I have finally conceeded to the urge to fix up one of my cars. The delimma lies in which one and how much. I meticulously maintain my vehicles and are both in truly extra clean condition.....really

Choices:
1995 Jetta GL 2.0 4cyl 116000 miles, 5 sp Tornado Red. the car needs new springs thats it, otherwise she runs like a top

1984 Rx7 GSL SE 13b 199000 miles 5 sp Black.
she laid down 4 years ago and hasnt ran since, I pulled the engine and she is in dry temperature controlled storage. the interior and exterior of the vehicle are absolutely FLAWLESS in every way. Never wrecked, no rust, no dents or scratches EVER, Interior is immaculate and I have all the books and records down to every single oil change. ( I bought this car new)

I will be driving this vehicle regularly but not long distances.
It must have superior handling and lively performance (the rex is a natural)
How much $$$ should I put in?
I am in a hurry

Not sure whether to stay stock or modify or if either are worth the investment. Whichever one i choose, the other one goes away.

No BS, Money isnt an issue other than I dont want to over invest. Additionally I live in the Philadelphia, PA region and need a good mechanic for the rotary.
Please take the time to offer some ideas and possibly a great mechanic!

Thanks All

 

This isn't www.jettaclub.com What do you think the answer is to your dilemma? And put as much money in it as you feel fit. Whether to stay stock or mod is entirely up to your discresion. (sp)

 

IF you are a hot chick! I would say jetta! .........................................But if U are a dude ......WTF? ............Hot girls drive jettas!!!

 

I was in the same situation as you last year, Jetta or RX7, I ended up getting the RX7 and never regretted it.

- Tech

 

get some new springs in the jetta, drive it, and fix up the 7

is anyone else having trouble starting new treads and searching?

 

Rebuild it yourself if not theres a few places in PA near Philly that will take care of you. Hell Philly has some kick *** top notch rotary mechanics. If not Allentown has a duo that can have your car in race condition if you wanted to or make it purrr like she just rolled out the show room.

 

Ok--- first, a little history lesson:

Once upon a time some 15 years ago a guy was in a similar dilema to yours. He had a 1973 Datsun 240Z (then worth approximately $2500) that wasn't running but was none the less in restorable condition. He also had a 1983 VW Jetta (then worth around $6000) that ran like a top and got better gas mileage than the Z, but was nowhere near as good in the handling, good-looking and fun-to-drive departments. And the local VW dealer was a master at "service with a snarl."

Being that money was no object, the guy restored both cars to showroom condition. He then meticulously maintained both cars over the next 15 years, but found that since he enjoyed driving the Z more than the VW he had accumulated twice as many miles on the Z as he did on the VW.

In spite of this, last year (when a medical problem rendered him no longer able to drive cars equipped with manual transmissions) he put both cars (still in pristine condition) up for sale. After a short but spirited bidding war the Z sold for $15,000. The VW is still for sale, but the original asking price of $2500 has recently been dropped to $2000. Maybe that will help.

Which brings us back to your problem: You can't decide which car to restore--- the GSL-SE, a top-of-the-line 1st gen RX7 following in the footsteps of the 240Z; or the Jetta, a sporty sedan that will never be worth more in real dollars than it is right now no matter how well it is kept. In fact, inflation will insure that it continues to depreciate even if the dollar figure remains stable.

Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

 

thank you for the detailed responses.
As I have decided to restore the Rex, I would really like to get work started on this week. I would like to tune it a little to maximize performance and think that street port is the best "all around" option
Unfortunately I dont have the option to repair it myself as I do not have the time.
If you could give the name of these mechanics in the area. I would contact them on Tuesday to set something up ASAP

 

http://www.kdrotary.com/

haven't been there myself but heard good things from them...

if your car is in such good shape as you say then i say keep her stock...no porting...no nothing...

i'm like 20 mins from philadelphia...you should come to one of our meets when you get your car up and running

 

Thank you for the link. This looks like the place!
Regarding the no porting, how much can I modify and still be considered stock. I realize the value advantage of bone stock but, the car does have 199000 miles on it. I am assuming that with a rebuild/replaced engine and the miles the "investment value" of the vehicle is virtually lost even though I am the only owner and the car is pristine.
Am I wrong?

 

How much "investment value" do you believe you have now? Say if I offered you "X" for your 7, how much would you want "X" to be?

 

You aren't going to get what the car is worth. Final.
I'm sure you know this though.

In truth, it's getting to the point where modified 1st gens are selling for MUCH more than pristine stock 1st gens.

On a side note, how much do you think you'll be selling that Jetta for?

 

I havent given much thought to pricing, I can say this whomever gets one of my cars is getting a great car!
I am open to offers. I can email pics if your interested
SO,... The modifications, Im thinking a total investment of about 5-7K. I also am looking for reccomendation for a garage to do the work.

 

The jetta is the practical choice, better gas milage, better in crashes, front wheel drive good for snow and ice, and it is younger too. But when you view cars like women, sexiness and danger is always preferred over practicality and safety.

Jetta is more of a nerdy guy's car. I decided on the RX-7 because this sleazy hot babe of a bank teller drove one. My new neighbor was hot babe that drove a jetta. She was too stuck up to be sleazy. So stuck up that She traded up for a BMW.

My next used bomb has to be an eclipse. A slutty asian babe was flirting with me while she was driving one.

 

I have 2 7's....had a threesome in college.

 

sorry to jack the post, but i need help, apparently, i can't make new threads or search, and i'm getting this error.

Proxy Error
The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request POST /search.php.

Reason: Error reading from remote server


anyone know what's going on? everything was working fine, and all of a sudden, i can't search or post new threads....

Thanks,

Alvin

 

what we've been doing is in the title just put 1 or 2 letters in, do the message as normal. Post the message and when it post up imdetly (SP) edit the post to put the full title. This has been working for me and a few others in know of. Good luck

Thank Pele for this one,

 

Sweet, got it to work, thanks r vs. p =)

 

Lets see some pics of this "immaculate" RX7.

 

the Rx7 is stored in Jersey and I live in PA so I dont have immediate access to it. However, It will be coming out this week. I will take a bunch of pics and post them. I would love to hear what you think. I do have some pic that are a couple of years old that I can post but they are too big, how do I reduce the file size of the pic?

 

After all of this damn diliberation my wife has to go out and complicate things! Just when I thought I had everything figured out, my wife called me and said the dealership she works at just took in a 94 fd. THEN she suggested that I buy that and sell the Jetta and the 84 GSL-SE
Apparently the car is a real jewel. has 29000 miles on it and was traded by the original owner.
Its very tempting to trade the nostalgia for the horsepower!

 

Skip the Jetta, I used to own one, although it was the older body style (a '90). The 2.0l engine, or the 2.sl0w as VW guys call it, is a turd. You get slightly better fuel economy vs. the 1.8l engines, but not nearly as much power and very little modding support.

 

Horsepower?!?! What about handeling?

 

Uh, the FD has excellent handling---- and HP, and fun-to-drive quotient. But it costs way more to purchase and more to maintain (especially if modded). High-boost engines don't have the same longevity as n/a engines either, but a properly maintained and un-modded FD engine should be good for at least 120,000 miles before tear-down. (vs. 200,000 to 300,000 for an n/a).

As for the GSL-SE, why not just keep it and restore it as time and cash flow permit? If you sell it in its present condition and at this time (ie: when value is much lower than it will be in a few years) you won't get more than about a grand for it. Five or ten years from now you'll just hate yourself for parting with it rather than restoring it.

 

Oops, read his post wrong thought it said FC. Only seen a few of those in my area(FD) the first one had a funny idle, but that was before I knew about rotary engines/porting.