Bought my gxl when I was 17 and still have it. Just owning a 7 is one interesting experience. Just do your research when you decided to get one.
driving fast is fun but don't be stupid and think you can take a turn at a million mph.


helpful site

Non Turbo
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/buy1.htm

TurboII
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/buy2.htm

GL and have fun with it.

 

"pulsation dampener" Roasting can be prevented..hehe

 

My '86 RX-7 (which became Project Tina) is my first car. I bought it when I was about midway through 19 and have had it ever since. Whether I would recommend buying an RX-7 as a first car depends on the person. If that person is mechanically inclined, not worried about having to do a little work and is a responsible driver, then go ahead. But if this person is making his/her choice between a Civic, Toyota Echo, Ford F150 and RX-7, then the RX-7 is probably not the car for them.

My '78 RX-7 beater was my 2nd car, then another '86 that was mainly a parts car, then my 2000 Insight, then I ended up with an "extra" 84 GSL-SE and my most recent rotary purchase is a '76 Cosmo.

 

I bought my fc six months ago and it is the first car I've ever owned. Best 1500 I ever spent; just wish I had done a bit more research and discovered how little they are worth close to no rear rotor compression :'(.
lol.
Oh, and WHATEVER YOU DO don't let anyone else work on your car. The first time you see oil fingerprints on your hood or while racing some hot girl in her dad's porsche you can't get into 2nd; you will forever hate every mechanic because nobody appreciates fc's.

 

The first car my dad let me barrow was not an RX-7. The first car I bought with my own money was an RX-7. there great cars as long as the person who owned it befor you took good care of it and didnt try to do anything crazy to the car.

one common mistake i've seen from people who dont know 7's is they use synthetic oil and not regular oil. doing that can really **** up your engine.

 

the first car i bought was a rx-7 though the funny thing was my dad had to drive it home for me because i didnt know how to drive manual! lol good times.

 

So with 4k ill be putting away 2k for an engine rebuild by banzai and
with the rest of the 2k i plan on getting some powered by max coils, godspeed radiator, thermal wrap for the exhaust.
Any thing else i should buy?

 

He said it's a turbo, and every teenager drives like an idiot. That particular model is from before they redesigned the rear suspension to make the car more neutral.

 

I didn't, but my brother did. It was and 86 GXL and the day he brought it home was the day I fell in love with them (I was 14). The car was beat to hell, smoked and had a cracked apex seal, but it didnt matter. Ran strong, loved it and now I'm 23 and I own an 89' Turbo II and still love them as much as I did the first day I saw my bros. Long live Rotary!

 

1st Car is a 1966 Ford Mustang
2nd Car is a 90 Rx7 Convertible

Still have both, and i Love both. Happy I get to have a great mix between two major genres of car culture. I think an Rx7 FC NA is a good car to start with. Teaches people how to really drive, You don't get the basics- rear wheel drive, good suspension, no abs, no traction control, very friendly power band, just you and the car. Cliche i know.

 

My first 7, which I still own for 2years so far, 91 vert. Good times.....

As a first car, if you are not ready to go in and work on maintanance and explore things, prevent a few engine fires here and there, I wouldn't recommend it. You will find this car is different in alot of ways. Get to know the engine bay, you will never want to work on a piston engine again.

 

I bought my first 7 the day I turned 18. S4 turbo vert. About a month later, me and a friend were doing a top speed run down the interstate, went over a bump and caught some air (almost flipping), hit the ground and slammed into the side barrier.

Knowing absolutely nothing at the time, I scrapped the car and got a S5 coupe with the insurance money. The motor on it blew up about 4 months later. I tried to sell it for about 4 more months and got lowballed to hell (normal rx7 owners...). Decided to keep the POS after nobody would buy it. Swapped in another n/a motor and couldn't be happier. I'm in the middle of a turbo swap right now. As soon as I get done with it, I'll probably pick up a beater 1st gen or track down a rx3 or something to keep stock for a DD.

If your not very good at working on cars or don't like something that could always use a little working on, this probably isn't the car for you. I wouldn't say the car is always broken, more of it is always in need of a little upkeep.

 

second and third car for me. Never had any issues with either of them as a daily driver

 

Well, sorry to **** on your parade.... but I bought a n/a FC project as my first car, and found out it needed a rebuild and a new fuel pump immediately. About three years and too much money later, it's in great shape cosmetically and runs beautifully.

Just get one that seems in good shape all around, and has a proper compression test done to confirm you've got a good engine.

 

Don't wrap it. If you want some heat insulation, ceramic is the only thing that won't rape your exhaust. Can't remember where, but I saw a huge writeup about it. Not worth the hassle.

 

87 TII rx7
im 16 and my rx7 was my first car.
I have always loved rx7's i bought my first rx7 when i was 14 for $300 ( blown rear rotor )



then after deciding that my first rx7 might need to much work and that i had saved up enough money for a turbo i got this



great looking car, fast car, plus a chick magnet
bad : engine blew a rear apex seal, possibly because of a lack of a engine management system, and a boost controller ect... dad didn't think it need one
Good : i am far from mechanicly inclined. i know more about rx7's and rotary's than any teenager should we have plans for the car, and is winter so i have nothing but time ( work is slow ).
not quite a dependable car in my mind although i still love it
my thread
https://www.rx7club.com/build-threads-294/my-new-87-turbo-ii-pics-841723/

 

How are tII how can i say this.....
Less reliable than an N/A does it make a heavy impact and kill the engine like an FD?
or the forced induction doesn't have a large adverse effect?
Elaborating would be helpful since about one person has answered my questions directly haha

 

TII's can be extremely reliable its just if its stock or modified and how safely its modified. most people dont go the whole mile and cut corners and then it can be a ticking time bomb. like mine lol.

 

well my old man bought a parts car for his 89GXL when I was I think 15
well I wanted a car so he said I could build that one back up "engine was in the backseat in pieces" I said ok but I had no time so it sat there

Finally a year later he bought me a 87 Sport for $50 thats right $50, no tranny though,
so that was the deal well, hahaha we all know how great a great deal can be
So I took the tranny off the parts car and put it on and we turned it over and it smoked and the oil was a mocha smoothie so me and the old man both knew that the housing were either cracked or the coolant seals were fried well it was both
still have the car after 4 years of constant head aches and bad engines I stiil have. I am 20 now
lets just say this like everyone else says, dont buy one if you hate working on cars and like having money, lol so just make sure it runs first if you have never worked on one, it sucks working on a car that you know knothing about and is in pieces.
but I can gurentee that it will be one hell of an good time owning one

 

My first car was an 83 which I still have, then I bought an 88 which I still have. I was looking at 93, but they were out of my price range so I settled for the older. I have since owned 5 RX7's & still own four of them.

 

ive been looking around for fc's and some have their redline at 8k which are those?

 

My first car was my FB. My 1985 Sunbeam Silver GSL. If it taught me one thing, it was this... There is one first upgrade you make to ANY car if you desire performance.

Engine, right? Because you always want more power than stock... Nope.
Suspension, right? Because you always wanna handle better than stock... Nah.
Tires, right? You wanna stick to the road better than stock... Nuh Uh...
Body or interior... For style? Fail.

You upgrade the squishy thing that sits between the steering wheel, the pedals, and the seat.

Learn to drive, LEARN TO DRIVE, LEARN TO DRIVE!

I eventually wrecked it because I did not know how to judge traffic patterns, look ahead, or estimate braking distances.



Truer words were never said. I needed a daily beater... My truck had a bad water pump, timing belt, and valve cover gaskets and would be down for a while as I rebuilt and cleaned stuff. So I happened across an Arctic Silver 1986 GXL in someone's front yard. It hadn't run in a few years. An old guy bought it brand new in the fall of 1985 and kept really good care of it... Then he let his son drive it, then he let his grandson drive it.

Grandson, being they typical 16 yr old did not upgrade the squishy thing that sits between the steering wheel, pedals, and the seat... Hit something and fucked the front bumper and driver's door and fender. So there it sat in gramps' front yard until a couple years later the cops started saying it had to go. Suburban Yuppies tend to complain about unregistered, dysfunctional vehicles...

So I come along and offer to tow it outta his yard for $250. I needed a car ASAP, he needed it gone ASAP, and for the money, I could cut my losses if it didn't work out.

An oil change, Coolant hose replacement, and battery charge later, she's ready to his the streets.

$250 Daily driver.

Then I decided that since the stock exhaust was rusting out, I'd replace it...
-XS power stainless catback: $250
-Custom welded catalytic converter: $150
-RB Header: $160

****... That was more than I paid for the car! But it sounds nice, has good power, and I'm still under a grand. Not too bad IMHO. Where can you get a nice car for a grand?

Then I decided I needed coilovers and sway bars... $800
Then I decided I'd need a light weight flywheel and new clutch... $250
S5 Tail Lights: $100
Get rid of the crappy 1986 Steering wheel for an S5 Turbo Momo one, replace the ebrake lever with an S5 leather one, and install a nice short shifter with leather shift ****... $100

****.

 

some might say you've never owned a car till you own a 7

 

I picked up my FC from a dude on this forum like 8 months ago i think from a dude on this very forum. Its a great car to have i must admit.. ive owned an Evo IX MR, 2 integras, and a 88 CRX wi the a beefed K series, the FC is my favorite; when shes running. now ive had to do a few lil repairs here and there, like coolant leak and the recent Clutch pedal failing,but i got lucky with a brand new rebuilt engine. if anything i think it would be a great car to learn. just shop around for a decent one if you are looking. lol

 

This wasn't my first car, I have a hand me down 91 CRX SI but that got jacked...so I said screw honda for awhile and bought something Faster than their current line up...well worth the money to me

Btw if your wondering why I said honda, it's because of all the people I see on a daily basis..they all Drive interga's (including an rsx) or civics with a swap (or the newer 2005 Civic SI) and think they're the ****....get's annoying quick...but to see their jaws drop when I fly by it's priceless

oh yea my first mod was a driver mod, which everyone else think it's I/H/E haha