Well here is my 87 base model that i bought yesterday. I will admit I am new to the Rx-7 and whole rotary but cant wait to learn , i am not new to cars in general though.

Anyways here is my car, it has been sitting for the past 15 years and it only has 87K original miles. However the paint has gotten a bit sunburned over the years but it is relatively rust free with the exception of the hood.

I hope to dive into the suspension this summer with hopefully a j-spec swap next winter.

I am hope to get it running soon, just have some questions as far as anything to look for in a rotary that has sat this long, carbon buildup I know I need to drain out the gas from the gas tank and see if the fuel pump is still alive. Among other things it needs is break pressure, clutch pressure, and a shift **** lol.

Enought rambling here is some pics

 

How much did you pay for it?

 

looks like a good project car!!!!

 

Got it for $850, plus about $130 to trailer it home.

Thanks man, I can't wait to start working on it, just waiting for it to get warmer outside.

 

Youre in the same boat im in haha. Keep us posted on your resto

 

n1

 

I sure will, i'll prob get it running first and then start to focus on the paint and suspension.

 

South dakota? dang. I hope you have a pick an pull near you because the one down the block where I live has a ton of second gens littered about. I might even be able to source a nice front bumper for you. I'll see how much they cost so I can get it for you, and a ****. let me know what you need as far as the engine goes because most turbo 2's get here on tuesdays. I'd say get it running before cosmetics but a bumper is cheap here. 87 NA right? If it's got carbon buildup, you may have to pull the engine and scramble it. It may even have a bad rotor or seal.

Tell us more about it.

 

looks like a lot of work need to be done..
good luck mate..

 

Yeah we do have pick and pull yard around with I think just one second gen right know, i even think it still has the bumper. Anyways that car has not been touched in 15 years until I got my hands on it. Also i did put a battery in the car and it turns over fine, I believe the fuel pump just died. As far as a shift **** does, the one from my 99 kia sportage fit the 7 lol. Would I check compression to see if it has a bad rotor or seal?

Thanks man, it will give me something to do this summer.

 

Yes! do so, you can never be too sure with carbon build up. The compression ratios elude me for the 87 but a regular haynes manual or the pdf from rx7 city would suffice to see. If you already have a compression tester then it should be easy to check, if you don't, you can make one by following instructions on the manual or from this site. Also, the fuel injectors might be worn so buy new ones, blue printing is about the same cost for new ones anyway. RC engineering has your stock fuel injectors. Also, if you don't hear or feel gas running through the gas lines to your injectors, then the pump is either bad or disconnected somehow. Check the lines and then replace the pump as necessary.

A regular tune up should follow the rest of the build. Is your transmission shifting fine? If not, a rebuild kit from drivetrain.com should be a cheap alternative. They don't wpc their gears or cynchros but wpc and chryo are cheap nowadays what with the millions of tuners using it. It would be cheaper to follow a mock up from one of our fellow rexateers. The rotoary isn't as complicated as a v8 internally, so it should be fun to pull apart if a rotor is bad.

 

Oh, good thing that the pump isn't working, remove the gas tank and flush it, it may have tons of debris, check the fuel filter first though. It's in the rear on 85's, I think it's in the front on 87's.

 

[QUOTE=granolavsrasins;9114111] Btw, good thing that the pump isn't working, remove the gas tank and flush it, it may have tons of 15 year old debris, check the fuel filter first though. It's in the rear on 85's, I think it's in the front on 87's.

 

Your exhaust looks rotten too, it would be better to replace the exhaust collector with a header and then get a catalytic converter if emissions are a problem in your state, single exhaust produces better throttle response and opens the auxilary port on six ports. Use a muffler from rotary performance, or one of the "tunable" types offered on the rotary performance, those are best because they last the longest. The pace setter exhaust I use is only good for about three years before it begins to rot.

 

[QUOTE=granolavsrasins;9114114]Thanks for the great info man , I drained the gas today, there was quite a bit in there which was all brown and smelled horrible.

I'll make note to find out what the compression should be. Also I managed to put a battery in it, with the fuel line disconnected and the motor turned over fine. The weird thing that happened is that none of the lights turned on inside the car when i turned the key also radio didn't work. Possible a fuse or something???

 

That happened with my 85 too, check your battery connectors, they may not be on low enough on the battery terminals. Then if that doesn't work, check your coils, they should read at about 14 to 15 ohms each. Check your alternator too. I installed a new alternator and battery but the car didn't start, then I took it to a mechanic who charged the battery and it's holding a small charge, it is my coils. You can easily check if its your fuses by visually inspecting each one for corrosion or a possible fray. It's not likely that your fuse box is burnt but it may be the culprit in the elec. system.

Check your local autozone, Kragen, Pep boys, they usually cally the msd coils for about 30 or so each, cheap and great at what they do. Also, check your rotor cap and spark plugs for a possible leakage. Foul plugs is never good. Try the cheapest things first then the most expensive later ( energy coils).

 

Regardless that the fuel line is in or not, your lights should have turned on. Your engine turned anyway? Then it sounds more like a fuse now that I think about it.

 

Just bumping my thread, made some progress today on the 7

My main concern is if I should even spend some more money to get this engine running, the thing is I dunno if moisture has gotton inside the housing. (Car sat for 15 years) I was following the advice on aaron cake's website and pulled the spark plugs out to look at them.

Here are the spark plugs, there was very little rust on which just rubbed off, the spark plugs holes were clean.



I also pulled off the thermostat, there was nasty dried up coolant in the radiator hoses but when I pull the thermostat off it was clean on the inside. Here is a crappy pic.




So if anyone has some advice as to try and get this engine running or not that would be much appriciated.

 

Anyone have Ideas about the condition of my motor?

 

Work on that compression test. If it's in decent spec (70psi+ and similar readings on both rotors) it should run for a good while.

 

Congratulations on your new car. She looks great. Do show us more pics once you've done more work on her.

 

My guess is that the car has a o-ring failure, judging by the rust on the plugs and the empty cooling system.

 

I just noticed that your garage looks eerily similar to a friend of mine's. The difference being his jeep was even bigger, had one of my fcs, and his fd in it instead of that stealth.

 

Sorry for my ingnorence with rotaries, but this would mean all of the coolant got inside the housng rusting the rotors, if so looks like rebuild time.

Yeah man, it's good when the whole garage is filled with project cars.

 

Well, It may not necessarily mean that there is an o ring failure. The car sat for 15 years, it may simply be a bit of rust from lack of running. Also, you didn't have any rust on the rest of the plugs or in the hole where the thermostat was.