Front-Mid Engine, 50/50 Weight, 100hp/liter.

11,662
United States
Marin County
Here is my 1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SE

The car is mostly stock with a few upgrades to make the car a bit more fun. It has full exhaust consisting of a racing beat longtube header, some 2.25" pipe, and two fairly large mufflers. The suspension is handled by racing beat with their lowering spring kit with tokiko shocks. The engine is essentially stock. I've bought a racing beat side-draft intake manifold, but haven't done anything with it yet. I keep changing my mind. Anyways, here are some pics.

04-4.jpg


01-6.jpg


02-3.jpg


11.jpg


27.jpg


30.jpg


36.jpg


50.jpg


52.jpg


01-1.jpg


06-5.jpg


I bought it with 100k miles, and I've put about 30 on it in the four years I've owned it. Still runs great.
 
I don't care for the new RX-7s so much but that car is BEAUTIFUL
 
Rotaries can be reliable. Unfortunately when something does go wrong, rotaries are generally more expensive to repair, and finding mechanics that can work on rotaries are fewer and farther in between.

And with people deciding car purchases with the visits to the fuel pump in mind, rotaries never really had a chance at mass market appeal. Still one hell of an engine.
 
I thought that the "Rotaries = Unreliable" thing didn't start until the FD? I mean, Mazda couldn't build the first generation fast enough to meet demand for them.







Love the car in the OP, by the way. The 1st gen was always my favorite of them, particularly ones from the last couple of years.
 
Turbo Rotary = Unreliable
NA Rotary = Very reliable

It's hard to hurt the internals of an n/a rotary unless you really abuse and neglect it. There just isn't much to go wrong. My car has had a few non-internal niggles with the engine (mostly the overly complicated EFI intake manifold) but it's not ever refused to start. It's also never flooded and didn't even overheat when I popped the fan/water pump belt. Though I did limp is home as carefully as possible. All in all, it's been a fantastic car, and extremely fun to drive.
 
NICE! I love FBs. What wheels are those in the last few pictures? They are great! I'd love to buy them once everything else is taken care of involving my car. Do you have any other plans for it?
 
They are made by Impul, but are essentially a knockoff of Weds Fins. Always liked them, so I tracked down a set. 15x6.5 IIRC. Not the greatest offset, but they fit the car pretty damn well, which was total luck.
 
Picture of the engine, come on now. Very nice either way. Anymore interior shots? Also a turbo rotary can be reliable but it takes more care to do so.
 
I love your car however I'm more inlove with the waffle style rims. But what is the plan for your beauty?
 
Picture of the engine, come on now. Very nice either way. Anymore interior shots? Also a turbo rotary can be reliable but it takes more care to do so.

When you wannaa stay on the stock turbo side there's an old school trick which is using gsl se injectors. Its something I'm gonna do once my engine blows enventually lol.
 
I love your car however I'm more inlove with the waffle style rims. But what is the plan for your beauty?

Right now I'm thinking I want to swap in a 13b-MSP from an RX-8. The swap is fairly straight-forward and it will even run on the factory ECU, so no fuel management required. I have retain the RX-8 gauges and fly-by-wire throttle though, which I don't really mind. Rx-8 has a cool cluster. The price of the renesis is still a bit high in general, but I've seen quite a few bargains.

I also want to install an FC front subframe and steering, to get rid of the 'wondersteer' that the recirculating ball provides.
 
I don't think so, but I'm not certain. The FC front end needs a little 'adjustment' to get it to fit, IIRC. I can't think of anyone who has done a Miata steering rack.
 
Ah, i was asking since if you want to get rid of an FC's power steering the thing to do it drop a Miata's non-power steering rack and its good to go. Also what happened to engine pics?
 
So I decided against the RX-8 swap and went for something simpler, and here it is:



Some teething issues of course, but she runs!
 
The IDA is a downdraft. This is closer to a DCO or DCOE. But it's not a Weber, it's a Dellorto. Even more Italian. This model is a 48 DHLA.
 
So are you trying to say your engine is making more power than mine now? Blasphemy!
 
Well with my carb swap, I should be somewhere around 150hp/liter. :)

carb_zpsd3fe9db2.jpg


Holes drilled for new dual throttle cables:
cablerouting_zpsbb4622b6.jpg


Finished setup:
setup_zps2f071ca2.jpg


The throttle linkage is awesome. 22 adjustments which means you can adjust the feel to just the way you want it. I have mine so that it is a stiff, medium-length travel. Suites the engine's powerband and response perfectly.

Now I need a new clutch (the stock one is slipping now with the 30-50% increase in power) and I'd like to get a lighter flywheel. The stock one is somewhere above 20lbs and deadens response.

Here is a short video of how it sounds with the Dellorto on there


I was having a big issue with not being able to open the throttle fully when I took that, so that's why it doesn't have any pull above 5,000rpm. I fixed it with the elaborate 22 adjustment linkage kit. Hopefully she will run perfect when I get those new idle jets in. :)
 
Last edited:
Welp, here is the finished product with the new air cleaner on it. I didn't notice any drop in power, so I'm happy.

DSC_0549_zps429ccdf5.jpg


DSC_0557_zps38d53ae5.jpg


DSC_0558_zpsa15c5f6f.jpg


DSC_0569_zps37d59a47.jpg


Now I just have to swap the idle jets, and it should run perfect. :)
 
Back