Newbie... Help - Looking at a '93 RX-7 w/ 5k miles
 

Hello everyone,

Car I am Looking at:
I am looking at a '93 Red RX-7 with black leather that has about 6,000 miles on it.... that is correct about six-thousand miles on it. The current owner drove it when he first got it and it has been sitting pretty much ever since. All of the tires are shot, they have cracks from being so dry. The rotors are warped, and I am pretty sure that there are some oil leaks from the some of the engine seals being dried up. I have always been drawn to the RX-7's, but never knew anything technical about them. The paint has a couple of dings and scratches but nothing major. I know it would be hard to answer this without seeing the car, but what would be a decent price? What things should I consider?

My Intent with the Car:
I basically want it for a daily driver. I would like to run mid to high 12's, keep the A/C, and put a decent stereo in it (I don't remember how the Bose one sounds). Also Possiblly put slightly more aggressive suspension on it and some rims and call it a day.

My Current Toy
I currently have a '98 Integra Type R that is somewhat heavily moded that I road-race and autocross.

Thanks to all, and glad to be a member of the board!

What is he asking? My guess would be around 15k as a decent price. Its hard to say though. Normally a car with that amount of miles would be 20-22 but there seems to be a bunch of problems from so much sitting. Does the car even start?

would you have to sell your teg to get the 7, this 7 sounds like it would be a big hastle (costly) to bring back to life (meaning running tip top) dried up seals and oil leaks = tah nayge...

use the ITR for daily and track the FD :)

Is this car in Nebraska? Ummm.....you shouldn't buy it. But I should! :)

Where are you located? Omaha? I've seen that username on some local boards (omahaspeed). Are you the same guy?

Re: Newbie... Help - Looking at a '93 RX-7 w/ 5k miles
 

The owner told me to do some checking and let him know what I would be willing to pay for it. The car will start - but it smokes a bit. My x-gf's uncle is who owns it. I drove it last year and detailed it for him and changed the oil b/c he said that he wanted to start driving it again, but it just hasn't worked out for him, so now he is considering selling it. Also, when I changed the oil, about twice the amount came out that the motor calls for. After the oil was changed, it smoked much less - which makes sense.

I will keep my Integra - and use that mainly for the track. I have gone through all of the suspension: Mugen Coilovers, bigger sway bars, strut bars, motor mounts, adjustable control arms, Z-10 radius bar, etc. It would suprise most people on a road-course, but slow in a strait line.

I want the RX-7 for daily driving because it would be a fun car to drive. I would probably track it once in a while, but I have so much money into the hype "R" that I really don't have to do much more, it is set up nicely.

Yes, I live in Omaha, NE. My car is the white one with White color matched 17" Volk TE37's and Mugen adjustable wing. The plates say "1 BAD R". That sounds cocky, but I am not really that way ;)

I would have to get a pretty good deal on the car to make it worth it for me. It needs all new rubber, the rotors are warped, and who knows on the engine - the whole thing may need to be gone through.

Any more thoughts??? Thanks guys!

Wes

Look up the KBB price. And start from there. :D

get ready to spend a shitload of money. and keep some extra in the bank for when you break more stuff.

its going to be a while before you are running 12's...OR daily driving it.

Getting it to run properly is the first key, 12's would be a down the road desire. Hell, I would be content to run a mid 13 for a while. That's all down the road though.

That many miles on an FD is more dangerous than if it had 5 times that...

I'd take the KKB (which is terrible to start with)
Minus $700 for some S-03 rubber

couple hundred for metal gaskets to replace the paper ones that are probably on it...TB, UIM, and LIM. Not sure which ones were paper but whatever.

few hundred for the brakes - and get some nice ones :D

you could spend $500 and upgrade the cooling to all ALUMINUM

HOPEFULLY the seq. system has NO problems...if it does that'd be another $100 for silicon hoses...if you do the labour yourself.

Get all the recalls performed...

that's probably $2k to get it up to DD...now to run in the 12's that's probably another $3k. Exhaust, DP, Intake, pullies, ECU, IC, boost controller, that should get you close if not there.

have fun...I'd offer $15k and start from there (maybe less but I hate seeing FD'd go cheap)

get a compression test to see if the motor is still making any.

the recalls are free... at least the two open ones... my newly aquired '93 FD is at the dealer having them done as we speak (new ECU and fuel lines)... i know, dealer isn't the best place to have work done... but, this stuff has to be done and i figure, if their work jacks up my car, i might be able to pull a new engine out of it (wishfull thinking) not that i need one at the moment. I would seriously say not to spend more than $10k on the car and hell, if he never uses it and just wants to dump it, tell him some fake numbers about how much its gonna cost to get it up and running again and over him like $7.5k. I paid $19k for mine with 32k miles, but its been babied and maintained. the only thing that needs to be done with it is start with the engine mods... i'm gonna go for a sleeper :)

I think mid to high 12's on a daily driven car is not as common as most people would like to expect.

I just love it when people quote the FD with, "slap on an intercooler and a midpipe and you should do 12.5 at least!" Ahhh, wrong.


There are only a handful of people who have simple boltons like, intake, exhaust, downpipe that can even touch 12's.

The ones that can go into 12's are the ones who have tuned cars. And the people who have tuned cars are more likely to have them as weekend cars.

12's is not super fast by all means, it's fast and not that hard, however for a newbie to simply state that that is their average goal while many still fail to achieve mid 12's i.e. myself, we kinda sit and laugh at the notion.

Lots of negative impressions on the car from the others.
They may be correct, maybe not.

If the car has been garaged, that is a big plus. Sun can damge the paint, and the interior very badly. Especially if left in one position for an extended period. If it has been garaged, and is in great shape, it's probably worth at least 20k with that mileage.

Since you know the guy, and it needs a few minor repairs, you may be able to buy it for conseiderably less. This sounds like a nice opportunity for you. Do you have any idea what he would like to get for it?

Good luck

The car has been garaged all of its life, so good news there.

dubulup: I agree about the mileage comment. Before I got it out to clean it up, it had been sitting for 5 years, the layer of dust would prove that. The guy is a doctor, and he said he quit driving it b/c clients were making negative comments to him about it - that he made too much money, stuff like that. So, he started driving his Suburban. Also, good call on the rubber, that is what I was planning on.

twinturboteddy: I understand your reservation about my comments to eventually run 12's, as I am new to this forum. I don't expect to do this right away or even with a year of getting the car if it ended up all working out. I realize how expensive things get when you start looking for significant power and performance gains. If you saw my Type R, and what has been done with it, I think your tune may be changed a bit. Here is just a brief list:
- Mugen: Adjustable wing, header, exhaust, coilovers, sway bars, strut tower bars (f & r), motor mounts, intake, head gasket, ECU, valvespring (9200 RPM redline), racing seat, stainless brake lines, 2-way LSD
- 17" Volk TE37's
- Spoon 4-piston calipers
- JDM final drive
- Fluidyne Radiator
Blah blah blah. Point is that I don't think that it is going to be an easy nor a cheap task. If you look at that list above, nothing on it is cheap. Just trying to build my credability up a little so you guys don't feel like I am just wasting your time.

adam c: He gave me no indication of what he is looking to get out of it. He said that I would know more about it than him, and for me to put together an offer - and my reasons (what type of work the car needs to make it a DD)

Please excuse my ignorance, but what does FD mean?

Hey guys, thanks a lot for the comments and I welcome more.

Wes

FD is part of the serial number for this series car.

1st gen=fb
2nd gen=fc
3rd gen=fd
RX8=fe ???

I would get a compression test before you did anything, as it will have a huge effect on the car's worth.

You said you changed the oil; did you actually drive the car for a bit? Did the turbos seem to be operating properly (probably hard for you to tell with your zero experience and no boost gauge)? Don't want to add to the negatives, but an engine that sits for a long period of time can develop a multitude of problems.

How do you know the brake rotors are warped? With that few miles and the current owner, I'd say there's just some major deposits on the rotors that could be cleaned up.

If the motor gives you good compression numbers after being properly warmed up, then I'd say you are looking at a good deal on your hands, even though you'd need to install some reliability mods to make the car any sort of daily driver. Check out the links in the newbie stickie at the top of the forum page; there's tons of great info there that will give you an idea of what you're getting into, and what to look for.

A word of warning: don't fall into the newbie trap of getting all frothy at the mouth dreaming of countless mods to get yourself into the 12s before you even get to know the car. The FD is not a Honda; the engine is very picky about how you modify it, and if it doesn't like what you've done, you will quickly have a blown motor, or will be chasing your tail trying to diagnose problems that arise from modifying a 10-year-old car. Take your time with it.

white dragon you seem very knowledgable

go with your insticts...the car wasnt very well maintained overfilling the oil like that and such I wonder what else happened. But, thats incredible to have such low miles. I think the car is worth way more than that perhaps 25k if the interior and exterior look like they have 5k miles on them. Thats what you are buying it for the newness of all the parts. now the engine sitting that long may not be good but a reman is 2k and the car would be like new litterally. And 12s is not a high goal remember this is a forum everyone has their opinions. If you think getting an intake, full exhaust, a piggy back computer and raising the boost 2 psi is hard then yes you wont hit mid 12s. Otherwise youll run it all night long like I did and tons of others do even with 2.2 60 foot times on shit tires.

Remember though you have to be very careful how you modify the car. Any problems with the fuel system or overboosting or overheating and you dont get a second chance on this car. Know what you are doing and then stick to that very tight. Get it running perfect and leave it. If its not running perfect dont drive it until it is.

goodluck
-SurgeMonster

Maybe you should do a carfax or some other background check, 6k miles sounds a little like bs. Maybe its odo fraud, I just saying the possible downsides, if its cost effective, go for it.

This is my opinion. Get a compression check and hope for low compression. This will give you alot more negotiating power. If the numbers are infact low, there is a very strong possibility thats it's low compression will mainly be the result of carbon lock of the seals. Being 11yrs old and only 6k miles will pretty much guarantee some carbon build up. Cleaning this carbon out will be very easy to do and you will save a shit load of money and have a pratically new Fd. Here's the carbon cleaning info.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...threadid=33778

Oh after all thats done, buy some new plugs, flush the rad, replace that fuel filter and enjoy your new Fd. :D.

As recommended by a few of you, I will get a compression check before making any formal offer.

adam c: Thanks for the explanantion.

Kento: Yes, I did drive the car a bit, but only about 10 miles. To be honest, I couldn't tell if the turbos were functioning properly (have nothing to compare it to). As you mentioned, the potential engine proplems is what I am most concerned about with it sitting that long. As far as the rotors being warped, I came to that conclusion based on my experience with my Type R... I have gone through a ton of rotors on that because of road racing. I have heard that these motors are very sensitive when modifying. Thanks for all of your comments.

SurgeMonster: So if the motor was shot, I could pick up a new one for ~$2k? That isn't so bad. When I start modifying, I will make sure that I take the time to do it right. Thanks for your help

MazdaRx7Racer4Life: I know, a little hard to believe. I am pretty comfortable with the guy though and don't have any reason to question the mileage on the car. You should have seen this thing when he pulled it out of storage, it was a sad sight.

t-von: Good point and thanks for the link. If I got the car I would change all of the fluids and all of the "tune-up" items to help eliminate possible problems.

Thanks guys! :beerchug:

Wes

sent you a pm

OOO, OOO, me, me!! I can! Well, I can run 13.000, which is soooo close to 12's. It will be done in the spring.

If the car has been sitting since he bought it... hell even since 98' without changing the oil regularly and ever starting it. I'd have it checked by a rotory specialist if their is one in your area. Cars, expecially high performance cars, were not meant to just sit and never be maintained.

i would hope that if you bought this car with such low mileage that you wouldnt use it as a daily driver and rack up the miles. driving a couple thousand miles a year would keep the value on the car way up there. If you drive it as a daily driver and put 10k miles a year on it, its gonna lose value really quickly. Most people buy low mileage cars, becuase they want to keep them low. Its your car and your money, so do what you want. It sounds like you are about to get a reallllllll good deal on one of the best cars ever created. I wish i was in your shoes, i would be purchasing another FD just for such a good deal. welcome to the forum man
adam