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.

well, i do have a need for speed, but i also have a bigger need to learn first https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/wink.png don't want to mess with speed before i know what im doing! hehe

Start off with a nice 84 or 85 GSL-SE. They can be hard for good prices, some of them you can even find in mint condition. It's really difficult to find a FC that is N/A in mint condition, as they have been beaten to total craph.



And if you have the need for speed, the GSL-SE is more than capable of this, as it is powered by the 13b EFI motor, and modifications are easily done with the help of Racing Beat, as they have an entire catalog of stuff you can do, exhaust, intake, suspension, brakes, interior, exterior, ignition, etc.



Good luck, and having an N/A RX-7 is not to look ashamed upon.

Non-Turbo rx7s can be fast too. You dont need a TII to have a reasonably fast RX...

with a turbo car plan on replacing the following. you can either buy most (or all of it) at once, or let the car nickel and dime you, buy you pretty much will have to address most, if not all of these things along the way....



cooling system:



water hoses, they are 20 years old, just replace em all

thermostat: its $11.....

if its an 89-91 get a new thermostat neck, they are plastic, they break, if the engine isnt newish, any little overheating will kill it.

have a good look at the radiator, if its plastic, and the color has turned from black, to greenish, its telling you its ready to split



vacuum lines:



the rubber boot/hose/duct between the air filter/ari flow meter and the turbo likes to split, these cars are super touchy about vacuum leaks, and little teeny ones will make the car flood, and idle badly.



air control valve or acv: this is the thing that they use to control the flow of air from the air pump, to the exhaust, or back to the air cleaner, WHEN it goes bad, its a vacuum leak, but its not from the outside air to the intake system, its from one bit of the intake system to another.



vacuum lines, most of em by now are rock hard, and if they havent gone anywhere yet, arent, so leave em alone. there are some that need to move to get to certain things, have some 3.5mm hose around just in case. silicon isnt needed, it often splits anyways.



fuel system:



the pulsation dampers like to leak on these cars, 1st symptom is a raw gas smell, 2nd is an engine fire



engines:



these actually are pretty reliable, and usually either die from old age, overheating, or being modified poorly (too lean, too hot, etc etc), they seem to average about 80-120k for a turbo car, although i know of one, that went 210k....



stuff thats like any other car:



oil leaks....

clutch, if you dont abuse it, it will last a long long time



and then of course theres the whole rest of the car....



if you pick the right car, and dont put stuff off, you'll be happy.

thx for all the replies guys...this is definately steering me towards getting a n/a. now it's time to see what kind of money i can put together over the summer working non-stop https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/wink.png

My N/A (altho I havent driven her in a long time) has been really reliable when I was using her as a daily, and the only maintainance Ive had to do was stuff I knew about coming into it (needed mufflers, a top etc) and oil changes. Other than the normal stuff, she's been good, and was returning pretty good gas milage too, considering the engine/driving style (~23 mpg)

right now im looking into an 86 w/180k miles. he says it runs, but he's going to get a new battery for it this week so i can be sure (last time he started it, he said he had to jump it cause of the battery, but it still started). and i want to get his confidence that it can make a 180mi trip before i go for it, because i don't want to have to rent a trailer to haul it back on if i don't have to. i should know by next week whether or not it's mine https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png



of the pics ive seen, it looks in decent shape, but it's still a 20-yo car, heh, so obviously it's not perfect https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/wink.png

just did a carfax report on it. it's reported as clean other than one time it was reported as 126,000 miles when it changed owners, but the odometer, as well as a later mileage entry in the carfax report shows it as the correct mileage, so i'm not too worried about that.



i just found it today and im already getting pretty antsy about it...i hope the people i live with will let me keep it in the "driveway!" https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png

oh, i say "driveway" because it's just this area of dirt and gravel that is at the bottom of a little hill where the house is. and as long as it's not on blocks, i don't see why it wouldn't like any other car we usually have parked there.

180K is getting up there as far as age/mileage, etc. You'll be looking at rebuilding the engine within 20K or so. It's a good place to start though..better then f'n up a nicer one... you can always get another one/nicer one later.

my thoughts exactly. im hoping i can get it for under $500 and, if so, have some fun w/it over the summer. i can't be too worried about a car i bought for less than 1k w/that kind of mileage, heh.