Vanilla Rice

Howdy all! I just got myself an '83 RX7 from a friend of a friend for only $300! I figured for that price, why not take it. Yeah, there are problems with it, but I'm willing to sort through 'em to get myself a nice car, I was just lookin for some advice though.





The engine has 200K miles on it, and probably no rebuilds (at least thats what the seller told me- he was the second one). Yet, the thing starts right up, and has no horrific sounds from it, and it runs great. I plan on getting it rebuilt from a rotary specialist in my area, but until then, I was wondering if there were any tips that I should know, or things to be really weary of (as if I'm not weary enough about it).



One problem that kinda threw me was an overheating problem. I had the rear of my car up on jackstands and was revving it when suddenly it overheated. I figured it was probably a sealed thermostat, but when I took off the top hose, I saw that the thermostat had been sheared off- in other words, it was always open. I replaced the therm anyways, but any ideas as to what could've made the car overheat like that? I wasn't redlining it or anything, so it was really quite odd...



I also got a slow break leak from my master cylinder, an oil leak from my pan, and transmission leak, uneven front rotors, and an odd sound coming from the back which is most likely coming from my driveshaft, but other than that the car is fine... at least it still drives.



Well, I guess this post was also a hello post to everyone here. And it feels good to finally be part of the rotary community.

Vanilla Rice

Oooops... forgot to post a pic of it. There's a dent on the passenger side, its on the bottom side of the door... not too big, but nothing that can be covered up easily either.

j9fd3s

welcome . i would wait on the rebuild, and fix all the other little stuff, who knows that engine might go another 20-40k miles. it might die tomorrow too, just keep oil and water in it and it will be fine. i bought an 83 for $350 a few months ago its a fun car



mike

j9fd3s

that cars pretty clean too



mike

Viperx7

First of all, welcome to the Rotary universe. I think you will enjoy your 1st gen very much. You have definately found one of the best forums on the Web.

You won't get flamed for asking very simple questions(like some other place we know).

As stated before, I wouldn't worry about an engine rebuild right now if your not having problems.

On your overheating problem, make sure the waterpump isn't bad. It will either make noise or you should be able to see a small leak from under the pulley

if it's bad. Make sure to keep the water topped off. No. 1 killer to rotaries is overheating.

The noise in the rear could possibly be a u-joint. The problem with an 83 is the u-joints are non-replaceable. You'll have to get another driveshaft or take it to a

machine shop and they might be able to make one or figure a way to replace the old ones. Did that make sense?

With it being an 83, it's time to replace things. Master cylinders and so forth. Not very hard to do and pretty inexpensive.

Again, welcome and if you have any questions, ask.

Smog Fighter

And don't worry about the oil consumption, they are designed to burn oil. (look for 2 clear plastic lines going to the carb from near

the bottom of the engine.) It pumps oil into the carb at all times. Check your oil level at least once a week, taking a mental note

of the level. When it reaches the bottom of the hash marks, add 1 quart. Also, remember the amount of time it took to burn the

quart and adjust your check interval accordingly.



Raul

Vanilla Rice

Thanks for the advice guys! I used to frequent another forum before this one, but I soon realized that they had no idea that they had no idea what they were talking about when they mentioned how a guy doesn't like his car temp going to the halfway mark. So I read a few messages here and soon realized that this message board has some pretty intelligent individuals. And again, thanks.

Vanilla Rice

Crap, I forgot to mention in the last post. But I gotta sell the car now, check out the classifieds section for all of the info.

Racer X

Thats as clean as my 84 is from the looks of it.Mine has a small rust hole the old mig welder will fix next week.

drifter

Welcome to nopistons.

1st gens are mint cars, you'll never regret owning one (or more )