i disagree with your "loads more fun"

 

Okay. So I have a guy that's holding a rx7 that I believe has fuel injector issues. You have to hold the clutch an gas down all the way to get it to start. Once it starts it runs great but sometimes it doesn't want to start. It has 118,000 miles. What do you guys think?

 

Hard to tell much from just those pics (I mean thanks for the shot in the shade...tres noir).
What do you think?

 

I think that the mileage on there is great. The interior is in incredible shape. If I can get it for the right price I think it would be a fun project seeing that it seems to be a fuel injector issue.

 

The mileage is irrelevant, a good interior is a bonus.

I'd figure that a decent NA FC is going to cost somewhere around $4-5k.
This includes the price of the car but no engine rebuild.

So, if you spend $4k on the car, you should expect it to be completely functional/driveable...hop in, cruise crosscountry type of condition.
If you buy for $1500, figure you'll spend another $2500 or so getting it on the street.

Point is, somebody is going to spend about that amount of cash...either the seller did already or you will, post-sale.

This will probably be contested by others and prices/availability certainly vary quite a bit around the country but I think it's a reasonable starting point.
Better to be pessimistic from the beginning and maybe be pleasantly surprised, than to be a Pollyanna and get crushed by unexpected reality.

 

That's exactly what I offered him is $1500.

 

And what is your budget post-purchase?
(in other words, what's left after you buy the car?)

 

As of right now nothing. I plan on working on this for a little while. As I have another vehicle to drive.

 

Just as I figured.

First money you spend is on the legal **** then...title/registration, whatever OK requires.
Make sure the car is totally, indisputably yours before investing anything else into the project.
Yup, boring.

After that, there's a lot you can do without spending much cash but it mostly consists of a very detailed inspection, not "fixing" things so much.

Have you a place the car can be put up on stands and left for a while?

 

So I assume that the car has been bought. From the looks of the add it's an 86 so it should have black moldings, but they are red on the car. This could be possible evidence of a repaint. That and the engine bay is black, so the car was originally black most likely. Repaints are one of those things that unless you spend good money and do it right, it makes everything else you do the outside of your car more expensive. I Will never buy a repainted car unless its REALLY nice. For 1500 I would seriously steer away from this car on account of the paint and engine/clutch troubles.

 

How To Buy An '86-'92 Non-Turbo RX-7

This is a great tool I used to get my car. He does a very good and well thought out guide.

And if your wanting a turbo:
How To Buy An '86-'92 Turbo RX-7

 

Personally the paint doesn't bother me. I plan on drifting this car so I don't want something with a good paint that I would be afraid of scratching.

 

how fast are you on the steering lol

 

Pretty fast.

 

So back to the is issue wuth the car. Do you think it's a fuel injection issue?

 

low compression or flooding injectors are the two most common after you've checked the basics.

FC rx7s have whats called low polar movement. IE they transition very quickly. good for autox and circuit racing (makes the car very responsive to direction changes) however they're not very forgiving if your not a pro on the steering while drifting, goes from drift to spin out very very quickly unlike a s13-14 that have longer wheel basses and a less rear bias weight distribution.

 

So after research it seems it could either be the coolant sensor or the fuel injectors. It sounds to me like the engine is flooding. And when it comes to the steering, isn't that what drifting is about? aren't you supposed to be a pro at steering and throttle to drift?

 

Let me know what you guys think of this. I got the number for the mechanic shop so I can see if they actually know what they're talking about.
1986 Mazda RX7

 

It's a little sketchy...setting the timing is a ten minute procedure and should cost almost nothing.
Used AFMs are pretty cheap as well, so assuming the diagnosis is correct, that car should be running for less than $100.

 

Yeah I did quite a bit of research and I got the number for the mechanics shop it's at since they probably know nothing of rotarys. He told me that it would just accerlate slow. That was the issue so I dont really see how it's the timing or the air intake. kinda sounds like a clutch to me.

 

Secondary injectors not staging right, maybe?

 

Do you think it would be good if I go pick it up for $800?

 

Okay so I just called the shop that the car is currently at. They told me that the car takes a minute or two to go. He said that like once your start to go and lets say get on the highway but have to slow down the car takes like a minute or two to get back up again? what do you think it could be?

 

Jeez, is it even running on two rotors?

I'll reiterate what I said before...at your price level, assume the motor is trash and go for the best body/paint you can find.

 

Okay. I'm going to take a compression tester and do a compression test. There's a motor on craigslist here that I might pick up. How hard would you say it would be to drop an engine into this car?