Now an FC RX-7 owner... (with pics)

[posam]

I\'m probably going to be lurking a lot and posting daft questions sometime soon.. so I guess I\'d better say hello and introduce myself...
 
I bought my first rx-7 on Sunday... it\'s an 88 n/a in a few shades of red.. done about 58k miles... and seems to be good mechanically everywhere.. a few silly niggles.. have to have a quick look at the heater.. as the blower works.. but no hot air.. and I had a look at the sunroof earlier today.. think I need to get some grease on it.. as once I managed to get it popped into the up position it seemed to wind back and forward ok..
 
Anyhow.. I think it\'s almost completely standard.. except for a brand new exhaust system.. so I shall be looking for various bits over the next few months.. wheels are definately gonna need to be changed at some point...
 
So anyway.. here\'s a few pics from Monday evening...
 

[clive]

Hello and welcome to MRC

We don\'t see many of these models that are anywhere near as good as yours these days,

I had one of these some 12 years ago and it rekindled my interest in Mazdarotarys which ultimatly led to the formation of the club you have just found.

[posam]

As I said there\'s a few niggly bits.. the front wing is a slightly different shade of red than the rest of the car.. obviously been replaced at some point.. and there is a small dent in the rear arch and some scratches.. but for a 20 year old car.. I\'m very pleased indeed...
 
lights are shockingly dim though... I thought I\'d be clever and get the superbrilliance bulbs from halfords.. only to unscrew all the units this morning and pull out exactly the same bulbs already fitted.... I\'ve not been out with the new bulbs but not holding out much hope for a significant improvement
 
ah well..
 
everything else feels awesome... though I have gone from driving a mini clubman (of \'71 vintage) and a fiat strada with the awesome 1.5 litre boring single cam engine producing probably less than the 85bhp it originally was supposed to come with...
 
so the speed and acceleration are ever so slightly scary... although the handling is as good as the mini\'s any day.. feel much more connected with the road...
 
I can see it emptying my wallet on the fuel side though.. must remember to reset the mile counter when I refill next so I can work out just how little mpg it\'s giving me....
 
All in all.. I love it.. and so does the wife.. which is a very good thing.. as it means there\'s a much greater chance of me being allowed to spend money on it prettyfying...

[TiddlesRX7]

Yeah it does look like a clean example. like you say its a 20 year old car so some things are gonna be playing up. it means you get to know the car inside and out though. One question though. Whats this bit hanging next to the exhaust?

[posam]

errr.. as far as I know it\'s part of the original emissions thing.. supposedly connected up to an air pump or something.. I took it to my friendly local retro orientated mechanic.. and he seemed to think removing it.. and the thing it\'s attached to should free up a few ponies.. and remove a fair bit of weight.. was gonna be one of the questions I was gonna ask though....

[posam]

so.. yeah.. is that right.. anyone else know why my car has three exhausts... seems a bit excessive  (ok yeah I double posted and decided to edit to hide the fact..)

[TiddlesRX7]

It just looks low to the ground thats why I asked (I\'d be worried about catching it on something). I thought i\'d seen them before on other Egi\'s but wasn\'t sure. i don\'t think that its wrong place or anything though.

[grinder]

its for the emissions system - not sure if its a simple case of just removing it though ?

[Brett]

That\'s part of the split air system from the thermal reaction system of the exhaust.  If you have a standard exhaust then its an integral part, so leave it be!

Nice looking example you have got there :yes

Welcome to MRC :wave

[dthebuk]

ill hopefully be owning the exact same model in march

looks ace!!

[dthebuk]

also does it havnt different wheels on the front to the back?

the back ones look polished, could be my imagination though

[posam]

errrrr.. I shall have to look see when I get home.. I have a feeling three have been shined.. and one is a bit dull.. but I can\'t honestly say whether or not that is the case without actually looking at them..
 
I was trying to work out what offset wheel I\'d need whilst browsing the net last night..
 
I reckon if I were to get a set of 17 x 7\'s I\'d need about a 25 offset to make sure it had the same clearance internally.. no idea whether I\'d need to make any arch modifications though.. can get the overall rolling radius less than 0.5% different using 215/40 tyres.. I\'m just gonna have to get down there with a tape measure I think and do some measuring

[Brett]

Just stick some TII or Cabriolet wheels on there if you fancy a change :yes

The early cars had matt finish wheels and the later revision(89~) had shiny ones  (I may have that the wrong way around)
I suspect its been kerbed at some point and had a 2nd hand wheel fitted :yes

[posam]

I keep looking at rays engineering wheels and getting very bad thoughts though.... unfortunately I think my wallet may have something to say in the matter..
 
Anyway.. I guess wheels will have to wait till I\'ve sorted out the rough bits of bodywork.. have a local painter who\'s apparently quite reasonable.. so will have to take it down and see if he can give me a price..

[KenD]

Looks good and nice to see what looks like a pretty nice clean original EGI.   I have a blue 1988 EGI, but with a few more miles on the clock..92k.  Hopefully I can help/advise on a few things:
- dim headlights...they were never fantastic on these cars..on the basis you have the superbright bulbs then it may be the reflectors that have had it, or they are out of alignment.  I ended up replacing both headlight units last year as the reflectors on the originals had got so bad I really could not drive safely when it was dark!
- nice to see the original extra "exhaust"...as Brett said if its the standard exhaust system then my advice would be to keep it.
- the original wheels should be polished alloys front and rear.  Sounds like you plan to replace them, but if you are keeping them, then you may be able to restore them to their original state.  
- fuel economy...not good for your carbon footprint I\'m afraid.  Expect at best 27-28 mpg on a good run, and significantly less around town.
Enjoy the car, and look after it...there are not many around...and most importantly they are fun!
Ken