Hey y'all. This is my father's 85 RX7 which unfortunately was involved in a wreck to the front end. The radiator is busted but the engine still starts up and runs.
Since the car has been in our family since he bought it new, there is a lot of sentimental value. I would love to get this up and going again. The engine was replaced at 100,000 miles back in the day. The new engine has 30,000 miles on it.

Anyone have experience with this type of RX7 damage?
What are the first things I should expect? Frame damage? Any other considerations?
What is the likelihood that this can be repaired? Or am I SOL?
If frame can be repaired, is the body still beyond repair?
Should I get a junky parts car for the front end components?
Thank you everybody.

 

The right side door won't open. The bottom catches on the fender which was pushed back.

 

It's so clean.. the paint looks new. I'm gonna cry.

 

Yeah, I was furious when I heard what happened. He meticulously cared for it. The paint really shines. Too bad some idiot had to cause a wreck. Thankfully, no injuries. It could have been a lot worse.

 

Glad everyone in the car was ok. That car is going to require an experienced body shop technician and a frame machine to get realigned. This is not a do it yourself project unfortunately. It is a beautiful S model! If it were mine I would do the same thing. I would have it fixed properly and enjoy it for years to come.

 

Hi everyone. I'm checking in again since it's been a little over a year since I started this thread. Does anyone else have any thoughts on this? Is this repair possible? Thanks, everyone.

 

Like Mazdaverx said above, it's going to take an experienced body shop. This isn't something you can just get new fenders for, since it's a unibody car and the structure under the skin is damaged. It would need to be pulled/straightened/hammered/welded before you could bolt on new fenders/hood/ bumper/lights etc..

 

I’ve been away from that type of work for many years...since about the time that car was new. It definitely looks fixable...fortunately it doesn’t look like mechanical or suspension were heavily involved. But know that it is also, technically, a total.
You will need a trusted collision shop. I think if it were mine I might invest a few hundred into getting the car physically to that chosen shop for a tear down and detailed estimate and list of parts. The estimate will still likely have some open ends since used parts prices and labor to rehab at least some of them are a variable...but you’d have some idea of cost. Talk to the shop but you could start that process yourself by looking for a parts donor of the SAME year. Hopefully resource material with the specs can still be found.
Under the circumstances the shop might require a significant deposit before starting work and installments as it progresses.
As others have said the car appears to have been well cared for and deserves to be fixed properly, not an amateur job by a friend’s friend in his back garage. But this can get expensive.