I was just looking at the pics again and it struck me as odd that the car has such extensive rust problems but the paint looks so glossy and undamaged.
Maybe it's a trick of the camera or maybe the top and hood look like crap, but still...

 

Location: Sterling Heights MI
^ thats why

 

Just means some shop put good material on a shitty job. It happens...mostly because soemone paying a shop for a cheap paint job will end up with good paint, but get the corners cut on the body work (where the real cost is)

 

So you think the car has been repainted, huh?
Makes sense.

I encountered an extreme example of what you describe back in my misspent youth when I did structural restoration at an Austin-Healey specialist.
A customer brought in a newly purchased Jaguar saloon (don't remember the vintage but it was old) that was visually stunning but had electrical problems.
He assumed- with justification- that it was the typical Lucas Electrics weirdness and thought we could help.

Long story short, turns out that over half the structure of the car was rags/tar and Bondo and there was no good ground path for most of the components.
The funny thing was that whoever had bodged the car up was a real artist- it was painted black and looked good from the outside. We marveled as the extent of the deception was revealed because it had to have been more time consuming to fake than to fix properly.

Some people...

 

Yeah, it definitely looks like it was painted before. There's peeling clear in the back and the colors are slightly different in some spots.

I keep bouncing back and forth between being pissed off about the condition of the car and being optimistic about learning alot from it. The more I look at it, the more I lose hope that I'll ever have it out on the road. I think I've learned enough. This bitch needs to GTFO.
/rant

 

Do it, find a good shell if the engine is good and then swap it over. I have a shell i will be selling in a few weeks for $500. And as said in cail they can be had for nothing.

It would be worth it to ship one from CA in your case.

 

The problem is, I have basically no money right now, and my parents probably won't let me borrow anything since my dad will just be like 'Oh, every single FC in the world will look exactly the same and be rusty, blah blah blah.' Plus, why should they loan me anything anyway, it's my own dumbass fault.

 

Can't say you wernt warned though.

Too bad you live up there, i never even knew that rust could get that bad. I just bought an RX7 that i thought was rusty because the wipers had some rust on them and the window seals. that is rusty down here.

5 mins and a piece of sandpaper and it looks like new.

 

Lucky.

 

Any pics of it?

 

Not ATM but you would be better off looking in CA for one most likely. the savings on the shell gettign it from there would help make up for the shipping costs (about $500 - $800 usually).

Plus there are still a few parts i need off my shell before i sell it.

 

wow thats some bad rust... Well from the pictures the car appears "structurly sound enuf" to drive ( now that seat bolt hole might want some work though...

u might as well just drive that rust bucket one untill u get enough cash for a nice one. just make sure theres no rust on important load bearing areas...

 

A smart decision.
The learning curve on that shell is way too steep- you're in professional repair territory here and even a pro would question the economics of such a project.

When it comes to D.I.Y. car repair, mechanical work is much more doable than body work. Except for an engine rebuild, most projects can be completed in a weekend and you still have the use of the car. The work can be prioritized and broken into smaller chunks as money and time allow.
Bodywork/paint on the other hand is pretty much an all-or-nothing proposition.
Once you start, you're committed.

Just ask Micah.

 

If you don't have enough money for a new shell atm then I would just drive the rusty old girl around. I used to have an '86 celica with a rust hole in the rear wheel well so big that a game cube fell through it out of my trunk lol. It still got me to work until I could afford a slightly better car though.

 

LOL!

 

Win

 

Yeah, I'll probably just drive it for a while. Hey since the body's nowhere near perfect, I can crash into stuff without any remorse!! yay!!

I located the perfect TII for $1500 though

 

I own two, have a friend with two, and know where one is for sale and i have never seen anyrust like that on any of them, i live in VA doesnt get more east than that, i go to the beach almost every weekend

 

I've noticed alot of clean RX7s (and a large portion of the rotary community in general) come from the East Coast. A reasonable distance for a road trip when I can afford another car.

 

plz elaborate on this comment, i have an 88 i bought IN Florida, from the Palm Coast area, was always a florida car and has 3 rust spots. 1 on hatch right under glass, 1 driverside door @ mirror, and 1 small one right @ sunroof. other than that its amazing theres not more rust on it

 

I think its got something to do with the salt in the air that causes the rust....i drove my motorcycle to corpus christi and left it there for 3 months, when i got it back it had rust spots all over the chrome.....away from the coast its fine

 

I give up. I swear to god this ******* car is cursed. I'm not going near it again until it's time to strip it down.

 

if you need a hand holler. i live like.. 20 minutes or less form you. im not a mechanic or anything. but i would be glad to assist you in doing some stuff.

 

BUY MY 1990 ROLLER, $500!

that rust only takes one winter of daily use and not washing it in MI.

I HATE MICHIGAN!

if you buy my roller, and if think your cool, i may even help you put it back together for free.

 

^I want to but I don't really have any money right now. If you still have it in a month or more I may be able to afford it though. We'll see what happens. It's definitely in great shape, something I'd be interested in.