Hey guys, I found an RX7 for sale locally, its a 1993 5 spd. I believe its a touring since it has a sunroof, no rear spoiler, and leather seats. Has 119k on the clock. Supposedly the engine has been rebuild by a company in PA or VA ( i forget) called KDR. He has a reciept to prove it so im not worried about that.

My questions are as follows.

The car seems to run and idle well. Start it up and it revs to over 2k rpms and drops down to a steady 800ish. ( This is normal from what ive read).

Now the concern i have is when he started it cold, it cranked longer than I would have expected, then it stumbled before it fired up. Kind of like a.... "crank crank crank crank burr burr burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr type of thing. Ive never heard an rx7 start before, so im wondering if this is normal/common or a cause for concern?

The car seemed to have a few bolt ons, intake and exhaust. looks like the "vacuum delete" was done too it too according to the guy. He said it did have a boost controller and it was turned up to around 14psi and was tuned on some piggyback Apexi AFC maybe and made around 340whp. Turbos are stock. Is this acceptable or is this car too aggressive for stock turbos or a non-performance engine rebuild?


The car also has rear quarter panel damage on the right side along with a smashed right taillamp. I got a body shop quote for the body damage to replace the quarter at a body shop I deal with ( i work at a dealership so i get discounted cost) and im happy with the pricing there. ( around $1,000 installed)

The kicker for this all, is he is only asking 8 grand for the car and its pretty much in my backyard. Whats everyone think? Pull the trigger or no?

 

If you push the clutch in when you start ithe engine it won't rev so high when it is cold...

Dave Barninger at KDR is in PA, a little west of Allentown. He's very good.

The original horsepower of the engine was 255. I think the standard boost was well below 14 psi. Don't know how durable your car is/will be but it will be exceptionally fast.

I thought the blue book for a car in good condition was about $14,000.

 

Hi! For a noob you are asking some good questions and seem to have done a little research (Thanks!). =)

KDR is a very well known and respected shop! If he has receipts that show the engine is low mileage since the rebuild, I'd say 8k is a fair price on how you describe it!

What does concern me is if he was running 14psi on stock turbos since factory is 12psi. At best this can wear out the turbos quicker and at worst could have an adverse effect on the engine.

What I would strongly suggest is getting a compression test on the car before perfect. If the compression is good, I'd purchase it. If KDR is reasonably close I'd at least call and confirm WHEN the engine was built/purchased there so you can double check the mileage on the engine and see about taking it there for a compression check.

Good luck!

 

Stock boost was 10 psi. For 14 psi and 340 whp he would have some fuel mods in addition to the bolt-ons. And I'd bet he didn't put 14 psi through the stock intercooler. Doubt he could make that whp with it. So he probably removed at least some other aftermarket stuff. It wasn't clear from your post, but is the Apex'i PFC (standalone ECU) still on the car or did he re-install the stock ECU?
Higher boost = More heat --> More heat = More stress --> More stress = shorter life span of everything. A little hesitation on cold start could be somewhat normal...needs new plugs, a little rich etc. Stumbling idle on cold start-up that clears up after a couple seconds and I'd make sure I didn't smell any burnt coolant (sweet smell) from the exhaust.

 

KDR is now called Speed 1.

Good luck with the car!