Hello again,

I've been sick for awhile and have a 93 3rd gen RX7 sitting in the driveway for a long long long time. The tires are still inflated and the car has been covered but the car was not running when it was parked many years ago.
I decided to get this girl back up and running again before I am gone and am now looking where in the Houston area to do this?
Not sure what work both inside and out it might need but it is available in my home's driveway to check out.

The car had about 80K miles on it when it was parked.

Is there anyone in the Houston area who does reconditioned 3rd generation RX7s?

Thanks for any help you can offer,
John

 

Sorry to hear about your health troubles. If you kept it undercover all these years, sounds like the worse it needs is fresh everything under hood. If the body and interior is in good shape and at 80k miles, you still got a gem there totally worth investing in.

 

what's your budget and what are the known problems? If you're looking for a turn key service (drop it off and pick it up running well), it will likely be many thousands of dollars.

 

I think Steve Kan is in Houston, not sure how much FD stuff he does now, though.

There's also Rotary Performance in Dallas/Garland.

A car that has sat for a long time is going to need some TLC for sure. Possible rusty gas tank, rusty brakes, bad engine, rusty cooling system, etc. etc. Hopefully not mice nests and chewed wiring.

Dale

 

If you are going to pay someone to do it, then spend the extra cash and tow it to one of the shops with a good reputation. It will be well worth it in the long run.

If you have a garage and some tools, I've seen 80K mile FDs come back to life after 20 years. Just get ahold of Ray Crowe for parts and phone a friend.

Jason

 

On the DIY side, here are some rough estimates and with mostly worst case scenarios:
From some of your previous posts, it seems likely that you'll need to replace the twins at the very least. And given the amount of work it is and the other things you'll have to replace to refresh the car, I would honestly suggest pulling the engine. It's a bit of a rabbit hole but better that than buying all new parts and just praying for a healthy engine.

Engine:
-Depending on the condition of the core components (rotors, housings, etc.) it may be more cost effective just to buy a new block. $5400 (IRP/ check other vendors as well for pricing)
-Atkins full gasket kits (that's pretty much every seal and gasket in the engine bay) is around $2000 but doesn't include any new engine components. Rotor housings are $800 - 900 each, irons $500-600 each, bearings $100-200 each. It quickly adds up when it comes to the short block.
-Assorted and misc. hoses and pipes and things (coolant hoses, radiator hoses, air filters, etc.) $500

Turbos:
-New BNRs (new OEM twins are just as, if not more expensive than BNRs. Buying used OEM is also a trap in my experience) - $2600 (with housings)
-Aftermarket turbo control solenoid rack - $600-700 (replacing all the solenoids individually is not cost effective nor recommended, you'll probably need to spend an additional $160 on the wastegate/pre-control solenoids)

Suspension (my 85K touring had most pillow ***** blown out and the struts were shot, assuming yours are similar):
-J-auto pillow ***** $360 (OEM are close to $600)
-Superpro bushing kit $500
-Coilovers $1000 (BC coilovers, could maybe piece together Bilstein's and springs for cheaper)

Other:
-Downpipe ($180 HKS)
-Radiator ($200 to get a bigger copper core by a custom shop, or 250-350 for an aluminum aftermarket)

I'm missing a lot of other things such as interior pieces and exterior restorations, wiring harness repairs, etc. but I would say the above is a bare minimum. Some of them seem like upgrades but in reality, the cost of replacing OEM is, at this point, very similar to buying "performance" parts.

 

As far as cost goes there is a big difference between get her running and a bad *** build. That’s another reason I recommend a shop familiar with the fd. Banzai comes to mind for me. They seem open to multiple different levels of build and regardless of the level they know and take care of the little things that other shops not familiar with fd’s won’t. Getting it there will suck a little but once it’s there you know you’re in good hands. There are other shops out there that will take care of you as well.

I just did exactly what you are planning to do. I did mine in the garage and it wasn’t that bad. Having a crew chief that knows his stuff is a tremendous help, which I had. I didn’t replace turbos, or redo the suspension. I cleaned the hell out of all parts and replaced hoses, gaskets, O rings and upgraded components like the radiator etc.

Do you know why it stopped running? I think overall cost will depend on that and on your priorities for the build. Determining what must be fixed and what you can live with is key.

Jason

 

These are the most popular, OG, trustworth, Texas shops that I'm familiar with
https://rotaryperformance.com/
RX7.COM Performance and Repair Parts for RX-7 and RX-8