I'm having trouble with the exhaust on my 1980.... i have the muffler purchased from Black dragon auto, and the replacement cat i found for $94. But I don't know how much the rest is going to cost me. I have a tuner close by that can fabricate something, but again i don't want it to end up costing me more than a couple hundred. Any ideas or anyone with a diagram of the 1980 stock exhaust system?

 

To begin with, a 1980 RX-7 does not have a catalytic converter. Black Dragon's catalog info with regard to the 1980 exhaust is wrong in several respects - - probably because a lot of the parts for SA exhausts are no longer available, so correcting it doesn't matter too much to them.

The SA exhaust uses a thermal reactor/heat exchanger system that includes a front downpipe or "airduct" that is double-layered, with exhaust flowing rearwards inside the inner pipe, heated air flowing forward in the back half of the outer pipe, and cooling air flowing rearward in the front part of the outer pipe.

Components of the stock 1980 exhaust, forward of the midpipe:


I have a good schematic diagram around here somewhere that I will post once I dig it up, shows the function of the system.


Edit: Here's the schematic:

 

Ahh ok... Well i just want it to be quieter than it is now, something is missing underneath and I don't know what it is. I see people post about after market exhausts for this car but i don't want it to be loud as hell. I'm assuming their version of the cat was supposed to replace some part of it. Any Ideas? It's not illegally loud now, but I think it may be the smaller pipe that is supposed to go next to the larger one all the way back.

 

The RB aftermarket solution is nice and quiet - only slightly louder than stock until you romp on it.. I've had one on my car from time to time when I wasn't dancing with the CA smog *****. May swap it back on again soon.

If you've got a stock exhaust and it's noisy, something's probably busted in it.

 

Yeah the RB collected header exhaust is a nice replacement and not too loud. The
RB SP dual back to the axle exhaust is a bit louder and may not be what you want.

Good luck fixing up that old exhaust, you can't get the parts new anymore and
good, used pipes and exchangers and what have you are hard to come by. So
unless your doing a full restoration I would look at the RB solution.

Note that the EGR on the 80s is a Cali only thing. The rest of us didn't have an EGR.

 

True, dat... JEALOUS!!!?!?!?

The other nice thing about the RB setup is, although it's quite heavily built, it's still quite a few pounds lighter than the stock system.

 

RB website only has the heads and muffler.... what about the rest?

 

The only thing you have to supply is the middle connecting pipe. If yours is bad you
can buy a new one at mazdatrix maybe if they still have or try black dragon. You
could have someone make one up.

Now the SP exhaust gives you the whole thing but like I said it is a little louder.

 

Ok then F it.... Ill just bite the bullet and get the sick sounding rb, then slap some of my tuner's stickers on the windows and say its an autox car. Cops won't say ****. The car is clean as hell anyways, zero body rust. Only dings from misc things where paint chipped off. I actually discovered a security system and hardwired radar detector that I have no idea how to use when I was painting interior parts. My friend who owned it previously said he got it from some rich dude that owns a massive factory in Buffalo.

 

The rich dude... was his name Richard Corey?

 

Lol.... I meant Wealthy dude. I don't know his name though. I know he is/was part owner of the Derrick Corp. in Cheektowaga NY. My friend got the car because his father worked there for decades and got first dibs on it. The car never even seen snow until last year when my dog ripped my car cover to shreds for leaving her outside too long lol.

 

Was this a Simon and Garfunkel reference?