So I was thinking of getting this 1993 Rx-7 FD with 97k miles on it. It is full stock and the owner was saying they were taking care of it when they were using it. Currently it has been sitting in their garage for the past 2-3 years because someone reversed into their fender and it's rubbing against the tire. After getting it my budget is roughly 8k to fix it up and get it running. Not too sure if the engine has been rebuilt already but was curious on what other ppl thought. Planning on keeping it as a weekend car, but I'm a little worried about the health of the engine. What should be some of the first things I fix up? Willing to put in the time and effort to learn but a little apprehensive knowing the reputation of the car. I think it is worth it but other opinions would be great to hear.

 

Compression test the engine. Always a must when purchasing a rotary.

 

Really too little here to go on to make any assessment of what needs work. It certainly looks well-cared-for based on the single picture of the interior. That's especially important on the '93s with the difficulty of getting parts as the tan plastics and the finish on many interior parts (smooth vs a textured) were only made in '93.

With 97K on the clock and 33 years around the sun odds are she could use a fair bit of work. But, how much is strictly needed versus things that could be done over time (or not at all) is unknown based on a single interior photo and mileage. It's quite likely likely, but not certain, that it had at least one rebuild in its life, but who knows how long ago that was. But, if she was running fine 3 years ago, she is probably still gonna run fine for at least a while more. A compression test on the motor is a minimum (~$300 well-spent for a tester if you're seriously in the market for an FD) but, generally speaking, barring buying one that you KNOW it was recently done on, it's always a safe assumption that you'll need a rebuild in the near future and to budget (and pay) appropriately. Sounds like you've got some money in the plans for that anyways, so that's good.

 

Yep! Was figuring out the best way to get one done, since it has been sitting for 2-3 years. Most people are saying u should warm the engine up first but the oil and fuel have definitely gone bad since it has been sitting for so long. Gonna try and make some plan w the owner! I appreciate the input a ton.

 

2-3 years sitting in a garage isn't so bad. You will need to pull the hanger and look inside the fuel tank, pull the dip stick to see and smell the oil, check the condition of the coolant and of course bring a battery.

That's not too long in the grand scheme but it's long enough. Odds are its in fine shape but I would suggest checking those things as they are identifiers for much larger tasks.

 

If the engine hasn't been rebuilt you should maintain a contingency budget for it and the price should be closer to that of a blown engine roller.

To hell with what most of these guys are saying, at two years in the garage just turn it over by hand to make sure it moves freely and then toss a new battery in it and turn the key. It will fire up or it won't, if it doesn't, check fuel and spark, and then move on to compression. 100k miles on an REW in stock form is doing okay but you can expect for the sequential and emissions control systems to need work if they haven't been overhauled yet.

 

Yes, it might need a rebuild at that mileage. Fully stock is really good and you'll definitely want to check its basic running condition - don't mess with it if there aren't major problems.

$8K is a pretty large budget for fixing (depends on the kind of skills you have and the shops in your area) and sitting for 2-3 years is nothing in RX-7 FD3S years.