Ok, so i'm looking at picking up this FC, and it seems like a really nice car. 83,000 original miles, 3000 miles on a rebuild where it was street ported by Brian Cain. New turbo and injectors, right around 200 miles old. However, here lies the problem. The car had a Haltech E6K ECU installed and tuned on the car, but the ECU, just the box itself was stolen. The front mount intercooler was also stolen, but replaced with a top mount for now. I would be getting the car without the ECU and having to buy another E6K and have it tuned. Here is the setup from what i can remember:

1600 cc secondarys
720cc primarys
aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
3rd gen pump

haltech stand alone engine harness
haltech box stolen

t4 h series turbo External waste gate
straight on turbo manifold

rebuilt street ported engine
by brian cain

greddy bov

greddy turbo timer
greddy boost controller

sleepy eye controller

imitoria 3 inch dual straight through exhaust
pinifinara rims....
thats all i can think of right now

What questions should i be asking. I have a good amount of car knowledge, but am overall pretty new to the rx7 scene.

I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me some potential questions to ask him about the car, and what my fears should be buying the car.

I mean i know that there is no way to check for transmission problems really without tearing the tranny apart, but i figured i could get as many receipts from him as possible, and give Brian Cain a call in hopes that he will remember working on the car and tell me a lil about it.

 

http://aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy2.htm

 

 

jpk - i was asking regarding this specific car, not rx7's in general.

311 - reasoning?

 

Sorry, but at least it's a start.

 

its cool, i'm just lookin for a lil more specific advice.

 

First, your bumps have been deleted... bumps are forbidden here in the 2nd gen technical section.

2nd, unless you know about tuning cars, you should run (not just walk, but rather RUN) away from that car.

#3... the last owner was some ricer, and probably wants an arm and leg for the car. At very very best, a non running FC is only worth about $1500. Most non running FC's are really only worth $500-$1000.

#4 the advice that you were given (read http://aaroncake.net/RX-7/buy2.htm) is very very applicable. From your description the motor has been tweaked (and probably quite questionably at that) and not much more... therefore 90% of that advice would be advice that you could benefit from.

#5 some ricer owned the car before... if there are such questionable mods as a headlight controller, there probably are 1000 very questionable mods hidden away, that you will be stuck trying to fix to get the car running even halfway correctly.

.

 

I know for a fact that the car is not "riced out." Yes i know about cars and yes i know that it has the sleepy headlight conversion, but i would hardly consider that rice.

Also, Brian Cain built this car. He is one of the premier rx7 tuners around. He street ported it and did the turbo, injectors, and everything else that was done to the car.

Supposedly the only thing this car needs to run is a new haltech ecu because the previous one was stolen.

Thank you for your help, but did you even read the post?

 

I don't know Brian Cain, but what Icemark said about tuning is correct, with the limited amount I have done, I have found that it is not easy, simple or straightforward.

Running, this could be a great deal, but without the fuel maps, the fact that Brian Cain tuned it is irrelevant.

At the very least, do a compression check (not poor man's) and look if the wiring loom and modifications look professional or tacky.

 

Thats a given. I do know my way around cars, but not 7's at this point. I have a shop in my area that does a lot of work on rx7s and they said they will take a look at it.

But yes, i will have a compression test done.

From what i understand, to get this car perfectly running it just needs a new Haltech E6k and a tune.

I really just need to know what questions you guys would ask about the car. Around here, and from what i have heard, Brian Cain is an excellent tuner who is known world wide.

 

Brian is BDC on the boards and has rep in texas area. Never seen one of his motors, so claiming he built a motor means nothing to me. Not really known out of that area much... well alone world wide. Either way a street port, anyone can do.

But if you fail to take my advice... well it will be your loss...

If the problem was really just a E6K... why isn't the owner putting it in... you can get one used for $500 without a harness (saw one sell for $300 on ebay the other day) or brand new for $800. For the difference the car would make (running $3K+ vs not running $1k) only an idiot wouldn't get the car running.

Trying to save you some money. If you have your heart set on this car... well good luck because you will need it... you will be buying something that it sounds like you will be over your head on.

 

To get something straight, i'm trading for an sr20 swapped 240 that is pretty nice.

If you can find me an E6k for that price that would be awesome.

And i'm also pretty sure the car is worth more than 3, i was thinking somewhere around 9ish. I mean the car is in absolute perfect condition, perfect exterior and interior. He isn't fixing it because he doesn't have the money to do it and he just needs a running car. He is a guy about my age so i can understand.

 

If you like projects, understand engines and like to learn, go for it. Just understand that you will most likely end up like the rest of us, $5000.00 in a car that is worth at most $3000.00. If this doesn't bother you, then welcome aboard.

If the compression is good, the interior and exterior are as nice as you say, there is no rust under the car, and the modifications look professional, it probably isn't too bad of a deal.

Check the wiper switch, the headlight switch, the sunroof and both windows too.

Seeing that you swapped a sr20 into a 240 sx I can guess that you are mechanically competant. I hope it works out for you.

 

I agree. Buying an FC with all this stuff done to it is too much for a new rotary owner, at least considering the car is not in running condition. It would be one thing if it just had exhaust and fuel cut controller or something, but this is a shitload of stuff. You are right in being suspicious...

it sounds like the guy was just sick of the car. If he was sick of the car, there's gotta be a good reason.

 

I appreciate the opinion, and i am very competent when it comes to cars, and i learn very quickly.

I also have a shop that really knows rx7s right around me that i could take the car to if i had any problems that i couldn't solve.

And i mean yes, it is modified, but i talked to a guy on the dallasimports.net board (redt2) who has been working with the guy who did the work on the car for 8 years and he said that the car i'm looking out was very very nice and very clean.

Any questions that you guys would recommend i ask to see if its a safe bet? I know its a risk, i'm just trying to eleminate all known risks to see if its worth it or not. Any way you guys could give me questions to ask that would eleminate as many risks and unknowns about the car as possible?

 

why exactly is he selling it? because you have a car that is not a pain the *** and that's what he really wants?

 

he says he is selling because his car needs about 1k+ worth of work (new ecu and tune) and he doesn't have the cash. I'll be honest, i'm 18 years old, but i am very educated (attending the University of Texas) and he is 19 and also very educated and knows his **** when it comes to cars from what i can tell.

He just needs a car that is running since he can't afford to repair his.

 

Sounds like a bad idea to me, I mean who the **** breaks into a highly modifyed car and only steals the ecu?.

 

thats what you guys keep tellin me, i'm just lookin for some questions i could ask him to make sure i don't get screwed over.

 

Toss me a PM Turbo FTW and I'll help you take care of this. The car you're talking about doesn't ring a bell with me.

B

 

I figured i would just give ya a call if thats cool.

 

That's fine, too.

B

 

What is that?

Oh.... my... God

$9K? Um, no.

If that is your price range, you could probably get this car for $10K:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=676445

He is not even close to being one of the premier RX-7 tuners around. However, he will bend over backwards to help you out.