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Hey folks!
Im going to look at a 85 RX7, and was wondering what little things to look out for as far as bad signs that would make me not buy the car. The guy was asking $700, but has come down to $400 for me. Ive seen pictures and the body and interior are very nice. He says the car runs fine but needs some tuning done if it were to be driven everyday. Im not sure what he means by that. So, Id appreciate any pointers you may have. Thanks!
Mike Breen
Look for rust in the rear wheelwells where the upper locating arms bolt to the body. Also, look for a disk brake rear as you'll probibly end up looking for one anyway. Rust in the hatch drain areas where the drains have clogged up. Check the frames up front to see if they've been tagged in an accident. Damage well forward of the suspension mounting points is not that big of a deal, but a lot of the 7's I've come across have been tagged up front.
What motor is in it? 12a or 13b? Tranny? Auto tranny models have a different floorpan/crossmember than manuals, plus the driveshaft is a different length.
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Scott
It's not what you build... it's how you build it
http://home.swbell.net/srhea66/AllTh...sRealSmall.jpg
PFM Racing
Is this for the Street or for converting to an ITS/A car?
My number one thing to look for is rust. You want to know is the foundation of the car strong. You can always replace an engine, but chasing down rust will drive you crazy. Here's what to look for:
- South west cars are always better.
- If it was ever Ziebarted or had similar dealer installed rust proofing that probably did more harm then good. Rustprrofing tends to casue rust in the doors, in the footwells, fenders, quarter panels, etc.
- Does it have a sunroof? If so, the little drain tubes from the sunroof channel were made of cheap rubber and usually rotted, sending all the water to the area of the unibody just in front of the rear wheel wells. This is the most notorious place for structural rust to start. This is bad because its also where the upper trailing arms mounting points are located.
In other words, bring some tools with you especially a cordless phillips power screwdriver, a jack and stands and some metric sockets and a bit of WD-40. Tell the guy you'll put it back the way it was....then remove anything you need to get access to the areas mentioned above including:
- the front and rear plastic wheel well liners. Tell the guy his house appears to be on fire, then poke the sheet metal with a screw driver. If you hit carpet....
- the storage bins behind the seats (unless you happen to be looking at a rare GSR model with the rear seat). Remove one of the carpeted bin liners with the door. Look inside with a flashlight. A little surface rust here is almost unavoidable, but most 1st gen's in salt country will have signicant corrosion here. If this one doesn't call me and I'll buy it! Again poking with a screwdriver here may be necessary. its amazing how it can look intact, but yet be rusted through.
If you get past these tests, you may be looking at a solid foundation of a car. For $700, I wouldn't expect much in the way of the drive train. Mileage may be your best indicator.
Don't ignore the exhaust system as most of these cars are still holding on to the original exhaust. If so, its shot.
Hope some of the above helps. The first RX-7 I bought was sound mechanically but the body was showing a lot of surface rust...that should have been my indicator to keep looking. I was converting it into an ITA car so I thought I could work around the rust. WRONG move.
So when it came time to get another car (after a nice t-boning on turn one of Mid-Ohio) I looked solely for the most rust free car I could find...I didin't car about the mechanicals because I knew I'd replace it all anyway. I found a southern california car that had 200K miles but was almost totally rust free. I almost now wish I had fixed up as my daily driver!
Thanks for the tips! The car will be used just as an autox car for now, and Ill slowly make it an ITA/Spec7 car as money allows. Its a 12a 5 speed. Its located in Glasgow, KY, 30 miles from my home in Bowling Green, KY. Any of you live near here? Anyway, Ill post again after I look at it. He's cut the price down to $400, so I have to at least look! The pics he sent look fantastic! It has new tires, new plugs, wires, etc. ill keep you posted.
Mike
YOU CAN ALSO UE A MAGNET TO LOOK FOR BONDO, BUT THAT MIGHT BE USED TO YOUR ADVANTAGE IN THE FORM OF DISPLACED WEIGHT, AS LONG AS IT ISN'T TOO THICK. YOU SHOULD VENTURE OUT WEST (CA.), THEY ARE ALL OVER THE JUNKYARDS, AND WON'T PASS SMOG, SO THEY ARE AQUIRED FOR LESS THAN $300.00 AT TIMES.
AUTOCROSSING IS A GREAT PLACE TO START, BUT ONCE YOU GET THE FEEL OF ROADRACING, YOU WON'T WANT TO GO BACK
COREY
sdfg
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Scott
It's not what you build... it's how you build it
http://home.swbell.net/srhea66/AllTh...sRealSmall.jpg
http://home.swbell.net/srhea66/rx7sigpic.jpg PFM Racing
[This message has been edited by Speed Raycer (edited April 02, 2002).]
Bondo? In a first generation RX-7? Say it ain't so!
I have one more question. The guy with the car says it runs and can be driven but needs some tuning to drive all the time. Does this sound bad? How reliable/expensive is it to get these motors running right?
Mike
BigMo,
There is no easy answer on that one. The good news is there are less moving parts to go bad. Properly cared for, they can go well past 200K on the ODO. Unfortunately most owners don't know about the oil metering pump so the seals go bad (of course we've all heard the stories of the RX-7 owner that didn't check the oil until it ran out one day).
Are you in an area that requires passing emmission tests? If so, thats where most older RX-7's struggle. As someone posted elsewhere on this board, the junkyards in california are full of rust free FirstGens that can't pass emmissions tests. So if you don't need to license it and you plan to trailer it to AutoX events, you could get lucky. Maybe the fine tuning is just electrical (bad wires), fuel (clogged filter) or vacuum (Uggh!). All the emissions control crap can cause problems as well.
For the price being asked, don't expect much.