hello all, hoping to get a little advice or input on an 85 GS that I am looking at.

looking at picking up an 85 gs, silver with 222,000 miles. it has only had one owner and the guy seems to have taken really good care of it. the interior is in great spape for the age. tires are almost new with oem 13" wheels. car has a RB header, rest of exhaust is stock. most wear items have been replaced -i.e. brakes, tires, shocks, fluids, etc...

car has manual steering, and the ac is doesn't work. compressor is still there, just has no change or won't hold it.

all body panels are straight, no accidents or damage. no rust from what I can tell, whole undercarriage is virtually rust free.

car has the 12a motor with accel coils and wires. besides the header, the motor is stock. owner has a lot of reciepts and seems to have kept up on all maintenance. car will come with air pump(in a box) and oem exhaust for emissions. motor seemed to run fine. no smoke (car was warm when I arrived). started up quick.

the clutch was replaced with a centerforce piece...the feel and grab of the entire clutch assembly felt really good! the gear shift felt sloopy or looses-maybe typical of such an old car.

things I noticed-engine revved fine althouogh carb was not adjusted, sounded great (exhaust note). the tranny upshifted fine- there was a slight whine when in gear (sounded like the synchros).

didn't even turn on the radio as I don't really care about it.

I plan to use the car as a almost daily driver (3 out of 7 days a week). I have another car that is reliable. I will also be using this car as a HPDE car (with NASA).

what i'd really like to know is if there are things I should look for...This would be my first ever mazda and rotary engine.

problems I did see-oil leak possibly at the oil pan gasket.

also, radiator is new and fan clutch felt good and worked fine.

any input or advice would greatly appreciated.


thanks

 

First thing to look for would be the FAQ at the top of the page.

 

Hey, wlecome to the forum. Make sure there is no rust behind the storage bins and the wheel wellls-Check over everywhere again. Make sure the leak isn't a dowel pin leak. This would mean a rebuild in the future that may cost 2k. Check out the faq page at the top, the archives, and get used to the search button. Hope everything works out. God bless

 

ok, I found a buyers guide and now know what the dowel pin leaks are. thanks for the heads up. I will be sure to check the next time I look at the car.

although I didn't see any tips for buying in the FAQ, I did find a buyers guide when i searched for one.

thanks.

 

Ya, the search button is the most usefull tool in my opinion

 

Welcome to the forum and the Darkside. You picked a fun car for HPDE/NASA. Lots of reading and research will help you maintain and troubleshoot any issues you are having. If you can't find the answer, ask.

Newbs are required to post pics of thier new car, it's traditional. lol

Once you get the car, check everything over, top to bottom, check the maintinance records, new owners usually perfom the full 60k service to bring eveything up to date. Highly suggested before putting the car on the track.

In my sig line is a link to the online FSMs, wiring diagrams, carb manual and a few other bits of interesting reading. Enjoy.

 

I will most definately post a few pics if/when I do decide to pick it up. The owner has the FSM printed manuals with a ton of reciepts and will include them with the car.

I also think this car would be great for a HPDE event considering its light weight and fairly simple mechanics.

the car has 222,000 miles so I am a little hesitant, but it runs fine for what little I know about rotary engines.

emissions....another story.

all I need is another path to the darkside! I already own a heavily modified Jeep Wrangler and a mildly modified WRX. I think I'll need a second job with this car.

thanks for all the words, will post an update when I do make a decision on the car.

 

If the engien has been taken care ofproperly, then you won't have to worry about it. Rotary engines have lasted 300k to 380k original miles. So if tis running good,everything should be fine.

 

Really? I have heard countless 200k miles stories on 12As. Do you have any links to 300k miles 12As?

(mine has 180k miles all original btw)

 

No i don't have any links. I saw one on ebay like a month ago or something with 400k miles, but it recently had a rebuild. That means the original motor had 300k + miles on it. Mine only has 81k on it and already needs a rebuild. It sat for like ten years(started every so often), and now it has a dowel pin leak. I'm going to keep running on it tho untill it needs a rebuild. It still runs strong tho.

 

There is a thread asking how many miles members had, it's no more than a couple of months old.