JGBallew

Some possibly silly questions from a new RX-7 owner-

I recently picked up a 1981 RX-7 in a non-running state. the chassis is in stunning, original shape, and the car appears to have been garaged most of it's life.
Zero rust as one would expect from a southwest car.
Following advice on this board, I got the engine tuning freely, and it seems to have good compression.

Now, the problems? It has the stock Nikki carb, which appears to have been apart numerous times.
It came with a second, also in sad shape. Between the two I might have 2/3 of a complete carb.
It also has had a minor engine fire. Very mildly melted connectors, wiring, etc. No bare wires, but you can see that they aren't right.

Lastly the biggest problem.

I live in Maricopa county. Emissions testing. If I lived anywhere else in Arizona, I would just install a DCOE and manifold, and remove the crispy bits from atop the engine.

I'm worried that if I deviate from stock, the car won't pass the asinine emissions testing in place in this county.

So, should I deal with the Nikki, or can I get this car to pass emissions with a Weber? And what size DCOE should I use for just general driveability ?(Not looking to race this thing, just drive it).

Other carb suggestions/advice would be appreciated .

Thanks for your time!

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

I have yet to see any aftermarket carb pass emissions, sorry.

In the following link, you will find the FSMs, carb manual and other rotary reading. Best thing you can do at this point is return/repair all of the carb and emissions to stock. Once you pass emissions any other mods are up to you, as long as you can return the car to stock for each testing cycle.

http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/cars/rx7/manuals.html

JGBallew

I was afraid that would be the response.
I'll save my essay on the stupidity of the Maricopa county emissions test program for later.

That being the case, who can either supply me with the parts I need, or rebuild one of the two I have?

The names of trusted rotary-friendly shops in the Phoenix-metro area would be helpful.

Kentetsu

www.sterlingmetalworks.com

I believe that Sterling can make some improvement to the performance of a carb and still keep it emissions friendly, but I might be wrong. Anyway, he will also do a straight rebuild for ya, and there's none better to do it.




.

swbtm

iTrader: (2)

Any chance that your area has antique car exempt laws?

Just asking because i'll be getting an antique plate on my car in the next few years... but it is in NH

white_charisma

another shop in the phoenix area is arizona rotary rockets, in tempe, im pretty sure they mess with the older stuff, check out the site www.azrotaryrockets.com

JGBallew

Yes, but it requires you have a second vehicle with "normal" registration. In that case I have a 1972 Olds Vista Cruiser, which I'd rather set up as the classic/antique.

After the emissions monkeys launched the Cruiser off the dyno, AND broke the fuel filler neck all in one inspection I'm hesitant to take either through testing.

I'm hoping the RX-7 will be the lower impact of the two.


Thanks white_charisma, and Kentetsu for the links. I'm looking at both companies, and considering my options.