Intro
 

I'm currently a wannabe, have never owned an RX7, but the FC has been my dream car for 20 years and it's time. Been scouring around lately and to be honest, I'm hoping to find one on this forum. I'm in Southern California. I'm sure I'll be in here a lot when I eventually get one. I've already learned a lot here. Hope to be able to show off my ride here soon. Thanks all

welcome to the club. u could check thru the marketplace.
https://www.rx7club.com/market/

west regional section has a classifieds.
https://www.rx7club.com/west-rx-7-forum-193/

2nd gen specific section.
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...-1986-1992-17/

what's the plans once u find one?

Welcome to the forum and best of luck with your search for the perfect FC! Being in California, you shouldn't have to worry too much about finding clean bodied car. Here in Ohio we have to be cautious about rust and the FC is no exception. Hopefully you are able to find one you like and when you do, we will look forward to seeing pictures of the car!

Welcome to forum

Welcome, best of luck on your search.
I know a lot of people struggle with california emissions on these older cars, so I hope you've also spent some time brushing up on that. It's unfortunate but living in California as a car enthusiast comes with a lot of heart burn.

My hope is to find a time capsule s4 non turbo and keep it stock and just baby it. I don't need it to be fast, and there's CA smog to take into account. I've been keeping up a '79 jeep for the last 15 years so I have some experience working on cars, but big jobs would likely go to a shop. I'd probably add a ducktail and some nice wheels. Smog really is one of my biggest worries, I've read plenty of success stories, but is there anything to look out for beforehand that could be a red flag? (Other than Cat and emissions systems being present)

An unmolested example is going to be your best bet. Removed emissions equipment will for sure fail you, and having to source, understand and reinstall a correctly functioning system can be a challenge, especially just to meet CA standards. I've seen a few cars recently show up on bringatrailer and carsandbids that were entirely stock. The premium for those cars feels justified based on how few of them exist that aren't messed with.

I've been watching those auctions. I almost went for the recent claret red one on BAT, but distance and lack of cold/hot start videos scared me away. Every video started with it already idling. And the story about how they can't get to it because of distance... And it's hardly been driven since 2011. I know I can't be too picky, but I had to trust my gut. They seem to go for less than the asking prices on FB marketplace for molested beaters.

At this point, every single car is over 35 years, so there is always a risk associated with even the cleanest kept cars. I too was watching that auction closely, I think ultimately it was a good buy for someone even with those risks. Inevitably you'll still end up putting money into these old cars even if you buy the cleanest one out there.
Good luck with your search. Just a tip: I've posted a WTB ad here in the marketplace and had a few people reach out with cars that weren't actually on the market. Same with the facebook groups, so it might not be a bad place to start if you have certain criteria in mind: color, options, condition, etc.