You need a set of snow tires so you can go out and do donuts in that driveway!

The ice finally melted and I decided to take the car up the road. It ran well despite being down on power. The front struts are without a doubt completely blown, so no more than a half of a mile ride for me. Took some pics while I let the car air out and sit outside before returning it to the garage to continue nibbling away at the smaller stuff before I replace the engine. Took some pics before I put the car away. Figured I hadn't taken many of the car out of the garage and no passenger side interior pics:

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Not much progress has been made on the car as of late. Saving for a seal kit as the engine is well on its way out. It still runs and drives but as soon as normal operating temperature is reached, the engine stalls. I have an RCTV5 that I'll use to obtain compression numbers off of before I pull the engine. Its been so cold out and the car has been outside that I haven't gotten much done to it lately. I can't see parking either of my other 8's outside right now.

Any Progress?

Nothing much lately. I've been busy with customer restorations and repairs and I haven't had time to get the Nordic Green GT started. Kinda sucks really as I was hopping to put and engine in it by now.

If you do replace the engine - what other maintenance do recommend doing to her (clean SSV, ...) that the dealer will not perform?

Nice work on the restoration. hard to believe anyone would let such a nice machine get to the point it was in when you acquired it. Now it looks pretty good!

great thread, thanks mazdaverx7 for giving that poor NG a 2nd chance.
looking forward to additional updates

Thanks guys. Its been a slow process on this car as my oldest son talked me into picking up an 88 RX-7 SE and restoring it with him. We're almost finished with that car and I'm hoping to make more progress on the NG GT in the months to come. I've been working three jobs, one full time and two part time to help me pay bills AND build my cars, lol. Plus I've done a bunch of work for customers on their RX-7's and 8's over the summer so that's set me back a little further.

This is the 7 that I picked up:

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The boys loved the car so how could I say no:

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But I decided to speed things up and bust some knuckles on the restoration:

Bought an engine and trans:

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Put the sucker in right away:

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Bought some new tires for the car and tossed them on:

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A little bit more progress on the engine:

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And with only 59k original miles, the interior better look halfway decent:

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Hoping to have the rest of the parts this week and have it moving under its own power by the weekend.

Made some excellent progress the other night on the 88. I got everything together other than the speedometer cable. The down side is that I went to start the engine and crank no start. Spark plugs are bone dry. Confirmed that I have fuel to the engine. Pump is working properly but the injectors aren't firing. I tried some starting fluid and the engine fired right up and I was able to keep it idling for a few seconds on starting fluid. So, I have an issue with the injectors not getting power somehow. Going to have to trace the issue and see what's not correct. Took some pictures to share of the progress:
t
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Before I get back on topic with the Nordic Green's restoration, I wanted to updated you guys with this. Ended up pulling the upper intake manifold again and tested the injector pulse with a noid light. There was pulse when cranking. I took a longer look at the injectors and after pulling them and testing them, I found that while the secondary injectors were functioning properly, the primary injectors were stuck. After about an hour of working on the injectors, I got them freed up and measured their resistance and it was within spec per the FSM. I put the intake manifold back on and the engine fired right to life. It was such a struggle because everything tested good the entire time, but the injector wasn't pulsing. Wish I had considered it as an option sooner. Either way, the engine ran beautifully. It smoked a lot and for some time actually. I did have some ATF in the engine and who knows what has been sitting in the exhaust for the last 21 years. The smoke cleared and I took the car for a short drive and I was extremely happy with the results. Still more to do but now its running and driving. First time the car has seen the road in 21 years. A V8 swap turned around and brought back to life as Mazda intended it, with a 13B! Here are some pics from its first start up:

First start:

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Warning lights on. Suspecting a faulty alternator:

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Warming up. Still with voltage on the low side:

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Just a shade of smoke:

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Holding a good idle:

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Smoke clearing a little:

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After some financial considerations, I may just install a known good used engine in this car. I'll compression test it first if possible but I think for now, just to get it on the road quickly, I'm going to start looking. I can have the swap done in a weekend and get it in for the recalls and start on repairing the body rust.

Gotta love the Nordic Green
 

I also have a 2004 GT, NG. I'll post some pics to inspire you. I just put in a different set of headlights, ebay used but better shape than mine. I'm looking for an OEM cat and mid pipe so I can pass MA Inspection. I put in a Mazda reman engine two years ago. Been driving it like a maniac ever since!

Great to see such dedication!

I actually love FC RX-7s more than FD, thanks to Initial D... FC just looks more mature to me.

Good luck with the FC!

Would definitely love to see some pictures of your car!! Did you buy the reman engine from Mazda or did you get an engine installed under warranty?

Thanks! The FC was a budget build with my son. Something for us to do together and bond over. I know the 7's pretty well and figured I could teach him a few things. Its been a great car thus fan and we really love it!

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I bought this 92 Miata for $100 as the next car for my and my boys to dig into. I'm picking up a cleaner shell and we are swapping everything over from this car into the 94 that I am getting. This 92 is just way too rusty. Its literally rustier than the Titanic. But it runs and drives well so I'm going to roll with the drivetrain and interior.

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The Miata that's coming home very soon. Very rust free:

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Figured it will pair well with my 01 MR2 Spyder:

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I always enjoy some restoration work

My friend Will had a 04 Nordic Green RX-8 for several years from highschool, and onward. One of the reasons why I own an RX-8 actually is because of how much I loved that car at the time.

At first Glance I thought it might have been his - It got returned back to stock, sold with a fresh Mazda Reman, friend bought it - yanked the Reman out of it, and replaced it with his low comp reman - Also traded leather seats for the cloths, etc etc.

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It very well could have been his car. This car came from Indiana and before that it was in Columbus for a very short time. Before its stay there, I have no idea where it was. It does have tinted windows, but no tinted sun shade. All of the emblems were painted black like the car you posted a pic of. There are no side aero flares on my car, though there will be when I'm done. I also have no front lip spoiler. Its been removed. Someone stripped the car of all of the parts that are worth anything before selling it to maximize profit.

His was a TN car most of its life, and had zero rust.

I saw a recent picture of his after it went through all of that, and exchanged hands a few times, it had a small decent on the driverside rear quarter, but all of the aero and tint was intact.

Glad his car survived. Mine is rustier than the Titanic Though, no matter, I'll fix the rust and install a new engine. I'll spend twice what the car is worth just to bring it back. Not planning on selling it so I figured I'll just put some money into it.

I'm all for that - I have a Salvage Title, Non Turbo 3000GT that has about $25,000 dropped into it, and that number continues to climb haha.

If its your passion then who cares how much you put into a car. I don't restore my cars with the intention of selling them. If I did, I'd lose my butt big time, lol.