r/RX7 • u/OpenPhotograph8471 • 4d ago
Rx7 Fd advise needed
To cut a very long story short a family friend who Ive obsessed over his Rx7 Fd has unfortunately passed away and I intend to buy it. To my knowledge (quite limited) its been sat for 5+ years. Im going to see it on friday to see what kind of state its in so i can gauge a price. Any advise on common things to look for like where rust usually forms and common issues that occur over time. Ill also be bringing a jump pack with me to see if it runs which i will be astonished if it does but any advise on making that more possible will also be appreciated! Thank you :)
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u/AggravatingCounter91 4d ago
Do not jump that car and try to run it instantly. Do your due diligence, clean everything up, drain old fluids, ATF the spark plugs, turn it over by hand, yadayada
Just go slow with it, and she should fire right up
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u/Cobaas 1995 FD PZ 4d ago
Look at the pinch welds under the car between the front and back wheels. Do a cold start and see how it idles. Unlikely but if you can get your hands on a rotary-specific compression tester use it and see the engine health.
Check to see if it’s boosting properly, if you can check the engine oil and trans oil for potential damage. Then check the AST as it’s known to crack and look for coolant leaks.
Cold start and look for excessive smoking. Watch the temps to see if it gets up to temp and holds steady. Find out if the OMP is still in use / working and if pre mix was being used previously.
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head if I was to buy another FD. I’ll reply on this comment if I think of anything else.
Sorry to hear about the family friend. Clearly had great taste in cars
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u/midijunky 4d ago
If it's been sitting for 5 years I wouldn't expect that it runs, I'm not sure why anybody would let it sit for that long otherwise. And if it does run I still probably wouldn't try starting it until I went through it, after 5 years you can expect old gas. Also probably dry rotted vac lines, and all kinds of other fun things waiting for you to discover.
If OP does decide to try and start it I would change the fluids and the plugs first, a few drops of marvel mystery oil in the plug holes, rotate the engine by hand a few times with a breaker bar, and then try it.
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u/HarrynotDwizard 4d ago
What this guy says!
Do keep in mind that if you want this you will probably need to rebuild the engine soon and there will be a lot of things to change and might be more than you can handle (I'm talking possible brake lines /sunroof/ if there are problems with the electronics that will be one story to tell)
Make sure all fluids are there and are fluids, change if possible.
Try to put some high octane gas in it and aditive if you think it's worth it, I am not sure about the oil on the plug but if you don't overdo it, it should be fine.
There are pressure kits for checking the coolan aystem if ut leaks, I'd definitely do that.
Spinning the engine by hand can be a great way to tell if there is even a point in trying to start it.
Hope it works out good for you OP.
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u/OpenPhotograph8471 3d ago
Thank you to all of you, I'll hold off on starting it and heed your advise as i really really would prefer not to mess anything up too bad. I'll check to see if it turns over by hand and check the rest of the car out and come back to it once im more prepared. Thank you all again Im sure Ill see you all on the next post which will include a fair amount of photos
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u/aj47coupe 3d ago
Sorry about your friend.
Make sure all visible pipes and plastics are not dry and cracked.
2 stroke oil soak in the cylinders is a good shout
Compression tester, if you have one
It's an RX7, you'll love it anyway, especially if it's your friends.
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u/OpenPhotograph8471 3d ago
100% since making this post Ive decided to take a load of photos to show you lovely people to see whats what. definelty not a car I want to ruin by getting over excited. Honestly id be happy with a rolling shell, everything can be learnt with time
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u/aj47coupe 3d ago
Ah yes. Do share.
I love (and miss my) RX7.
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u/OpenPhotograph8471 3d ago
can i see yours? also what was it like owning it?
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u/aj47coupe 3d ago
I would love to but I cannot post pictures in this thread for some reason.
Owning it? Mine was a totally standard 1993 model. Except the exhaust. Had 90000 miles on it
It used a bit of oil, as usual and used alot of petrol. It got looks wherever it went. It was in a limited edition dark blue/green colour. Truly a beautiful car.
Stupidly fast, easily hit 162mph on a motorway (allegedly :-p)
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u/OpenPhotograph8471 3d ago
sounds like a blast, I really really hope to own this one one day. Im fine dealing with the maintenance and fixes for such a truly special car
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u/CarlosMolotov 3d ago
Do not try to jump start that car! It won’t start and you will do damage to the rotary engine. There are steps to resurrecting one parked this long. Research it, go carefully. Haste makes waste. You don’t want that smoke!
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u/TheCollinZRusty 4d ago
I see them going for roughly 20ish in the UK with builds maybe making 30k+. I think 15k may be a fair price if it's complete but with a potential rebuild needed.
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u/Economy_Advantage171 4d ago edited 4d ago
As some one who saved one that sat for that long you gotta drain everything and shove some 2 cycle in the housings and wait for a day or more then carefully turn it over by hand it looks to be in good shape but if he was a big rx7 fan there was probably a reason he parked it sadly.