I was offered a 94 FD in trade and went to check it out today. Not sure of the model, but it was *not* an R1.

Notes:

~100k miles on the chassis
~salvage title with slightly cracked and rippled core-support on the pass. side. Bumper ~fenders, headlights and hood are all slightly off--although nothing too crazy
~MB respray--6/10
~cheap H3 ebay non-popup "headlights"
~assorted dings and some light body damage to the rear drivers quarter-panel
~windshield has a crappy seal and a ghetto touch-up job with some sealant

~molested engine bay with some oil leakage on drivers-side, bolts missing, loose fittings etc.
~Apexi intakes and downpipe, custom cat and I think a Greddy cat-back
~4th engine, this one is JDM with unknown mileage and compression

~Tan leather with worn bolster, a couple missing pieces, blown out pass. airbag (unknown drivers), aftermarket stereo and boost gauge.

Impressions:

~Car started fine--several pulses too many before firing--but oh well. Able to rev up and drop down to hold a decent 700-850 RPM idle. Somewhat shaky, but better than I expected. I didn't notice any smoke--but I wasn't looking very hard.

~Revved smoothly but had occasional 3000 and 3400 RPM hesitations. Light to mid throttle was smooth, and it *felt* like the sequential system was at least hooked up to some extent.

~Very low oil pressure reading on the stock gauge. "15" psi at idle, "35" at all cruising. I never went WOT because the FD was low on gas, and the oil-pressure was making me apprehensive. Temp. gauge stayed solidly at 1/2 way.. Allegedly runs a solid 8 PSI throughout the power-band during WOT to redline. Low considering the breathability mods--but like I said the engine-bay is fairly molested and I'm sure everything will have to be gone through and checked.

~5th gear grind, although the rest of the gears felt average/acceptable.

~Suspension, brakes and clutch all felt good. Car drove straight and had no other weird issues.

~I hot-started the car and although it took (again) several additional pulses--it did catch and fire and was able to hold the idle without any additional help.

I'm basically an FC "professional" thinking about making a switch and trying my hand at an FD. I'd be replacing the front-bumper, pass. fender, the headlights, fixing all the dents and then respraying the car. I'd have to basically strip down the engine bay--replace all the tune-up crap, replace the vac. lines, fix the oil-leak(s) and low pressure, remove the sequential system and everything else I don't need etc... After that, touch up the interior and maybe look into replacing the windshield and air-bag. Either way, input would be nice. This is a fully molested FD that would be in the hands of someone who has the ability to do all the work (including paint etc.)--I just don't know FD's enough to feel confident making a decision. I'd rather have cash, but if I could fix everything for a relatively low price, it might pay off in the end. Should I jump?

 

don't buy salvage mayng...

 

in all that i didnt see a price??

 

With a salvage title, won't that make it difficult to re-sell if you eventually want to do that? At the very least, it will knock some $$$ off the price if you do try to sell it eventually.

Even if you were going to keep it forever I'd think you could do better. If you consider your labor "free" it's still going to take some expensive parts and a paint job to put that thing back together. And of course that engine with the unknown mileage and maintenance is a big WILD CARD. That could be $4,000 right there.

A sensible person would pass. It's like buying a fixer upper house near a sink hole. There's a reason some owners call these cars money pits. Find a better example and you'll lead a happier life.

 

unless you're buying it to thrash and don't expect to keep any money when you sell it- i'd stay away.

 

http://rx7.voodoobox.net/infofaq/bguide3g/bguide3g.html
http://www99.epinions.com/content_92709097092
http://www.marx7.org/infocenter/faqs/3rd_faq_main.html
http://www.rx7.org/Robinette/buyaused.htm

 

Thanks for the responses. For a little more context, and for the person who asked about price, I'd be trading straight across for this Turbo II:



https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=746631

 

Unless its just for tracking,I wouldnt!

 

I wouldn't. You would be going from a very nice and worked-up car, to a money pit. I'm not saying not to move to an FD, but I would find another one.

 

tough call. thats a beautiful TII, and with all the work and cash u have into it, its gotta be hard to trade for somebodys hack job. i guess if your tired of the TII and are looking to try another project u could do it. But u are gonna be passing on your car to someone who doesnt seem to take good care theirs. keep your TII, or at least find it a good home, and get the fd for cheap. with a salvage title you should be able to do so, just remember its gonna cost alot of $ to get it lookin as good as your current 7.

 

Thanks for the input people. Looks like I'll just keep waiting until I can sell the FC straight-up. I've also been offered a trade for an 03 Mazdaspeed Protege, but after reading about how difficult they are to sell, I've decided to pass on that option as well... And yes, the Protege also has some issues (otherwise I would've jumped at that trade).

 

i agree with dhays on this one, i would find an FD in better condition. or one less risky. btw your fc looks awesome.

 

Look at it this way. Why would you trade your hard earned and hard labored piece of art for someone else's scrap.

An eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth...

 

haha, i believe you guys are talking about my hack job =/. I got what I paid for, I picked up an FD for $7250 with a running motor, at 18 years old. If you had a choice between a salvaged FD project, or a boring Honda Civic, what would you go with? Being 19 now, and only making $14 an hour, owning and maintaining 1994 Rx-7 is a very expensive task. That, and with an rx-7, you really can't trust anybody but another rx-7 owner, which are pretty rare. Give me a break! I really love my car, crap or not, I know trading for Erik's clean FC would be very smart, but it isn't my car, that's why I decided to decline the trade also. I am glad to see Erik feels the same way.

 

How much for the Turbo II?

 

+1

 

No ******* way would I trade a NICE clean TII like that for a clapped out FD. I still miss my first TII...

 

Add up what you think it will cost to fix all the stuff you listed. Then multiply that by 2 or 3x, that is what it'll cost you to fix it up.

Used parts for FCs are everywhere, not so with FDs. I'd rather buy a nice car that is stock for $13k than a clapped out one for $7k. The $13k car will be much cheaper in the end.

 

Just my two cents but...finding a great looking and maintained FD is hard. If you are expecting to find a immaculate fd, don't expect to have a straight trade across. If you want to switch to an fd, you should expect to spend some money regardless of how well kept the FD may be.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't have been looking to make the switch, just investing for a higher resale. I don't think I'll ever personally own an FD, although it would have been interesting taking on the project.

 

Keep your FC and wait for a better FD. A friend of mine learned a harsh lesson by trading his AE86 for a poorly running TII almost like how you would trade your FC for a molested FD. He planned on tracking it, and streeting it until he was ready to fully convert it. He later ran into his first rotary woe of learning about patience and money. He then traded his poorly running TII for a non running even worse condition 240SX fastback, blown engine, came with a spare, the car was auto but came with all the parts to convert it to manual.

In the beginning I told him not to trade for the FC because I checked it out with him. It was a POS after he decided to go with it I tried to help him with what I could. He just doesn't have any patience. When he decided to trade the FC for a 240. When the guy came to pick up the FC and drop off the 240 I refused to help him move the car lol. The lesson: Just be patient

 

what you guys are failing to understand is who would trade a good condition FD for a good condition FC? I knew my car had problems throwing the value decently below $10,000, I thought it was a nearly fair trade.