Kingje

Greetings! I acquired a non-functional 1986 RX-7 with title for free (it was left in my yard). What's worth salvaging for my 1995 Miata? Anything? The rear differential comes to mind, which I currently have it on jack stands to remove just in case. Is it even worth the effort for a 31 year old LSD? And since I have the whole car, what else should I take off to make the diff work? And again, is it worth it over just spending money on a newer one? I'm still learning about them and all the compatibility of parts. Clutch types, Torsen, axles, rings, etc... Seriously, the only experience I have with rear diffs is that they exist and swapping the cover on the one on my truck.

I've also seen mention of the RX-7 oil cooler. Not sure if that's a standard part on the FC, but I think I see it on this one. Can tell better after I get the rear out and jack up the front.

Anything else worth salvaging and putting to use? Anything rare that may be worth pulling and selling?

I've had the Miata for about 12 years but am just now getting around to finishing it and making it a backup DD. Free parts are the best parts!

Thanks!!!

MustangMike

iTrader: (6)

The diff isn't worth your time unless you plan to pull it apart, replace out of spec friction discs and shim it for higher pre-load. Then you will have to re install it into a Miata housing as they are different from the RX-7s. Even after all of this it still wont be a torsen.... much better than an open diff but most will tell you its not ideal. As for the other stuff you may be able to pull the injectors and use them but they are far subpar to the EV14 style injectors most are using now. Im not sure about anything else!
-Mike

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Diff housing.

Kingje

Gotcha. I've read the mixed reviews about the clutch diff vs a Torsen. I might pull the FC diff and housing and work on it over time, perhaps just eventually getting a Torsen anyway, but it would be a good learning experience. I haven't touched it since I jacked it up, and I still need to get used to the Miata to see what I really want to do with it. This may be a dumb question, but can the FC be towed/roll without a diff housing assembly? I'll still have to junk the rest of the car afterwards.

As for the injectors, I already have EV14's ready for the Miata's turbo upgrade. They're 750 ccs. Not ideal, but should be ok with my AEM EMS4 from what I read. Got them super cheap a year or two ago for a matched set.

Not worried about the oil cooler for now. Better/newer ones are cheap enough.

Thanks for the tips, guys! Anything else that anybody can think of? Anything that anyone wants? You gotta take the whole car! lol

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

How out of commission? FCs are still great v8 swap cars.

njn63

iTrader: (4)

This.

I'd strip everything and slowly list the parts on eBay. $20-$40 here and there really starts to add up and eBay gives you 50 free listings every month so if it doesn't sell you're only out a little bit of time.

Kingje

Well the original owners and I tried for a while to get it running with no luck. We turned our attention to an FB and made it a rallycross car, and had some other project cars/bikes, including my Miata. I essentially got the FC for letting them use my yard as work space for a couple years. I was hoping for the diff to be a decent upgrade, but it sounds like it's going to take more effort than I'd like if I can't just junk the rest of it afterwards. I have too many other current projects, and it sounds like I might enjoy a newer style diff anyway. Plus I want to lighten the stable for a potential move south.

That being said, I'm not so interested in stripping it and making any money either. In fact, I have the FB for sale and the FC was going to be a mandatory gift to the buyer to go along with it. lol. The FB actually runs with a battery and clutch flush, but that's for another forum or post later.

Thanks for the input!

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Pics of the car? Is it worth trailering 500 miles?

Monk

iTrader: (3)

Pics of fb?

Kingje

Kingje

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Can i have the steering wheel from the FC if it's not trashed?

Kingje

Hopefully those pics can be seen. The first post has a quick pic through the FC trunk glass at a bunch of spare parts that it came with. And obviously the second post is the FB. I can take more pics after work if need be, these were just a quick few I took as I was leaving this morning.

Kingje

Not sure if it's worth it or not. I certainly don't want to do it, but if you want it, you're welcome to come get it! I can take more pics of whatever you want to see tonight. Still thinking about yanking the diff too, but I might leave it all intact if you decide you want it. We used a power probe and the injectors seemed ok, actual ignition seemed ok, but we couldn't find a signal from the ECU. Couldn't find an accurate pinout diagram either, so we moved on to the other projects.

If you have something I can replace it with so I can steer it to the trailer and junk yard, sure! lol. And if rleete or someone else doesn't want the whole car. Otherwise, I might be able to yank it after I junk it too.

I should probably start a for sale thread, but the FB is $2600 btw, and comes with the Pannasports in the pics with gravel tires, and stockers (only 3 have tires), a pretty beefy skid pan that we made for it, as well as new wheel bearings to install, spare clutches, spare brake cylinders, stock airbox, and a few other things. Definitely needs a battery and clutch flush, and the driver front fender is dented a bit right by the door, but can be banged or pried out pretty easily I think. It even has all the original paperwork from 1986! I'll see what else the owner has. And yes, I have titles for both cars.

Anyway, more pics if needed and I will probably start a for sale thread for the FB.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

I'd love to, but wife has given me a firm "no!". Says anything I get has to be running and driving, no projects. Sad, because even a basket case is worth around $2000-$2500 around these parts.

Kingje

Yeah, and sadly I just don't have the time or patience with all my current projects.

Kingje

Here's a couple more pics of the FC, in case anyone's interested. Whole car, free to a good home...

engineered2win

You can part out the interior bits for a decent chunk of money. All those switches, assuming they work, fetch $50-100 each nowadays. There are very few common interior parts still available from Mazda, so the only option is the couple guys that rebuild/refurbish them or to buy used. I had a S4 GXL, which I sold to buy my 10th AE, and it was a losing battle trying to keep from breaking every 30 year old brittle plastic part.
Parts to remove from that S4 GXL:

• LSD
• 4 pot front calipers/vented rear calipers
• All interior switches
• Radio and EQ (although it looks smashed in the pic)
• Logicon (HVAC)
• Warning Light cluster/clock
• the gauge cluster is worth >$100
• front/rear bumpers
• and all the rubber moulding

The clutch type LSD will swap into a miata and the internals of the NA 5 speed trans will swap into the miata housing, with slightly different ratios. Other than that I'm not aware of anything that is interchangeable.

Kingje

I'm sure they're either rare NOS or impossible to find! I'm sure someone could make a few grand easily by parting it, or a fun car could be revived. All being said, I don't really need the money and don't want to mess with all that. I'm thinning the stable. I still have the Miata, a Lincoln, Ram 2500, Yamaha XS400, Vespa 200GT, Honda Metropolitan, Honda Ruckus, Kubota tractor, Yamaha TT-R230 on the way, and I've gotta fit tools, furniture, etc into my cargo trailer for a (hopefully pending) move down south. Oh and a dog and two cats.

Anyway, no time to mess with the FC. Maybe I should put a post up for it in the "for sale" section too, but "for free"? I can't expect the "FB with a free FC" to work. Most people aren't going to have a dual car carrier or large trailer. But if someone puts a couple hundred or whatever into a tow, it's here. No date set to junk it yet. Here's a few extras that are in the trunk of the FC...

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Oy. You're killing me.