Took my FD to Hayward today and I suspected the worse and Carl proved that the engine was low on compression. So, no Im torn between 3 things, do i break her, sell as is or try and rebuild her myself?
I could do with the money (couldnt we all :D), wouldnt mind rebuilding her but would take time and need to save or, sell and save for another??
I drove 120 miles today from Watford to Newbury and the drive was fine, just took it nce and slow around 60mph and it never missed a beat.
Compression results showed around 4 bar on each rotor. She was rebuilt only 6000/7000miles ago by Hurley in late 2004, Hurley still remember it as the previous owner spent a small fortune.
Heres the spec;
1993 L reg
- 75,500miles approx.
- Red with Mazdaspeed side skirts
- Recent respray Shell £500
- 17" Sparco staggered alloys with red anodised rims £200
- 235/45/17 front dunlops but need new tyre - see my post on \'Why is my FD pulling to the right, you wont believe it!!\'
- 255/40/17 SP9000 dunlops on the rears 6.5MM TREAD £100
- Standard body with Mazdaspeed side skirts
- Body work is very straight, but the splitter could do with a respray.
Engine:
- Rebuilt by Hurley 4 years ago, now has low compression but still runs fine. £500
- Single turbo conversion [Garrett] with RR print out of 294bhp @1bar £200 (for the turbo only)
- Apexi Power FC [only ECU not commander] £300
- Turbosmart wastegate £100
- Anodised pulleys £25
- Greddy intake elbow £80
- Uprated injectors (not sure what size) £50
- Blitz BOV welded to intake £100
- Trust/Greddy SMIC - THICK!! £250
- Custom hard pipe system from turbo to I/C
- New battery £25
- New spark plugs (NGK BUR9EQP\'S) £15
- Apexi N1 straight from turbo back exhaust £175
Interior:
- Execellent conditon, no rips or tears to the seats. £80
- Lots of good condition plastics £100
- Greddy exhaust temp gauge £50
- Greddy Air/Fuel ratio gauge £50
- HKS Boost Gauge £50
- HKS Gauge holders x 3 £50
- Autogauge exhuast pressure gauge, pillar mount £25
- Autogauge oil pressure gauge, pillar mount £25
- Greddy E-01 Manage display system £100
- Mazdaspeed gearknob £35
- Mazdaspeed handbrake lever £35
- Drilled pedals £10
- Missing some boot plastic bits
- Rear bins, more desirable! £150
Suspension:
- New TEIN SuperStreet Height and damper £300
coilovers
- All bushes on inspection look healthly and new
Brakes:
- New discs and pads on all 4 corners £100
Sounds system:
- Someone has spent a lot of money here, Kenwood high end CD player with seperate Kenwood graphic equaliser. £200
- Focal crossovers £50
- Unsure of speaker make £10
- Full amp wiring all ready placed £20
- Clifford 300 alarm system £100
Whats everyone thoughts on this and what do you think i should do?:xconfused:xconfused:xconfused
thats a nice spec tbh Ash and its not often you will hear me say this but id look to rebuild that car! Breaking an FD in this current climate is prob the worst option so i would discount that one at the moment.
Either sell as is or rebuild...i think if you get that car rebuilt, it will be a very nice example of an FD!
Jesus, 4 bar on each rotor after 7k? That\'s fcuking terrible :(
Gutted for you.
All depends how much you love her really - the way I feel about mine right now I\'ll 100% rebuild the engine when it goes. But financially, it usually makes a lot more sense to break - you can proba make mor ethan you think - for instance, what single tub is on it?! that seems very cheap for a single setup...
The turbo is a Garrett - not sure apart from its got M12 and AR.50 on it. Its quite small but very responsive, the prices are just taken from the top of my head and £200 i just for the turbo.
It could well just be weak springs if so a cheap rebuild where figures the same across all faces?
Carl did mention it could have been the springs actually. One rotor had very different figures 7.1, 0.0, 0.0 (the electronic gauge didnt read below 4bar!) but the other rotor had very similar results. Any ideas how much a rebuild kit would be if it was just the springs??
have u got the original receipt from hurley which states what parts were new at rebuild? - could sway the decision if it had new housings etc, then the rebuild might be a lot cheaper?
I think Hurley made there own springs at one time then reverted to mazda springs because of this reason give em a call and ask em.
JIT - No, but I could call them. The thing is it was over 4 years ago, but they should still have kept the records yeah?
I would like to rebuild, it would be a leaning curve but Im quite technically minded and have a fair few tools.
Ouch sorry to hear that dude, Id say keep it and rebuild it :)
But if you do break it there are some bits there ill take off your hands.
Fingers crossed you rebuild though, thought jaydee may of been closer?
forget calling them...they wont have a record...i had a mate in a similar predicament...they didnt have a record...
i think you should pull the engine out and inspect it and then if its bad, re-evaluate
That may be a sensible option actually, good excuse as any to buy some new overalls :)
i think its good cos if you do decide to sell it, its less work for the next person to rebuild it..and youre no worse off (apart from maybe the new owner not being able to drive it home!)...if the internals turn out to be decent then you can go for a cheapish rebuild!
If you do decide to go down that road, i dont mind dropping round to give you a hand if im free!
we actually got a funny reading on the rear rotor,it seems that maybe there might be a damaged seal,but the front was just under 4 bar,so I think maybe a combination of flat springs and a damaged seal.
Regards
Carl
shame mate,
just do what feels best but like others have said, i dont think it would be worth breaking now.
also, the power figure 294bhp, i take it that is at the wheels??
what i would like to know is, what could the factors be for such low compression after such a sort period of time apart from springs??
ahhh not so good mate...after all that time it took you to find one that you wanted:2Mad
If you do decide to break the i will be interested in the single turbo kit (as long as in good condition +
- Greddy Air/Fuel ratio gauge £50
but i would still get her rebuild and enjoy the summer driving:yes
Quote from: karl_tate;573735shame mate,
just do what feels best but like others have said, i dont think it would be worth breaking now.
also, the power figure 294bhp, i take it that is at the wheels??
what i would like to know is, what could the factors be for such low compression after such a sort period of time apart from springs??
Hmm - well, I had a similar Hurley engine when I brought my old bag of nails - compression was so low it just could not be started, was less than 20k.
Rotechniks stripped it as part of the rebuild, and said the housing etc had probably been used for the previous 2-3 rebuilds, and were absolutely fubared. Strange really, as it was supposed to have been rebuilt with all new parts, according to the chap i brought it from. I mean, it failed due to water seals - all tips etc were intact, but there were chunks missing from the housings, as if the internals had disintegrated...
Might be interesting to see if yours is the same...
^^^^^
Ouch!
Are they still in business with all this great feedback and horror stories:o:2Confused
thats a shame mate you havent had much luck with the wheel etc recently!
also there is an engine for sale on here and fduk same guy wants 600 for the engine... no history though :( might be a cheap fix while you rebuild yours in your spare time???
Thanks for the advice guys. Yeah I not had that much with her to be honest, what with the tyre issue and what i thought may have been a good old flat battery :)
Thanks Malice - will have a look, as that is another route i suppose?
Fortunately its a weekend car and not my main drive otherwise i reckon i would be a bit more dissapointed!
mate sorry to hear this!
if you do stip the car tho! i woul dbe interested in the E-01 you have!
A good 2nd hand engine might be the best solution? (If you can get one with a warranty)
hello ash dont know if it was you i spoke to about this car but give me a call 02476 661357 this was heavily played with by a company in Luton the one thing you havent listed is the nitrous kit(was this removed before you purchased the car)may give the guys a clue as to why theres problems
regards Mick
Hi mickh - I bought the car without the nitrous kit and was told it never ran it but was installed?!?!
I will give you a call mickh. Oh and the company in Luton was PTS they remember the car and did the single turbo conversion too.
if you do break ash i would be interested in the car without the engine and box/intercooler/ecu etc etc... bearnigel at yahoo dot com
Quote from: ash;573824Hi mickh - I bought the car without the nitrous kit and was told it never ran it but was installed?!?!
I will give you a call mickh. Oh and the company in Luton was PTS they remember the car and did the single turbo conversion too.
Oh man performance toilet systems!....had a bad rep were we live mate,
Good luck with whatever you decide to do mate...dips on the exhuast, inter cooler and mazda speed
Gear knob and handbrake lever lol.
Regards
Matt
Cheers Matt, liking the acronym for PTS!! Went to PTS before ages ago with a Fiesta RST, didnt seem too bad then, but that was a ford with a CVH not a rotary!
Looking at these tempts me to rebuild it :yes
Looks too good to let her die, mate. Rebuild it, not worth the effort and time to break and worth to much to let it sell as is for \'k all! Like the ejecto-seato switch on the centre console! Those are "Mazda" without the "speed" sideskirts, though, btw
Cheers Nik, Ah so they are the standard Mazda skirts.
That james bond style switch i reckon was for the Nitrous system!!
Yeah, Mazda optional flubbery rubbery sideskirts. Not standard, but ordered from Mazda as an extra
Quote from: ash;573965Cheers Matt, liking the acronym for PTS!! Went to PTS before ages ago with a Fiesta RST, didnt seem too bad then, but that was a ford with a CVH not a rotary!
Years ago when dave was there as a mechanic it was not to bad, luckily hw worked on my old nova.:spank
The young lad there left to set up Frankinstein motorsport near leighton buzzard a few years back and tbh that aint much better. Went past P.T.S last friday and it was not even open so not to sure if they are still there?.
I know they down sized to one unit as Jamie from Jamsport who is helping with mine brought there 4wd rolling road and a few fabricacting machines.
Just remember the old bloke tony there he was the most miserable old git on this earth, always sopke to you like a turd:2Mad
Build her a new heart, one days these beauties will start appreciating :)
Rebuild it while it still works.
another vote for an engine swap or rebuild :-)
rebuild it you cant break it!!!!!!!!!!
I would re-build if it was mine it would be a shame to break it. looks great.
Hi Guys.....well thanks for all your thoughts and input, but I have made a decision and the car has been sold to a forum member with a nice project in mind. I will let him tell you what it is ifn he wants but it will have a v8 in!
I needed the cash, and didnt really have immediate funds to rebuild her. If i did i would, and probably would have cursed my way through it.
It was an eventful ownership of this red beaut, but one that was very short lived...i think i managed to dive her only 6 times :)
I may be after a nice FC in the future, something different. Not going away just because i have not got a rotary but will be keeping an eye on that for sale section.
Thanks all.
Ash
Bugger to hear that mate, shame really but hey ho.
I best keep an eye out in the parts for sale bit lol
Yep, i think the guy is going to be selling quite a few of those parts listed!!
hi good to meet you ash,hope you get a new car sorted for the summer,and i will be selling of a lot of parts as i only want the rolling shell for a project...if any one wants bits please mail me at bearnigel at yahoo dot com ... i will be doing a list of parts and prices between now and the weekend,but if any one wants to make an offer on any bits feel free to email me... many thanks...
heh - the only part i would be interested in is the rollin shell... :D
Shame you can\'t afford to fix it up, Ash
Cheers Mr. Chimp!
Good to meet you too Nigel, rxv8 is the new owner, so please disregard my parts prices on the first price as they were rough idea prices that I made up.
Hoepfully I will be back in a Jap car soon!!!
will put a list up of parts at weekend as said,but if any wants parts etc etc...please email me at bearnigel at yahoo dot com thanks
Too bad it\'s going the V8 route, wish you much success with it.
Quote from: rxv8;575167will put a list up of parts at weekend as said,but if any wants parts etc etc...please email me at bearnigel at yahoo dot com thanks
you have e-mail mate!
steven
e-mail sent.
Cheers
Laeeq
E-mail coming your way mate!.
Also laeeq if you get this turbo mate i dont mind taking your kit off your hands?, drop a price you have in mind mate if you still have my number.
Matt.
matt mailed you back did you get it,thanks...
Just pinged you one back, while eating spag bol....was not easy!