Tyler [S5 FC]

So last friday the worst thing that can happen to us did, my engine called it quits. Here's my baby....





I love my FC, I love racing, and I love driving. And when I got the FC I knew it was the car for me. With its perfect weight balance and..... blah blah blah, I could go on. So it could cost up to 5k for the rebuild! And to be honest, I've took care of this car and have had to fix so many things. Even me, a person who loves dumpin my money into my cars, is like damn! this is alot of **** to fix! And everytime, I think, nothin else can go wrong now, everything is prestine! And sure enough.....

So the last thing I ever thought I'd think is, just get an easier car, somethin fun, but not the FC. And I get mad for thinkin that, so someone please, give me the motivation to keep goin. To fix her, make her faster and push through these hard times...

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

If you are daily driving and racing your car, you are going to have to get used to it. It is going to blow again, and again, and again. Or go LSX. 5k for a rebuild is silly, you better have some beast of an engine after spending 5k on just the engine. Are you going billet rotors and ceramic seals or something? lol Most likely you will just need to replace a housing, a rotors and some seals, $1k max for everything if you do it yourself.

Sorry if I am not very motivational, but I just blew my super RE overbuild, that was only putting out 300 rwhp. :/ I would install an LSx, but my RE blew so fast I didn't have time to accumulate parts. Half bridge here I come.

cmanns

When you part it/sell it, can I has lip, or of course just tell me where you got it








jk, don't give up ya wuss, it wont cost 5k, did you own the car since it rolled away from the dealer? It may have just been treated worse in the past, rebuild it yourself (Get the short block pro rebuilt if you arnt ready for it (im not)) then put it all back together and make sure everything is perfect!

Then you'll know if it was you, or the car.

Gremlin

It's a very clean FC. Don't make the decision on just that. I regret selling my 88 after it caught fair. Wish I still had it. Take time...reevaluate the cost of the rebuild. Maybe half of that if you have someone do the work.

SouthSideSlider

hate to say it but go to V8RX-7club all kindas of piston swaps which would moostlikely be more reliable. nice thing about most V8 swaps is they require little to no mods to the chassis itself so you can swap back to rotary if you want later. even more so if you do the rebiuld yourself it wont be that bad

sunburn

I'm going LSX with mine... I know I'll just blow rotary after rotary, so it just made sense.

cmanns

Uh guys, a Piston swap is like swapping your **** for a sex change, think bout it

Tyler [S5 FC]

****, whats a seven without a Wankel? I was about to get a rotor tattoo, keeping the rotary is a must. I've never actually taken a rotary apart, and its not that I'm nervous to, I just wanna take it to this shop that I KNOW will build it right. One of the most badass seven's in CO is there right now. I know I could save alot doin it at my buddys shop, but do it once do it right.

And its not that I race my car "alot." I've never dragged it (or plan on it) I've only done AutoX (maybe a couple mountain runs too) which pushes the car, not the engine.... really. So I know it was the previous owner. I've done nothing but take care of my car, its just I know if I fix this, what the F is next, ya know.

Oh yeah, lip is from JKL Racing. Got mine cheap, so have fun paying $350 for it.

Tyler [S5 FC]

Oh yeah, and I did say "up to" 5k. I got quoted from Precision $3800 for everything I want done, including porting and installing and tuning the Apexi SAFCII. But like he said, you don't know exactly what you need to replace until you take it apart.

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

A car with 300+ hp stock, 25+ mpg stock, that you can daily drive and race without a worry in the world.
Don't get me wrong, the rotary is an amazing engine, able to do ~400 rwhp on pump fuel, right turbo, correct tune, ect. But a simple thing as bad gas, a not perfect tune, a coupler blowing off mid drift, an injector freaking out, can ruin the whole thing, while a lsx or piston motor in general, would give you a bunch of warning knocks, pings, ect, if something is going down. We have to overbuild our stuff to be safe because we don't get a second chance with these things. :/ For the money, for a half rebuild (saying you blew one complete rotor and housing), it's justifiable. But spending almost $4k just to have something that's going to crap out on you again is pretty dang close to the definition of "insane". Doing something over and over again, expecting a different result.

Since I don't have the money to start over lsx right now, and I have everything setup for ready to go, (turbo, standalone, ect.) I feel it justifies going rotary one last time, in hopes it will last long enough to save up for the v8 swap. :/

From the sounds of it, since you are paying someone else to do it, you might not even have the option of installing a rotary or any sort of swap YOURSELF from lack of mechanical knowledge, access to the required tools, time, or because you are allergic to work. If so, then you really don't have any other option but to pay out the butt, and continue your rotary bank account killing journey. It is even more difficult and costly to have someone install a v8 swap into a FC because of its uniqueness. So, there is your motivation, you have no other choice, just do it and continue on. Have fun.

~Tweak

rxdrift7

iTrader: (3)

I'm afraid for the day that for one reason or another I have to get a new car or a different daily. I've changed almost everything on my FC short of tearing down the motor. I've read about our cars common afflictions for two years. If I got a new car that broke it would be like starting all over again. No thanks.

Just do what is right for you, there is a lot of talk for piston swap in this thread. I'm a rotard and would advise you against it but I can't deny they can be done right and be pretty amazing. Local FD making something like 700 whp on a remote mount turbo LS2. But I think the soul of the car is gone, I'm addicted to brap.

I don't know you well enough to accurately access your situation. I don't know your time constraints or your budget, so those are both things you have to take into account. I'm a full time student with a job and my FC is my only car. If my motor goes then it's a fevered search for a running short block that I can swap in quick while I rebuild at my own pace and preference the old keg.

P.S. Your car looks great!

cmanns

woah woah, **** that

dkwasherexd

iTrader: (8)

doood stay with it man.... Im on my 5th engine ! lol by now Ive learned how to rebuild myself, and I guess Im not afraid of blowing up. I can Take the engine out and teared down in oneday by myself... If you want stay in the rotary scene, I would learn how to DIY.... get advd, and learn!! save $$ if you do it right.. You can do it man, My fc is my only car daily driven to school and home, and even drifted once a week at events driving to the events and back.. once its setup well, it should be reliable!

whiteweazel21

iTrader: (2)

Well it definitely looks pretty clean. If you like the car keep it. I mean 2nd gens are so damn unique and rare--I feel proud owning one and being able to drive it around

RotaryWeaponSE7EN

iTrader: (6)

Keep it, learn from it and just make it better. No need for a silly swap for better gas mileage. I'm pretty sure most of us own these cars so we can waste gas. I know I do, I love revving my car them smelling the raw fuel dumping out the exhaust.

rxdrift7

iTrader: (3)

^ Flames on decel FTW.....

JCurry

iTrader: (6)

wat color white is your car!!!!???

RX710thAE

^white pearl like the escalade?...and as for the topic in hand...bro, keep it. trust me, you'll regret it.

Mutaku

Well take it from me, I've owned 3 RX-7 and I am only 21. Every time I ended up selling one I knew I really wanted another one. With all its issues and such and all comes down to one simple fact. If your a rotard you are gonna want another wankel to drive around. My advice is to try rebuilding it yourself. Actually putting your motor together might just be motivation enough you know lol.

And cmanns that sex change thing is signature quality XD

FC3S Murray

iTrader: (7)

TWEAK- YOU BLEW YOUR ENGINE UP!?! **** man that blows. Didn't BDC tune it?

For the OP, dude, all honesty do what you think WILL BE reliable. you KNOW V8's are reliable, we HOPE that rotaries will be reliable but everyone here knows their ******* is the size of a decimal point when they redline their 13BT. I am not saying that rotaries are not reliable but they sure as hell are not as tough as piston power!

I am tuning my 400whp set up right now and let me tell you it is sickening to read all the posts about random engine failure in this forum. I don't know if it is just owner tuning ignorance OR just bad luck with other factors out of our control like bad gas or defective/worn out parts. Every time I redline in 4th gear I am holding my breath with my EARS tuned in for any slight ping knock noise MEANWHILE having my eyes glued to my wideband/road.

I am actually thinking of DE-TUNING my ride to only 350rwhp so I am not pushing my luck with Murphys Law. I run extremly consevative L timing and rich AFR @ WOT

So......if you got the cash go LS1, I plan on it next if this 13BT does me wrong. Read my sig under my avatar, it lets you know what number of wankel I am on.

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

It was in NO WAY BDCs fault. I was drifting, in full boost, and blew off a coupler (It didnt slip off, it ripped in half and exploded, 4 layer flex coupler). I have yet to take it apart to see what exactly is busted, but the engine was WONDERFUL till I blew the coupler off. Can't really tune for faulty parts. :/

I will keep ya up to date with what I find if you want. I'm pretty sure its a chipped or cracked apex, as it was FINE for about 100 times, then slowly started getting rich, and then finally lost a lot of compression on the front rotor.

Just to make it clear, my tune and everything BDC did was wonderful, and he will be tuning my half bridge.

Oh, and 5 isn't anything lol, if I blow one more I will enter the TEENS. That is where I draw the line no matter what lol. The fact is, we SHOULDN'T have to be scared boosting, or driving around spiritedly. Really takes the fun out of it, unless you are one of those weird people that gets off on russian roulette. Lol, it may not blow the first time, or the 12th time, but sooner or later your sheits going to blow up. haha

FC3S Murray

iTrader: (7)

THAT is why I decided to go T bolt clamps. I HATE how they look but they will never come off!! NEVER NEVER NEVER.

Sorry about your engine bro. Brain is a hell of a guy too. He helped me with my tune as well.

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

Lol, I WAS t-bolt clamps, again, it did not POP off the pipe, it cracked in half and exploded. Ripped down the middle.

KhanArtisT

iTrader: (2)

^wow, that is some crazy ****. Was the BOV working right and adjusted properly? Was it subjected to high heat? I have no clue how you could rip through a 4 layer coupler unless it was a crappy coupler...

On topic---wasn't the car N/A? If so your new engine is going to last a freaking while if you just top off the oil when you need to...Although if you're the type of person that can't do his own work for whatever reason (tools, garage space, etc.) it maybe a good idea to get a newer car. Skittles, RX8s, WRX's, S2000s are really cheap now...

TweakGames

iTrader: (3)

Yes, the bov was working right lol. It is actually the second coupler I have blown up, splitting down the middle. I think it had something to do with my AITs. They blew at two different corners of the intake system. Bunch of BS if you ask me. It only happened when things got really hot, such at on the dyno, or during a drifting session. :/