Greetings all,

I'm currently in a process of trying to buy a 1st gen rx-7 and was wondering what i should be looking for when i go to look at the cars.

The two cars i'm looking at right now are:
1981 with an 83 none turbo engine. I have not seen this car yet, but from talking to the owner it never been winter driven and is in good mechanical and physical condition. and an 1984 with a rebuild engine(not sure if well done though), this one is closer to me, but the floors where rusted, and the guy who worked on it did a really crapy job at fixing it, some parts of the main frame that where rusted where not fixed at all. But thats something i can fix.

Would the benefits i get from the 84 be worth the work i would need to put into it?

So my question again, what should i be looking for to make my choice on which one to get, other then the body?

I have also read that in 1981 rx-7 had an 85mph speedometer, would it be easy to swap it?

I have tried searching the forum, but couldn't find the answers.

Thanks in advance.

 

your answers are here:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ht=when+buying

 

The 12A in the 81 should put out decent hp, if you like carbs and not having to fiddle with the early EFI on the 84's 13B, it'd be a better pick.

I really can't think of a good reason to take the '84.

IMO:

*Swapping a speedometer is way easier than repairing a frame.
*If you have your heart set on a 13B instead of a 12A for some reason (nothing wrong with that), I'd advise just waiting for another car or finding a good shell.
*If the frame is rusted out, there's going to be more trouble yet with the body and you'll probably end up rebuilding a lot of miscellaneous stuff, possibly repainting the car, maybe redoing various pieces of the suspension. It just doesn't add up in my head.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, not sure how i missed that thread before.

I plan to get this car as my daily summer driver so i plan to invest alot of time into getting it to top shape, and i have an amazing body guy who does all the jobs for me for free. But he's afraid of touching the rotary

Thanks for the information.

 

The 84 might have a carb'd engine too....he didnt specify which model it was. Just a heads up.

Floor rust isnt worth it, the 81 is probably just as good.

84 (no matter which engine) came with the bigger axles/splines and that makes it easier for a bunch of upgrades and stuff.

Also just so you know and dont start a thread about it, NO 1st gen motors were turbo. It is possible to turbo them or swap a TII in but its neither cheap nor overly easy. (not difficult its just not a matter of bolting on parts)