Ex miata guy who has always wanted a rotary. I'm going to look at an 83 rx-7 today. It appears to be very clean in the pictures I have, interior is perfect, engine bay is clean and no sign of rust that I could see. I know the general things to look for when buying an old used car but is there anything specific I should keep an eye out for on this car? It's got 108,000 miles.

 

General things should be all really.

Check Compression if possible: 100-120 is a good Engine. 80-99 is even OKAY...but will go soon.

...so early...sorry for my lack of response, just tired. O_O

 

It would be nice if the seller would let you see the car started when cold. If it's completely warm when you get there I'd be suspicious. If it is warm make sure the idle is spot on below 1k RPM. Check for smoke at start up, idle, acceleration, and deceleration. Other than that you can't expect much more out of a 20+ year old car unless you're paying top dollar for it.

 

I'm still thinking of more stuff.

I would:

Check the distributor and cap to make sure there isn't excess wear/corrosion.

Make sure to run NGK plugs. If it comes with them that's a +.

Do a coil test on the leading and trailing coils.

Fuel Filter.

Carb Float Level is adjusted correctly.

Idle should be 750 OEM. Unless it's been modified.


And...POST PICS!!!

 

Thanks for the early morning response.

Compression check probably won't be possible but I am planning on building an engine to put in it later so I'm not that worried about it. Everything looks clean, no dents, paint is faded but looks great and the interior is perfect. Just hope that's an indication that the engine was maintained as well.

 

Yeah rearviewmirror made a good point.

"It would be nice if the seller would let you see the car started when cold. If it's completely warm when you get there I'd be suspicious."

See how long it takes to start cold. LOL

 

Ahhh i see. Well what are you going to use it for? SCCA type racing? AutoX? Drag?

 

I'm going to check everything that I can and if I end up buying it I will be sure to post the all important pics.

 

It's going to just be for street right now but I may end up doing some auto-x later on. I did a few with my miata and loved it. I've been researching porting and think I may go that route. I just need to sell my bike in the spring to pay for it. My wife hates the bike and this was a compromise.

 

Ha.. we all know rotaries can be a bit temperamental in the cold then act perfectly normal when warm. Well that was my 12 experiences anyways, my 13B's have always been OK.

 

Oh really?

To my 12A: COLD = ME screaming for it to start. hahaha

Even after a carb rebuild it still loves to make me hate it. But as soon as i hear that BRAAAP!!! She has me again. hahaha. =P

 

Check for rear wheel well rust, also take the bins out and look.

 

Ok, just got back from checking it out. There is not a spot of rust anywhere on the car. There is a big dent on the pax door(the side I had no picture of), the hood latch is stubborn, the hatch area panels are not in great shape but the spare was there and no rust under it, it is leaking some oil below the filter and there is some smoke at idle when cold but not when you accelerate or after it had warmed up. It started pretty good cold, little gas and it fired right up. It has an aftermarket exhaust, not sure what brand but it has dual tips and was fairly loud. The engine ran nice and smooth once it was warmed up but at stoplights there was a faint smell of burning oil. Never saw any smoke though.

My knowledge of shady uninformed used car dealers was fully confirmed. He did not know it had a rotary and told me there was no way he could take less than $1850 for it. It was listed for $2000. Told me stories about people in Miami and California calling about it and how it was a special car that needed to be loved and cared for like a woman. Got him down to $1700 before he told me someone was coming in today to buy it for $1600 so he couldn't offer it to me for $1600. It was obviously a bluff so I'm going back this weekend to try and get it for $1500 or hopefully even less.

 

You should be able to get it for less than 1500, i say 1200.

 

$1200 was my first offer. The prices I mentioned were out the door prices that include taxes, tags, title and any other things they may want to tack on there.

 

Stand your ground, there are plenty of good 1st gens floating around.

 

No rust then jump on it. Anything else can be fixed. Dump POR 15 all over it too.. (rust obsessed)...

 

Nobody in CA wants that car when they can buy my excellent 85GSL with clean leather seats, new brakes, LSD, 83k, etc., for about the same price. That guy was lying.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=excellent

Still available.

 

The car was still there today so the mystery buyer apparently didn't show up. If it's still there on Saturday I will most likely make the purchase.