Hey guys, I'm facing a decision right now with the future of my Second Gen.

I'm Moving up to North Carolina next summer ( I currently live in Orlando), and I'm probabily going to be tight on cash for awhile while I am getting situated. I love my 7 and driving it is a blast, even for a N/A 87 GXL lol.

Problem is, shes getting up there on the miles....almost at 140,000. I just can't afford to throw an apex seal while I'm up there and be stuck without transportation to and from work.

I might be forced to sell her for something more reliable, but..at the same time I really dont want to.....I have two choices to make, and I'm looking for advice on em.

Choice A

Install some new Apex seals before I go, and perform as many preventative matenience measures as possible

OR

Choice B

Unfortunatly sell her for something more reliable.


Help me out on this one guys, Thanks.

 

If your car has been treated well it could go for atleast another 60k. I would advise against rebuilding the engine because it costs atleast 180$ in soft seals + 300$ for new apex seals. I wouldn't worry about throwing apex seals personally. Most likely you would have something else screw up on ur NA. Coolant related perhaps. Also remember most things bad for rotaries end in ur car still driving ok.

 

its never easy to let a rx7 go but you can always find another one to buy (depending on how far you want to look sometimes). i say sell it and buy a diffrent rx7 with improvements from your old one (youll knwo what your looking for from experience) but wait till your financialy stable and money isnt such an object

 

you may have to let it go, or just be carefull with it.

 

Unless you have a reason to be expecting an apex seal to fail, I wouldn't worry about it. I just passed 220,000 miles on my '87TII and as many here have read me say, I drive the p!$$ out of it daily. It still starts every morning without complaint and has been the best car I've owned in 35 years of driving.


- k -

 

Its isn't very likely to throw a seal on an NA. Most die from with coolant seal or oil seal failure, neither of which is a fast death. Unless you suddenly overheat it, they basically always give you plenty of advanced notice via smoke out the exhaust. If you are careful, you can still drive them many thousands of miles after you start seeing smoke.

 

Im in a situation like that now. Rad cracked, overheated, and judging by the way it runs now my coolant seals no longer exist. I think the best idea was to buy another 7 that runs well and has lower mileage.

 

LOL, if you found driving your RX-7 in flat and boring as hell Florida fun. Just wait till you get to NC and hit some real mountains (Well, for out east). You will be grinning ear to ear.

What part of NC?

James

 

I'll be living in "The Triangle" Raleigh/Durham area. My girlfriend lives in Oxford, So I'll be making trips out there quite a bit, about 45 min drive, but damn are those roads nice....slightly curvy...not to bad...but perfect to do some spirited safe driving.

If you guys say it'l be safe, then I guess I might not have as much to worry about..just gotta keep up the matenience....Her dad mentioned to me that they have emissions and safety inspections though, Do you guys in NC know how hard thatl be to pass/what they check for?

 

I live in NC. I am pretty sure that emissions is only for 96 and newer cars. My rx7 passed fine. I am not even sure what is ment by safety, I hear it, but dont know it, and I passed it too.

 

Oh man ... you are going to be SO close to one amazing racetrack! 3.27 road course They have mazda days out there...luckey bast!
www.virclub.com

And there is a really good autox club there. http://www.auto-x.com/



Prob an hour drive or so.

James

 

buy a camry or accord. get a 7 once you are back up and secure.

 

Take it and have it compression checked, flush the radiator, and make sure most of the other things are working correctly and if everything checks out correctly then just keep it.

Chris

 

don't run coolant flush through it though. i did that **** and then it started eating coolant like crazy.

 

why does everyone think his engine is going to pop? it's a n/a. they will easily last 200k if properly cared for.

 

Man, just drive it gently, stay out of extended high RPMs, my 87 base is my DD, and I put on 90 miles a day over the summer, in the heat, at that. They also handle well in the snow. Don't be dumb, and it'll last.

 

Dare I say it.....? More reliable....? should I....? ....... I........... can't.........[tries to restrain self].........help.....[[puts flame suit on] ..... it....!!!.............. L........S........1...........!!!

LOL

Later,
Bill

 

Your flame suit won't protect you from hell. Lazy bastards do the LS1. Or ignorant people.

 

Ignorance is Bliss. So is Laziness. Caroll Shelby musta been ignorant and lazy, eh?

Just to be clear, I like Rotarys and Pistons. And I like Rx7s no matter which engine are in them.

Back on topic: Our vert was sitting for about 6 months or so under a tree before we picked it up. We towed it home, checked the fluids, put a battery in it and cranked it for about 30 minutes before she wanted to fire up. After that we changed some fluids, and it has run fine ever since. It starts right up, idles at about 500-600rpm, very smoothly. It runs all the way to redline without a problem. I did have to fix the heater hose where it goes into the block below the oil filter, but mechanically that is all we have had to do to it. We took it to Gainesville this past saturday for the road course test and tune and the car ran fine all day long, and drove home without a problem.

Just do your normal periodic maintanance, making sure everything is lubed properly and you will have no probs.

Oh, I did run a can of Sea Foam through the tank when I first started driving it. Doing this about once a month or so will help keep your fuel system clean.

Later,
Bill

Later,
Bill