Hello from Texas!
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Joined: Mar 2025
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From: Houston, Texas
Hello from Texas!
Hi! My name is Sam and I have managed to accidentally acquire a 12A rx7 from my in law's?
It was my late grandfather-in-law's. My father in law is not mechanically inclined and my husband has a long term project of his own. As someone who loves vintage and antique cars, I couldn't let it get re-homed when I had a decent chunk of knowledge to lean on and it was still with it's first family.
This will be my first rotary so I've been reading a bunch of threads here trying to fill in at least some of the knowledge gaps before I go look at it this weekend. It's been garage kept under a cover for at least 15 years after it's last paint job and he got too sick to drive it much so at the very least the paint and body are in good condition. I'm excited to get it home and get started but also a bit intimidated haha. I've never done a restoration on anything not American made so this is a whole new world.
Cheers! Hopefully I'll have pics of it when we can pull it out of the back of the workshop this weekend!
It was my late grandfather-in-law's. My father in law is not mechanically inclined and my husband has a long term project of his own. As someone who loves vintage and antique cars, I couldn't let it get re-homed when I had a decent chunk of knowledge to lean on and it was still with it's first family.
This will be my first rotary so I've been reading a bunch of threads here trying to fill in at least some of the knowledge gaps before I go look at it this weekend. It's been garage kept under a cover for at least 15 years after it's last paint job and he got too sick to drive it much so at the very least the paint and body are in good condition. I'm excited to get it home and get started but also a bit intimidated haha. I've never done a restoration on anything not American made so this is a whole new world.
Cheers! Hopefully I'll have pics of it when we can pull it out of the back of the workshop this weekend!
Ifg it has been painted, garaged and covered it probably doesn't really need restoration. Just do the basics of getting it running right and enjoy it. They are such fun little cars. Welcome to the rotary addiction.
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Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 7
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From: Houston, Texas
that's the hope. It's in the back of his old workshop behind probably 4 cigarette boats and nobody has even seen under the car cover in at least 12-15 years. Heck, nobody can for sure tell me what year it is with any more specificity than "early to mid 80s." At this point I'm mentally preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Finally getting someone out there that can pull those boats out so I can get a good look at it this weekend.
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From: Houston, Texas
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Your car is a 1980 model. I can tell by the one year only ignition setup in your engine bay shot. There should also be a sticker on the drivers door jam, (if it wasn't removed during re painting) which lists the year and month of mfg. I believe 80 production ran from July of 79 thru June of 1980.
Not sure I'd want to run it on the old gas in the tank. Might be better to use a can and gravity feed the carb at first. That way any old gunky fuel won't contaminate the carb as well. You can disconnect the feed line from the carb and use the fuel pump to get most of the old gas out of the tank. The only way to get it out completely is to drop the tank from underneath, since this year doesn't have a drain plug.
Hard to tell, but looks like the original color may have been Stardust Blue (paint code U-2), a pretty rare color.
Not sure I'd want to run it on the old gas in the tank. Might be better to use a can and gravity feed the carb at first. That way any old gunky fuel won't contaminate the carb as well. You can disconnect the feed line from the carb and use the fuel pump to get most of the old gas out of the tank. The only way to get it out completely is to drop the tank from underneath, since this year doesn't have a drain plug.
Hard to tell, but looks like the original color may have been Stardust Blue (paint code U-2), a pretty rare color.
Last edited by Banzai; Mar 17, 2025 at 04:00 PM.
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 7
Likes: 4
From: Houston, Texas
Your car is a 1980 model. I can tell by the one year only ignition setup in your engine bay shot. There should also be a sticker on the drivers door jam, (if it wasn't removed during re painting) which lists the year and month of mfg. I believe 80 production ran from July of 79 thru June of 1980.
Not sure I'd want to run it on the old gas in the tank. Might be better to use a can and gravity feed the carb at first. That way any old gunky fuel won't contaminate the carb as well. You can disconnect the feed line from the carb and use the fuel pump to get most of the old gas out of the tank. The only way to get it out completely is to drop the tank from underneath, since this year doesn't have a drain plug.
Hard to tell, but looks like the original color may have been Stardust Blue (paint code U-2), a pretty rare color.
Not sure I'd want to run it on the old gas in the tank. Might be better to use a can and gravity feed the carb at first. That way any old gunky fuel won't contaminate the carb as well. You can disconnect the feed line from the carb and use the fuel pump to get most of the old gas out of the tank. The only way to get it out completely is to drop the tank from underneath, since this year doesn't have a drain plug.
Hard to tell, but looks like the original color may have been Stardust Blue (paint code U-2), a pretty rare color.
Thanks!
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