hey im looking to buy and 81 rx-7 as a winter beater. here is the for sale add

"The RX-7 is an 81, has 195K runs great, very little oil comsumption (1/2L per oil change), body is in great shape for the year and it's an absolute blast in the winter with the snows she now wears (also comes with dunlop sp 40's in bags with about 90% tread left). I never had any cold start issues. It is manual choke which is a bit of a pain but the fun factor definitely makes up for it. $800"

ive been in contact with the owner, other the the obvious missing peice of metal in the rear quarter, theirs just some surface rust, which doesnt bother me as its a winter beater and i would be repairing the rust and then painting the car before winter. the floor is solid still, clutch slave and master cylinders. unfortunitaly it has rear drums so yeah no lsd, i was kinda hoping to see calipers there. anyways the shoes and drumms need replacing, but other then those things the car is solid. im not a stranger to rx-7s. i have an 89" turbo 2, with a 91" 13b turbo. rebuilt 30,000km ago, also got a jap spec tranny at the time. ive since upgraded the turbo with a bigger greddy, secondary injectors, bov, fmic and piping, turbo back exhaust, and an electric fan.

now i dont really know much about 12a motors, i know they are basically a 13b but 1.1l and carb'd. so what should i be looking for when i go listen to this thing? what should i look for, anywhere on the car.

and here is the car in question

 

Well we can see the obvious rust so i would keep searching for more rust. Definatley check the rear fender wells from the inside take out the rear bins and side panels and look for rust.

Look under the battery tray and frame rails and im sure other wil chime in with more stuff to look out for. But if you don feel like waiting check out the 1st Gen FAQ's.

The car looks descent.

 

i got an 85 12a 4sale with 126K 4 $1200 or so but its in indiana. can you do a compression test? if so do it and just normal sounds i mean my 12a sound pretty similar for the most part to my 13b. that rust looks bad!! check under the back wheel well towards the front for holes! i dunno what else..oh leaks around the beehive cooler! thats all i can think of...then again im not into 12a's but if you are interested in mine pm me!

 

Personally, I wouldn't buy it just to be a winter beater. If you're going to buy an FB RX-7, buy it to appreciate it. But if you must, check for rust behind the storage bins and just listen to how it runs. Carb may need rebuilt but it maynot. Just make sure it drives right

 

oh it would be appreciated, id be restoring and painting the body. and i was also thinking i'd give it a full tune up and ****. i wouldnt do much to the motor, just headers, FPR, and fuel pump, probably a new carb too.

thanks for the tips on where else to check for rust.

 

FBs may be fun to drive in the snow, but as a winter car, they will rust out from underneath you. If you put an 85 and an 86, both 20+ years old now, side by side, you would swear the 85 was at least 10 years older due to the rust. That's how much of a difference there is between the 1st and 2nd gens when it comes to corrosion. I have both btw.

As stated before, look eveyshere for rust. The pic you showed is an unusual, but not uncommon spot for rust. It may be an indicator of much worse though.

Once you start driving an FB, you my find that you want to protect it from winter driving, they are a fun little car, much different from the FCs.

 

my car was only drivin one time during the winter in 23 years...my uncle took it out and he was comin to a stop,downshifted,,,and bam the rear end slid out behind him an he went throught an intersection sideways..that was the first and last time he ever drove it in the winter b4 selling it to me