Hello! Several weeks ago my 91 CRX was totalled and I was given a very crummy settlement by the insurance company. I've been looking around and found a 79 RX-7 with a 12a engine. The car is in great condition with only 98,000 miles. Its had quite a bit of work in the past year including a replaced Idler Arm which in my quick research I've found can be an issue with these cars. My question is, am I getting in over my head with purchising a car like this, being a rather unique engine style? I've been doing quick research on this car in the little time I have to make a decision and I'm a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. I'm a recient college grad and don't have lots of money to spend on maintaining a car each month. So any information you could share with me would be great. Thanks for your time, Pat.

 

IF the car runs good then you should not have any worries about a lot of maintaince.

They are great cars to learn to mechanic on, as all the parts are easy to get to and you only need about 5 wrenches to take the car down to a shell.


How much are they asking and do you have any pics?

 

Yep, i used the hell out of my 10mm socket. Ive put in a lot for my car, but not for maintenence, ive only spent maybe $100 for maintenence, not including body parts, interior, wheels, turbo, etc.

 

Hey, thanks for the responses. The guy is asking $1000 for the car. Here's the URL where he posted the car http://denver.craigslist.org/car/88467124.html (No scavanging my find please)

I'm going to look at it and drive it tomarrow morning. The car looks like its in great shape from the pictures so I'm very excited to see it in person.

I'm very interested in working on my own car so hearing from you guys that this is a good car to work on yourself gets me pretty excited.

I'm stilling doing research as I write this (if my boss catches me I'm screwed) so I still have quite a few questions. One of the first is that I've read the alternaters are a little wussy, I've got a 1200 Watt Amp and sub I'm planning to install (the onlything salvagable from my CRX) and want to know if I'm going to have to upgrade any of the electrical system before I install this beast of a power drain (I used to make my friends laugh by having them watch my headlights dim in time with the bass in my little honda).

 

See top thread in this section. (Silverrotor alt) I would reccomend doing that swap before turning up the volume with the amp/sub combo.
Stock alt. is around 50A, which is fine for running stock stuff, with only mild stereo equipment. It would suffice with the amp, at moderate volume levels, though it would likely dim the lights. This is really true if the ground cable is even slightly corroded, which it usually is unless is has been recently replaced.
At idle, with a factory ground lead and alt, I can dim my lights with the turn signals................ and the volt meter keeps time with the signals. Needless to say, a new ground is in the near future for my car, and possibly a stronger alt.
Otherwise, these are relatively simple cars, requiring just the basic maintenence of any 20-25 year old car, and check the oil with every fuel up. They are designed to use about 1 qt of oil every 1000 miles or so, depending on driving habits.
That car looks to be worth the asking price, and if you don't buy it, I bet someone from that area will snap it up pretty quick.

 

Hey take a #2 phillips and remove the storage bins behind the seats for rust. Has the front end been re-painted?

 

yea, if it has bad bin rust there is little hope for it.
that should be the #1 thing you do is check for the rust.

 

look and poke around under the rear wheel wells for rust. the series 1 didn't have storage bins.

call the owner and make sure the engine will be cold when you check it out. you want to see what it does when it warms up. it should smoke just a bit (oil smoke) for a minute or so.

 

Looks nice, Even has the 79 wheels.

Front end has been put on and painted a few years ago. Or the light is really strange.


The Alt is 55amps.

What kind of amp is your 1200, and is that 1200 RMS per Chanel or 1200 Peak for the amp. Or is it 1200 ILS?

 

yeah the front is clearly a slightly different shade. but for $1000 and that low mileage, it looks like a pretty good find assuming no rust.

 

I'd get it if I were you. That seems like a pretty good price

 

Here's the info on my amp

Sony 1200W Bridgeable 2-Channel MOSFET Amplifier with Variable Low-Pass Crossover

Model: XM-2200GTX

1200W peak, 500W RMS x 1 @ 4 ohms, bridged
MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) power supply and output devices for clean, steady power
Variable low-pass crossover (50-300Hz, 12dB/octave) for use in subwoofer applications

Its attatched to the back of my sub box that contains a Sony 12" Single-Voice-Coil 4-Ohm Subwoofer with P5 Turbo Cone Model: XSL122P5


So I'm pretty sure that if I end up buying this car I'm going to need to replace the altinator.

Is there anyone in the Denver/Boulder area that would be willing to help me with the project of replacing the altinator and hooking up the amp? I'm more than willing to pay a case of beer or any other party favor you may indulge in.

I'm fairly mechanicaly inclined, but when it comes to my car the I NEED in order to get around I'm a little scared that I'm going to do something wrong and screw myself.

 

I love the old school sony XM and Moble ES stuff.

but that new one is more like 150 watts of real power, The alt should be able to keep up with a good battery.

the 2nd gen 86, 87 alts are a direct bolt in to the 81+ cars and are 70 or 75 Amps. on a 79 car you will have to remove the external voltage regulator and jumpter some wires, there is a how to in the archive.

One thing you should do to the car is replace the DiZZy with the later model electronic one. Unless you like cars with points.

 

79s dont have bins.. sorry

 

looks nice... please dont gay it up with subs and amps and stupid honda crap like that.. this is a classic sports car.. not a boom box..

 

i typed out a really big post which consisted mostly of me defending my opinion on how much enjoyment really cool car stereo systems brought to me, but then i decided to erase it.

nothing wrong with a quality stereo install to help enjoy the car of your dreams be it an rx7

 

you can pack some SERIOUS speakers into the back of an rx-7

i ran with a pair of 12s for like a week

 

Uhh, why would putting a decient stereo in your car have anything to do with "honda crap" ? You can find amps and subs in every make and model car out there. Its about audio quality. Why would you want to listen to music when it sounds like its comming out of a tin can? For those of us that drive a lot and care about music having a dicent car stereo is actually something to consider.

 

Personally, I feel there is nothing wrong with adding a decent stereo, as long as it is done in a quality manner. Having a half-assed and/or botched up install is really just asking for problems.
While the 79's didn't have the storage bins, they still have lost space used by the later model's bins. This can be an area to mount an amp, and keep it out of view. Of course, that would limit air flow around the amp, possibly leading to overheating it.
Another area to look for rust, is the area just below the tail lights, including under the car. The 79-80 tail lights have been known to leak, causing rust to occur.

 

honda crap that i am refering to is the crap out of his crx.. most hondas arent fast so they have stereo systems.. i personally love the way my exhaust sounds so i dont put stereos in my sports cars... in fact i rip them out of all of my rx-7s .. besides most people with stereos and subs have crappy running cars because they cant hear the problems before they get really bad.. and i also personally dont like to hear other people's music while i am driving or trying to sleep.. its okay to listen to music yourself but when you have it so loud that you cant hear anything around you and its vibrating your eyeballs... that is just annoying..

but then again i also have a thing about driving cars that should be collectors cars as your daily driver.. my rx-7s are not daily drivers.. thats what i have an intrepid for.. the rx-7 is for weekends with nice weather.. so flame me all you want.. i am just trying to save the 79 .. its getting more rare each day.. especially with teenagers buying them thinking they have a drifter or drag racer on their hands..

end of rant.

 

... and you think stock port 12as are fast?

 

If y'all really cared about music, you wouldn't be pumpin the yingyang twins and linkin park out of it.

 

Would you approve of me pumping Bach? What about George Gershwin?

Music is a personal thing and flaming someone because they listen to a certain group shows just how ignorant you are. It's art and everyone is entitled to there own taste. I don't like death metal, but I don't go around telling people who do like it that they are stupid. It's music don't diss other peoples taste.


In response to the comment about pulling the crap from my CRX. It wasn't crap. It was a $1200 stereo in a car that I had waited years to buy, and it was fast. A DOHC V-Tech, AEM short ram air intake and custom exhaust in a car with a roughly 1900 pound curb weight is no slouch

 

Oh yeah, as for the car. I went and test drove it this morning and was less than impressed. It sounded, shifted, and drove a lot like my grandparents 89 saab. It turned out to have an oil leak and some other issues I'm not ready to deal with, so alas I will not be buying it although I am looking for a 2nd or 3rd gen if I can find one.

 

Just an FYI. The first gen was a great value sports car. It is relatively spartan in options/extras, and dollar for dollar outperformed anything on the market at the time. And in fact dollar for dollar still outperforms anything out there currently. It is a 20+ year old car and you can't change that. It is ten years older than your gramps Saab. I have a 1980 that I bought brand new in 80, it still drives awesome. It is relatively quick and is a bundle of fun. I also like the fact that among all of the Honda's and Eclipse's on the road, my car is truly unique.
As for your idea of a second or third gen. Good luck with that. Both generations of those cars have real reliability issues. The second gen has electrical gremlins that can drive you insane. And the third gen with engines that have a 50K mile shelf life don't work for me. Each to it's own.

Evil Motors, my car can be used as a daily driver. It isn't simply because I have four RX-7s and I rotate them. But, our cars are never going to be a "collectible", so why not enjoy them? BTW, I have a nice stereo in my car, and I enjoy the music. I need the power to overcome the RB exhaust system. I am almost 50 years old and have been driving these cars for 25 years. Not a teen, and I don't blast the music to the point the neighbors can hear. These cars are going to the salvage yard every day. If someone wants to jack it up, put in a lift kit and a V8, who cares? I have seen these cars sell for $10 a piece at police auctions. Do you really think there is something sacred about them?