The Vert Lives!
10-29-07, 03:07 PM
#1
The Vert Lives!
I made a thread back in February about my 'vert deal I found. This weekend, it came to life. For background, please see below. Man...what a great feeling! Thanks to Rotary Buddha and GP auto on the forum for helping a complete car n00b such as myself do 90% of the work!
<begin story>
So back in January I was sitting at the office, casually browsing rx7club.com. Before anyone asks why I was doing this instead of working, well, I own the company. A woman walked into the office to do a drop off and says, "Oh, you like the wankel? The rotary engines?"
I assumed she had seen my screen and was messing with me and I believe my look of irritation conveyed this. She told me that she was wasn't messing with me and that her husband had a 'vert in very good condition that was just sitting in their driveway. I asked if I could check it out and she said, "sure".
I go visit and the car is in pristine condition. Perfect body, paint, top, rims, tails, nice aftermarket sound system, etc. The interior was the only kinda crummy part as they had removed the leather seats and a vent or two was missing. The car "wasn't running" according to them, but after starting it, I realized it was in limp mode and asked about it. The owners said that they were told BY THE DEALER, that a new OMP was $1200. I knew you could pick up used ones for $35 - $50. I asked to look over thepaperwork on the car as both they had the previous two owners had kept meticulous records.
While browsing through the paperwork I learned the car had originally been an auto and converted to manual...then I found the GOLD MINE. The cars previous owner had purchased a Petit Racing, streetported engine and had it installed in the car. Looking at the mileage on the odometer when the car was installed and the current mileage, I realized the engine had less than 30,000 miles on it (New it was $4000).
The next day I went and offered $1200 for the car...the owners accepted. It gets better. In the few days it took me to get around to picking up the car, two chicks in a stolen car sped through the neighborhood where it was kept, flipped the stolen car, and pushed another parked car into the 'vert denting the bumper and passenger fender. Based on this, I negotiated the price to $500 for the car.
Since January I have:
-Had injectors cleaned
-Replaced all o-rings/hoses/gaskets/etc.
-Fixed stuck actuator.
-Removed minor emissions stuff
-Fixed few other minor items.
-Replaced OMP
-Replaced ECU
Started the car for the first time tonight and it is running strong! Have a minor vacuum leak I need to track down and due to a poor auto > manual swap still need to swap out the instrument cluster to manual and replace some shifter bushings.
To do still: Will probably buy an SAFC, wideband, and tune it in the near future as it is running very rich right now. Will find some other odds and ends to fix I'm certain.
Photos from when surgery first began (will post cleaned up pics in a week or so): http://abagab.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=12
GG
<begin story>
So back in January I was sitting at the office, casually browsing rx7club.com. Before anyone asks why I was doing this instead of working, well, I own the company. A woman walked into the office to do a drop off and says, "Oh, you like the wankel? The rotary engines?"
I assumed she had seen my screen and was messing with me and I believe my look of irritation conveyed this. She told me that she was wasn't messing with me and that her husband had a 'vert in very good condition that was just sitting in their driveway. I asked if I could check it out and she said, "sure".
I go visit and the car is in pristine condition. Perfect body, paint, top, rims, tails, nice aftermarket sound system, etc. The interior was the only kinda crummy part as they had removed the leather seats and a vent or two was missing. The car "wasn't running" according to them, but after starting it, I realized it was in limp mode and asked about it. The owners said that they were told BY THE DEALER, that a new OMP was $1200. I knew you could pick up used ones for $35 - $50. I asked to look over thepaperwork on the car as both they had the previous two owners had kept meticulous records.
While browsing through the paperwork I learned the car had originally been an auto and converted to manual...then I found the GOLD MINE. The cars previous owner had purchased a Petit Racing, streetported engine and had it installed in the car. Looking at the mileage on the odometer when the car was installed and the current mileage, I realized the engine had less than 30,000 miles on it (New it was $4000).
The next day I went and offered $1200 for the car...the owners accepted. It gets better. In the few days it took me to get around to picking up the car, two chicks in a stolen car sped through the neighborhood where it was kept, flipped the stolen car, and pushed another parked car into the 'vert denting the bumper and passenger fender. Based on this, I negotiated the price to $500 for the car.
Since January I have:
-Had injectors cleaned
-Replaced all o-rings/hoses/gaskets/etc.
-Fixed stuck actuator.
-Removed minor emissions stuff
-Fixed few other minor items.
-Replaced OMP
-Replaced ECU
Started the car for the first time tonight and it is running strong! Have a minor vacuum leak I need to track down and due to a poor auto > manual swap still need to swap out the instrument cluster to manual and replace some shifter bushings.
To do still: Will probably buy an SAFC, wideband, and tune it in the near future as it is running very rich right now. Will find some other odds and ends to fix I'm certain.
Photos from when surgery first began (will post cleaned up pics in a week or so): http://abagab.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=12
GG
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