Buying a 1981 Rx7 SA, what can I expect?
 

I've been looking at a 1981 Rx7 SA since a while, Car has 270.000 KM and engine 110.000 KM on it. The car's fuel pump is broken and needs to be replaced. The owner says the engine ran really well before it was put into a garage, it's been sitting for 6 years now. I'm buying the car for 1300 EUR

I know the 12A devours fuel but i've recently browsed some threads where people say they get 15-23L/100KM.
I'm still a student and plan on using the car to just drive around sometimes, not a daily driver but still, 15-23L/100KM seems insane. Is this something I should expect from mine too?

I'm supposedly gonna go get it in 5 days. Is there anything else I should know about/might regret?
I absolutely love the car to death and know quite a bit about it, I just want to be sure.

Thanks in advance!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c31c2d8c6f.png
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...57d1222b3f.jpg

That fuel consumption is way off for a stock 12A. 23L/100KM == 10 mpg. Stock mpg is 17 city/24 highway. Expect to dump few grand into it to make fit and reliable. Can a student afford this? Your call on that.

Thanks, that's kind of a relief, I can afford it and will be dumping all of my money into it, my father even proposed to pay for alot of it since he likes the car alot since the day we went to take a look at it.

Thanks for your reply!

11-13 l / 100km sounds more reasonable for a factory 12a but it depends entirely on how you drive it. Swapping in a new fuel pump is a simple job. The car looks well maintained exterior wise and I would look to make sure the engine is also sorted out in a similar way. I'm not sure how the price is in comparison to the market but if the car is rare in your area that would determine the price. Parts availability is something I would consider too, especially in your area.

In the condition that it's in, I would consider keeping it stock without any additional modification. Keep up with maintenance and you'll do fine. BTW that bumper is amazing. It will continue to haunt me until I found one.

Good luck!

It has very little rust and it indeed looks amazing! I've already ordered a new fuel pump a few days ago along with fuel, oil filter, water pump,.. ect, the car is quite rare in my area, most driving ones are around 8500 EUR, found one for 3500 EUR a while ago, this one was for 1500 but I managed to knock down the price to 1300!
I haven't had trouble finding parts for it either so it seems that I'm in luck so far! Thanks for the reply!

Looks like a pretty well kept 7! As far as regrets, I would say if the wheel wells or control arm mounts are rusted then its something you may regret as its quite a bit of work to repair that rust. Many SA's and FB's have met their demise because of those rusted areas. Let us know when you bring the car home and get some more pictures of the car!!

Love the blue! The wheels are very unique!

With my series 3 12A, I got around 13-15L/100km in stock form. This is an Australian delivered model, which had AC, the big brakes and bigger wheels like the GSLSE, and thus is a bit heavier than an average 1981 model. Once I upgraded the exhaust, modified the carburettor and put in a 4.44 final drive, I got that figure down to 10-13L/100km. If your area has it, buy regular unleaded, lowest octane possible. I found zero improvement running premium fuels. Just a waste of money.

Following up on my post above, I have some original motoring road tests of the RX-7 done by Wheels Magazine (Australia) and compared to its competitors, namely the Alfa GTV, Mitsubishi Starion, Toyota Supra and Nissan 300ZX, the fuel economy wasn't actually that bad. In fact, the RX-7 tested best of the lot in real world driving, testing 24mpg or 9.8L/100km - when new, that is. See: Mazda RX-7 SA22C / 1st Generation (1978 - 1985) - Page 8 - AusRotary

Now, I'm not suggesting you'll get 9.8L/100km average these days, but my point is that for the time it wasn't really that bad compared to sports cars and V8s of that era.

Thanks man, really helping me out!

Bonjour Voisin, Hi Neighbour!

First of all, please be aware I am not a soccer enthusiast and I do not share the euphoria after your defeat :)

I have an FB from 1982, engine has an exhaust from Racing Beat but has the stock carburetor.
When I drive my small test road climbing in the Ardeche mountains, I do close to 20l/100km.

This week end, I drove to Le Mans, which is 650km from where I live.
On the motorway, driving between 120-130km/h, I averaged between 9 and 10l/100km. Which was surprisingly good.
The secret is not to open the secondary in the carburetors (which happens stock around 4000rpm).
So boring=low fuel consumption, fun = double consumption.

Engine is quite reliable, once freed from thermal reactor, runs very well.
Be aware on those old cars, you have to expect all silent blocs, bushing and steering parts to be worn out, and it takes a bit of money and really time intensive intervention to get to a good condition, but then the car is transformed.

If you speak French, you can join the rx7france forum and on facebook look for 'rotativement vôtre'.

By the way, I love the color, if you have no other surprise than the fuel pump, it is a good buy!

Haha Merci!

I'm getting the car tomorrow, can't wait and I've got alot more money left I want to spend on it anyways so that sounds like it's perfectly doable!
I'm no longer worried about fuel consumption now after reading all the comments.

Btw, France better win the worldcup now!

ArneA, save your $$$. Get it running 1st. If it has been sitting for years all because of a fuel pump, that screams blown apex seal!! Please let me be wrong.

If it is as rust free as you say, you'll be getting a fun, practical car, that is easy to work on. You can fit a 9 foot surf board in it (with the passenger seat down).