1980 RX7 LS White with Gold Stripes: What would a fair price be?

Banzai · 07-12-2017, 09:05 AM

You mention purchasing the car from the original owner back in high school but do not say how long you've owned it or when the last time it's been driven or on the road? You may think you are not mechanically inclined, but I would not let it keep me from looking at the speedo cable yourself. It's a pretty basic mechanism.

I'd do as previously suggested, take the cable out, check where it attaches to the tranny for anything broken or chewed, lube the cable up and make sure it turns free and smooth (off the vehicle). The instrument cluster comes out fairly easily as well. 2 screws gets the trim ring out, then a few more plus disconnecting a couple electrical connectors from the rear of the cluster and you can pull the whole thing out the front. You may need to remove the steering wheel, which could be the biggest pain. Might need a puller depending on how much the hub is stuck to the spline.

You may be able to open up the cluster and carefully blow out the speedo with some compressed cleaner in a can (like for computer keyboards and such). If you need to replace it, you would probably have better luck searching for the whole instrument cluster, which are not all that hard to find (probably a couple on ebay as I type).

1980 is when they went to the 85 MPH mandated speedo and a bunch of 80's were later in life, fitted with 1979 clusters to get the 120 MPH speedo. Either one (79 / 80) will work, the 80 is probably more available today as those are the ones that got retro-replaced. Should be able to find one for $100 or under.

As far as value, a LS is a more desirable model. (1000 of 2,500 total were made in Aurora White) Tim is pretty close in the 4-6K range. You could always ask 5 and adjust according to interest and desire to move it.

07-12-2017, 09:05 AM	#15
Banzai The Newbie Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 13 Rep Power: 0	You mention purchasing the car from the original owner back in high school but do not say how long you've owned it or when the last time it's been driven or on the road? You may think you are not mechanically inclined, but I would not let it keep me from looking at the speedo cable yourself. It's a pretty basic mechanism. I'd do as previously suggested, take the cable out, check where it attaches to the tranny for anything broken or chewed, lube the cable up and make sure it turns free and smooth (off the vehicle). The instrument cluster comes out fairly easily as well. 2 screws gets the trim ring out, then a few more plus disconnecting a couple electrical connectors from the rear of the cluster and you can pull the whole thing out the front. You may need to remove the steering wheel, which could be the biggest pain. Might need a puller depending on how much the hub is stuck to the spline. You may be able to open up the cluster and carefully blow out the speedo with some compressed cleaner in a can (like for computer keyboards and such). If you need to replace it, you would probably have better luck searching for the whole instrument cluster, which are not all that hard to find (probably a couple on ebay as I type). 1980 is when they went to the 85 MPH mandated speedo and a bunch of 80's were later in life, fitted with 1979 clusters to get the 120 MPH speedo. Either one (79 / 80) will work, the 80 is probably more available today as those are the ones that got retro-replaced. Should be able to find one for $100 or under. As far as value, a LS is a more desirable model. (1000 of 2,500 total were made in Aurora White) Tim is pretty close in the 4-6K range. You could always ask 5 and adjust according to interest and desire to move it.