rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

i need some help. as some of you know, i was diagnosed with cancer in january, and kicked its ***. my last chemo treatment was june 29th. my dad gave me his rx7 that had been sitting in my driveway for years, because i had been asking for it since i was like 10 or 11. even though i never knew anything about them, i always loved the way that car looked. anyway, the Make a Wish Foundation is paying to have it restored. everything from the emblems and paint, to carpets and seats. the body on it is perfect; no dents, rust, or anything like that. it's an early rx7. i cant remember the month but it was made in '78. so it has one rear view mirror, no sun roof, etc. here's my dilema:

i have only seen two 1st gens in my entire life. and since mine was made so early, i think that might make it even more rare. i had big plans for this car (rear end swap, springs, struts/shocks, sway bars, strut bars, brake rotors and pads, strut bar, and 13bre), but im thinking maybe i should just put it away and only take it out for car shows. i was thinking either: A.) put my car in storage and buy another rx7 to play with, or B.) just upgrade the hell out of mine and drive it, while still bringing it to shows. i need your guys opinions. if you were in my situation, would you just drive the car, or put it away and buy/upgrade another 1st gen?

darkfrost

iTrader: (1)

Made in 78'?? Keep it safe, play with another one for sure. That ones too rare to cut up and mod.

rbf41182gt

i have the same dillema, but i'm just gonna modify it. It's waaaay to tempting. The thing is, i plan on never selling it, so i dont have to worry about the resale value

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

no one else has any opinions? come on, someone has to know if the car is rare enough to not hook up.

1985_RX-7

Mod it a little bit, keep it clean, reliability mods and drive the hell out ofit. Glad to see your okay. My uncle died of cancer Christmas day.

rbf41182gt

yeah, like he said. Modify it, but keep it clean, don't do a crappy job or you REALLY wont get anything out of it. Then maybe take it to some car shows or something.

Aviator 902S

You'll never be sorry for restoring it to original stock condition. But you might be if you mod it, decreasing its value.

Your car is one of the earliest 1st gens and even in stock form it's blast to drive. If kept stock it will definitely get noticed by judges at car shows and just about everyone else as a pristine example of a car that is becoming increasingly rare. The resale value (even if you don't intend to sell) will continue to climb. And the cops won't feel a need to write you up for every perceived offense that occurs to them either.

But if you mod it out the only ones who will have anything good to say about it will be wannabe ricers with visions of Boeing wings, body kits, neon lights and racing stickers in their heads. It will probably be faster than stock, but if not done right it will be much more tempermental. On top of that, the car's value compared to stock will be double-inversely proportional to the extra money you spent to modify it.

And you'll become a magnet for cops wanting to fill their ticket books. Not to mention that insurance companies take a dim view of modded cars and may even side with the other driver in fender-benders with no clear-cut at-fault party.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

1985_RX-7: i am so sorry to hear that. i remember my family's reaction just finding out that i had cancer. i can't imagine the way yours felt when you lost your uncle to it. and especially on christmas day. again, i am sorry, and you have my deepest sympathies. i wish the best of luck to you and your family.

and you guys have all made really good points about the originality. some stuff on the car is not original. i got a canadian limited edition dash and cluster because mine were messed up, a sparco steering wheel and shift ****, and a fiberglass hood from ISC racing because my hood had rust from the inside out, and i couldnt find an OEM replacement. but if i had known then what i know now, i wouldn't have gotten the sparco stuff. besides those things, the car is going to look like it just rolled off the factory showroom floor. and i found an '85 in the classifieds with a turbo'ed 13b w/ 25,000 miles on a rebuild. it also has paint, body kit, and interior work done to it. im going to try and buy that so i have the original show rx7, and another rx7 i can play around with. thanks for the help everybody!

jays83gsl

Of course, headers would certainly make the life of the motor longer, and give it a MUCH better look, which won't be noticed until they pop the hood at ths show

As for that hood, does it LOOK non-stock? Or is it just a fiberglass replica? If it looks different, I advise getting the hood off the 85 and swapping them out, having MAW pay for the paint on the hood when they do the 78's body.

Outside and interior, keep it stock.
Exhaust, put a good racing beat, mindtrain (although I hear they're out of production now ) or MAYBE magnaflow on there. Just keep it LOOKING stock (I know my RB looks like a new OEM pretty much, until you get to the headers) and you should be good on the resale. Your resale is NOT going to go down for a good, application specific exhaust system (I've never seen it happen at least!)

RustyRotary

iTrader: (2)

Everybody's talking about resale and cops, but personally, I think it's great to have a restored stock car just to take out on the weekends. It's really satisfying to just keep a classic in perfect condition and baby it.

With how inexpensive these cars are to get, you might as well get another one that you can mod the crap out of and your little piece of history can go unmolested. A rusty beater can go just as fast and costs a lot less, and you will still have your pretty '79 to cruise the town and wax 3 times every saturday

With all of the small improvements they made over the years, you'd be best off getting an '83 1/2 or later for modding anyway.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

i think i might have to put headers on the '79, because it has a leak somewhere and it sounds like its coming from very close to the engine. also, the muffler tips are a little rusted out, so ill also be picking one of those up. and racingbeat was the first name that came to mind. from the pictures, the fiberglass hood looks stock, but it is a little hard to tell. there are no scoops or anything, though. and the car i found is an '85, and it already has some engine, body, and interior mods done to it. the guy said that before the s4 turbo setup went in, it had about 160 hp at the wheels.

EDIT: actually, since im not going to be driving the '79 everyday, ill put classic tags on it and get the full racingbeat exhaust system because it won't have to pass emissions.

richlrx7

In my humble opinion......if you truly love the look......keep it stock! If the car is in that good of shape and someone is willing to pay the price of getting it into primo original condition for you........keep it stock! If you really feel the urge to mod this particular car, I would get it restored first, then only put on mods that can be removed without damaging the car, in case you want to return it to stock. Once you have all the stock parts, many of which are pricey to obtain, you have alot of options. If you plan on adding mods that will damage the car, I believe that at some point in the future, you'll be sorry you did. Get another one to mess with. Maybe just a suggestion....ask your dad what he truly feels in heart you should do. Good luck!!!

Aviator 902S

Best advice so far...

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

^^^i agree. also, when i asked my dad a few days ago what he thought about me keeping it stock and showing it, he seemed really happy about my decision. even though he did give it to me, im not just going to take it and have it only be mine. my dad has a say in everything i will do to it.

64mgb

iTrader: (1)

Original, original, original!! My (original owner) '79 is 99% stock, and I've never regreted it...I love it! I love the fact that it's nearly the same as it was out of the factory. I restored a '64 MGB a couple of years ago, and restored it to as near original as I could (except the chrome wire wheels...I couldn't resist ) Unless you're a motorhead looking for *****-to-the-wall performance (which is ok, by the way), I don't think you'll ever regret restoring it to original condition.

And if you need any info on original condition, let me know...I even have the original window sticker!

Rich

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

^^ what do you think about my exhaust? there is a leak near the headers (it might even be the headers) and the muffler tips are rusted out. should i just get a racingbeat exhaust?

64mgb

iTrader: (1)

This isn't true...if you want to sell it as an "original" car, it needs to be original. If your car is all original except for the exhaust, you won't get as much as you would if it were all original...that's just the way they judge cars. Now if you just want to sell your car as a nice nearly-original car, that's ok, and you'll do well. But not as well as you would with an all-original car.

But then again, you should be doing this for yourself...not for the resale. You won't make money doing this stuff...not in your lifetime anyway. Your heirs might make a little bit, but you won't. So do what you want to do to it, for yourself!

My $0.02.

Rich

64mgb

iTrader: (1)

If it was me, I'd go original. But that's just me. I'm weird that way. I understand the allure of headers and free flow exhaust. But I really like original.

Check out my ride:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2114698/1

Rich

jays83gsl

OEM can be around the same price as a RB depending on your area. It was cheaper for me to get my RB muffler than to get an OEM from my dealership.

Once again, this isn't really about the resale value. If you keep your stock exhaust on hand (or even get an OEM down the line) the amount of life you give to your motor with the easier breathing exhaust will FAR outweigh the amount of 'value' you would lose.

jays83gsl

BTW, I'm not against original at ALL. Some cars are very beautiful original, and this car is no exception. Except for one thing. That damn exhaust manifold is the single ugliest stock exhaust 'starter' that I've ever owned, and I just can't stand to look at the damn thing.

Just my opinion.

rxtuner79

iTrader: (1)

well, im not trying to sell the car anytime soon. im sure later down the road i will be able to find an OEM steering wheel and shift **** to replace the sparco. but for now, i guess ill just leave the exhaust the way it is until i have the money for an OEM one. because if i am only showing the car, a high performance $600 exhaust system is not going to help me. but the muffler just looks like crap, so i think im going to have to replace that befor i start showing it.

EDIT: by the way, that is by far the best looking 1st gen rx7 i have ever seen. i have never seen an older car in such immaculate contition.

Aviator 902S

[QUOTE=64mgb]


But then again, you should be doing this for yourself...not for the resale. You won't make money doing this stuff...not in your lifetime anyway. Your heirs might make a little bit, but you won't. So do what you want to do to it, for yourself!

Uh, nothing wrong with doing things for yourself, but I don't think either of you will have to wait that long for your cars to spike in value.

Showroom condition '79 models may only fetch about 4k at the moment but remember, these cars have a lot in common with the original Datsun 240Z--- the same performance, handling, configuration and owner demographics.

Five years ago a showroom condition (if you could find one) 240Z could be had for around 8k, and ten years ago they were 4 to 5K. But lately these cars in this condition have been selling at around $15,000 to $20,000. The more original the higher the selling price.

I'd look for similar things to happen to 1st gen RX7s over the next 5 to 10 years. So hang onto them and keep them pristine and stock.

64mgb

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Aviator 902S]Well, OK, but there is absolutely no way anyone should count on that. There is no way to predict the way the classic car market will go. If you're doing these things yourself, you're FAR better off just doing them FOR yourself. Do what you want to do for yourself...if it turns out you make a little money along the way, great! But you can't count on it.

Trust me...I put over $25k into my MGB restoration, and I'd be lucky to get $15k out of it. But I did it because I wanted to...and I've never regreted it.

Rich

Aviator 902S

True, you can never really say for absolute certain what a particular car, stock or piece of real estate will be worth after a given time frame, but you can certainly put the odds in your favor by careful selection.

Some cars will never go up in value, at least not in real dollars after taxes and inflation are taken into account. But others (especially cars that have a cult following such as 240Zs, RX7s, MGs, Triumphs and Datsun 1600 Roadsters) will be (or already are) worth lots.

So the big question becomes "What does this car need and how much will it cost me to restore it to showroom condition?" If this '79 has no rust, good paint, a sound engine/drive train and a decent suspension it could be restored for a sum that would leave plenty of room for actual profit later on, especially if much of the restoration is done by the owner rather than farmed out.

But to take a junker 1st gen and then strip it down to the last nut and bolt, remove all rust, replace the drive train and suspension, install new wiring and then reassemble and re-paint would cost at least 15k and more likely 25k if you farm it out. In this case you'd never get your investment back, but hopefully you'll have done it "just for yourself."

As for buying a 1st gen with a view toward increased value over time, the best strategy would be to find one that's already in showroom condition and then pay the 4k (for a '79) or 7k (for an '85 GSL-SE). Then just drive it during the summer and maintain it meticulously and save all receipts.

64mgb

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Aviator 902S]But others (especially cars that have a cult following such as 240Zs, RX7s, MGs, Triumphs and Datsun 1600 Roadsters) will be (or already are) worth lots.

I hate to argue, but I have to disagree. I've kept my '7 pretty much original and have less than 53,000 miles on it, but I'd be surprised if I could get what I paid for it new ($7,000). And it's 27 years old! I do agree that it should keep appreciating, but I'd be real surprised if it goes up a bunch in the near future.

It's all conjecture...I just don't think anyone should do anything to their RX-7 thinking they will make money off of it.

Rich