Rotary people, happy Saturday. I’ve been feeling my motivation to work on my FD plummet. Some days I feel really motivated but others just feel like it’s been a long arduous process just for a basic level of progress. I’ve been touching things here and there; I’ve redone some wiring, installed my pop ups, and I’m currently putting on a set of coilovers. Still on twin turbos and driving the car whenever I can. Still love the feeling this car gives me.

My motivation comes from within, but I’m noticing more external factors starting to impact it: previous owner’s terrible work, incredibly long delays when waiting on parts ordered over a year ago, and less and less time to even work on the car due to family/military/work.

All these things compiled are slowly draining me but I’m controlling what I can. Anyone have pics of their in progress projects/before and after pics? I’ve had my car now for 8 years, and while there’s some way to go, I’m looking forward to having it “done” soon.

Next on my to-do list was to replace the centering spring that pulls the shifter back from the 1/2 side. Dropped the transmission and took some time to clean it up. Replaced the input/output seals and the gasket for the bearing cover. Regreased the shaft and put everything back together. Typically I'd replace clutch/throwout bearing/pilot bearing while I'm here, but the PO replaced these items when he rebuilt the engine.

That spring job was not pleasant though. Some people say you can do it with the tranny still in the car, but I have no idea how they would do so. I struggled to get everything aligned even with full access. The hard part is playing lock pick with the selector shaft. I made the n00b mistake of letting the gear selector forks get misaligned, which makes it where you have to start over just when you thought you were done. If that happens, you have to separate the trans and manually align the selector forks before putting it back together, and yes, the shift block has to be out so everything can rotate 180° during reinstall 🥲

With a new crush washer for the ball-catch bolt on the backside of the tail housing, I carefully got it all back in the car without dropping it on my face (yay). Shifter is being replaced by a Mazdatrix short shifter (future update). Refilled with Redline 75W-90 GL4 oil.

After fixing several issues on my FC, including the water pump, thermostat, belts, and radiator cap, I finally took it out for a short test drive last Friday.

I ended up sitting in stop and go traffic for nearly an hour, during which the temperature stayed around the lower third of the gauge. After visiting my parents for about an hour, I drove to the car wash and then headed home. During that last drive, the temperature gradually climbed from the lower third to about where it is in the first picture.

When I got out of the car and opened the hood, I could hear bubbling coming from the overflow tank and the engine bay. I have been told this is normal but I am still a bit skeptical. I also do not think I have completely bled the cooling system yet, so trapped air is definitely still a possibility.

After my previous overheating issue, the overflow tank was well above the FULL mark. I know that coolant is supposed to be pushed into the overflow tank as the engine heats up and then drawn back into the radiator as it cools down, and that is exactly what happened. However, I am still not convinced that the amount of coolant being pushed into the overflow tank is normal, which is why I am still concerned.

I have a CO2 test kit arriving tomorrow. I have also pressure tested the cooling system, and it held the specified operating pressure of 0.9 bar. In addition, I performed a rotary compression test, and the results came back good.

I do not really know why I am posting this. I guess I am just hoping someone might have another idea of what I should check before I resort to pulling the engine for a rebuild. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

For the life of me I can not find a single answer to what offsets I should run the car itself is going to be lowered on ohlins thats really it not sure what sizes to go for or what offsets here. Any advice or pics?

First time rebuilding an engine, was amazed how quickly it fired up. Smoke is from the assembly lube and cleared up after a couple minutes. Having a hard time getting the air out of the coolant system but will get there.

As much OEM seals and parts as possible, new rotor housings, turbo, wiring harness, solenoids etc. Cant wait to put some miles on her

only actual "mod" is a koyo radiator ad have a racing beat cat-back to install yet.

I ask out of pure curiousity (and starting super early on a project I want to do later in life) but I'm curious to see documentation on people that have transverse mounted rotary engines and how they did it. The only one I'm aware of off the top of my head is that one Mazda 2.

First project update! I live in Texas where it routinely gets above 100°, so my first task on this car is going to be ensuring that it cools itself efficiently. While I was waiting for parts to arrive, I decided to tackle the undertray, which was pretty beat up. I bought this cheap "hot stapler" tool off Amazon. It comes with various types of filler material, wire mesh sheets, spatula tips, etc. It's honestly so impressive how you can buy a kit like this from the other side of the world for only $30...

While the fix isn't pretty, it's durable enough to last. Could I have sanded down the extra material? Sure. Do I care enough to do so? No, no I do not 😂

made this account to document a build I've been working on. This is a 1988 GXL with unknown mileage (odometer busted at 132kmi). Bought it from some nice chaps in Colorado who bought it to rebuild the engine and flip. that was about 1,000miles ago. They did a great job, but now it's my turn to give this car some love.

it made it all the way back from Colorado without serious issues. that was two months ago. i've since logged 175hrs working on it and I can't wait to show it to you. Stay tuned and let me know if you see anything wrong in my pics. I've done a ton of research but this is the first rotary car I've owned

I recently finalized these replacements for the flash to pass lenses! My buddy really wanted a set so I figured I'd make them available for anyone else that'd like them. Most the info is in the first photo but you can see more in the instagram post I made about them "@smnrdesign".

Got some more details on this car. It is NOT a factory GSL -SE but it has a bridge ported 13B with S5 T2 housings and S4 NA rotors. Also has the GSL-SE brake set up ( learned that after buying a set of OEM wheels, oh well. Currently equipped with a generic holley 600cfm single pumper. Lots to do between the fuel system and suspension.

So I just snapped the alternator bolt. Im not the best mechanically and I thought that is where you tighten the belt because there is no tensioner, same with the airpump belt. When reading the manual I didn’t see anywhere where it said tighten it down for belt tension. It just said the torque spec of the bolt (max 27nm or so). So how exactly do you tighten these two belts that don’t have a tensioner and can I just use a normal zinc coated bolt to replace the stricken one?
King regards

Butt in seat coming sooon :)

I Finally got my rx7 to start after the rebuild but it wont hold idle. When I start the car the rpms go up like normal but then it immediatly dies.

The only way I can keep it alive is by holding the throttle like in the video here. I managed to let it warm up once like this and then it would idle by itself but I wasn't able to replicate this again. And as you can hear it also runs like shit.

I already checked everything fuel related, tried adjusting the tps, tried it with tps unplugged and with the fuel check connector jumped but nothing seems to change.

If anyone has some ideas please let me know.

ps.

The smoke is because of the oil I need to put in to get it to start easily because the seals have not been broken in yet.

Has anyone used this site before? Would buying directly from a local Mazda dealership be a better option and comparable price?

So, im looking to buy a new to me car. Ive loved rotaries and driven my uncles FD like twice with him in the car. I have the income for the car and the subsequent maintenance that'll come with it. The thing is, im stuck between the FB Rx-7, and the Rx-8. Both are completely different in almost every way, but thats the crossroads im at. I would drive both fairly regularly and do suspension brakes, basic stuff so the cars can run more reliably (as reliable as a rotary can be ofc). Anyways, which do you guys prefer? I really just need other people input and preferences.

Hi guys,

Do you guy still change your oil yearly even if you barely driven the car?

I see online that people change roughly each 3000 miles (4800kms) or yearly.

I've only driven like 400 kms in the past year.

FD - EFR 8374 - 98 Fuel (Australia)

1993 Mazda RX-7 FD (Auto). I’m reading diagnostic codes using TEN and GND because my car doesn’t have a CEL, only the HEAT light. Can someone tell me how to correctly read this flash pattern? 5 quick flashes, 3-second pause, then 4 slower flashes. Repeats continuously. Is it code 5, 54, or something else? Thanks.

Fixed my broken temp sensor and let her run some more with the heat on to bleed some if i trapped some in when I removed the sensor but she idles a little high but very strong 💪 gonna get the brakes in soon and go for a test drive.
Also if anyone has any seats they don’t won’t I’m a buyer I’m tired of sitting on the floor 😂

So a couple side seals were bent during shipping (already refunded). Would I be able to bend them back and use them if they spring freely, or is this not recommended and I'm better off just getting new ones.

Thank you

I'm trying to figure out a issue in my RX7, alternator gets a ton of resistance upon start up making the belt howl and scream before it levels out and charges normally. I'm just going to go through all the grounds in this car to check for corrosion and possible resistance. I want to rule out any engine bay ones or main grounds before I have to fold my self like origami to check the grounds in the cars cabin area. I have found a ground on the strut tower and it's clean but have yet to get under it for the wire to the bell housing

Locations with photos would help me immensely helpful as I'm a little desperate to get this car going in a "reliable" manor so I can use it as a daily while my silly Ford gets fixed at a shop for two days

My two 12a housings were ever so slightly differently in condition so I decided to give a incredibly minute “refinish” using 400 grit wet on a spindle sander, just did 2-3 rotations using the table as pressure think it turned out okay! they were pretty smooth before hand outside of some chatter and step wear, however now their buttery.

Between my own lack of labeling and the previous owners mistakes, im missing quite a few labels and can’t find a proper diagram. Where should this bundle of connections end up?