I bought this bad boy for $300 from work and all it needs is a rebuild

tell me what you think.

*56k warning!!*

http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00573.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00572.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00571.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00574.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00570.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00569.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00568.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00567.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00566.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~john.hoyenga/DSC00565.JPG

exterior is super clean, interior is clean except for where the BLOCK was sitting on the passenger seat. The dumbass who tore the engine out just sat it on the seat...

tomorrow I'll post pics in the daylight of all the *7* flaws.

 

So are there any pics of the car? Or are they all huge pics of parts of the car?

I'd like to jack this thread to state that I just traded my 1986 Yamaha FZ for a 10AE...a white one, even...

 

those are some of the worst pictures i have ever seen. (not the car itself but ya..) like picture 570. it's all black with showing only the license plate and yellow reflector.

 

Yes, the pictures are horrible, but from what I can see of the car it looks great! Good luck, have fun and welcome to the club!!
-John

 

$300????

Quite a bargain, even with a blown motor - you practically stole it from the guy, so well done.

Maybe with the money you saved you could take a photography course!! (j/k)

 

going by the pictures, i hope you cleaned it after you took them, when you say "clean"
that is.

 

Apparently my definition of clean is much different. That car looks shot. The interior is filthy, the hood is all faded and peeled, that thing needs some work. Stick around, you'll learn alot.

 

Time to read the manual on that camera big boy.

 

yes the car is dirty but the car is in nice shape, i think this is what he ment by clean. the car is not a beater.

Now just get your self some cleaning supplys, and have your self some fun, and take a day to clean everything imaginable. then take some better pictures, and list them here. lets see how good you can make it look.

Its amazing how differant a car can look after a good cleaning.

 

good luck on the project! and welcome to our world!! your in for alot of ups and downs!! (comes w/ the territory)..... i hope everything works out for you on your car!! oh, and you got lucky!! $300 for a s5.... good job!!!

 

Welcome.
Good luck, read the FAQ, ask questions, and ignore the a$$es

 

When I took the pictures, the whole car had an uneven layer of dew on it, making it look faded and gross.

I took the pictures as soon as I got the car home in the pitch black, so the flash was the only light I had.

The body is practically mint, there are 7 flaws in it that I could find. the engine is the only "not clean" part.

More pics up in a sec.

more pics:

front of car
corners of hood bent
paint rubbed off end of driver's mirror
window molding flaking on both sides
passenger side molding flake
rear of the car
scuff above the corner of passenger door
small scratches on front facia
right quarter shot
rear angle shot
right front shot
right side shot

*EDIT*

HAHAHAHA, I look so white trash...our house is in transition, we are redoing the yard and that is the maxima I posted about with no spark. really...I'm NOT white trash.

 

Not bad, I like the color. Dosen't look completely stock though the quad pipes are questionable. Btw I have an S5 parts car with a running motor if you're interested... msg me.

 

Do yourself a favor and hit a detailing forum about having one of the mobile detailers in your area pay you a visit. For about $200 or so, they will come to you and perform the following which should get all of those paint blemishes out and remove all stains/oxidation. Try www.autopia.org or www.detailcity.com. There are some very talented people there, most likely someone in your area.

-wash
-clay
-wash again
-paint cleaner/fine cut compound by rotary polisher
-glaze
-sealant/wax
-shampoo interior
-clean/polish/wax rims

I'd also recommend taking off the rusty window molding (takes 5 minutes) scuffing it down and re-spraying with a flexible flat black bumper spray paint. They will look brand new.

 

welcome, and good luck with the car.

 

I would even say that a wet sand would not be a bad idea.

 

Pictures look like you have something to start with... $300 ain't bad for what you are showing.

Items of concern:

it has an aftermarket exhaust system. That could possibly mean a previous owner that liked to tinker with stuff... could be other items that have been modified, that you won't find out about until you try and put an engine in.

Rusted window frames... noticed the plates are Oregon plates... better have a good long look at the underside of the car. Oregon isn't exactly a dry state... could be a bunch of rust and crap up inside the body.

It could be just the angle of the picture, but the right side shot of the car, the suspension/height of the car off the ground doesn't look right.



Anyway, from one blue RX-7 owner to another, welcome to the club.

 

It has some 4 wheeler height to it. Might be Springs/struts from Midas or some other high quality service.

 

You also have to remember that the weight of the motor isn't in the front either.

 

i like the color!
good luck!

 

If you build the motor....stock, you may spend about $1000. Coupled with the $300 spent you have a nice DD for $1300. Not bad for a really nice sports car with a fresh motor!!

 

looks like you got away like a bandit.

You guys may bitch about what he says is "Clean" but to me it is.

The car seems to not have any major dents and the interioir isn't really ripped.

Paint can be redone. Dents and interioir parts will amplify costs.

 

not bad at all

 

Tear it apart and rebuild it yourself. N/A's are pretty simple to work on if you don't allow yourself to be intimidated, and you figure out which parts are which. If you made sure to label your parts, you could probably take the motor out in 3 days of semi-casual work with no experience (with proper tools of course). Have the block disassembled in a day or so, and within 2 weeks you could have your car up and running with a fresh rebuild (maybe, lol). You can find a kit from atkinsrotary.com for around $500-900, and they sell a video there for $30 that'll take all of the mystery out of rebuilding a motor (they disassemble the block and rebuild it in an hour or so). DO IT!!!

 

Thanks for the warm welcome

Detailing: I plan on giving it a good scrubbing inside and out tomorrow since I have all day and it *might* not be raining. if it is oh well, I grew up here, I can handle getting wet.

Trim: thanks for the suggestion! I'll do that tomorrow as well.

Rust: I already checked it over, it doesn't even have the rust by the firewall side of the fenders like I read to look for! the whole underbody has anti-rust coating that is still intact, but even so, when I take it to work and use the lift I am going to lok at EVERYTHING to make sure it's as clean under as it looks with it on the ground.

Suspension: I was wondering about that, the front springs are REALLY REALLY stiff. like so stiff that I can barely move the front with my body weight (200lbs). I don't think that's normal.... The only thing obviously wrong with the suspension other than that is the rear driver side wheel has about 2* of negative camber while the other has no noticeable camber issues. I think this is just the lower control arm, but I'm not sure. I'm also looking at that when I bring it to work to use the lift.

Here's the part where I maight get flamed a bit: My Maxima is the daily driver, this is my race car. I am up in the air about which engine I want to put in it, I am going to rebuild the rotary no matter what but I don't have the money for the rebuild kit right now. My friend and next door neighbor has 8 small blocks in his garage of various breeds, and I am thinking about putting a 302 small block in it. he even has some nice heads and cams for it, and a tranny. I know there is quite a bit of fabrication work that goes into that, but I worked in a fabrication shop for a year and I have a welder of my own.

The only reason I am hedging about putting the 302 in is that I LOVE rotaries. they are an amazing engine and I've always wanted to drive one but mine is broken.