So, I've had this RX-7 for almost 2 years now. I bought it for $500 in 2006, and it was supposed to be fixed up to be my daily driver for college. After spending a summer removing some of the rust and using crazy amounts of body filler, I sort of gave up and bought a different car for school. I still want to drive an RX-7 some day, so I was hoping to get some opinions on whether I should fix up the one I have, or just buy another and keep this one for parts. My plan is to have a TII car, so if I were to fix this one, I would be replacing the engine (original engine doesn't work, and is torn apart in my garage anyways) with a TII engine, as well as installing all the other necessary parts. Otherwise, I suppose I would but a TII car. Some estimates on what it would cost to repair and swap this car up would be greatly appreciated.

Some pictures
The day I bought it:


Now:




Engine mostly apart:




The worst rust spot, under the driver's side door:




Not too many KMs:


There are a few more images in my photobucket album here - http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk158/Dillman2112/

Any input is appreciated!

Thanks.

 

Sorry man, I would scrap it. You can buy a much better example for not a whole lot than pouring tons of hours in this one. The SE is not good to start from, because it doesnt have the 4 piston front calipers and vented rear disc or 5 bolt lug pattern. The rust alone should be enough reason to put her to bed. Shoot for an 88 GTU or 88 Turbo II(the latter is harder to find). The 89-91's took the GTU name but are not truely GTU's. They are 5 bolt pattern SE's.

 

Use your own best judgment. If you've got time and money, or are emotionally attached to the car, go for it.

Personally I'd find a better starting place.

 

+1

 

Thanks. In a way I feel like I want to fix it up, because it would be a great project and I would be happy not to send it off to the junk yard, but no doubt it would take a ton of effort. I'll definitely hold on to it until I'm done school in Dec. and go from there. I just hope I can convince myself to buy another one if I get rid of this one.

 

part it out. DIBS on the radio surround! lol
But too much rust for me too. Im in ga so id die if my car had rust like that....
~TDR

 

with any 20+ year old car, especially sports cars like the rx7, you are going to be spending some money and quite a bit of effort down the road. this being said i have to agree with the others and say scrap it and find a better starting place. I had the same thing happen but it was cuz i had too many projects and i had to scrap one. I really didn't want to, but as stated, the SE isn't a very good starting point. Go TII.
edit: wow i just re-read your post and it sounds EXACTLY like my thought process, i ended up much happier with a TII to work on. Good luck.

 

if you want a fc project a 4 lug, na, s4 is not a good platform to start with unless you have some serious plans for the car.

 

if you part it, PM me for the stock spoiler!! :P

i say.. its up to you. i bought mine for 400.. i'm still working on it.. although.. it doesnt have as much rust as yours.. but your interior is way better than mine...

i say find another one, swap out the bad for your still good parts.. that's what i would do.

 

Thanks for the replies. I was looking online for some potential project cars, and there was really only one TII I would want to buy out of all of autotrader.com, autotrader.ca and eBay motors. It sure doesn't seem like there are a lot of them out there. Back to my car, would it be worth it to rebuild the engine and sell it, or would there just be no point or a waste of money?

Also, what is the advantage to having five lugs instead of four on the wheels?

 

use craigslist to try and find one out there(where i got mine). i am currently working on a 86 gtu i got for 450$ has some under body rust but nothing that cant be fixed. i donno if i would spend the huge amount of time if i had a se though alot of stuff needs to be changed out to other stock parts to make it worth it. that rust isnt that bad i would be more worried about the 4 lug and single piston brakes.

 

What's DUW?

 

Depending on where you live, there may not be a lot of nice FCs for sale at any given time. You may need to be patient. I took about three months and looked at maybe 20 cars before I settled on my current '88 GTU.

The five lug hubs aren't necessarily any more desirable per se, but S4 five lug cars also came with the upgraded 4-piston front brakes and vented rear rotors. For a daily driven car, the smaller brakes are adequate, but the upgraded brakes do have a bit more stopping power and a bit better feel I think, having owned both.

BTW, I wholeheartedly agree that it is time to scrap/part your car. I just did the same to my old rusted out S5 GTU. If you can do the cutting/welding yourself and can afford to buy the new floor components from Mazda, fixing it may make sense, but not if you also hope to do a TII swap down the road. Just get a TII now.

 

Rust is the one thing that's too hard to fix. I'm sorry to say it's better to part it out. Or if you want to be certain, take it/describe it to a body shop and ask for a quote. They will quote you several thousand dollars or they'll just say "junk it", I do not exaggerate. Even if you save most of that by DIYing, you'll have to spend a load of time to make up for it.

 

like the others, its going to be thousands of investments on rebuilding.. and if by thousands, might as well get a new rotor beast! well, i hope you find your answer somewhere..

if you do part, pm me first about the spoiler!