1994 UK RX-7 - black - Rip Van Wankel - just getting started...

[Bear]

Loving the scissor lift, where did you get it from?

Lift Giant - LGX35. It's the cheapest "rollable" 1.1m rise 3-3.5t scissor lift you can get in the UK that doesn't have cross-bracing between the platforms - so it's good for prop/gearbox/exhaust work.

 

[Bear]

Well, that's not a bad day's ending after changing the gearbox oil and putting the right concentration of FL22 coolant in...

 

[RandomVillager]

Well done

Mines no even running yet

 

[Bear]

Well done

Mines no even running yet

Yes, but yours is more complex and I took two years to do a service and fit some fuel lines

You got the one from Donny? That wasn't far from me, I'd been considering offing the seller help to make it work but it was bad timing - and to be fair, "my" car was running when parked up, it had just barfed coolant and scared the owner after years of never running right. Yours had been dismantled for ages?

Hopefully this one will be reliable enough to take for a run on some decent roads - I grew up and learned to drive in Kelso and living in the midlands makes me hate driving It's potholes connected with speed cameras here.

 

[JoeLanger]

The oil sump is a common leak point on these. Most buy and oil sump brace

 

[Bear]

The oil sump is a common leak point on these. Most buy and oil sump brace

Yeah, I'm also thinking that the white sealing oozing out of the joint is not best-practice levels of engineering. I have thoughts

But it does appear that the sump is engine-out time to fix, so I'll probably tolerate the free lanoguard treatment for a while longer as it's definitely worked in the car's favour in many regards.

I can't wait to see the paperwork and who has worked on this in the past. I believe it was South East as the car was London based but it had a persistent issue with misfires and had just been for more repairs when it dumped the coolant (mixed poly/ethyl - red and presumably blue), I found a perished brake booster hose that seems highly likely to have been bad before the car was stored (given how no other hoses or tyres had perished), and the wastegate actuator was detached.

For that one I can see how it happens - I thought I had the clip on and took a pic to show it, and realised it had only seated and not clipped so went back under the car and did it again properly.



(Used a little high-temp grease after it clicked home).


Undertray back on - stainless bolts, some washers to help spread the load, and to make up for damaged rear lugs, larger plastic push clips also with washers.



Date code: the tyres are barely worn and they held air for 16 years but are seriously flat-spotted. Giving them some time at 50psi but I know they should be replaced ASAFP - the purist in me wants to put proper RX-7 wheels on but I do like how the RX-8 ones look. The fading remains of my Max Power reading youth wants Azev As (boring, I know, but I like them).



Good discovery - the slipping clutch is karma for being a lazy bugger. I have a new stainless braided clutch line to fit, got with the brake flexis, but didn't as the one on the car had signs of being done just before it was locked up...

...the bracket for the pipe wasn't bolted to the firewall, and shiny ends.

However, that meant I had overlooked bleeding that circuit when I changed the fluid.

18 year old brake fluid.

Or as it's known in the trade, water.

When the car got hot... consequences!

I wish I'd known this with my last RX-8.

 

[Bear]

The oil sump is a common leak point on these. Most buy and oil sump brace

Actually, that makes a lot of sense now - it's barely leaked before I was running it up to temp - just a couple of times to move it and it had a bad fuel leak so always reluctantly.

I'm guessing the sandwich of chambers and irons moves at slightly different rates as the car heats up and is very challenging for a flat seal?

I'll look at the braces and what's involved fitting them.

 

[Bear]

FFS, when I find out who worked on this for Denny 20 odd years ago, I hope they're not still trading.



Went to change the clutch hydraulic flexi and fluid and just noticed this.

Bellhousing bolt not even tight.

So we've got:

Mixed coolant
Wastegate actuator not connected
Missed perished brake booster vacuum hose - like, the biggest of all of them...

(All the vacuum hoses are tied with little cable ties, not sure if that's normal?)

Black diff oil that looked never changed (gearbox oil was red, and seemed relatively fresh)

Leaking RTV sump seal

Two 0.9 bar pressure caps without lugs fitted, to both the AST and the filler neck

Old plugs practically came out by hand (but they're not supposed to be that tight, so were maybe okay)

Bolt missing for hardline to clutch flexi bracket
Gearbox not actually attached... well, one loose bolt for sure

These may be several garages over several visits, of course, but Denny's big complaint was a misfire when the car was supposed to be going for full power and even then I wanted to get to London and check the vacuum, actuators and sensors over systematically. I'd have found the booster and actuator but they seem like "RX-7 misbehaving 101" things to check surely?

Denny did have a moment of worrying he'd put the wrong coolant in, but he only put coolant/water in to get home /after/ it burped out all the coolant, and the gel took several flushes to feel like I'd eradicated it, got the small pipes clear etc.

But I do know he didn't do anything himself, he took it to specialists back then. Having tried to fit the E-clip on the wastegate myself I can believe that it is very easy to half-clip on and feel like it clipped, and then for it to fall off - which would align with the memory that the car worked well sometimes, then the problems returned...

 

[RandomVillager]

I grew up and learned to drive in Kelso and living in the midlands makes me hate driving It's potholes connected with speed cameras here.

How mad is that I'm in the complete opposite situation now grew up in Selby moved to the borders

The car was complete ISH just full of misplaced problems that's slowly getting rectified.

Just needs time.

And possibly a tps