Matt,
I did that exact inspection before the start of last season on my 1st gen. It isn't that bad of a job, except that you'll have to remove the water pump, which means a new waterpump gasket and a new front cover gasket. Don't make the same mistake I made, though, and be sure your crank bolt is torqued to spec.
That being said, the o-ring was NOT my problem, but was caused by too much backpressure in the oil cooler. I would recommend that you verify the pressure right at the oil pump output by either taking the cooler out of the system or by putting a T fitting in line, before the oil cooler, and checking the pressure drop across the cooler. If I had done that, it would have saved my engine (instead of me botching the repair/inspection!!!)
Dave Youngren
NER ITA RX7 #71
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