rick_feineis

I was just given an 83 RX7 by a friend that has owned it since 88. It has 148000 miles and has a rebuilt engine that has approximately 55000 miles on it. The car has been sitting uncovered outside for awhile. Needless to say the finish is not the best and some of the trim is "melting" off. The windows are slow. Window wipers are totally gone. Door trim is loose. As you can imagine; all of the stuff that happens when cars get old is pretty much present here.

When we were given the car the owner told me that it needed some brake work. I had it towed to Midas and was told that it needed $1400 worth of parts and labor to bring the system (rotors, master cylinder, struts, brake lines, etc.) up to state specifications to get it to pass state inspection here in VA. Now I know what your thinking. $1400 for brakes and you've got a decent car. (It does look good and it drives fairly well.)

Here's my delima. Is it worth repairing the brakes? The entire car can't be worth that much, can it? The guy at Midas told me to sell it on e-Bay to some of you RX7 guys and that you'de eat it up since the body is in nearly perfect condition. I don't have the money to pour into a 22 year old car. It's for my daughter to get to and from school and I sure can't afford to keep pouring money into it.

So what do I do? Say what the heck and dump the $$ into it to get it legal? If so, where other than Midas in VA can I take it to get it worked on? Chop it up and sell it online? Sell the whole car online? If so, what's it worth? $500? $1500? More? Less?

I have to leave it up to you RX7 expert guys to help me figure out what to do with this. I need your help.

Rick

Alex-7

Midas is spendy. Buy the parts and do the work your self. Or buy a friend a case of beer to do it for you. $400 at the very very most.



$1400 is more than the car is worth.

1stand3rd

Don't look at it as "these repairs are more than the car is worth". The question is...is it worth it to you and will you get enjoyment from your FB?
There are many owners on this forum who have sunk many times the worth of their car for maintenance and upgrades.
$1400 is expensive though.

Hades12

1400 is way to much.

And for you daugher I would suggest a nice 98+ civic and AAA. Good gas milage and no worries for you.


Now no it is not worth putting that much into the brakes and then haveing to start on the rest of it. One of us or you your self could do it for

Caliper kit $8 each
Rotors Cut $10 each
Master $30

pads $25

So for $150 ish you could have the brakes back in order. I find on one that has been sitting for a while, it will take about 2 months to shake out all the bad parts and get it running good.

You can expect to have to
Clean the Gas tank
Rebuild the Carb
Replace the Clutch master and Slave.
Plugs and Wires
Wipers
Sometimes the Wiper rack is frozen


Pics of the car?

Welcome to the Forum.


Pics of your Daughter???????

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Go out and buy a Haynes manual for the car. Right there you have saved nearly 1k by doing the work yourself with all new parts. If you don't want to chase down parts at the parts store, go online to http://www.VictoriaBritish.com. On the other hand, someone at one of the parts stores can probably recommend a cheaper mechanic. If you weren't half way across the country, I would do it for 1/2 the price and still make a decent profit.

The car is 22 years old, it is going to need lots of little things here and there and frequent repairs until it is brought up to snuff. Unless your daughter is very car conscious and resposible, I don't recommend a 1st gen, and perhaps even a rotary for her 1st or 2nd car. If she is like my niece, who gets in, starts the car, cranks the stero and drives off, a Honda would be an economically safer choice.

These are great, fun little cars. If you decide to keep it and do the work yourself, there is a wealth of help and knowledge here for you. The car may even grow on you enough that you might still buy that Honda for your daughter and keep the 7 for yourself.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

glewsRx

iTrader: (1)

"Pics of your daughter"? Man that is just reprehensible. Thats his daughter, dude.
I live in Norfolk and would be happy to help your daughter out with any RX stuff she needs.

bliffle

Midas is way high. I just had the brakes done on my 83GS and it was $500 including MC, rear drums, front pads, etc. That was to pass a state inspection so I had to have a licensed garage do it.

B

candyassmiler

"would be happy to help your daughter out with any RX stuff she needs"...

im sure you would....

lovintha7

I live in portsmouth too. I've taken just about everything on my car apart, so I'm pretty wel aware of what I'm doing. My time costs only beer. And to boot, I work at a NAPA auto care center part time, So parts are dirt cheap.

Bob Holton

Haynes manual for brakes is almost the pitts, mechanics 50 dollar manual is worse. get someone to help the first time. please for your sanity. Bob

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

For $1400.00 i would fly out to you and probably repair almost every mechanical thing on the car. Midas is off in left field. Brake parts are inexpensive if you know where to look. However
i don't recommend the car for your daughter unless shes going to be auto technician.
Be a great car for yourself. Would use it as a project car especially if the body is in great shape. The mechanical side is all gravy work. In my humble opinion i believe a car like a honda civic or accord would be better for her.