Hi all... first post here :) I've been lurking for a while though.

I have a chance to buy a 87 NA FC3S for 4k. This car has an original 30k miles on it. I know that the last 10k were driven very easy as well. (my friend currently owns it) It's body is straight, but needs paint, everything else is in pretty sweet condition... What do you think?

 

no, I wouldn't even though it has pretty low miles.
It's still an 87 N/A that needs a paintjob.
Also what model is it?

 

One Thing to keep in mind is that I would be needing a lot of painting done due to exterior mods as anyways. Not sure what model it is... I was sitting in the passenger seat, and looking at the manual, and I'm pretty sure it said GXL(its got bose sound if that helps), but that could just be the manual too.... (I will find out for sure before and if I buy)

BTW, I am in college and working full time...

One other question... about how much horsepower is feasible outta an N/A without spending too much (no port) ??

Thanks for replies

 

Well Series 4 (1986-1988) RX-7 N/A's had 148HP. I believe thats at the flywheel.
As for how much hp for how much $$, thats pretty hard to say, You'd have to see from people w/ personal experience. There are a few threads on here, especially one about beefing up your N/A on the 2nd gen forum. That might catch your interest.
It's probably a GXL (luxury model), since it said it in the manual. And I'd guess that the only N/A coupes w/ Bose would be GXL's.
If you are planning on painting on account of exterior mods thats a different thing.
But thats still a bit for a Series 4 N/A that needs a paintjob.
I'd search around unless this one really caught your eye.

 

man... for 4K? turbo II

 

U boys are up late, hehe... Posted around 2AM and 4 replies at 4AM

Anyways, thanks for input, I will definately reconsider.... (my friends dad is selling BTW) so maybe I can cut a better deal... if not, I can look around for something else.... TII all the way

 

You know, I just realized that you were talking about an 87, but I spent so much time researching and typing this up that I'm going to post it anyway. Hopefully it will help someone out in the future.

Ren

$4k will buy a REAL nice TII. Well, not a 89-up, but you can find a decent, straight, clean TII with some mods for that price. If you're looking for cheap performance, a TII would be the best place to start.

I've owned 8 NA's, covering every year except 88 and 89. I like NA's, but they're not very quick in stock trim. They're nice and sporty, and get decent gas mileage. They're neither fast nor powerful, in stock trim.

Can you make a NA as fast as TII? Yes, but it costs a lot more in mods than you would spend on modding a TII. I've heard from several people on the forum who say they're pushing 240 at the wheels from their NA's. That puts a great deal of strain on the powertrain, though, as the NA's weren't designed to take that kind of abuse.

The one good thing about NA's is they tend to weigh less than their TII counterparts. This helps the NA's hold the road with amazing prowess, especially when they have the heavy-duty suspension. This was found on the GXL and GTU for that year.

1988 had 3 NA hardtop coupes: SE, GXL, and GTU. Base (SE) models had 14" wheels and are easily recognized ffrom a distance by their 4-lug hubs and cheezy "phone dial" 8-hole wheels, as well as black sideview mirrors. They have 22mm front and 12mm rear sway bars, single-pison sliding calipers front and rear, and vented front and solid rear discs. Most came with manual windows and mirrors, 5-speed tranny, no sunroof, and manual steering. Available options included power mirrors and windows, auto tranny, sunroof, "2+2" rear seats, and power steering.

The GXL models have "baloney slicer" wheels with 5-lug hubs and electric body-colored mirrors. They also usually have "GXL" stickers on the front fenders. They came with 24mm front and 14mm rear sway bars, 4-piston stationary calipers front and single-piston sliding calipers rear (both covering larger vented rotors), vehicle-speed-sensitive power steering, electronically-controlled "Auto-Adjusting Suspension" (AAS), and LSD rearend. Most came with power everything, although I have seen some with manual windows. 2+2 seating was an option.

The GTU was basically a TII less the turbo, or another way of putting it, everything the GXL was, and less. It shared suspension, steering, and braking components with the GXL and TII, but lacked the GXL's electronically-controlles shocks (as did the TII). It had the It also had the aero package found on the 86 Sport (front air dam extension, rocker panel extensions, and short rear wing). It had electric body-colored mirrors, but the rest of the equipment standard on the GXL was in the options list on the GTU. No 2+2 seating was available. It's intent was to maintain true to its sports car nature, unlike the luxury GXL or optioned-out TII.

If the car you're looking at is a GTU, then it might be worth $4000. I'd be skeptical, though, since it needs paint. If the car is an SE, the owner is simply smoking crack and needs to take another guess at what he/she wants to get for it.

 

Now that I have the year right, let me start again. There is no RX-7 made in 87 worth $4k except a TII. Unless, maybe, it's a GXL with the original WORKING AAS and everything else on the car works like new. Even then, I'd be hesitant about it because it needs paint.

My previous post on the model differences still applies, except no GTU for 87 model year.

No such thing as factory Bose system on ANY FC. Clarion/Matsushita made all components for FC radios, including vert's.

Stock NA's are rated at 146bhp @ 6500/138lb-ft @3500 for 86-88. Stock 89-91 NA's are 160bhp @ 7000/140lb-ft @ 4000.

Ren

 

It's not late here, in fact it's not even 1pm yet! :p

Ren

 

Thanks for reply turboren, I was looking around on some sites and found a pretty nice TII w/78k miles for 4k.... and another on ebay with only 20k miles for 4k(still has 5 days left tho). Also, the car I was thinking about getting, I am starting to think is an SE.... It has the cookie cutter wheels, but body colored mirrors, and as I got to thinking it may also be an 89' ...... Still I would rather have turbo, and I can spend up to 6k I think if I found the right car.

Does anyone have any info on the 10th anniversary FC3S's? I saw a couple of those during my browsing --looked promising

 

I don't know if it's the same for 87, but I have an owner's manual that came with my 86 base model. It had a red GXL on the cover. I think they all came like that, showing the high line model. My 98 Millenia had the S model on the cover, too (mine was an S, though). I'm surprised it didn't show the TII on the front instead.

Ren

 

Ack... forgot to say also, that it has no power steering... one other thing... It feels MUCH more like 160 HP to me, and if I'm not damned then I am almost positive that the bose stereo is stock(its only tape player so sucks neways... It has 5 band eq and other stuff).

 

Easiest way to tell 86-88 from 89-90 NA models from the exterior (91's have dead-giveaway wheels) is to look for the circular rear taillamps. Other clues include body-colored side rub strips, "notched" front air dam with "mazda" embossed in it next to the driver's side headlight, and the rear bumper has a kind of lip on it.

$6k will get you a REALLY nice 87-88 TII. Or a 89-91 with some small mods.

Do a search on the forum for 10AE or 10th AE. There are several such owners on the forum. A true 10AE will have an all-white exterior (incl mirrors, rub strips, taillght surrounds), white 16" 7-blade turbine-style wheels, black leather interior, 10AE steering wheel, and special rotor-shaped badges on the fenders. Unfortunately, all these things can be swapped onto any 88 TII (well, really ANY FC, but to be "authentic" at least the yeaar would have to match), so you have to be careful of unscrupulous persons trying to sell one. There were only 1500 made. Be sure to check the VIN with a Mazda dealer, as I'm not sure if Carfax will pull it up as a 10AE (it did for my 91 Galant VR4, of which there were 2000 made, but it may not for yours).

Ren

 

Probably feels powerful because it actually has working sixports.

No power steering leads me to believe base model whatever year. I have seen a TII in the junlyard up the street from my house that had a manual rack which looked as old as the rest of the car, but it could have been swapped. The same car had a "Use 93 octane fuel only" sticker on the instrument cluster, so I'm assuming it was modified somewhat.

Clarion radio/tape decks for 86-88 had a 9-band EQ on them, and they took up the entire double-din opening below the ventillation controls. They actually say Mazda on the face plates. Also available was a double-din radio/tape/CD player, which had a digital EQ, I think. Both lit up in orange light and dimmed with the dash lights.

89-91 models (Series 5's, by the way) had a double-din radio/tape deck, too, with orange lights as mentioned above. It had a digital EQ, though, as opposed to the sliding graphic EQ on the Series 4's. They also had the radio/tape/CD player, which looked slightly different from its predecessors.

If you had the chance to drive it, then I'm sure you noticed what type of seatbelts it had. If it had regular three-point type seat belts, then it's a Series 4. Series 5's came with those damn "mouse-type" automatic seatbelts.

Also, I doubt you remember, but there's a difference in the gauges as well. Series 4's had an 8k rpm tachometer, with redline at 7k. They also had pie-wedge auxiliary gauges, with needles that were at 9 o'clock at rest. Series 5's had 9k tachs, with 8k redlines. They had round auxiliary gauges, with needles that rested at about 7:30.

Ren

 

What Id do when buying something like this is take low book value, and maybe add $500 for being low mileage. Now subtract say a 1000 or so for a paint job.

 

By the way heres the book on it


1987


RX-7
Body Style: Coupe 2 Door Gxl
Model Number: FC33
Weight: 2,625
Low Retail: $1,700
Average Retail: $2,600
High Retail: $3,275

Id say offer between 1500-2000

 

That's too much for an NA.
If it were a pefect turbo, it might be worth $4k.



-Ted

 

Thanks guys, you've been a big help
It will be up to a year from now that I will buy (if I wanna pay all cash) So that should give me plenty of time to locate the right car. If I can really get a nice turbo for <$6k then thats probably what I will do. I will tell my friends dad to lower his price if he wants buyers :P
cya around

 

Power Steering was actually an OPTION for 1987s

 

Get one! you'll be sorry though!

 

Yup... my TII has factory manual steering. Less weight!

 

I think 4K is way too much for an N/A, I'd say look at a TII or offer the person like $1600.

 

My TII has a factory Pioneer CD/tape player

 

powersteering is for weaklings!!!! =P

 

offer him $4000 canadian !!!not american
what felix wankel?? u r joking right??did they even have cd players in 87 or whatever year your TII is.

jeeez node its 146hp not 148hp