Help Needed in Fredrick MD - Getting FD back after 7 years
 

To make a long story short, I have had my FD at an unnamed shop in Frederick MD since 2009. The shop has since gone under and I'm left picking up the pieces. In December 2015 I drove up from southern MD and towed my car home, although without the engine and most of the accessories. These were still with the "Shop Owner", disassembled, per an agreement to complete the build of the engine.

Because of the continuing circumstances, I am going to attempt to meet with the "Shop Owner" and retrieve all of the pieces that I left there in December unassembled.

The problem I have now is that I'm not familiar enough with disassembled engine parts to recognize them all. I need to make sure I get everything that I need to have it reassembled by another engine builder.

Is anyone willing to help out a fellow RX-7 owner in need?

Feel free to PM to converse offline about this; I have no interest in publicly criticizing the Shop / Owner.

Hey just wanted to say good luck with everything. I've seen your rx7 and also I retrieved my things last summer.

Thanks! send me a PM with where you took your car when you got it back. I'll be in the market for a new shop when I get the parts back.

When are you looking to go up there?

By no means do I consider myself a pro, but I built my own engine in my garage and have seen/helped 2-3 other builds besides my solo stack. Identifying all the parts should be pretty straight forward.

I would suggest getting an itemized list BEFORE you go of what you're expecting to leave with. It will make things much easier I think...

Also, a BIG thing I would keep in mind is to ensure that all the parts he tries to give you are within spec... I was DISGUSTED the first (and last) time I tore down an engine I paid him to build me.. the irons had terrible step wear and were even gouged in places!!!

Certain items (like side/corner seals and springs, apex seal springs, front stack items, etc., etc.) I would plan on purchasing new just to be safe, as they can be hit or miss as to whether you want to reuse them, and really the only way to be completely sure that they are good is to measure clearances. Other things like your irons, housings, rotors, e-shaft, front/rear counterweight, etc. are pretty straight forward and reusable unless they're FUCKED and you can usually tell that by sight if it's really bad..

I second what he said ^

When I went to go get my belongings, he had either forgotten what I originally owned or just gave me the wrong stuff. Knowing your set up will help a lot.

Well, I guess the good part is when I towed the car home, I got my turbo, manifold, LIM, (new) IC, IC piping, (part of a) wiring harness, a fuel rail and injectors, coil packs and spark amplifier, power steering pump, and radiator. I had already deleted the a/c so that's a non issue. The list above should help out.

When are you planning on going up there?

When are you going to the shop? I'll be picking up an FD east of Washington D.C. this weekend. I know a thing or two about rotary engines :).

Looks like it's about two hours out of my way roundtrip though.

^ I would def take Rich up on his offer, if the unnamed shop owner can be convinced to show up...

Hoping for this weekend.... Pm'd all

Actually... Where are you going to get the FD from Rich?

I'm in Crofton, MD (about 30 min east of DC), I'm gunna be brewing most of the day on Saturday but you're welcome to stop by to stretch your legs and/or grab a coffee/beer if you're going to be close.

Unfortunate. PF Supercars once had a great name and gave rx7's a good reputation.

To all who replied, I didn't end up making the trip to the shop this weekend as I didn't get a response until late Friday evening. More Promises were made, so I will see what comes of it this week. I will keep you all posted.

That sucks man... Get yourself a list together (or have Ray write one up for you) of what you are going there to retrieve, ensure that he agrees to the items you're taking back (in writing or e-mail, so he can't squirm out of it in court) and keep us in the loop. I'd be happy to roll up there with you this coming weekend if you can nail down a time.

shame man...

im no expert and have only been in the game about 2 years but i did just build my own engine (with some help) im currently breaking in and not too far away. 20 mins if that? drop me a pm with the next weekend your trying to go up and i might be free to go with you, the more the merrier, right?

Here is a pretty cool vid showing you what parts go into a short block
Which car was yours?

Makes it tough to get inspected. Do you even keep it registered and insured for all those years? I don't even know how I could be without my car for that long.
I'm sure you had circumstances that went ahead of the car for some reason. Yeah.. 7 years is still a hell of a long time for it to be out of your possession. Good luck on getting your car back.

For anyone reading this in the future just be careful. Shops dont stay around forever and after a certain amount of time the shop can actually take legal possession of a car that has been left with them. It is probably different in every state but I've heard of it being a lot less than 7 years.

A verbal agreement to the contrary won't be proof enough to keep it from potentially happening. I hope it works out for the owner.

A lot of the time those cars sat at his shop because he never worked on them. I know at one point mine was there for over a year just for a rebuild... Hell, I remember him having an RX-8 (I think it was an 8) in the back for years on end that he was supposedly putting a 3 or 4-rotor in. That one belonged to either a Caps or a Redskins player, so it's not like the owner wasn't able to pay... More often than not it wasn't a matter of the owner not paying the bill, but more it was with the shop leaving your car outside for six months before even BEGINNING to work on it!!

Yeah, seven years.... Spring (April if my memory serves me correctly) of 2009 is when it was towed up there to diagnose the less than 1000 mile (4 month old) build that he had done previously. Mine is the black FD base model, with a CF hood (can't remember the model or brand, it has 1 scoop in between the headlights and 6 rearward facing vents), bronze 5ziegen 5 spoke wheels, and a FMIC. Also of note I had a *PF SUPERCARS* banner across the windshield.

And Yes this is in no way because I didn't have the funds. As far as I know, there were many people there trying to give him money for his services, but his time management skills were less than desirable.

I did keep mine tagged, registered, and insured, because I would not want to have it inspected again after modifying it so much. Dropping the insurance down to liability helped but its still costly. The thing is I never thought it would have been this far down the rabbit hole before I would have a running car again.


Update: I am done with promises and trying to get him to do anything. This week I will be getting all my pieces back. Anyone who wants to go to help identify parts (or for any other reason) PM me for more details. Either way I will report back.

[QUOTE=Mdessouki;12038473]Here is a pretty cool vid showing you what parts go into a short block

QUOTE]

Thanks!

Good luck man, I heard you'll be heading up on Friday. Unfortunately I won't be available to help on either Friday or Saturday :(

No worries, I appreciate the thought!

Light at the end of the tunnel
 

Well it wasn't Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.... But last night My engine (in pieces) was delivered to my house in Southern MD. Now to get things cleaned up and put back together. In all honesty I will be surprised if its running before this fall. There is just too much to do in the summer months, but now any time there's a rainy day, I'll have something to work on.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...669f87e534.jpg

Did you receive back your specific engine components?