what would you pay for ...
 

ok got a local car im looking at a early 79
good,
body minimal surface rust
60,109miles
2 small dents
interior perfect minus the shifter trim and that it is plaid...

the bad,
clear coat is thin on roof,
motor is bad coolant seal or worse a bad housing...
the outside drivers mirorr is broken off.
door trim is coming off easy fix.

the car isnt bad looking and would be really nice with the good motor i just have lying around in the garage...
also its still owned by the original owner.

what do you guys think this thing could be worth?
the guy still has the original iowa plates under the new ones lol.:icon_tup:

Is it 60k original miles or has it been rolled? Any way to prove original? 4 or 5 Speed? What exactly is wrong with the motor? If you could get some pictures it would help out better

its blowing coolant through the motor, i have never seen one of these in as good condition with 160K.
the motor needs either replaced or rebuilt.
i have yet to get a camera over there to take pics because it is on the other side of timbuktoo...
i looked at what tranny it had but i forgot by the time i got home.

It's possible to seal the coolant seals without rebuilding the motor. I'll look for the thread of who did it when I get home from work

that would be fanominal if i could pick that car up and not have to pull the motor lol.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=coolant+seal
There ya go. If the body is in good enough shape that you like, talk the guy down to maybe $500 to $750 cause the motor needs "rebuilt". Give Kentetsu's method a shot. You may just have an awesome running SA with low miles for cheap

I'll take the plaid interior off your hands- that's sweet.

The "patch-it-up" method for the coolant seals may *work* but it will gunk up the engine and god knows what that stuff does to the inside of the combustion chamber (for what little gets in there before the leak is sealed).

While rebuilds are more expensive, they don't have to be extremely expensive if you're willing to undertake it yourself and are okay with a budget rebuild.

The "Rebuild Kit A" over at Atkins Rotary is $265. It doesn't come with apex seals, side seals or corner seals, but it does replace all the soft seals (like the water jacket o-rings that are causing your leak) and all the springs under the hard seals I just mentioned.

I'm going to be doing my first "budget rebuild" like that this week, so I'll let you guys know how it goes.

Basically though, if your rotor housings and irons are good, and your hard seals are in spec (which after only 60k they should still be) then you should be able to tear it apart, and if you're very careful, put it back together with new soft seals and springs and get plenty more mileage out of it before stuff goes out of spec. And that should be do-able for under $600 (if you include rental of things like the engine hoist/cherry picker and impact wrench, and the purchase of things like oil, coolant, etc...).

The big investment is time, and of course you have to be willing to dive into a project like this and depend on yourself to get it done and working. That's scary sometimes but when it turns out well, it's very rewarding.

Jon

As for what it's worth... definitely going to need pics

Jon

yeah, i do want to talk to the owner before i post pics cause i know a couple local guys would be all over it.
i am pretty good with these cars, i have all the equip to fix them. and a verry patient wife lol.

lol, as ugly as it is i would rather keep it as original as possible
thank you for the link slayer... i will have to keep that handy. :icon_tup:

It's no problem. That will be my guide if I decide to pick up another one. I'll get one with blown coolant seals for cheap, fix it and have my fun