Over the summer my friend and I are going to be playing around with his totaled rx-7 (12a). The motor is still good, so we're going to try and pull it, take it apart and do some maintenance (not so simple? lol) like replacing apex seals, etc, so we can get a better feel for what it's like on the inside.



If all goes well, I'm considering getting a 2nd-gen rx-7. I want to get involved with rotaries, and after going through some other options, just getting one and getting my hands dirty seems like the easiest way of getting to know about it.



What I'm wondering about are the costs involved with the initial buy. Obviously the initial cost of the car will depend on mileage, age, wear on exterior/interior, etc. Could you guys estimate some of the things you would do (I was reading a post earlier about things you should replace to keep you from getting headaches, but I can't find it at the moment, and I don't remember it actually having any costs) and how much it would all cost? First I just want something that could be considered reliable, and could get me around town in college for my job and such (it's only a few miles away, but I make the 120mi trip home one weekend a month or so). Eventually I would like to do some work on it for fun and learning, but for the first few months I just want a daily driver. One of the things that has sold me was my friend ranting and raving about how easy it is to work on a rotary compared to a piston engine, and how him and a buddy of his can have it removed, taken apart, and reassembled in a few hours. Obviously, this is assuming that all things you wanted to do go smoothly. I like that, as I despise doing things like changing the spark plugs on my friend's Taurus (duratec engine), where you have to drop the subframe to get to the rear plugs (unless you think you can reach in there blindly and get it done correctly).



My wish would be to sell my current car ('01 taurus, vulcan engine) and use the rx7 as my daily driver, but I'm not sure how confident I should be in a car that's starting to show it's age (late 80's-early 90's desired). I'm hoping you guys can give me a reality check of what I'm getting into. If you guys aren't confident in the car that I'd buy used (and really you can't know much about it unless you see it, I realize this), it's probably going to steer me to keeping the Taurus on stand-by.

Best advice, unless you have boatloads of money you like to throw into a car knowing good and well you will never see it again, dont buy one!



I have invested almost 10k in my car and it still needs paint.

is this after a boatload of mods you've done to it, as well? i just want a daily driver for right now that's cheap and has the possibility of mods later on and is semi-reliable.

His example is a very poor one, and not the norm. First decide if you want n/a or turbo. If you're fine with n/a, then you have many more choices, many of which would include reliability, at a wide range of prices.

Honestly, I'd probably want the turbo (the gen2 turbo puts about 200hp down, right?), though if my choices are that limited, I have no problem starting with a n/a (though it leaves me wanting a renesis for n/a, but that's not the option at the moment as money can't afford me an rx8, hehe). If I started with a n/a, would the possibility to build up to turbo still be there for the future? (i don't know how much of a difference there is between the n/a and turbo setups, if any)



And, like you said, n/a would probably offer me a chance to get a rx7 at a lower price, so that's a thought, too...

The non-turbo cars can be fun (in my opinion, I enjoy mine a lot), but to have the turbo you would have to swap out the entire drivetrain, and the general consensus is that it's cheaper to just buy a TII than to do that.



I'm sure someone with more knowledge will chime in here in a bit.

I wish I would have waited and bought a TII.

First: Define what you want

Second: Set a budget (not just the purchase price)

Third: Buy the best example of what you want that you can afford.

I bought the best example in ontario for a s5Tii. over the years my car has 50 dollar'd me to death. 50 here, 50 there, 50 somewhere else.



Then I got crazy and racing beat this and racing beat that.

You can get a decent first gen for pocket change if you look around. A good n/a 2nd gen almost as cheap. The turbo cars are more desirable and less plentiful, so you are really going to take a leap in terms of dollars unless you happen to get lucky.



If I was starting out on a limited budget and wanted reliable, fun transportation, I'd opt for a really nice first gen. If you have a need for speed, then wait for a T2.