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A spare aluminium bonnet from a convertible is actually included in the sale so was planning to put that on if the paint is in ok-ish condition. I\'m surprised they are as much as 1400kg though, I expected them to be a bit lighter than an mr2 with the smaller engine. But of course they do have a back seat (which I assume can be removed?)

£900 for ARB\'s?!?! I just paid £240 delivered for new genuine TRD front and rear bars for my MR2 with bushes!! Are the fc3s ones very different to other cars? For strut braces I have already found this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Mazda-RX7-FC-Front-Strut-Brace-Bar-86-92_W0QQitemZ350087377107QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item350087377107&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1318
but it looks a bit flimsy compared to the £100 ones.

Is there not anything I should be doing to the brakes? Uprated discs/pads, braided lines or calipers? Or are the standard fc3s brakes pretty good?

Thanks for the offer but I don\'t mind the hassle, I actually want to do/help with the work myself as much as possible. It\'d also work out quite a bit cheaper for me as i\'d be swapping some mr2 parts in p/x for the car and engine.

Correct me if i\'m wrong but wont yours be needing a rebuild fairly soon if it\'s done 50k since the last one? Or do they not need rebuilding as often as the hype says?

If I were looking at spending 3k on the car I\'d be after an FD project (that comes next :Giggle)

I\'m looking at buying an FC3S Turbo2 shell plus a rebuilt engine (there\'s a thread about it somewhere on here), but while the engine is already out and i\'m going to have to get it trailered anyway I\'m thinking about doing a bit of a project on it.

I\'m already speaking to another member on here about doing the work but just looking for other opinions on what can/should be done. The car is fairly standard and as said the engine is rebuilt and never even been turned over. It has been sat for a while though so I will probably get a full service done on it to make sure everything is fine before I start. The only modifications I know of are a stainless steel exhaust (unknown make but cost £400 apparently) and some alloy wheels (which I will probably change anyway).

My total budget is probably about £1500-£2000 to spend on parts, maybe a bit more, but i\'m looking for decent handling as well as power. Is the budget realistic, and what should I be looking at getting for that money? Realistic (reliable) power expectations?

If I wanted to go a bit further, what sort of cost (parts only) should I be looking at to get it to around 250-275bhp (reliably), with brakes/suspension upgraded and overhauled? And is there anything else worthwhile I can or should be doing at that stage?

And finally, out of interest, does anyone know what a standard fc3s t2 weighs? And does stripping it out make a significant difference, or is it like my mr2 where there\'s little weight to lose? Just trying to work out what the performance difference will be compared to my 173bhp mr2 that weights ~1260kg.

Apologies for the long thread and many questions, this rotary thing is new to me!
Cheers :cheers

Dave

Yeah, in a way I dont mind that as I would like to get my hands dirty and learn about the car/engine, but it\'s all extra expense as i\'ll need help and obviously have to get it trailered somewhere.
 
Last time I spoke to him (a while ago) he didn\'t have a receipt for the rebuild but was going to speak to rx motors (i think it was) about getting a copy, I wont be buying it if he can\'t produce one and I may try and speak to rx motors myself and see if they remember anything about the work they did.
 
How much roughly would the car be worth as it is but with the engine in, assuming the engine is perfect and has had a full rebuild and there are no other problems? Just wondering why he doesnt put the engine back in himself and tax/mot it if it will be worth as much as he says it will.

Well looked like this was off as the owner had decided to keep it and put the engine back in when he came back off holiday, but he\'s now decided he has to sell!! And offered me the car and everything else he has rx7 related (including haynes manual, aluminium bonnet from a convertible fc and the private plate) for £1000. Sound like a good deal? Or should I be worried that he was keeping it and now suddenly decided to sell again? I\'d probably be buying it without viewing as getting up to sheffield and back will be another £50 and I dont know enough about these cars to really tell me anything just by viewing a non-runner :rolleyes:
 
BenLewisMav, if you\'re still interested I\'d like to talk to you about doing the engine install. I\'m not 100% sure on buying it still as I need to look into the finances but if I do I\'ll be looking for it to be a bit of a project and uprate things while the engine is out (not sure what yet as I have no clue when it comes to rotary tuning!). So a) are you capable and would you be interested in doing the tuning as well, and b) if so do you know of somewhere near you that I could store the car (dirt)cheap whilst its being worked on? Because I probably can\'t afford to do everything at once depending on how much tuning parts cost (i\'m guessing a lot) so it\'ll be an ongoing project and the car would have to stay in gloucester until the engine is running and in the car. My mobile number is 0 7 9 3 0 . 6 7 9 8 1 1 or you can email me at dave5526 (@) hotmail.com if you want to talk  :Thumbsup!

The bloke who\'s selling has gone on holiday now so nothings going to happen for a couple of weeks, going to go and view it when he gets back. To be honest though I don\'t think I want to pay over £1000 for it considering it\'s non running, no mot/tax, paintwork isn\'t great etc. Or am I being cheap? :rollinNot sure he will let it go for £1k. There\'s another on Pistonheads for £1750 which is running and had a rebuild 18k ago, but I\'ve gotten the idea into my head that I want to get my hands dirty and do a bit of a project now :chat

Shrewsbury is nearly 2hrs drive due north of you. Though I\'ve looked into it and it\'s not much more expensive to get the car trailered to gloucester than it is to shrewsbury, so if you wouldn\'t mind having it at your workshop until it was running it\'s a definite possibility. Will give you my number (when I find the PM system on this forum!) so we can discuss times, logistics, payment etc once i\'ve viewed and decided whether to buy it or not :cheers

Dave

Really? Don\'t supposed you know where the thread is if it\'s still about? Got a few more Q\'s answered today, it is infact a 1989 FC Turbo2, not 91 as he originally said. And it\'s done 70,000 miles. He cant find the receipt for the rebuild but said he will get in touch with rx motors for it. Got some photos of under the carpet and the undercarriage too for the rust, a bit rusty underneath but i\'m not sure if this is to be expected with these?

Few photos of the car:

Is there a list anywhere of all the bolts, valves etc that it needs? Or a guide to installing an engine would be helpful just so I can read through it and see what\'s involved, learn a bit more about the cars etc. I\'ve had a bit of a search and can\'t find anything for FC\'s.

Also is there anything that I should plan to do while the engine is out? Like I know rotaries don\'t have timing belts but is there anything similar I should look at getting done, bearing in mind the car and engine have been sat for a while since the rebuild.

What sort of price should I be looking to pay? Does £1500 sound good or should I try and get it cheaper?

Thanks for the replies :Thumbsup!

BenLewisMav will PM you my number early this week once I\'ve found out about insurance etc and had all my questions answered by the seller, no point discussing things further if I find a reason why I can\'t buy it. To be honest I would prefer if someone closer to sheffield could do it simply because it would be so much cheaper to trailer it somewhere close than getting it all the way to gloucester, but it\'s certainly not out of the question, and I really appreciate the offer :cheers

The engine rebuild does seem quite cheap, but he did (according to him) take the engine out himself and obviously it wasn\'t put back in - the £1500 was just for the rebuild of the engine, if that makes much of a difference. I have asked for a receipt of the rebuild so I can find out for sure, and asked if the gearbox is in the car though I assume it is as he only mentioned the engine being out.

Anything else I should ask the seller before I go all that way to view?

Cheers

Dave

Thanks for the reply, have you ever done an engine change in an FC turbo before? Is it the kind of thing that can be done in a day if you know what you are doing?

If I was doing it myself it\'d probably take me a week or more, I\'d be going slowly and working things out as I went. But if you can do it in a day or two, would you be interested in doing it for me on a fixed price or per-hour basis? I would obviously be there as I want to learn as much as I can about the car and can help if you need an extra pair of hands etc, but as said i\'ve got very little experience.

It would probably be end of august i\'d be looking to do the engine swap.


EDIT - just noticed your in Gloucester - about 2hrs south of me and the opposite direction from sheffield! So might be too expensive to get the car all the way down there, though I haven\'t looked into costs or ways of getting it moved yet, will see if it\'s much more expensive

Hi,
First post on here so go easy if i\'m asking stupid questions :driving

I\'m looking at getting an FC3S Turbo II, I\'ve found one for what I think is a decent price... £1500ono for a 1991 G-reg Uk spec roughly 60k miles (pending accurate reading tomorrow), new brakes and tyres all round. Paintwork is a bit faded but i\'m more interested in the drive than the looks.

The car was MOT\'d and passed with no advisories, then the engine blew 200miles later :2Rolleyes. The owner then had the engine rebuilt, and is now selling it. The rebuild was done by rx motors at a cost of £1500, to quote the owner:

as for the engine a took a tip out with near enough took the entire engine out but thats why i drove all the way to dorset as rx motors are well known as being one of the best engine (rotary)rebuilds out there and thats why it cost £1500 because it had all new mazda gear put in the rebuild so you dont need to worry about the engine even the gaskets are mazda so everything inside the engine is brand new

Only snag is, the engine is still out of the car. So I was thinking maybe I could try and fit it myself? Bearing in mind I have fairly limited mechanical experience (oil changes, brake discs/pads etc) and ZERO experience with rotaries, am I insane to even think about this? The car comes with a haynes manual which the owner says will be fairly easy to follow, he used it to remove the engine himself.

Alternatively, does anyone know of anywhere, preferably near sheffield or shropshire (where the car is and where I am respectively) that could install the engine for me? And what costs would I be looking at roughly? Or would it be easier and cheaper to just buy one with an engine in it like a normal person :evillaugh. I like the idea of a newly recondition engine due to the reputation of these cars and the relatively frequent rebuilds required.

And obviously, with no engine in it, I can\'t test drive or even have a ride in it... is there anything I should look out for, and any tips for inspecting the car without being able to drive it?

Cheers :driving

Dave