I'm new to the forums, but, maybe someone can help me out? I'm considering buying a 1985 carburated RX7-GSL, The car has 90000 miles, a few dings in the body, some surface rust on the drivers door, and it needs a new exhaust. However, There are three big problems I see with it:



1.) The first problem is that the car wont start, it hasnt been driven in 7 months and it turns over but it wont fire, The lights and radio work so Im betting it has spark so I dont know if maybe it just has bad gas, or if something like the fuel pump has gone out?



2.) The next problem is the clutch, the pedal is pushed back to the floor, but, the owner says it just needs a 52 dollar part, she showed me the part and it sits on the drivers side of the firewall in the engine bay it is a circular black housing of some sort but she said it would be a quick install.



3.) I only have two weeks to buy it before the owner moves and i live 50 miles away and if i pay the owner 1000 dollars for the car i dont want to pay for a 500 dollar tow charge.



Any advice would be appreciated, I really like this car and would love to buy it but i dont want a lemon.

 

I'm not sure about 1, but I can take a shot at 2 and 3!



The clutch master cylinder probably has a leak, which means no pressure in the clutch pedal at all. It *is* easy to fix as long as it just the master cylinder. I actually have an extra one that's unused because the FB I bought had the exact same problem, but I've swapped the engine and trans.



As for 3, I paid $1400 for my RX-7, a 12a, but with only 73K original miles, so that can give you some perspective about the price vs condition ratio. The car also had no rust.

 

May be have compression checked .

 

Don't worry about checking the compression. If it's sat a while, it may not get compression until you bumpstart it. Bumpstart it in second gear over 25 mph and it should come to life. Make sure it has fuel and fire first though, or you'll have to push it back to the driveway. If the clutch pedal stays down when depressed, try giving it some zoloft. Seriously though, if one of the three parts of your clutch hydraulics is bad, it's a good idea to replace all three pieces at once. If you buy them from Mazdatrix you're looking at about $110, but your clutch hydraulics will be good for another twenty years. They're really easy to replace, under thirty minutes if you're handy with tools. Just be really careful with the clutch slave cylinder bolts as the aluminum threads in the transmission are usually weak. If you strip the threads you'll have to drop the tranny and helicoil them.

 

Thanks a lot for your advice, I thought the clutch problem was the master or slave cylinder but now i know for sure, As far as towing goes it looks like im going to rent a car dolly for 50 bucks to transport it to my house, i still have yet to figure out why it wont start I figure worst case senario I replace the fuel pump or have to rebuild the carb, best case it needs new spark plugs or I have to drain the gas, (maybe I can get it to start with a little gas in the carb?) Anyway, thank you guys alot and it looks like Im going to offer the owner 800 dollars for the car and If I do buy it Ill keep everyone posted and upload some pics.

 

#1 coupld be a bunch of things. its likley just flooded, could be a bad pump, plugged filter, big vacuum leak, bad motor, the car is 20 years old....



to fix #1 you need to look at it a bit, are the plugs wet? does it have fuel at the carb?

 

One thing I'd make sure to look at is the rear wheel wells too. FB's are notorious for rusting out underneath the rear bins and it can be bad enough to make the rear suspension mounts break/fail. If there is already surface rust elsewhere, I'd bet the rear wheel wells are falling apart. Depending on how far gone it is, the repairs are not cheap. If that's the case, look for another car. It's no fun going around a turn and having the axle break loose...

 

I don't know do you guys think $800 for the car is alright, because I think If it turns out the engine does need a lot of work it might not be worth it, I guess I'm starting to second guess myself because a coworker said they had the same model and it sat for half a year because it needed new brakes and when they finally took it in for the brake job the engine was siezed and needed $2000 worth of work! I know it is probably something simple and I can probablly sell it on ebay for 800, but im just not sure?



Also I checked the rear wheel well when I looked at the car and there is no rust the only rust is very minor on the door and the exhaust, the undercarriage and wheel wells are clean.

 

if the engine is ok it can sit for years and start right up.

 

I think that you should plan on at least an extra $500 in expense when you buy any used car. Something is going to pop up that you didn't catch or that your initial love of the car made you overlook. You have to keep in mind that this car is 20+ years old. It's going to have some problems. $800 for a running, straight-bodied, more or less mechanically sound FB is a good deal, but just know that there is more than likely a substantial repair bill in there somewhere and prepare for it.



Also, when you looked at the wheelwells, you did it from the inside right? If not, just yank out both rear bins and take a quick look.



Good luck!