I took the car in for an alignment Saturday Nov. 12th. After the alignment the car seems to pull to the left. I took it back in and he drove it 2 times. The car seems to drive straight sometimes and all of a sudden it will start to pull only to go straight again. It seems to pull 90% of the time. THe guy at Goodyear didn’t think the problem is the alignment because of the pulling not being consistent. His only thought is maybe the gear box is binding. I’ve added more oil to the box since the alignment and that didn’t change anything.

I figured out the problem on Nov. 27th. I first checked the ball joints to see if I over tightened. They were good. I had my wife wiggle the steering back and forth while I was under the car. The problem turned out to be the strut rod. The alignment guy didn’t tighten the bolt on the back side when he adjusted it. Why do I even bother trying to trust an alignment guy to do his job right. Now I need to take it back in to have it rechecked because it is pulling to the left. At least it isn’t changing from pulling to going straight.

I took the car back to Goodyear this afternoon and the Guy who did it insisted that he didn’t touch the strut rod even though he would’ve had to.  I ended up just walking out.  I drove over to Big O Tire and they got it dialed in right.

I made really good progress on the installs but it took longer than I planned. Old cars are a pain to work on sometimes. I finished the bearings and brakes all the way around.

I now have new outer bearing for the rear and new inner and outer bearings for the front. I also have seals front and rear and Royal Purple oil in rear. The brake rotors are replaced both front and rear as well as new wheel studs for the front rotors. The pads and hardware are new all the way around and the front are Hawk HPS pads. Stainless steel brake lines and speed bleeders are now installed all the way around. The ball joints are replaced as well and I would say that was probably the hardest part of the project.

I took the car for a quick photo shoot a week ago.  I went up to a lookout above Garden of the Gods and you can see Pikes Peak behind.

I purchased off eBay some original RX-7 literature. 1984 Mazda RX7 & RX7 GSL Buyers Bulletin, 1984 Mazda RX7 Brochure, 1981 Mazda RX7 626 GLC Bosch Fog Lights Brochure. The total cost was $39 shipped.  They are all in near mint condition.  These really add to the collection of literature about the 1984 GSL-SE. I plan to do an article about the specs of the SE from the information I have gathered in the future.

I picked up a set of Vintage Bosch Touring fog/driving lights with covers off ebay for $70 shipped.  These are period fog light that could have been installed at the dealer back when the car was new.

I also when to the parts store and picked up a Pilot pre-wired harness kit with relay (PL-HARN3).  This kit really made the installation easy.  I cruised the local salvage yard for a nice looking switch that fit the car perfectly.  I found a fog light switch out of a Jeep Cherokee that fit really well into the blank space by where that choke would have been.  It isn’t the best looking switch though. I would really like to find a 89-91 RX-7 fog light switch but it has been hard to come by.

I installed the fog lights into the furthest to the outside lower bumper clip holes. I had to drill the holes out slightly to fit the light mounts.  The wiring was connected right to the main fusible link box under the hood. I ran the main power wire under the battery tray with the existing wiring.  The wiring is than attached to the round bar in front of the radiator with the existing wiring.  I installed the relay to the same bolt and the buzzer relay buy the battery and the fuse is next to it.  The switch wiring follows the main harness under the dash.  The switch power is tapped into the cigarette lighter since it isn’t a real power draw (only needs to trip the relay).

I’m very happy with the way it turned out.  It looks as clean as if it were installed at the factory.

I picked up a copy of the original sticker that can on most first generation RX-7s in the US. It was always located on the drivers side rear quarter window but actual location varied.  The sticker I picked up is a little larger (about 1/2″) but otherwise is an exact copy.  I payed $13 off ebay including shipping.  I’m very happy with the quality.

I was digging through some boxes in the garage and I found an old Micro Machines toy of an FB RX-7 that I’ve had since it was new.  I guess I was an RX-7 owner before I even knew what it was.

I purchased a working windshield washer reservoir sensor. The low washer fluid light stayed on all the time on my old one. Now it works just like it did when the car came from the factory. At some point I’d like to pick up a new windshield washer reservoir since the one I have has discolored.

I also picked up the screw I was missing for the ignition switch. Without that screw there way nothing keeping the ignition switch from working its way out of the back of the lock assembly.

The door key illumination has not worked on my car since I got it.  The illumination of the ignition has worked so I figured it was something with the bulb itself and not the switch.  I pulled the driver’s side door panel to inspect the system.  Removing the panel is fairly straightforward.

To remove the door panel, you have 6 screws and clips around the edge. Two of the screws are larger and behind covers. One at the top of pull and one under the arm rest. A screw in the door pull bucket and one in the door handle bucket.  You also have two color matched screws. One screw just above the pocket and one in the bottom corner towards the back of the car.

Once I had the panel off, I was able to look over the illumination system.  It turned out the wires coming out the back of the bulb were sheared. I took the bulb to RadioShack to find a matching bulb. I found one that worked. Mini Lamp 272-1141 12 Volts and 25mA.  The bulb was actually an exact match to the original and I was even able to use the original green cover.  I soldered the wires right to the original and reinstalled.

After testing it I fount it still wasn’t working.  It turns out the bulb was installed on the wrong side.  I pulled the bulb and clip back out and installed it on the opposite side. If you look at the lock real close, you can see a small slit to let the light through. Now all is back together and working great.

While I had the door panel pulled, I installed new window channels.  The channel on the driver’s side was torn at the front edge causing the window to pop out of the channel now and again.  I lubed the entire track and regulator.  I also pulled the passenger side to replace and lube the window channel and lube the regulator.

While talking with one of the local GSL-SE owners , I found that he is also have the vapor lock problem.  He contacted Pineapple Racing about the problem.  They said that it happens on GSL-SE’s now and again when you have a combination of high altitude and high temperatures.  Their only suggestion was to add some kind of fan to blow under the intake and get some air flow.  That isn’t really a viable option in my opinion.

I picked up a roll of DEI Cool Tape to use to insulate the lines instead.  It seems to be a good quality product and it sticks well but it does seem to be a little on the thin side.  If I was to do it again, I may consider buying Thermo-Tec tape instead.

I wrapped the tape around the rubber lines that are inder the intake two times.  I covered the top of the fuel rail with a layer of tape.  There is a section of hard line that is welded to the upper intake support.  The hard line may be part of the problem since it is bolted directly to the motor.  Three layers of tape was added to the underside of the support between the support and motor.  Two layers of tape was also added around the part of the hard lines that aren’t visible.  There was some extra tape since 15 feet was in the package. I used some of the extra to insulate the underside of the upper intake for added cooling.

When the intake was pulled we say that a few of the vacuum lines were not sealing as well as they should so they were replaced.  The vacuum line goes to the fuel pressure regulator wasn’t sealing all that well so it was replaced and vip ties were used for added sealing.

The car needed to be tuned again after everything was reinstalled. I will need to tweek the tune a little to get it just right.

Thanks to Nash for help.

We took the car on its first real trip over 4th of July weekend, about 1000 miles of total driving. We drove it to Grand Junction, CO and back down I70. The car drove fine most of the way, I never had any problems with the car overheating. I did haveproblems withthe car vapor locking both directions. The first time was in Georgetown heading over because the traffic was really bad. I also had problems on the way back going up Vail Pass because it was a parking lot (cars were stuck everywhere).

The first time it happened, the gas tank built so much pressure that when I opened the gas cap it sprayed gas out. I disconnected the hose for the gas tank vent just after the tank so I wouldn’t have any more pressure building.  I also checked the fuel filter to see if it was clogged and it looked fine.  We let the car sit for a while and it made the rest of the drive without a problem.

Once we got into Grand Juntion, we blew out the vent lines and inspected the check and cut valve. The valve seemed to be working fine when I tested it. There was a small amount of dust that came out of the hard line between the valve and the charcoal canister but not much.  I took the car on a drive and it was still building a small amount of pressure. I decided to leave the line disconnected for the trip back.

On the way back home it happened on Vail Pass.  Vail pass goes from Vail (8022 feet) to the summit (10617 feet). And this was in really bad traffic, it was basically a parking lot. There were cars overheating and vapor locking everywhere. I got stuck in a spot with 2 other cars with the same problem. I would say there were over 100 cars that overheated that I saw. I’m really happy my car wasn’t overheating, it actually stayed right where it should. The intake got really hot, I couldn’t even touch it. I made it to a mountain stream so I cooled the intake down and that really helped. I also drove the rest of the way over the pass with the hood popped open so I could get more airflow.

Possible causes for the car stalling that I found:
-bad temp sensor (already replaced)
-weak pump (less than 6 months old)
-clogged fuel filter (replaced about 3 weeks or so ago)
-bad pressure regulator (haven’t looked into)
-fuel line getting way too hot

I’m going to replace the pump since it is still under warranty.  I’m not getting a much power over 5k rpm still so I’m thinking the problem could be related to the pump or pressure regulator. I’m also going to swap out the check and cut valve since I have one that I know is good and it’s a quick change.