a little bit of background:

I have known this car and its owner my whole life. I grew up 2 houses down and I remember as a kid seeing it coming and going everyday and thinking to myself "Ill have one of those when I get older". Well, now I am older and I still dont have one yet!

around the time i turned 13 i stopped seeing it so often, then eventually at all. to make a long story short, i moved out of state at age 21 then ended up back here , I figured it was long gone but then I ran into my neighbor one day and asked her if she still had it, she did and when I asked if she would ever sell it she just smiled and said "what will you give me for it?" the conversation didnt go much further and a couple more years passed by. Then one day I was in the old neighborhood and decided to take a cruise past. for about a week I kept missing her while she was at work and finally got a hold of her.

The car is still there and she still doesnt know what price she wants...and I REALLY dont know what to offer. The car has low miles and is totally unmolested, but on the other hand it has been sitting for 13 years or more and most likely needs alot of restoration. the interior is immaculate, there is a little bit of surface rust coming through on the rear, and the underbody looks quite rusty from what i can see. Im sure the tires are dryrotted or flat spotted at the least. and I have no idea what shape the lines and hoses are in. I havent been able to get underneath the car and get a good look at it yet. but looking from the back I can see the exhaust and sway bars are completely rusted.

so what I am asking is, what type of offer should I make on this car? It has a little sentimental value for me and alot for her as it was her dads car, and it has alot going for it. But it also needs alot of restoration

its an 83

 

It's incredibly hard to make a call without seeing it in person and touching it and moving stuff around on and in it. What kind of temperature swings did that garage go through? What kind of humidity is in that area? Even at 39k miles, I'm thinking the engine may need to come apart simply to replace everything that is rubber-based in it. It's all probably dry-rotted at this point in time. I'm thinking specifically of the O-ring in the top oil "rail." The horrendous condition of the engine bay seems to support this line of thinking.

The interior and body, though. If the pictures are accurate, even if it was just a rolling chassis and nothing more, that's at least $1800 right there. It looks like the leather interior and it looks to be in great shape.

If you really, really like this old lady and want to do her right, then you need to pony up more than the $1800 for this car. There is an outside chance that the engine's internals have all survived this "storage" and a little Seafoam along with some tranny fluid might unstick everything and it'll fire up like nothing ever happened...right up until the junk in the carburetor stops it.

There's a lot involved with cars that haven't run in a long time, especially a rotary engine. make sure you're ready for alladat before committing. This won't be daily driver ready for quite a while if you want the car to last.

 

I agree with mar3. I would make and offer but would not offer more than 3500. You need money for the restoration. I bought one just like this but it is a dark gray 84 with a red interior. I love it. If you like rotarys and getting dirty restoring, then go for it.

Hope you make the right decision!

 

Thanks for your input guys! its a michigan car so it goes through every temperature and humidity change you can think of. At this point in my life I dont really feel like taking on a full resto project. Im liquidating all of my toys and projects as it is because my wife is starting med school in a few months and i want to have a nice safety net for when she has to quit her day job. I was looking for an rx7 to have something i could still take to trackdays and go out and enjoy on a nice day. but at this rate it seems I'd be better off picking one up from the classifieds on this site.

 

Wow, interior is awesome. Over all, I say go!

 

The 7 looks like its in great shape Id take it!

 

Sorry this is gonna be a long rant.

If your tryin to save money then dont buy an rx7. There is always something to be done. But if you are looking for something that will be rewarding and give back as much as you put in, get it. As far as price? What is it worth to you that is what you need to ask yourself, then offer that and see if she takes it. Also you dont have to do every thing at once, if the car has been sitting that long you will probably have to clean out the fuel system, drain and refill all lines and prep for first start up. and it might be a diamond in the rough. A big diamond. These cars are a labor of love and wives usually hate them, mine does LOL.

Out of all the cars on the road everybody in some way or some form have had an experience with an rx7.

Its not ah cool you got a supra, mr2, 300z. Its you got a rx7, thats got one of those wankle motors, or rotary things.

 

lol between work and school she wont have time to hate it!

 

Well keep us posted, I would like to know if you get it and what it was worth to u. When I bought my vert I asked the guy what his bottom dollar was and thats what I paid him, thats how bad I wanted it, and ive put atleast 2 grand in it since ive had it. New top, tps, starter, etc. anyway good luck and I hope u save another rx7.

 

mine used to always say i loved my car more than her. but she's gone now so i don't have that problem anymore.

 

Try to find out what she wants for it and go from there. Maybe by prommising her you bring it back to it's original state she might cut you a deal. Don't know if she is emotionolly attached to it and i don't know the prices for 7'ns in the USA but in my opinion 3500 for a car that sits for 13 years?

Then you better move to Europe because that's the price you pay for a 1st gen in great running condition

I definitly like that interior though!

 

I'd buy it and have another engine swapped in. A good engine for that car will probably cost $800 (at least here it would) and labor to drop it in is about $1200 to have it done right. It's a 5 speed, so the transmission is probably good, needing new gear oil and a few new seals. Keep that in mind and go after it.

 

Yeah I just had a nice 78k 12a engine and trans. that wouldve been perfect for it but I recently got rid of it for a parts car FC.

 

guys, i've been there with 7s that's been sitting for yrs. no need to swap in another engine, especially with mileage that low. outside of draining and putting in fresh gas and cleaning the carb, it wouldn't take much money and time to have it running and driving. of course there would be alot that would be need to bring it back to DD status, but nothing like u'd think. the only REAL problems with rotary engines sitting that long is getting them running again.

but what i'd like to know is was undercoating applied to the engine bay?

 

I didnt really read to see if it needed a new engine or not. I just seen some of the pics and skimmed through the writing to see what he really was getting at with this post. I would have bought this first gen. just because of the body compared to other first gens. I've seen. This is a beautiful car that should get all the attention it deserves to get back on the road, whatever the work may be.

 

Where in Michigan are you located? If near GR, then I could take a look at it with you if you like...





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Curious what the book value is on the car? I understand KBB sometimes is not completely accurate but that may be at least a decent start to negotiating a price. From the pics that you posted it looks in pretty good shape as long as it runs and drives good. That interior is spotless for an 83!

 

Are those Rusty Jones/Ziebart plugs in the bottom of door? Is that dirt, rust or rust-proofing in the engine bay? IIRC, my 1983 Land Cruiser had RJ and they sprayed that goop everywhere, even the firewall and inner fenders. I think you would really need to look underneath to look for salt damage, though maybe it was just a summer car. Still, a damp garage in MI is no picnic. Why not offer to detail it for her? I'd look at KBB for the base price. Looks like a good car from here. Just add money.

 

Ok so now that I completely read everything I can give you an answer. The rust on the underbody is going to be a pain in the *** to fix because your going to have it all falling in your face while your working on it. After its all prepped out it will be easy. It will most likely need all new vacuum lines, clean the gas tank, new fuel filter, fuel pump, oil filter, flush all fluids, compression test, new spark plugs and wires + more. It will take some cash to get it on the road/track. I would offer her $2,000 at most maybe $1,500. I know it has low miles but the low miles wont matter if the engine needs to be rebuilt on top of the amount of work it will definitely need just from looking at it (rust outs, etc.) I think it would be a great care to restore because of the condition it is in. There are not too many FB/SA Rx-7s around that look that beautiful still. Thatd be my perfect project FB for a Turbo2 swap!