Ok guys, I need your help.

After researching rx7s, browsing the forums, and scanning the classifieds for a couple of months I have found an FD that I'm interested in. Unfortunatley (or fortunately, however you see it) it is not stock. I was really planning to get a car that was stock and a different color, but this seems like it may be worth it.

What I'm worried about are the effects of the mods on the car. The FD I eventually get will be taken care of very well. I don't want to baby a car that has been thrashed.

Apparently the owner had the engine rebuilt and upgraded by pettit racing.

He said something about pettit haveing 3 engine packages, and him getting the second level one. Based on the mods he mentioned included in that package, that is the "BASE PERFORMANCE PACKAGE +60 HP". While the engine was rebuilt by pettit, all the mods he bought from pettit were installed Also, he bought some extra mods from Pettit but had them installed at a Mazda dealership, as recommended to him by a local rx7 club.

Here are the specs:

1994 Rx7 Touring
60,000 Miles
Excellent condition inside and out
Black Leather interior
Pettit Stainless Catback Exhaust
Pettit TKT Cold Air Induction System
Downpipe
Pettit Power Pulley System
Pettit Street Port
Boost Gauge
Pettit Aluminum AST

$22,000

The rebuilt engine has ~9,000 Miles on it.

Now the first thing I notice is the engine has an intake, catback, downpipe, and streetport with no ECU upgrade. When I talked to the owner on the phone and asked about boost he said it was at 15 lbs. Unfortunately, the owner of the car did not sound very knowledgable about the car. I'm not really sure how they are controlling boost. I asked and he said a technician controlled the boost by changeing the fuel pressure...
Anyway, 15 lbs sounds very high, but for all I know, a pettit rebuilt engine can handle that no problem. If that boost pressure is high, could I take the boost down to 10, 11, or 12 PSI when I get it and expect decent engine life?

Also, what do you guys think about the price? Too high? If I got the price down by 2-3 grand, would it be a good deal?

Based on the modifications, I am expecting to have somewhere around 275 RWHP. Is that a good estimate?

Thanks in advance for the help.


-RedHaze

 

whoa wtf 22,000 and you are considering it your crazy dude that's not worth it at all. I'd grab ya a stock one with higher mileage for like 12,000-13,000 and do the work yourself.

 

The price seems high to me too. But it's in very good shape. Not a ding or a scratch on the outside. If I get the price down 1-2k, it would be in the same range of similar mileage 94-95 rx7s from lamotorcars which are in excellent shape, but do not have the modifications.
I've chosen the excellent condition, lower mileage, and more expensive route over the poor to ok condition, higher mileage, and less expensive route.

-RedHaze

 

Yeah man ... 22,000 dollars for an FD off a guy that obviously knows nothing of rotaries ... FORGET IT!!!

Keep looking ... there will always be another one that will come along ... wait until you find the perfect one for you.

 

I'd try to get it down at least 3k. If the car really is pristine, thats worth a lot to some people and to some it isn't worth much, so you have to be the judge on that, but $22k is too much unless its really in excellent, excellent condition, and at 60k miles I doubt it. Some people go crazy and replace stuff as soon as it looks a little worn out, but again, you be the judge. 15lbs is also too much boost, his gauge may be off but either way you should get a boost controller of some sort and keep it at 10lbs. Even the stock engine can "handle" 15 lbs but it'll fry the turbos running that much. You don't need an ECU but you do need to control the boost. As far as the fuel pressure comment, what he probably had done was a rising rate fuel pressure regulator, basically increases fuel pressure in proportion to boost so you get fuel enrichment like that. Its an adequate form of fuel enrichment but imho a better route is to ditch that, run stock fuel enrichment but keep the boost down. The stock ECU already has enough fuel for the listed mods as long as you control boost, and you'll get better mileage to boot. Even at 10lbs you will still be putting out ~260RWHP, heck, rikki made 340RWP with only 11psi, you don't need a lot of boost to make power...

 

I'm not going to comment on the price of the car since many might feel that $22K is ok for the car. Pettit is a good comaany and knows FDs. You're not really going to feel the effects of a streetport with only a few mods. 15 lbs running through the stock turbos for too long will eventually cause them to fail. If the guy has no knowledge of the car I might stay away from it. You do have the engine replaced which is good but more than likely you'll have a turbo bill on top of all of that. To me if I were to buy an FD I'd try to find one that had a reputable rotary mechanic that has always worked on it and had the most reliability mods (upgraded radiator, coolant porting, oil porting, 2mm Hurley seals, silicone vacuum lines, etc.) I bought my FD stock and the coolant seals went at 70K - new engine. I'm selling my car in 2 weeks since I'm moving to Florida. I'm getting dynoed Tuesday for some final tuning but this car is definitely reliable. Brand new motor and upgraded turbos. Selling for $21K - PM me if interested.

 

94's are worth anywere from 18 to 20k.

 

The price doesn't sound all *that* bad, if the motor has a new streetport and it's in as good a shape as you say. The fact that he doesn't have an ECU upgrade or boost controller after spending all that $$ on a rebuild is a little weird.

I'd get it checked out thoroughly before spending that much $$ on an FD.

 

Is this the FD I saw in the Houton Chronicle?

 

When I was FD shopping, I checked out LA Motorcars in Dallas and when I ran the VIN on the car it had a salvage title. It was a black 95 and he was asking ~22K so be carefull.

 

Nope, not in the Houston chronicle. I'll do carfax and all that good stuff on whatever FD I get.

-RedHaze

 

There is one thing Ill never do, and thats buy a modded car. Wanna know why? If you see some big mods, a 'racing' motor from a speciality company there are very good chances the owner has driven that car to hell and back. Low milage doesnt mean it hasnt been bagged.

Mods almost gaurentee the car gets raced, either on the track or on the street. No one builds a ~325hp rx7 and doesnt open it up..

 

But wait a second, isn't that what all of us do !? Open it up once in a while, you wouldn't want a sports car to go 35 MPH to the grocery store. So any RX-7 that you get has seen some guy opening it up just once to see what happened, and why he spent 40K originally on it.
The trick is to either mechanically or Gut Feeling stuff find out if the guy is lying to you and if so how badly he has beaten up on "Her".
Have at least one or two mechanics check the car before you hand over the cash, do a compression test, and if you can an emissions test, that plus an hour or two of a trustworthy mechanic looking the car over will tell you weather or not it's worth 21k. Plus you have to ask yourself is this worth my 21k that I had to save XXXX months or if you're financing it think about the months of paying $ 300-400 / month back and then plan on dumping more $$ to the tune of $ 100-200 a month for maintenance and failures.....
That's more or less ( Carfax etc..) what I did, and I came up with a very nice FD 1994 for $18,900.00
and I'm happy to say it's running well, and I took it to the drag strip this weekend and came back with 14.5 Sec @ 95 mph, but even better than that nothing broke felt wrong or happened, just pure enjoyment.

I Wish you the best, have patience and then make 150% sure with a mechanic.

Derek

 

Thanks for the advice

 

To me that is a high price. In my opinion I would find a cheaper one for like 15k with no mods and start from there modding out.

 

I did not see an aftermarket intercooler on the list, the stock intercooler will not handle 15psi! Also, a stock computer will not handle that much boost as well.

Also, 9k miles does not sound like a lot but if you don't think an engine can be killed in under 9k miles, take a look at that mischif video and see what they do to rental cars with only a few miles on the odometer... I'm not saying that its trashed or anything, for all I know, its still a really great engine. It's just that unless you get the engine rebuilt yourself and put the miles on it yourself, you dont really know how well the engine is.

All I gotta say is that for that price and psi, it better be putting down at least 350-400rwhp! Remember, a FD with a single turbo with a fmic and fuel mods and a computer upgrade to handle all of that does not even cost that much! I would say keep shopping.

Good luck

 

compression test. definitely talk him down