First off i bought a 83 GSL back last december from my ex girl friend... i haven't done much with it till now. I put on a trailer and took it to a rotary specialist shop. The guy's been working on RX-7s for Mazda since 79. I had him do a compression test on it and I have bad compression in my front rotor (4.3:1) so I'm scrapping my plans on building up the 12a in it.

here are two of my options...

1) He has a very nice 79 SA with a 13b swaped in with a Holly 4 barrel beautiful charcoal black paint job and he talked the lady selling it from $2800 down to $2000 He says it's a great car and a screamer... only thing it needs is new tires.

2) He has a 88 2nd Gen GTU for sale. The guy selling it bought it NEW from the guy rotary expert i've been dealing with. He swaped a new 13b into it years ago after the last one got jacked up. the new 13b has 80,000 - 90,000 miles on it. he's asking $2400 for it...

I'm looking for a car I can build and try to keep it semi reliable (even for a 7)

So I told him I'd call him back this next monday and curious what you guys thought was the best deal?

This kinda subject makes it hard for a search... I am, however doing a lot of research on the 2nd gen GTU and the 79.

Thanks for your insight.

Oh and currently I'm driving a 1991 MR2 Turbo but that is costing loads of money in the insurance department. Anyone want to buy a MR2 in Northern CO?

 

I'd go with the '79...cheaper insurance and you can slap collector tags on it.

 

if you plan on modifying it or you just want a good reliable daily driver go for the 2nd gen.

 

I don't understand. You say you want to build the car, but you seem to be looking at cars that are already built to replace your current car that needs to be built. Are you sure you are looking for something to build, or are you really looking for something to drive?

All three of the insurance companies I have used throughout the years have charged me the exact same rate for my 1Gen as they did for my 2Gen NA and 2Gen TII. Classic plates would be pretty cool.

 

Well the FB I have now has a weak apex seal and being i don't have enough time, money or knowledge to fix that on my own I need to get a car that is already running well before i go and try to make it better. You know start with a level playing ground.

Tomorrow after work I'm gonna check out some quotes for the diffrent cars.

 

Whats your driving record like? Id look into another insurence company.

All three of the insurance companies I have used throughout the years have charged me the exact same rate for my 1Gen as they did for my 2Gen NA and 2Gen TII. Classic plates would be pretty cool.[/QUOTE]

What rotory shop are you dealing with in Colorado?

 

Indeed.
In Colorado, classic plates are good for five years (instead of one) and- best of all- after your first etest you never have have to test again as long as you own it.

Being over 25 years old, the 79 only has to meet the emissions requirements for it's year of manufacture and not the newer specs...basically, as long as raw fuel isn't pouring from the exhaust, you're good.
There is no visual test on classics either...if the car passes, they don't care how you did it.

 

That would be a very hard choice for me. Both cars being the same price, and both in excellent condition (apparently).

However I'd go with the '79. I had what was left of a '78 SA for about two years and loved it. 1st gens (especially older ones) have something that 2nd gens lack...I don't know quite what it is, but it's there. Perhaps it's the absolute rawness and simplicity of the SA?

 

Well I live in Loveland and I'm dealing with MazTech in Fort Collins.

All my mechanic friends with pleanty of years of experience recommend taking roteries up there.

Chuck the guy who is working on it has been doing roteries for a long time.

My driving record has one speeding ticket on it and one about to fall off. I've checked around and I'm witht he best company (quotewise) in town.

I've yet to get a quote on the 2nd Gen.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the 88 GTu seems (from the specs page) to be just like the Turbo Modle but with out the Turbo right?

Classic plates would be cool indeed.

One of my concerns with the SA is the lack of an LSD. But I'm sure I can find info on here about LSD swaps into an SA.

I really appreciate everyones thoughts. I'm gonna go take a test drive Monday after work. I'll let everyone know how that goes and maybe post some pictures.