rocket ape

So, I bought a 1993 touring about two months ago. Pulled out a loan for it, but it was pristine. Bought for $8800, put $7500 down. Drove it for one day (plus a good long test drive a couple weeks before I bought it). The next day, an apex seal blew. Took it to Transmission Experts in Renton because Ken something (who used to run Mazdas & More in Kent) does work for them. He said it could be rebuilt for $5000. Got accepted for financing, but as he pulled out the motor, he found more & more needing repair. Turbos cracked & leaking bad on the exhaust port w/ serious play on the shafts, all vac lines & engine wiring harness breaking off & falling apart. Now he says closer to $8000 to repair. They will not clear me for that much. Talked to the guy who sold it, and he said he'd settle for $7800, which was cool, but now I still owe $7500 on the loan. Plus about $1700 for what work they did do on it (pull out the engine & give me bad news). So I'm screwed. Only option now is to rebuild it myself in my garage, but I'll be honest. It's intimidating as hell looking at all the vac lines & crap. He pulled the engine, so all that's out, so I'm not really sure where things go & whatnot. Not terribly worried about rebuilding the actual engine, but I've never done it, so I sure don't want to screw it up now. Anybody experienced with rebuilding FDs? Or anybody interested in buying a roller with a blown motor? I'd be okay with either, it just kills me to know that it's sitting in the garage, looking cool as hell & doing nothing.

Otay

iTrader: (13)

Sad to say if you really don't know what to do and want to stay cheap the FD is way beyond the best starter car. It's tough to play with even if you are familiar with the vehicles. Between the sequential turbos and emissions there are an insane number of vac lines.

Now there are ways to simplify most every system on the FD and to good benifit.
There are ways to parallel the turbos and get rid of most of those lines, and vids/kits to rebuild the motors, but time and money are going to be your enemy.

I'd be interested in buying/trading for it if you really don't want to try your hand at re-building it.

Either way good luck man.

meximan

iTrader: (37)

Wait so ken doesnt work for mazdas and more anymore the shop went back to transmission experts? Ken did the rebuild on my FC and did very good job on it. If ya can make up the money hes a good guy to go to.
Rebuild is scary for any first timer.
Id be bringin the car back to the guy you bought it from and get your money back. If ya get jipped for 2k thats one thing but 8k in teh whole **** that he knew it was coming.

rocket ape

I dunno, man. He let me test drive it pretty hard. All seemed well. Either way, he wasn't too interested in a full refund.

CosmoQuik

looks like the u got ripped off and for 8k u can buy a wrecked fd and swap the motor out, call atkins rotary dans the man bet he can rebuild and a sick street port for less then what ken claims as a cost to rebuild, besides the dude cracked a oil pump cover and told me i was s.o.l. when he did a motor for my 323

meximan

iTrader: (37)

oh jeez never heard anything bad about him. Yea i still say yo got ripped off dude. If yo were just cruizin with the car the next day it shouldnt have blown up on ya unless it was some foreseen happening and him tryin to pawn the car off to someone else before it happened. Think about it yo picked up a fd for 8grand when a decent fd used to go for no less than like 14g's. Of course hes not interested in handing you back your money he got what he wanted .

ehime

iTrader: (18)

Sure I'd help you turn a wrench, if you wanna help me out on mine occasionally. I know how you feel, it sucks looking at your car knowing what it 'could' be.
lol, I'm in the middle of a rhd swap myself, so I'm down for the count.
Gimme a call if you want a hand. 206 420 9564 ~jd

hansaysso

if your planning on rebuilding the motor i can help, i have to rip out my block also soon, but i'm just going with a new shortblock and going single (T60-1) as just thinking about doing ALL the solenoids and vac lines for the stock sequential turbo system is a PITA. if you plan on rebuilds and its your first time, like everyone else has stated, call Dan at atkins. they are great people and will help you as much as they can. personally, i'd try and get a refund though, save up a lil more and buy a decent FD thats not going to blow two days into owning it!

ehime

iTrader: (18)

+1 to Han, try to get whatever back you can. We're both willing to help
though if you plan on the inevitable. Han you by chance have a engine
hoist? I'm gonna need one soon to take my block out, would help if I
didn't buy one, or atleast be cheaper :wink

hansaysso

lol, i got a hoist if you don't have one, and your more than welcome to use it. if your not too far from where i live i could drop it off and help with the pullin of the triangle spinning heart

Ogre

Or drop a large streetport in that biatch and turbo that mumsucker! BRAP BRAP BABY! but that does suck tho.
I'd offer to help but time is scarce when workin 2 jobs heheh
Ehime-Pm'd

NinjaGUYdan

Rebuilds when you do not know what you are doing is the stupidest thing in the world!!! Maybe a 12A but not an REW. Parts alone could run you $3000. If your going to get it rebuilt you need to take it someone who knows. Don't let just anyone here on the forums spend your money on parts and act like they know whats going on. If you do this with even intermediate skills you will be back in the motor within 6 months and out several more grand. Rotaries are no joke to get involved in and take deep pockets and dedication. So don't skimp on anything! Do it right or hate your car because by the time you get to motor #5 you'll have more fun in a Ford Taurus, because that car will actually start up.










P.S. Get a first gen

hansaysso

hey, not trying to flame against you ninjaguydan, but so far everyone here has stated one of two things, either get a refund, or go to atkins and ask about a rebuild. i believe so far only ehime and i have offered to help him pull the block and rebuild, and thats only if HE decides that rebuilding it himself is the route he's going to take. and i'm pretty sure if he went ahead to buy an FD he didn't plan on having to give it up to get a 1st gen (nothing against the FB guys btw!). lastly, you can't really say he'd have more fun in an FD compared to a taurus, ask tim, i think he takes personal joy and pride killin evo's on the freeway with his SHO :]

NinjaGUYdan

I was only saying get a first gen as a joke because they are actually kind of reliable for an rx-7 having 3mm apex seals factory. Or better yet 10A=6mm apex seals, hahah. I have just seen some stupid stuff happen to people. There are sooooo many variables to consider and you need to be able to trust whoever inspects your motor. I have never seen a good motor come from Atkins, and have seen 4 bad ones in the last 3 months alone, like 'not running after rebuild' bad ones. If the OP wants to stay in the game, start saving and treat your FD like a house you will live in forever, and don't skimp!

z-beater

My first rebuild was a REW. It is not that hard. There is a video out there, 13bre or something like that. Great tutorial.

Now the vac nest is a different issue. That thing is a mess. There are some great threads that you can read about it though.

Being an RX7 owner takes time, study and patience. If you want to ensure that things are done correctly take the time and do them yourself.

It kills me to see all the newer guys reccomending rebuilders with bad records. Do it yourself. If you cannot do it yourself, talk with Rob at pineapple.

Ken went out of business for a reason and Atkins will screw you any chance they get.

I hope this post is not too forward.

Dave

CosmoQuik

funny you state such a thing i for one have been at atkins and seen dan run rebuilds before beening shipped, it more like they didnt run cause the installer was a anus and didnt know what to do to reinstall correctly

rocketape if ur worried about being ripped by dan i will go with you, i personally know dan and know for a fact he will help you and treat you right and not rip you off

rocket ape

Well, this might seem like a dumb question, but if I were to rebuild it myself, would I need an entire rebuild kit, or just a set of apex seals? And, about the rebuild dvds, I think I'll pick one up and see if it seems do-able. I'm not totally alien to mechanical rebuilds, just never something as complex as this. And its mine, and I'll be the one getting blown into little pieces if I don't do it right.

84stock

iTrader: (5)

If you blew an apex than 1 housing is toast and likely a rotor as well. Now you could match up with a used housing and rotor (see Atkins) or buy a pair of new housings and sell your good one. A housing is about $600 just for 1. You'll need all new apex seals, the side seals are likely re-usable though and then a full gasket kit. Dave Atkins is a pretty good guy, and if he has used stuff to help you out with he is more likely to sell it in one of his rebuilds that over the counter. I would take him the engine and put some trust in him. You'll probably walk out for under $5000. Then get some help from the forum for the install and labor intensive plumbing (now that is the expensive and time consuming part).

Otay

iTrader: (13)

Pineapples pricing, note the warranty I don't know anyone in the rotary business doing that. Correct me if I'm wrong.


Rebuild with good core

5Y/60K* warranty 93-95 13B-REW TT $3195

To me Pineapple is offering the best price for value of any rotary builder and he has a huge reputation as being one of the better builders in the US.




Atkins pricing with a 2yr/24k warranty


If you have a warranted manufacture defect wih one of our engines within the warranty period of 2 years or 24,000 miles we will remedy the problem at a labor rate of $30.00 per hour, based upon book rates.

Check out this clause....They charge you to fix their mistakes is how I read it.

93-95 13B 2650.00

You make the call I personally would choose Pineaplle just because of the good rep and insanely good warranty. For 545 more dollars you get a huge piece of mind.

jenkin

iTrader: (2)

Rotary Resurrection

93-95 TURBO
$1300 base price, $500 deposit up front, gasket kit costs $300 extra.


ENGINE OPTIONS

Long block disassembly and reassembly
93-95: $300
>>Click here for details

Substitute mazda oem 2mm apex seals
instead of atkins 2mm apex seals, add $125


Removal and reinstallation into your car
93-95: $1000
>>Click here for details

Streetporting, Turbo 4 port:
Turbo 4 port: $350
>>Click here for details

Emissions removal
During engine rebuild: $100
Engine already in car: $200
>>Click here for details

3mm seal upgrade package
Includes rotor milling
Atkins 3mm seals
New 3mm Apex springs
3mm solid cornerseals
$400

Use mazda oem 3mm seals instead of atkins seals in the package mentioned above,
add $225 (for a total of $625 for the 3mm conversion)

Ground/charging system rewire
$125
>>Click here for details

Nonsequential Twin Turbo Conversion
$100
>>Click here for details

Vacuum Hose Replacement For Stock Sequential/emissions System
You supply your own silicone hose $100 (labor)
I supply standard rubber hose $100 (hose and labor)
Viton check valves $25/set of 4
Test solenoids for proper operation after being heated in oven to simulate
enginebay heat $25.

least expensive and i have not seen too many bad posts from his work...
As long as we are just tossing figures in here,

ehime

iTrader: (18)

That'd be much obliged, i'm just up in covington (least the car is) so not so far from
you. yeah i'd love a hand gettin it out of there so I can cut out my firewall. the eng
is the last thing in my way.

+1 Pineapples the ****, course I'd rather rebuild my own, you'll never get any exp
letting someone do your stuff for you. I'd rather blow my own engine, know what
I did wrong, and move on. Than send it to some screwy rebuilder, have them blow
it because they're idiots, have them void my warranty, and be **** outta luck all
ways around. Just my 0.02c but experience is invaluable.