buying 2nd FC - 90 convert. & test drove - any thoughts?
 

Well test drove a 90 Mica Blue Convertible tonight.

It was an auto (since Mica blue didn't come otherwise) and definitly is a dog off the line (0 torque @ 1500 rpms), but it will make a great daily driver and the foundation for a TII conversion. Low mileage, no rust, & the top's in decent shape.

All the "little" difference are cool like no ABS but airbag is installed, cruise & signals are not on the console but have seperate levers (cool), leather/vinyl interior, GTU side mirrors, smaller dome light (no map lights), Hold feature on the auto for curvy road driving, etc..

I did notice the convertible switch is goofed up so I bet the top doesn't auto-recline and it needed a tire/wheel balance.

The price is right so I'll do an extensive test drive & compression check on Saturday.

Anyone have any convertible or automatic specific recommendations to check? It has 85K miles and probably needs the 60K services done, allignment, etc..

-- vaughnc
1992 FC3S Turbo II RX-7 - Midnight Blue

what? you don't have 100 pics of it to post?....

Waiting for that sweet sony cybershot digi-camera to drop to $299.

How much do they want for it. Just out of curiosity?

$3800

If the paint and body are clean that is a good deal. I just bought a 88 and forgot to check the power for the vert. Actually I still haven't done it.

If I were you I'd keep looking, find a 5 speed Vert with a blown engine for less than a grand and then pay a couple more thousand to have someone (Corksport in portland oregon does it) put a jspec engine in it. Unless of course you can do it yourself. That's the only way to go...:)

well, if its just gonna be your project car...and you're gonna drop in a 13bt anyway, i' d pay more attention to the little things that make it a vert. like for instance the drop top switch you talked of. some of that stuff might be hard to find or hard to fix. find one with all the working interior parts and a straight body if you're gonna drop in another motor anyway :)

Erik / BuddyRX7,

Well you know me, I only go for those rarer colors so red, black, and white are out :) I'm doing a FULL daytime test drive tomorrow and believe me I will definitly be doing the complete lookover.

If Mica blue came in a stickshift I wouldn't buy this one. As it doesn't, the price is right, it's an 89+, and the car seems to be in good shape this may be the one. The compression test will be the determining factor of course.

Probably be looking for a used 5speed trans first thing though.

I talked with Mazcare (rx7 shop in Atlanta) and they said the transmission tunnel might have to be widened to accomodate the manual trans and I'd be looking at $2-$3K. That's weird because another post 5 weeks back said he only paid $800 for the swap.

I'm assuming you'd need a different drive axel, flywheel (pull the engine to install), the GXL/GTU center console & stick shift, etc...

I'll do some more R&D on this. It's not critical as I have the TII as well so I can get my high rpm launch fix :D

Hey how many miles are on it anyways? For the price you might be paying for the tranny swap you can just have any vert painted to that color. I found a red 88 here in FL with 66,000 miles & its a 5 speed for $4000 & I have only been looking 2 mins. I will post some other ones.

Well the red ones seem to be the easy ones to find. I found another for $2500 that looks nice too. Has a 5 speed too. I really think you should find one that is a 5 speed first though, easier to get it painted then change the tranny. I mean there is nothing about the paint job that can mess up. The tranny could give you problems.

Yeah I found out some of the white ones have a blue interior similar to the mica blue ones & a 5 speed.

Think I'll have a change of heart and just repaint a 5 speed like you suggested.

Of course, to really do a perfect paint job, you'll have to yank the engine :).

Dave

And as soon as I find a cheap smashed TII to pull from I'll be stripping the convertible down to the bone of corse to repaint :)