Hi all, names billy if you hadn\'t guessed.
Basically I\'m gonna start putting some money away to get an fd3s, and wanted to know if there were any members in or around the north baddesley area? I currently drive the public transport system to work :( but would love to join on some meets, talk to some rotary lovers and just generally ask lots of questions, can\'t wait to hear back from you guys and girls.
Hi and welcome. Ask any questions you want and I\'m sure someone will be willing to help answer
Ok first question
How much money do I roughly need for a fd3s, with none to few mods?
a rough price to go for would be 3,000-4,000 depending on how well kept the car is.
If you want a single turbo monster you can be looking from 5,000-10,000 easy.
Recent rebuilt engine and compression test results are a must for buying a car
Ok thanks
I\'ve read about the compression test before, am I right in saying it should be 7-8
Welcome!
If you\'re commuting into central Southampton and if there\'s heavy traffic, then I\'m not sure I\'d recommend using an FD for that. You certainly could do, but they\'re not the ideal car for sitting in traffic every day. OTOH if you\'re commuting to somewhere like IBM Hursley say, then an FD would be ace.
Yup you\'re right, 7-8 bar is a good healthy engine with many tens of thousands of miles of life ahead if looked after. It\'s also best if the individual readings on each rotor are pretty close, within a few tenths. I.e. 7.2/7.4/7.3 is better than 8.2/7.2/8.2.
Also check for evidence of water seal failure.
You need* to find a good car. That doesn\'t mean one with lots of mods and it doesn\'t have to mean a high price, it\'s more about looking for the signs of a caring knowledgeable owner and being prepared to walk away if a car isn\'t right. I\'m not aware of many good cars that have gone for less than around £4k, so I would set that as a goal - if you happen to find a bargain for less, then you\'ve got some spare towards fuel/insurance/mods.
*Unless you\'re mechanically minded or looking for a project to learn on. There are too many dodgy FDs out there that will take five or ten grand out of your wallet without blinking, and still leave you at the side of the road awaiting the AA. OTOH find a good car, find a good specialist, and you have something very special for relatively little money.
Samoht and grant monk house you have been a great help so far :)
You mentioned water seal failure, I\'ve also heard of the AST not being the greatest? Would it be better not to have one at all or just upgrade it?
One other thing for the moment, does anyone go to reworx in Portsmouth?
Thanks for the time and detailed answers
There are arguments in favour of ditching the AST or replacing it with a metal item, I don\'t think there\'s a clear consensus on its importance. However in terms of looking for a car, the AST is only a small plastic pot, so its presence/absence or upgrade isn\'t really significant to whether or not you should buy a particular car.
I\'ve not been to RE:Worx but I found this feedback on another forum
Fantastic, tell all your friends - 57 (54.29%)
Good, would use them again - 28 ( 26.67%)
Okay, might use them again - 9 (8.57%)
Not good, would not recommend - 2 (1.90%)
Bad, avoid this company - 9 (8.57%)
Guys you have been a massive help and I\'m sure ill be posting loads more questions in the future, one last thing to ask, I\'ve got a book called \'street rotary\', are there any other books that are informative as this one you would recommend buying?
The \'standard\' book on the RX-7 is Brian Long\'s
http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/RX_7.html?id=UDHl8kXiaccC
(http://bks4.books.google.co.uk/books?id=UDHl8kXiaccC&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&edge=curl&imgtk=AFLRE737dGDySm-4eAdBP7XgvAbeW3CQMkZNGgUtNsoy0_c3ShqDkV9oGi4T0hMsAXxdFBjmtwM8Y38hNJdoUWzU5ZxeF_5NHCV5pzMoLlQ3qIevgRXFED2phkIDw2VkgdPtR2Pg1M96)
It\'s not a technical manual and doesn\'t cover maintenance or mods. However, it describes how the three generations of RX-7 came to be, and Mazda\'s priorities in developing each model. It explains what makes the FD so special, with lots of good photos. It also describes the special editions and model year variations to some degree.
Sadly it\'s currently out of print. If you can find it for the cover price of £35 then I would definitely recommend it, but at the current amazon marketplace price of £130 then you\'d have to be really keen.