I am a honda guy at heart, but fell into a deal that I cannot refuse. But sadly I know nothing about these cars!

I'm picking up an 87 RX7 on Tuesday. I am told it needs lots of work, but I'm willing to give this thing some of my attention and maybe get it running well again

The title is clean, and says 250k as the mileage. Its been sitting in a garage for over 2 years untouched, but its been covered and out of the weather. As far as I understand, it was a project left unfinished. The gentleman I'm getting it from knows nothing about it other than its color!

He sent me some photos of it and I'd like everyone's opinion on some major things I should look out for, or if anything stands out in the photos that I should know. Please don't hold back, treat me as if I know nothing about the car (because I don't!)

Enough talking, here's the photos:

 

non-RX7 radiator coupled with an electric fan that is waaaaaaay too small. That's all that really jumps out at me (other than half the car being missing/in the hatch).

Welcome to the FC world, btw. Start here: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/frequently-asked-questions-2nd-generation-rx-7-faq-fc-494667/

Download the FSM: http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/factory...ual/1986_1988/

Looks like the classifieds section is going to be your friend throughout this project: https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-rx-7-1986-1992-parts-194/

Don't forget this: https://www.rx7club.com/search.php

 

I really hope you didn't Pay BIG for this car.
you are looking at pretty well rewiring the whole car( engine bay is a Cluster FARK).the rad does not Belong in there.
The parts in the back of the car,some are unrecognizable.The car is an S4 though(tail lights).
If you paid more than 200 bucks for that you are getting LUBED big time.
Sorry to put it Bluntly My friend,but honestly I hate to see people getting taken advantage of...Look in the Vehicles for Sale Section or Shop Online at Craiglist or the like.
as long as the car is Intact,with an Engine IN it,.you can figure out where to go from there.BUT having a Shell with **** in it is like Building a Whole car from Toothpicks.You are just getting someone else's Lawn ornament..
Good luck to ya anyways.I really hope you can get your Dream car.

 

These are the replies i'm looking for! Thanks guys.

Onto the topic of if i'm getting 'lubed' on this deal - I'm definitely not. First of all, I'm doing the gentleman a favor. He needs the car gone because the property sold. He's also a good friend of a family member. He's making it a sweet deal for me because i'm getting it for free Does that turn the cards a bit in my favor now?

 

Looks like a 13B-RE cosmo motor, score! As it sits right now, you could part it out and make $2500+

 

How can you tell its got a 13B-RE? Is there something that stands out that makes it obvious in the photos?

And correct me if I'm wrong, but is the 13b-re twin turbo?

 

that is not an re from anything I can tell. Looks like it is missing the intake manifold among other things. More/better pics would help.

 

Found out some good and bad news on the phone.

Good news: He said his son put in a 'high power japanese motor into it' but didn't wire it up.

Bad news: He was getting ready for the salvage yard to come pick it up and threw away the intake manifold along with other things.


At this point, it looks like parting out the motor or selling it off as is would be the best option, but we'll see what all is missing when I get it :*(

 

Why? You have already have a free turbo core. If you were smart you should get this rebuilt and find a t2 parts motor so you can find all the missing **** you'll need. You won't be able to get anything over $500 for this motor because you have no idea what condition its in and its in pieces. This is going to be a big project. DIBS if you wanna give it away.

 

I guess I have to read more on the motors, I assumed lots of the parts were not interchangeable. And with a quick search I didn't see many 13bre specific parts on ebay.


Another question... The trailer plans fell through, so I'm stuck with a 2 wheel dolly. When I get there with the dolly, do i need to disconnect the driveshaft?

I'd rather not pull it backwards on its front wheels. Whats the best way to do this?

 

Ok, I picked it up Pretty exciting road trip.

Got it home and dug into it for a quick minute. Found that all the wiring up front has been cut up, fuse box and wires and cut and sitting in the back. Hooray

This car does indeed have the sequential twin turbo 13b re motor in it. It is indeed missing the intake manifold, but that seems to be all thats missing. He also has rewired the engine harness and attached all the plugs from the 13b re harness.

The way its looking right now, I will be parting the motor or selling the motor as is. He told me it has between 30k and 40k miles on it as his paperwork stated when it was shipped from Japan.

Long term plan is to strip the entire engine bay, clean, and plan for a different powerhouse to be put into this thing. Are any of the engine parts worth much? I see the complete engines (13bre cosmo) selling on ebay for 1500 right now. Figured the parts may be valuable to someone?

 

Interesting...The shortblock MIGHT be good since it seems like the PO stop when they couldn't get the wiring figured out. I'd compression test it before I gave up on the idea of selling it whole. How is it mounted?

Body looks to be straight (plus) what are your plans for a power plant? (say n/a 20B ;-) Whatever it is, start looking into standalones because you'll pull your hair out trying to fix that clusterfuck of a wiring situation.

 

If it was me i would sell the RE engine and get a s4 turboII engine. Assuming it was origionally na?, i would get an na wiring harness, and have a running engine in not much time.

Going behind someone elses wiring shitstorm makes you want to commit suicide.

Take the least restrictive path to getting this thing on the road = enjoying your rwd in time for summer.

john ny

 

Give her a bath and evaluate the body/paint.
If the shell is in good shape, you did OK (body/paint being by far the most expensive work to do).

Given that the engine is suspect/unknown condition and the wiring is already FUBAR, this would be the perfect candidate for a V-8 swap.

 

This car was originally a turbo car. Turbo II is on the fenders and its got the 4 pot calipers

I did wash it, and the paint is pretty good. a wetsanding would do wonders with a follow up polish and wax.

How can I check compression when nothing is wired up?

I'll go to it today and take lots of pictures. Plan today is to clean out the interior and bag all the loose bolts, nuts, screws, and other random pieces. Hey ya never know, I might find a couple hundred bucks under one of the seats!


And yes a v8 swap has crossed my mind.

 

It's an interesting exercise in cost/benefit analysis.

 

I would be going the cheaper route -- older SBC. If i can find a cheap fuel injected 350, that would probably be the motor of choice. LS1 would be what I would want, but cost would be higher.

 

I'm not sure how the laws work in Missouri but here in Colorado you can't install an engine older than the chassis- at least not if you want to register it on the street.

Carbed is certainly easier- no computers to mess with- but hood clearance is an issue, which may or may not concern you.
LSx's are obviously the motor of choice but don't overlook the LT series, which can be had more cheaply and will provide enough horsepower to make life interesting.
Depends on what kind of car you want to end up with.

 

I'm also not sure of missouri laws, but there are a few shops in the area that you can 'get away' with anything really. I'm surprised the vehicles that are passed through state inspection. I don't think mine would be an issue. Motor swaps are not a concern here.

I will look into the LT series motors. Those are out of the early to mid 90's camaro's and transams correct?

 

Do you have roadside emissions checkers in your state?
We do, they're drive by stations (usually set up on hills where you're accelerating) that take a reading and snap your licence plate. Fail three times and you get called into the real emissions station for a check.
Doesn't matter if you have historic plates or not.

In fact, Colo. just changed their classifications.
Collector plates used to be available when your car reached 25 years old.
You emissioned the car when you first registered it (had to meet the specs for it's year) and were thereafter exempt.
Now a car has to be pre-1975 for that...anything after has to pass every two years.
I was considering trading down to a FB for the V-8 swap but that no longer makes any sense.

And yes, there are ways to "get around" *ahem* the smog checks but the roadside stations are growing more numerous and harder to avoid.
It's hard to pay off an automated check station...

 

My thinking is that seeing how you got the car for free and the wiring is F'd up, a front clip would be a great idea, you get new wiring, engine, tranny, driveshaft (in most cases), and every fuse you need. Plus some RHD goodies that you can sell to people in need. that way you can just trash all the wiring in the engine bay, keep all the old motor stuff (spare parts) or sell it ($$) and you would pass emissions. I hear good things about a guy on this forum named Japan2LA that imports motors clips and other items, and if you get it from somewhere else always request a video of the clip starting up and running, and when the engine shows up check it before you sign anything if it is not the same clip (body color, body parts, etc.) call the company ASAP with the freight driver there and tell them you’re sending it back at their expense and you want a full refund. Ordering a JDM rotary is much harder than getting a JDM Honda engine. Just my 2c

 

No such automated check stations anywhere near me. So I won't have an issue. Plus we do not have smog checks. Our state inspections involve making sure the horn works and the headlights turn on

 

I haven't considered importing a front clip. I will have to figure out what to do first with the car overall, but a front clip isn't a bad idea. How much would that set me back?


I dug in a bit into the interior and found all the stuff that belongs under the dash. Just no dash lol. I also found lots of nuts bolts and put them in buckets. Vacuumed the car out and its a world of difference I also found the N390 cosmo ecu. Is that worth anything?

Found the battery under the compartment behind the driver seat. Using what looks like 1 ga wire (seems too large). The power and ground are also hanging underneath the car unshielded. Obviously half assed.

More updates to come along with pics soon. I'll let you guys see how it cleaned up and what wiring is in the car and what isn't.

 

a good front clip would run you about 2500 (i believe) and if your missing your dash you could use the front clip to convert to RHD, it has everything you need, and its how most people do it.

 

Its not smart for me to buy a front clip at that price. I can easily toss in a small block chevy engine for under a grand including transmission, and i located a hood and dash locally for practically nothing.

I'm uploading lots of photos of it right now, i'll post them in a sec.