GRM FD buyers guide
GRM FD buyers guide
Thought I would share this. Another recent article, but this time from grassroots motorsports. With GRM being a reputable source of info from actual gearheads there no glaring errors and it made for a good read about our little beloved machines. Nice to see the platform is so appreciated!
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ar...is-mazda-rx-7/
Edit... just realized this originally ran in 2007. Oh well... What's old is new again? Still enjoyed the read.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/ar...is-mazda-rx-7/
Edit... just realized this originally ran in 2007. Oh well... What's old is new again? Still enjoyed the read.
Last edited by alexdimen; Aug 18, 2020 at 10:50 AM.
Haha, yeah I remember reading that in the magazine back in the day 
.
Some good points but the big fault of a lot of the "so you want to buy an RX-7" assumes it's a typical 10-year old used car. Those rules made sense in the late 90's/early 2000's, but now not so much.
The supply is dwindling quickly and finding near-stock ones is getting really hard. Add to that nearly 30 years of owners monkeying with the cars and it gets interesting. You get cars that are well done and cars that are hack jobs, and with enough time more of the cars are becoming hack jobs.
Add to that things starting to fail that weren't as big of a deal some time back - the capacitors in the electronics leaking and failing, gas tanks rusting out from sitting with E10 gas in them, paint and interior cracking and breaking from sitting out side for ages, etc. Father Time is taking a toll on the FD's for sure.
Dale
.Some good points but the big fault of a lot of the "so you want to buy an RX-7" assumes it's a typical 10-year old used car. Those rules made sense in the late 90's/early 2000's, but now not so much.
The supply is dwindling quickly and finding near-stock ones is getting really hard. Add to that nearly 30 years of owners monkeying with the cars and it gets interesting. You get cars that are well done and cars that are hack jobs, and with enough time more of the cars are becoming hack jobs.
Add to that things starting to fail that weren't as big of a deal some time back - the capacitors in the electronics leaking and failing, gas tanks rusting out from sitting with E10 gas in them, paint and interior cracking and breaking from sitting out side for ages, etc. Father Time is taking a toll on the FD's for sure.
Dale
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 31,837
Likes: 3,234
From: https://www2.mazda.com/en/100th/
its like a flower, its amazing when it blooms in the spring, but its dead by winter....
my little checklist assumes that repair difficulty is, Interior, Exterior, Electronics, Drive-train. the engine is cheap, and easy, but getting the interior correct is really difficult and expensive.
1. the interior is pretty simple, you look at it. if its clean and well kept this is a good sign for the rest of the car. expect all the plastic was replaced once, and all the clips are broken.
2. Exterior. primarily i'm looking for bad collision repair, for some reason in this area (SF Bay area) most collision repair is really bad, it is possible to fix these properly, but most shops here can't fix a sandwich.
A. there is undercoating running around the car, it should be there on all the metal panels, the seam should be crisp and it should line up (or or less)
B. the rocker panel seam on a 92-94 FD is painted black (unless the car was black), is it? if its body color, someone did a repair there. 95+ is all body color. the rocker panel to the quarter panel seam and welds are kind of distinct, if its not might mean repairs
C. there are 6 holes under the hood for body alignment jigs under the hood, these were covered with tape before the car was painted, are they there? if the fender is missing them, and there is no primer spot where it was then the fender has probably been replaced.
D. there was a tag on the bumper under the license plate, if it or the adhesive residue isn't there, bumper may have been painted/replaced.
E. the body was assembled, dipped in primer, and then painted with the bumpers and doors off. then everything else is installed. there should be no over spray on anything. the bolts the hold the doors to the hinges are a dull silver, and should have no paint on them.
F. to add to the above the glass and moldings for the glass are installed after paint, so the moldings should have no paint on them. the moldings are also an odd profile.
Electrics: easy to check everything.
Drive Train: tough, because every FD was pulled apart under warranty, and then usually again after to fix what the first guy screwed up
A. looks for leaks, smoke, excuses. its a Japanese car from the 90's, it starts and runs like a normal car, anything more than a puff of smoke on startup isn't normal
B. Mazda used squeeze type clamps on all of the hoses (except the boost hoses, those have a 10mm head), any worm drive clamps are not stock, something has been apart
C. Mazda only uses silicon sealant in a few places, and it is a light gray. if you see orange or blue, its not right
D. a Factory engine is gray cast iron and bare aluminum, no paint. some of the old remans had painted housings (right over the grease) if it was a Mazda reman from about 1997 they had a blue tag on the front cover, prior to that a date stamp on the front rotor housing.
E. There are a bunch of braces and shields under the car, they should all be there.
Chassis: this is the strong part of the car, and the rear suspension tends to be clunky, but other than that its really tough. aside from shocks, there isn't much aftermarket either, so having crappy aftermarket junk is not as big a problem as it is on other cars
my little checklist assumes that repair difficulty is, Interior, Exterior, Electronics, Drive-train. the engine is cheap, and easy, but getting the interior correct is really difficult and expensive.
1. the interior is pretty simple, you look at it. if its clean and well kept this is a good sign for the rest of the car. expect all the plastic was replaced once, and all the clips are broken.
2. Exterior. primarily i'm looking for bad collision repair, for some reason in this area (SF Bay area) most collision repair is really bad, it is possible to fix these properly, but most shops here can't fix a sandwich.
A. there is undercoating running around the car, it should be there on all the metal panels, the seam should be crisp and it should line up (or or less)
B. the rocker panel seam on a 92-94 FD is painted black (unless the car was black), is it? if its body color, someone did a repair there. 95+ is all body color. the rocker panel to the quarter panel seam and welds are kind of distinct, if its not might mean repairs
C. there are 6 holes under the hood for body alignment jigs under the hood, these were covered with tape before the car was painted, are they there? if the fender is missing them, and there is no primer spot where it was then the fender has probably been replaced.
D. there was a tag on the bumper under the license plate, if it or the adhesive residue isn't there, bumper may have been painted/replaced.
E. the body was assembled, dipped in primer, and then painted with the bumpers and doors off. then everything else is installed. there should be no over spray on anything. the bolts the hold the doors to the hinges are a dull silver, and should have no paint on them.
F. to add to the above the glass and moldings for the glass are installed after paint, so the moldings should have no paint on them. the moldings are also an odd profile.
Electrics: easy to check everything.
Drive Train: tough, because every FD was pulled apart under warranty, and then usually again after to fix what the first guy screwed up
A. looks for leaks, smoke, excuses. its a Japanese car from the 90's, it starts and runs like a normal car, anything more than a puff of smoke on startup isn't normal
B. Mazda used squeeze type clamps on all of the hoses (except the boost hoses, those have a 10mm head), any worm drive clamps are not stock, something has been apart
C. Mazda only uses silicon sealant in a few places, and it is a light gray. if you see orange or blue, its not right
D. a Factory engine is gray cast iron and bare aluminum, no paint. some of the old remans had painted housings (right over the grease) if it was a Mazda reman from about 1997 they had a blue tag on the front cover, prior to that a date stamp on the front rotor housing.
E. There are a bunch of braces and shields under the car, they should all be there.
Chassis: this is the strong part of the car, and the rear suspension tends to be clunky, but other than that its really tough. aside from shocks, there isn't much aftermarket either, so having crappy aftermarket junk is not as big a problem as it is on other cars
Last edited by j9fd3s; Aug 18, 2020 at 11:53 AM.
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