Greetings:

Even as we speak my 1985 GSL-SE is being examined by my favourite mechanic.

For reasons I will not bore you with, the car has been stored for about 5 years. During that time, no maintenance of any kind was performed, and the engine was only run once (for about 2 minutes).

I am interested in your informed opinions as to whether its worth investing what I am sure will be a cost in the thousands to fix the car up. I have some sentimental attachment to the car, but do not want to blow a lot of money in fixing it up if I cannot recoup a significant amount in terms of possible resale.

Any and all opinions are very much welcomed. Thanks.

 

Any pics? What kind of shape is it in?

My SE sat for about 6 years and from what I can tell was never started. I have just over $2000 into it and will need to pit another $1000 into it before it'll be a great car to drive. What I have left to do is mostly brakes and steering.

Once all that is done I will end up putting another $3000 into it for paint, seals, emblems, repair seat, etc.

All said and done my car will end up costing me over $6000 to completely restore it.
My thread: https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-293/my-light-beige-gsl-se-restomod-build-924632/
if you want more detail on my build, look at my blog in my signature.

 

Thanks for your reply.

I have no pics right now.

The good news: the car was repainted 5 years ago, so the paint is in good shape.

The bad news: (1) During storage, the rear quarter panel got badly dented with paint gone and some rust. (2) Something was placed on top of the hood and it is "dimpled" in the middle.

I assume these both can be repaired but I suspect the total bill for these two injuries would be between 500 and 1000.

I will look at your blog when I get the chance. Thanks again.

 

SE's are on the 'most wanted' list for people who every owned a 1st Gen.

For that reason alone, I'd say it's worth putting $$$ into the car to keep it on the road, and if you don't want to do it - find someone in a local Mazda club who will take the car on as a project.

You never know - you might get into it and find out how much you really like driving it; you can't put a price on that, and hey - the car's paid for already, right? There's nothing like driving around without a car payment.

 

keep it!

 

Thanks everyone. For now, at least, I am putting 2 - 3 K to get the car fixed up and I plan to keep it.

Again, I appreciate all your posts.