Thinking about an RX-4
 

There's an '76 RX-4 coupe for sale locally, was thinking about picking it up. My intent is to move toward restoration, not modification. But I have some questions...

* I don't know much about pre-7 rotaries. What sort of distributor and carb does it use? Engine bay looks a lot like a '79 RX-7, except with a 13B in it.
* What's the deal with the funny studs sticking out of the right side of the engine?
* It's got some molding on the sides that's just about ruined, is this a dealer option or what... seems like none of the RX-4s I see have it. Looks bad, IMO.
* What's parts availability like? Is there much interchange with the early RX-7s? The interior is bad, not horrible, but bad, and there's some miscellaneous mechanical problems (brake master cyl, struts/shocks worn out all around, etc). Engine seems good at least.
* Is the coupe or wagon more desirable, generally?
* What's up with the silly radio? That's not any size I've ever seen, and I don't want to hack up the dash. It's broken, or else I'd just keep it for that extra-vintage flavor ;)

1st gen front suspension is an almost bolt in affair
rear drivetrain you can use celica supra w/ rx4 modified leaf springs. this way you can use 4x114.3 wheels all around
rx4s came with 13b so it's not a surprise why the one you're looking at has one

let's see some pics!

There is one company that makes a new radio made to fit that dash opening. Its made by sanyo, and is a twin knob like the factory. About $30-$35 in price. I have replaced the shocks (front+rear), the brake master clyinder, clutch master clyinder (79-85 rx-7 works here, just switch the studs from the Rx-4 unit) on our 76' Rx-4. Also all the ball joints, calipers, pads, wheel clyinders, shoes are still available. Interior is going to be very hard to get, as well as any body parts. The molding is ugly, and you have to drill out the rivets that hold it on, then do small body work to smooth over the holes. The steering wheel can be replaced with any Rx7/ aftermarket unit, as the splines and design is the same as the 79-85 rx-7. I have a driver side seat that is black and real good condition, minor separation that needs sewed up on the side bolster. I also am making some machined window sliders to replace the old ones that simply fall apart at this age. Let me know if you want to buy it/ them. Good luck on the car, I think you'll really get attached to it once its complete!

The only benefit for switching the entire rear end is to have more wheel selection. Other than that, with less than 300hp, its useless and waste of $$$. :rlaugh: Besides, if you want more beefier rear end, better start looking for sportage and B2600 4x4's for taller gears at the junkyard :wink:

RX-4s are awesome. If you do get this car, be sure to bring it to the monthly Izzy's Pizza meets in Olympia.

Where is said RX-4, out of curiosity? I've been keeping my eye out for old school rotaries for sale in our area, but no luck (except for a very ratty Cosmo). If you don't end up picking it up maybe I will! :) (Probably not, though, since I'm short on cash. :( )

Hello
I think the RX-4 are the sexier RX's ever made, and are getting hard to find.
If you get it, let me know i got some small parts for it from a 74 I stripped a while back, am too lazy to put the parts on ebay!!!
Andres

Get the RX-4 and join the club. I'm bias, but I think they're the "sexiest" of the old school RX series. They old thing sexier is a 3rd gen and my wife. :lol:

And papovw, I'm interested in some parts too. What do U have?

YOUR POST IS USELESS WITHOUT PICTURES!!!!! :)

What good is a pic of an RX-4. The all look the same!

:uhh: You'll NEVER get pictures of my wife. Trust me, you don't want them. It was a j/k.

Hello
I love RX-4's,
i whish i could find a a clean one in the area i will jump on it fast!
SBMotors i stripped a 74 a while back. I got a mess of parts, tell me what you looking for and i see if i got it. I need to clean out my shop i got too many parts!!!

Yeah, I did get the RX-4, thanks for the encouragement guys :) Picking it up tomorrow. It's in Tacoma, but I'm in Seattle.

It's actually this one from ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MEWA:IT&ih=018

so I have pics already! But yeah, RX-4s do sort of all look alike, maybe because they all seem to be red. I definitely liked it a lot more than I expected to. It's sort of unstable right now from REALLY needing some suspension freshening, but it's already a fun little car - more than I expected, actually. The interior isn't quite as nice as it looks in the pics, but it's not bad. Still that is where I will probably put most of my effort.

papovw, when I was living in Colorado, I looked for pre-'7 rotaries for ages and never found any. But they seem to be a little more common on the west coast and southeast.

PercentSevenC, I'll definitely come to the monthly meetings, when are they?

Congratulations!
it looks like a clean and complete car. I love the sporty looks of the 4's. Some wheels and lower it and they look super kool.
Yeap, here in Colorado alots of people not even know what kind of car mine is!
people take some crazy guess as what kind of car it is!! thats what a like about it, is not the typical import, and when they see the engine, thats when they get really confused!!
Andres

Hey, looks real nice! I dunno, usually see the copper colored ones and the light blue metallic ones.
Second Monday of the month, at 7pm. There's a new thread for each one in the northwest section.

You should post a link to this thread there.

pretty rad. I have a era specific tire jack if you are interested.

I have to say i know a super sweet rx4, and I think about buy it more and more every time i look at them.

Well, I'm now solidly in the "what the heck was I thinking" stage. Once I get the brakes fixed so it's actually safe to drive I'll probably feel better about it ;)

LOL. I've had my RX-4 over a year now and I'm still in the stage. :rlaugh:

The Rx4's are a cool car if you need parts contact RotaryDude.. He has a bunch of them!

OK, I'll contact him, thanks for the tip :)

http://www.rockauto.com/ has tie rod ends, ball joints, calipers, u-joints etc.

http://classicgarage.com/ carb rebuild kits, shocks and other parts.

That's fantastic! Thanks!

bringin sexy back woot

nice rx4 good luck and enjoy

Thanks. Still haven't gotten to drive it yet, except home from picking it up. Hopefully will have time to fix it up this week.

I'm JEALOUS! If you sell it in the near future, keep me in mind! Please.