1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Got my 1st Gen back from the shop today...

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Old 10-28-11, 10:38 AM
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Got my 1st Gen back from the shop today...

$1,300 for the new carburetor and $300 for labor.....
Old 10-28-11, 11:01 AM
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Holy God.
That wouldn't have been my personal choice, but I guess that's what you wanted.
Where you unable to find a good used one here? Or someone willing to rebuild one and send it to you?

Well, does it at least run well now?
Old 10-28-11, 11:03 AM
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...I've got this bridge...
Old 10-28-11, 11:49 AM
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Unbelievable....





.
Old 10-28-11, 11:54 AM
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Seriously.... sell your Rx7 and walk away now.

If you're dropping $1300 on a carb, when there are tons of perfectly good used ones for $50-$100 and $25 for a rebuild kit, you do not have the correct mentality to own one of these cars.

Especially after posting about the estimate BEFORE you had the car repaired, and everyone on here telling you that it was highway robbery. Really???

$300 in labor???? I can pull a Nikki and replace it in 30 mins, why in God's name are you paying for 3 plus hours of labor?????

Go buy a FD... those are the guys that like to throw money away.
Old 10-28-11, 12:03 PM
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I wasnt aware FB's found their way into repair shops anymore
Old 10-28-11, 12:03 PM
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I didnt even think they made OEM replacement nikkis,,,, Thats effin nuts, Ide rather have just bought a holly from Racing Beat for way cheeper.. To each his own.. thats just ridiculous.
Old 10-28-11, 12:07 PM
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WOW.... I'm in the wrong business. If I could get $300 just to swap a carb. out.... I charge $200 to do the whole rebuild, and that includes the rebuild kit and return shipping.

I know your getting pretty beat up over this, It's just painful to hear you get so ripped off. But if you have the money to drop.... I can turn your brand new carb. into an SR Nikki.... lol hit me up!
Old 10-28-11, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by 81WideMariah
Seriously.... sell your Rx7 and walk away now.

If you're dropping $1300 on a carb, when there are tons of perfectly good used ones for $50-$100 and $25 for a rebuild kit, you do not have the correct mentality to own one of these cars.

Especially after posting about the estimate BEFORE you had the car repaired, and everyone on here telling you that it was highway robbery. Really???

$300 in labor???? I can pull a Nikki and replace it in 30 mins, why in God's name are you paying for 3 plus hours of labor?????

Go buy a FD... those are the guys that like to throw money away.
Avg. mechanic rate here for non-dealership is $60-$80... so on the conservative side the mechanic is claiming around 3.75 book hours... Crazy! I'm gonna do some digging and see if I can find what the actual book hours are for this.
Old 10-28-11, 12:22 PM
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Did he atleast kiss you before he raped you?

I've owned 4 rx7's and the total purchace price for all 4 was less than what you paid for your carb. All 4 ran, and two of them I drove home.

He didn't even use lube...
Old 10-28-11, 01:17 PM
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Well the mechanic claimed that we couldn't re-build the carburetor because of a broken base plate? I have no idea what that is..yes the price shocked me too.

At least I know the car is in great shape now since about everything else on it is in new condition. I will try to post a pic in a few days of whats under the hood. I think just about everything is new or fairly new...

It has a low mileage engine that was installed by Mazda here in Atlanta (got all the paperwork for what was done). It's got a new clutch, new distributor cap and wires, new battery and coils, new radiator.

Purchase price was $2,400 and now with the $1,300 carb and $300 labor I have $4,000 invested in her
Old 10-28-11, 01:19 PM
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Well, does it at least run well now?
Like the 1979 champ she is

...I've got this bridge...
Sorry no funds left now
Old 10-28-11, 01:24 PM
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Will trade bridge for '79 RX-7 with brand-new carb...

In all seriousness, did you at least get to keep the old carb, since according to him it was 'worthless' as a core?

If yes, I'll give you $30+ shipping for it. Help you recoup your costs.
Old 10-28-11, 01:38 PM
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Originally Posted by CobraStngSVT
Avg. mechanic rate here for non-dealership is $60-$80... so on the conservative side the mechanic is claiming around 3.75 book hours... Crazy! I'm gonna do some digging and see if I can find what the actual book hours are for this.
Book time on a '79 is 2 for carb r&r. If you add on some diagnostic time you might get to 3 hours. That is still $100/hour. Many dealers don't even charge that much. Being a mechanic myself I have seen some people spend stupid money on worse cars but it was for more than just a carb.
Old 10-28-11, 02:24 PM
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All dealers in the PNW charge atleast $100/hr.

Independent shops are about $90 on average here.

I can easily see 3 hrs for a dealer to r&r the carb and adjust it properly.



Gotta figure too, there's a slim chance the old timer that worked at the dealer in 1985 still works there and knows what he's doing on that carb. So figure 25year old kid out of college, hour to pull it off properly, carefully and labelled. 20min clean up. 1hr to install the new carb. and 40min to adjust it, and get the car back out of the shop.
Old 10-28-11, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by slayerx7
I wasnt aware FB's found their way into repair shops anymore
No. The problem is that they rarely make it back out of repair shops. More often than not, the next stop after a repair shop is the junkyard.
Old 10-28-11, 03:21 PM
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did you at least get to keep the old carb, since according to him it was 'worthless' as a core?
I don't know what he did with the old one. He did say it took him a few days of calling around to get this new one.

Being a mechanic myself
I could have used your help lol

I'm training now to be a Diesel mechanic but, am in my first quarter so
I don't know very much yet.
Old 10-28-11, 03:23 PM
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He did say today that after 300 miles to bring it back and let
him adjust it. I noticed at stops it sputters a bit and there is
a small back fire once and awhile.
Old 10-28-11, 03:43 PM
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I smell a lawsuit
Old 10-28-11, 03:56 PM
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Whoa buddy
Old 10-28-11, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by argento
Well the mechanic claimed that we couldn't re-build the carburetor because of a broken base plate? I have no idea what that is..yes the price shocked me too.

At least I know the car is in great shape now since about everything else on it is in new condition. I will try to post a pic in a few days of whats under the hood. I think just about everything is new or fairly new...

It has a low mileage engine that was installed by Mazda here in Atlanta (got all the paperwork for what was done). It's got a new clutch, new distributor cap and wires, new battery and coils, new radiator.

Purchase price was $2,400 and now with the $1,300 carb and $300 labor I have $4,000 invested in her
I hope it was the metal carb base and not the plastic base under the carb. I want to see the old parts. In Missouri it's the law that if you request the old parts before hand that they have to give them back (unless of course there's a core charge. They still have to show you the old parts)
Old 10-28-11, 05:09 PM
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argento, you sir got taken for a ride by this mechanic. this tells me that you should never take your 7 back to that crook. i would've rebuilt the carb for you for $200 parts and labor.
Old 10-28-11, 05:35 PM
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and it ur tlakign about the plastic piece its like a black plastic heat shield with a gasket on it that is reusable, You can get them on mazdatrix i think for like ~100$.

http://mazdatrix.com/c-3.htm top item.

Did he show you a recpiet of 1300$ for the carb "new"? Cuz ide be willing to bed a good chunk of change these carbs arent being produced any more.

For that price you could have bought a megasquirt system and had some custom EFI.
Old 10-28-11, 05:51 PM
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On RX number 8..........

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OMG....I would have purchased a used full Racing Beat exhaust and Weber carb setup for the price you paid....holy crap
Old 10-28-11, 09:54 PM
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Yeah, this is kinda scary. I don't know what can be done about it though. If anything, hope it quits working and try to get your money back. I've seen good running first gens (with rebuilt carbs) go for less than $1600. Hell, I have less than that in turbo parts!


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