Lurch

Hi guys, I come to you fairly ignorant about RX-7's, besides the basics. I know they are rotary (I'm a whiz kid, huh?) and supposedly handle pretty well. Anywho, I see an '84 in the paper for $450 w/ a rebuilt motor, and I'm thinking this sounds like a good project car. I'm about to call the guy, but I realized that I don't really know what to look for in these cars. I have googled them a bit, but haven't really found a "look out for _____ , _______ , and for all that's holy don't buy one if _____ ." Obviously I want to know the mileage, whether it is auto or manual (are all 1st gens manual?), etc. What is a good mileage for these cars? Are they generally very reliable, do they have lame electrical systems, are third - fourth synchros notoriously lame, just any specific things to look out for. I realize that I'm just kind of barging in here and asking for quite a bit of info, but anything you have to offer would be great.

As to why I'm buying the car... I currently have a '91 SHO (a low production Taurus model) that I originally planned to mod (blown SHOs are known to make 430 whp), but doing so really puts a strain on the drivetrain and parts are getting hard to come by (since FoMoCo keeps discontinuing them). And, just so you guys don't hate me right off the bat for liking an American car, let it be known that the engine is a Yamaha :-). Anyway, I want to keep my Taurus fairly stock because it is really a pretty nice car and a great highway cruiser w/ tons of top end (143mph stock), and it will never be a good drag racer or particularly good handler considering it is FWD and fairly chunky, like 3500lbs or so. So I was looking for a sort of project car that is pretty easy to work on, but aren't INCREDIBLY common like Civics, Accords, Neons, etc. These cars just seem to have an attitude about them that I really like, and from what I have seen of the forums here there is still quite a bit of interest in the cars. And I like the RWD part.

Wow, so a huge first post. Thanks for reading this far guys, I'm sure the knowledgeable RX-7 community will provide me with a wealth of information (or at least a few good links ).

Thanks,
Brian

Lurch

Well, turns out it has been sold. Crud. I've been poking around the forum though, I'm sure I'll find enough information to make an informed decision about which RX-7 I want.

pratch

Yeah - there have been many threads asking that question. Do a search on cancer, and you'll find most of them since that's the most common response.

Welcome to the forum - hope you get a 7 soon.