1988 Convertible questions
 

Hey all! I just got my 88 vert towed home today finally and started doing some cleaning and tinkering to figure what all I will need to do to make her run. I have had several cars in the past that I have "rebuilt" for lack of a better term, but this is my first rotary car and my first convertible so it is opening a couple of new areas for me.

The first, and most pressing, question is, does anyone have any good pics or guide for the stock intake tract from the throttle body to the airbox and including the airbox for an N/A S4? I know for a fact I am missing the airbox, but I also cannot seem to figure out where the air pump connects into the intake system. It seems like this is the only thing I am actually completely missing to get the car in running order.

The next question is also motor related. Which of the leads go where for the front rotor on the spark plugs? Someone had disconnected mine to steal the intermediate shaft from the steering system and I do not know which one goes where.

The final question is on manual operation of the convertible top. I was able to find the screws outlined in my very weathered owner's manual to release the top to allow manual operation, but it does not want to move when I try to manually fold it. Is there some trick I am missing to pushing it down?

The car is a bit of a basket case right now and I know I will have more questions down the line, but these are the ones that are my biggest concerns for the time being. I will be starting a build thread as soon as I am allowed to in the main boards.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I found the FSM downloads and it looks to me like from the Fuel and Emissions section the air pump connects to the actual airbox. Can someone verify this for me and confirm if it is OK to simply run a MAF adapter and filter removing the air pump completely?

MAF Adapter? you can remove the air pump ust plug the holes from where the air pump has been disconnected, im not sure about what you mean about the maf adapter

I remember reading somewhere that the air pump activates the secondary butterflies somehow though. Can you confirm that? The MAF adapter would go in place of the airbox on the MAF to allow me to run a conical filter. It's basically a cheap version of the K&N "intake kit." As a matter of fact, can anyone running the K&N tell me or post a picture of what they did for that house to the airbox from the airpump?

The air pump opens the 5th/6th ports on the LIM on s5 IIRC, on s4 they are activated by back pressure from a little tube that connects to the cat

Air box---MAF (underneath the air box)---Throttle Body
Pic: https://www.rx7club.com/members/akag...ings-54459.jpg

In the pic, the Air Box and MAF would be just off the left edge at the very bottom. For orientation and location, the intake snorkel is shown along the bottom edge, directly above the Fan Shroud.

As for the Air Pump, it is plumbed into the ACV (Air Control Valve) which then feels fresh air into the exhaust at I believe the cat, in order to decrease emissions. Last time I checked my old S4 airbox, there was a barb on it for the Air Pump, 5/8" IIRC.

Your coils should be labeled. Front Rotor gets L1 and T1, Rear Rotor gets L2 and T2. Just remember, Leading=Lower and Trailing=Top. Leading coil is close to the battery, Trailing coil is behind the strut tower close to the Brake Booster.

As for the convertible top issue, my best advice would be to grab the Factory Service Manual at Foxed.ca. I'm sure there is a method of hot-wiring the motors to work, I just can't recall what wires to apply power & ground to offhand.

Awesome post! Thanks for the help! I'm missing everything forward of the MAF including the snorkel and fan shroud. I've put a cheap adapter and a conical filter I had laying around on for the time being but I'll probably keep looking for a stock setup since most people seem to think that's best on these cars. Am I understanding correctly that on an N/A S4 the airpump is purely for emissions and safe to remove/block off then? There is no E check in KY anymore.

Yes, air pump can go on S4. You will need the double pulley for the alternator. The water pump will slip with out it. You can often find in the classified section. As for the stock air box, I have one you can have for the cost of shipping.

Plug wires:..Go to driver's side of car,look at the engine as Front of car,rear of car(firewall)

The LEADING coil: located at FRONT of car(headlight area): one wire to each LOWER spark plug wire.The coil is marked,L1 and L2.
Put the L1 plug wire on front lower plug,
L2 wire to lower spark plug,rear.
**NOTE: you can Mix these 2 wires up.It will NOT matter as they both fire at the same time!

TRAILING COIL: location,driver's side closest to Brake Master.
Coil is marked T1 and T2.
TI goes to upper spark plug wire on Front of Engine,T2 goes to top plug Rear of engine.

***WARNING:the 2 TRAILING WIRES must go to their respective plugs OR your car will not run right!!.

..good luck..Sparky..lol!

Since you'd have to swap the pulley, I'd like to mention that now is a prime opportunity to upgrade your alternator. S4a (86-88) are especially known for overworked alternators, even in a bone stock car. Most swap to a FD alternator, which requires swapping to a Dual Sheave Pulley as well.

Mazdatrix, Racing Beat and Atkins Rotary all offer this retrofit pulley for ~$50. For reference, it is #11480 here: Pulleys

The reason I mention this is because the FC alternators have a 15mm shaft while the FD and most others (such as my Taurus Alternator) are 17mm. Kinda silly to buy a new pulley just to throw it out a month or so later when upgrading your alternator.

This is all awesome info! Thanks guys! HRnico you are about to have PM.