Rare 1st gen parts
 

Whats up? I'm a 3rd gen owner and our car have several rare stock pieces that everyone wants, e.i. driver door map pocket lid. I'm just curious, which pieces, if any, are you guys really hungry for? What's rare?

I can only speak for myself, but the piece I would love to find most would be a leather steering wheel from an LS 1st gen in good condition, nice uncut radio surrounds are also high on my list, SA air boxes that are mint are also hard to come by. Also good S1 and S2 dash pads have gotten hard to find and when you do they seem to be priced very high. Also Rotary Engineering Weber 36 DCD carb setups are highly sought after.

These are just the first few things that come to mind.

SA shift knobs in pristine condition. 1980 chromed plastic end caps for the arm rests. Kick panels for the 80 SA with speaker holes.

I have learnt that this is region specific.

From an external perspective, it seems like the big ticket items for US owners are:

- Targa band
- RX7 logo/red lens centre garnish (that sits between the taillight lens)
- OEM car bra

For me, it's basically all the OEM parts shown in this catalogue: AusRotary.com ? View topic - 1st gen RX-7 OEM accessories brochure

That's the truly rare stuff! I think the factory Mazda rear parking sensor is the pick of the bunch.

I have the factory RX7 logo moulded mad flaps in 2 different styles. They are quite rare both in Australia and Japan. They were never available in the US.

I was very close to buying a pair of the roof visors shown as item 18 in the catalogue. They went for around JPY20,000 on Yahoo Auctions in Japan, which would have been around A$400 after buying agent commission, shipping etc.

My thread also includes some of the US factory options. The padded armrest is killer! I think I remember someone on here found one.

I think the Racing Beat front strut tower brace/firewall braces are really rare item.

Dual carb set-ups are rare.

Good 5 letter rear ends with all hardware (especially e brake) are becoming hard to find.

In the states, wide body and GTO/GTU body kits are hard to find.

Hmmmm...... Well, it turns out I may have access to some of the parts y'all are mentioning. Silver arm rest caps, un-cracked dash, good condition radio/ac bezel, leather steering wheel in great shape... I'll have to talk to a friend of mine but I'm certain he has a few of these... Maybe do a part out...

Doc, please post back here on any further information on this part out. Subscribed.

I have one of these strut braces. Just put it on the car a couple days ago. i got it for an extremely good deal from a guy who just really needed the cash. I really want to paint it the same blue as the Airbox.

If I could have a rare part, it would be the plaid seats available in the SA model cars, or a set of rear seats!

also subbing to hear about part out!

Not a good picture but:

http://i64.tinypic.com/2whh2lf.jpg

Front grease cups for the SA brake rotors.

Oops on the kick panels... I destroyed mine when I removed them. I have a very nice shift knob though. Ditto on wishing for those plastic chrome end caps.

As far as what rare/unobtainium parts I lust for, the old Racing Beat triangulated strut bar would be my number 1 (but they are priced out of my league).

SA taillights, bumpers, bumper caps, front fenders... basically all the SA stuff is getting harder to find in decent condition.

You need to look beyond the US for SA stuff. There is quite a bit around in Australia, New Zealand to a lesser extent Japan. A NZer on Facebook right now is struggling to give away the bumper caps. I've seen at least five NOS sets of SA taillight lens in the past year. A friend just got some from Japan this week.

This is one of those regional things I hinted at above.

Another example is series 3 interior parts. Anything in the grey chequered velour interior in Australia goes for a fortune. Complete average interior is worth $2K easily. Good trims or seats would be $800 a pair. But that same grade interior in the US was on the S & GS models and seems pretty common for you guys.

I have one of these strut braces for sale. :P

Being honest- I personally don't need these things (except those chrome armrest caps). My car is actually well intact. It's a shame shipping, especially large items like seats, is so expensive (or tedious) to go from here to there.

I think I saw the bumper caps you're talking about on facebook- but he's looking to get $100 if I remember right, and I paid $40 for a complete bumper here in the US (caps, good lenses and all). The parts we need here are hard to find but cheap when they are found.

Targa band for me

I bought the car
 

So , I bought the car from my friend. 1980 SA. I got the car plus a truck bed full of parts (from someone else).. I think I have enough parts to put together a 12a block. Front,mid, rear, plate, a front cover, oil pan, E-shaft, 4 rotors... The car runs. 39k original miles. Exterior body has some cancer. There is rust on the edges of the fender-wells, one of which would have to be cut out to be fixed. Interior is in fantastic shape and is a reddish/brown color. carpet, dash, radio bezel, armrest (with chrome caps), black leather steering wheel, are all very nice. Need to take some pictures but the weather is trash right now.

Prior owner is "more of a chevy guy" and wanted to get rid of it since it "smoked real bad" when he first drove it after it sat all winter. Car starts like a champ. I drove it from Minneapolis to Crookston, MN, a 5 hour trip, and it didn't lose a single drop of coolant. Shut it off hot and it starts up easier than cold. Coolant was topped off before the drive and monitored. fluid level in the reservoir sat at 1/4in below the full line the entire trip.

What I DID notice when inspecting the car was a small 1/2 diameter pipe to the inside of the muffler. Though the exhaust was clean and smelled normal coming from the muffler, there was a small amount of white smoke coming from this 1/2 diameter pipe. Exhaust is 100% stock. But I don't know a whole lot about this model rx7 with out doing some research. I imagine it is part of the emissions system and has something to do with the thermal reactor. Ya'll feel free to fill in.

The part out: my dad thinks the car is hot shit and may want to buy it from me. So, I need to talk to him about that more. If he does not, I am ATLEAST parting out the interior.
I am selling all the extra engine components I mentioned, plus a few more I haven't mentioned.

Edit: Also, the headlights don't work. They raise and lower but no light. It'd be odd for both bulbs to be blown. are they any "usual/typical" reasons I should consider before troubleshooting it?

For the headlights check out the Fusible links which are just an older version of a fuse.

odd, but ive seen it. um second choice might be the switch, and or check the voltage at the actual headlight. i think there is a separate fusable link for just the headlights, so that could do it too

Doc you have a PM.

Oh, and I'm still lusting after a prime-condition console-surround outer shell, in black... The big piece which surrounds the entire center stack & shifter, not the trim plates.

Mine has had a sizeable "melted" blemish since I bought the car, but I've never found one available that was in better shape.

you're not kidding about that! its kind of my job so i've looked into it, and come up empty.

they must live in some odd place, because getting ones for your trailer aren't a problem

So what do you want for your RB strut tower brace. Just curious?

Pictures
 

Here's a picture album of the car and interior.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B1...lh1eExZREc0dG8

I'm interested in selling the whole car, but If I don't sell it by December I'm driving it to Tucson, AZ (from Crookston, MN) and my dad is buying it.