My car needs a repaint (stupid flaky white) and new suspension bushings, shocks springs and probably lots of other stuff I don't know about, but I don't think it's worth spending any more money on it other than fixing the idle and maybe some mods that are easily transferable to another fc (new intake, short shifter, etc). My plan is to get an RX-8, and have an fc as a track car (street legal n/a, nothing too extreme).

However, I don't think this car will cut it so I'm on the lookout for a cheap s5 n/a coupe (running or roller) with good paint, preferably black (or red or blue or anything else but white--unless it's some sort of amazingly good deal). I figure its cheaper to buy an FC roller with decent paint than to get a good paint job, anyway. plus you can get some money back if you can sell off the extra parts or the entire donor car (not likely in this case)

Anyway, here's what you're here for: pics!


I need new outer tie rod ends, this doesn't look good.




The brake rotor surface rust is just because I haven't driven it in a couple weeks.

 

more...












And the really troubling stuff: Frame damage














not good.

 

you think thats bad...







thats the shock tower on my 82 supra few months after i took that picture i put it in a demo that whole thing fell off and the shock came into the cabin

 

wow. that stinks.

Mine's not on the brink of falling apart or anything, but I wouldn't trust it on track and I don't think it's worth the time or effort to upgrade it since I can get a good roller/non-runner for 1-2k. The trick is finding the right one (s5 n/a coupe) within reasonable distance. It took a couple years to find this one (my first). I considered looking at s4s but from what I understand, that would be too complicated.

oops, meant to post this in the non-tech section. Sorry about that.

 

It does not look that terrible, I've seen worse. As long as it doesn't effect the car structurally I wouldn't worry about it. I mean you did say so yourself:

If it is just going to be beat up the track why buy a super clean shell? I think yours would work fine as a track car, wont have to worry about messing up a great paint job or underbody.

Just do easily swappable mods like suspension (which is one of the most important parts of a track car in the first place). Then learn to drive with this as you say "rust bucket" and upgrade to a cleaner car with more power once you are confident.

That's just my two cents.

 

Take your time and repair it. Should be worth it in the end.

 

its not THAT bad, if you cut out most of the bad part or even just plate over it it should be ok.
Surface rust on the under carriage components is to be expected, some wire brushing/painting and detailing would take care of alot of that. I dont think anyone has a spot free undercarriage.

 

mines pretty spotless lol

 

california car- figures, lol

 

I've been under this car since I was a kid, its pretty damn spotless. The old exhaust was rusted really bad but thats expected, plus it was right where the end of the Y pipe meets the mufflers which gets alot of water from the wheels.

The rest is decent, very dirty but I saw not much of any rust when I was under there last weekend.

Most is where parts get alot of water.

 

To clarify, by track I mean road course, not drag strip. Just in case anyone was wondering.

This was a northern indiana car driven daily I think. Now it's a southern indiana car driven about once or twice a week. (I work from home )

really? That's what I was secretly hoping to hear The frame rails are my biggest worry, but what do I know? I'm not very knowledgeable about chassis structure or anything except that rust and bends are bad.

Well, I wasn't looking for anything immaculate. just better than mine, in a different color. I thought about this before the rust, just because I want a different color and it's cheaper than a repaint (and no sanding).

That was kind of the idea. I want to use fc as a learner car before I risk my (yet to be acquired) rx-8. (also, I want to keep the 8 stock, so the 7 will give me something to work on)

Would that be expensive? I don't know how to weld, but I probably know someone who does.

cmanns, any pics? your engine bay in your avatar looks really good. Mine is embarrassingly filthy. (I'll clean it when it runs right)

 

that bend on the frame rail could be caused by improper use of the jack stands/jack, looks like someone who owned the car previously might not have used the proper jack points....

Also, it's kind of common to see that and I don't see any reason to worry about it since the car is a unibody...

 

Depends on what he wants to charge for his time. I'm sure it would be time consuming.

 

That doesn't look too bad. The only part that would really worry me is the rusted-through spot on the underbody in behind the passenger's side fender. The rest just looks like surface rust, which is easily taken care of with a wire wheel and some rust-proof paint. Overall, it looks in better shape than mine .

 

well I guess it's not as bad as I thought, then. I guess I won't worry about it. Though I still may keep my eyes open for a cheap black one since that would be cheaper than a repaint.

 

A forum member from another forum() sent me these when I was feeling bad about my chassis.

Oh, and the part of the underbody that your calling the "frame rail" is not the frame rail, it is reinforcement for the floor pans. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

^Ouch! Makes me feel slightly better about mine.

 

you need some of this


lol

 

wow... i dont like this thread...

thankfully, the previous owner of my FC stored the car during the winter... so rust damage to my car is very minimal...

 

POR-15 Silver. Try it.

 

you could buy a shell from the south thats what i plan on doing

 

christ man, learn where to put the jack under your car so you don't keep making it worse.

 

holy... thats worst than my 71 240z... wow, i would just quit.

 

that comment was fail there is SOME hope for his car

 

I'm following this: FC Jack Safety The jack stands are at the rear sub-frame/differential mounts. I don't have a floor jack, and only 2 jack stands. The jacks are where they are supposed to go. (The blue jack is from the 7, and the black one is from my parents' dodge caravan.)

If you're talking about the dents, It was bent up like that when I got it.