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I'm a college student from the Bay Area, California. I've been lurking these forums for a while now - not sure why it took till now to make an account.
My interest in cars:
I've always loved tinkering, this interest in mechanics lead my to my major in school and cars as a hobby. My first project was a 1970 Buick Skylark; I wanted something 'easy to work on'. Took me two years to get it road worthy (turns out 50 years of rust and road grime makes things NOT EASY TO WORK ON), but just a few months in I knew I had the wrong car for me. My close friend had just bought an AE86 and took me into the hills with it. After that day I knew 3300 lbs and a 3 speed slush-o-matic wasn't what I wanted out of cars. Around that time I learned what a Wankel was. This blew my mind: why did no one talk about these engines. C'mon it's an ICE that doesn't use pistons! I chose a first gen because I fell in love with the body lines (and let's be honest a college student isn't buying an FD). I like to think of myself as a function over form kind of guy, but I can admit that I just love looking at first gens.
Buying my GSL-SE:
Pretty much the whole time I had the Buick I was window shopping FBs on craigslist. When I finally sold that boat, I looked to the classifieds with a new excitement. There was a GSL-SE in Phoenix, AZ. Thinking I'd have no chance of actually buying it, I gave the owner a call. He wanted it to go to a good home and asked me about rotaries to see what I knew. He claims I gave him some good answers and impressed him with the "I will fly out there this weekend if you don't sell it" attitude. He gave me a great deal on the car and some parts with it.
The Car:
- 165k Miles
- Interior is complete - P.O. stained some parts from other cars to match so not all original, but I do not care; I've got all the plastic
- Definitely rebuilt motor runs like a top
- P.O. did bushings and shocks for the rear
- I did poly bushings and shocks for the front
^Shocks are cheapo Excel-G inserts - I'm still fairly new to spirited driving, but I think I'm getting a feel for why these shocks aren't great
-Racing beat springs all around
-racing beat exhaust (P.O. gave me a great deal)
Near Future Plans:
-Aesthetics- *just ordered paint and a factory spoiler*
I've got a lot of sanding to do in the next month or so
-Cold Weather Proofing- *gotta do these*
I go to school in Illinois and would like to drive the car between here and there without it being totally impractical.
- Oil Cooler thermostat
- DLIDFIS. I've read conflicting reports on power gains, not too concerned with that right now; I'm not enough driver for 130hp as it is However, I've read that the capacitive discharge helps a lot with cold starts.
-2 Stroke OMP mod- *Changing things for the sake of changing things*
I don't want to premix, I like the idea that the OMP meters the oil per throttle/rpm. However, burning motor oil is gross.
Solution: Have the OMP draw 2-stroke oil from a reservoir. I intend to have a level sensor in the tank to cut ignition when out of 2-stroke oil.
^This is not my idea, took it from a thread here^ This also lets you run synthetic without burning it. I've heard you can and you can't run synthetic with an OMP; this would remove that variable.
Of course I have tons of other things planned but this intro is already super long.
Super excited to be a part of this community, I love the car and enjoy all the people I meet through it.
-Jackson
Here's a pic of me and my friend's cars up in the redwoods: '85 Rx7 GSL-SE and '85 GTS Conversion coupe
Welcome to the forum!! The engine may be original and i wouldn't be surprisedif it was. We have had members here with over 300k miles on their original GSL-SE engine. These engines are strong and reliable. The reason I chose one in 2008 for a restoration i was doing. Absolutely still has near perfect compression and runs amazing!
You have some good plans for the car! Would definitely love to see more pictures of the car!
I'm going with 'Sparkling Metallic Black' color code H1, I just love these cars in dark colors. Black looks really slick. Not a word I often use, but it really applies. I bought a factory style reproduction spoiler along with the paint. The plan is to adhere and sand the spoiler flush with the body lines. I'm doing all of it myself so I hope it turns out nice I also want to mask some lettering in the original color onto the bottom of one or both of the doors, haven't decided yet. The lettering would have to be fairly simple so I can pull it off. So far I'm thinking 'Rotary Power' but am open to ideas since there are a ton of cool decals and phrases out there.
I really like the rims. They're originals from the 80s (So I've been told) They're getting straightened out at a wheel shop right now, those guys were of the era and seemed to agree with the story. They're the same dimensions as stock around the barrel, but they have some more offset. I really like the look of the rims and want to roll the fenders some so I don't have to throw in crazy springs. I think I may go for more tire/fender flares in the future so I'm not too worried about hurting the stock look of the car. Let me know if fender rolling is a more severe decision than I think it is.
I plan on keeping the car for a long time, but do respect it. I'd feel bad ripping into the thing, but I want to make it my own. The middle ground for me is a sort of 80s/90s tuner look. Stock appearing, but visibly customized.
05-21-21, 05:40 PM
85 gsl-se
runs like a top
I also want to mask some lettering in the original color onto the bottom of one or both of the doors, haven't decided yet. The lettering would have to be fairly simple so I can pull it off. So far I'm thinking 'Rotary Power' but am open to ideas since there are a ton of cool decals and phrases out there.