Alright, i went and drove that '85 GS i was looking at this morning. It has no power and doesn't want to rev above 5k rpms, the front suspension is soft, the steering is sloppy, the oil cooler leaks, and there is a little rust (nothing major though). It has never been wrecked. The owner thinks the problem with the engine not making power is the cats (which are original on the car) are clogged. I'm thinking that if its just clogged cats, it should at least be making some low end power right? Its dead from idle up to 5k where it stops gaining revs. I'm worried that its a problem with the seals.

What do you guys think? The owner wants $1200 for it, but I know thats way overpriced. What do you think its worth, if its worth buying? I plan to set it up for autocrossing.

 

Tell him to fix it, then you'll give him $1200. If he doesn't like that, he knows something you don't about the car. If it's just the cats, he could fix 'em and sell the car for $1200 and still be getting the equivilent of about $1000 after the price of the cats.

 

Clogged cats are a definate possible cause for it's unwillingness to rev as are ignition and carb problems but I don't think it's anything internal. Does it start and idle well?

 

Offer $700

 

I woulden't give him $500 for it if it hase any storage bin rust. Make sure you look at that

 

I've got a nice 82 in West Palm Beach that I would sell for $1500

’82 RX-7 GS, 13B Swap, Weber 45DCOE, Racing Beat Header & Dual Presilencers, Stock Muffler, Centerforuce II Clutch, Alumn. Flywheel, Racing Beat Front & Rear Sway Bars, New Radiator.
35k miles on Hayes Rebuilt. I am the 2nd owner.

Would make a great AutoCrosser

I will offer as much technical support as I can to the new owner to make ownership of this vehicle a positive and rewarding experience

Defects:

O-rings worn, smokes (blue) until warm or if sits for extended periods. Still drivable and not embarrassing
Fan Clutch shot, squeaks above 3000rpm ($140 new, ? Junkyard)
3 small door dings, easily fixed by DentWizard etc…

I can email a pic if you like

 

If I had the dough, I'd give ya $1000 for it...

 

unixpilot, i'm definately interested in your car. E-mail me at mdooner@mindspring.com with some pictures if you have them. I'll drop you a PM in case you don't see this.

 

I can give you a pic of what that car is gonna look like after you buy it along with all the receips for repairs.
But if serious offer whatever these guys said up top

 

With low RPM power loss, and especially higher rpm power loss over 5K, i'd start with a clogged fuel filter, a weak/bad fuel pump, and possibly a gunked up carb that needs a rebuild.

Clogged cats will produce lower overall power, but I suspect fuel system over the cats (unless the owner knows he put in a bad cat and used the good one off the car for another Rx7... etc).

Pricewise, I'd pay $850 for that car as is. You'll pay about $100 for a carb rebuild (maybe best to send it to Paul Yaw for a good rebuild for max power, it'll cost a bit more) and you'll need all new bushings for your suspension for autox. The oil cooler leak is repairable at a good radiator shop, but again, another $100 or so for that.

The only way you'll know if the apex seals are shot is by doing a rotary engine compression test at a dealer or rotary shop.

If you're going to autox it, you'll want to replace the cats with a straight pipe or high flow cat and possibly a header to be competitive in CSP class. In a stock class, you should be able to just replace the cat with a high flow model.

Poor spark could be a low power culprit, too. If the plugs are really old, just changing those out might make a huge difference.

Anyhow, hope that helps.

Dave