1991 Mazda RX7 - From junk, to showcar in $3,000

[Miroteknik]

Yo dudes. I finally took time to sit down and totally focus on watching this video. I remember the guy starting the build years ago. My build was inspired by many different people, cars, and stories, and this is definitely one of them.

Enjoy



I really like that they didn't leave out the part where the ute wouldn't start, and the part where he blew third gear. I was glad to see him break down and be frustrated, cause that's how I am when I run into problems with my build. Some people post only the positive progress of their builds, and leave out the negative moments. That takes so much from the story.

Just have to keep going

[floatingdino]

My build is all negative moments lol

[Miroteknik]

My build is all negative moments lol

Came for the hair, stayed for the disappointment.

[floatingdino]

Came for the hair, stayed for the disappointment.

you came

[ChristopherJason]

I can't figure out how to use a hammer

[SnazzyQ]

anything cool happen with this?

[Miroteknik]

Hey. Probably isn't reason enough to update thread but it's the new year, and I thought I'd drop by and say hi. The trans was leaking, so few months ago, we pulled it to fix the leak. Since we had it cracked, we decided to but new synchros in for gears 1 and 2.

Then the trans stayed apart for months, and I decided to buy a MGW shifter to replace the stupid cheap crap I bought for it to start with. Trans is halfway together now, but it'll be another month or more before its done and back in the car. When that happens, I might take some pics and update this again. Things should pick back up once the transmission is done, but dont hold your breath, we'll all be dead by the time this stupid pile of crap is done.

Kind of related/unrelated, I've been dealing with my frustration with the car the way I deal with most issues. I buy things. Ended up getting a car I've wanted for a very long time, an LS400. Its been distracting me and being enjoyable. Also bought a 4th Gen Camaro. This thread is for the RX7 so I probably shouldn't post pics of the sidechicks so moving on..

More good news... when I bought the car, it had no title. It had the sketchiest string of previous owners you could imagine. It seemed like every time the car stopped running, the current crackhead owner would trade it for meth or pizza, and on and on. It was probably a bad idea to buy a car with no papers, but I did it anyway, I do stupid things. When I got the car home, I started getting paperwork together right away. Had to write letters to a bunch of places and get stuff stamped and notarized, and I don't remember but it was a lot of work. Well once all of that was done, the Dept of Motor Vehicles told me there was a 3 year waiting period till I could get a new title. Guess what.

I got the title.

Apparently its been 4 years and I could have had it last year, but I sort of lost track of time. So now the car is legit and it has a good title and I won't have issues when I want to get it on the street. Big load off my mind.

That pretty much catches you up with what has been going on. Hoping to get a lot done this winter, but honestly I am so burnt out on this thing. Not even sure if I care anymore.

[RocketSled]

Sry I failed u and make u cry bb

I had to have my tear ducts removed just to finish reading this thread

[DaguerrotypeI]

Well thats not so bad for 7 months! Making progress!

[Miroteknik]

Posting out of spite...

Finally found the headers I needed, and bought those, got rid of all the other crap I wasted so much time on.



Got the transmission rebuilt and sealed up.



Made this cute lil plug to shutup the stupid skip shift



Removed the $5 shifter I initially had on the transmission lol and installed the MGW shifter



Transmission is officially back in the car, drive shaft bolted up. The next issue is to wire up the fuel pump, since it does not fire when cranking. Not sure how soon that will happen, but this better weather is helping the chances. xxxx

[I_Haz.:R32]

does this car still exist?

[AKToyotaluv]

The pictures in the very beginning aren't opening for me!!! I wannnna see lol what's my problem with photos attached to threads that I'm not seeing here?

[rice4life]

This needs a title change.

"From working junk, to kind of working junk in $10,000"

All joking aside, I really wish this thread just didn't die out all of a sudden.

[Miroteknik]

.... wyd


Like a soldier returning from war, I had two choices. Return to my village, or take another path; start a new life elsewhere, never to be seen by old acquaintances again.


I dropped off this forum for many reasons. It has been 3 years since my last post, but man.... what a hurricane of events it has been. I wont get into the personal, because this thread is about the dream, the journey, the car. Thankfully, through all of my troubles, I managed to hang onto the car. There were a few times during those 3 years, where I wanted to sell the car. One day, all the crap in my life piled up to an enoumous, looming shadow, that screamed "failURE, fAILURE, FAILURE!!" into my mind, to the point that I considered taking a baseball bat, driving out to the shop, and beating every breakable part of the car to a pulp in a therapeutic rage.


This car has become very personal to me, because I believe we reflect ourselves in everything we do. So to have a car that was supposed to take 2 years and $3,000.00 to finish sit in a garage on jackstands for 8 years and cost me over $10,000.00, was becoming a glaring mistake too obvious to ignore. I knew from the day I bought the car it would teach me a lesson, but I was not ready for this.


I didn't know whether I should explain myself in my "come-back" post, or just post progress pics like nothing has happened. Even though just posting pics would have been the cooler thing to do, I quickly remembered that cars don't mean much without a story to go with them. And so, I decided to spill my guts. I wrote a post several pages long. I looked back at it, and was like.... "lol bruh.." So I deleted it, and wrote the shorter version which you are reading now.


So what has happened to the car then? Well, when I dropped off the face of this forum, I was very frustrated. We were so close to finishing the car and yet, everything was being held up by stupid "wiring". The one thing I simply could not wrap my head around. I've downloaded diagrams, I've looked at them, but it might as well have been algebra.





Even though most of the wiring was complete, something was wrong with the fuel pump. It would not prime or kick on at ignition, like it was wired to do. It would only come on when directly put power to it at the back of the car. Ideally, it is supposed to be powered on by the ECM. This mystery continued for a very long time. In that time, we burned up 2 fuel pumps, and the remainder of our sanity. Finally, my buddy had enough, and decided to wire the pump to turn on at ignition, and stay on. In the event of an accident, the fuel pump would just keep running, fueling a ball of fire that would consume the car and its victim like so many stunt drivers' final tricks.





After we decided to wire the fuel pump into "FULL ON DEATH MODE", the car came to life once again.





I forget how many months or years it took to get to that point, and its thats probably a good thing, because I know it took forever. ANYHOW, the sound of that engine screaming for dear life awoke my weakening desire to push on, and so a pulse appeared in my veins, and a glimmer returned to my eye. I didn't say anything, because I've felt this feeling before, only to have my heart broken once again.





I took what pulse I could get, and pushed forward. The water pump blew up, so I got one of those.






It is important to take a moment out of the day to meditate






Boy like to eat, boy like to dream







I also got a new brake master in, and started looking around for someone to weld up my exhaust. There were a couple exhaust shops in town, but they typically installed mufflers, and fixed gasket leaks. When I offered the custom job to my favorite exhaust shop of the two, the shop owner winced and bit his lip as if I asked him which knee he'd like crushed in a vice if he had to choose. Seeing his face, I knew I should keep looking. I honestly didn't want to take it to a shop anyway, because I wanted to do as much on the car as I could myself. So far, my buddy and I have done EVERYTHING on the car, and I wanted to keep it that way. I rolled that car into that shop at the beginning of the build, and I wanted to drive it out of the same shop, finished. It's how I dreamed it.


So, I decided to contact a guy I used to rice around with in my early 20's. He was a welder, and I've heard he had been getting really good at custom work. We hadn't spoken in years, but if there was someone I'd prefer do the work, it was him. I shot him a text offering him the job, and to my relief, he accepted. I was so excited. No stranger would touch my car after all. The exhaust would be done by an old friend. We ordered the stainless exhaust kit with 90, 45, and straight lengths, and set a day. He showed up on a Saturday, and we started mocking things up. It took over 20 hours and 3 weekends, but this is what I ended up with.


























A fully custom, stainless exhaust kit welded up by a friend. He did an awesome job in my opinion, and it means a lot to me to have been there to help.


I excitedly bolted the exhaust up for the first time, and several hours later, realized it was time to start the car, and see smoke come out of the back for the first time in 8 years. I stood there in the shop for a few minutes, staring at the concrete floor, letting it soak in. Then I hopped in, and fired it up.





I... dont.. know how . to say, what, to say... it was amazing, I saw the smoke puff out the back, and felt the warm, damp gusts come out, and I knew, the exhaust was really done. It was a great feeling. I didn't linger long on this fact however, because this all meant I could now drive the car! It was the night before Easter, which meant it would be so easy to remember I first drove the car on the eve of Easter 2018!!! I started wiping dust off the car, zip tying misc wiring up, clearing parts and pieces out of the way. Then, I realized it was time for the car to touch hallowed ground once again! To touch the ground with all fours, after having been suspended in a trance for almost a decade! I quickly got the jack, and raced to the back of the car. I pulled the stands, and dropped it, while the car moaned and groaned as it assumed its unexpected position. I moved to the front of the car, and repeated the process.









its so... small... its so... low.... It was strange and exciting to see it finally on the ground again.

I hopped in the car again, and turned the key.

"Click, click, click" said the starter, and "click click click" went the gun that I placed to my head.


Since the time the exhaust got done, I started thinking about StanceWorks. Because I knew I am a lonely loser, I knew there was only one place where my story could be told. There was only one place where any one would listen. And so as fishermen head out to sea, and golfers head to the course, I crackled my bony hands, and logged into the online support group for automotive addicts. Thanks for the coffee and donuts, I've said my piece, take me back or shove me out, I'm here to fill your mind with gray noise, babble, and occasional photos. If you'll have me, I expect to have a few more updates in the near future. I need to get a new starter, wrap it in heat-reflective wrap, re-install the exhaust, etc etc etc.


I may actually finish this wretched thing, fulfil my vow, seal it with a kiss.

[Fruttolo]

Dude I hope you write for a living because this is the most well-written internet car build thread I've ever seen
Cool story and cool car (even if I'm one of those "don't take the rotary out of rx7s" guys LOL)