Monty Roberts wrote:

Hello Group,

I know that there has to be somebody on here who knows more about this than I.
I spotted an 85 RX-7 for sale on a local car lot. 5 speed with no odd sounds. The body is
straight, no rust. 160K miles. It runs, but is hard to start. You have to pump the throttle like
mad to get it to fire. Keep pumping like mad until it warms up. Then it will idle although
roughly. My piston engine educated nose tells me the thing is blubbering rich. When driving the
car it runs rough until you floor it and the rpms get above 5K at which point it smoothes out,
pulls strongly and hummmmms nicely. The former owner is rumored (if you can believe the car
salesman) to have put a new motor in it. The block is much cleaner and has less grease on it than
the rest of the engine compartment and accessories, so there may be some truth in this. Oil smells
like gas but otherwise looks good. Good oil pressure. No blow by out of the oil cap or dipstick
tube. Has a new radiator. Keep in mind that I live in a state where there are no invasive smog
checks, so if need be I can pitch the whole vacuum hose entangled, computer controlled carb if
need be. Needs a brake job and an alignment. Has good tires. Former owner had peculiar taste,
right down to the lighted neon shift knob. Will take a bit of de-accessorizing ;).  Needs brakes
and an alignment, has good tires. Asking price is $900. I'm willing to pay $500. Any educated
opinions/advice out there. What else should I look for, check? Avoid like the Plague?

Thanks in advance,

Monty

P.S.: This is for a run about car to get a little familiar with the engine, not for an airplane.

That's strange. I don't recall the 85 exactly. I think that was the transition year.
Is that a 12A first gen or a 13B second gen?
EFI or carb? 

If it is a carb don't pump the gas. Just pull the manual choke knob.
You do know about the manual choke knob  don't you? :) The choke knob will
go in automatically after it is warmed up.

Paul Lamar

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