Once you've decided (or at least convinced yourself) that you have sufficient fundage, garage space, time, skill, patience, and family/relationship durability to undertake the project, you're ready to get started. The Car The first thing you need to do is find a car. This is actually pretty easy, especially if you live in Southern California. It only took me a couple of days to find a sweet RX-7 once I buckled down and went for it. Scour the classifieds - start with the Recycler (www.recycler.com) which is what worked for me. You should be able to find the perfect "starter" car for $500 or so. You'll see nice '79-'85 RX-7s out there for up to a couple of grand, but don't get suckered in. Most of what makes these particular cars that expensive is stuff you're going to trash anyways. Nice interior? Throw it in the dumpster. Sweet stereo? Throw it in the dumpster. Air conditioning? Well, you get the picture. The most important thing is to get a solid, rust-free car that has a relatively solid drivetrain. Everything else either gets tossed or modified/rebuilt anyway. Don't worry about small patches of surface rust - just be wary of signs of more serious problems. If you find a car that's spent its life out west, you should be cool. Physical damage, however, is another story. Wrecks, negligent mechanics, and teenagers taking metal shop know no boundaries so inspect the prospective car carefully. People tend to roll floor jacks under cars and start blindly jacking away, which can cause horrendous damage to floor pans and frame rails. Run away if you see this. Also, there is a round steel tube running across the front end under the radiator. Damage to this is an indicator of a front-end collision and is also something to shy away from. In general, look for signs of damage and repair to the structural sheet metal of the car, including the fender aprons (engine compartment sheetmetal), rear wheelhouses, etc. It is extremely important to start with a "straight" car. Engine-wise, you want to get something that will last you a while before you have to rebuild it (duh). Don't be afraid of a 120,000+ mile car - these things don't really even reach their stride until 100,000 miles. Warm it up, drive it a bit, and make sure it doesn't blow smoke like a bug bomb. "Hard Way" Lesson #1: Smog Certification This one obviously only applies to us Californians (and maybe some other states for all I know) but it got me. The car I bought hadn't been registered in a while due to the fact that it didn't pass smog. I thought "no big deal" since I never intended to drive the car on the street again. Wrong. I did get a "Title Only" title, which gives me ownership of the car, but does not allow it to be registered (no smog required). However, I was forced to pay the back registration for the period of time between when the old registration lapsed and when I retitled it. Don't necessarily pass on a car just for this reason though - it's a good excuse to beat the seller up on the price a bit, as it would most likely cost them more to make the car pass smog than it'll ever be worth. This can offset the amount you'll have to pay the DMV. Alternatively, make them prove to you that all fees are current and it's a non-issue. So, the ideal car to start with has a solid, rust-free body, decent engine, trashed interior, faded paint, no options (with a few exceptions) and a clear title. I got an '83 S with all of the above plus a smashed-out passenger window (courtesy of the guy who stole the radio) for $450. From what I gather, there are some years/models that are better than others to start with. Here are some things to look for and some tips I was given: Try to find a car with no sunroof -- they must be removed, and the associated structure adds weight up high where it hurts you most. Keep in mind that with the '79 and '80 models you've got to retrofit many parts from the later models (carburetor, intake & exhaust manifolds, front struts, and front brakes) so be aware of this expense when choosing a car. Get a GSL model if you can, as you'll want the limited-slip rear differential and rear disc brakes. If you don't, you'll have to hunt these items down. The cheapest I was able to find a complete GSL rear end with brakes was $250. The GSL-SE is not allowed. Make sure the engine says "12A" on it. Look on top of the engine just aft of the distributor. The pre-'83 models have a large oil cooler up front instead of the water-cooled unit under the oil filter on the later cars. The earlier unit is what you want. No biggie -- I found one in a junkyard for 15 bucks. Starting in '83 you get a stronger clutch and a shorter-throw shifter. Detailed specs and differences between the models can be found here: http://www.rx7.org/public/1st-gen.html