There's this 1980 RX that's been sitting outside the shop where I have my work done, all by it's lonesome. The owner had some work done on it, then just disappeared of the face of the earth, about 4 years ago. Never paid for the work or anything. So the owner of the shop wants to get rid of it, only looking to break even.


I've got enough cars already, so I convinced my friend (who plays a lot of Gran Turismo, but drives a Ford Explorer) to buy it, though it didn't take a lot of convincing. We're gonna work together on it as a project. I have to say though, it's an AWESOME car. The paint (red) will be absolutely flawless with a quick buff, it has a full RB header/exhaust, and a Holley carb with RB filter. It's almost rust free, has a geat interior with a fully functional cd player (in my current RX, the radio was stolen before I was even born) and leather trimmed seats. The best part is, it only cost him 900 bucks! It even had some sexy black mesh wheels (which I bought, so they'll be going on my car).



So, what do you guys think we should do with it? Turn it into a competition-killing beast? Restore it into a perfect example of an SA? It has a 4 speed tranny, so I was thinking of swapping in a 5 speed, but we don't have any plans oherwise.

 

if its in good condition keep it stock IMO. If not strip it and race it

 

Feed our imagination. Post some pics please.

 

4-Speed FTMFW!!!!! The 4-Speed SA's are rare, and since it is a 4-Speed, that means it's a 79 and not an 80. It's also an S base model. AFAIK the 79 S' were the only 7's to have the 4-Speed manual. Indeed post up some pictures!! Oh and going 80mph in 3rd gear is awesome!! LOL

 

Oh, really? I know little about SA's, just way too much about FBs. I guess it'll be a car to restore then. Though the carb and exhaust have to stay, I like classic status, not classic speed haha

But yeah, I'll get some pics up tomorrow maybe.

 

Yeah with carb and exhaust they are fun cars. I didn't know a whole lot about SA's either until I got mine. A resto-mod is always fun

 

+1 for pics always love to see another sa oh and register it with the site might be a early one

 

Picture time! As you can see, it's in need of a new mirror haha

 

Congratulations dude you scored. THAT is a sharp looking Rx-7 for 900 bucks. Rare 4-speed. As good of shape as it is in it would be a fairly easy restoration. Thanks for the pics. Enjoy.

 

I'll let the guy know that he's got the approval factor

As for the restoration, there is some rust blistering the paint in a few places. Is that hard to fix? Aside from the mirror being missing, there are some cracks in the dash and some of the bumper/side strips are coming loose. They're an easy repair though, double sided foam tape being the greatest invention ever.

By the way, does anybody know what this car would fetch on the market after it's tidied up? The guy is thinking he'll probably sell it within a year or so, as his dream car is a turbo MR2.

 

Damn that car is clean. Black interior ftw as well. I loved my FB's black interior. My SA has brown inerior but it's grown on me. Cleaned up and looking sharp(sharper than it is) I can see $3k or more out of it to be honest.

 

That car..... is wow. I would never sell it lol. It's clean

 

Well, you could be the next owner

But who knows, maybe the guy will fall in love with it like the rest of us fell in love with ours and be converted to the life of Rotary.

 

You know, now that I look at the pictures more, it does have an 80 rear bumper. What does the speedometer go to? Can you confirm this is in fact a 4-Speed car?

 

Lol, uh, yeah. It's a 4 speed, like I said.

Comically, the speedometer only goes to 85 mph.

 

Well I'll be dammed. I thought only the 79 S' had 4-Speeds. Turns out all the SA S' had 4-Speeds standard with I'm assuming the 5-Speed as an option and standard on GS models

 

to a clean SA