Hey everyone, I always make sure to conduct searches before I consider posting, so if I overlooked anything please just direct me to the proper thread. But anyways I'm basically looking for some preferred and reputable websites/dealers/personal business that I can buy some particular parts from. I have an 84 RX7, beige, every part is stock. I got a nice deal on it from a local, it's in incredible shape. However although stock is great, I want to make it my own. So basically this is my mission. Keep in mind that I want the best price/quality combination possible for all these things.

- Body Kit : I don't want my car to look like a space ship or anything, but I do prefer a rounder looking shape as opposed to the natural pointiness of the 1st gen rx7. I would also like the option of a wide body kit, although I don't see any when I google it. Also any information about installing a body kit or a place that may install it well.

- Paint job : So far the only place I can consider getting one is Maaco. I hear great and horrible things about maaco, and I would really, really like some recommendations on a place that I know I can get a quality job from. This is probably the most important part of the customization. I'll only be painting the car black, but still mistakes are mistakes.

- Upholstery : I want to completely redo the interior, from door panels to the seats and carpet. It's a dark gray/light gray right now, I'd prefer dark gray/black. Now if I can get authentic 84 mazda rx7 parts from the dealership in those color tones then I'd definitely go for those, but either way I'm looking to put the interior in the best shape possible.

- Auto Shop : I got the recommendations for Jimmy's little car shop and import auto shop, but still I prefer some direct input. I reside in washington state near lakewood. Places that are experienced in doing engine swaps would be ideal.

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me out.

 

Atkins rotary, down in puyallap, I hear good things from them.

 

Be careful with maaco. If they up there are anything like the ones in oregon, they are no good.

 

Yup.... Maaco sucks.

 

What engine are you going to swap into it? Where in Lakewood do you live?

 

I do engine swaps. What do you want to do?

 

actually the realy question is what are you looking to spend on everything?

 

Maaco blows... If you want you're entire car painted including wheels, lights, windows, exhaust, suspension and undercarriage then by all means have them paint your car... Cuz they are the overspray kings!

Don't use Atkins. You're better off with Jeff to help you out. And I believe you're talkin about Jerry's little car shop, not Jimmy's??

 

You're right, it is jerry's little car shop, I was mistaken at first. As for the engine swap, I'm not quite sure yet, but whatever I swap I want to be brand new. Let me be clear about one thing first. I love the mazda rx-7, but I'm in love with the style of the car, and not so much the engine. So the engine swap I've been considering is the *dun dun dun* chevy block 305 swap. Keep in mind my mission is to make a brand new car. And while my engine right now is perfectly fine, I was to ensure the longevity of my car by putting in everything brand new, from engine to transmission. Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to negate the responsibilities of a rotary engine owner, and just say *pffft* to the extra care that it requires to be at peak performance. I'm learning as much as I can about the car, because I take care of anything I own as much as possible. Anyways enough branching off. All of the things I want to do is basically just brainstorming, and can change at any moment. Either way I'm looking to spend around 8,000-10,000 dollars after all is said and done (over the course of a year or two).

 

Under that budget it'll be tight for paint, motor, and interior. Interior, especially, if you go thru the dealers gets spendy... Very spendy! And to get a shell and start an engine swap from scratch you would probably take most of your budget to swap a BRAND NEW V8 into the 7. Hardware kits are usually decently priced, but the motors will hurt your budget if you buy brand new. Paint alone from a reputable shop would cost you upwards of $2000. Not trying to put a damper on things, but start researching prices of parts you want. If you're thinking V8 swap go to v8rx7forum.com . There's also Hinson Supercars you can check out for their swap kits and an idea of how much a swap would cost... Although I'm not sure if they have kits for 1st gens... Granny's speed shop does V8 swaps as well. Interior I can't tell you where to find MINT parts... Body kits you can get virtually anywhere and will take some basic searching of the web to find something to your liking.

 

- Body Kit : I don't want my car to look like a space ship or anything, but I do prefer a rounder looking shape as opposed to the natural pointiness of the 1st gen rx7. I would also like the option of a wide body kit, although I don't see any when I google it. Also any information about installing a body kit or a place that may install it well.

Well, if you dont like the pointy 1st gen and rotary engine, i have a 86 SE and a 305+AT that i would deliver to your doorstep for $1000. best of both worlds, a stock 1st gen 7dd and a 2nd gen v8 project car.......


otherwise i believe that you are under funded by a factor of 2 or 3. if you did the homework I am sure that you found that any conversion/restoration that doesnt end up looking like a hack job will cost on the far side of $20K unless you have mad skill and don't count your labor as a cost.


That is just my opinion, and it is reality based, although i have been slammed for keeping a foot in reality while raining on someones dream.....

 

10k is a long order for a new drivetrain, new interior, widebody kit, AND good paint. pick 2 of those on that budget if you're not doing the work yourself. having someone else do it- be ready to spend, spend, spend, & spend some more...

I'm 8k and lots of bloody knuckles & sweat into my LS1 swap and it's nothing special. but that's what I wanted....

 

If you want a really good paint job, it will probably run between $4000 and $6000 if you do none of the work yourself. I paid a little over $5400 for my paint job. That's a lot of money, but the shop I took it to did an absolutely prime job (I didn't take anything off the car before hand). I didn't even give Maaco a thought. A $600 paint job won't get the results you want.

 

Well I wouldn't say that I did any research whatsoever on these modifications and so on, which is why I made this post :-) This forum has some extremely knowledgable people posting on it, so I wanted to ask here before I did anything. Even if it's going to run me like 20k over the long run for everything I want to do to this car, then that's fine. In the end I'll have the car I want, and that's all that matters. I'm basically asking for all the preferred places to get these things done, or ways (tutorials or other recommendations) to do things myself. I already know that I'm going to do certain installations myself, such as like carpeting in my car, but I'm seeing things as I go. Thanks for all the input, by the way. Does anyone know a business that sells good carpet kits for my 84 rx7 gs? I heard some businesses sell the exact fit for pretty much any car.

Plus if anyone knows any good tutorials they can post in thos thread for any of the things I mentioned, it would be appreciated as well. I use the search tool on this forum a lot, but even when I get specific I get like 100+ results and only like 1 of them have anything to do with the search. Thanks.