He's in Canada.

having some friends that can help will greatly speed up the learning curve

OOPS!! Nice catch.

Thanks again guys!!!

I was thinking of getting the cleanest FD I could for roughly 10-11 K leaving me about 5 grand to either do a rebuild right away or do all the reliabilty mods and make the engine in the car I buy bullet proof. I know Gordon and a few other weighed in on this already but this might be the road I have to take cause its taken me a while to get the wife to go along with the idea of spending 16-18 grand on a car a couples of months after we buy a new house(you know how it is:rolleyes:)... so I'm gonna need to use some of that money to do the reliability stuff cause if I spend it all on the car I might be screwed for a while if something goes wrong

oh yeah since I'm in Edmonton,Ab Canada the winters are pretty crazy :icon_tdowso this car will only be driven for about 4-5 months a year and the rest of time I got an rsx for a DD

Has anyone went the route of buying the cheaper car and building it up from there and if so how did it work out????

I think i'm doing that right now...but kinda depends on your definition of cheaper car and what your expecting

I had little experience working on cars when I bought my FD.

I think you'll be fine if you have another car to drive, a good place to work on the FD, and the FD is already in good shape. That way you can start with learning to work on maintenance tasks, and take your time if something doesn't seem right.

The last thing you want to do is need the car to get to work and try to cram something together to make it run. Bad, bad, bad, that situation.

Building up a cheaper FD is not a bargain unless you intend to strip out all of the junk and make a prepared race car.

Dave

If you have some one to bounce ideas off of I'd say you don't necessarily have to have a lot of experience but when nothing your doing seems to have results it's nice to have some one that can come over to look at the car that knows what they are talking about.

That is actually more expensive. For the most part, "mods" don't re-sell well on a car. There are cars being sold today with thousands of dollars in mods, but they can only get around $14-15k USD for the cars when they should be worth more. Closer to stock cars sell for more money generally in the US. However, when looking at JDM cars that's not necessarily the case.

Ideally, you should look for a car that is for sale locally. This will give you a chance to check it out, have a compression test done on it, etc... Bringing a car over from Japan is going to be a crap shoot. It may be fine, or it may be torn up; but you won't really know until you've already paid for it.

Mahjik--- I hear what your saying about buying locally which I plan to do... there are tones of FD's that have already been brought over by other peolpe which I have the luxary of looking at in person and getting them check out and making the best selection from there!!!;)

Thanks again for all the good advice guys... hearing from the pros on here really makes me feel like I can tackle the ups and downs of owning an FD... thanks:)

Common sense is probably the most important thing. In order to know if you have common sense, you will have to ask your smartest friend (that won't lie to you). If you don't have common sense, you won't be aware of it. :)

I didn't know squat and failed auto in high skool when I got my first rx7 a 91 na coupe. It had blown coolant seals without knowing. Spent a lot of money paying mechanics w/ no rotary experience who couldn't fix it. I sold everything after spending $3-4k. I got a miata and learned it easy. Then my rx7 love came back on me. I then built a 90 t2 from a half shell to a beast. Ever since I have yet to blow a motor and and have fixed and sold a few fc's. I had 2 s4 t2s and 3 s5 t2s. Always had at least 2 rx7s. Right now I have a s5 t2 and a fd. Thanks to the rx7 I'm an ase certified automotive techncian and have a degree and certificate in automotive. It all depends on how much drive u have. Experience will be super helpful though. I say get it and u will find out if u were made for it or not. Good luck on ur fd.

I agree with many of the others, desire and some mechanical aptitude is a major factor. But having a trusted, reliable rotary specialty shop (NOT a Mazda dealership) within a reasonable distrance of where you live can be important early on. So keep that in mind. In the event you run into something major and have the resources, the car doesn't end up being a driveway ornament for 3 yrs, or sold out of frustration.
I disagree with this. First, the LHD models were NORTH AMERICAN versions, not just U.S. Second, there's a reason those RHD cars were shipped over here. The cars are cheaper for a reason. From what I understand from a few Japanese/Asian friends, they're idea of routine maintanance is different from ours. Third, as some others mentioned, you typically end up spending more to get the car on solid footing and the REAL costs end up being negligible. Especially true if your a novice. Finally, I personally wouldn't want a RHD. I think they're a fad...JDM fashion statement and all. Fads tend to end eventually, as I think they're doing now. Regardless it's a compromise unless you really want a RHD. There is a smaller, focused market for the RHD models. If your in that group and actually LIKE them that's fine. But be aware that (in addition to over-all condition) it's another reason they sell for significantly less. I know you love the cars and all, but re-sale value should be in the equation too.....just in case.

Just my .02. Good luck with whatever you get. :)

I agree we do have to start somewhere. I just don't think I would want to start with an FD.

However, given the OP's situation, I would say go for it. Money is a huge factor. If you don't have the knowledge to fix your car, you can always pay to have it done. If your broke, you are forced to make things work.

The key to getting started wrenching is having the proper tools and taking your time. FD's deserve professional work, not half a$$ getto rigs.

I would also recommend getting the best mod you could ever buy for your car..... another car to drive daily.

Good luck OP

It's just a car, as long as you posses some common sense and do some research before you start wrenching you'll be fine.

Personally, from the "tone" of his post, he will be far better off than most. As long as he has the logical mindset to be mechanical, and the patience to ask questions when he is unsure.

Do it buddy! Caution saves you money. Taking your time and wrenching your own car buys you pride.

I think it depends on your personal ability to learn. If you are a quick learner and are resourceful when searching for new information you can probably do it. It really helps to have a friend to lend a helping hand that has some experience though.

My old roomate with a 97 supra knew nothing about working on cars, after helping him do some small mods to it over the winter, he learned a ton, and just successfully did a single turbo conversion pretty much all by himself. You can learn a lot in a short amount of time if you are able and willing.

And as far as learning on an FD, if you start of with a single turbo and no emissions, its one of the easiest cars to learn on. I did a lot of learning on my old G35 coupe, that was 5 times as difficult to work on, so many more electricals, way less room.

Your post sounds exactly how I was when I was thinking of buying a 7 over 10 years ago. I had never even changed the oil on a car before. Actually I had almost no money as well. This isn't a huge problem if you do your own work. However I had a positive attitude and was doing tons of research and learning. When I bought it I found friends and started working on it myself. I am proof that you don't need to have experience. You do need to have some sort of innate ability though. I am mechanically minded and a good problem solver.

Generally I'd be willing to bet you have a good chance of being a good owner that will really enjoy owning a 7. Don't be afraid of buying one. I was but you know what? I have never once regretted my choice.

it's literal, i had an engine fire once.... lesson learned :lol:

it does matter

not saying you will do this but many that don't have past mechanical experience make stupid mistakes and more mistakes and get frustrated easier and eventually end up selling the car torn down, parting it out, or the worst v8 swapping it.

It also can hurt. Many people with mechanical knowledge just start "modding" the car without understand the differences of this car verses a piston engine. I'm not going to point out threads, but there are many examples where people "thought" they knew more than they did only to cause themselves more issues.

Well sounds like a few people were in my same position when they bought there FD which is nice to hear... :) I plan to buy the cleanest(stock) JDM FD I can find and work on getting it running perfectly in stock form before doing any mods.

Thanks for all the good advice. I know some people aren't crazy about JDM car, like someone above said "it a fade" but for me it's just a chance to buy a car that normally woulld be out of my price range, I'm not doing it so that I can have a car that is right hand drive cause down here its not that big of a deal... you see right hand drive car everytime you leave the house.

Thanks again for all the words of wisdom:)

i got mine last sept, no mechanical expierence besides exhaust intake and pulley... i learned how to do EVERYTHING on my 7... i stripped the car down, redid bushings, pulled engine/tranny, clutches, FMIC, etc.. so i would say youre OKAY on getting it but have a spare set of hands TOOLS, and someone mechanically inclined incase

very well put. props to you

thanks! :)