What should I brace myself for?
 

I found a car in a barn.

'86 Turbo II, woman owned, 38k miles.
Still on it's first set of tires and original paint.

It's pretty much been resting for about 15 years. It was in the garage for a number of years, and has spent nearly the last decade parked behind the house.

What am I in for? There's no visible surface rust on the car, but I've never seen under the car. The price was right and I had a handful of decent photos to base my wager on. When the car was parked, it was in perfect condition- but it was never properly stored. Winter came, a 4x4 was purchased since the RX7 wasn't particularly great in the ice, and when the spring came, the Mazda never went back to daily driver status.

I'm either going to tow it, or have it transported to me, unless it's likely that I could have it highway ready after an afternoon of simply, shade tree wrenching.

New tires.
New battery.
New fuel filter.
New plugs/wires.
All new fluids and lubricants.

Think I'll be chasing gremlins on this car? Will the time mean the moonroof or headlights won't open?

What am I getting myself into....

ok... brace yourself... they never made a turbo model in 86!!! find out what year it actually is lol. with 38k miles though you are probably getting a good deal.

I'm pretty sure they made the Tubro II in '86.

If not, it's likely she got the year wrong, because I'm positive about the turbo.

she got the year wrong. unless she imported the car from japan.

'87 perhaps, bought in late 86?

now that is possible.

Ice, in Florida? I'm guessing your getting it from a different state.

It is over 20 years old, who knows what you will find. Animals have no doubt been living in the thing. Sounds like it will be a fun project though. Let me know if you give up on it. I could use a part time project.

Do you think it'll be realistic to fly up to it, fix it up in a day and then drive it a thousand miles home?

Yeah- it's come from New England, I just need to get it down to Florida.
Certainly a geographically inconvenient find. I was just fortunate to come across it. I'm incredibly enthused, but I'm trying to find the most cost effective way of transporting it.

Having it transported will cost about $800.
If i drive up and then tow it, it'll cost nearly as much, not to mention the loss of time.
But if I could fly up, refresh it, and then drive back, I'd have a story and get the car back over a long weekend. Though it might be a foolish thing to do. And I'm not a familiar with the quirks and sensitivities of the RX7 and wankel engines.

no

its gonna take longer than a weekend to get the thing back up and street worthy...

No, I don't think that is realistic. If the tires are still the original I doubt they will hold air and if they would hold air, I would not try to drive a thosand miles on that old of tire. I know my way around a FC and I would have to work on it for a few days before I really drove it anywhere, and that is if it was in driveable condtion after I did the work to it. For all you know it could me carbon locked or worse. If I were in your shoes I would get a truck and trailer and go pick it up, work on it when you get home. BTW when you go to pick it up take some pics for us, it sounds like you might have really found somthing. How much did you pay for it?

It's looking weathered... but despite getting the year wrong, I do know the actual history. So, I'm going to wager that it's in solid condition once it's brought back to life and freshened up.

Next question-
I intend to immediately put fresh tires on it when I get there. Would it be safe to use a tow dolly to transport it or must I get a full length car trailer. Is it likely or possible that the rear wheel bearings would have seized?


My plan, so far, was to get the car.
Drain the gas tank.
try to get any solids out of through the fuel pump access.
change the fuel filter. (and then do it again at next accelerated oil change in 1000 miles)
change the plugs and wires.
replace the car battery.
replace the tires.
change all the fluids and filters(oil, coolants, lubricants, P/S)
check for nests in the air filter/intake and exhaust.

Do you think the fuel lines or injectors will be clogged up with varnish due to aged gas?

And will the rotary engine and seals resent having spent so much time dormant? Or when it's fired up and the fuel is good, will it feel like a 40k mile car again?

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7...projectwm9.jpg

i would say a car trailer would be best just because you don't want to chance it.
you definataly don't want to start it with the gas that was in the car, there will be a ton of gunk in there from sitting for all that time. you will also probably want to put new gas in it when you do go to start it let it run out and pull and replace the fuel filter/ fuel sock.

there is a good guide for many of your questions here
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/unstore.htm

Take ur time and go over everything. Fuel pump will need to be replaced. Lots of stuff.

Trailer it home and go wild on it. Full resto.

trying to drive this car back could be a really bad idea, especially since you don't have much experience with these cars. don't stress yourself out when you are working on this thing by doing it under the gun.

one thing I've learned about Rx-7's : don't even pull them out of the garage until you feel really comfortable and confident that it's not going to idle decently and not leak anything, as well as be safe to drive.

if its been sitting like that, i can imagine a few criters living in it.. faded cracked dash /interior.. bad weather strippping.. etc

They probably drove it when they moved it behind the house in the last decade.. Just how much are you getting it for?

If you get it, will you restore it and not drive it? If you got it for a steal, then i guess its worth it. If your trying to get it because it has low millage.. then i dont know, the cost of getting it road worthy could be bothersome.

How much did you pay for it?

if it sat in a barn most of its life the interior should be fine as long as the doors and windows were shut

...amazing.
it'll cost the same to rent the car transport trailer from U-haul one way as it would to have a transport company pick the vehicle up and drop it off at my door.

The dolly is only half as much....

Looks like there's no way to bring it back on the cheap, so the hidden cost of the car just bumped up about $800.

Absolutely not. Mine was sitting since '01 and the clutch and brake reservoirs were both completely empty. The fuel lines and brakes lines, and ebrake cable were rusted through. I replaced every single component of the brake system.

if by some incredibly odd chance that the motor isnt locked for either carbon or rust, its gonna need all new intake gaskets and vacuum hoses as well as the other things previously mentioned. the tps will most likely need recalibration, brakes will need to be gone over and calipers/rotors/pads all changed given that the wheel bearings and such are possibly still okay (you never know). like previously stated take your time and due it right. what are your plans for this barn find? restore and leave stock or modify? your probably gonna need to spend a good time under the cars cleaning and checking stuff like rubber bushings and possible rust damage particularily just in front of the rear wheels and where the rockers meet the floor pan. both seem to be prone to rusting out. good luck.

I can't imagine building and owning a car and then not driving it. I just want to clean it up, keep it mostly stock (repaint it black, and replace the shocks and exhaust when needed- probably soon), and then use it to cruise in on the weekends. To open the moon roof and find some nice picturesque traffic free curvy roads. It's not going to be the daily driver though, especially consider how incredibly thirsty they are, despite their size.

Ok, you are going to have to tell us the price if this thread is going to continue...