Amazing find man!!! When I was 19 (ten years ago) I stumbled upon a RX-3 coupe from the original owner. I was naive at the time and didn't think I could build it so I traded the guy I worked for and RX7. Damn, I've been kicking myself ever since. RX7s are great but all over the place.

Awesome job and thanks for sharing all the pictures!!! Good luck bro!

 

Thanks. I'm working on some "after" pics (at least of the semi-stripped interior & engine bay).

Today I pulled out 3/4s of the carpets & padding, for some reason the passenger door won't open so I haven't made it to that area yet. I sprayed everything down with a 1:3 bleach:water mixture, then I'll follow that with some simple green and a garden hose.

on a sad note one of the traps caught what looked like a baby rat, it was about the size of a mouse and looked just like that mammoth one I saw the other day but was about 1/4th the size. You'd think the babies would have followed mom the heck out of there. I'm pretty sure the big mama is gone, there's nowhere left for her to hide now that I have 75% of the interior stripped out.

Anyone know a good source for carpet kits?

Thanks,
Mike

 

RX-2 Carpets

https://www.rx7club.com/old-school-other-rotary-63/rx-2-carpet-kit-219118/

The guy in the thread bought carpet from Autostyles in Texas, but their website no longer lists the carpet. Give 'em a call and see if they still have the template.

I bought my carpet from a guy on ebay and it's a nice fit, but he doesn't have anything up right now, and I can't find his contact info. Check ebay, and I'll let you know if I find it (got it 4 months ago, so he's still around).

 

A very long time ago we pulled a hay bailler out of a swamp, About half way home we stopped for lunch, as we got pulled off the road two very large rats jumped out and run for the woods.


Last mouse I had in a car it let the mouse hunter take care it.

 

Heh, I wish I had one of those. Fortunately there are enough random stray cats around here that I think they scared the rats off. It was either that or the 5 traps, WD-40, or bleach I sprayed everywhere.

I finally got all the carpets/seats out, no more suprises so far. I still need to explore the dash area, who knows what I'll find behind there.

Mike

 

just becareful with tha shiet..you dont wanna get bit by sumthin..

 

Great find... I bet that RX2 was mint when they left it there!

 

I know, that's the sad part.

update: all carpets out, 95% of the rat turds out (heh), yesterday I drained the gas tank and pulled it out. I was going to have the tank cleaned somewhere, but it doesn't look too bad inside. I sprayed a few cans of carb cleaner in there and dumped it out, but it's really hard to see all the way inside. I might just put it back in, change the filters and run a few tanks through it (assuming it even runs).

the crap that was in the tank sure wasn't gas though, it was more like brown water.. pretty nasty.

Mike

 

Was it still flamable?... Did you try to start a fire with that brown water stuff?...

Every season that goes by, I have to empty the old gas from my power tools (trimmer, mower, chain saw, and snow thrower). Instead of dumping it in the soil some where. I have this tree stump i pour it on and start a little fire.

 

awesome! congrats on a very lucky find... series 2 rx2s have always been my favs!

 

the guy I got my rx-2 from hat another one an he left it out side and the car rusted completly( I live on an island), its wortless.

 

Am I the only one that's really looking for pics of the cleaned up car? Come on, Smeagol, don't be so cruel. I'm curious what a complete abandoned survivor looks like after a good clean.

 

Heh, sorry Crit.. I'm really close. I still need to "power wash" out the interior and trunk areas, so far all I've done is sweep up the turds and big debris, and remove the seats/carpets so it still looks a little dirty. I went to borrow my pals power washer but it turns out he's got a huge gas powered industrial version that would be difficult for me to manage living in apartments -- nowhere to keep it. I'm also trying to think up a way to safely remove the rest of the vinyl top, since it's mostly gone anyway I figured I might as well strip the rest of it off.

RX7UP: nah I don't think it was flammable, it didn't even smell. Seemed just like oily dirty water.

Yesterday I pulled the plugs & checked all the ignition wiring, I think I might have an idea why they may have parked the car originally. Someone had the plug wires backwards, L1 was on the top plug and T1 was on the bottom plug, same with T2/L2. I'm not sure how that would run (never tried it), but I don't think it would be really smooth.

I've also been able to get the engine to spin over by hand. I dumped a bunch of ATF down the carb first and let it sit awhile. I could hear the compression pulses, but won't really know for sure if a seal is gone or something like that until I try to start her up.

Mike

 

Any updates?

Put in some new spark plugs and some premium gas and I bet that thing will start right up on the first try... It is going to smoke like a **** until all that ATF burns out.....

 

heh, yeah I know.

I have all this week off, so there will definitely be more updates. Tomorrow I'm going to put the gas tank back in and hopefully get her started up. Then I need to strip out the center console/carpet and vacuum out the dash area and she should be ready for some rough 'after' pics if everything goes well.

will premium gas clean out the tank/lines better?

Mike

 

I took my fuel tank out a while back, had it cleaned and relined with this red sealant stuff. I remade the fuel feed line out of aluminum and am currently not using the return. The original was full of crap and rusty. I would change both lines without even thinking about it. It wasn't that hard to bend up new ones....I just removed the old one and used it as a template. I wouldn't use the old lines if they've been sitting like that for so long.

 

dang, what a pain.

Today I put the gas tank back in, which was a blast. So after I get everything hooked up and put about 3 gallons of gas in there I'm ready to try starting her up. I had previously cleaned the plugs really well and checked all the ignition wiring. So I put a battery in and hear a "click" when I hook up a battery. So far so good.

So after that I turn her over and realized there's no gas flowing. Silly me, I totally forgot that wiring harness that goes to the trunk was chewed completely in half. So eventually I figure out what wire is the fuel pump one and get it to start pumping. It pumps and pumps but it's not moving any gas. At this point I'm thinking "damn Jamie was right," and am dreading taking the tank down again, heh. Just as a test I drain out about 1/2 a gallon of gas and try to run the pump with the hose just hanging into an oil drain pan, thereby eliminating the tank so I can try to find where the problem is. Nothing, it just vibrates and clicks but doesn't pull any gas. So I'm thinking the fuel pump is really gummed up inside or just flat out bad. any ideas? I tried removing the pump but those nuts that hold it in are half rusted away and won't budge. Might have to end up drilling them out tomorrow so I can try another test pump.

I also noticed no gas came out of the line on the tank when I pulled the fuel filter to do that test, but then I did only put about 3 gallons in it and the car is on a slight downward slant so I'm hoping the tank is fine and it's just the pump. I figured the tank lines themselves were fine because when I sprayed carb cleaned through that back fitting where the return line goes it would come out the front line where the fuel pump draws from.

on a good note the starter works, and there were no explosions or arcing wires when I hooked up the battery so that's a bonus. No dash lights though, so the rats might have gotten to that wiring harness.

Mike

 

Dude...you gotta suck it through. Happens every time I run low on gas and the car just suddenly stops.

Turn on the car and prime the system, either with a vacuum pump or with your mouth/hose combo and you should be fine. Undo the rubber line at the hard line in the engine bay and do the dirty! A bit more gas will help too.

 

Since the rubber hose is off way in the back...try it there (didn't read that part). You may want to ream out the hard feed pipe from the tank with a pipecleaner or wire just to be sure the pickup is clear....BTW OUR TANKS SUCK...no good baffle or sump...gotta get a fuel cell of some sort....Mr.Enforcer in Oz sells a killer one for Rx3's (damnit)

 

hmm, how much gas do I have to drink? Heh, I'll try that tomorrow. I figured the fuel pump would be strong enough to pull it through, but I guess it's pretty wimpy.

Mike

 

Well, I was just out there trying to get the gas flowin' but it won't even come out the back line. I shoved a wire in there, it went in about 18" and then hit something and wouldn't go any further. Put a hose on there and sucked, got nothing. Tried the same thing on the hard line @ the carburetor but all I got was old nasty gas. It's still not filling the filter @ the gas tank. Hmm, guess I'll have to drop the tank again. yay

Called around a couple places and they want $175-250 to clean/coat the tank.

Mike

 

well now I'm an expert @ installing/removing RX-2 gas tanks. Just finished dropping the tank, took like 10 min., heh. Gonna take it to a radiator shop and have them clean/coat it. Even with the tank off that back line is jammed solid, I blew/sucked as hard as I could and it wouldn't budge. Whatever is in there is really gooped up or rusted solid.

Later while the tank is being worked on I'm gonna go through the feed/return lines and make sure they're OK. Any tips/tricks for doing that? Also will probably take off the carb and spray it down really well with carb cleaner.

Mike

 

Man...if the tank was that bad...change out those lines. Go to your local V8 oriented speed shop, grab at a 50' spool of aluminum line and bend some up....it sort of sucks but its worth it in the long haul. Stainless is nicer but more $$$.

What is coming out of the main lines when you spray in cleaner? Brown flaky rust? I would just do it now...the tank is out..just pull back the little tabs that hold the fuel line in place and remove. I don't know...that's just me.

 

Yeah that's an idea. I haven't actually gotten to spraying anything in the lines yet, it might turn out that they're fine. Right now if I blow on the feed line it doesn't do anything, but the fuel pump is still hooked up so I imagine it wouldn't anyway. I'm gonna remove the rubber hose from the lines tomorrow and test them out. I also want to take off the fuel pump but the only way to do that is drill out those rusted nuts. Might have too anyway if the pump is gummed. I might test it with the pan of gas again now that the feed/return lines are unhooked from the tank. I'm thinking it might work now since that feed line was jammed up, we'll see though.

Mike

 

Somebody in your area has to have a stock RX-7 fuel pump that is good, put that in don't go through the hassle. Use a gas can in lieu of your tank for right now. My 79 had a coffee colored liquid in the gas tank, I cleaned it and it even looked like chrome, but if you don't reline the inside it will eventually start to rust and get FUBARed again. I ended up getting another gas tank. My buddy just got rid of an almost brand new RX-2 gas tank, I wish I read this thread 3 days ago. I believe he still has an almost brand new winshield and rear glass for a four door RX-2.