1979 Mazda RX-7 Limited Edition
This is my 1979 RX-7 project car. It was putchased in Feb-06 for $600. It has been sitting for many years. I have been tinkering with it since I purchased it. I was told the engine needed to be replaced and that it had bad seals. After bringing it home, I just had to see if I could get it to run. After playing with two different carbs and having them on and back off over 15 times, I was able to get a good working 1982 carb and manifold. Before trying to start the car for the first time, I changed the oil and put some atf fluid in each rotor housing to provide some lubrication after it's 11 year sit. I was able to get it running right away after I put on the 82 carb, but then I found myself with ignition problems. The compute was causing the vacuum solenoid to open and advance the timing. I beat my head against the wall on this one, then it occured to me to just unplug the vacuum line and see what happens. This seemed to fix it so I have left it there for now and just capped the hose. In addition to getting it running, I have also cleaned the interior and replaced the clutch hydrolics and lines with fresh ones from Black Dragon Automotive.
(Click on images for larger)
Here you can obviously see that one headlight is not up. The motor is
out of the car to clean and troubleshoot. You may also notice the many
holes in the hood. I have no idea what they are from, but I will be
locating a replacement. Wink Wink! --->
In
these two pictures you can see that the sides of the car are not all
banged up or ripples from other car doors. The paint is also reflective
still. I plan to repain it with the original color after everything has
been taken care of mechanical and interior wise.
The
car was last driven in North Carolina in 1995. It was driven to Florida
where it found its' resting place for the last 11 years. It is a
california model and has the original emissions sticker still int he
back quater window. Since this car left California in its' early life,
it received a Racing Beat header and two presilencers followed by a
regular muffler.
In
the trunk area sit two carbs, two intakes, and two ait cleaners. These
were the troubleshooting parts that came with this and another car. One
of the manifolds was port matched too. Both of the carbs had stuck
float valves and are in need of rebuild kits. I already have a kit to
rebuild one of these carb, now I just have to pick the one to use. Also
in the back of the car you can see some of the deck matte. This is not
cracked and ripped too bad so it will be reused after some cleaning.
Also, you will notice the stick to hold up the glass. This happens to
all cars eventually. 
Under
the hood you will see a strut tower brace. This has been very
convenient in helping me work under the hood. I have been able to hop
up on the strut towers and squat down to work on some things.
This was a little more comfortable then leaning against the fenders and
putting a strain on the knees and back. Just for the sake of having a
battery, I just used a large truck battery that was hanging around. The
engine in the car was replaced by a Mazda dealership in NC in 1992 at
114k miles on the odometer. Now it has 169k in it. 
The
car originally came with breaker or point type distributor for the
ignition system, but the previous owner converted it to the electronic
type at some point. Now there are ugly fat wires from the dizzy to the
coils. Also the tachometer does not work. I think the problem is
in the emission computer under the dash. I have hooked up another tach
to the coil and I get an RPM signal fine. If the computer was broken,
it would explain the vacuum advancement working the way it is as well.Un