Engine Removal, Painting

At first I was just going to clean the engine
with some Simple Green and a power washer, but then I removed the carb and
the intake manifolds and the alternator and the air pump and I was looking
at this neglected engine with a light coat of rust and oil and thought, "Why
stop here? Let's spend a couple hours and take out the engine and do
it right." So with the help of my Dad and my brother's engine lift we
pulled the keg...

Besides getting to work on my car, this entire experience has been a great way
for my Dad and I to spend some quality time together. That alone is worth
all the money and time spent on this car.



After the engine
was on the stand, I taped off the openings and ran over the entire surface with
a wire wheel brush. Then I wiped it down with some acetone and hit it with
two coats of cast aluminum engine paint.

Ahhh, a nice clean, fresh engine. Now I just need to order new gaskets
and seals from Mazdatrix. I also noticed the dizzy was badly rusted so I
need to get another one of those and I need to find a 2-1/8" socket so I can
take off the flywheel and replace the rear oil seal. I need to replace
anything I can that is prone to leaking to make sure this car is a safe and
reliable daily driver. And above all, she needs to feel like the RX7 I
remember.

Parts Removal - Gas Tank, Drums, Calipers

I clocked out of work at 6:00 pm and went home to change in my "car clothes". I drove out to Dad's garage and looked over the car. My goal was to only fix what was absolutely necessary. To get it running like it should and enjoy it for the summer. I already knew I needed a new radiator, plugs, wires, cap/rotor and from the looks of it, a distributor. I also need a new exhaust system. Now it's time to look at the gas tank.



I removed the rock panel from the front of the tank and took out the two strap bolts. My Dad helped me lower the tank as I removed the fuel lines. It started to drop but wouldn't go further than 3 inches. What gives? Then Dad realized we forgot to remove the filler tube. Duh.



With the tank on the floor I got a good look at it. Someone had gone to town with 'gas tank repair epoxy' and spread it over all the seams and filler holes. This thing must have some serious leaks. I started pealing away at some of it to see if I could repair it again but every piece I chipped off a hole emereged below. The fuel filter had a good amount of rust settled on the bottom so I think I need to just scrap this thing and find a new tank.



With the tank out I could easily get to the rear end and the anti-sway bar. I removed the bar and I used a high-speed wire wheel to remove all the rust from the rear end. Some new black gloss paint and red caliper paint on the anti-sway bar and it looks as good as new.



While I had the paint and wire wheel out, I took off the drums and calipers and gave them the same treatment. I then used some rubberized undercoating to spray the spare tire well and wheel wells.



I could also see the springs were badly rusted and flaking. I can't wait to get a set of Racing Beat springs. The red will match the sway bar and the calipers/drums. I think some suttle red from the suspenion along with the black exterior would look good. I think an overall Black/Silver/Red theme will be clean and classic.



That should be good for today. Tomorrow, we take out the engine!

Parts removal Day 1

After I put her up on blocks my first task was removing the god-awful exhaust. I wasn't concerned with the hangers so I hack-sawed them off. I removed the bolts on the thermal reactor and slid the entire exhaust out as one piece.

Once in the light I realized what a horrible POS it was. There were pieces of cheap exhaust piping spot welded between OEM pipe and those crappy 90-degree bend pipes the auto parts store sells. It was leaking exhuast from a few places and the cherry bomb glasspack on the back didn't do much for the sound.

My plans are a streetable header to a catalytic converter and Magnaflow muffler. When it comes time for the exhaust creation I will explain my reasons for including the cat and not going straight pipe.

I pulled out the spark plugs and they were really old and worn. The gap was much larger than it should be but there was no oil or signs of lean running. So that is good. If anything they were a little rich. The wires were OEM NGK's and were stiff. The boots slid right off the top of the dizzy cap. Pulling the cap off I noticed lots of rust inside and the contacts on the ignitors were corroded.

With the exhaust out of the way I removed the carb and intake manifold. There were tons of yellow/brown crud around the water holes and lots of dryed oil everwhere. I also noticed the rod for the Oil pump was stuck. Hopefully it was stuck open but only time will tell.

With the exhaust, carb and intake manifolds gone I could now work on the radiator. I threw a pan under the car and cut through the lower hose. The radiator emptied and I pulled off the top hose. Almost immediately the radiator fell out. Odd, I thought, I didn't remove the bolts from the outside of the radiator. The thing was so old and deterioratied, the core litterally fell out. Parts of the car starting crumbling in my hands the entire lower third of the cooling fins were gone. I don't know how I was able to drive that thing 2 hours home without the coolant leaking everywhere or the car overheating. So a new radiator now must be added to my list. Yep, that list is growing. What started as four new tires and a tune up is looking like a complete exhaust and radiator.

Feeling well accomplished in my goals for the day I unplugged the radio and turned off the lights. Time to go home and search for prices and parts to hopefully get a good deal.

The Drive Home

As we pulled out of the house and headed home I stopped at a local gas station to fill the tank. The car clunked around and was hard to keep in a straight line with the steering. With the tank full I began to smell more gas in the car. There must be some kind of leak in the gas tank. Hopefully that won't be a problem. My wife following behind we took off down the country roads to make the 2 hour drive home.

I did my best to keep the engine at 2K or 3K so as not to exasperate the annoying sound of my exhaust. I realized the sound wasn't bad just because of the crappy muffler, but there was also an exhaust leak or two under the car.

Taking off from a stop sign took a little gusto and it felt as if there was no power up to 2000 rpms, a little power from 2000 to 4000 and then nothing above 4000. Other than making a lot of noise, going over 4000 didn't do anyting at all.

The combination of exhaust fumes and gas fumes required I drive with the window down. The sun was setting and a picturesque view stretched over the horizon before me. For a second I felt like I did 16 years ago, driving those back country roads.

But I suddenly came to a curve and had to muster all of my focus to keep the car from over steering into a ditch. As I rounded the corner I hit the gas and the car dug in and pulled through. I felt the g-forces push me slightly into my seat and amazingly the suspension felt good. It was a glimmer of hope. There still was sports car spirit alive and well deep in this little car. It just needs some TLC to bring it back to life.


We arrived home and parked her in front of the garage. I turned off the engine and went home to begin my long lists of items I needed to do in order to make her street worthy once again.

Black Beauty

I pulled up next to the car and slowly got out of the seat. The paint looked good. I was surprised to see the body was straight and the windows tinted. As I walked up I noticed it had the Burgundy interior. I wasn't a fan of that color but that wasn't going to stop me from buying it. I figure I could always change the interior.



The owner was still out getting the title changed so I took some time to walk around and kick the tires. I opened the drivers side door and noticed how heavy the doors were. Not exactly what I remembered but this car was an 83, my old car was an 85. Perhaps the doors were heavier on the 83. The burgundy interior wasn't too bad. It kinda looked good with the black and other than some wear marks, it was in really good shape. The dash had a cheap cover on it to hide a huge crack on the driver's side but again, that was nothing I couldn't replace.



The owner appeared and explained he had traded a motorcycle for the car a week ago. He mentioned the previous owner had put a cherry bomb glasspack muffler on it sounded like crap Other than that, he didn't know anything of the history. He turned the key and it started right up. No smoke, no hesitation, just idle. And yes, it sounded like crap. Kind of like a lawn mower on steroids.



I listened for sounds of a bad rotor, hunting, stalling, anything. But it sounded good. At least the engine was strong. I sat down inside and the seat felt a little flat. Like a 27 year old car with 114K miles feels, I guess. He told me to take it for a drive. I pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road. As I hit the gas the exhaust went from annoying to simply unbearable. It popped a little on deceleration as I changed gears. There was absolutely no low-end power. I kept it in first as high as I could go to get it up to speed but the exhaust made it sound and feel like it was taking more power than it should to reach 30mph. There was a slight smell of gas permeating the cockpit. But I couldn't tell if that was from the exhaust or not.



The suspension was really spongy on the old road. And there was a ton of play in the steering wheel. New tires were needed for sure, but also new shocks, springs and possibly tie rods and ball joints. This was definitely not the car I remembered. I was not driving on air and the engine wasn't as smooth as silk. I felt like I was driving a crappy 4 cylinder.



As I drove it back to the driveway I didn't know what to do. I really wanted an RX7. I didn't want to wait any longer and I was here right now. Even with the small faults this one had, perhaps it was still in the realm of rehabilitation. After all, the body was rust free and the engine did run.



I parked the car and got out. I walked around a few times and thought about everything I would have to put into it. New tires, new plugs, new cap/rotor, new brakes, new suspension, new exhaust. At least $1000 worth of work. He was asking $1400 but it was probably only worth $600. I explained the things I would need to do to make it driveable and asked what he could do on the price. "$1200 is the lowest I will go" he said. I thought about that for a minute. I could leave and wait longer, agonizing over finding an RX7 or I could pay the $1200. I decided I would offer him $1100. If he agreed I would take it. If not, it wasn't meant to be. "How about $1100?" I offered. "I passed on an offer of $1200" he said "but I will take your offer."



Partially relieved and partially wondering if this really was a good idea, we finalized the paperwork, exchanged the money and finally drove home my very own RX7.

Hopefull Reunion

The drive down was anxious. My intention was purely to purchase this car and drive it home. I knew in less than 2 hours I would feel that wonderful sports car in my hands. As we pulled into the driveway my heart began to race. Could this be it? Could this be my chance to drive home the memories I longed for? We walked up and I noticed the paint was badly peeling. Not a problem as I was hoping for a project car. Something I could do some tweaking to, add some elbow grease. Something I could call my own and bond with. The paint wasn't a problem at all.

The owner walked out and greeted me. He was very cordial and forthright, letting me know all the issues he had with it. None of them were serious. "There is a little rust on the bottom of the doors." he said. I knelt down to look underneath and noticed a little rust on the undercarriage as well. He brought out a small jack and jacked up the rear end so I could take a look and as I began to examine the body my heart started to sink. There was large amounts of rust and some parts of the frame had holes a golf ball could fit through. The doors were rusted and didn't fit perfectly on the hinge. I knew I could fix the engine, the brakes, the exhaust, but welding and repairing a frame was beyond my project goals and my budget. I was grateful for meeting another Rotary enthusiast and happy to have found the car, but I knew I would have to put my dreams on hold as this was not the car I was hoping for.



He wished us luck as we made the long drive home. "I'm sorry, babe." my wife said to me "But maybe it just isn't meant to be." Secretly she was jumping up and down and yelling, "Thank God!" But I was determined and this would not stop me from continuing my search.

I began to look more ferociously at the want ads. More determined than ever I began reaching out to sellers. Asking questions, getting pics and hoping for a deal. But I agreed with my wife that we would only spend $1000 on the car and most of the good 1st gens were going for more than $2000 and they were all a couple states away. Then I got an email from the owner of the car we just looked at. He found a couple craigslist ads for cars in his area. One of them looked very promising. It was black and the ad mentioned that the car ran perfectly well with a 99% rust free body. But the price tag was $1800. I immediately began plotting a way to get my wife to let me up the limit she had placed on me. I told her I could maybe talk them down to $1500. "It's 99% rust free, Carla" I protested, "We are never going to find a car like that in northeast Ohio in this price range." A little more sulking and she agreed to allow me the stipend but I had to wait until my next paycheck. "Two weeks?!" I gasped, "This is an RX7, it won't last two weeks!" I protested again. But my wife is unwavering when it comes to money. She is good at making me feel guilty about spending it. "Hey, we are trying to build our first home." She pointed out, "Do you want a house or do you want an RX7?". Honestly, at that moment I was willing to live in the RX7, but I didn't tell her that. In fact, she can have the house, all I want is the garage. But I could see her point and being the responsible grown-up, I had to wait.

In the meantime I looked at the pictures over and over again. I began daydreaming again that I was driving that car home. I started planning the upgrades I wanted to do to it and thought back to how it felt driving my old 85.

Two days later I checked the listing. The car was still available but the price had dropped to $1400! My heart was in my throat. No way this car was going to last at that price. With a new sense of urgency I begged my wife to let us drive down and buy it. I was like a 5-year-old in Wal-mart begging for the new GI Joe. Perhaps it was love or perhaps it was pure pity, but my wife reluctantly agreed. I made the call and setup the meeting for that evening at 4:00 pm.

My wife, daughter and I jumped in the car and again made another 2 hour drive south. This ride was more anxious than the first. I was prepared to be disappointed but so determined to buy this car that I was in danger of suppressing all parts of sane judgement. "What if this one is rusted, too?" my wife asked. "Are you still going to buy it?" "No" I affirmed, "I will not spend the money unless I know it is worth it." As those words exited my mouth I knew deep inside I was lying. I was going to buy this car even if the engine fell out.



The phone began to vibrate, a text message from the seller. My wife read the text, "He wants to know if you are planning on buying it because he doesn't have the title in his name." I was a little surprised. Of course I was planning on buying it. I wasn't going to drive 2 hours just to look. She texted back and he said he would run to the DMV. It was already 4:30 pm, hopefully he could make it in time. All I could think of now was that I would arrive and either someone else would be standing in line or he doesn't get the title changed and I can't make it down for another week. I started to get a bad feeling about this trip. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. Then we arrived.

Beginnings

There comes a time when a man takes a step back and looks at everything he has accomplished in his life. A career, a wife, a child, a home, the friendships he has built, the lessons he has learned. And in that moment of reflection he suddenly feels like something is missing. As if something was still left undone.

My moment of reflection came 6 weeks ago while sitting at the front desk at work. Somewhere between editing video footage and scheduling meetings I heard a sound that hasn't graced my eardrums in 10 years. The tell-tale sound of a rotary engine. Looking up from my desk I saw a weathered, tattered, beautiful, 1st generation RX7. It parked right in front of the window. I stared at it in awe and immediately began thinking back to my childhood...

It was my senior year of high school and I had endured two years of driving a burnt-red 85 Chevy Cavalier. It was a good car, but by no means the car every boy dreams about. After a few problems with the injectors and cpu, my father agreed to help me look for a new car. We happened into a small car lot just outside of town and noticed a sleek looking sports car. It was beige with brown interior and it was super clean. The salesman walked out to greet us and handed me a key. "Now son, this here car is real fun to drive. But you need to be aware of a few things. First, it is a stick shift. Second, it has a manual choke. And third, it don't got no pistons." Now I am all for unique, but when I heard him say, "no pistons" I knew I had to have that car.

We turned the key and she started right up. She was bone stock and idled like a Persian cat. She was so quiet I could barely tell she was running. I slipped the car into first gear and, with my Dad in the passenger seat, we took off down the service road. I watched the tach reach 7K and changed to second gear. The car pulled smooth as silk up to 7K again and now into third gear. It was like I was driving on air as I took a curve bringing third gear to a comfortable 4K. I looked down and realized we were doing 20 over the speed limit. Something my Dad was quick to point out. There was something innate about the handling of that car. The smooth power of that rotary engine and the tight cornering. It was as if the car and I had become one. I had 5 wonderful years with that car. But like all naive college kids, I sold her to pay off a measly $1000 credit card debt and I have regretted it ever since.

Somewhere in my daydream of driving back country roads with the windows down and the radio up, the phone rang and reality sunk in. Thus began a renewed obsession. I would look each evening out the front window hoping to get a glimpse of that car. I would make trips to my 2001 Toyota Sienna just so I could walk by that RX7 and look in the window. I started trolling the old RX7 web sites I used to know. I even owned an old website that has since been terminated. The 'Rotormaniac Website' I called it. Hosted by the now defunct Geocities, it paid homage and offered tips and information on all three generations of the car. Luckily for me, the Rx7club.com web site was still thriving.

I began looking through the For Sale ads and Craigslist hoping to find something I could afford. Finally it happened. I came across an 1983 GS model just an hour and a half from my house. The pictures looked promising and the ad said it started and ran fine. Best of all he was only asking $900. I begged my wife to let me look at it. After a week of pouting she agreed and, with cash in hand, we made the drive down.