Learn me First gen Rx7

aussiesmg wrote: Actually everywhere else in the world they are called Series 1 78/80, Series 2 81/83 and Series 3 84/85. 2nd Gens are series 4 and 5 and 3rd gen are Series 6. Just saying...

I knew that and it seems that the rest of the world has their E36 M3 together. Leave it up to us Americans to make up something entirely different.

byron12 wrote: Awesome thanks for some much good info already. It is an 81 it actually is being given to me by my uncle it is a running california car with no rust he drove it from california to georgia a couple of months ago. It won't pass smog.

The no-smog-compliance issue is confusing. The car exceeds the standard 25yr exemption limit.

Have you found documentation that shows meeting specific limits are required for registration?

I love my 78 SA!!!! I don't care what the US government says,my car was built(5/78)and purchased in early 78 therefore I consider it a 78. You can't go wrong with a first generation RX-7 unless it is heavily rusted out. You can fix almost anything on it with normal tools,and they are super easy to wrench on.

It is definitly exempt here in tennesse so no worries for me apparently in CA he had to pay a fee for an exemption and wasn't enjoying the car enough for it to be worth it to him. He had his last hurrah driving the car to GA and no longer cares what happens to it. The grands were threatening to scrap it I intervened hopefully to succesfully rescue it and restore it and enjoy it for myself. I have no incentive to sell it because deal is as loing as I keep it its mine but if I sell it he wants a taste. I think he might have kind of an inflated idea as to its actual value any way so if I were to sell it for any real money it would be a signifigant investment on my end so I will just keep it I guess.

Also I have read that 20w50 is the standard oil weight used for rotaries it kind of makes since I suppose. Also has anyone had any luck with racing beat springs they are cheap but I have heard when it comes to miatas they are too soft for the amount of lowering they offer.

Two cycle oil in the gas helps.

I have read that too. I might be a good but away from suspension upgrades I think it may take a while to sort it out. I will know more saturday when I go get the car.

Some links you might find helpful, search around for more great info on RX7club.com

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=711693

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=406324

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=498558

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=487961

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=441702

RE-Speed is a good source for suspension upgrades.

California does not have rolling exemption, so yes, he would have had to SMOG it. Everything 74 and newer IIRC.

I use 10w30 or 10w40 in my rotaries. I have never used 20w50 or heard anyone else for that matter use that oil.

I've heard of people using 20W50 but I also heard a good horror story about 20w50 in cooler climates last weekend- Long story short, don't use 20W50 in cold climates and get on it before it warms up fully. The result is an instantly worthless engine. Personally I've always lived in colder climates and I use 10W30

BTW early RX7's are easily on my list of favorite cars.

I have a friend of mine selling an 1980 first gen that is seriously clean. Been in his family for years. Newer paint, excellent freshened interior, runs reasonably well. Needs some minor work - front control arm bushing and some general TLC.

It's here in CA but was a CO car for a while so some rust on the underbody.

I was actually quite skeptical of 20w50 oil myself considering that overheating and lubrication issues are what are known to kill a rotary it seems counterintuitive to me to use such a thick oil viscosity. I actually read the GRM oil article last night after reading the the first gen Rx7 data file. It seems that heavy weight oil has some sort of mythological use that lots of enthusiasts swear by.

Yeah, I have mentioned this before, there are piles of those in California junkyards because they don't really pass emissions testing anymore even though they run fine. It is very rare to see one on the road, but pretty clean ones are in pretty much every junkyard. I'm surprised more people don't buy the ones that are still in decent shape and send them to other states where all the native ones have rusted away rather than just letting them all get scrapped.

Thats simple early RX7 guys are cheap and shipping a car isnt. Not nice but true every time somebody builds a nice part and offers it for sale they get a very poor response. Sad but true.