I signed up on here a little while ago and have been lurking since then picking up information. I just picked up my first gen rx-7 yesterday and figure it's time to start posting. It's a 1985 base model with 260,000 km's on the clock. The guy who had it before me cleaned it up really well and put a lot of basic matinenace work into it. As far as I know the engine has never been rebuilt and nothing MAJOR has ever been replaced. The paint is looking a little washed out but the body seems to be in great condition, I picked it up for 1400 CDN. Just wanted to say hi, and here is a picture:

 

Looks good. But was the door replaced? and is that rust in the rear wheel well

 

The door was replaced by the previous owner for the power windows. He still has the original doors if I want them.

There is some very minor rust on the wheel well and right above the windshield. I'm hoping to give the car a professional paint job this winter as the paint is pretty dull and marked up a bit in some places.

 

By the way, there is seat covers on there right now as the original seats are pretty badly beat up. Can anyone suggest any good cheap aftermarket seats that I could use, or would I be better off searching for another set of original seats?

 

HELLO! Where can I find those wheels?

 

If I were you, I would just go buy seats from an older Mazda, My first gen has seats from a Turbo II and I like the feel of them much more than the stockers but they still have some comfort to them. From what I know most older Mazda seats are basically interchangable, but the most common swaps are from newer RX-7s or Miatas. I paid about 200 cdn. for my TII seats, and I think that a swap for some newer Mazda seats is the best idea.

 

Some Poorboy's SSR2.5 followed by SSR1 will clean the paint up nice... Lotta scrubbing by hand though. Assuming your doors are the same color but just not oxidized, that will clear up the matching problem too.

If you wanna attack the rust, POR-15's the answer. Grind down the rust, apply POR-15 with the given instructions, and then touch-up paint. You'll have to remove the window trim to get at the rust, because it started and is moving from beneath the trim.

Congrats on your car and welcome to the forum!

 

If I was repainting the entire car, would I still need Por-15? What's the difference between Por-15 and regular primer? Thanks

And worldpax, the wheels were put on by the previous owner, I don't think they cost him much, i'll try and find out where he got them.

 

Awsome car! Every time i see the RX-7 shape it makes my day!

When i drive mine it makes me feel like if i was rich, like i was driving a Porche.
It's exotic, beautiful!

How bout you? What got you into them?

...and welcome to the club!


Myc1972

 

You got a great deal! Haven't seen inside but looks good so far. Don't worry about paint fade-they all have it. A replacement better door is a plus. Dude, you have a great car.

 

saw a set of those on ebay today.


nice car! same color as my 83'

 

You do know about the Edmonton RX-7 group right? They meet the first Tuesday of the month at Mazda in Sherwood Park, 7:30 p.m.

Good buy, I hope you enjoy your car. I do have quite a few parts if you need and I am in Edmonton.

 

Hey! You described my RX to a tee. Twins! You did get a deal. Mine has 133,000 and I paid 2. Happy revving!

 

Myc1972: I never really got into cars until a few years ago, and then I had really no mechanical expertise and nothing to work on. I did some research and heard rx-7's were supposed to be great project cars and great things to learn on. I looked into it and immediately fell in love with the styling, and the rotary concept. From there it was love I plan to spend the winter fixing mine up in every way and learning on it.

Snapshot and iyaseven: thanks! I'll post some interior shots when I get home from work.

7addict: I've heard of the edmonton club and i've been to the website a few times. I'll try and make it out to next months meeting if they have it so I can meet anyone. And thanks for the offer for parts. Right now i'm really only looking for some new seats, possibly some TII ones. Seat covers drive me nuts, yuck.

 

Great choice!!!

 

I've been quite happy with my stock 85 SE seats, the cloth ones. I've had the 84 stock leather too and didn't like them as much.

You might try a wrecker - the ones who take the stuff out for you. I think Diamond Wreckers (or something like that) is in Edmonton and they seem to be pretty decent. Check out the yellow pages under Auto Recyclers.

And I reiterrate my comments about polishing... You'd be amazed at the results you can achieve for $100 and a few nights of hard work.

 

I have a pair of black/gray cloth seats from an '85 GSL if you're interested. Let me know.

 

Any pictures? And any clue what it costs to ship an item like that, it seems like it could end up being really high.

 

Know why I bought my RX? I never in my life got to buy a car that I really wanted (my plan is to be one of those ladies who sits in her lawn chair by her really nice classic car at cruise-ins) I talked the hubby into this - he's an old muscle-car kind of guy- once he drove her he was hooked, of course if he'd quit shifting it like a 440 I'd be happier. Anyway, she's a bit of a project. An old friend is a Mazda rotary mechanic from the first, he's diagnosed a couple engine problems which get fixed next week. Then a new exhaust from the cat back. And for my old bones, new struts or shocks or whatever it has. My upholstery is in good shape, but the padding/springs leave alot to be desired. Best part - no rust! And guys at 4 way intersections let me go first..........

 

If the remaining paint is thick enough, a polishing compound will help. Otherwise you'd just rub all the color off and be left with primer. BE CAREFUL.

Also, if you've got rust around the wheel wells, you've probably got it in the storage bin area also. Pull out the bins behind the seats and look at the wheel housings. You could be in for more body work than you originally expected.

 

Couldn't agree more on both counts. I don't have to deal with the excessive sun damage like you get in some of the warmer climates so it would be almost unheard of the paint being so bad that it couldn't take a polish or two. But I don't doubt that it can happen.

SSR1 is very mild though. Start with that and you can see what happens. If you pick up a lot of color then there's no CC, so be very careful. But I'd say that if you take the paint away with SSR1 then there really was no paint there to start with.... Just doing SSR1 by hand should clear up the oxidation, and you can assess from the results whether you want to try attacking swirls, etc. after that.