I'd put $100 into the PDX. It's money very well spent, and you really have no idea how much fun it is, and how much you'll learn. Besides, if you change your mind you can cancel with no penalty.

DO IT!!

 

Orientation till Tuesday, sleeping in the bug filled dorms and getting up much too early. Wish me luck...

 

I won't be running PDX this year....unfortunately I received the wrong motor mounts with my order and my radiator is not up to the challenge. There's always next year.

Anyways, I'm back in Georgia...about to go do my brakes...

 

Doesnt look like I can make it to Zoom-Fest this year. Sucks.

 

Im thinking of selling my car Anybody know anybody looking?

 

Those Honda's have good resale value Kevin, you looking at another 7?

Zach say it ain't so

 

There are plenty of junk FCs with engine mounts and radiators in local yards, Collin.

There's a yard in Commerce (mid-page below) with a radiator - nobody ever takes the engine mounts. No reason you couldn't have it in easily within 3 weeks. Hell, I've got engine mounts....

http://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/sear...ey=&userPage=2

 

So, let me update you guys on today....


The motor mounts I ordered? Yeah, they're not even remotely close to being the right ones. Their fault.

The intake plenum gasket I ordered? Yep, that's wrong too, also their fault.

I didn't even get my fuel strainer...

My brakes were correct, however. I ordered new pads and rotors all the way around.

Here's some of the 'adventure' I had today...

Okay, so 11am I'm out there...it's like 90 degrees and sunny as ****...but I'm out there... Discovered my brother had taken his jack, which is the good jack because he broke mine a long time ago and never even offered to replace it... so I use the spare tire jack in the back of Sabine (Which had never been used before, and was shiny and pretty) and I discovered the handle was missing, so I had to use a socket wrench extension instead... then I also discovered that I could only raise one wheel at a time and was not going to be able to set her up on jack stands totally in the air to make things go faster and allow me to bleed in any realistic amount of time.

First front wheel went alright. Rotor screws came right out, the caliper bolts were pretty tough though...had to break out the 5lbs sledge hammer to help me out with that. Rotor came right off. Done. So, next wheel...driver side rear... let's just say that's where things went really down hill. The rotor was completely seized on the hub and refused to come off even with the sledge.. I also stripped the screws without even trying too hard. Had to find a bit slightly larger than the screw itself and drill the heads off.

I have one of those neat little caliper tool cubes that you attach to a socket wrench so you can turn the pistons in properly...worked great on Grace, flawless... And Sabine's rear brakes just would not budge. I ended up having to c-clamp them in. Thankfully, due to the way my c-clamp is made, it did in fact turn the piston in but it required so much force it was almost unreal. As for getting the rotor off, I had to go back to autozone and get some rust eating **** and smear that on and let it sit, then pry the rotor off with a three foot crow bar. This was the story for both rear jobs..

During this time I was busy sucking out brake fluid from the reservoir so it would not spill out...

Now the great news; Finished up, got in the car, pumped the brakes,...and yet the fluid level in the reservoir did not fall even the smallest bit. Went for a bit of a drive around my neighborhood and my brakes are fantastically terrible. So bad I'm not even sure I should take it to work tomorrow. I tried bedding the brakes, and only got smoke...it seems as if the rears have completely seized up and the fronts are doing all of the work, and they don't even appear to be working that well themselves.

I never got to bleed the brakes because it got dark by the time I barely finished the last wheel, but I don't think it would help even if I were able to.

It seems I'm facing this: Reman rear calipers or rebuilding them. I've never had brake problems like this.

This all sounds like quite a lot of bitching... and to be quite honest with you, it is.. I'm pretty pissed as a whole. Pissed that I received wrong parts and didn't even get one of them... pissed that the car gave me so much trouble for simple brakes... pissed that they're even worse than they were before I spent money and got new ones...and yeah.

Looks like I have to keep the flippin' Miata, which, funnily enough, ALSO needs new brakes all the way around... for however long it takes me to fix Sabine's brakes...which could be a while.

 

Collin, by not turning the rear pistons in you've likely pushed the threaded o-ringed stud that the parking brake uses right out the back side, under the rubber boot. Next time you get the chance, check your parking brake and check that rubber boot for brake fluid. If you peel the boot back and get any hydraulic fluid, you've got a problem. There should be nothing but grease under the rubber boot, as it's the dry side of the caliper where the parking brake mechanism is.

In order to operate correctly, the rear pistons HAVE to be rotated as they're re-seated.

 

They were rotated in.

 

Okay. Sorry, but I thought you were saying that you c-clamped the rears back in.

If you still have problems, they can be rebuilt pretty easily. If you ever decide to bring the calipers down here in-hand, we can pop the pistons out, clean them up, and reinstall with a cheap set of seals from Autozone. Rebuilding the rears sucks, but the fronts are easy.

By the way, the piston I told you about on the rear calipers is acted on by a set of belleville springs (wavy washers) that act to keep the piston retracted. Until the caliper's been excercised several times, the piston won't unthread off the rod and give you tight pad clearance. I'd give it a few trips before I get nervous about it.

 

I'm hoping it improves with some driving. I know some brakes can take some miles to bed properly and start doing their job, but I'm again frustrated with the car. Simple job turned difficult... and I'm tired and sore... I'll feel better tomorrow. Gonna take it to work and see what happens.

Edit: Crit, why are the rears difficult? I would think they'd be easier.

 

Crap, my front driver's brake disc is cracked. So now I'm just going to replace my front brakes, and all 4 wheel bearings, all the pads on 4 corners, and then pay for PDX, and have no Respeed money again....... Stuff keeps wearing out on me as I'm getting money for mods. All of it is going into maintaining rather than upgrading. I guess it's part of the "old car" experience.

 

Well it's not always like that, the White One has given me more trouble free miles over the last maintenance free year than any car I've ever driven - she just turned over 168,000 miles a few weeks ago. Now something could happen tomorrow, or today, since I've mentioned it, but I'll bet the oil change I did yesterday is the last attention she needs for the rest of the summer, Zoomfest included.

I'm not bragging here (well maybe I am) but I am trying to make a point. The thing with just about any 20+, 100,000+ mile car that is new to you is that you can be pretty sure you are going to have to do the brakes (I have on all four of my GSLs).

And there will be other things, coolant leaks, wiring problems, oil leaks, maybea carb rebuild, etc. But take care of these one at a time and then one day, you are there

!!!!!!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~RX-7 NIRVANA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!!!!!

I can't even remember the last time I changed plugs or looked under the rotor cap in the White One and she runs better than she has at any time since I got her three years ago.

The trick is to take things one at a time and see everything for the long run, knowing that everything you do will pay itself back over and over during the next few years. The White One had some issues during that first year, but the last two have been pretty much trouble free driving, 110 miles a day.

So Collin, congrats on digging into those brakes this weekend, you got some of the job done, know what still needs attention and learned a bunch too. Sounds like a pretty productive weekend to me!

 

Chris, Ray's absolutely right plus there's the added fact that nearly anyone on here will take better care of their car than the previous owner. You'll find several things that the P.O. may have let slide, but that you'll want to address. The good news is that the rotors are cheap. If you buy several things at once, rockauto.com can save you a good bit of cash. You can even google them and find the current discount code to use before you check out.

Collin, the problem with the rears is that the parking brake is built into the caliper. There's a threaded stud that comes in from the dry side of the caliper (under the huge rubber boot) with o-ring seals and whatnot. The two ways that your rear calipers engage are with either hydraulic pressure on the wet side of the caliper or if you pull the handbrake, actuate the rocker, and push the stud out from the dry side of the caliper. That threaded stud is threaded into the back side of the caliper piston, and it's the reason the rears have to be rotated in - otherwise you'll just push the stud out the dry side and crash all the handbrake hardware.

The front is just a piston, seal and dust boot. The rear is the same, plus o-rings, belleville springs, rockers, a big weird crescent spring, a big-*** rubber boot, and lots of orange grease. Much nastier, and tough to reassemble.

 

Hey Billy. quick ZF question. I am wondering when the tickets are going to be emailed out? Or if they have and we erased the email How can we retrieve new ones? I have been looking for them but haven't seen a email and am worried we scrapped it. Thanks dude. It looks like there will be a large gathering this year I am still searching for a driver to bring the FB down this year. That way we can have all 3 represented for NC.

 

That reminds me.....Kevin you still have my caliper cube?


Nothing has been sent yet.

-billy

 

Hey Chris, just for your entertainment, it looks like that GSL you were looking at over in SC is for sale again, the previous sale fell through. Sounds like he'd just about give away right about now:

https://www.rx7club.com/se-sale-wanted-classifieds-180/1984-white-gsl-%24500-845520/

Too bad about the necessary repairs getting in the way of the respeed steering rack but love and trust your 7. Take care of the basics and she will take care of you and save you plenty of money down the road for the steering rack and more.

 

yeah I have it

 

Yep, old cars need **** all the time

I agree, good brakes, PDX and you will be super happy. Give the NAPA gold rotors a try. You will like them.

-billy

 

Just a reminder that registration for Zoom-Fest will close Sunday morning.

This is to ensure we have everyone accounted for and to give time to print the shirts.

You must pre-register for the event.

Visit www.mazdameets.com to sign up.

 

Yeah, I ordered all the stuff I needed from NAPA because my cousin works there. I need to use his NAPA discount on future purchases because he can now order discount 7 parts on account of him owning a 7(they make you list the car you own so that they don't think you're buying for other people) and I also saw a thread when I searched where you said that NAPA discs are the only ones that held up in your racing days. With these brand new rotors and some fresh pads I think PDX will be a blast and definitely much safer..

 

Or it could turn into this massive nightmare like what I'm dealing with and make you threaten your car with a for sale sign and fram oil filters...

 

Well guys. I still want to try and make it to the OGTA meeting, but it doesn't seem possible at this point. Since I didn't know that races are not already installed in the new front rotor/hub assemblies I fucked up my spindle and need a new one on my drivers side. I'm pissed because I haven't driven my car since I bought it and it's been on jack stands since I brought it home. However I will get it fixed (eventually) and I will be out there soon. Mike.. I will get those wheels back to you ASAP, sorry it's been this long. And to everyone else... I would love to come drink a couple beers with y'all, but with the repairs needed on the 7 I can't afford to miss work. If there are ever any get-togethers on the weekend I will be there! (even if I have to drive a boinger...) Just keep me posted. Thanks,

Karl

 

Karl, you'd be surprised just what you'll find floating around Atlanta. If you tell us what year your car is, you might find a spindle popping up. By the way, where in Atlanta are you?

Edit - Just saw that you have an 83 GSL. Anyone have a big-bearing 12A pair of spindles?