Hello, I'm new to these forums. I joined because I wanted to get a bit more information and advice from people who have had experience with rotary engines/older Mazda's.

I'm looking at buying a Rust-Free manual 1983 Mazda Rx7 with a Bridgeport engine. The guy is selling it for $1500.

"The motor has a fresh machined bridge port . Pinned, Carbon apex seals, new housing and all seals obviously . It's got a racing beat header and exhaust all the way back. Racing beat manifold and a normal holly 650 carb. 2 MSD 6a boxes and MSD coils."

It needs a new Bosche 044 Fuel pump so I can't drive it all the way back to my home. He says the body has about 80k miles and the motor less than 10k. I have a few questions and would really appreciate your advice.

-I know rotary's aren't great on gas but what would you say the average mpg for this engine would be?
-How reliable are these older cars?
-Is it worth the cash? I'm a student so I want to know I'm not throwing my cash down the drain.

Thanks for your time, all replies would be greatly appreciated!

 

I had a 88 rx7 and they are not really that bad on gas. They can be, but if you drive it easy you can get 20 mpg even higher towards 25mpg. My brother had a 85 rx7 and I loved that car, if he did not wreck it I would have bought it in a heart beat. His got as much as 22 to even 26 mpg. It is really how you drive it. If you drive keep the revs low, keep it maintenance like tune ups, air filter, even a good K&N you can have a good mpg out of it. They are very reliable to an extent. Unlike piston engines if a apex seal is bad you are screwed. This one seems pretty good if it has a motor rebuild and carbon apex seals. Make sure the owner shows you repair bills, or some way of showing it has been really rebuilt. Since it has a carb on it, you can pour some fuel in the carb and the keep feeding it in slow and it should run. That would be a good way to check it, or spray starter fluid in it, to make sure the engine is not screwed up before buying it. These cars last a good while if you keep them up. If everything is legit on this one then it sounds like a good deal.