So I picked up a 83 rx-7 12a turbo (picture below) the other day with my only fee being to haul it away. I've always wanted one of these but I'm clueless with the rotary world and set ups. It's been sitting since about 2008 and was last started in 2013 but barely ran. I'm hoping you all can throw me some advice on what would be some main aspects to look for that would need replaced or attended to. As in major spots that may rust out easy, major system parts that I would need to verify it has in order to support the turbo set up, common failing items. For the most part I plan on rebuilding this from the ground up but would like to shave off as much as I can with reusable parts. I would love to hear any suggestions or opinions on paths to take for this rebuild. Any input to get me started would be greatly appreciated and now I'll go back to ready endless posts. Thanks

 

I just plain like the shape and stance of the car Jake..(I wannn it!..lol!)
So I'll let the guys start to give ya pointers and tips on your endeavour.
Number one to me is to lube the internals up on the engine,clean the whole fuel system out,check any wires,hoses,etc,electrical connections..Filters,oil change.plugs and wires.
Compression test the engine(many threads on that can be found easily).
Good luck.
STYX (MOD)

 

Look out for rats nests and chewed wires!

 

Well the coolant is about the same consistency as play-doh. Nearly all the lines are dry rotted. So I'm probably just going to be cometely stripping the car and then piecing it back together. But there is so much space in this engine bay! Coming from the world of all 3000gts I'm loving this extra work room.

 

Ya that extra room make you think you can stick something like a ..maybe..heh..a V8 in there.!

(hint,if the engine is toast look into a S4 TII engine swap!)

 

Lol, well I'll be doing little things here and there and am going to attempt to see if she will start beginning of next week and I guess my engine decision is going to come from how it responds to that.

 

The Mariah wide body kits are the only body kits I like. Good find.

If it is a real Mazda 12A turbo then that's also a rare beast as they weren't sold in North America.

 

How would I be able to tell if it is the real 12a turbo? Or is it one of those things where you can't really know for sure.

 

It will say 12a turbo on the air filter plastic. Is it LHD or RHD? If its LHD you may have a one of probably zilch in america

 

by the pic posted, LHD.

jmase3kgt, post an under hood pic.

 

Can't tell on my phone lol

But yes, underhood pictures are now mandatory, you have us excited

Edit: NVM, i see which way the tach is pointing now and can JUST see the steering wheel. Either way, we wanna see

 

My initial worry would be sticking apex seals. After that I would change the fluids and go from there. That is a nice looking 83.

 

Moving the car to another garage tonight for it's final resting place through out the build. I'll get some more pics up them for you all. Anyways as from I can see it doesn't seem like a stock turbo on it but then again I haven't really seem but a few on difderent models.

 

When it comes to stock turbo FB, almost no american has seen one in person

 

 

That looks like a turbo build from YEARS ago, but not a stock turbo, either way, you got a awesome freebie, don't drone away from it, start and finish it, no matter how long it takes you

 

Well trust me this car will get finished sooner or later. The reason I was giving the car was because it was the first sports car I rode in as a child and started my interest in the car world. The owner knew how much it meant to me and told me he just didn't have the time he thought he would have for it and told me if I came and got it I could have it. Progress will be fairly slow on it as I work and go to school full time but weekly progress will be made however slow that is.

 

Please, go into the 1st gen section and make a build thread, would love to see the progress on this one

 

For those of you who may want to follow the rebuild or throw in any advice or suggestions, check out my build thread thanks.
https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/83-mariah-revival-1076784/

 

Looks like a Cartech turbo kit.