I'm not a rotorhead, but I've got this '82 GSL survivor to sell. Not mine, it belongs to the boss. We're putting it up on BaT, and I'm trying to make sure I answer all the obvious questions in the writeup or have the answers ready when some RX nerd wants to know something obscure.
So, Wankelites, what weak points should I check out? What do people want to know other than the usual Old Car Stuff? Don't bother mentioning rust, it's lived in WY, AZ and high desert CO its whole life.
How bad is the current state of That crappy recirculating ball steering? My '79 was like driving a pirate ship...
Compression, possible? Although the 1st gen RX7 tends to last for a long time.
Someone will mention an engine rebuild.
Don't claim that it doesn't burn oil in your description. If it doesn't burn oil there is something wrong with it.
Video of it starting both cold and hot wouldn't hurt- compression numbers would tell the story, but video is harder to fake.
I know you said not to mention rust: There WILL be some.
The entire area around the cargo bins really. That includes the rear suspension arm pickup points. I lost a GSL-SE to those being killed by rust.
Edit: The fuel tank mounting straps and pickup points as well. Those are NLA and impossible to find. The hatch drains too. If those are clogged, things can get ugly.
Oh yeah, power windows (this car has them) are notorious for being slow due to carbon build up on the contacts of the switches. Showing them working , or at least describing the functionality of them would be greatly appreciated to a real RX-7 person. Proving the LSD is still operational would help as well.
The engine has less than 60k on it and I have ridiculous documentation of every single fill up. Cold/hot start video isn't a bad idea, it starts pretty well for a carbureted vehicle with a manual choke. But I'll see if I can shoot one tomorrow morning.
Steering feels decent. I can tell it's recirculating ball but the box seems tight.
Power window description sounds like an NA or NB Miata 
I'll make sure that gets mentioned. I'll check the LSD. Is it a viscous style, a clutch type or a helical?
McTinkerson, should I pull the bins out to inspect the condition of the metal? I have a full series of undercarriage shots that show the condition of most everything. Do these show the condition of the areas that concern you?
Does the OMP still work? Or is it running the stroke premix?
Nope, no reason to pull the bins...that's insane. (In the best way)
Does it have a sunroof? The water drains like to clog just like the hatch drains though. Sometimes compressed air isn't enough or they've gotten brittle enough with age that they crack and it starts raining along your interior windshield trim.
Clutch type. That car most definitely has a sunroof.
Huh.. Up here in New England, we don't see new cars that look like that on the bottom... Let alone 80s Japanese metal!
Obviously any mods, but specifically the emissions equipment. A lot of people (myself included!) removed the rats nest of vacuum lines under the intake, and they're NLA, so a lot of Cali people really want them.
Video of compression with a stock compression tester (minus the shrader valve) would suffice for most persons.
That car looks CLEAN underneath!
We're changing the rear end fluid this week, I'll make sure it's clutch type compatible and check the function of the LSD at the same time. No weird noises at least.
Where do I find the drains? I took it through a touchless car wash this morning and it only dripped a few drops from one side window seal - they're a bit perished so that's no surprise.
It really is a clean car. Single owner, never modified or raced. Still on the stock exhaust and air filter housing!
The condition of the rear wheelwells (inside and out) aka the "bin area", and the condition of the floors where the lower links attach.
Example from outside, after cutting bad metal out:
Notice that the upper suspension link attaches right to the weakest part. This is why cars with "bin rust" are usually terminal - people tend to notice there's a problem after the mounts rip free from the body. The poor suspension geometry makes this happen readily.
The '82 has an air oil cooler so it won't have the dowel O-ring failure that the '83-85 12As commonly had which caused oil to pool on top of the engine.
Whether it has a smallblock Ford, smallblock chevy, or an LS.
In reply to Wall-e:
Clean 1st-gens are going up in value enough that people are buying swap cars and re-rotarying them.
Swap cars have essentially no resale value, so this makes sense. A clean 12A car might be $3k-6k but I haven't seen a swap car sell for over $2k in any condition.
Keith Tanner wrote: We're changing the rear end fluid this week, I'll make sure it's clutch type compatible and check the function of the LSD at the same time. No weird noises at least. Where do I find the drains? I took it through a touchless car wash this morning and it only dripped a few drops from one side window seal - they're a bit perished so that's no surprise. It really is a clean car. Single owner, never modified or raced. Still on the stock exhaust and air filter housing!
Sunroof drains are in the 4 corners of the opening. The rear two drain to the vents on the B-pillars, and I believe the fronts drain to the cowl area. There are drains for the rear hatch as well in the corners. The hatch drains exit just behind the rear bumper. I believe on the 79-80 models there is one in the middle near the depression for your hand, or at least on my 78 production car there is. Make sure these are all clear, which my guess is they will on that car as it looks like it has lived indoors at least a majority of its life. It's really only an issue for cars that live outside with clogging drains.
Knurled wrote: In reply to Wall-e: Clean 1st-gens are going up in value enough that people are buying swap cars and re-rotarying them. Swap cars have essentially no resale value, so this makes sense. A clean 12A car might be $3k-6k but I haven't seen a swap car sell for over $2k in any condition.
So uh, where's the best place to look for these <$2000 V8 RX7s?
I wanted one of these so bad in 1989 but ended up getting a used 86 GTI.
Got any photos of the top?
BrokenYugo wrote:Knurled wrote: In reply to Wall-e: Clean 1st-gens are going up in value enough that people are buying swap cars and re-rotarying them. Swap cars have essentially no resale value, so this makes sense. A clean 12A car might be $3k-6k but I haven't seen a swap car sell for over $2k in any condition.So uh, where's the best place to look for these <$2000 V8 RX7s?
He's not 100% correct but it does seem that the carbureted V8 cars really don't fetch much money. About 5 years ago I bought a cosmetically rough but running 302/T5 rx7 for $1200. The nicely done fuel injected 5.0 and LS1 swapped cars I've seen go up are asking $5k+ and seem to move fairly quickly.
Prices are definitely on the rise for these cars. I've currently got four first gens.
Because pictures were requested. I'll go check out those drains and get a cold start video shortly - thanks for the help, guys.
I took it home over the weekend. I don't think I've driven a rotary since driving a stock base model 1986 FC in 1987. She's not a fast car - I think my CRX would kick its butt - but I can see the appeal.
That is one clean car.
That is very clean. I think people here covered it pretty well. Some people might want to see behind the cubbys (easy to remove) for that rear wheel rust mentioned before.
A exhaust makes all the difference on these cars. They feel very chocked in stock form.
For comparison on speed my stock 79 with a full header exhaust system pulled about two car lengths on my friends bone stock 1.6 Miata to 100mph. So in stock form it should be pretty close to your CRX.
So those behind-seat cubbies can be removed easily?
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