Alright here's the deal.... I've wanted an RX-7 for awhile now.... and I found on for sale $500.00 but here's the only info I have on it..
1988 Mazda RX-7 GXL
And I know it has the adjustable suspension.
That's all I know... I'd like to know what motor, turbo, non-turbo, and whatever else you guys think I'd need to know about the car.... If it doesn't have a turbo, can I put one on it?
If I do decide to buy this car, would it be better to keep the current motor, not knowing what condition it's in, or would it be more advisable to but a new motor in it (maybe a 3-rotor?)

 

well, it's the luxury model, non-turbo 13b engine, umm... putting a turbo on is a big time job, it's better to just start off with a turbo model, according to most people here, or to swap in a turbo engine rather than puttin gon a turbo. 3-rotor engines are expensive too. Also, there's a search button in the upper right, if you search for 3 rotor, you'll know what i mean... also try searching for turboing an n/a or something along those lines... here, check this site out too, it might help ya out... http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy1.htm

 

alright, what do you think about just getting the care for $500.00 considering I'd be doing alot of work to it then....

 

If you are prepared to do the work yourself, go for it. But dont buy a NA planning to turbo it, it costs way too much, usually requires a parts car. NA's are pretty cool in their own way.

 

i got mine from a 75 y.o. dude, '87 TII with 86xxx miles on it. try to get it from a grandpa n grammah

 

Research the car a little using our search engine, that'll tell you a lot of what you need to know. As far as the model your looking at, 500 bucks for a GXL is pretty damn cheap, so plan on getting a new motor unless you just stumbled over the deal of the century. Like everyone else has said so far, DON'T plan on buying a N/A Rx-7 and turning it into a Turbo, you'll need pretty much new everything including transmission and the list goes on. Basically if you want speed go with the T2 if you want handling and better engine life go with the N/A.

 

Check out these sites too:

http://www.fc3s.org/
http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/

 

You might as well get get a j-spec TII motor and then buy a TII tranmission too. nippon-motors.com

My 2 cents

 

run the car's VIN # on www.lemoncheck.com. Ask the user to provide compression numbers on the engine (6 numbers). What's the mileage on the car?

 

the car has 137000 miles on it........ and it's got a dent in the rear of the drivers door... other than that it's in good condition....... the milage kinda scares me though

 

Do your own compression test. I wouldnt listen to a seller.

 

Well....my first RX7 had 188,000 miles on the odo. and it still ran perfectly when I sold it. For $500.00 bucks you could afford to get a rebuild, go through the brakes/suspension, and even get a used tranny and still have less than $3000.00 in the car.

Todd

 

I'd say if it runs decently you should get it IF you have the money/time to do some repairs. Who knows you might be able to drive it for years and do very little to it. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

Todd
'89 TII
44,000 miles

 

Yes, but you should know that it's probably ready for an engine rebuild ($2,000), a new driveshaft ($250), exhaust ($800), and possibly other things like new tires, brakes, clutch, etc. Any car this old and selling this cheap is going to need a lot of work.

A GXL is just fine if you like non-turbo cars, and it's the best non-turbo model if you like stereos and show car types of things. You could also strip it out for road racing where it should do well, but it will never be a fast drag car when compared to turbocharged models. If you think that you want a turbo, then buy a Turbo II model instead. A good single-turbo conversion setup on the GXL will cost about $10,000, and a good 20B conversion is about $35,000. A good Turbo II sells for only $2,000 - $4,000.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy an RX-7 with an automatic transmission.

 

If you want to work on the car a lot, and just have a fun little ride, buy it. But if you want a fast, more badass ride, spend more and buy a decent TII. Either way, you'll have to work on a car a lot.