Car needs restoration. Tired of it.
 

Folks, My car has been in decline for several years now. I got it bone stock in 1997 from a dealer and lucked upon a '94 R2. Loved the car and spend hours polishing it (even hand polishing the aluminum suspension parts with a Dremel tool :) ) Been to 7Stock and modded it mostly myself. I put a new motor in it and that motor is not gone again.... Only a few thousand miles on it and it dead... Paint is original and pretty, but dinged up and I hit a pole like an idiot backing up in my office parking garage a few years ago and just haven't dedicated money or have the money necessarily to do anything. Front fenders are torn up too from the tires grabbing the lip in turns.. The other day I backed the car out of the garage to get some camping stuff out the car just died. I noticed that the oil pan I keep under the car is full of oil, some clear liquid which I believe is steering or clutch fluid, and there is some white dried crud too which I assume is coolant Turbos are probably toast too. Original twins at 96K miles. It's all kinds of messed up. I'm at the point of just trash it or let somebody do a project.

Is there a builder that I can take the care to and just have everything done at one place? Potentially minor body work and paint and all the motor work. Make a bulletproof (ish) car to just drive and not mess with. The cost will of course dictate whether or not I can swing it, but I've had this thing for almost 22 years now and I hate to crap it away. I can't spend a lot, but I don't want cheapo or inferior work and parts. I asked this on the FB forums and got some pretty good suggestions. Any more ideas here?

I am sure there are shops willing to help you out, however, budget will dictate all of what needs to get done. You could stagger the approach to your restoration, where you can have the engine addressed. While it is out, you could then have the engine bay repainted. I would recommend focusing your effort and funds on what matters most to you. But if I were you in your shoes, I would get the car running well first before doing any exterior work.

IMO, FourtyOunce has the right idea. Get the mechanicals right before you spend a ton on the bodywork. A good repaint with minor body repairs may cost nearly as much as the total of everything else. Once it's mechanically sound, you can decide whether you want to go further.

Also, in my case I'm delaying a repaint because if the paint were perfect I'd be REALLY paranoid about parking it most places.

Sounds like the motor needs to be pulled and have everything gone through - new gaskets where needed, new coolant hoses, find and fix leaks, etc. I agree, I would get it mechanically sound then get some body work done to it.

If it's getting to where you've lost the passion for the car and you're ready to move on it will be worth a good amount of money even as it sits.

Really, it sounds like pretty minor stuff that needs to be sorted out to get the car happy again.

Having a shop do the work could be pricey, I know there are a ton of RX-7 shops in California so you're in good shape there.

Dale

If you are willing to ship me the car I can take care of everything for you. I ship cars all over the country. Have 2 from California here now. If you are interested feel free to reach out to me to discuss pricing and options.

@kensin might be interested if you want to sell the car.

Cool, you can get paint and body done too? How about little interior detail etc? Any ideas on what kind of price we'd be looking at for this. Obviously dependent on seeing the car and what it actually needs upon assessment. I'm assuming a new Motor @$5,000 and new turbo @$4,000 just to get started minus labor.
My concern starts to be that with at least $10k in mechanical and let's guestimate $6-7K in body and paint.... I can just pick up a really nice complete car for about $25K and sell mine for something.

Hi Dale!!
Hey, how about you just sell me your car? :)

I love the car for the 15 minutes it runs well but it's just a pain in the ass because it's falling apart fast. Engine is leaking from all over and it stalled and sounds like it's on one rotor now... I'll try plugs because... They fix everything lol. It was warmed up when it stalled though and I got the coolant light so that;s not good. I'm just tired of wrenching on it. I don't have time or room or funds for a project. I have a little girl that demands all my time and she likes LEGOs... LEGOs are expensive.... I just want it done or gone really at this point.

I’ll trade you all my son’s legos for it :-D he wants a red FD

That's an option. There's always someone looking for a cheap(er) way into a FD. But if you rebuild yours and do the body work, etc, it will all be "new" and the way you want it. vs possibly buying someone else's headache or settling for a color or mods you don't like.

Here is what I think you would be looking at for prices. Like everyone else said I would get the car running first and then consider if the bodywork is worth it. Worst case you would get your money back with it in a running state vs selling a roller.

1) Most current shop rebuild prices are around $3500 with a loose engine including all parts and labor.

2) Removal and Reinstallation of a typical engine is about $1500 including all parts and labor.

3) A set of twin turbos can run anywhere from $200 to $1000 if you don't mind used. If you absolutely have to have new turbos then you are looking at around $2,500 (new Efinis or BNR's). Labor should be included with either of the above.

4) Decent bodywork (at least insurance quality) will be about $500 per panel if they don't need to be removed. Add $175-300 for each new fender or bumper if needed (also add another $100 per piece for removal and reinstallation costs). Extent of bodywork and color may affect this.

I can handle everything. My good friend owns Broadway Supercars, which is an exotic car rental and service business. They have a complete on-site body shop. Pricing will depend greatly depending on what the car needs and what you want to go with, but you are in the ballpark. Issue with starting with a different car is you really don't know what you are getting internally unless there is very good history on the vehicle. Paint is expensive no matter what if you do it right. That is one place getting a car with a quality paint job already performed can help but you're still dealing with the mechanical aspect. Call me at the shop and I'll be more than happy to go through the rebuild process and put together something that works for your goals and budget. 732-662-1794.

Think long and hard about selling.... I'm just getting back into an Rx7 after selling mine years ago and it costs almost 3 times as much as when i sold mine

Values have definitely risen dramatically. I've had 6 fds and the roller I bought recently cost almost as much as some running cars I've purchased years ago.

Total this, for you, and double it. Now you know your budget.

That's true. My numbers are based on assuming that nearly all engine parts are reusable so it's definitely at the bottom limit.

The RX7 game right now is either do it yourself or empty your pockets.

No its probably where it always should have been, it's a sports car that costs sports car money to keep it up properly.

Always safe to assume things will not go according to plan. Overshooting your budget is always survivable. Undershooting is almost always deadly.

Nothing has ever once gone as planned with this car. Yet for some reason I've hung onto it... I hate myself and money. I think that's why. ;)

Sell it and move on with your life. Sometimes these cars can keep you from making a bigger leap forward in life.
If you get into a better position in life and have the expendable income to get an FD again, then you'll be able to make that decision regardless of how much the prices have risen.