NoPistons -Mazda Rx7 & Rx8 Rotary Forum - Just Picked Up My New Rx Today!

Or maybe I should make that Hate/Love.

Flew up to DC (cheap airtran ticket) and picked her up & drove her back to NC today. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png This was an ebay deal on a 86 base model that was advertised as a great running/driving car with minor rear end body damage. The seller is the proprietor of RP Performance in Manassas Park, VA. He assured me it was a great driving car with no significant problems, so I won it for <$600 and also had him install some eibach springs and tokico non-adjust struts for an additional $800.

After driving off at first I was kinda pissed cause it shook like crazy at speed, made bad bearing type nioses, and pulled to the right significantly. The tires weren't corded or anything and had about 40% tread left so I was fearing the worst. Also, I thought the synchros were bad because just about every gear would grind if shifted any faster than normal, slow shifting. Fith pretty much always grinds.

Needless to say I was thinking of all kinds of things to associate the seller and his mother with until I finally couldn't take it anymore and pulled off the highway in the next large town (Richmond) and went tire shopping. The best I could do on short notice, on the cheap, and at your typical tire store was a set of Khumo Ecstas (sp?) 205/50 15s. Yeah I know they're not very wide but the wheels are only 6 inches and I couldn't find any 215/50s. I don't think 225s would have fit on the 6 inch wide wheels, and I doubt they had them anyway.

Well the good news is all the problems were tire related, the rest of the ride home was quite enjoyable ;-) Love the firm ride. The tires are not going to do all that well for autox, I think the sidewalls are two soft (damn glad I didn't get 60 series!) but they make fine street tires. I'm still planning on getting a track wheel/tire combo.

As for the shifting, after speaking with the seller, he informed me that he put a clutch in that car recently (actually he reminded me, he had told me that earlier). He thinks the clutch master cylinder just needs to be bled, which makes sense since its happening to no particular gear and the friction point is pretty close to the floor. The clutch is probably just not disengaging all the way. Well needless to say I've since recinded all the curses I put on him and his loved ones via the 1-900 psychic, at least until something else goes wrong! https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...>/rolleyes.gif

All said and done I've got a fun little car with a strong engine (117K), runs cool, and is quite light (early base, no stowage compartments, no sunroof, manual steering, and has aluminum hood). So I'm happy https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png