Glassman10

Hello, I'm a 71-year-old semi-retired glass artist living in New Hampshire. This Spring, I purchased a 79 RX7 that has been garaged for the last 40 years in my neighbor's car collection. John finally passed away at about 95 years old and the collection was auctioned. My favorite remains a French Voisin which was shipped to Paris. As the time to clear the big barn of the last remaining cars, his son's first car, a 79 RX7 was pushed at me and I admit some reluctance about acquiring it. I already had a 71 MGB which has needed TLC for ten years now and I find my body won't put up with much now when it comes to lying under cars.

So I bought it for a very reasonable price. The thing is gorgeous, and I love driving it but it came with an oil leak that drips relentlessly on the exhaust manifold creating a dangerous situation in my mind, so I opted to replace all the hoses, belts, water pump and then to have the seals replaced. That has been my dead end. I took it to a shop which assured me this was straightforward and six months later, I find myself here looking for what I believe are called seed oil hoses. If anyone can direct me to such things, I'd really appreciate it. If that does not play out, is there a reason these hoses cannot be reused, or barring that, can I get any direction on having new hoses made?
I run a board using this exact Sofware and have over twenty years come to appreciate the collective knowledge of the folks using it. I'm hoping that to be the case here as well.

GtiKyle

iTrader: (5)

Welcome Glassman10.

Is the car still at a shop? What is the current state it's in right now?

There's a bunch of helpful people here, and maybe someone up in the NH area that could lend a hand. If you haven't already, do you own the Haynes manual for these cars? I found it pretty useful for reference.

Post up a picture of the car too, always love seeing them.

Glassman10

It is currently sitting with the engine out in Derry at a place which was recommended to me. . I don't know whether the name "Oil Seed" hose is relevant. My Haynes manuals are in the back of the car and it's about 100 miles from here. The shop has been terrible about communicating but today, here's this email about these hoses being the only thing stopping finishing the rebuild. Apparently, they have been unable to get these new hoses, but I suspect they haven't 'tried all that hard. It was suggested that I try to find these hoses and candidly, I'm not sure if the name is correct or if they can be custom made, or are actually available, OR can the old ones be reused. This seems like the place to come seeking help.

The car, garaged for 40 years has 63K miles on the odometer. The electric clock still works. It is outside, winter is upon us and I really want to resolve this. I want to get it back in a heated barn but currently, the engine is out.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Welcome to the forum! Would love to see pictures of the car!! I'll keep this brief as this is an intros section. You will want to create a thread in the 1st Gen section reference any technical questions. The parts you are looking for are the oil metering pump lines. The rubber gets soft where the line meets the oil metering pump. For from an engine out fix. The only reason to pull the engine is to install a new front cover gasket.

Glassman10

well, oil metering pump lines puts me in a way better place than I have been. I have a lead on a parts place named atkins and I hope they can help. The engine is already out so there's no getting that toothpaste back in the tube. It still strikes me that if Atkins does not have the part that it could be made up as long as there are no fittings that can't be found. . All in all, I don't mind having the engine out so that the compartment can be completely cleaned and repainted. The smoke from the burning oil has really left it a gross mess and the rest of the car is drop dead gorgeous.

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

Welcome to the forums. Not sure but my first guess is the same as Dave's, Oil metering pump lines. The OMP (Oil Metering Pump) injects a small amount of engine oil into the combustion process like a 2 stroke. The lines carry the oil from the pump up to the carb. There are 2 lines (long and short)

Replacement lines have been discussed in various threads here. Go to the 1st gen section and do a search on OMP lines. Here's an example of one that talks about using some line from McMaster-Carr.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...5-12a-1109770/


Atkins is an old and trustworthy shop, so is MazdaTrix. Both mentioned in the thread. Sounds like the place where you have your car is less than ideal.

Glassman10

*****
Indeed I said wistfully.

Glassman10

At this point I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has helped me find my way with this beautiful old car. The hoses are ordered and the fire is properly lit under the shop fixing it. The internet can be such a good and awful place at any given moment. This has been one f the good ones. I'll post photos when it's back in my hands, in my garage waiting for spring to come.

Thanks again. I strongly suspect I'll be back.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Will definitely look forward to seeing pictures of the car! Glad we were able to help you out!

Glassman10

I'm grateful at this point. I am now wondering about other issues that I should likely be looking for. I assume that the oil metering lines have been a persistent issue over the years. Armed with my fully functioning electric clock in the dash, I would appreciate knowing what other irritants pop up that I should keep an eye on. Any advice there will be great. This a 79 stored indoors for forty some years in fully climate controlled conditions. The only thing I think is failing is the float for the gas gauge.. The windshield does not have any pitting. I am replacing rubber wherever it appears.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

It sounds like you have a really nice car. A digital clock indicates you have a 1979 Limited. A rare and desirable car indeed! The fuel level sender is known for failing as well. They are still available at a reasonable price and fairly simple to install. Though it does require removal of the fuel tank.

Glassman10

Well, the clock has hands...but at least it's a brilliant red..

As i wander through this website, it's so clear to me how much I have to learn about the car's genealogy. The car came with one glossy book on the history but so far I've just been focused on making it run safely. I hope to have it back before Christmas. Then, it's into the glassworks until the salt is gone and the sky is blue. The passion I see here for these cars is really nice in such a troubled world. The only flaw it seems to have is the seat back upholstery on the door side. It seems like a tough car to get into and that the leather at the upper corner took a beating creating two small tears in the leather. I was considering taking the seats out and redrilling the mounting bolts back about two inches if it's possible. I'd certainly take comments on that. I will have the seat backs reupholstered regardless.

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

For 79, the red they used is "Sunrise Red" paint code RH. Should be on a label under the hood. These are fairly reliable little cars. You don't want to overheat it (keep an eye on the radiator and cooling system) or run it out of oil. The plastic rod that extends and retracts the electric antenna are know to get brittle and break. I wouldn't use it when its cold outside. Racing Beat sells some ready made seat covers. You can get either the "perforated" (red dots) or a couple of colors of velour inserts. They are made by seatz manufacturing and you can also go direct to them. https://seatzmfg.com

If the stock seat mounts don't provide enough adjustability, you probably can drill new mounting holes where the brackets mount to the seat frame on the bottom cushion. The limiting factor will be the upper seat cushion hitting the panel behind he seats. I'd unbold it first and place it all in the car to see if all the way back is enough. Seats are pretty easy to remove, just 4 bolts.

Glassman10

Thank You.
You mention "low Oil" and I've seen one person adding oil to the gasoline, so, is this a consumable that is calculable? I took note reading a build thread about priming the oil pump as potentially being necessary. Is that generally true? As to the seats, it's part me being so stiff but there is not a lot of room for head clearance getting in. It's OK once it's done. I do want to beef up the seat from abrasive contact getting in an out. I don't think it's coincidence.. As you note, the antennae is kind of shaky and complains some.

I want to come to understand all of the differing model types out there and am trying to read what I can but have yet to find a thread which describes all of the iterations the RX7 has gone through. The site overall is incredible in its depth and it's a trifle intimidating. At 71, I don't move well yet I still own all of the welding plasma cutting stuff i have for building glass furnaces. I need new skeletal joints. So when I get the car back I can really dive into it in the new heated space we've created in the glassworks. I'm interested in books on the car. It came with one Jack Yamaguchi put out but it doesn't really dig into the 79 issue which is more of what I want and I have the Haynes manual. Other useful literature suggestions will be appreciated. I don't want to wear out my welcome here though. I feel like I'm already hogging bandwidth.

DummyFixer

Welcone, I too have a '79 and I appreciate your interest. Quite a bit of good information is available at the website Foxed.ca
See my signature for more.

Some one indicated the need to remove the fuel tank to replace the fuel level sender, Not necessary, it is acessble behind the lett rear wheel.

DummyFixer

There is a lot of good information here
fb, fc, f-me I'm confused - RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum

DummyFixer

I re-worked my seats with these

Mazda RX7 '79-83 Hi Back Bucket Seats Upholstery Kit * All Vinyl.

from Ebay.
They look like the OEM seats.

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

The factory manuals are heads and shoulders above the Haynes. You can download most from that foxed link mentioned above or you can usually find the Mazda 79 service manual on eBay.

Rx-7 models, For North America, the first 2 years are known as SA's. Has to do with the S/N- SA22C XXXXXX.
In 81, the National Highway Safety Institute changed the VIN requirement for all cars sold here. So Mazda re structured the VIN to start with JM1FB XXXXX. So 81 thru 85 cars are known as FB's. All the cars 79-85 (SA's and FB's) are 1st gens.

However, VIN re structuring wasn't a requirement for the rest of the world, so all those cars sold 79-85 are all SA22C cars or SA's.

The 2nd gen cars were made from 86-92 and are known as FC's

3rd gen cars were made from 93-2002 and are FD's

Rx-8's are FE's
Aren't you glad you asked?

As for the oil, some guys choose to do away with the OMP and just pre-mix the fuel with oil every fill up, like a 2 stroke. Others will premix along with the regular OMP as a precaution. Still others (myself included) just rely on the OPM to inject the oil. How much and what brand of oil to pre mix with, is opinion based and can differ somewhat person to person.