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

It has a carb with a lot of solenoids, vacuum hoses and wires attached to
it. Typical mid 80's pre-injection nightmare. I tried the choke knob. No
dice, mad pumping required to get it to start. I just assumed (yes I know
what happens when you make assumptions Paul :) that it had a 12a, but I did
not make sure. It has the old body style.

Monty

 
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