Okay I am looking into purchasing a 3rd Gen RX7 and it seems that most of the cars that I look at have rebuilt engines.

I have been a Supra Enthusiast for sometime and I have worked on my DSM so I know my way around cars however the rotary engine is completely new to me.

So what's the deal with the the rebuilds?

Thanks!

 

7's are picky cars... things can go wrong easily, if you know how to maintain the engine and make sure you get a good engine from the start they can be pretty reliable vehicles.


the engine life on a rotary isnt that long though comparativley speaking to that of a supra/porche/nissan...

 

Well the cars were sold here in 93-95. It's been like what 8-10 years. Average miles would be around 80K-100K miles. That's right around when the engines fail.
So most likely the cars you will look at will have rebuilt or reman engines in them.

 

Rebuilt rotary and rebuilt pisston are not the same thing. People don't say they have to rebuild the engine when they change their timing belt but its common to use the expression of a rebuild for apex seals because it requires remove of the block.

Apex seals would be the equivilent of a timing belt and will last 80k-100k+ miles' but you are better off changing them at 75k otherwise you are looking at replacing parts from damage like from a broken timing belt.

You can ruin a pisston block from overheating just as you can a rotary. Unfortunately our twin turbos add to an allready extremely hot running engine and we can have premature o-ring failure. I recomend heat coating as many engine parts as possible!

Major differences being expense from time consuming labor. On a rotary the block has to be completly removed from the engine bay but on a pisston you can remove the head. Timing belt is what $1k and the Apex seals installed is $3k.

I know my answer wasn't perfect but it gives you a breif explenation.

 

Spend a good few months learning about the car and whether or not it's something you will be interested in. THEN search for one. There is much more to an RX7 than just owning a beautiful sports car... Believe me.

 

Exactly.

Start here:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=147498