I have wanted a rx7 for a while and love the 1 gen body style, but am rotoray ignorant. After much reading about them and seeing the forum support, I have decided maybe to tackle a project car that I havle always wanted.

I have the opportunity to buy a car now for less than 1000.00 and was wondering if I could get any advice upfront.....

Here is the specifics

1984 gsl-se 215,000 miles w/red with grey interior, sunroof, PW, PS(kinda)

The known issues

A/C was fluished, new dryer and refilled with r12, but has stopped blowing cold agian

Power steering pump assembly was replaced and broke again

Leaking back glass seal (no rust in back)

Oil leak in engine (was told was front rotor 0 ring seal)

Running synthetic oil (I read that may not be a good thing

Body is sound with some small dents .... interior is worn and need replaced

Took out 3 cat conv and added aftermarked muffler.


The good

The guy selling it has alot of records
Stock rims look mint
NEW KYB shocks
New brakes with front and rear rotor/pads and inner and outer bearings
New Lower ball joints and outer tie rod
New fuel pump
New alternator
Wiper motor and linkage
ignition key
02 sensor
guages
Power steering pulley (see above it broke again)
radiator flush and new hoses
fuel guage sending unit
fuel strainer
spark plugs/wires-rotor-distrib cap and belts
gasket and flush read diff


the car seems to run good... alittle idle drop , but starts right up with no smoke.

whaddya think? Advice? Good deal or wait? Are interior pieces availble to replace (plastics and such. or is painting and salvage the only options)

 

Depending on what type of car you really want and the fact that you are not that rotary or RX-7 savvy my advice is always to spend a little more and get a little nicer car.

 

Thanks for an honest answer.... I have not seen many restored rx-7's around here... let alone the 84 gsl-se models which is what I want. Does the 0-ring leak mean a rebuild, or should it be fine for a while?

 

it would be fine for a while, but annoying, having to keep non synthetic motor oil in it wold be the biggest pain.. but if you do get it, ill take that grey interior off your hands

 

where in al are you? im sure you can find one of us here close enough to help you out. the front seal can be kinda tricky to replace due to the torrington bearing in the front cover, theres a thread about it floating around somewhere. if your mechaniclly inclined then you should be fine(just be perpared for a learning experience). overall it shoulds like a good deal go for it.

 

I'm in Mobile....... so the seal should be ok until I can get enough nerve to tackle it then?.... any idea why the PS crank would snap on it.....

Also would you keep running the synthetic or switch to another type of oil now that it has been in there for a while?

I read the FAQ and got some ideas on what to go over first, but if anyone has some ideas on what to watch out for or replace lemme know.

 

Hope for the best but expect the worst. When I bought my SE almost 3 years ago w/ over 200K miles, my expectations was for the engine to at least last for one more year. Outside of rebuilding the tranny or rearend, I knew anything else would be within my realm of fixing. Three years later she is still running strong if not better. I did have to replace clutch and slave cylinders, fuel pump, fan clutch, oil cooler hoses and mounts, throttle position sensor, o-rings on oil filter pedestal, oil sending unit, o-rings in oil metering pump, ignitor, exhaust system and the brake cylinder over those three years. I have also procured an extra engine and tranny for backup measures.

 

Are there any rx7 owners here around Mobile? It would definately be nice to have some locals I could call on for help if needed.

The car comes with the shop manual and electric schematics. Appears to be pretty much rust free, and the sunroof crank and power windows work... those are things that I know to look for.

 

yeah it should be ok for a while, just keep your eye on the oil level. you realy should check it every time you fill up with gas.

synthetic should be ok. look in the faq cause there was a tread about which ones to use,something about how clean it burned in the chamber.

basically give the whole car a top to bottom inspection.

good luck and happy driving