Buying rx-7 checklist
 

My buddy found an 87 TII being sold locally. So far all we really know about it is that it has the HKS sport turbo kit in it, has an extra engine in a crate, and has some expensive wheels on it.

I wrote up some questions to ask, to try and figure out if this is a guy who knows what he's talking about, or just slapped a new turbo on an old car.

It's attached and it's a little long, but any help would be definetly be appreciated

Bump
 

My cats breath smells like cat food

Re: Bump
 

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"I'm Idaho!" "It tastes like burning!" Ralph Wiggum rules. :D

Wow! That's a good list. I stared at it and tried to think of something you didn't cover but it seems like a pretty solid list. If I think of something I'll post it, but you lok like you covered everything.

You guys are damn anal when it comes to buying these cars. First of all don't worry so much about injectors, those can always be upgraded. Tell the idiot to yank the carpet and grab a screwdriver and see how that good ole fuel pump looks. The idiot that had mine had it on ass backwards and the car didn't run all that good.
Another thing is if it does have a J-spec engine ASK ABOUT EMISSIONS. I don't care because it is Maine and they are just a bunch of hicks. However, if there are ever emission test you might need to get some damn restrictive hardware to pass. The oil stains I wouldn't worry about since you should rebuild the engine anyway. Buy a cheap one, take it apart and see how it works. This is what I did and next year I will yank the one in the car and rebuild it. Takes about a good week. I helped my friend do it last year and he will help me with mine this year.
Hmmm....Look for the intercooler on the upgraded turbo. If it is FM than I would stay away from it. Front Mounted coolers seem to die really quick and they tend to be restrictive. That is the reason why mazda has theirs where it should be.
Get under the car and look at the exhaust/cats. If this is stock, WATCH OUT those damn things get plugged way to easy and this leads to a dead turbo. If it looks like there is a new precat/etc and a stock exhaust than again WATCH OUT. You are looking for an aftermarket exhaust with some damn high flow on a twin turbo.
This isn't it however, don't worry about it. Go for the car they are a blast to drive and they are as easy as popping a pimple when it comes to a rebuild. Have fun and learn something new. These cars will give you a higher understanding of the words "piston pushers."

1. Does it have a boost gauge (stock one doesn’t count)? A fuel computer, boost controller, turbo timer, and any other gauges, like an A/F, EGT (exhaust gas temp), temperature gauge.

a. If it doesn’t have a boost gauge I’d be worried. Very sketchy.
b. If it does, what kind of boost is it running, does it have a fuel cut defender (needs one to get above 8.6psi), a boost controller of some sort, either manual, or electronic. How about an aftermarket blow-off valve, pop-off valve, and external wastegate (I don’t think one comes with the kit) or if the wastegate is ported. You’ll get boost creep with the stock unported wastegate.
c. If it does have a fuel computer is it a piggyback, or standalone. Standalone is more expensive, but also the easiest to screw up, and might give you problems trying to pass emissions.
d. Does the guy have a Hayes manual, or Field Service manual?

2. What Size injectors is it running?
a. Stock is 2X 550’s for primaries, and 2X550’s for secondaries.
b. Bigger is better, but there better be something to control them.

3. Has the car been dynoed, if it’s putting out any kind of HP it should have been, plus it should have been put on the dyno to tune/test the new turbo kit.
a. If it hasn’t been, then the car probably isn’t tuned well. Assuming it has something to tune, like a fuel computer, or boost controller.
b. If it’s putting out more then 220HP it should definitely have some fuel upgrades. With this kit it could be as high as 300 or more with good upgrades, and good tuning. Look for larger/more injectors. If they’re there, there should be a computer to run them. A better fuel pump, and maybe a raising rate regulator.

4. Pop the hood. Look for things like a cone filter and front mount intercooler.
a. Who installed the turbo? Is it the original engine? Has it been ported, what kind of apex seals, any other kind of custom work?
b. Has anything been taken off? AC, power steering, airpump?
c. Check the coolant reservoir for oil.
d. When was the last time it had it oil changed? Tune up?
e. Some things that might be in there, ignition box, good plug wires, electric fan, cold air box for the intake, silicone hoses. Any of these would be good.
f. What kind of exhaust does it have, downpipe / precats (downpipe is better), midpipe / stock cat/ highflow cat (you’ll need a cat of some sort if you want to pass emissions, a highflow one would be better) what kind of cat back?
g. What kind of wheels, and anything else that would either raise the value or be worth selling.

5. Take it for a test drive. The engine should be cold when you start it up. Keep the radio off.
a. It should start up easily, if it doesn’t start within a few seconds, or takes a couple tries, the engine’s probably on its way out. It might smoke when it starts up, but once it warms up it should stop. If it smokes out on the road, or at higher RPMs it’s a bad sign.
b. Check the gauges, the oil pressure should be at least 30 at start up, and go up to around 60 or a bit more when driving. The temp gauge should never get above ½ way, if it does, or gets close, there could be all sorts of problems.
c. Take it out for a spin, let it warm up before you get on the throttle. The boost should spool up smoothly, again if it doesn’t have a boost gauge, I’d be worried who knows how much pressure it’s putting out, too high, too low, is it creeping? Take it to redline in a couple different gears, you’ll probably have to be on a highway or open stretch of road, redline for 2nd is like 60mph, 3rd should be at least 80, 4th is up there.
d. Does it stumble at 3800 or so, especially under heavy throttle? It is a common problem, and can be fixed sometimes. Does it hit fuel cut at 8.6psi? You’ll know if it does. Check to make sure the temp gauge doesn’t go up too high.

6. Take it back, turn of the engine, and check the accessories.
a. Power windows, sunroof, lights pop up, all the climate controls work, wipers, including intermittent.
b. Check for leaks under the car
c. Pop the hood, check the oil, dirty or low oil is very bad
d. Look for any oil leaks in the engine compartment, or oil stains.
e. After the car has cooled down for 5min or so, start it back up, if it won’t start the engine is on its way out.

7. What kind of engine comes with it? Probably a rebuilt or j-spec.
a. If it’s rebuilt, has it been ported, what kind of apex seals, any other custom work. Does it come with accessories, i.e. oil pump, turbo, who knows what?
b. If it’s j-spec, how old is it, does it come with any kind of documentation? What does it come with, sometimes they get pulled out of the cars with nice stuff on em.
c. Why did he buy the new engine, and where did it come from? Why didn’t it get installed?

Checked it out
 

Well I actually got a chance to go down and check out the prospective buy with my friend.

Nice exterior, except that the hood was a little mangled. Engine was very clean, smoked on startup, but nothing excessive. No emissions.

what it did have was the HKS sport turbo kit (T04E I believe) with a manual boost controller, and that's it, leaky stock injectors, no fuel computer, no ported wastegate, NO fuel cut defender. It had a boost gauge that only made it up to 9psi (guess why) and a A/F meter that showed, at best, one green (rich) light.

It spooled up real fast, had alot of power, and then ran into a wall when it hit cut, good thing too, at 8 psi or so it was running just a tad under Stoich. I'm guessing we coulda blown an apex seal if we had really wanted to.

Well, all and all it turned out to be more of a project then planned on, with quite a few problems that would have to be dealth with before it would be worth the trouble.

How much do they want for it anyways? How many miles & new/ebuilt engine?

stuff
 

The guy was asking for 2200, but we were of the opinion that he could probably be talked down to 15 or 16.

The car had about 130k on it, and apparently the engine was rebuilt sometime during that, but there's no paperwork to back it up. It does come with another motor, that's supposedly got about 30k on it.


I don't have the guys number, I'll try and get it and post it this weekend, the car was parked on Rt 44 near 195 (don't remeber exactly where)

Hey if he was by me I might buy it actually. I mean you could use the other engine if you happen to blow the one. You could even take it apart befpre then and get porting templates & port the thing yourself maybe. The car runs ok though or no?

I would buy that car in a heart beat. I would just take out the engine in there now put the other one in and rebuild the first. But when i rebuilt it i would upgrade all the parts that way all the reinforcement stuff s outa the way.

project car
 

Yeah it's a great car for a project.

You'd basicly be buying a nice turbo, with an old car on it, it would take some work and cash to get everything up and running to take full advantage of the turbo.

Yeah, it wouldn't be good for someone looking for reliable transportation, but it sounds like a decent project car. So you would be looking at:

$1,500 Wolf3D w/Boost Controller
$750 Four 750cc Injectors
$350 High-flow fuel pump, filter, regulator
$450 Nice TII Hood
$100 Ported Wastegate

What about the transmission, driveshaft, wheel bearings, window seals, shocks & springs, etc?

Hmm, not too bad, but it may be better to look around for something else.

Anything ever happen with this car? D'OH! Edited because... Jan 2001 is a long time from Feb 2002! Sorry folks.

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