Whats up guys.



I currently drive a 1997 prelude, and was looking into purchasing a 3rd generation Rx-7.



I had some questions and am in need of some advice.



1. how much reliability issues are there w/Rx-7's?? i.e. what should I look out for when buying a rx-7(known problems etc, also I have heard of issues w/the "apex" seals...I have a good idea of what they are, but how hard are they to replace, cost etc.)



2. what is the best year/model of RX-7 to get? (for example, certain years of preludes are better because of curb weight/gearing etc...) According to carpoint 93 rx-7's are the lightest, is there any truth to this? Also if someone can explain the difference between the touring and base model etc.



3. what is the best route to go...build a new rotary motor?? or build the one currently in the car. reason being I see many RX-7's for dirt cheap (relatively) w/motor issues, and many w/new mazda warrantied motors.



I don't plan to boost much more than stock, after driving a prelude, Im sure I will be satisfied easily w/the rx-7's performance. I really want to build the car for reliability (I know that is not normally spoken w/rx-7's, but its possible right?) and plan on doing alot of auto x, I want to stay w/the twin sequential turbo set up, I'm not considering single turbo.



any info would really help, sorry for the huge amount of questions (probobly relatively simple to you guys.)



Thanks in Advance!

D



oh ya, one more thing. Does the F.N.G on the side stand for ****** new guy?? LMAO

1. Reliability issues: are usually include, but are not limited to, cracking Air Seperator Tanks, deteriorating water seals (keep the coolant out of the chamber) and lean conditions that lead to detonation and blown apex seals. Blown apex seals and water seals warrant a new "remanufactured" engine, or a rebuild of your current engine.



EDIT: Many report problems with the sequential turbo system, but the system is neither unreliable nor difficult to work on. An intimate knowledge of the vacuum control system and a general understanding of engine mechanics and turbo mechanics is all that's required to troubleshoot these problems.



2. I'm not sure about the weights, but I know the '93 model year came with less insulation and stiffer suspension than the '94+, making the car somewhat less "civilized". Base RX7's are the lightest, but are devoid of everything (except leather). Touring RX7's have a sunroof (metal in '93, glass in '94+) and a Bose CD sound system. R1/R2 models have front and rear spoilers, no sunroof, dual oil coolers, a front strut tower brace, brake cooling ducts from the front lip spoiler, stiffer suspension and synthetic "suede" seats (Read: cloth).



3. It really may be irrelavant which route you take. Some people just happen to have, what seem to be, stronger motors than others. I hate to say it, but chances are that you will be rebuilding a motor sometime during your ownership. Good cars to look for should have been properly cared for (body is rust/ding free, leather in good shape, CD player works), that also have an aftermarket rebuilt motor. Motors built by companies like KD Rotary or Rotary Performance or Pettit are usually very high quality builds, and those shops know the tricks of the trade to beef up the inside of your motor. Many of these aftermarket rebuilders offer extended warranties on their motors, as opposed to Mazda's 1 year reman warranty.



4. RX7 and "reliable" are surely interchangable words, if the motor is properly cared for.



5. The sequential turbo system can be very tricky to master, with boost transition and low spool time. Many Autox'ers convert their stock twins to a non-sequential operation for predictability.





Please, anyone correct me if I'm wrong!

Oh, yeah...

6. Your the F*ckin New Guy. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...#>/biggrin.png

HAHA, thanks for all the info man.



anyone else have any other advice/opinions on whats best?

RX-7's are like crack :yum: , once you get one the speed is ok, For a little while. Then you'll want more and more.

hehe...I know what you mean man.



I had a bunch of plans for my prelude...but college limited my spending$$$..i.e. I couldn't afford the crack!

if u cant afford a prelude, u cant affort a 7. (my reasoning is, so many honda parts out there for dirt cheap, not many 7 parts u'll find out there for dirt cheap) if u dont think u'll be able to handle the amount of money that goes into taking care of a third gen. look into buying a TII. pretty cheap and with little mods u can go really fast.

Good call! About the cheapest replacement part on the FD is the brake pads, and those are $50 a pair...



$1400 door panels...



$700 seats



$1800 motors



$95 AST's



Pretty much every single thing on that car costs a FORTUNE.

$1800 motors?? jesus that is cheap. H22 motors are about 2grand...I am assuming the price does'nt include turbos?



I am graduating this semester, so I should be making alot more $$. Preludes seem to be the most expensive Honda you can buy...so I don't think the adjustment will be too much.

I'm needing one of those..

ghetto ass honda. 2 grand for that motor.

rotary engines are cheap, price out an nsx motor, or an m3 motor sometime



mike

Reliability.. Hmmm Stock vac lines blowing off is common.

Replacing them with silicone lines cures that.

Stock Air Seperator Tanks (AST's) can crack and cause you to lose coolant.



Bad news in a Fd.

NA rotary engines are pretty reliable.

Throw a turbo on there and you get problems.

Although if you keep up and ahead on maintence they can run with out problems. Thats not to say that they will though.

Parts are pretty expensive.

Apex seals are in side the engine so if they break under detonation you at the very least have to rebuild.

Which isnt cheap. If your apex seal damaged the rotor or the housing it gets even more expensive.

Alot of Fd engines loose thier coolnat seals around 60k some more, some less. Alot caused by the heat generated by turbos.

Downpipes and high flow cats help with moving the heat away from the engine.



Also a properly working and well ducted cooling system is vital.



Watch for excesive oil near the turbos (passenger side of engine bay)

Also at the rear main seal. (near the tranny bell housing)

A car that boosts properly should have about 10 psi on primary, 8 at the dip during transition , then back to 10 psi when

the secondary turbo comes online.



You can get a compression tester and run a compression test on the car.

Also you can pressure test the coolant system.



This link i am gonna leave is usefull so check out the site..



Lightning in a world of thunder



Other than that keep us up to date on the cars that you look at and we can help you along.



But the rx7 is totally an addiction accept it and get used to it.

thanks for all the info guys..glad I asked ? first.



No I gotta go do some more homework (on Rx-7's) that is.



If anyone has anymore input or advice feel free.

I'd like to know where to get a reman for $1800.



I totally agree with the fact that if you can't afford a prelude you can't afford a rx7. Give your insurance guy a call...you'll be amazed :redface:

The 3rd gen RX-7 is actualy cheaper on insurance due to the very high theft rates

of the Prelude. The amount of money you have to spend on the prelude to get it to

the RX-7's level of horsepower and handling is way too mutch. I did the same thing you wan't

to and it was one of the best performance upgrades I have ever made. Go from sport coupe

to pure sports car is an excelent choice. Have fun.

Only one draw back I can think of is FUEL MILEAGE!!





Have a good one

yea where are these $1800 FD engines....all the ones i see are like $2500.



kevin.

ok guys, found what appears to be a clean ass 7 only 6miles away..price seems a lil high, but the owner claims only 29k original miles on it.



here is the link

car_id=120809665&dealer_id=&make=MAZDA&distance=20 0&max_price=30000&model=&end_year=1995&advcd_on=n& min_price=5000&address=84405&search_type=used&adva nced=n&start_year=1993&color=&car_year=1993]clean 7[/URL]



Im going to go try and check it out this weekend.



Can someone explain how to do the comp test on a rotary motor?

christ...link didn't work



Ill try again.



clean 7



just booked out the car at kbb.com...books at 14,755, is this guy nuts?? or is 26k normal pricing for a 7?

jesus...a 10second 7, look here



10 second 7

$24,650?



just pass on by that one, you can get GREAT ones for like 16k, and decent ones for $13k...hell i've seen near mint ones go cheap too.



for $26k you can buy Ernie T's 500+hp single turbo rx7 in the for sale section on this forum and it'd be a better deal then buying that autotrader fd.



kevin.

Ya, I thought that was pretty fuggin outrageous...



I think I had rather buy a cheap one, and mod it myself.

Dood... buy one with a blown motor that has been otherwise cared for. Should be able t'get one for under $8000.

then send the core in for a rebuild/streetport, $5000 or so...



That'd be a good buy! I have a buddy who got his FD the same way.

He is trying to get a high price because of a ******* magazine.

I payed $13,75 for my first base model with 60k on it.

I payed $16,500 for my recent touring with 40k on it.





Uhmm Justin, Malloy sells engines for $1800 roughly.

$1800 motors - that's just the "long block" - for lack of a better word.

No that is just the remaned short block.

yeah, ****.



that's what I meant.. sorry, I got hurried 'cause the director was looking over my shoulder.

Honda are fine respectable cars :redface: cough*bullshit*cough*Cough

I thought you wanted it for reliability reasons? Modding it is not going to help. I just bough my car last month. It will become your baby

You have to take very good care of it. If you want somethng you can mod out for cheap keep the Honda.

In other words...treat the car right and it will treat you right.

$7000 was my bill with rebuilt turbos and factory engine (remanufactured). Not sure what you guys are talking about H22

motors, somebody school me on that.



For an extra 1500, I could have gotten a used 20B.

a H22 motor is a 2.2l prelude motor...sorry I don't expect you guys to know that..



I want to mod the motor for reliability, you assume Im just going to mod for huge amount of boost, that wasn't my plan.