Eva001Ikari

iTrader: (7)

Wow its been a while since i posted on the forums but here it goes:

So i've been saving money to get a new/rebuilt engine for my 7 for a really long time and different crap keeps coming up so its making me mad. I want to fix my car as much as the next guy but you know how it goes. So I put together a little list just to get some opinions and prices.

I just want to hear some people's thoughts on this, nothing uber technical or anything like that.

Alright first thing's first:
1.Rebuilt/New engine- need one because my coolant seal on the rear rotor is screwed up and i drove it like that so most likely other crap has gone wrong. - 3,000$ +/-

2. Radiator- currently running the stocker, an old piece of blackened carbonized junk that probably wont cut it for much longer + hoses and i'll probably need a new cap too... 400$ +/-

3. Clutch- also the stock clutch, i hate the stock clutch it sucks, even replaced the master cylinder and it still sucks. i dunno i guess i'm picky but i like my clutch to be a little harder and i also need to fix the clutch pedal from popping out too far. Dont know how much it will cost XXX$

4. Intake- new cone, maybe even do a stainless pipe going to the throttle body so that i'm guessing is going to be around 300$ (just a guess)

5. Fuses - not a really big deal, i just want em all to work u know? (dont know price)

6. Exhaust- I'm leaning towards the racing beat exhaust, i really like how it looks and sounds and i think it would be nice to have the "classic" rx7 exhaust i guess you would say i think the site said somewhere around 700$

7. Body work and paint - when i bought it, the paint was fine, it was still the stock paint but it wasnt bad, then my mom ran into my car with her big *** dodge ram van.... messed up my mirror and put a huge dent in the side of my car, i got it popped out and my car has these ugly gray primer spots on it. (must get quoted)

8. Short shifter - went to mazdatrix with my cousin and talked to chris about his short shifter and we were complaining about the 10 mile journey from 1st to 2nd gear, or any gear for that matter. 200$ give or take

9. Door locks, windows, power window and lock switches and all that other crap inside the door- yep, gonna get all that replaced, windows take 5 years to roll up and all my switches are broken except one. dont know all the prices on these things.

10. Extras, stereo, speakers, floor mats, seats, strut bar, lighter hood (cuz mine weighs like 29389323 pounds) will probably be around 3000$ or so.

So to anyone who has absolutely nothing to do, or has the time to read all this i'd like to hear some feedback on anything, doesnt matter what. I also hear people on the forums always saying stuff like "wow that doesnt cost XXX you can get that at buyshit.com or something for XX. yea those would be nice too.....lols

Thanks guys, Ant

ROTOLICIOUS

sounds like a lot of money i am doin a complete turbo swap this weekend for under 2500 so just keep a good look out for good deals took me 3 months to find and buy all the parts though good luck

87 t-66

iTrader: (133)

you have to always account fo extra crap that you didnt intend on spending. you can get a decent intake for about $100 or so. a good aftermarket clutch/flywheel/pressure plate/counterweight set up would be a good $600-$700 or so. you can get your rebuild cheaper from rotaryresurrection but i dont think he is taking rebuilds right now. im sure there are other places that will rebuild it for less than $3k but it all depends on if you want new parts or not. most of your prices are about right. i bought my car for $500 and have put about $12,000 into it (without paint still) BUT i have pretty much all mods done and a bunch of rare parts.

Eva001Ikari

iTrader: (7)

oh yea forgot to post, i was thinkin it was going to cost somewhere around 10 grand....lol shoulda bought a good running fd for that huh...

87 t-66

iTrader: (133)

you cant get a good running fd for that...and then you would have to dump even more money into maintaining / fixing it. you will never stop spending money on your car haha

Eva001Ikari

iTrader: (7)

well i was thinking 10 grand that i'm putting into my car + the 3,400 that the car cost me to buy + the 3 grand that i've put into it already, so thats 16.4k........that might get me a good running fd.....lolol

Osirus9

iTrader: (10)

I'm 90% sure RR is accepting work atm.
also I believe there is a rebuilt engine for sale right now in the FS section for $2k

87 t-66

iTrader: (133)

his signature says otherwise

Syncro

iTrader: (1)

I've spent about 10k on my NA total getting it back to tip top shape.

I have yet to rebuild the engine (it's getting old...) and re-do the suspension.

What does that tell you about 7's and money?

I have a full RB exhaust on my TII vert. Since the turbo actually quiets it down, it's actually quite bearable (I *hate* loud exhausts, so take it from me: it's worth the money!). Amazing at WOT.

MPLSrx7

my engine blew in my na but it's so clean i am gonna swap it. i think i am gonna have to get the engine from corksport, its the only place i see with s4 13bts.

Osirus9

iTrader: (10)

you win this round

he changed it to may

phoenix7

rebuild: rotary resurrection= 1000bux for basic rebuild (last time I checked)

radiator: if you look hard for a deal= 200-300 bux check the FS section and e-bay.

clutch: if you look for a deal= 200-300bux check ebay and yahoo.com stores

intake: Honda prelude intake with filter= 40 bux (unless you want the $150 Apex-i unit)
fuses: 20 bux on E-bay.

exhaust: can range from 350bux(my used but in great shape RB turbo-back) to 1200 (RB turbo-back brand new) check the FS section.

shortshifter: contact higgi for his less expensive unit (100-120, i don't remember)

door and window crap: cheap if found on forum and junkyards (i recommend you go with the manual stuff because it's less likely to break later)

interior will be expensive because none of us want the APC crap but check out some yahoo.com stores that have good deals on interior ( i found a site that will sell all MOMO interior for 1200 bux and it includes seats, boots, wheel, spacers, hubs, ***** etc. etc.)

Paint and body work ranges from $400(cheap-o Maaco), $3600 good paint and body work up to $7000 for a full perfect show quality paint job.

check yahoo.com and their automotive stores, check ebay and this forum along with www.teamfc3s.org/forum

I think you might be able to get your car done for around $5K if you try hard enough.

phoenix7

woot woot triple post

phoenix7

woot woot dbl post

87 t-66

iTrader: (133)

holy triple post! wait for the page to load before refreshing it haha

phoenix7

Osirus9

iTrader: (10)

lolz triple post!

and i might just have to hit RR up for a rebuild in may myself

Valkyrie

The money spent on parts is nothing compared to the time spent doing the work on the car... especially when you have to do the same things 100x because the same problems keep coming back, or when you have to refix something you broke while fixing something else, or because you didn't fix something right, and then also have to fix something else unrelated because that you thought was in perfect condition beforehand... or because one problem ended up breaking someone else (like a coolant leak killing your paper intake gaskets?).

I still have a lot of upgrades I want to get around to, but never can because I'm already busy fixing stuff that wasn't really a major issue...

Next time I work on it (which will be this weekend...since I left it at home), I'll be replacing the tie rod ends because I fudged up the threads on one of them (taking them off when they were broken to check for where some slack was coming from...OTOH the boots were ripped and they needed replacement anyway), front brake rotors because they seem to have lateral runout issues, and I'll be replacing the transmission fluid for the 3rd time because using stinky gear oil = crunch shifts... I hope some 7-dollar-a-bottle synthetic will make my gearbox nice and smooth...

I've been planning to replace my brake lines, and get a short shifter for months, but despite having the money for them at more than one point of time, I never got around to it because I always found something else that needed fixing...

OTOH, the more you fix on the car, the closer you are to that perfect bliss known as "fully restored," where the car should be damn close to the condition it was when new... or better. At which point, you can finally get down to real tuning, with just a bit of periodic maintenance.


Right now, getting a full sorted suspension and a high-power turbo conversion seems like a pipe dream... but than again, it is...at least until I graduate and have a real job. Assuming I don't total it before than, or get fed up and sell it.


Don't take me as saying I don't like my car... I do. I just find joy in the great British institution of showing you love for something by criticizing it. That, and I always have sentimental attachments to things, even the ones that drive me nuts.

Eva001Ikari

iTrader: (7)

to valk: i absolutely hear you, i just graduated and am currently pissing and moaning about my sorry *** job (even though it makes 13$ an hour) i get no hours but w/e, currently going to college so thats soaking a bunch of money and time.

i get what you mean by messing up things while fixing another. while i was replacing my brake rotors to the new crossdrills that i bought, the little joint thing that holds the sway bar to the shock or w/e broke so that cost 100 dollars to replace, then after that i had to replace my belts and accidentally leaned on my radiator cap and broke that AND the filler neck, on top of that my coolant seal is fcking up my oil (i think) so i have to put more oil in my car all the dam time.

Well guys ima check out what i can check out tomorrow. Maybe find out whats goin on with rotary ressurection and get me a deal.

And for whoever up there said i wanted all kinds of after market shiet for my interior............i dont......all i want is my power windows and door locks (THAT CAME WITH THE CAR STOCK) to work like they should and a good sound player.....whether its a radio or mp3 player or cd player, i dont care something to listen to, because personally i like the sound of my car better than any song on this planet. As for the seats, i want a mazdaspeed seat......cuz they look cool lol and i like mazdaspeed passenger seat will stay stock maybe. everything else will be stock pretty much. anyway thanks guys

stylEmon

iTrader: (2)

i went through an electrical nightmare during my build. At first, I was gonna do a SUPER engine build, which i did, and then address all the other junk AFTER the engine was installed.

While the engine was out, we found that all the wires in the engine bay where completely fried.

Since I didnt want my new motor driven by crap wires, I chose to go standalone and relocate the battery. You may think, ' well i'll just get a new stock harness, or have a custom stock harness made. Check out the cost of those, then think about the big picture. If you got all these mods and spent a nice chunck on a motor, then you'll want the best technology possible for the brains, not some 20 year old chip.

So the ecu cost money, and you gotta pay for the sensors and harnesses and tuning. battery relocation isn't too expensinve, maybe about 200 with the sealed box.

Like stated above, there are TONS of little things hit you during the process. throw-out bearing, fuel/oil/coolant/brake lines, banjo bolts, fittings, belts, block off plates, plugs, having parts cleaned/blasted/painted... don't forget oil, gas and coolant once the motor is built. my motor has taken 7 qts of synth oil as of today, and we think it'll take two more!

I am finishing up my build process right now, if you look at my car from the outside, it looks pretty stock (other than the fat tires), and for now, I have a stock turbo and intercooler (running methanol). So all this stuff is pretty fresh in my mind. Check out the blog in my sig or see it here on the club... https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...8&page=1&pp=15

And I still have a ways to go until I am finished. Once it's running I'll start on the fuel rails, coils, radiator, strut bars, then prepare for big turbo. It's definitly a long road, and I NEVER expect to get near what I've put in, but lets face it, we arent into these cars for their great collectablitly and resale!
wow, that was long winded...

j0rd4n

I think it's semi-understood when you buy ANY car that's around 20 years old that it was not babied and still in perfect shape.

With that said, here's how I look at it: after spending X dollars buying and fixing up my RX-7, I will be happier than having spent that X dollars at once on a newer car that probably isn't anywhere near as fun to drive. Plus the experience you get out of doing this stuff may help you in the future. Once you've done all of this stuff, you begin to know the car like the back of your hand, almost as if you built the whole thing yourself. That makes me feel comfortable about the car. That's how I was with my last two cars, both were Ford Tauruses (?). I spent so much time learning about my first Taurus that I couldn't see myself buying anything else because I knew that it did everything I needed (had a large trunk for when I needed to move into and out of my dorm room every year in one trip since I don't live with my parents, plus seats 4 comfortably for carrying passengers) at a reasonable price and I knew almost everything that would go wrong with it (and could do preventative maintenance if possible).

phoenix7

i feel you. You can also UPGRADE parts when possible so you're fixing a problem and using a better replacement part. As I mentioned earlier; if you do it little by little you'll come out ahead.