I'm still considering my friend's rx-7.
He thinks it's an '80. It's got an old Montana registration that says it's an '80.
But on the plate riveted above the door latch pillar it says 8-79.
The vin is sa22c578725
but when I try to run the vin, all the vin checkers say it's not a valid vin.
Any help????
Thanks,
Billy

The car is remarkably rust free, but the engine runs crappy, interior needs work, and there's a few body dings, and it needs paint.
It sure is fun to sit in though....

 

As far as I can tell, that is not a valid RX-7 vin.

 

there have to be more numbers than that... look either on the firewall or on the dash through the front windshield.

8 / 79 would be model year 80 since they begin making the model year a few months into the previous year.

 

It will be a 79 or 80 though, since it's an SA

FS

 

I wondered that, but it was called the vin number on the Montana registration, and it was the only vin type number I could find anywhere.

 

Could be a '80 model, just pop the distrubutor cap and see if it has a set of points? Yes then its a 79 model (points ignition), no then its a '80 model (electronic ignitions), less of course somebody did a engine/ignition swap.

 

It is a 80 model that was built in Aug of 79. 80 model build started in June of 79. August builds started with the number 574180 and ended with 578960. The sa22c means std. roof, 12A engine, and a 4spd manual trans. Good refrence can be found at http://www.abcpages.com/%7Emazda/RX7...4%20ENGINE.pdf

 

anything build after 7/79 would be an 80 model year. your vin # is wrong look on the fire wall in the engine bay (drivers side). if you do not find one there or it does not match the door my guess is it was either stolden and choped or is a wreck rebuild.

 

The VIN is not wrong. Before '81 there was no federal mandated 17 digit VIN code, so the '79 '80 RX-7s had shorter codes than the later models. None of the VIN checkers will recognise VINS from pre '81 models, so that's why you are having difficulty.

As for the car, I love the SA22C model years, so I say snap her up. So long as the car runs and the body isn't rotting away, you should be able to get her back into prime shape.