Greetings from Spain

[Darkoyan]

Good afternoon, and greetings from Mallorca, Name's Nikolai.

Here i am to introduce my 1980 Rx7 S1, it has about 134000km (83K miles), and AFAIK is an USDM model imported to spain in 1994, it has been sitting on a garage in some mountain town in Granada for the past 15 years; I own this car since september last year, and sadly engine died in october.

I managed to get the engine up and running by unflooding the engine and cleaning carbon deposits (seafoam did nothing, so i had to use a machine for it) since then i've been working on the car, and so far still runs, although it seems to be getting worse with each run (maybe 12A is on it's way out?)

what has been done so far:

- tie rod ends (both sides)
- pitman arm
- idler arm
- front brake rotor & pads
- front wheel bearings and seals
- electric fan conversion
- spark plugs & spark plug cables
- oil pan gasket
- oil pickup gasket
- oil filter pedestal gasket
- oil metering pump lines
- water pump and gaskets
- changed thermostat from OEM to 160F high flow (oem with current radiator would overheat badly)
- replaced coolant level sensor
- replacer coolant temp sensor
- rear axle bearings
- brake shoes & brake cylinder
- changed transmission and diff oil
- installed miscellaneous interior missing parts
- MPH to KPH gauge cluster conversion
- fuel lines
- fuel pump and filter
- Air filter
- Oil filter and oil

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after all this work, the engine would start without any issues with barely any choke whatsoever (colds start) but would struggle a bit with warm starts (starting after 30 to 60 minutes of having turned the engine off); atm struggles with cold starts (half choke half gas) and it is a nightmare to do warm starts (half choke, full throttle will need about 5 to 10s of cranking, would not start otherwise)
maybe 12A hates premix? maybe the ignition coils are on it's way out? maybe the engine needs a rebuild?

i'm aware that i might need a rebuild for the 12A as well as from the transmission (works well but 2nd gear synchro seems to be badly worn out, also half circlip fell out when I changed the oil) sadly, in spain there is no mechanics that know how to properly do rotary rebuilds (not even RX8s) and parts are impossible to get around here for anything older than an RX8

also brakes, even they do work as they should pedal travel still pretty bad, brake booster, brake master, and caliper rebuild are next in line (with fresh brake lines as well)

my plans for mods are:

- S2 rear axle (for disc brakes and LSD)
- S5 TII front caliper conversion (with either stock S1 size rotors or bigger ones, haven't looked into it yet)
- S5 TII brake master
- BCRacing coilovers
- RB sway bar (front & rear)
- strut braces (still have to look into them)
- RB suspension bushings, watts link, etc.
- 15x7" wheels (4x110)
- small rear spoiler
- discrete front lip

thanks for your time and enjoy some pics

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[ian65]

Hi Nikolai,
welcome to the forum
Your car looks great..... lots of love on this forum for 1st gens and for series 1 cars in particular.

[spirit r]

Hi Nikolai,
Overhaulin the engine and carb isn't very difficult.We all are with you. I by myself like the very durable 12A. Check the housings and decide the route you will go.
I am surprised the red colour normally shows more reaction with the sun. The car got a new paint?

[Darkoyan]

yes, it got repainted at some point, the color is the original one, although the paintjob looks good in picture is quite worn out. I will probably have to repaint it again, since it's a bit of a mess