Wondering if I should shell out $550 for this non-running, stock, 1990 S5 RX7 GXL Non-Turbo 5-speed. It has 87,000 miles. I would be the third owner.
The previous owner states that coolant was beginning to disappear from the reservoir, so he would top it off frequently. He said there was a smell of coolant from the exhaust while it was running. He also had the coolant replaced before this started, because the coolant looked brown. Eventually, after topping it off for about 5,000 miles, he parked it. 7 days later, it would crank over, but not start. He then tried starting it with the cap off, and coolant poured out from the top of the radiator.
This is obviously a coolant seal problem. It has been sitting for about a year and a half(since August of 2011).
What are my chances of being able to rebuild this engine? If it is shot as a block, is the car worth $550 as a parts car? It has the driver adjustable suspension, might it have LSD? It has some front end damage which doesn't look like it affects the frame, but the upper radiator mount is slightly tilted downwards on the front portion.
I don't know if I should spend $550 for this car. I want a track car and I can use the best parts for my '91 NA, but is it worth it??? Thanks in advance!!

 

depends..how handy are you?
my 500 dollar car is this:

 

I realize that you guys in the People's Republik of Kalifornia have a unique situation over there, but in my area that car would sell for about $50.

 

It's more a 'People's Republic of West Coast Kids Who Destroy Good Cars and Are Willing to Pay Top Dollar to Destroy More,' but yeah.

The body is tired but not atrocious, if the interior's in remotely good shape I would consider it worth the investment, if you have the space/time/funds to fix it up.

 

that statement makes me "see" Arnold sayin:
"I am not a Tunah"..."I pick cars up and put them Down!!"..

 

If all goes to ****, for that price, you could part it out and probably make your money back. S5 body parts will sell.

 

If there's stuff on that car that you could use on yours, offer to tow it away for free.
Otherwise, walk away.

 

not worth the time, the car is not even running.

and the engine ... after it has been sitting for a year with KNOWN coolant leak issue, chances are it's full of rust in there so .. no it's not going to be rebuildable.

 

That car is fucked. I'd tow it away for him, but I definitely wouldn't shell out money.

 

Offer $200 and gut it. I can think of a dozen things on that car that would sell instantly and you could easily pull $1500 in profit. Take whatever you make and buy one that runs. I had a GSL-SE and a S5 Turbo II that both sat in my garage for three years with blown engines, it's not worth the headache. But I wouldn't go higher than $200 for it.

 

It's a scrapper.
Part it and scrap or sell the shell.

 

I'd turn that POS into a racecar. Gut it, rattle can it, toss in motor, beat the ever loving **** out of it on a track.

That is definitely not a daily car, or even reasonably fixable to a DD car.

 

I'd go maybe 300 tops. It's obviously been in an accident.

 

That seems a bit, ah...optimistic.
What do you see that could be worth so much?

 

One thing I just noticed and connected the dots...

Why is it that Crystal White paint code cars like to peel like that? My bumper on the vert started doing that ****. Last time i was at Rotary Performance, they said that it is incredibly common.

 

there is no profit to be made on that car, unless theres a GOOD shape black interior thats def wortha few bucks but judging on the exterior of the car my guess is the interior is in similar shape. Whoever said there's 1500 in that car is crazy, unless there's some coilovers and an exhaust and some other parts I'm not seeing.

 

Back in the day, Federal regs mandated all manufacturers reformulate paint and there were some hiccups along the way.
To a certain extent, everyone had this issue- Chrysler minivans were notorious for the paint falling off- as it took a while to figure out.

I don't know why the Mazda white seems to be the only FC color to suffer so egregiously but your info is correct, it is VERY common.

 

by the sound of it at least half of the engine is going to be garbage.

unless you can get a line on a S5 good engine, that car is only worth about $300 due to the damage and **** paint.

buying one of these cars these days is usually the cheapest of your investments.


almost every USDM car in the late 80's/early 90's had this primer under any white color paint. chevrolet, dodge, ford, mazda(owned by ford), many large name manufacturers suffered from peeling white paint in this era. my '90 S-10 had it coming off in sheets as did my friend's 1500 and we had the issue on the dodge trucks when i worked for them, in many cases cars were repainted at no cost to the owners even 5+ years down the road.

to fix it properly it has to get stripped to bare metal and new updated primer applied under the base coat. there is little point painting over the shitty skin it has because it will continue to peel.

 

I had an S5 body kit that managed to sell here on the forum. I know that the s5 tails go like hot cakes. That is guaranteed money. If the irons and housings are good, there is some more money. That is his money back if he decides he later regrets the purchase.

The car doesn't look terribly bad. It would probably make a good project. If he is askling $500, offer him scrap value of around $300 and see what the seller says.

 

Thanks for the overwhelming amount of responses!!!
It's all stock except for an aftermarket alarm. It has the driver adjustable suspension but that's shot. It has a BLUE interior, which I HATE. It sounds like the engine is most likely rusty and un-rebuildable. It's on a non-op so I can just transfer it to someone else real quick after I grab stuff I want off it. I just want the rear window because mine had an antenna drilled through it for a bag phone back in the '90's, and maybe the throttle sensor and some other things. I am thinking about picking it up, but only if I can part it out and make a couple hundred then scrap it. I'm at work that's why it's taken me so long to get back on here.

 

The hood, front bumper and drivers side fender are shot, so that leaves me with the pristine rear bumper, the mirrors, and maybe the passenger side fender. The left taillight has a small crack in it which I am really disappointed about. I know a working S5 throttle sensor goes for $50-$80 on ebay. I think at this point I'm not going to want to turn this S5 into my future race-car, this will just be a parts car like most of you are saying.
The only reason I'm thinking like this is because there are almost no RX-7's where I live, so to find an S5 10 minutes up the hill from me is kind of a once in a lifetime thing. I would much rather tow a clean rebuildable S5 from the valley or the Bay though, for $550, but I doubt I will be able to beat the thousands of FC fans to it and still drive 2 hours to get there before anyone else does.

 

or just buy the parts off ebay, at least you get somewhat of a working guarantee with them unless otherwise stated.

it looks like a 99% pile of scrap to me.

 

I would tow it home for free.

550 ? maybe he should pay you 50 bucks just to tow it away.

 

I don't know man.... I bought mine running for $600 with a lil driver front fender damage. I also like the many before me here would say no.... I would go $300 and double ur money back in parts and buy a better one... good luck...

 

I would do that all day, anyday, no problem.

Thanks for the luck. He won't take any less than $500 because he says he has someone who is offering $700 and they will have it in a few days.
I think I should offer him $400, see if they come through, and if they don't, I'll pick it up, swap on the better parts to my S5, then part it out, trade it or sell it. If I can break even with better parts I would be happy. It sounds like I can make at least $600 in parts if I do it right.

It's cranking over, but not starting. Would this be due to coolant fouling the plugs?

***If I can get it to run for 4 minutes, I can get it onto the highway(a closed highway of course) and then coast it downhill into my driveway. Could plug fouling be the most likely cause of a no start on this one? I know it could be anything, but I have a hunch that it's the plugs...