I also have an electrical gremlin to chase down... Seems when I step on the brake pedal, the amber side markers come on (whatthe???), and when I turn the lights on the brake lights are illuminated, making no difference in brightness when I depress the brake pedal.



THAT'll be fun to figure out!

 

Ah! a fellow SA owner! Good job on the find and all the work you've put in so far. Yours is shaping up to be a first rate resto project. The thought of the wiring harness having issues makes my brain hurt. I chase electric issues every day...

Leks

 

Did por15 on my RX2 3 years ago, was not happy with the result. It is a temp solution at best. Doing a floor pan replacement as we speak

 

Interesting! I'm letting the second coat of POR-15 dry on the panel I painted today as I type. I'll be interested to see how it holds up. I guess the only real way to prevent rust from coming back is to cut it out altogher, just like on overhaulin'...

Got the new plugs, wires, cap and rotor in yesterday and I wasn't sure if it would make a difference or not, but now it cranks over like new!! Check out the pics...

 

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on that thick plastic that lines the doors when you take the door cards off? When I took my drivers door apart to fix the window regulator, my plastic had already been pretty torn up and I need to replace it.

Could only find 2 mil plastic at the box hardware stores, but I think I may need 5 mil?

Curious...

Thanks for any and all help! Pics of the POR15 coming soon!

 

its really only there to keep water off the inside of the door panel, 2 mil is ok, or you could double it up.

 

Thanks for the tip J9! Makes complete sense.

 

SO, I had my 79 up on stands to chase down the exhaust leak last weekend and changed out the plugs, wires, rotor, and cap. That had pretty dramatic results - she fired up like NEW. Too busy with work to do much of anything after that so I left her sit on the stands.

Friday I start it up and I noticed something new. I've put 7 miles on her toolin' around the hood since I got her started (reset the trip odometer). What WAS a little bit of white smoke that sort of disappeared after it got hot turned into a LOT of white/blue smoke that never went away! ARGHGHGHH!!! It looks like a tank layin' down a smoke screen on D-Day!

It runs ok, but my first thought was that one of the many seals have failed after having not been started in 3 years or driven for over 9. Texted and confirmed my suspicion with Rotaryhaven.

Looks like a complete rebuild is in store...

In the mean time, here are some pics of my first try with POR-15...

 

sucks... fortunatly re-builds are hella eazy with a rotary.

 

WOW! I've been looking for engine gasket kits, and OMG. I'm gonna have to sell a kidney to afford one! RB has a kit for $1,350 and the cheapest one I can find on eBay is almost $600.

Holy CRAP...

Are they all that expensive?!?!?

 

... yeah eazy, not cheap.

IDK why people that produce these things think they are WAY harder to make than rings.

 

Hey folks,

I borrowed my buddy Ernie's test gauge (Thanks Ernie!) and tested compression on both the front and rear rotors. Both bounced around 40 to 50 psi when I had the shrader valve open, then when I closed the valve both rotors pumped up to 120 psi.

Not sure, but it seems that if I do have a seal going bad making the white/blue smokescreen, then it likely isn't an apex seal - correct? Maybe a side seal though?

I'll have to get someone with more experience to look at it with me.

Anyhoo, here's the vids:

1979 RX-7 MW compression test front rotor.AVI - YouTube

1979 RX-7 MW compression test rear rotor.AVI - YouTube

 

it wouldnt be a apex seal it would have to be oil seals. if i were you id do the whole rebuild save yourself the hassle and probably an engine later on.

That compression isnt the best my 12a with almost 200k on it is pushin 65psi i think never been rebuilt either haha (dont quote me tho its sitting under the work table now at buddys shop). could be alot of carbon buildup or your apex seals are cracking (idk never seen it myself haha) or maybe shutter scars on the housings or could even be ware from your side seals on your irons only way to find out is to crack her open. if you dont have much experience rebuilding rotary engines id just send it off for rebuild for like 2k (maybe even get it streetported if you want a little more kick.

sid

 

Just tossing this out there but it theoretically could be a stuck side seal causing blow-by and the low compression reading. If you are looking at having to rebuild the engine anyway you might want to attempt to do one of numerous carbon cleaning techniques.

 

As for your wheels I use oven cleaner and brushes for all aluminum. Does a great job on our wheels.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone! I'm going to rearrange some stuff in my garage (beer fridge, work bench) and install a few more electrical outlets, and get to work this winter removing the engine. I had hoped to get it running and drive it without a rebuild right away, but apparently the car has other ideas!

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for donor cars too and trying to scrape some extra dough together in case I find one reasonably cheap. Hard to do a complete restore on a "no budget" build!!

On an interesting side note, I've only found two cars on the internet that are older than mine and both are wrecked and far away. Also found that the hood prop/single side mirror uniqueness to the early 79s can be found at least up through the first 28,000+ RX-7's.

I'll post pics and ask lots of questions, cause I'm SURE I'll have some! Wish me luck.

 

correction on my motor the psi is mid 90s lol thought id come back and clarify lol

good luck bud

 

Isnt there a trick of some sort of putting a little tranny fluid in leading spark plug holes?

 

Picked up a few goodies today banking on needing them for the future - like a mint tail light (can never have too many of those I think) some amber side and turn signal lenses, and a really cool chrome bar that bolts down to the storage area just behind the seats, to keep anything from sliding into the back of the seats. I've never seen one before and thought it looked cool so I grabbed it. Maybe it's from 1980's and up? Not sure.

Here's a pic:

 

Yep, and you'll find a lot of info on it by searching "ATF" in the threads. Works for freeing up stuck motors.

 

Thanks! I'm gonna take my time and try to do it right. I'm gonna pull the engine and then take all the stuff out of the engine bay so I need to learn how to make all the wires and ancillary stuff in the engine compartment look brand new. I really need to take it all out and sandblast the rust out of the engine bay and repaint it to look new.

I was watching that guy Aaron Cake on Youtube rebuild his Cosmo motor and a question popped into my head. When you rebuild, how should you orient the rotors? Do they both go "point down", or are they sposed to be configured in a certain way? Does it matter?

 

Well, today I started pulling the engine. I followed the factory service manual and got to the point of removing the choke, hot start assist, and throttle cables from the carb. That throttle cable was a beeyotch to get out!

Gone from under the hood are the radiator, overflow tank, fan, shroud, dizzy, oil cooler, and a mess of disconnected wires and vacuum tubes. I tried to carefully mark each connection with the step number from the FSM, so I hope that I can get it back together. Found lots of new rust under the battery tray - yuck... We'll have to see exactly what I have but it seems solid so far, just superficial rust and collection of dirt and grime.

Pics will be coming soon. Hope to make a transformation that looks as good as some of the others on here!

Wish me luck!

 

Kinda had mixed feelings about tearing this thing apart, but I know I need to. Here are some pics of what I started with. Lots of surface rust...

 

Here's some pics of where I ended up at today... You can see the major parts I removed on my NEW workbench I built! Except for the oil cooler - it was gravity draining into a tote.

 

Sadly. Mine needs taken Part to but just scared to and undecided what I want to so with it but nice find. I have the exact battery in my sa