1983 Overheated
 

Hey there,

I am new to the forums and to the world of Rx7's. I have been looking into getting a project car for quite a while now (I'm 17) and I've just been waiting for the right opportunity. The other day I stumbled upon an '83 Rx7 that had been sitting for a few years. I asked about it and it turns out I might be able to get it for free. I do, however have a question for you guys.

The radiator was pulled out, and the story from the father of the owner of the car was that the owner was driving it one night while the gauges weren't working and the car overheated. Supposedly the engine isn't locked up (Can that even happen with a rotary engine?), and if that's true what kind of complications could have occurred from this overheat?

Just wondering if this project is even worthwhile to take on. If the engine is seized from what I have seen these engines seem relatively simple to take apart. Would it be simple enough for me to rebuild it myself, and not too expensive?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, hopefully soon I'll be the owner of an '83 Rx7!

Edit:

I am, by the way, relatively new to the world of mechanics. I have taken some classes but this will be my real first experience doing a lot of these things so a lot of detail is definitely helpful. Thanks again!

Yes a rotary can lock up. If they sit too long they will carbon lock. When they do that ppl pour ATF down the carb and spin the motor by hand and frees it up. Usually lol. These cars are EXTREMELY tempermental to overheating it really depends on how long it was overheating to know how much damage was done. You are def looking at a rebuilt.

If you get new soft seals (kits about 200-400$) and new hard seals i think total in seals ur lookin at around 7-800$ If u get a rebuild video or 2 and read the helpful tips and tricks on this forum ur probably well off to doing a rebuild.

In a nut shell if your going to get the car for free buy it and take the engine apart o just to be amazed at how cool rotaries are.

Just my .02$

IMO, I think you have to assume the engine is toast. Overheated to me means unusable....that doesn't mean that there is no way on God's Green Earth it usable, just means "I" would assume it's unusable.
More important, it's free!
What does the body look like?
What year, model? Any aftermarket/ salvageable parts?
Maybe find a new (to you) engine and drop it in....or part it out and use the proceeds to buy a running rx7?
Anyway....that's what I would do.:nod:

I do think that I could do the rebuild, I just don't know that I have the money at the moment unfortunately.. $800 is quite a bit of cash to me haha. While I would love to just take it and play around with it, my parents don't want a useless car in their font yard!

I believe it is an '83 Rx7 and I am pretty certain it's a base model without the LSD.. I don't know if it has any aftermarket parts because I haven't had a thorough look at it yet. I do know the tranny is in good shape, tires are like new, clutch was replaced within 5k miles. The interior was in rough condition, seats were torn and dash cracked, door panels were probably pretty salvageable. Cluster was good too. On the exterior the pain't wasn't great, I don't think it was oxidizing or anything but just not great. It has had a bunch of leaves and crap on it for a long time now. Body looked straight though. Sunroof.

Knowing that much, what do you guys figure I could get for parting a car like that out. And would it be worth it to me? If it's worth some money then I could afford to be playing around with the engine and hopefully have enough cash to buy an Rx7 in a little better condition. :D

My son and I bought an '82 for $950. Got it running and driving with only about 2 hours work, fair body, great interior. Needed tires. Needed some brake work (we "might" be out of the woods there for just the cost of one caliper repair kit ($4). A free car can easily become a $1,500 car by the time it's a driver, and it's still ugly. Far better to scrounge up that $1500 up front and buy a driver than to make one. IMHO. If you know you want the vintage RX7, take the freebie as a future parts car if you've got a spot to put it. Save some coin and keep looking for a driver.
If there's someway to see if the engine is still good that would sure help.

Its definately worth picking up for the price of FREE, and it sounds like you'd have plenty of usable parts to sell. Yes the engine is presumably toast.. but like darkdrake said just tear into it to get familiar with it, and see its greatness. I'm willing to bet you could even sell those junk irons, as people like myself would be interested in practicing their porting skills, before grinding their new ones to oblivion! Now GO GET IT, and welcome to the club!

Thanks for the advice! And I don't know if I particularly want the Rx7 yet. It is just something that I have come across and has definitely caught my interest. I like the idea of the rotary engine and I like the car. I've heard there is a bit of a rivalry but I am also looking at the 280zx's from the same time. So we'll see how everything goes I suppose.

Thanks for the warm welcome! And I am figuring I probably will.. I want to talk to the actual owner and see what he thinks, and I'm going to take a closer look at it myself. If nothing else hopefully I can get the cash to buy one in slightly better condition, and lucky me, I have two interviews for jobs this week so hopefully I'kk be having more of a steady income too :D

280s are cool, don't forget to look for one of these, also cheap and wow, what a car, IMHO.
Fiat/Bertone X1/9, can be had cheap and they are good cars (really liking our RX7 too though!)
I'd be looking daily through your Craigslist for any of several cars I "liked" and be ready to jump on one with cash in hand. You can score nice cars this way. IHMO
http://image.automobilemag.com/f/695..._X1_9+side.jpg

My best friend just scored an X19 for almost nothing, the lucky bastard :P

I got an 81 X 1/9 18 months ago off craigslist for $800, got it running again, coaxed it back and put 15,000 miles on it do date (right through Michigan winter) Love that car.

An overheat may not mean automatic destruction of a rotary,but they are tempermental the rotor housings can warp with overheating but at the price of free99 take it home drop in a new radiator and fresh oil the oil system is half of the cooling on a rotary after all clean up the spark plugs I poured a little cheap 2 stroke oil down through the carb on my free 7 and she fired right over might be worth a shot if not I need a parts car maybe i can take it off the guy

That's what I am hoping for, I believe there is a radiator for it, it just isn't in yet. I'll have to get back to you guys on that one.

But when (if) I get this car, what ALL do you guys suggest I do to this car in preparation to try and get it running. What kind of fluids should I buy and what should I put into the carb. The car has been sitting for quite a while so I suppose carbon locking could be an issue too (though I don't know what that is). Thanks again for all of your help guys!

Edit:

I found the article on carbon locked engines so I read all up on that. But any other tips you all can give me about attempting to get this engine to run would be extremely helpful still.

there is a couple threads listed on the FAQ page here https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/1st-gen-rx-7-faq-page-237777/ the articles and writeups there are fantastic and should be able to help you there is a bringing it back to life thread https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...postid=2385473 wich should prove most useful good luck