I put a deposit on RX7 tonight. People please give me some good advise!
 

This is a copy/paste from my email, I tried to email this guy but no delivery. The web site hes got is this, i hope it shows up!

http://rx7.voodoobox.net/infofaq/bguide/bguide.html

First off my name is Eric, I would like to thank you in the highest regards to your informative website on buying a used 2nd gen rx7!!

OK i found a mazda rx7 for sale at a good price! $1500 bux.

Its a 1987 Turbo II, 141k miles and it would be my second car, I will fix and rebuild if all goes well, but I want the engine to run for a bit before I dump cash into it.

Engine has slight seapage on the side between the layers of metal. (near spark plug) nowhere near as bad as the one on your buyer's guide, and you say performance is not lost.

Cold Engine starts up in 4-5 seconds (I can sorta hear the compression building) and seems to need a little bit of aid within the first 5 seconds, throttle has to be tapped.

Idles just a little bit rough, between 700 and 1000 rpms but is not constantly rough. like the idle will be fine for 30 seconds and then be kinda wierd for a bit, then fine, it needs a tunup and possibly old fuel. Ok, engine shimmys about 1-5 millimeters with a visual/under hood inspection.

No oil out that back, owner claims 1q per 3k miles, only rich smell (fuel) and little to no smoke.

EXHAUST LEAK!! Performance drop off at around 4k, exhaust leak is in front of cats, not sure exactly where but its very loud on upper rpm and quiet at idle. I have not inspected turbo or housing for cracks, but could a standard exhaust leak up by the turbo cause this drop-off?

Vehicle passed emmissions in New Jersey 1.5 years ago needs it again in April, I live in Connecticut. Original owner, original engine/turbo/tranny (new clutch)

What do you think????


If anyone can help me out than that would be like sooo cool.

This may not help your question all that much but I live in CT and just bought a T2. All I have to say is 1500 is not a bad price...but the engine seems to be on the way out. If everything else is in working order and body is in good condition I would say go for it. Since you have a second car and want to work on this one 1500 ain't bad. Figure you could buy a j-spec engine for 1000...thats still a 2500 RX-7. Way less than the 4000 I payed for mine :) I guess basically if everything else is ok with the car and you have the money to fix up just the engine its worth it... Good luck searching!

Dan

Hope your not young and poor like me
 

Cuz i paid 4000 for my t2 rx7 10th AE, and later found out that turbo rotaries are dollar draining, so i'm gonna have to work harder during winter so i can be ready to repair/modify my car, but for the most part remain stock, i just want a running engine and good suspension, that will hopefully be cheap good luck to u, 1500 is good but maybe u got a mechanic who can check it out before u buy it.

That engine has low compression. You can FIX this problem. Not bandaid it, not temporarily fix it until next week, but actually FIX this problem for less than $3.00. Buy a quart of ATF.

Here is a write up on how to do it on Mazspeed:
http://www.mazspeed.com/atf.htm

Here is an archived thread with discussion about the ATF Trick:
https://www.rx7club.com/vforums/show...threadid=18383

Thanx. I am going to try to hook a vaccum guage up somewhere to the engine to get a vaccum reading this weekend, and I am also going to try to do a compression test with a guage that I have (Im gonna try removing the valve) and I will also check the exhaust/turbo for leaks and also one more time for engine smoke out the back.

If all goes well, you guys may see "SaabGuy" on here more often!!

By the way that ATF trick is a good idea and I may use that down the road, but I wanna make sure that this car is just a bit better than the trick (I want a healthy car for starters)

You need to read what I wrote again. It fixes the problem ATF is a detergent and it eats away and disolves carbon. Carbon builds up in around the seals and acutally gets under the seals and stops the spring from holding the seal against the rotor housing. After so long of having low compression, the apex seal stops springing at all, hits the rotor housing and "Bye bye engine!". The ATF dissolves the crabon and allows the spring to do its job, the seals to do their job. It fixes it. I'm not sure why it's called the ATF trick, it should be called the ATF fix.

Besides, you aren't going to find a running, road worthy T2 for any less than $1500 any how, buy it.

WOW thank you so much! I feel like buying this car tomarrow, unfortunately theres something wrong with my Saab now (dripping oil from main seal) so I must pay for a fix on that before I buy my toy.

I wonder what the ATF fluid would do for a motor like my turbo saab, i bet theres a bunch of carbon built up on all the valves and pistons cause the motor runs a bit rich.

Anywho, I just hope the owner of this rx7 will be willing to hold the car for me an extra week or two, its a really hot car, wish I took some pictures of it. If I get fender fixed, exhaust leak fixed, and new tires I bet I can sell this car for twice of what im buying it for.

Thanx again for the ATF fix, I will use it to my advantage and press onto the guy that the compression is low, blabla, rebuild needed, blabla maybe buy the car for like $1200, I still cant believe he only wants 1500.

Sell it for twice what you bought it for???? Are you nuts?? Keep it, most would kill for a deal that good... just my .02

PIC # 1
 

Heres a pic of the car

PIC OF BODY DAMAGE
 

Heres the damaged fender. its only the fender that has damage, no other panels are affected.

Test drove the car again today and I gotta say I was quite pleased!

The car will be in my possession in three weeks cause the guy is going on vacation!!!

By the way, the first picture shows my Turbo Saab in the background! Its nice!

That is an awsome deal!

Oh? Tell me more about the seepage between the layers near the sparkplugs. What kind of seepage? Still 1500 bucks is very good. Fenders can be had for 40 bucks. I am serious about the seepage. What kind of seepage. Where you are talking about is a passage for the oil from one piece of the engine to the other. Each joint has a about 1/2 inch in dia oring there. There is no way to stop a leak there without rebuilding the engine. A quart for 3000 miles sounds , well , not just right. Still, for 1500 , it would be a good deal even if it were flat worn out. You can't lose. Buy it

seepage and oil
 

The seepage???? Well I found a website by doing a YAhoo search. Supposedly its a beginers guide to purchasing a used second gen.
http://rx7.voodoobox.net/infofaq/bguide/bguide.html

and I printed a color pic of the Engine from this web site. The site has an engine out of the car and it shows areas which sealant and oil is pushing out kinda near the spark plugs. I dont know exactly but read the site to find out what metals the guy is talking about.

So I compaired the pics from the site with the engine of the car I am buying; There is little to no seapage and where there is I cannot even rub off with my finger because there is so little, I guess this means that most of the external seals on my motor are still OK at 141k miles. BTW the underbonnet (hood) seems pretty dirty in general, which tells me the guy prolly didnt try to clean the sealant/oil before sale.

Why do you say 1qt of oil per 3000 miles is not good? The engine doesnt push any oil out the back even when cold, and I've read that 1/2 to 1 quart is fine for oil-burning rotaries????????