratches. There were never problems with the car so its just been sitting, but i dont know how i should go about prepping a rotary engine before i try and start it, mainly not sure because its been 16 years untouched, and most of these forum threads i see only talk about engines that have been sitting for 4 or 5 years. Id love any and all suggestions and help on this, itd be my first passion project and project car entirely.
lots of knowledge but not v much experience on any engines, only very recently was i able to start doing this stuff.

all help is appreciated, just wanna bring this beautiful car back to its former glory, thank you all.

chuyler1

iTrader: (1)

Hi, welcome to the club. Sounds like a fun project. 16 years is a long time, but there is still a chance you can get the car to turn over. I'm sure someone has a full checklist to share but this is what I would start with: Read up on common tips for starting any motor after it's been sitting for years. Inspect the car and engine bay closely and look for damaged wires and hoses that little critters love to get into. Expect to turn it over by hand first to see if it rotates, drain/flush the gas tank and replace the fuel filter (don't fill it back up until you are certain the motor will run on starter fluid), drain/fill the oil and replace the oil filter, replace the spark plugs, etc.

The only tip that may be specific to rotaries is to squirt about a cap full of ATF (automatic transmission fluid) into the combustion chambers while you are replacing the spark plugs. Rotate the engine by hand with the plugs out and see if you get consistent "chugs" of compression from each of the rotor faces as they pass by the open spark plug holes. You'll have to rotate the crank shaft 3 times all the way around and you should hear 3 chugs from each rotor during this process. Add a little more ATF if you aren't getting consistent results. If it sounds good, before you put the new plugs in, attach a battery and turn over the car with the starter motor to clean out the chambers. Then you can put your spark plugs in and try to start the motor with starter fluid down the carburetor. If you hear it run on its own you're in good shape to move on to adding fuel to the gas tank and what not.

...but keep in mind, it's an old car and even if you do get it running, it could need a lot of work to run well. You may be looking to rebuild the carburetor and replace all the rubber hoses and vacuum lines. You could be looking at an engine rebuild if you don't want it to leak oil everywhere. And you will certainly need to look into suspension fixes such as new tires, bushings, tierods, and shocks, before it will be safe to drive on the road. Information about all this is within the pages of these forums and shop manuals. If you can navigate today's world of modern technology, the inner workings of a 30+ year old car shouldn't be too much trouble.