Yo,

hey guys tell me what you think about this car....I'm unsure if the guy is even willing to sell it, being its been parked in the same spot for LITERALLY, 5-6 years....infact, it could be more than that because i just noticed it 5 years ago when i moved in....(btw, he also has a porsche and a corvette)....anyways, its a white 2nd gen rx7 turbo....what could be wrong with it after sitting in the same spot for so long? I've never seen him driving it....he never has a cover for it but it didnt look like there was any rust on it at all....

i dont know much about rx7's and rotory engines, i spend most of my time researching mr2's because thats what i truely want....but id really like some imput on this matter, thanks alot guys!

-Dan

 

The engine may be beyond salvage, but if you can get it from him through a "yeah just take it out of my driveway and it's yours type scenario" then it's well worth your trouble. Just get a J-Spec S5 crate and your set.

 

are they hard to find? im assuming this is like other forums ive been on and alot engine swapping goes on over the board....

you think the engine would be toast from sitting there un-maintained for that long? the exterior looks great....another factor could be that he totally ruined the engine and just gave up on it, leaving it there....

-Dan

 

A sitting rotary is bad. I'd be worried of corrosion internally if its been sitting that long...

 

exactly....so being that the car is in good condition on the outside, you guys think it would be wise if one could get the car for cheap, and then just drop in a jspec? what else do you figure could be goin wrong with the car?

thanks dan,
-Dan

 

Have him start it up (if possible) then immediately have him run a compression test. I was worried about the same thing when I bought my car (see sig) but I MADE the guy do a compression test and everything turned out fine. Good luck.

 

A motor thats sat that long without being turned or started is about 80% likely to be junk. It'd need rebuild or replacement, more than likely. Stil, you might get really lucky and it be okay. I wouldnt give more than $1000 for it. That way, worse case scenario, you part it out and make money still.

 

its just i cant see somebody owning a corvette and a porsche letting a sports car goto junk....only thing i can think of is that he either lost interested in it (buying the corvette and the porsche) or he totally ruined the engine and doesnt know what to do with it....

me and my buddy might go and just knock on his door someday....

as i mentioned before, i know practically nothing about rotary engines, other than the design....can you finish a fair amount of work on them yourselves, or do alot of you guys use mechanics?

oh and compared to other RWD cars, how well do they drift? i know they are 'considered' midship?

thanks,
-Dan

 

Hey Dan. Is the white TurboII an S4 or S5? It'd be worth a lot more if it was an S5. I probably wouldn't pay more than $1000 or so if it was an S4 but I'd pay as much as $2500 for a clean body S5 with a bad engine.

Most FC guys do their own work. Not many shops are familar with rotaries and some won't work on them at all. I would say as long as you're patient and willing to read and look through a Haynes manual, the FSM, and the forum, you should have no problems tackling any project. The car is not nearly as complicated to work on compared to an FD.

 

oh ahah i dont know to that detail....how can one distinguish between an S4 and an S5?

id rather pay more for a car with a strong engine not only to reduce the amount of labour, but i simply just dont have the knowledge....even if i got somebody else to do the work i wouldnt be able to tell if they did a good job, ahah....but hey, mabe the guy drives it every now and then and i just dont see him....if it's still in good shape, mabe ill do some more research....

thanks once again....

 

S5 cars have spoked wheels, S4 cars have vents on them...S5 cars have a slightly different front bumper, a notch in the center (S4 is straight all the way around) and S5 cars have circular tail lights

 

If it does have a blown engine, you could always take it apart and play around with it-get a better idea of how it works

 

You check by the side moldings too. If it has a black lining all around the body and bumpers, its an S4. If its color matched, its an S5 (and round tail lights as opposed to square ones.)

I still think of myself as a rotary newbie but I guarantee this forum should be able to trouble shoot any problems you may have. Now get out there and save that TurboII before it dies a slow death.

 

unless it's a 10AE.. 10AE's are S4 but have the painted mouldings.. they also have triangular shaped badges on the side of the car, and body coloured wheels.. they're pretty easy to tell apart from the rest of them

 

ya im gunna go on a special ops when im walkin my dog and go check it out ahah....ill keep it on the low-down

just a few questions here....

why wasnt the first generation labelled the FA instead of FB? also, in the FAQ it says that FB refers to 1st gen RX-7 starting in 81 and ending in 85....but further down when you read the series, it says series 1 started in 79....how can series 1 start in 79 if rx7's didnt start till 81??........ahh i hate getting over this newbie stuff ahah....thanks guys

-Dan

 

in japan I think they were SAs, then a 2nd generation of the 1st gens turned into the FB? just a guess

 

I went to a Mazda dealer to look at RX8s the other day (buying an oil filter) and in the VIN of the RX8 it said FE. Thought that was pretty cool.

 

FE? that's awesome

 

so 79-81 were only japanese cars?

anyways i went and checked out the car again, its got black side moldings....i guess that makes it an 86-88 s4, which FURTHER surprises me with its excellent exterior condition....

-Dan

 

79-80 are called SA IIRC, due to the VIN. IN 81 they changed to FB. They're all called 1gens, and all basically the same thing.

 

all of first gen is called SA22C in japan, there is no FB.

 

But, since most of the users of this board live in north america, it doesnt really matter...

 

hey--if you can, go to the car and write down the VIN....that will tell you the year. Also, what are you waiting for?? Go knock on this guy's door!!!! Do it before someone else(like me!!) takes the trip and does it!! Ask about it. several of us including me got our FC's very cheap cuz of this exact same scenario...mine was $300 with only 78K, and the owner thought the engine was blown--it was only flooded haha

GO CHECK IT OUT......BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't stall on it.....just ask him, get the car, and we can help you get it going. If he says that it has a blown motor, etc, just offer him a few hundred bucks 200-400 to take it off his hands. If he was going to have plans to part it out or fix it up, he would have done it by now....

 

either way, id prolly wait until spring, so i'll ask him for the vin then if the engine is still in good condition....

if its not, i wouldnt even ask for the vin....how much do you guys think it would be worth (canadian) being it would be basically just a shell?

skydivr73, your saying 200-400 american?

thanks,
-Dan

 

No rust, in Canada.......check the frame.....Oh yeah people don't stop driving rx-7's if they run..they are too fun! If it's parked the motor is trashed! Check the frame brake lines ect for rust.....good luck and give up on the Mr2 i had a 91...The thing is pretty hard to work on ie you have to lift the body up over the car to remove the motor and they are S.L.O.W!