kekoa

So I'm looking into buying an FD roller. Missing motor, trans and driveshaft. front bumper, right fender, mirrors and needs body work.
the guy is asking $2500.any recommendations? Anything in particular I should look for? in my head I justify the missing items as items I would have eventually swapped out anyway. any advise would be appreciated.

Pete_89T2

iTrader: (4)

Obviously that $2500 FD will need a lot of work to turn it into a finished car that you'll enjoy driving and proud to show - the question you need to honestly answer for yourself is do you have the time, funds and necessary skills to pull it off? I'm going under the assumption that you want to keep it rotary, but a lot of this will still apply even if you intend to swap in a piston motor. If you don't have the skills and time to DIY the majority of the work, it's going to cost you a fortune. Just from what you posted, the shopping list for parts alone on this project is pretty long - the minimum being a full long block engine (includes turbos and all ancillary stuff), transmission, drive shaft, missing bodywork parts. And if you're going to swap in a piston motor, you'll have lots of extra fabrication work to do to get it to work in the FD platform.

What else is missing from this car? Does it still have the stock ECU and all of the engine & chassis wiring harnesses intact? Radiator & turbo inter-cooler? Any P/S & A/C parts still under the hood? How long has it been sitting around in non-driving condition? If too long, parts like brake calipers tend to get rusted up and in need of replacement. Same rust/corrosion issues apply to fuel tanks and whatever fuel system parts are still on the car, plus stale gas can gum things up too. What about the interior - is it all there and in good condition? FD interior plastic bits tend to be stupid expensive, many are no longer available from Mazda and they can be hard to find used.

kekoa

well I found a long block online including trans and ecu for $7000 no compression. but all that doesnt help if the wiring harness is fried.

I worked at a shop doing mostly remove/replace jobs and minor diagnostics. not really a teardown kinda guy, done it before but I don't have the time for that.
might be too big a job for me, we will see, thank you for the info I will lyk how it goes.

MakoRacing

iTrader: (12)

You'd be a lot better of in total cost if you save for a running (or closer to running) car, as well as avoiding how huge of a project a $2500 Rx7 is. Also please please dont spend 7k for a blown engine .....

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

It's a shame that FD ended up in that state. It will be pretty expensive to source all the parts - not just needing a long block, but trans, probably power plant frame, driveshaft, etc. If the big parts aren't available on the island you'll be paying a fortune in shipping to get it from the mainland.

Also, since it has sat for a long time most likely you'll have a rusted gas tank (as stated), brakes that need a full refresh, electrical gremlins, etc.

It's a fair price for the car but you're easy at $10k of parts to get a car that starts, runs, and drives and MONTHS of serious work. Then you still have the body work that needs doing, it will probably need paint, and I have a feeling the interior needs some work.

Just know what you're getting into there!

Dale