Hello

I am new to the forums, and new to rx7s, about 3 years ago I nearly purchased a 3rd gen rx7, but I was not financially stable to buy the car outright, and I was told you couldn't finance such an old car. (93) Well 3 years have passed, and I am back in the market for an rx7 again, I saw on a local forum, a 88 Turbo 2. Heres the thing, I don't know much about working on cars, I haven't ever worked on a motor before, but I am more than willing to learn. The car I am looking at is HEAVILY modded, its got 3000 miles on the new motor, and it has a LONG list of goodies, the guy says that he babies the car, and never boosts over 10lbs, so on and so forth.

On the other hand I am willing to learn, and spend many hours hunched over the car learning and working on it. I know little about motors, and NOTHING about rotaries. Should I take the plunge?

LMK

 

take it! its a greatcar and you have to learn somehow. Thats how everyone learns about cars

 

Yes but ONLY if it's not going to be your only car. My rex is out of comission quite often, I woulndt be able to get by without a DD.

 

I own a WRX and a Legacy

 

I would have said the same thing. Especially if it is heavily modified, you don't know if it will be even more tempermental, or if you will need to spend some time fixing someone elses mess. That said, if you are prepared to get into buying a super impractical car, that is a whole lot of fun, go for it!

Also, if your aim is to learn about working on cars, chances are this 17 year old car will give you some opportunities. That's one way I look at any of the little things that need attention on my car, its a chance to learn how to fix something new. You likely wouldn't get similar opportunities with your WRX, assuming it is still fairly new.

I have no regrets buying my TII, I'm glad I "took the plunge", so good luck!

 

Welcome to the Forums, LMK.

My story iwith rx7's is very similar to yours and started a year and a half ago. I was interested in a 3rd gen(FD), but I couldn't finance a car of that age. Additionally, there were numerous stories about problems one will come across while owning an FD. I didn't know jack about cars at the time. So whatever problems I would run into, I'd have pay a ton for someone else to fix it. It just wasn't a financial possibility.

So I looked into the previous model the 2nd gen(FC). In comparison the FC is dirt cheap compared to an FD. It is still a rotary and I figured it'd be a cheaper route to learning more about them rather than starting with an expensive FD. From reading the forums and looking through the FC factory service manual, I've learned a fair amount though I've pretty far yet to go.

This is what I've learned, almost everything is cheaper for the FC, from stock to aftermarket parts. So if you mess anything up, while learning it'll be cheaper on an FC rather than an FD. I'm now on the brink of pulling my old motor. It has issues and could stand to be rebuilt. I completely expect to mess up, but in the end I'll surely have learned more than I ever could sitting here reading the forums and looking through the factory service manual. However between those two resources and actually working on it myself. I expect to find a measure of success.

For you, I'd recommend finding something closer to stock. I don't know how extensive your knowledge about cars is, however you could find yourself looking at a heavily modded FC without any idea of what half the stuff is. If it's in really excellent condition, you may also never really need to do much with the car for a couple years depending on the level of mods. So you may limit yourself on what only experience can teach you. Though a given with extensive mods will be that the car will have issues at some point, generally much sooner than an excellently running stock FC. However most FC's you find for sale even stock will most likely have issues. So an excellent running heavily modded FC, will offer fun for a good while. The choice on that is yours and yours alone to make.

I still may buy a 3rd gen someday however I've got so far to go with an FC. In addition to rebuilding the motor, I've also got a new motor and a slew of other parts to put in. From the list of parts I have and comparing it to other people's mods and performance levels. I expect to have at least 400hp to the wheels. Despite that I've still spent less than what I could have spent for an FD including a new project to tackle when spring rolls around.

It's been fun and interesting, so I'd recommend taking the plunge. Be prepared to get dirty because it's going to come up especially with age of FC's. However it's definately been a rewarding experience for me and if you like cars. It can be the same for you. Just take each problem as an opportunity to learn more about these unique cars.

 

http://www.tamparacing.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=256486

this is the car I am looking @.

 

that car is beautiful.

 

D'oh, I just found that it was sold.

 

That link isnt working but that sucks that the car is sold. Keep lookin around. There are still some good TII cars out there. Check cars.com - There is sometimes TII's on there. Good luck with your 7 hunting!

 

I'd be very worried about buying a heavily modded car, especially one with 3000 miles on a new engine. Why did the car need a new engine? Because the old one blew up due to improper modding? How is the quality of the work? How much of a pain in the butt is the car (ie. cold start removed? Catch cans? Emissions?)?

I personally would NEVER buy a car that someone else has modified because I would spend 2x as much time correcting the problems then it would have taken to do the work myself. Especially the wiring.

 

good point

 

you should always buy a TII.

 

I am a receipts kind of guy myself.........I also ask a lot of questions.....lots. When I hear a seller say the guy before him did all the work and he was a mechanic, and that guy bought the car from that mechanic less than a year ago and is now selling it....I walk away.....ask a million questions. If a car is really worth something a person will spend as much time with you going over it because they have put time money and sweat into that car and would really like to see it go somewhere good. However a person who juryrigged his car and fucked something up will not answer questions and is trying to unload it before it falls apart