lbreen

I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge is very limited when it comes to the RX. Maybe some of the kind people can tell a newcomer why there are so many rx's that need engines. I would think that the more modified the motor is , the easier it is to blow-up. I understand that the more modified a engine is ,the more fun it would be to drive.I saw a nice 83 rx-7 for sale, and was really drawn to wanting one. This car really seems to be nimble and quick. Probably for me I would be best off to put an engine in one and find out.Also , there must a few places near Chicagoland southlands to pickup rebuilt motors.Thanks for listening,LB.

opelbits

iTrader: (5)

It comes down to simple economics. On average, unless you luck out and find a $300 motor out of a fresh wreck, a replacement motor will set you back $1k to $2k, and that's if you don't do everything that should be done. Even if you rebuild it yourself, a serious rebuild requires all new seals and such, the kit alone is about $1k. Then figure in any rotors or housings.....

It's cheaper (not really, but it is easier) to just go buy another car and part out the old one. Which leads me to my rotary pet peeve, people that can't afford to replace a bad motor, so they part out nice cars. And yet I see so many nasty RX7s still running and driving.

BLKTOPTRVL

You see many cars that need motors because...

• people generally will talk about problems more than they will talk about something that has no problems.
• people are trying to get more power than the engine is designed to produce.
• the cars are now very old, maybe we are in a period of high replacement simply because of the average age of the cars. My vert is 18 years old and I have never had any motor work done in the 200K miles. So, age alone tells me I will sometime soon.
• people who replace their motors may not be fixing the underlying cause of the failure before putting in a rebuilt. So, now they need another rebuild.
• many people who really cannot afford the car may be stripping out engine sub-systems in the name of saving a few bucks - when a repair and replace is what is really needed. Who knows what kind of future damage they may be sewing.

I doubt the engines are far more fragile than any other car. Maybe a little more, but not a lot.

Kentetsu

A lot of 7s end up in the junk yard due to simple issues that were not diagnosed correctly. There have been plenty of 7s in the for sale section of the local paper that state that they need a new engine, or doesn't run. Usually just a flooding issue, timing, or something simple that a typical piston head won't be able to figure out.

These engines have no problem running for damn near eternity...