Yesterday I finally agreed on a price with the guy selling the 1979 SA in my area. Build date of September 1979, 57k miles, running and driving, great shape interior and exterior, minor blemishes. Mostly stock but upgraded radio/speakers, 5 speed trans, vinyl seats (i believe 79's only had cloth?) and fb distributor. 9/78 build date with right side prop, one side mirror. I love rx7's, always wanted an SA.. but never planned on buying one this nice. There isn't a spec of rust on it. I pick the car up tonight finally! I like modding my cars, but i'm afraid to devalue the car. In your opinions, what mods seriously devalue the car and what mods don't? The ac system is fully intact and in the car, but i dont like ac and it makes the car harder to work on, I'd like to remove it. I'd like to put on an rb exhaust, but keep the thermal reactor exhaust in my basement. I'd like to tint the windows so the sun doesn't crack my dashboard/fade my interior as easily. I also hate seeing wires taped up out of the way if non being used (sub zero tank, hot start assist, etc) so usually when i remove everything I rewire the car... Am I screwing up what an SA is by doing this?

On once side, it's my car and I want it to be how I want it.

On the other, it's a semi rare piece of history and I don't want to muck it up or kill the value.

What's the rx7club opinion on a 9/78 SA VIN: 520018?

 

The vinyl seats were standard. Have to see pics to tell you for sure. Pics now dammit!

The only mods I would do is the ones no one can see, don't change the exterior or interior. Keep
the waffles. Adding mods to make it faster, stop better, and handle better are all fair game and
shouldn't devalue much. OTOH keeping all the stock plumbing working and looking good in the
engine will help value.

If you are buying this thing thinking it will skyrocket in price in a few years, forget about it. The
only SAs that will climb in price are very, very low VINs and special editions, all others will
float at the under 10k range for years I bet.

 

these are the same deep thoughts I have with my 1980 10ae car. what he said, PICS!!!!!

 

YMMV, but I'd never buy a car that someone else had done a "wiring delete" on. Too many threads on here about PO's who bolluxed a car doing wiring deletes, rat's nest removals, etc.

If you are concerned about the value of the car, do not modify it.
If you want to make the car uniquely yours, go for it, but expect it will remain uniquely yours forever.

And if you decide to remove the AC, get in touch - - I've been wanting to reinstall mine and could use some parts. Provided you have the right variant; there are two.

 

Some early cars had the plaid cloth seat inserts and later 79's introduced velour inserts, but the majority of SA's did come with red dot seats which are vinyl. Keeping it stock is a personal choice, there isn't really a right or wrong answer. It probablly makes more sence to keep it stock if its already completely unmolested. Is this going to be a pleasure (fun only) vehicle or more like daily transportation?

You say this car already has an electronic ingition upgrade? This type of mod would not devalue the car, unless it was inaptly done, affecting the running of the car. Same with things like the exhaust and other bolt on modifications. Eight out of ten cars probablly had the stock radios replaced by now. "Rewiring" parts of the car is where I'd be careful. To me, if I was looking at buying a car, those kinds of things could make it hard to diagnose future problems or find parts.

I'd suggest just driving it the way it is for awhile, and slowly make changes one at a time, to the things you feel are most important. If you garage the car, I wouldn't worry too much about the sun cracking the dash. Thats mostly happens when a car is left out in a baking kind of sun like southern Calif or the SW desert with extreme tempeture changes from day to night.

 

I picked the car up Friday, I LOVE this car. This is my 6th rx7 and my 1st SA and I absolutely love it! For some reason photbucket isn't working or I'd post lots of pics. Sadly, this car has plus wheels and no waffles It is stock other than: wheels, kenwood radio (they cut the stock radio surround), 6x9 speakers where the bins would go on an fb car, 5 speed transmission, cut shifter surround (if memory is correct, the 5 speed trans is longer than 4 speed? proper swap is to swap tail housing from 4 speed to 5 speed? it's been awhile...) and the rest appears to be stock.

Issues: alternator may not be charging, turn signals don't work but fuses are good, hazards don't work but fuse is good, speakers cut out left to right, smokes a bit on startup and it is super cold blooded.

I want to: buy rb exhaust immediately, rebuild the carb even more immediately, sub zero start delete, hot start delete, rats nest delete, ac removal (but not sell any of it in case i want it back) Fix/clean up wiring (find issues with hazards/signals). I'm going to keep all of the parts. The vin is 520018, unsure of model but no sun roof.

 

https://i.imgur.com/Mr2ySPp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aMosffm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/HME6I7P.jpg https://i.imgur.com/okQvQTQ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/VDp6Pah.jpg never used imgur, hope this works.

 

Fixed for ya.

 

Please tell me how you did that.

 

Hit the quote button on your original message, replaced url with img everywhere,
and submit.

In the future just click the Insert Image link when in the editor (its yellow and
has mini mountains and a sun in it) to add images. Win!

 

So, its a nice looking example. Heres things I'm noticing and you have probably mentioned:

1. Respray recently, watch out for bondo or rust issues.
2. Non-stock side molding.
3. Missing rear rotary emblem. New emblems otherwise I think.
4. non-GS steering wheel so I bet it had steelies instead of the plus wheels now on there.
Note no armrest in center console. Definitely base model.
5. The shifter boot is not right but it could be an original 5 speed or a swapped unit. The 4
and 5 speeds are the same size for SAs.
6. Original muffler looks like.

Love to see more of the underside and under the hood. Looks like a great project car.

 

I looked over the body and under it as good as i could when i purchased it. There is NO wheel well rust, no bondo sounds when tapping on body anywhere, not rust underneath at all, the wheel lips felt solid under them/no patches. I have an under the hood shot but cant upload it right now but it seems stock to me other than the fb distributor. The muffler is junk, i'm in the market for an RB streetport exhaust. There is a sticker in the door for a respray back in 1999, the PO owned this car for 4 years and put 4k miles on it. is that steering wheel a stock steering wheel? I have the rear emblem, i want to repaint it before i put it on the car. Did other SA cars have armrests?! THIS IS GREAT NEWS!

 

agreed with Mr Farrell.

its been repainted, looks nice, but we're far away (the internet adds like 100 feet to pictures, so a 10 foot car becomes a 110foot car)

it was an S model, so it had that 2 spoke steering wheel, 4 speed transmission, steel wheels and the short center console, among a few other things. it also would not have had side moldings either, and in any case the ones it has are incorrect, and in the wrong place.

the interior looks great though, and barring any hidden damage/rust, looks like a great car. i'd leave all the "rats nest" and emissions on the thing, they do not hurt performance at all, you need to work to take them off, and it does hurt resale value.

 

I agree, most probablly born an S model. Not that thats a bad thing. The lack of a center console and 2 spoke steering wheel are clues as are the X wheels probablly replacing the steelies as Tim mentions. S's didn't come standard with exterior body moldings either, which could explain the aftermarket molding. 4 speeds were the only transmission available in the base model but the 5 speed would directly interchange and has been a popular upgrade. Does it have intermittent wipers? That was a GS only option which typically wasn't applied later by subsequent owners. Same with the rear anti roll bar, standard on the GS only in 79.

It is an early car though, with the rarer style door pannels and an un-cracked speaker dash!

 

i believe it has intermittent wipers, but the intermittent part doesn't work. I can push the wiper stalk up three times but i get nothing, slow, and fast. I don't plan on re-selling the car really. I have a problem with "less is more" so I will be deleting the non necessary things from the car like the rats nest. Usually it all gets filed into the round bin, but this time I'm just going to keep everything so it could be put back on.

That dash is in the best shape I've ever seen on an early SA. I told my girlfriend that I have one rule in the car "do not touch or even look at the dash wrong" She understands.

 

Pretty lil lady...
"Wiper stalk?" Wiper switch in the SA is a **** on the end of the turn signal lever (left stalk). Leastwise, is on mine.
The stalk on the right is the headlight switch.
Could be just my eyes & the picture angle, but the shift lever looks to have been shortened.
Clean looking interior, and so nice to see a pristine dash top.

 

the wiper switch twists upward 3 clicks, but the first click doesn't do anything.

 

Nice find, someday I'll own an SA!

Until then, here's a piece of SA Unobtanium for those of you who are looking:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/381445939030?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

So I saw this S model in a junkyard and it had the same moldings. Dealer installed option perhaps?

 

Nice ride. Congrats on the purchase!!!

 

No idea, but they suck... riveted on.

Thanks!!

I didn't realize that these moldings were riveted on!! Dang it! I bid on a really nice gs center console with arm rest on ebay and I think i remember that the miata cup holders fit right in the sa console if you take out the ash tray, right? New door pull cups, new hatch shocks, and a carburetor kit on order. This weekend i hope to get the carb done and new hoses under the hood, inspect the exhaust situation, and get the turnsignals/hazards/cig lighter/rear defrost working.

 

Riveted? That sucks.

Yeah, get a 1st gen miata cup holder and it can replace the ashtray in an SA. I use
it all the time.

MossMiata.com - Parts & Accessories for Your Mazda Miata

 

Gotcha... yes, that's the 'Delay' position.

In a '79, that function is controlled by the "Intermittent Relay" & served by connector D-03, which locates it up under the dash near the center. 6-pin connector.

 

So it's possible that i have an s model, but someone swapped the wiper/turn/headlamp switch with a non s model and didn't put in the intermittent relay? I had the 83 and 85 rx7 wiring damn near memorized, but the sa is just different enough. I haven't studied it yet. I hope to get my turnsignals and hazards working this weekend.

 

Yes, they do suck and they were riveted onto the one in the junkyard, and yes, the Miata cup holder will fit in directly. Not sure how practical it will be though as it may be in the swing path of an elbow, but I don't know. Haven't gotten mine rebuilt to the point to try that out yet....