Boy, you know them cars catch fire, dontcha?[56k warning]
 

I am now the owner of a 1987 FC NA. It was given to me and the only reason I took it was because the shell itelf was in good condition. I am fully aware of the can of worms that this project will turn out to be but I have high hopes and time and to some extend $$$.

But enough of the words. Let the pictures speak.


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So here it is. As of next week I will be tearing the entire frontend apart and sharting from the bare metal.

Any suggestions? (other than getting something else)

your going to need an entire doner car. and remove all the rust.

fix the rust get rid of the engine and throw a built small block in there lol, what does the GX model come with???

rust is the 1st thing on my list, which luckily only has housed itself in the frontend of the vehicle. the cargoholds behind the seat have none in them. as for GX, it's the base model. so bare minimum which is fine by me. as long as it has a rotary i'm happy.

i have a complete 13B with tranny and extras... pm me.. if thats what you're looking for

pics arnt big enough

With the 4-lug hubs, it's almost not even worth it...


-Ted

Holy hell large pics batman. GLHF with that one.

Resized the pics to 10x7 and as for it being almost not worth it, well it was free.

that's a parts car...

looks like a good canadite for track car to me

Yep, I was thinking the same thing... strip a few parts off and send the rest to the wrecker

parts car, unless you don't value your time in any meaningful way

saaavee iitttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i mean jeesus it was free! remove everything in the bay, paint the bay black, get new fenders, new hood, new windsheild, get a s4 n/a longblock (CHEAP) and wiring harness and slap it in there. really, its not that bad. all the ruined stuff is removable/replaceable.

sell me the a-pillar trim/molding

+1 parts car

Don't wreck that thing. That's a really nice shell. A while back I totaled the shell of an RX-7 while driving in the first rain of the season. It was a moderate speed accident but the car rolled after hitting a guard rail at a bad angle, landing upside down. I sold all the insides for $175, figuring they were as unharmed as I . Too bad you weren't looking back then.

What I mean is find a car from an accident, or find a parts car, or make several trips to various junkyards, etc. Yeah, it's a money pit, but that shell is definately too nice to waste. Worse comes to worse you can sell it or part it out.

NOPR, you read my mind. Thats exactly what I intend to do.

well, you seem to have a lot more going on in your head than most people with 4 posts, so good luck. depending on how much money and skill lever you have you could have lots of easy/cool/decently cheap options.

yes, 4lugs arent the best, i had em, i swapped em. yes n/a drivetrain parts arent the best, i had em, i swapped em. my car was a base model when i got like yours and nows its a whole new car. dont let people discourage you because your car didnt come with hip factory options. that shit is swappable anyways. even if you dont swap to better suspension and dirvetrain, its still a fun car.

you have a nice interior and a nice body except the easily removable and replaceable parts. all of that rust is probably paper thin and a good wire wheel will kick its ass. just start ripping shit out, clean it up, get the body in order then consider engine options.

ANYWAY, one other thing i thought i'd point out is that your heater core is probably furbared. its a big ol hunk of plastic behind the dash that coolant flows through and it looks like yours is leaking or probably melted because there's what appears to be a wet (coolant) stain to the right of your pedals. pull the dash and check that crap out.

its a lot of work, dont get discouraged! the best way to learn the car is rebuild one from the gound up. at the very least you can dissassemble it and learn as much as you can before sending it off. i mean shit, IT WAS FREE!

Listen to NOPR, let him be your Sensei. He's a bro of mine and I vouch for him.

Other than that when I first saw the pics of that monstrous onbscenity the first thought that came to mind was "2jZ-GTE? NO SHIT?!" (quote from FnF) You have a diamond in the rough. Go with it and don't let anything get you down.

BTW, I think you might want to take a look at your gauge cluster. On first gens (my forte) if the speedo gasket thingy goes it'll leak oil. It looks like that might be the case for you. I only know this because Peejay showed me it in his FB earlier this week.

that so a track car, i mean the fire did some good weight loss for you =P

you know i bet that block still might be good actually

SAVE IT! Believe me, you will gain a new knowledge and appreciation of the car if you do everything yourself. The first time you start it up, its a rush of joy. I had a fire in my car, naot near as bad, but I now know way more about it than if someone else fixed it or I got a new car.

how long had that thing been on fire?

:(

This is a monumental project.
 

Part it.

Crush it.

Kick the ass of whoever gave it to you, 'cause it ain't free. Bitch slap anyone who tells you to fix it, because they are spending your money. You can gain experience on an RX7 that hasn't been burned up. Buy a car with a bad interior and a good drivetrain and swap the nice interior. You will pay far less for a nice 7 than you will pay for the parts to fix that on.

Even though a money pit is free, it is still a money pit. This is not an investment, it is a nightmare.


That is a $1500 car MAX if it wasn't burned. On a good day if you're lucky you could even buy it for $1000. You are in way too deep. If you weren't, you would already know this.

If you go down this road, chances are you will never register and drive the thing. Ebay and the FS sections here are full of project cars that are unfinished and the owners try to unload them by telling you how much money they have put into the car. Don't be that person.

The damage to the metal caused by the fire is irreversable. The fire will have thinned and re-structured the molecular makeup of the metal, making it unstable and unsafe. Your front suspension/engine mounts rely on the metal to keep the car tight. BTW ever removed a seized bolt that has been near heat. Well imagine that X1000 now.. Removing the engine will be a bitch. PLUS the car will always stink. Pull the interior, and send it on it's way. I have recieved over 5 FREE rx-7's in my life and they all met the crusher for various reasons.

yep, exactly. The metal will be soft and weak and the smell will never be out of the interior soft parts.

thats one way of doing the bare block mod.

Well, I'm keepin it. Firewall repair should be interesting. As for the history behind this thing. 10 years ago the engine was rebuilt and 50km in it developed a leaky injector. You can imagine the rest. So for the past 10 years this thing has been sittings in a guys garage.

^^^^^words to live by

Use that as your donor car and find another one to donate to.
Or, part it and use the cash to buy something in better condition. Honestly dude, you're getting into a huge mess -- you're going to invest a LOT more money than what you think you saved by having it given to you... Seriously...take the advice of these people, they're not just blowing smoke -- they're saving you a lot of headaches and frustration and ultimately you getting fed up w/ the car and pissed off so much that you can't look at another FC again...

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot. The car does not smell. Even when you sit in it there is no recognizable odor. The car has been sitting for 10 years with the windows always open and a big hole in the windshield. That might be the reason.

Plan on replacing the heater core as well...

Originally Posted by RETed
With the 4-lug hubs, it's almost not even worth it...


-Ted

+3

holy hell, PD death cars are great.

Having the pleasure of re-doing one on a budget trying to use misc parts out of a pile, lots of fun, i tell ya what.

take everything out of the engine bay and front end, go find rotors with wheel hubs that are 5 lug at the junkyard and replace the wheel bearings if needed.
take everything out of the car and buy a new engine or find a junkyard engine and tranny and buy a video and a rebuild kit from atkins rotary.

Before installing engine make sure you get ride of all the rust.

at the end of this you will prolly feel a rewarding sense and the big hole in your pocket

big hole??

FREAKING GAPING HOLE!!!

like if someone took a cannor to ur pocket...honestly im all for building cars from the ground up but find a running ca with a crap interior and swap the interior...

you can totally reuse the water pump pulley.

BTW PM if you want to get rid of your stock seat belt system.

fugg i wish someone would give me a 7 with nice interior in it.

my tii has the wonderful pudding brown/red/pink/maroon shit that was all the rage in the 80's.

I hate it....

i would NEVER fix that car, its not worth the time doing the rust repair and fixing all that wiring and the fact everything is going to be weak cause of the fire, that car is pretty much just for parts now

Part out the rear third, then call the bone yard.

I'd strip the whole front of the car down to the unibody as well as take the ENTIRE interior and wiring, etc out; mediablast all of it then coat in POR15 or some other sort of primer/rust-inhibitor. Once that is done start collecting parts and decide where you want to go... this would be a prime candidate for a 3-rotor or 13B-RE.

They say its a money pit, but any project car is. If it is not going to be worth your time, dont junk the shell, that car is very clean and should be restored or redone by someone.

The problem is the fire. It appears that the fire burnt for a while before it was extinguished. This is VERY bad for the metal. But whatever, he can do as he pleases.. I predict a for sale add in the next 2 years reading as follows.

For Sale HIGHLY MOdified Project
New hood, new fenders, new windshield, fresh paint under the hood, jspec motor installed but not running. Needs a few things to finish and tuning. CLEAN TITLE!!!

ahhhhhhhhh that looks like a katrina car holy shit

why not look for a front clip from a wreck and swap it out. i may still know a guy selling a true right hand drive clip but its in florida.

I dont know about you guys, but I've bought 5 lug swaps for less then 200can before and really its not that big of a deal...

I can buy entire running NA's for that much also...


-Ted

are you guys kidding? Who buys a rx7 and doesn't end up spending thousands of dollars on it while they fix it up.

Unless the metal under the hood got red hot, the temper didn't change. If it did, it won't make much difference. Aluminum will soften up when it is overheated enough to warp, but steel won't. That's how steel is heat treated, btw.
I have restored many engine fire disasters, and none of them have had the front clip fall off due to soft metal. The guys who are saying to save it have either restored a similar disaster or know that it isn't as overwhelming as it seems.

Just wirebrush the engine bay clean, replace all the panels and glass, find a harness from a junkyard, and get you a motor. You don't NEED 4 piston brakes and 5 lugs to enjoy the car, these guys are making it seem like having 5 lugs is required to drive your rx7.

I agree... fix it if you can but dont spend too much $$$, and since you have a base, thats a good platform to start a real mean Turbo car from. As far a i know the bases are the Lightest ones and youve got to replace the harness and eletricals anyway right? Go a head and look for a Wrecked TII and make it a Base TII. or just poke around and find the parts... get a Jspec Engine and Trans, rebuild for reliability and look for a diff and all that other fun stuff. I say what the hell if your replaceing the entire Driveline anyway and you have some money to throw around
hell...
I gota a GTU 5Lug Set around here somewhere if ya want it :) Good Luck Ether Way!!!