Regarding the interior, I think of this as more of an opportunity to make something more in my taste. It also helps for bargaining

 

You can't tell using the magnet test since bondo is used for the wide body. So
you can't tell if the rust is there just waiting to bubble up or not. All the typical rust
spots for rx7 are basically covered by the widebody except for the bins. Did you
pull the rear bins and look for rust there yet?

Don't say you want to DD this thing as well

 

I paid $500 for my 85 GS with 87,000 on the odo. The thing ran like a top when i got it, and still does. i think most of our cars are overpriced because of sentimental value that people hold in them.

 

I would agree, mine would be priced ridiculously high if I sold it

 

Sounds and looks like a good deal but like iotus says it's hard to know if the dudes not telling you what all's wrong with it. Motor could be blown for all you know without starting it. Could be a big headache or you could trust the seller is truthful. I don't know about all this talk about buying cars for 800 or1k that's always been a bad experience for me. But some people are more lucky and smarter than me

 

I can only share my experience with you about my purchase in 2008. I paid around $3000. for my 1979. It was not winter driven and had a fresh professional paint job done by a friend of mine. A professional paint job is worth at least $1000. The rest of the car was in relatively good shape for its age with low KMs. It passed the safety check without any mechanical work so I was able to put it on the road and start driving it right away. As the car proved itself to be reliable, I slowly started to replace the little things it needed like door seals, oil cooler mounts etc. There were lots of loose trim pieces and other things that rattled. The nicest thing I did to it was to install keyless entry. It wasn’t too hard to install and not that much money. Most of the parts you might need for one of these cars are found easily and fairly reasonable. They are also fairly easy to work on for the average mechanically inclined person. I haven’t worked on an engine yet though. I was glad to be able to drive it right away and experience the zoom zoom. I also worked on it because I wanted to not because I had to. I have photos on my profile you can see. I have two now, beware they are addicting.
Good luck in your decision.

 

I'll confess my experience, as well. I have a 1985, 74,000ish miles on it. All original. And, I mean all original, except for the tires and both headlights have been replaced. The only modification to it is that I removed the cold-start assist system. I paid gasp $5k for it. I'll admit, I was willing to pay a little more because it is exactly like my first car. Oh, and it's the 12a, not the 13b. Maybe I paid too much, I dunno. But, it was the car I wanted and I'd been looking for that model, in that color, for a very long time.
Oh, and I'm an old guy, so my season of life is different than yours. :-)

 

Lol pricey much?
I am 14 and only paid about 600$ for my '85 she needed some work but I am deciding to rally her ( that's another story entirely.) Honestly you could find one in better shape and maybe even drivable home for less then $1500. Just remember, DO NOT GET A HONDA!!!

 

i would buy it but inspect for rust looks like with a paint job it would be a nice track or weekend warrior

 

Make a deal with him like.... Ill pay you such and such for it and its a done deal .... IF you get it running properly first...?

 

paid $3000 for mine and i cant get it runing yet no falt but mine hope too get it going soon