0R10N Posted May 6, 2012 Author Share Posted May 6, 2012 I managed to solve the clampdown rail puzzle, the answer was staring me in the face the entire time: "Ed, you silly sausage, why don't you just email the collector in Michigan who sold you the other parts?" So emailed the guy on Thursday (NZ time), and wha'dya know... he actually had one. Confirmed the length to be the correct dimensions this time round, and all up it cost me $15 for the rail and $40 for the shipping. Here's what arrived this morning. Not quite "overnight parts from Japan", but talk about super efficient service! Tore it open, and found the rail to be the correct colour and length (it just needs a clean), so mission accomplished in that regard. It even has the same "crackle texture" as the gearknob/dashboard/console. Compare to the black one in an earlier post, which is just a flat colour with no flourishes. Discuss: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23433 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ohmygod whatarethese Could it be...? Holy shit, at long last. So so so SO stoked! The rear boot panels are a bit sun-faded, but I'll find a way to restore them. See how they differ from the Japanese version? And it's all thanks to a certain Matt Barber from Michigan, with the help of this crowd: Great way to cap off a pretty awesome week. Hopefully I'll find some time over the long weekend to finally start bolting these bits up. Discuss: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23433 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted June 2, 2012 Author Share Posted June 2, 2012 Sincerely thought the installation procedure would only take an hour or two... but boy, was I ever wrong. It was only six hours later that I finally finished - granted I took my time carefully removing any and all existing parts for fear of breaking them (I broke some anyway), and the last hour or so was spent fitting the rear speakers/rear amp and tidying up all the cabling for the vintage audio install. Which I'm pleased to report is all fully functional Started off by removing the plastic/fabric covers that hide the seatbelt retractor mechanisms and mashed one of the steel frame pieces in place as a rough test fit. Was ever hopeful of not having to drill/tap any new holes in the floorpan for the steel frame, and fortunately, after carefully peeling back the original carpeted trim section in the footwell this fresh looking bolt hole was revealed (with a corresponding one on the other side of the car) that lines up perfectly with a hole on the frame. Sweet deal. And continuing the theme of "this actually makes a whole lot of sense", the other corner of each sheetmetal piece lines up with the bolts holding down the luggage compartment straps. (The speaker at bottom right of frame is one of the "new" vintage 6" rear woofers.) One piece overlaps the other and they both hold together in place with some screws. Worth noting at this point that I wouldn't really trust the frame to hold any more than say, 20-30kg of weight - it's actually rather thin gauge stuff. So no drunken joyriding in the back! I hadn't asked the seller in the USA for the vinyl wheelarch covers - foolishly assuming I didn't need them - but he sent them anyway, which was a relief, as they turned out to be very different from the Jap ones (bottom piece in photo) which cover the whole arch, whereas the American ones only cover the part not already hidden by the frame. Right, with the frame all bolted up, let's add some carpet... And a clampdown rail. Clampdown rail fitted, and one of the storage bins. Interestingly, the bins don't actually have a hard floor, just a piece of stretchy carpet instead. So I don't plan to store anything overly heavy in there that could potentially lead to collapse. Fast forward a couple of hours, during which time I ran all the cabling for the rear speakers, tapped some holes and installed the speakers themselves, then fitted the boot panels... and that's a wrap. Factory fresh! Although that storage bin lid does need a scrub with some upholstery cleaner, and there is but one minor trim flaw remaining actually; turns out I'm still missing a couple of pieces but they're such blink-and-miss that I'll leave it up to avid readers to figure out what they are I also removed the passenger seat temporarily to install and wire in the rear amp. It's a compact enough size to chill underneath it. So where to from here? Re-gas the A/C. Send off the clutch master and slave cylinders to be rebuilt, then it's WOF time I guess. Then drive the shit out of it for a while. Tidying up the paint is also on the cards. Not a hell of a lot has otherwise been planned for the car... the two-seater conversion has been such a long time coming that I'm relieved to have finally crossed that last major hurdle, and can start concentrating on squid next. But I'm sure I can always find something to change, or tinker with! Discuss: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23433 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 Oh, yes. At long last. Happy Ed is happy. Just need to find an excuse to take it out of the shed more often. Next on the cards is to give it a service since it hasn't actually had one yet. Headed down to my local BNT to purchase four new spark plugs. Even after valued customer discount I still got stung $19.50 each... geez, bloody rotaries and their expensive consumables! I'm thinking a comprehensive service is in order, i.e. belts/fluids/oil/filters, posibly diff and gearbox oils if I feel exceptionally generous. Although... maybe I should do the pompous thing and take it to the Mazda dealer ? It'd sure look good on paper! "Meticulously dealer serviced", etc etc. Discuss: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=23433 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Gave the banana a service (new oil, plugs and filters) before the OS Leadfoot Cruise on the weekend.Had a minor heart attack when the BUR9EQ trailing plugs turned out to not be the correct ones for the car, due to the solid tip terminals which were too large for the factory ignition leads - but thanks to the quick action of forum GC k-trips, a pair of BR9EQ-14s with stud-type terminals was sourced post-haste from a crowd up here in Auckland and the car was ready for the cruise with plenty of time to spare by the end of Friday.Cheers Chris! (and I feel slightly embarrassed after skiting about how easy it supposedly was to find plugs for this thing...)Here are the BR9EQ-14s with removable terminals... apparently some of the very last in the country. I got the part number, therefore stockpiling a few more is in order!The Leadfoot Cruise turned out to be a trouble-free and ridiculously fun (albeit thirsty) round trip and weekend away, and also the car's first proper open road outing since the run to Taupo in 2010 for the RR trackday, which gave me a chance to identify whether anything else required looking at on the car.And the answer is... wheel alignment. Then it will really shine on the twisty Coromandel roads.One highlight of the Leadfoot Cruise was the chance to take our cars for a quick fang along Rod Millen's famous mile-long driveway, featuring a neat little hillclimb section. Here's my effort: And a quick snap of the car, back at our accommodation along the beachfront in Tairua later that evening:Looking forward to crossing off the remaining few items on the list-o'-shit-to-do before summer is in full swing.Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 Re-gas A/C Overhaul clutch master and slave cylinders Replace steering idler arm bush Wheel alignment ZOOM lowering springs Free-flowing exhaust Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted August 12, 2013 Author Share Posted August 12, 2013 A couple of months ago fellow forum user Evan alerted me to a pair of brand new Series 2/3 inner guards for sale on Yahoo Auctions. I've been searching for a pair of these ever since I bought the car and discovered they were missing. (Series 1 inners don't fit due to the re-designed shape of the front guard lower section on the S2/3).  Unfortunately this was around the time Hayatonka was going through a merger with Stacked, and as a result the auction closed without me being able to contact them to place a bid. After a nerve-wracking wait to see whether the inner guards would get relisted or not, they finally re-appeared a few weeks later, and this time I enlisted the services of Import Monster to purchase them on my behalf (after yet another series of no-replies from Stacked).  Had the guards chucked on the literal slow boat to NZ, and they arrived today. Will get stuck into installing them sometime this week.    Probably not worthy of an update, but sometimes it pays to categorize every little thing.  Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=27846 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 0R10N Posted May 23, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 23, 2014 Received a bit of a "second wind" from my recent trip to the States, where I found a Craigslist post advertising a salvage yard about thirty miles out of Portland with two Series 3 Rx-7s currently being wrecked. So I set out in a borrowed vehicle from where I was staying in search of this fabled place. After a couple of wrong turns, I finally made it. They weren't kidding about the two Rx-7s! The first one was a genuine GSL-SE with engine and transmission still intact, but with a suspected pair of blown rotors.Rusting away with all the other wrecks. The 13B RE-EGI engine that Mazda decided to release in the USA instead of the 12A turbo.It still had most of its interior, but sadly I couldn't use any of the super lush maroon leather, which is a shame as the lower B-pillar panels that I desperately need for mine were still in mint condition. Will have to keep looking.Someone else had been here before me, smashed the lens off the cluster, then left it to rot in one of the rear storage bins. Yes, that speedo is in miles, and yes, it reads 225,521  However I did unearth this little knick knack beneath a pile of discarded trash in the boot. Being an EGI model, I'm not sure where it came from... quite possibly the other wreck (which had a 12A carby engine). It's now cleaned up and hanging on the wall in the spare room. Second Rx-7 was a GSL with grey interior, unfortunately most of it had already been sold and carted away. Grey is the least common interior colour in the USA and as a result it's very highly sought after. Bugger This one had a wasp's nest in the cabin with a shitload of the little bastards swarming about, and I was a bit reluctant to spend any great amount of time in its vicinity. Here is the only photo I grabbed of it.One thing has to be said about Americans - they are always extraordinarily polite and willing to help. One of the staff members wandered out with some tools and we happily rummaged through the cars while chatting about life in New Zealand - he'd never been there, but had heard some good stories about the place. In return he shared some stories about growing up in Idaho with three older brothers and driving to school in big block Camaros and Torinos and the like.Given the state of both cars I thought I'd be walking away empty handed, but amazingly, I didn't in the end...Along with the aforementioned air cleaner cover I managed to score the badging off the GSL-SE, a spare rear hatch "Rx-7" emblem, and the only grey bits left on the wasp-infested GSL - namely the horn pad and the front lower kick panels with mint speaker grilles.  The cost all up? US$30. The proprietor even felt bad for "overcharging" me, and said I could grab anything else I wanted from the two Rx-7s for that price, but due to luggage constraints and the fact I couldn't actually find any other useful parts to hoard I had to decline.God bless America and its lack of so-called "rotary tax"!Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll find some time to fit the replacement kick panels to my own one, then finally get around to fixing the brakes, replacing the clutch master, and crossing a few more things off the list in my previous post.Like I said, this trip has given me a bit of a "second wind" and it would be a shame to squander the opportunity.Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=27846 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Found a black steering wheel in my TX3 parts hoard (that I didn't even realize I had). It will have to do until I track down a proper grey one. At least the horn pad I brought back from the States is the correct colour, but the disparity will probably annoy me for a while. Yes, I know, I'm a sad pedantic bastard.  Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=27846 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Routine service time! Kiwi808 bowled around and we embarked on some banana maintenance. Â Changed the oil, oil filter, and spark plugs. Inspected and cleaned dizzy cap and rotor. Had a minor WTF moment followed by lols when Repco didn't have the correct air filter in stock, but wanted to charge $180 for it regardless. Â Also, the guy behind the counter had a great moment of confusion after asking for my licence plate even after I told him looking it up wouldn't make a shred of difference. ("Are you sure it's a 12A? Have you modified it at all? I've never seen this air filter before.") Â Checked the oil metering pump and determined it to still be within operating spec (thankfully). Â Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Then we did some headscratching over what could be causing a noticeable hesitation in acceleration above 4000rpm, and (possibly related) a very strange idle flutter, both when applying a low amount of throttle. We don't think it's any sort of engine failure, catastrophic or otherwise, but there's definitely a plethora of vacuum hoses, sensors, pressure switches and diaphragms hanging off the intake, any of which could potentially be the culprit. In particular, this little bastige here:   Anyone have an inkling of what it even does? It is attached to the throttle through a series of tiny little arms, complex linkages and springs, and only looks like it opens a fraction at WOT, even though it has a full 3-4cm of travel. It doesn't seem to have any other connection to the intake system, and the only vacuum line it does have is blocked off from factory (the little black cylinder in the bottom left of the 2nd photo) - if that's even what it's meant to be. Pressing on the linkage manually to "fully open" causes the car's idle to flutter between 1000-1500rpm rather noticeably. I have a spare 12A turbo intake manifold (which is missing this part) and fully opening the throttle on that one fully extends the arm which actuates this strange little device. Again I'm unsure whether it's designed to fully open, or whether there's some sort of diaphragm or air bleed which limits the amount of travel the arm has at certain rpm. Early EFI systems are confounding as all heck. Especially the 12A turbo setup, which seems to be a mystery to everyone outside of Japan. Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Fixing the secondary throttles and releasing a whole heap more power and drivability has sort of spurred me on to try and get the car in a presentable state for Nats. Â So with that in mind, today I commissioned Alex @ MLR to purchase a set of lush J.D.M. Zoom Down Force lowering springs. Â Â These should drop the height all round by ~40mm (up to a claimed 45mm on the website). Hopefully they will be here and installed in time; it's not quite Overnight Parts From Japan spec, but almost! Â The jury is out on whether I'll be going back to 14" rims though. Â Had it up on the hoist Saturday while it was in for its WOF, and we ascertained that the exhaust is pitifully small and is definitely strangling performance up top. I'm of a mind to bin the catalytic converter and replace with straight pipe, but the car is still going to be held back by the 1.75" peashooter pipe from the downpipe back. This may take some careful consideration and planning, as I don't want to get too carried away with the exhaust on what is essentially a stock car, yet I still would like to unlock that trademark turbo rotary "buzz". Â And I want to keep the smart looking factory twin tailpipes! Â Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=27846 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted February 24, 2015 Author Share Posted February 24, 2015 Definitely not overnight from Japan, in fact, I think they custom-made them to order which took a fortnight or so! But they arrived in time for Nationals, which is all that counts. Â Â Sweet flouro yellow box. Â Â Not pictured - the leaflet which has a little diagram saying "CUT HERE FOR MAXIMUM LOWDOWN". Â Â Will look at tackling the exhaust before Nats, but may end up doing nothing about it depending on how enthused I am at the time. The Rx-7 definitely won't be one of the more appreciated or "show-offy" cars in attendance, so I might just concentrate on keeping it alive on those sweet Coromandel back roads. Â Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=27846 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted February 27, 2015 Author Share Posted February 27, 2015 After noticing a series of loud clicking noises coming from the emissions "rats' nest" on top of the engine in time with the part-throttle hesitation/idle flutter I've been trying to chase down, I arranged to borrow a couple of Hitachi vacuum solenoids for diagnostic purposes: If they make a difference I'll be teeing up a bunch of replacements as soon as possible. Â The 12A turbo only has three solenoids compared to the US-spec 12A carby in the link above that has six. Â Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 0R10N Posted March 4, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 4, 2015 NATS OR BUST. Â New ZOOM springs, in. Â Â Then we started on the exhaust system. It's 2.5" mandrel bent from the downpipe back, with two mufflers and an oldboy-spec twin tip at the rear for that nice standard look. Â Â Woo-er, the 45mm ID stock exhaust is definitely not helping things. Â Â Stock downpipe is nicely sized though - 50mm. Â Â First section off the downpipe tacked together. Â Â The mantra here is "rotaries need to breathe." Â Â Shiny rear tip. Â Â Here's what we pulled out of the car, all of this garbage weighs an absolute ton. This is Yuck! Â Â Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 0R10N Posted March 4, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 4, 2015 Success! Â Â Huge thanks to Karl and Casey at Autoworks East Tamaki for the use of tools, hoist, endless guidance, and some plainly awesome fabrication and automotive skills. Those late nights were definitely worth it. Â Springs have yet to settle but the car sits a LOT lower now. Handles a whole heap better too, less boating around corners. Tomorrow I'll firm up the front dampers a bit, then I do believe we are ready to rock the Coromandel. Â Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 35 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 0R10N Posted March 8, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 8, 2015 Went to Nats. Drove a grand total of 857 trouble-free km over three days using much less fuel than I thought, which was nice. Â Let's do it all again soon. Â Â Springs have more or less settled - firmed up the front dampers for the trip away, though I had to soften it one click in the rear after discovering the back felt a bit too skittish when hitting mid-corner bumps (while trying to keep up with Spencer piloting sheepers' V8 Celica on the way to Waihi). Otherwise it grips well and absolutely flies. The beauty of the rotary engine is that it's so smooth and builds momentum in such a linear fashion that you can keep winding the revs out and the car just slingshots itself around corners. Still needs the wheel alignment sorted as it doesn't track too well in a straight line, but I'll get onto this ASAP. Â The exhaust stayed in one piece and sounded absolutely mint echoing through the Coromandel hills... there is nothing quite like the unique buzz of a turbo rotary on song above 4000rpm. Most of the odd surging and performance issues seem to have disappeared now that the exhaust has been opened up for better flow, but I'll continue to try improving some of the niggly drivability things. Â If anything, all of the low-rpm pops and bangs and occasional lumpy/brappy sounds give it more character with the new exhaust, whereas before with the stock exhaust they were just plain annoying - quite possibly because there were no audio cues to work out exactly what was going on. Â As an added bonus - picked this little thing up on Sunday night at prizegiving: Â Â An unexpected surprise after all the ups and downs! Thanks to all who deemed it worthy of Best Coupe this year. Â Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 Upsetting the neighbours at 10pm on a school night. Damn rotary owners. Â Dat exhaust note though... it might just be my imagination, but after the drive home from Nats it seems slightly quieter. Probably fully bedded in/carboned up! Â Â Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted May 2, 2015 Author Share Posted May 2, 2015 One big annoyance that's plagued me ever since I got this car seven years ago is how difficult it is to find drop-in air filter replacements. Mazda and all of the usual filter manufacturers have discontinued making them, and the best anyone can do locally is order new old stock from Australia at exorbitant cost and hope it's still sitting in a dusty warehouse somewhere ($180 for a Ryco!)  But after doing some research I found that the air filter is identical to the American 13B injected Series 3 GSL-SE, and K&N made a drop-in replacement up until the late 1990s. After a few emails back and forth with K&N and a bit of googling, I managed to obtain a part number (33-2016) and found a couple of vendors on Amazon who happened to still have old stock.  As luck would have it, one of the vendors had a single brand new 33-2016 left, without box, on clearance for US$25.00+shipping. Excellent!  One Youshop payment and nine days later...   The state of the old air filter was shocking, to say the least. For all the supposed meticulousness of the previous owner in Japan it looked like it hadn't been changed in about ten years, and one of the corners had even started crumbling away. Umm, okay then   Airbox cover off, ready for the swap. I felt a bit guilty tearing open the sealed wrapper, knowing there are fuckall of these things left!   K&N part number.   All fitted and ready for the airbox cover to go back on. Good for another 5 horsepowers, you reckon?   Regardless of whether you think K&N filters are any good, hopefully it'll make a difference in the long run as the old crusted-up air filter definitely wasn't helping things. The completist in me will probably buy another K&N from one of the other Amazon vendors, just for the box and associated gubbins.  Minor victories are always so satisfying.  Discussion: http://oldschool.co....showtopic=27846 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0R10N Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 The trailing ignition coil has been overheating for a while now due to some noticeable oil residue around the coil tower (they're filled with mineral oil to keep them cool), but a couple of weeks back it must have finally given out and shat oil all over the inside of the king lead, resulting in a huge misfire at anywhere above quarter throttle, or 4000rpm, or both  So out they came in favour of two new ones.   Went for a dort out to Dairy Flat and back, seems to be all good, no more oily shit on the coil lead, and spark isn't breaking down on high load and at high revs anymore. I'll consider that a success.  Guess the next weak point will be the OEM HT leads themselves... they have a manufacture date of 1990 on them so have obviously been replaced at least once before, but are still 25 years old, hah.  BNT measured them up and can hopefully get something from Top Gun, or else I might try my hand at getting all the necessary bits to assemble my own. Looked into buying a set of new old stock 12AT HT leads ex Australia, but the guy is apparently dodgy if reports from various Mazda foamers I know is anything to go by. Glad I didn't part with my money before discovering this!  Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=27846 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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