Hello From Sunny Florida

[RLM55]

Hi - new member from the US and original owner of a 1981 RX-7 with 300,000 miles. The car is mostly stock but with a few upgrades. Just completed a major restoration of the car over the past year including major body work, new paint, new interior, wheels, tires, brakes, suspension, exhaust, etc. I have about 50K miles on my third engine and a rebuilt transmission. After much effort the car looks and drives like new again although I have aged a tad over the past 30+ years. I look forward to seeing what others are doing to improve their first gens. Here are a few pics:

[Steve-A]

Morning

Wow, that looks lovely. You'd never believe it'd done 30,000 miles let alone 300,000

[codge]

Fantastic. What a great mileage.

Hope you're not after my status as the Grandad on this Forum.

You're most welcome RLM.

Codge

[Lucky]

Quite simply amazing 300 000 miles Hats off to you, sir


...why did we never get that lovely colour in the UK?

[Marc S]

Welcome


That is some serious mileage!!

It is a lovely colour...I'd quite like the code for it...just in case

[RLM55]

Thanks for the welcome. I had a lot of help from the rotary community locating parts and getting advice. Although there were originally a lot of first generation RX-7's in the US, it is quite rare these days to see one on the road.

I'm surprised to hear that this color was not available in the UK (it's probably the most common color in the US - paint code K8, Tornado Silver Metallic ). I've always liked it but it may not be too easy to see since I have been hit so many times. Sometimes I think I should just paint a target on the side of the car. Even my wife hit it once while pulling her car out of the garage.

As for the mileage, this was my daily driver car for 20 years. About 10 years ago I had the engine replaced and rebuilt the transmission but had trouble keeping the car running. Since it became very difficult to find a mechanic with the knowledge to work on the car it mostly just sat in the garage until I learned to do the work myself. The internet changed that since information is now easily available to fix anything that needs repair. My latest task was to replace the old worn out suspension with upgraded shocks/struts, springs, sway bar, and all of the steering rods/arms. It took me three weeks to do the work at my advanced age but what a difference it made.

Don't worry Codge, I am not after your status as the Grandad of this Forum. I promise not to divulge my age!

[ian65]

What a gorgeous RX7..... the colour and those series 1 wheels look the business. A warm welcome to the forum.....anyone who's had a 1st gen as a daily for 20 years and has done 300,000 miles ..............will be right at home here !
Are you still running a stock 12a engine?

cheers,
Ian

[KiwiDave]

First off, welcome to the forum. What an inspiration, a daily driver and 300,000 miles. I won't be alone in looking forward to a few more pics and the odd story from many years of ownership.
You will find many helpers here and no question is too difficult or stupid.
Happy rotoring

Dave

[RLM55]

Yes, still running a stock 12A engine. Upgrades in the engine bay are the 3 row radiator, an S4 alternator with double pulley, Magnecor plug wires, Optima battery, relays for the headlights, and box type fuses to replace the fusible links. The new strut tops are also an upgrade with sealed bearings rather than the original open type that finally rusted out the bearings. Each of these upgrades have been very important to make this a reliable car. Here is a picture of the engine bay:

[RX7SA]

Welcome, what a lovely car and kudos for using as a daily even if it is a traget for other drivers Its great that you have kept her original but with choice mods to keep her reliable.