I have an opportunity to buy 1980 RX7 from the original owner it may be a LS (leather seats in it) but not sure if a Limited Edition also existed as the owner says its a Limited Edition. Asking ~2000 and claims no rust and new engine with low miles. Needs new clutch and brake seals (what's that?) and passenger seat has rip on it. Can you guys help me decide if the price is worth it?

I really would love to have a classic rx7 but don't want to get taken for my cash and pay too much. Thanks!

 

need pics

 

Hades is right ~ without pics we can't really offer good advice.

 

The 79 model offered a Limited (NOT Limited Edition) - only came in Black metallic.

1980 special models: there was the LS - so obviously it needs to have Leather (Leather Sport) -Other was Anniversary XX- will have the "XX" badge on the B-pillars.
$2K "could" be a steal, depending on condition. As my compadre's say pix will tell us everything. knowing mileage would help too!!!!

Details, man-


Stu Aull
80SG
Alaska

 

The "brake seals" would either be at the master clyinder or wheel cylinders. A leak or seep in the hydraulic system. In 80 you could get the base " S" model, or the "GS". Stu is correct the two special models that year, or what the owner might be calling "Limited Edition" were the (LS) Leather Sport or the (10AE) 10th Anniversary cars. They were both produced in fewer numbers. The LS's came with the leather seats steering wheels and gold colored wafflels (rims). They also only came in white, black or gold exterior color choices. The 10thAE was a red exterior only. Not sure about the interior. BTW, this was meant to mark the 10th anniversary of the Rotary Engine, not the RX-7 itself.
To me, 2K for a running 30year old LS or 10AE in decent shape is good deal, like two free scoops of Ice Cream on your pie.

 

I'll take pictures as soon as I can see it in person. It has the waffle gold colored rims. 95K+ on the body but some engine seal was leaking so the owner bought a new engine instead of overhaul (the two choices he had). I'm slightly confused about what it means to buy a new engine for these. Is it simply a reman, or rebuilt from another? If the body is immaculate and only minor interior issues I'm inclined to pick it up but I'm hoping you guys can keep me from being emotional and making an objective decision.

 

You should if it's lacking rust, my 1985 GSL has a tiny bit of rust near the battery thing but it's pretty much spotless elsewhere, all the body is intact and the original paint still looks show room quality after a good hand wash. I paid 2,500 in cash, greatest choice in along time for me.

The engines was a 92k 12a original w/leaking OMP, after a few cans of seafoam and running premix till I fix the omp, the engines been purring happy. Literally all the wires are brittle and nasty discolor like they need to be cleaned, oddly the cars never given a sign it'll die.

We have a 1979 and it's engine bay is same condition, it ran till the fuel pump died. Now that one turned the odo over once or twice so it has 200-300k miles on original engine.

Just make sure by a month or two expect to dump a grand or two, doubt the engine would pop but brakes, fuel, carb, cooling, etc need to be replaced I bought mine w/new gas tank, fuel lines, brakes are in okay condition but the pads are gone.

Really depends on if you like the car or not, I fell in love just at the pictures.

 

The "brake seals" are probably the boots on the caliper pistons or the crush washers. They can leak over time and are a cheap and easy fix. Or you could buy new calipers, pads, rotors, and a good bleeding for a few hundred bucks and enjoy the benefit of brand new brakes. The vac booster could have a bad seal in it as well. Maybe the brakes are just fine and it just needs a known good or new vac booster or master cylinder?

 

Hey Shuva! With leather seats, steering wheel and shift **** and the gold waffles it's likely a LS "leather sport" model of which only a couple of thousand were made. With no rust and a low mileage engine $2K is sounding like a decent price. What color is it - gold, black or white?

Looking forward to hearing more and possibly seeing pics.

 

Shuva, if the information is correct, 2500 LS's were made. 1000 ea, Aurora White and Brillant Black. That left only 500 Solar Gold cars produced. That being said, today, I think you will find way more Gold survivors than the White or Black cars. Mike, do you know what interior color came in the Black ones? Don't believe I have ever saw one.

 

the interior for all LS's were identical. brown leather with brown everything else, lol.

and to the Shuva, we need pics like yesterday man!

 

Do I detect a bit of LS envy? LOL.

 

not envy but anticipation to see another LS on the road. every noe and again i see one around but its been butchered

 

Still trying to see if I can take a look today! Otherwise tomorrow with $ in hand to pick it up. The color is Brilliant Black-- was there ever a pinstripe on these? Also, if the engine goes on me, (this may be controversial) I may want a sleeper setup with a 2JZ. I'm not so aware of how well you can build the Mazda engines so I may change my mind as I learn more. I have a couple of Supras so that's as far as my knowledge goes --for now.

EDIT: Brilliant Black

 

Swapping a good-condition LS to anything other than a rotary would not only be sacrilege, it would gut any value the car has, to anyone other than yourself. Just knock a zero off the worth of it.

Falls under the heading of "butchery."

 

very much a sacrilege if you go out side of the rotary. there were oem pin striping sets that were applied by mazda dealers. my 80 LS has oem pin striping:

 

Ok, this is not the LS that I've been talking about but I just picked up this 79 original 90K miles mint. Simply beautiful. Only 1 or 2 minor chip scratch on the body. Interior pretty close to original. It's been sitting garaged so I have to make arrangements to either tow or get her started. It's been sitting for 6 years I'm thinking either tow it then change motor oil, fuel and start her up or put fuel stabilizer and turn her on. Advice?

 

Oh and tomorrow I go check out the 80 LS Brilliant Black

 

Yo Shuva! Are you teasing us? First the prospect of a Black LS, and then you say you picked up this sweet silver survivor? Buy 'em both man and post a thousand pics for us all to salivate over.

 

i agree with Mike, we need pics. there are few things in this world that are sweeter than original SA's!!

 

[QUOTEe]It's been sitting for 6 years I'm thinking either tow it then change motor oil, fuel and start her up or put fuel stabilizer and turn her on. Advice?[QUOTE]

Shuva-
change fuel FILTER too - $3 part, located in FRONT of rear driver-side wheel. Will be clogged!

Also pour a few ounces of motor oil down both carb barrels (front, back - its a 4bbl carby), disconnect coils, and spin the motor a few times before putting ignition to it, to get some proper lube into combustion chambers and apex seals, etc. Will smoke like a bastid on start but this will clear.

Stabilizer will be too late to save bad gas - and since 79's don't have a DRAIN, its a bee-otch getting the old crap gas out. I'd siphon out as much as you can and dilute the remainder with new gas. Unless correctly stored, good chance carb/fuel system crudded up and may need a carb rebuild, so don't despair if engine runs poorly or not at all.

Coolant must be changed, flushed ASAP too - sitting that long bad for engine coolant passages unless prev owner had foresight to do fresh change before storage (yeah, right....)

Now -
1) roll the damn car out in the sunlight and give us some full-body **** shots
2) tell us where the OTHER LS RX7 is so someone can buy it - unless your about to buy TWO??

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

OK, now that you have eveyones ears at full perk, induldge us. Thats one nice looking car. You got a bonus with the Kami on the front. I'm interested in seeing this LS too.

 

Here are the LS pics. You can see the only major flaw on this LS-- the driver's seat. I need to the replace the clutch. How difficult is it on these RX7's? I'll be doing my homework on these soon but just looking for a heads-up.

 

man that LS is gorgeous!!!!! i want those tires! i really hope you plan to preserve this car and not modify it in any way..whats the mileage on it? what state do you live in?

 

I'm in Minnesota-- as for the mileage the body has 95K but the engine is a reman from the dealership with less than 3000 miles on it, 3 yrs old about 1K each yr in avg. I need to get some detail work done to fix some chips on the LS. It's very clean but not as mint as the silver one. If I had to rate it I'd give, 9.8 to the Silver to be show room quality. -0.1 for the slight chip from driving and another -0.1 for the engine bay- could be dirt-free. The LS would get a 9.1 -0.2 for chips -0.2 for slight scratches (may or may not buff out) -0.2 for dings (small slight dings 1 or 2 about dime size) and -0.3 for fading paint in right front panel where the original paint from the dealership was redone in 1980 right after purchase but of poor quality compared to the original paint job.

Both of these should be solid and I don't plan on modifying these until you see the supra on the right is done. That's my project right now. If ever the engine was to go on the RX7 then I may consider a sleeper setup.