Hey guys, I've been somewhat of a rotary fanatic (along with other tuner cars) since Gran Turismo and I was eying FD's and Silvia's for a while along with other stuff but yesterday I was driving home from my nan's house yesterday and on the way, I saw a 1990 RX7 Turbo 2 for sale, so I got the guys number and gave him a call later on. He wants $5000 for it and I have $3500 and my parents said they might loan me the rest as long as I pay them back (yes I have a job, two actually). It has 140XXX Kilometers and the exterior looks like it's in pretty good condition, the owner says it's been garage kept through winter, his exhaust went so he got a racing beat cat installed and he has a high flow intake (not sure what brand, will ask later). He's the original owner, owned it since summer of 91 (didn't sell in fall of 90) and he sounded like a knowledgeable guy late thirties to early forties. So, I was wondering if this deal gets the RX7 communities seal of approval. I'm 16 in Highschool and I live in Canada. I know the 13B's aren't known for their amazing MPG, but I think I can handle that, is there anything else I should know about 13Bt's? Are they fairly reliable if driven well or can they take a beating or should I not even drive it?

 

They take beating pretty well AS LONG AS ITS MATINTAINED. Cant really stress that enough. Some people will just beat on it no matter the condition because they can always rebuild it.

If you know your way around the rotary engine and the fcs electrical system, you pretty much know how to fix everything on it.

I wouldnt be surprise if that owner is part of rx7club. He might be on here somewhere.

 

Welcome to the most unforgiving engine ever created. It's a blast, then it blows.

 

If you can afford it go for it.

Just total up normal gas costs monthly, cost to do oil changes and such (Gonna do it yourself?) cars are expensive my alt blew and I had to dump 220ish and since I couldnt afford towing the car sat a few miles away, got everything jacked out of it

your 16 and are looking at a 5000$ car, think bout it. If you waited and doubled that you could almost get a 3rd gen rx7 too...

I'd compression test the motor and check over its engine bay make sure it doesn't look in bad shape, take it for a test drive. If all good enjoy your fc :]

 

when it comes to owning a turbo Rx-7, three things can happen (and sometimes a combination):

1) you pay out the *** for someone else to fix it, and often that person barely knows what they're doing despite seeming confident

2) you learn the hard way and become an unpaid mechanic with lots of knowledge about wiring, turbos, emissions systems, etc

3) you give up and sell the car because you can't handle the time, money, and stress involved

 

Alright, thanks for the response and input guys. Is there anything I should fix immediately? I remember reading something about the FD's with how their turbos are setup and with the intercooler or something, is there anything like that with FC's? Also, how many horses do you guys estimate it's putting out with the racing beat and new intake?

 

Also another thought, make sure you get the underside checked out. Look at everything you can, rust or skid damage on the body or frame underneath. Also check for leaks while your there on the rear end and the transmission, under the engine and check out the suspension and bushings. Look for any cracks or obvious wear on the bushings, the car is 2 decades old almost and will have some normal wear and tear on those components. As stated earlier make sure to get a compression test, this is a HUGE deal. Read the FAQ on this and search for info on compression tests and most important... Make sure you can afford to have the car sitting because something breaks on it and you have to fix it. Also stated above, finding a rotary mechanic is like finding gold in your toilet when you stand up. There is 1 "knowledgable" person in about 100 miles of where I am in Michigan and they work at the Mazda dealership. When you get the car plan on spending money on it to do any work that needs to be done immediately, because it will need something. These cars are like the Paris Hilton of automobile, needy, spoiled, and constant attention ******.

But if you are willing to put up with all of the headaches for the amazing ride that these cars offer than it is worth it. Oh yeah and being in Canada plan on having a second car for winter, just some POS beater that does the job of getting you to and fro. Since you are looking at a supposed garage kept RX-7 and you supposedly love these cars, I can't imagine you will want to drive it in the winter. Well at least I wouldn't want to.

 

As for the compression test, do you think a mechanic at the Mazda dealer would be able to do that? Or is that something I can do or what?

 

You can do it, but the Mazda dealer will have the proper tools to do a guarantee accurate test. Or you can do it with a cheap piston engine tester. Do a search for compression test or look in the FAQ for how to do it.

 

Alright, thanks a million. Cheers.

 

i would probably rather suggest an n/a rx7 over a TII even if it is an awsome deal. learn on that and then turbo swap it or sell it and get a TII other wise the car will sit when something breaks. I have been working on cars for a good many years and am now going to turbo swap my vert within the next 30 days now that i am used to the rotary engine and all the other stuff on my fc

 

i wouldn't get that for your first car, its allready clear you haven't done any research, and dont know much at all about the car.

your more concerned with how much power it makes with the exhaust and intake, instead of researching.

buy something that you can handle for a first car, something that isn't as complicated for a first timer. buy a miata of something.

 

Let me know how your tII goes, I am thinking about boosting my n/a perhaps, but probably not for quite a while. I am going to go rtek 2.7 and a tune most likely tho. I can prolly get 190 to 200 rwhp with the rtek and a good tune job. well at least thats hat I am hoping.

 

+1.

 

yea or buy some shitty car and work on that for a while then you wont be pissed when it gets wrecked or something like that because it has a good amount of power.


+1 for researching. Dont just buy a car because you saw it on fast and furious. If you are then pick yourself up a civic or an eclipse or something like that. Not a good condition semi-rare car that you will more than likely rice out with giant glue on spoilers and cheap ebay parts.


I will probably start a build up thread for everyone to see when i do my TII swap. I dont want to go to extreme with my vert just around 300whp reliably with an rtek 2.1 and a hybrid turbo with all the supporting mods.

 

Id say get an N/A RX7 first. I learned alot from my NA. Then I got a cheap TII shell droped in a jspec motor and now I feel pretty confident when ever I get under the hood of my TII

 

Learn everything you can before you even think about buying an FC. Research day and night, then start looking at n/a FCs. If you can't name all the major components under the hood when you go look at a car to buy, go back home and learn more. It will be a much more enjoyable experience if you know what you're doing and don't blow it up in some noobish way right when you get it.

 

The $5,000 asking price is a bit high unless the car is in immaculate condition. I guess you could use that as a starting price, and then deduct the price to fix all of the flaws from there. Once you look at it, I recommend posting on this forum again so we can give you a general idea of the cost and complexity of fixing each flaw. Be sure to read Aaron Cake's articles on how to buy an RX-7. Read BOTH the non-turbo and turbo articles, as the turbo article only addresses the engine/turbo components. It wouldn't hurt to print this out and take it with you when you look at cars.
http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/tech1.htm

The car you are considering is older than you and it still works. That should tell you two things:

1. It is well-made and has been reliable up to this point.
2. It will probably need maintenance soon.

Given that, the car should remain fairly reliable as long as you keep up the maintenance. Keep in mind that this commonly includes $2,000 for an engine rebuild, $275 for a new driveshaft, $500 for new brake pads and rotors, and $500 for a new clutch. The exhaust is normally on that list, but the one you are considering should have that covered for several more years. Fortunately, the turbocharger, transmission, and differential/halfshafts on these cars are much more stout than typical sports cars, although these too will need servicing at
some point.

Whenever I buy a used RX-7, I immediately spend approximately $800 on various items like fan belts, oil, filters, battery, trim pieces, etc.

Cars this old require much more maintenance than a new car, so it is not a good idea to spend all your money just to buy the car. You can get away with spending all your money on a NEW car because it will have a 3-7 year warranty. The warranty on these cars is long gone. I recommend keeping about $500-1,000 in the bank at all times. Since you currently have $3500, that tells me that you are responsible with your money, and continuing this trend should not prove difficult for you.

If you are serious about buying this car, print out a copy of the service schedule and mark the dates or kilometers that the previous owner performed each item. This will let you know what and when you need to service each item yourself, which will save you a lot of time and money by eliminating the guesswork. I recommend using the "Unique Driving Conditions" chart on page A-6 to A-8.
http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/factory...aintenance.pdf

Just in case this is scaring you, it applies to ALL old sports cars. The FC RX-7 is actually one of the less-expensive old sports cars to maintain, and it also performed well in crash tests of the time. If you do not raise the boost from stock levels, the car will run great with Regular octane fuel. Additionally, the large hatchback area is a big plus when you compare it to the cramped luggage space of other sports cars, and I found it very useful during my college days. If you are considering other cars, I do not recommend the FD RX-7 due to its much higher selling price and higher maintenance cost.

 

5k. thats a bit steep... It would have to have a new engine for that price..
Look around.. Dont buy the first one you see... there are alot of good cars out there. Maybe cheaper. get an NA. more reliable.
Last thing you want is to pay 5k for a car and it breaks then you cant get to school (or work).. JMO

 

$5000 is Canadian and that's $4.5 US. I live in a really remote part of Canada where this is probably one of the only 7's in the province (or at least my side of it) not including 8's that runs.

I've been researching and on the FAQ's reading different threads and I realize I don't know everything, I never said I did. I'm here to learn and gain knowledge and I realize you guys have a lot of experience on me and I truly appreciate your input, but please, keep it constructive and positive.

I'm not more interested in the power gain from two little mods, I was just inquiring. Please don't make assumptions and be so negative about them.

Again, thanks for all the comments and opinions guys.

 

I'd recommend against the gold plated rotors and pads.
He should be able to get normal-person parts for less than half that.

 

i daily drive a full stand alone 13bt, as long as you maintain it well and fix all the little quirks itll last. Ive had mine for about 8-9 months and it was a JDM motor that was shipped to me and its still running very nice

just get a good tune/maintain monthly oil change every 3k miles etc etc. They are great cars and fun as **** to drive. THe only thing that upsets me is the gas mileage, its complete ****! you can actually watch the gas meter go down when you step on it..lol

 

Don't spend all your money on just buying the car, have a little breathing room for emergency repairs. there are going to be some that will say stay away from it, some go for it. As far as first car, daily driver status i would say not to until you are a little more experienced with fixing cars. FC's have quirks, bottom line. they have weird engine control systems that wont work properly sometimes and you might end up being stuck once in a while. So if you have your parent's car or a back up car then go for it. i say talk him down a bit, with the left over money you buy a cheap daily that is more reliable in the sense that you can start it up in the morning consistently or can be diagnosed by any local technician.

 

You will never know everything. Just do the best you can.

Which auto shop charges less than $250 for replacing the pads and rotors? Heck, OEM-level parts alone cost about $300, not including the brake hardware kit that is almost always needed nowadays.

If you are going to argue with anything, it should be my quoted price for an engine rebuild, which can cost over $6,000 in a worst-case scenario when rebuilt with all new parts. Since the OP is not likely to pay for all new parts, I stuck with the cheapie quote on this one.

Looking back, I forgot to add labor for the driveshaft, so that will cost a bit more than quoted. Everything else looks pretty accurate as far as estimates go, possibly a bit on the low side as a fudge factor for the cheaper Canadian labor and currency.

 

I must have got lucky. I paid 400 for my rebuild. But i took the engine out. Did reuse alot of old parts ofcourse :P