Although its only got 75,000 on it, the engine in my son's 91 rx-7 just blew. Everything stock, auto tranny. He basically drove it like a grandma too. One of the rotors has absolutely no compression(?)

So, what are we to do? What are we looking at for a rebuild? What's it worth as it is? The body's in pretty good condition, except from a little paint damage from a minor collision.

 

simple, 5 spd swap with JDM motor/tranny. $1400 if you DIY

 

You can go the rebuild way either through a Mazda Reman or through one of the many rebuilders on this board. If you want to try and rebuild it yourself, you could save alot of money but take the chance of having to scavange for replacement parts( I think this will be your situation). Rebuilding yourself is not easy or hard, but has to be done right. It could be a nice little project both of you can do, but do expect the car to be out of commision for a while.

If you think all that is too much trouble, you could sell it as a whole or part out different items. Alot of people on these boards are looking for parts and you tend to make more from parting it out over selling it as a whole.

 

I was all ready to spend nearly $2000 to rebuild my engine right, but a good used one came my way for $500. You can rebuild a rotary fairly inexpensively, but if there is internal damage or worn out parts, the price tag can escalate pretty quickly.

 

my son is leaving for college in less than a month, and I really don't want, or am in a financial situation to have half of a car rotting in my garage until we can really work on it for an extended amount of time next summer. Basically, what's it worth in the condition it is in right now? We're basically going to have to find something that won't break down to haul his butt back here on the weekends. Yeah, it's sad. Thanks.

 

I hate to say it, but I think your car died of boredom.
There's a bit of a known problem with rotaries.. It's called carbon buildup, and slang'd as "Dying of boredom". Basically, due to the way that a rotary injects oil into the engine to lubricate the seals, a bit gets left in the chambers, and around the seals. No big deal, cause when you hit higher RPMs, your temperature increase and it burns it out. If you don't hit those higher RPMs, your temp never increase and (very) slowly the oil turns into a carbon buildup. Eventually, one (or more) of the bits of carbon break free and start to wedge into places that it shouldn't. Normally it causes a sudden, catastrophic failure (like you had), killing an apex seal or two, sometimese scratching housing or irons.

so please, kids, remember to hit the redline..

 

Thats too bad, but seriously you should just drop the used engine in there and call it a day! If he drove it like a grandma, maybe his seals are all gummed up. You have nothing to lose trying the ATF trick, nothing to lose at all considering the condition of the engine at the moment.

Personally though, I would find a used engine, and drop it in, a good weekend of work and your son has a car for college.

 

The owner is a kid in college...I just assumed the Father was quite incorrect about his son's driving habits

 

And if you're not part of the solution...

I've received plenty of top-notch assistance here, so just maybe, your approach and your attitude has something to do with it. But no, couldn't be you...must be everyone else.

 

If that was a California car, I would pay no more than 600 for a rolling chassis, less since its an automatic. Junking it will get you a so so amount, parting all the peices out will get you more money. After parting it, you can still junk it for a little more money

 

just sell the whole chassis, for like $500 or $700. parts from RX7s start to pile up VERY quickly in ones garage. because after 2 RX7s ive got almost the whole garage filled with parts, just misc parts that no one wants so if you sell an RX7 and dont have alot of time/money/skill on your hand just get rid of the whole getup; its much more simple, less time consuming and you get one lump although smaller sum.