Messages

Evening Clive, my post wasn't meant to be antagonistic in anyway so apologies if that's how it came across. I appreciate your efforts in helping me out but also understand why I didn't take you up on the offer. Im still staggered at the costs for these bolts but I've learnt in the past the importance of proper alignment and doing so with ease & without risk of snapping the bolts is a must. The car needs them and they do perform a critical job so I just had to suck it up! Looks like the car is going to cost a lot more than anticipated to get it how I like my cars.

Thanks again

Andy

So thought I would follow up on this with some costs to compare.

I need to replace all 6 camber adjust bolts including the eccentric washers & new nuts to make life easire come alignment time. As I've already snapped the two rear ones changing the suspension arms over to the spare set I didn't want to risk it happening to the fronts as I'll be doing the work in a rented garage bay using a 4 poster and would need it out of there at the end of the day. Whilst the front arms are off the car waiting to be fitted i thought I might as well change all 4 ball joint boots and repack with grease as there starting to perish.

So shopping list is simple:-

4x front eccentric bolts
2x Rear eccentric bolts
6x eccentric washers
6x nuts
2x upper ball joint boots
2x lower ball joint boots

So the prices are in!

J-autos in the states £249.88 delivered excluding VAT & duties
Mazdarotaryparts £625.32 deliver inc VAT but excluding any discounts

The first thing that strikes me is just how bloody expensive these few small parts are but the biggest thing is why the HUGE difference in costs? It makes it very difficult to support UK businesses when you end up paying a massive premium to do so, nearly fell off my chair at the £600+ quote!

Needless to say I've opted for the cheaper quote! I thought this feedback would be beneficial to someone.

Thanks mate, I'll drop Clive a call and see if he can source these bits. I'm surprised there NLA through the Mazda network as they are so proud of their rotary vehicle history, you'd think they would go out of their way to support the owners who care for these cars. Audi & BMW do the same thing with their older cars but can't wait for the opportunity to advertise their heritage 

Morning all,

Im in the midst of overhauling a set of spare front suspension control arms for my FD, I've already done the rears and luckily managed to piece together a good set from the two sets I had. I did get slightly caught out with broken eccentric bolts but luckily managed to get find a pair of suitable donors from my Audi project parts bin.

So planning ahead I would like to get the 4 eccentric bolts & washers and probably the correct rear ones and whilst its all apart I may as well change all the ball joint boots too. I have found these overseas but they are strong money for a fist full of bolts and little rubber boots, when you add the price of shipping and the inevitable customs & duties charges its getting a little bit silly. Are there any reliable sources of these original parts in the UK? I called my local Mazda parts desk and the guy just laughed!

So am I at the mercy of these Japanese / US parts sellers or is there somewhere in the UK selling these part? Any help would be most appreciated

Thanks,

Andy

Yeah dude, love an easy fix.

Big thanks to everyone for the advice.

Next big task is sorting all the nasty wiring jobs, scotchlok heaven in there and lots of soldered wiring which I just can't bear. I've started at the back and I'll work my way forward. I've got lots of piccies so I'll update my build thread soon enough. I've also been piecing together the last few bits of my single turbo turbo kit, all will be revealed in due course :-)

Changed caps and so far so good. I want to get a few more miles done before drawing a conclusion though. I'm going to give the car a full service, all fluids and plugs soon down the local DIY garage including the coolant flush. Looks like the cap might have been the culprit if that's possible?

Forget the last post, I've realised it is a sprung cap and I was just being dense.

Hopefully get chance to flush the system out tomorrow and see where we are after that.

My plans for a coolant flush have been scuppered.

Just looking at the caps though and picking up what Boosted said, one should be sprung?



Tower cap on the left, AST on the right. Could this be the problem?

 

Thanks Clive, I thought i might as well get proper stuck into the rotary thing as the bug has already bitten! The RX7 is like nothing else I've ever driven and I've been in all sorts of stuff, its awesome and I can see it being a long term car for me.

Well I've managed to track down a good workshop manual online for a 94 car but Im sure 99% will apply to the 96 model. I'm itching to get stuck in over the weekend and see whats going on with the coolant system, fingers crossed its not terminal 

I'll make a start with the project thread this evening me thinks and show you all what I've been up to   

Andy

Morning Chief, cheers for the welcome. Yes it is a concept 7 bonnet, i wasn't sure at first but i've grown to like it and think it might stay for a while.

Lets hope this weekend finds an easy fix to the coolant issues and I can move on to fitting the single turbo parts 

Right then, I'll get stuck into this on Saturday and see what I find, fingers crossed its something really simple. Thanks alot for all the advice, I really appreciate it.

Morning Casey, thank you for the welcome. I've been mucking about with cars for far too long now but im still learning all the time. Looking forward to getting on top of the RX7 so I can start enjoying the car when the weathers better.

I think I'll start a project thread tonight so I can keep a record of the work completed.

Good shout, K seal before flushing is defo a good idea. I've champagne tested it and I've seen the odd bubble here and there but nothing like the youtube vids.

What caps do I need then? Just a pair of 0.9 bar pressure caps? Or is it recommended to purchase Mazda caps? Hopefully get a chance to play this weekend and fingers crossed it turns out to be an easy fix. 

I hunted for my FD for 8 months or so, i think i was looking for a car that didn't exist for a price I was willing to pay so in that 8 months I did alot of research and reading and ended up buying something that gave me a good start point knowing I would more than likely modify the car as I can't ever seem to help myself!

I tend to rely on the Apexi FC commander for temp readings, its got one of the new OLED units which is quite nice. Its already got a Koyo N Flow radiator fitted which I assume will be up to the job.

The bit im more concerned about at the moment is the motor is using a little coolant  I haven't really had chance to look into it yet but I've noticed the AST is mostly full and I would like to inspect the caps & hoses a little closer, dump the nasty looking coolant, refill then burp the system and see how we go. I'm trying to ignore the slightly white smokey cold starts, there was no evidence of bubbles in the main filler neck though so I'm a little bit lost there. I was hoping to get the single fitted and mapped and at least a summer of road use before an engine refresh. The engine history is unknown but compression results in the low 7's so i assumed it would be good for a while and planned to rebuild it next winter.

edit: I do have some K seal HD in the garage, is it worth adding this anyway?

Once I'm confident it can take a spanking round Oulton Park I'll be there to give my best

Thanks boosted, must admit your build thread was the first thread I read end to end on this forum, really inspired me to get stuck in.