That Friday I finally got a chance to get to the License Branch and get it plated.

Our conclusions as of right now:
The front tire that kept going flat seems to be holding air better and better. So that's probably just a dirty valve stem that is finally getting cleaned out. I can't seem to engage 2nd gear from either direction without grinding unless I shift really slow or rev match. The shift from 1st to 2nd is a lot worse than the shift from 3rd to 2nd. All the rest of the gears seem to be fine. So it looks like the synchros on 2nd are on their way out. The AC also doesn't work right now. It probably just needs a vacuum/charge. Depending on how low the system really is, I might need to do a drier/receiver as well.

Last Wednesday, Paul took it for a drive to see how it behaves compared to his. Apart from his consensus that the 2nd gear synchros don't seem quite right, he indicated that I need to do a clutch adjustment. It also sounds like the trans could do with a fluid change. After that we took both his car and mine out and did a side by side 2nd gear pull all the way up to see how low I was on power. Mine seemed to keep up with his pretty well up to about 6500-7000 (somewhere in there) before I started falling back. By the time we got to the top of 2nd, I was probably a good 3/4 to a full car length behind him.

Tomorrow after work we're planning on doing the clutch adjustment to see how much that will help. As of right now I have about 160 miles on the car.

Those brake lines...lol. We both were shocked. Even more shocked, and partially insulted (lol), is how a not cared for hacked up RX8 had perfectly functional front camber bolts while my meticulously cared for RX8 had seized ones that I spent hours on cutting out and pressing new bushings in...how does that happen?! Haha

This is a great project. I wish you all the best for it's completion. Was Paul on his Enkei 17" wheels? That would make a lot of difference in acceleration. Hope to see you out in Rantoul with it soon.

yeah those brakes lines... someone failed brakes 101... i'm sure the sliders are all frozen too, steel bolt in iron bracket...

Slides are good. Hard to believe I know, but there really isn't much corrosion anywhere.

Driving often on wet, salty roads and infrequent adjustments

/sarcasm on

Mind blown.

/sarcasm off

I thought the same thing when you asked. Most people get at least one alignment a year. If you instruct the alignment person to break all the adjustments loose and give them a full spin before setting each one the problem will likely be avoided.

The best solution is to disassemble and slather them all with anti-seize




.

man most people don't live out west! i'm 3/3 with Rx8's that have never had an alignment ever! and one of those 3 had the right rear suspension replaced...

Yes I've helped with quite a few, and this is the first that wasn't seized.

Anyway, 2nd gear is a mess on the car. Next to do is drop trans, and inspect, measure, etc. We have a copy of the 6-speed FSM. This should be fun. :)

West" includes a lot more than just the Republic of Southern Kalifornication. Plenty of people out west, midwest, south, and even here in the southwest have the problem. If it gets wet salt or anything else corrosive in there and sits too long without any significant rotation the bolt will rust and seize in position within the bushings metal insert sleeve.

Had it happen to my Ridgeline tow vehicle in the rear, and that was from when I lived out west fwiw.

Just a quick update. Both have been bustly with work, me with kids and family on top of that. The car has been almost completely disassembled and cleaned. Interior was disgusting.. All...but after much carpet extraction, scrubbing, disassbling panels and everything...the interior looks almost new.

I've also removed a fee dents, baked apart and cleaned polished the headlights.

All the brakes are rebuilt now, all ball joints have newboots, any messed up balljoints/bushings replaced.

The transmission has been rebuilt by JP-X. He is now ordering parts for rebuilding the engine. He'll post the parts list up soon if someone wouldn't mind chiming in on that. Let us know if we forgot anything.

We've also got a ton of pictures to upload.