Tips for purchasing an FC
 

Im looking at buying a 10th anniversary. It does not run, but what else should I be concerned with when looking at an FC? I am not a newb to buying cars, I work on all of my cars myself, and I have an FD rx7, I have just never owned an FC and would like some information or common problems to look out for. Thanks in advance for any help.

Also, it looks like the seats are aftermarket, Did 10th anniversaries come with special seats or just regular t2 seats?

Aaron has a good guide for turbo and non turbo cars.

Attached is the turbo version but you should also read the NA one as well.

https://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy2.htm

10ae had t2 seats.

The 10AE is a special car as only 1500 were made. All were Crystal White with black interior. This was the only S4 available with black interior. The 10AE was based on the 88 TII and therefore has the TII seats. The 10AE also came with bronze tinted glass, a Momo shift knob/boot combo, special 10AE floor mats, 10AE keys, 10AE fender badging, and color matching wheels and tail lights. These cars are coveted special cars deserving of a restoration. Should you buy it? If you intend to restore it then yes. The car will take a lot of time and money to bring back if its in poor condition.

Thank you to everyone for the information. I will check out Aaron's site. I would like to restore the car, but I dont think its been running for several years. The owner says its been covered and the pictures look decent. The thing that makes me nervous is all of the modifications, hopefully the 10th ae items are still present.

Were the seats leather or cloth? Were the seats black? Normal t2 seats appear gray in color to me.

*edit: well after reviewing google images it looks like they came with black leather. I also got confirmation that the steering wheel, seats, wheels, floor mats, and shifter are not stock nor does he have the stock parts. I may end up passing on the car, the only reason i was considering it was to restore it.

These cars are tough to come by. Original parts can be found and if the price is right, it may be a good candidate for restoration. I am currently restoring 0622492 that I bought off of a guy who's uncle had painted the car black. The guy nearly gutted the car and its been a super slow process obtaining all of the original parts that I ended for the car. A lot of parts were not included with the car but maybe that's part of the fun. The essential bits were there however. The 10AE horn pad, shift knob/boot, original non cracked bronze tinted glass, 10AE emblems, and seats, though in terrible condition. I have a thread on what I've done so far. Haven't had much time lately between my two jobs and my kids.

The biggest thing for me to look out for is the bronze tinted glass. If the windshield is cracked, finding another is near impossible as it was specific to the 10AE and in no longer available from Mazda. If a 10AE has a cracked windshield and I'm looking for a restoration candidate, I may be more inclined to pass or to offer a much lower price. Another thing to consider is how modified the car is and what will need to be done to convert it back to its original condition. Has the body been cut or drilled into in any way? Has the car been hit, and is there any significant rust? Wouldn't mind seeing pictures of the car if you had them. We also have a 10AE registry in the 2nd gen tech section that I started back in 06. We have found quite a bit of the 10AE's. If you have the vin, maybe the car is on that list and if not we can add it.

Here are some pictures. It looks like it has a body kit, the 10th ae wheels are not available, the 10th ae steering wheel is not available, the shift knob does not appear to be the 10th ae shift knob, the 10th ae floor mats are missing, the 10th ae seats are missing, the door panel appears to be modified to fit a speaker, and its unclear if the windows contain the bronze tint, it actually looks like they were tinted darker. The only 10th ae item still remaining is the badge on the outside and the vin lol. Also, the engine doesnt run, and hasnt run in a few years, so its probably all trashed. The interior, exterior, and engine have been modified. Overall it doesnt look like a terrible car, just not what I would want if buying a 10th anniversary car. Im not sure why all of the items were removed, the autocheck did not show any accidents, flood, or title issues. The last numbers of the vin were: 0623285.

Let me know what you think. The only item I could find available for sale was the steering wheel, and they wanted 350 for it. I would love to restore this, but part of me says its not worth it. Im probably just going to focus my time, effort, and money into my fd for now lol.https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ada8696f7b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...b15f507c7f.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c7e035188e.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...840bacba49.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...ba6a340255.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...18e393684a.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c323fb5659.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...edf3d8875b.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...d855b337ef.jpg

Don't walk RUN from this, nothing worse than inheriting someone else's headache unless you want that commitment.

Imagine trying to go through every mistake the PO did, endless wiring diagrams ... etc

Haha yeah I have already decided to pass on this one. I was very interested until i realized almost all of the 10th anniversary items were missing. I would have put up with alot of work, if the important bits were there.

If you can get the car at a fair price, it can be made to be original again. The glass appears to be all there and uncracked and that is one of the biggest things to consider when buying a 10AE. You will be hard pressed to find another windshield. Its rough but can be made beautiful once again. Thank you for grabbing the vin. I'll add it to the registry

I found a steering wheel on ebay, and someone with a 10th ae that is willing to sell me the seats and a few other ae items, so I could have all the items for under 1000 dollars. He was asking 2000 for the car. The engine is probably trashed so it will need a new engine. The biggest concern that steered me away was the door panel that looks like it was modified to have a speaker installed. Would it be easy to find another door panel? I pretty much gave up and decided to focus on my fd for now... that currently isnt running lol. Unfortunately I dont have enough money, or time, for two project rx7's lol.

The 10AE door panels are not the hardest thing to find unless the car was originally equipped with the Acoustic Equillibration or AE sound system. Added the door speakers and a cd player. By no means are they super easy to find but its not like trying to find a good uncracked windshield. Only the horn pad was unique to the 10AE, the steering wheel was the same leather wheel that the GXL and TII got. So finding a steering wheel won't be terrible. I have seen the horn pads come up for sale here and there.

When I hauled my current 10AE restoration project home, lets just say you and I were about in the same boat. The one you are looking at has a nasty body kit and wheels and mine...well the last guy disassembled the entire interior and engine bay and painted the poor car black:

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Trust me when I say it was rough. Here are a couple pics of the car that the guy sent me. I knew fully what I was getting into but I also knew that I had to save this car and restore it:

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I have been getting everything put back together and getting everything working again. The engine has strong pulses and I'm confident it will run.

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Trust me when I say that the car you are considering is worth restoring!!