Hi guys,

I'm a newbie and I'm looking at buying a series 6 (around '93-'94) but one of my mates reckons that an RX of that age would most definately require a rebuild by now.

Surely a stock 13B of this day and age can do more than a few years work without requiring a rebuild?

Looking for some educated advice....

cheers

 

As long as it hasn't benn mistreated, it should be fine. Going by the age alone isn't going to tell you squat about the condition of the engine.

How many K's on it, any visible oil leaks, does it blow smoke etc. Those would be the things to look out for.

See ya!

 

okay, the best thing, as I understand it is to get a compression test, true? will that tell me everything I need to know about the condition of the engine?

 

There's plenty of aussie rotorhead on this forum. I'm sure they can help you in buying your serie 6. A compression test will tell how healthy the motor is, but i don't know about everything else.

 

Get onto Ausforum.com and find someone locally to either help you check the car over, or put you onto a GOOD local Rotary Workshop

BTW, this Series 6 wouldn't be a Dark Green one from a Car Yard, would it?

 

Dave, I don't have a particular car in mind, just in the process of looking to buy 'a' S6. Besides, I'm from Brissy, so it's unlikely that I'd buy a car from Adelaide

 

OK firstly, aus delivered FD rx-7's are the toughest of all. They have around 60-70 different mods as compared to the Jap version that are ALL for reliability. I'm not saying they're bulletproof but I am saying they will last longer than say US versions.

You need to do a couple of things:
1) Compression test - very important
2) Hook up a boost gauge and give the turbo's a run. The turbos are big $$$ so you need to check for bad seals (oil cloud on boost or medium throttle) cracked housings and bad bearings.

shoot me an email: pete@autospeed.com I'm in brisbane so if you decide to get one I can talk you through the essentials.

-pete

 

HEY! an Autospeeder! cool, I used to be on AS but was too tight to pay the subscription to continue using the forums

Thanks for your offer Pete, if I get closer I'll shoot an email to ya.

 

No, it was a Brisbane car I was thinking of. It has been for sale for a LOOOOONG time now :-)

 

I'd agree with Pete. I held out for a Series 7, and am glad I did. It is a nice car.

 

Series 7? I thought that the Series 6 was the last one that Mazda Aust released

 

series 6 1993-1995
series 7 1996-1998

The series 7 has:

Different spoiler
Different ECU, some sensors

anything else dave?

-pete

 

hmmmm, '96-98.......something tells me I have no chance of affording one of dose tings!

 

Yeah welcome to the inferior rx-7 club

For the same money as a series 7 you can get an imported JDM series 8 these have:

* new ECU again!
* 280HP thanks to ceramic comressors
* revised intake ducting
* revised suspension on ALL models
* new colours
* revised rear wing
* revised rear lights
* 17" rims
* revised front air dam
* revised dash

etc etc

Basically they're faster, lighter better gripping and more reliable than the earlier ones.

Expect to pay about 50-60k for one. Up to 80k+ for an 02 model

-pete

 

AAAAAAAGGHHHHHHH!!!! Don't scare me like that!

my god if I had that sort of money I wouldn't be driving a '66 Corolla

Maybe I need to take a step back and look at a S5 with a PAC 10 second package or something?

 

can I ask whay you're prepared to spend?

 

of course you can. And this is my answer - not much
I'm aiming high, if I can get a good S6 without spending more than what I can get a quick brand new car for (eg: 200SX, WRX, etc) then I will, otherwise I will probably go for one of the other cars

 

Then stay with the s6. The s5's are WAY overpriced at the moment for no good reason. Ever noticed how they haven't budged in about 3 years?

You should be able to pick up a good s6 for low 30's. If you're prepared to have a privately imported (and much lighter) JDM car (like I have) then you can pay as low as 25k. Since an s15 goes for about 45k you should have about 10-15k to spend on mods on an rx-7

That should be heaps. You could have a GT35/40 single turbo setup for that money = BIG HP. If I were you I'd spend about half that though. It's a new car so you can expect a few problems.

-pete

 

Yeah, I'd be right up for gettin an import, I've had one before (S13) and vowed I'd get another import some day. For $25K it's a very viable option for me.

Are they still available through the importers or do I have to scan the Trading Post and Unique Cars?

Pete, do you have a web page or any pics of your car?