Solomon

Well after looking at getting rid of my Subaru Legacy with a STI swap, or a STI WRX, I have decided to go back to my dream of owning a FD. I have the binder with every page printed from Rob Robinetts's site that I put together back in 2001! Yes some time has passed and am ready to just get the dame car. =P

I do not have the time like I thought to build up a FD like I wanted so I am just going to buy a car with the corrective safety mods, and maybe extra modifications too. I have read a few posts here about different years of the car and am thinking that newer could be better, tho I love the yellow from the 93. =(

I am looking to see what others would do if starting out of the gate clean when looking for a FD to pick up. Just need to know what I should look for besides the obvious mods listed from Rob's site and/or Compact Cars info ( I still have saved all the issues on that, hehe) plus would like to know what you think.

Just seems to make more sense to have a car that someone has already spent money on to upgrade that you can never get the money out of, rather than doing it myself. That and being up in Reno, NV kinda hard to find a good shop that tunes. Will be getting the car after the new year.

Thanks!
Britten

ObliqueFD

iTrader: (32)

Just take your time looking for one and when you find the one you want, enjoy it!

Solomon

does a one turbo make it any safer over a twin to drive with safety mods on them both, what do you lose and what do you gain? Everything else sounds like all the mods I have done on hondas and Subies.

elmo908

well the twin turbo in sequential mode gives you boost at low rpms but if you choose the correct single lag shouldn't be a problem, from what I heard the singles make the motor reliable due to the fact it removes the vacuum lines but it reduces the length of time the motor lasts.

boostedrotor

welcome to the dark side of the force....i bought my car bone stock and went from there....it took me 6 months of looking b/4 i found the right car....but it was worth it.....i see some really good deals out there sometimes...my roomate may be selling his 93 w/a turbonetics t-70 and haltech e6k, streetport etc. etc.....he posted it on this forum for sale under username rmeggedon...it's a really great car with low miles...i've driven it many times and it is not bad on the street on low low boost....he is selling it for what he owes on it....like 17k or something like that....that is one extreme, the other one is a bone stock car that you can modify, i went this route and 20k worth of mods later, i have a really nice extremely modded car....

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

You are in luck. There is a well built and extremely well kept FD for sale here on the forum:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=237981

Solomon

boostedrotor:
What made your car "the one you wanted" over others you looked at?
I do not know if I can get the car before the first of the year. I also live in Reno nevada and need something close to CA or NV.

adam c

iTrader: (2)

Make sure you have alternative transportation. An FD in the snow is a bad thing.

Solomon

Ya I was going to do a search for some studded winter tires just for the snow. I also have a Tahoe. =)
If I get a FD from California, will I lose anything due to emotions? Would I be better off to get the car out side of CA?

InsaneGideon

Uh, FD's can cause loss of negative emotions...

I've never really compared the CA and non-CA cars. But there ARE differences. On any other car, that always meant a loss in HP.

Also, I'd hazard to guess because CA's are less abundant, they'll tend to be a bit more expensive.

Solomon

What would be the pro's and con's with going with a low millage car with no mods vs. one with mods on it. What do we think the costs of all the safety equipment and safety mods would be if I do go stock?
I am thinking that with someone who has mods on the car they could have driven it hard, one with no mods I would hope would be less. This thought is coming from if I have toys on my car to make it go faster, then I am going to drive it faster...right.

alberto_mg

well, low mileage doesn't always mean better on an FD. I looked at quite a few low mileage examples over the years that I searched for an FD and found a correlation with lots of people selling them at the 50-60k mark b/c the engines were going.

I have bought a few heavily modded cars over the last 15 years and I have learned that often you are usually better off with a stock, unmolested car. Unless of course the car is properly modded/upgraded like kwik's car - the one in the link above. That car seems to be very well sorted and have a sweet list of the right mods even though its more highly modified than I ever intend to be. The pros and cons are really car dependent on a car like the FD. And much of it depends on the previous owner and how poorly the mods were done.

I bought mine with a dead engine, new paint and most of the mods in my sig. I had the engine rebuilt to my specs and actually sold a few things off the car such as the midpipe, catback and intake and replaced to my liking. Car has been trouble free and I like wrenching away doing maintenance **** like fuel filter, oil, bleeding brakes and stuff.

Cost of your typical reliability mods depends on whether you buy new or used. Take a look at the archives for the list of reliability mods and price it out on rx7store.net and the classified section on this board.

Basically budget ~15k for a reliable running FD whether you buy one cheap and build it or buy one already done or buy one close to stock and do the reliability mods.

Solomon

I would go as high as 20k for a car that was done correctly and had all the paper work. I posted a WTB with that info just a few miniutes ago. I saw that car mentioned in the above link and would want to paint it black...I wanted a black or yellow. I think I would want to go with a modifiyed car first before a low millage one too. Would love to find a wide body FS, no matter what color.

patfat

I have a CYM R1 for sale $17,000 w/ a new motor pm me.

Solomon

Just finnished looking on auto trader...damn. There are some guys posting their cars at 30k! ya they look great and and scream, but wow. Seems like those guys are hard fetched to get anything that high on the dollor chart. I do not think the market can support a 30k 10 yr old car with all those mods.
ugh

RX-187

Look at the MKIVs I've seen them go as high as 70k. Can you give me a link to the nice 30k fds?

neofreak

I've seen a couple go that high, deals are done off forum to avoid people complaining about high prices.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

First off, any FD that has a widebody kit will probably also have a lot more done than just the aero kit and will sell for much more than $20k.

That's not necessarily the case. Some people mod their car and then never drive it. Some people never modify their car (other than standard reliability items) and track the crap out of their cars at AutoX, road tracks, etc.

Judge each car individually as there is no exact guideline for purchasing used cars. The condition of the car, modified or not, all depends on the previous owner(s).

IMO, the link to the car I posted is ideal for someone who wants a car already built. There isn't anything anyone would need to do performance wise for that car. If you wanted to change the color, that would be your own preference. Also, with that car, you can search the forum here for any previous post from the owners to get a good indication of it's history.

If you want to find the right car, you better be willing to travel. Chances are you might have to find one out of your current search area. There should be quite of few for sale in the CA area, but they may not be to your liking. Just look through the forum, MANY members bought their cars out of state. A majority of them from across the country.

Solomon

I am calling that gentleman today to ask about the car. He could be a little bit closer but I would just have the car shipped. I just do not know if I can get away to fly back to drive the car first. I would like to drive the car first. Saw some nice cars on auto trader that were somewhat closer. A few were in SCC magazine that looked nice.

jeff48

Hey guys.
Just my .02.
This is the ONLY car that has ever made me think about selling my baby and buying someone else's. BTW the aluminum underscoop is a brilliant idea (since I have been fabricating one just like it for about a month now )
I love the NACA inlets and reverse vents. Hmm future mods.

BUY THIS CAR

HEns

hahahah, i only just recently bought a fd, and honestly, just buy a good clean example, mods and stuff are a bonus, cos if your like me, everytime you see the damn thing you'll just stand there grinning like an idiot

Mike00

I wish that was being sold sometime in the new year. When I plan on selling my current car andp icking up and FD.

Right about 15-20k for the FD is what I wanted to. Then I figure I'll have 4-9k left for any mods I need or want to do.

Love the color too which is something that might make shopping for an FD harder.

odditysmurf

that one that is on the auto trader that was SCC project car is MINE i still dont know why he hasnt taken it off there yet. i jumped all over it when i saw it. that is how my FD buying experiance went. i followed the car through its tuning by reading the magazines and scooped it up when they sold it. lucky timing i guess.

Solomon

So here is where I sit. Looking at all the FD's it seems that I run somewhat of a chance of getting a car that has mods (or with out)drive it and something "could" go wrong with it. Do to the only fact that I will not know how someone has driven the car, no matter what they say. So does it not make more sense to get a FD with high mileage, with or with out mods, but is not too expensive then have the engine/turbo’s re-built. Then I would be getting a car that has a new power plant and I know that if anything happens it is my own fault. I just think that I would have less worries knowing that a new engine is in there and no others have abused it with bad oil, gas, overheating, etc…right?

jeff48

Yes it makes the most sense to buy a car with 0 miles on the motor and turbos OR you can choose from the next best possible scenarios

****In every case here you should fully flush the radiator, heater core(s), oil cooler(s), brake, gas and clutch lines before you install any new motor.*********

1. Buy a low mileage perfect condition "roller" (a shell with no engine, tranny, clutch etc.) for around $5K then build what you want around it.

2. Buy a blown engine car for around $7K and replace/rebuild the clutch, engine and turbos.

3. Buy a highly modded car (with tons of $$$$$ in the mods)and drive it home where you will leave it parked until the new engine is ready. In the meantime, pull the turbo(s) and have them evaluated (repair or replace as needed), pull the injectors and send them for blueprinting.

But you are correct. new engine safe, old engine unsafe