New member! No car yet but...

[ThePinkMonkey]

Hi, Name's Ryan.

I don't have an RX-7 yet but I'm looking at one. This guy a quarter of a mile from my house has 3 1st gen rx-7s. I've seen them sitting there for at least a decade. He seems to really love the rotarys (he also had a rx-8 for a while). So on Saturday I decided to ask him if any of them were for sale.

He said the 1983, which sat for the last 6 years, he would consider selling. I don't remember the model type (srsly how many types are there for the 1st gen rx-7s????) I'm very new to the rotary scene but not new to mazdas (miata man here got a 94 had it for 3 years with almost 29k on the clock now and I love it! Been driving it a lot more lately)

After this I'm going to look at the section "what you need to look for before buying a 1st gen" and see what I can find out.

Now, I'll be frank and say this, if the rotary starts and runs fine after I check for carbon lock, I'll stick with the rotary for as long as I can. After that, (puts flamesuit on) I may stick a LSx engine in there for improved reliability and power.

So, what should I be aware of for 1983 years specifically? I'm going to look for frame rust and any significant body rust (so far the outside looks pretty darn good save for a small fender bender with the left front corner. I've tried to find info on what rear end it may possibly have (it has a 5 speed, dont remember model type what GS, gxl whatever I'm learning) vlsd or open diff?

[codge]

Hi Ryan. Watch out for rust, rust, rust. Particularly in the back wheel arches and rear sills.

Check the guides on here, they'll show you better.

Codge

[Festa662]

Hi and welcome im new round here too lol the best advice anyone can give applies to pretty much every car if the car was concourse it wouldnt be for sale lol if its got history of parts and labour and lots of it its been loved and if its stood for a long time unused its probs been laid up for somthing serious of a lot of small jobs that never got done so its got to be the right price lol buy with you head not your heart all cars of this age will need a lot of love and all rubber parts will be perished and worn and if the car needs major resto work make sure u have funds storage and the ability to do it or youll walk past it every day with a heavy heart plus its a garentee ull see one much better an cheaper within the weeks after you purchase i knew all of this and went with my heart and still bought a wreck for to much money lol!!!! All the best in your search
Fez

[ian65]

Hi Ryan,
welcome to the forum
As Dave says, buy a car with the best bodyshell you can find, rust kills these cars off, mechanical bits just bolt on and off.
The 1983 car you're looking at might be pretty solid if it's spent its life in the southern states but could be very rusty if its lived in the salt belt of the northern states.....
these cars hide their rust very well and by the time the outer panels look rusty, usually the underside and chassis will be shot.
Check out the guide in the buyers section, that'll show you where to check.
Rotary engine are fragile compared to piston engines but they are entertaining to use in a car like a 1st gen rx7....... they are also very compact and light and fitting replacement piston engines can alter the centre of gravity of the car and upset the handling but I suppose it depends on the replacement engine. A popular swap in the UK used to be a Ford V6 which was a right heavy thing having a cast iron block.... it was the complete opposite of a rotary engine.... plenty of torque but not at all free revving, but they were cheap, plentiful and fit in the RX7 quite easily.
There are loads of tasty engines out there these days, rotary and piston.

cheers,
Ian