I joined this forum a couple weeks back and ive just been in stelth mode reading up and trying to learn stuff. I own a 98 prelude which i want to sell and buy a 94 Rx7. I already have an offer of $10k for my car so im pretty much set for that.

The car im looking at is a 5speed 94 Rx7 with a little over 100k on it. It has a set of 5zigen wheels on it and exhaust i think. The motor is out right now being re-built. The car wont be ready for another 2 weeks i think. He thinks he wants about $13k for it. The guy thats selling it is Curtis James, the owner of Rotary Innovations, and his web site is revvinsevens.com (he's in Arlington, Tx.)

Does anyone on this forum know this mans work and if he does a good job? This car would be my daily driver so it has to work the majority of the time. I would plan on doing the reliability mods like getting a bigger radiator, downpipe, and whatever needs to be done with that air separation tank ive been reading so much about. 13k sounds a little high from prices ive been looking at, what do you guys think. Before i would buy the car i would ask for a compression test and maybe try and get the car on a dyno to make sure its making the power it should. Is there anything else i shouldnt forget when looking at this car?

Sorry this is so long, especially for a first post. Thanks in advance

 

Dont know him. But read more about 3rd gens before you decide to buy one.. you need to know what your getting yourself into.

 

don't have it as your daily driver, remember the car is 11 years old and it will break down! as far as the price goes, depends on the condition, but 13K sounds like a good price for a 94 with a re-build in it!!!!!

 

I dont think a dyno would be needed just have him do a comp test and make sure that you are getting a good boosting pattern, as far as using it as a daily driver that is fine but I would save up for a daily beater...

 

$13k isnt' high if the interior and exterior are well cared for.

What to look for? Gosh, the list is long, but very subjective. Does this car have mods? What will you plan to do with it? Do you do your own work on your car? How many miles/year? Is long-distance driving comfort and cargo space important for you and your passenger?

What is your tolerance for 1) hundreds/year on preventative/minor maintenance? 2) having a few days downtime to fix minor problems?

I guess it comes down to if you will mod it, daily drive it, and pay someone to do all diagnosis and work. Even without mods, the maintenance and hassle can be too much for some people to daily drive it, but others have had little trouble with that. (Much of it is luck - what fails, when). If you can work on the car yourself and bum a ride for a few days, then you won't be flipping out when minor stuff breaks and you can take sufficient time out to do preventative maintenance work. Modding the car for more horsepower only decreases the life of critical components.

Mine is a second car, nearly stock power, only put 5k/year on it, and I have little reliability trouble. But then again, my outages for working on the car last a few weeks at a time since I tend to do big work and only have a few hours/week to devote to it. On the up-side, that helps me get the lowest prices for my parts since I can buy used and only buy what I need as it arises.

Another scenario is if you do daily drive it, but have a competent shop within reasonable distance and the wallet to support them. As long as a few days at the shop doesn't ruin your life, you can have them take care of it. The bill won't be small, but if they're good the car should run quite well. Getting it modded for power only increases these bills and their frequency.

In both cases, having a daily driver or backup car is really helpful. It takes the pressure off problems to allow doing a job 'right'.

Dave

 

Well i attend TCU during the school year and live in the dorm so i dont drive that much, just short trips when my friends and i go out and stuff. My parents house is like 20 min from there so i dont ever take any long trips. As for passengers even though my prelude has a backseat its totally useless b/c of the racing seats i have. I can get people back there but it sucks for them and they compare getting back out to being born again. I dont plan on modding too much. From what i understand an easy 320hp can be made just from intake, exhaust, downpipe, ecu mapping and a few other things. Thats all i'll really do. And i do have a beater for down time. Ive wanter a 7 for as long as i can remember, they are so rare where i live it makes me want one even more.

 

I don't know how reputable this guy is, so I'd do a search of him or his company's name here.

However, $13k is not a bad price for a rebuilt 94, given the exterior and interior are in-tact. I'd even say it wouldn't be so bad if it needed small work either. What happend to the $15-16k pricetag for fresh, rebuilt Rx7's?

Don't let everyone scare you away from a beautifully performing car, try and find some locals and talk it up. Things go on a 10-11 year old car no matter what it is...my Integra's alternator went over the winter. Is it unreliable? No, this stuff breaks.

Everything else on the FD just takes knowledge and self control. Keep reading those articles, FAQ's, & how-to's!

 

13k is cheap if it's a well kept car with a new motor. i sold my last one for 15k with many new mechanicals and reliability mods and fresh paint.

 

How many miles were on the chasis?

 

I have bought an engine from curtis. He sells a lot of stuff on ebay, and is a reputable seller. His ebay ID is mrmazda7