1984 Mazda RX7

I thought I would do a little consolidating and start a proper build thread. Here is the "For Sale" thread that brought the car into my garage.

For Sale!

Here is the thread from when I made the trip down to get it.

Cincy-Tucky

And here is the thread where I got it running

Cross your fingers

The biggest reason I brought this home was to have a dedicated car to use at Rally/Auto Crosses and I want to start hitting some open track days. I sold the trailer and with the money I spent to get it running and pick it up I only have about 850 in it.

I spent some time this evening beginning to make it more fat guy friendly. I figured since my uses dont require a cage I might as well remove the stuff that gets in my way. I cut the front half of the cage out but still need to grind down the remnants. I left the rear 4 point bar.

I still need to pick out a seat. The one that is in it has had the sides cut on for some reason. It has some pretty sharp edges. I think I will need to stick with aluminum just so I can maximize headroom.

Cool. Will be watching this one since I heart first gens. On seats: I have a thing for the Ultra Shield Spec Miata seat. Nice piece, it's available in a portly friendly 19" width yet can fit down in the available space in a 1st gen. I have a 17 incher in the Jensenator, there's a 19 incher in the Abomination (Toyman's bigger than me!) and it's reasonably priced. Since the seat adjustment tracks on a 1st gen unbolt from the seat, it's a Saturday afternoon project to mount one. It also has a stiff 'folded' upper headrest section to help prevent that part folding over in the case of a rearward impact.

Here's a crappy pic of the one in the Jensenator:

Good news- The 14 inch wheels I bought from another board member showed up. Any suggestions for what color to paint them?

Bad news- when I was seeing how they looked I glanced at the motor and saw a puddle of coolant on the intake by the base of the carb. I will have to take a look at it and find the source when I get a little more time.

Paint them gold!

In reply to logdog:

I had a Silver 84 GSL for a while that come with some 15" mesh Epsilons (those look the same to me). Mine were black with a polished lip. Loved that combo on the car.

fidelity101 wrote: Paint them gold!

That's what I was thinking. Go classy or go home.

The coolant is likely the o-rings between the intake manifold and the block. That spot is also a low point that catches everything so it is possible that you have another leak that pooled there or it is a remnant of a hose removal.

MrJoshua wrote: The coolant is likely the o-rings between the intake manifold and the block. That spot is also a low point that catches everything so it is possible that you have another leak that pooled there or it is a remnant of a hose removal.

The coolant wasnt there after I tebuilt the carb. I will throw a pressure tester on it this weekend and see if anything comes from those orings. Thanks for the heads up

It's the O-rings. Not terrible to replace, just messy with coolant. Probably will have to put Right Stuff on the new O-rings (they come separately from the gasket) due to corrosion. The only time those O-rings ever seem to leak is because the aluminum corrodes away from the rubber. Not the end of the world by any means.

Some people will say to just bung a pair of 20mm freeze plugs into the engine so that can't happen, but a little manifold heat goes a long way towards good throttle response. You don't need nearly as much accelerator pump.

After you hit a couple events, join Mazda Motorsports. They have an awesome competitor support program, get parts for your car at very low prices. Sadly they only go as far back as 1986 for their online catalog, but this just reinforces the need to put FC everything in the car.

PS - Paint the wheels gold. That's the original color for LE wheels, and those things are rare as hens' teeth!