Looking to buy a RX7 in a few months!!

[Rotorsy]

Hi there all
 
Joined this forum much earlier in the year and have been browsing the forums ever since!! Trying to pick up as much info as poss.
 
I am considering buying an RX7 in a few months time as i will hopefully be moving my job within 2 miles of my house so the plan is to cycle to work during the week. This means that as i will not need a \'daily driver\' i can look for something a bit special! hence the RX7.
 
Going back about 2 years i owned a beautiful Supra n/a which i absolutely loved and was in the same position where i could walk to work back then and keep the Supra tucked up until the weekends and eves. I made owning the car such a novelty as i would clean and polish it every sun eve before tucking it back in the garage for the week.
 
Pic -

 
Isn\'t she a beaut!!!
 
Well i am considering the possibility of buying the RX7 because i would like something a bit unusual and also \'quick\' a couple of mates have recently bought some quality cars and i need to keep up!!! One is driving a TVR Tamora another an Audi S6 and another MR2 Turbo so hence the choice - would be interested to know how it would fair with these?!?!?!
 
Can anyone tell me if there is much to choose between the genrations of RX7\'s??
 
As i won\'t be driving it everyday is there anything i need to consider or bear in mind?
 
With regard to standard output am i correct in thinking the RX7 was circa 280bhp??
 
It seems hard to find standard examples - looking on Pistonheads and the for sale section here it appears to be a popular car to mod, should i be concerned about a modded example??
 
This may be a really stupid question but if the engine has twin turbos does that mean you have two air filters, two bov\'s etc?? They are working at different points in the rev range.
 
I will be looking to spend circa 5k and it looks like this should buy me a good example - any opinions on what i should look for would be welcomed!
 
I am really looking forward to having a \'special\' car again.
 
Thanks in advance
 
Rotorsy

[Rotorsy]

Wow - sorry for the HUGE picture very embarressed don\'t know how to change that........
 
Rotorsy

[ds2000]

Nice looking Supra

£5k will put you in the middle of the road section for an FD, you\'ll either get a good body and interior with no rebuild (/proof of) or a rebuild with a standard body, unless you get really luck and get both.

I\'m currently selling mine at the second (here) and it falls into the first category.  It has a small boost leak but I\'ve still had some interest and a couple of the usual nobblers to boot as well - I\'m not in a huge hurry to sell so I can wait.

If you are buying, be sure to look at a few of them before setting your heart on and take them for a drive.  At the end of said drive, make sure you can start the car from hot again.

Regarding mods, so long as its not been fettled with too much without proper mapping it should be fine

[royal]

Hi there all
 
Joined this forum much earlier in the year and have been browsing the forums ever since!! Trying to pick up as much info as poss.
 
I am considering buying an RX7 in a few months time as i will hopefully be moving my job within 2 miles of my house so the plan is to cycle to work during the week. This means that as i will not need a \'daily driver\' i can look for something a bit special! hence the RX7.
 
Going back about 2 years i owned a beautiful Supra n/a which i absolutely loved and was in the same position where i could walk to work back then and keep the Supra tucked up until the weekends and eves. I made owning the car such a novelty as i would clean and polish it every sun eve before tucking it back in the garage for the week.
 
Well i am considering the possibility of buying the RX7 because i would like something a bit unusual and also \'quick\' a couple of mates have recently bought some quality cars and i need to keep up!!! One is driving a TVR Tamora another an Audi S6 and another MR2 Turbo so hence the choice - would be interested to know how it would fair with these?!?!?!
 
Can anyone tell me if there is much to choose between the genrations of RX7\'s??
 
As i won\'t be driving it everyday is there anything i need to consider or bear in mind?
 
With regard to standard output am i correct in thinking the RX7 was circa 280bhp??
 
It seems hard to find standard examples - looking on Pistonheads and the for sale section here it appears to be a popular car to mod, should i be concerned about a modded example??
 
This may be a really stupid question but if the engine has twin turbos does that mean you have two air filters, two bov\'s etc?? They are working at different points in the rev range.
 
I will be looking to spend circa 5k and it looks like this should buy me a good example - any opinions on what i should look for would be welcomed!
 
I am really looking forward to having a \'special\' car again.
 
Thanks in advance
 
Rotorsy

Hi Mate,
 I\'m not an expert on this stuff but I\'ll do my best and no doubt someone will correct me later!

 I think 280bhp is on the later and special editions, the rest were 260bhp I believe ?

 Cooling is a weak point on the standard car so mods in these areas are desirable - V-mount is the most popular, also charge cooler works very well on my car.

 Single turbos with rebuilds and cooling mods are the best if you are looking at modded ones as this removes all the possible problem areas associated with aged vac hoses,components,etc on the twin sequential turbo system, and makes the whole engine bay a lot simpler. These setups are normally also running higher boost and need other bits to support it extra fuel injectors, ignition amps, better intake/exhaust flow,etc

 Another option is twin non-sequential which some people do.

 Standard examples are hard to find mainly because the engines need rebuilding at around 60k and most people choose to upgrade at the same time. Don\'t be afraid of these as if its done properly then its generally an improvement on a standard aged car.

 Many people don\'t use a Rex as an everyday car, they are not very practical due to fuel consumption and being quite un-compromised re handling etc. You  just need to give them a good hard blast every so often to keep them happy :Ladys-man

 As to how they compare to the other cars you mention it really depends on what you buy. Rexs are a pretty hardcore sports car so they do well against most things overall. They are light, powerful and handle extremely well. They may not beat some of those cars in straight line grunt but they probably will beat them on the twisties/track all else being equal.

[fletcher9017]

you can have mine for 3k and with the rest of your money you can get her fixs http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40910

[Rotorsy]

Cheers for the info guys a massive help - i am trying to find the answers to my own questions as i kow how annoying it is when \'newbies\' all ask the same questions!!!!!
 
ds2000 - your car is DEFINTIELY what i would eb looking to buy, i saw it on Pistonheads and its a lush example and exactly what i had in mind! The problem being my job transfer isn\'t due to happen for about 10 weeks so until then i will have to continue running my Golf GTi as the commute at the moment is about 50 mile round trip everyday. If when i have sold the Golf yours is still for sale i would DEFINTIELY like to have a look as said earlier its just what i would want.
 
Its good to hear that the modding doesn\'t make too much difference and i don\'t necessarily need to steer clear of these. As you can see with the Supra there were a few subtle mods but on the whole its was standard and i like that about a car.
 
Hmmmmmmm.................
 
Cheers
 
Rotorsy

[ds2000]

Its not a problem chap

As I say I\'m not in a hurry to sell, preferably I\'d like to not have to garage her again for the winter, as in I\'d like to have her sold before October/November.

I\'m hoping for some free time over the next month to have a look at the boost issue and get it sorted so that it\'ll all be 100%, I\'ve got to find the time to sort a full service and cambelt on my other car too, cars eh?

I do a 50 mile commute each way and hence the reason the rex is a weekend toy

Regarding the mods again, so long as its got the CAT a backbox/intake should be fine.  Without the CAT and no new ECU/Boost controller, you can get boost spikes and thats an absolute nono

Good luck with the job transfer and enjoy having a shufty around here.  There is a lot of good advise and nice folk

[Rotorsy]

Well the months have been speeding by and the wheels are now in motion for me to transfer back home (longer than expected!!!) so still leaves me with the problem that i need to sell the Golf first but hopefully not too far off being able to purchase a Rex.
 
I am concerned though - i have spent ages reading old threads etc regarding the durability of these engines. I will only have max £5000 to spend when i purchase one, looking at whats for sale its hit and miss whether this will be enough to get one that has been rebuilt. Now my trouble is - IF i buy one that hasn\'t had one and i get a problem i will not be able to afford a rebuild at 3-4k.
 
So putting my sensible head on - should i really be looking at an RX7???
 
I have longed for one for a LONG time but the engine troubles just niggle away - would i be better off buying another Supra do you think??
 
Any advice opinions would be greatly welcomed.
 
Rotorsy

[royal]

I wouldn\'t buy any car like this (rex OR supra!) if I didn\'t have at least the ability to find £1-2k for fixing things. I certainly wouldn\'t buy a Rex without a rebuild if I didn\'t have the money spare to rebuild. For 5k you\'d be better off looking at a car that you can get a good one for say £3-4k, then you have a grand spare for the inevitable something or others! I think you are borderline for a Rex as you can get sheds for £3-4k so you\'d have some money for a rebuild but its always a bit dodgy going for the cheapest of any particular car. Better off choosing something you can afford a good one. You can get some very awesome cars for 3-4k if you widen your search. The most obvious ones though would be S13/14.

[neil_jdmr]

I agree with above 100%,
 
If you do decide on the rex though be prepered to do a hell of a lot of miles and look at plenty of cars. There are a lot of shed\'s out there and unlucky for you most are around that price range.
 
on the flip side though if you look hard there are some bargins to be had.

[Red and Single]

People seem to think that once it\'s had a rebuild, it\'ll be okay for another 60K.
I\'m afraid the truth is that most last between 10 and 30K on their rebuilt engines.

[Rotorsy]

Thanks for your honesty guys - like i said in my own post if it did go pop i couldn\'t muster up that much ££££ for the rebuild. Difficult - i have read some archived posts about rebuilds and what it is that causes the problems there are so many views on it.
 
May have to consider the other options - have been in touch with ds2000 about his lovely example which he still has. Maybe if my Golf sells quick enough i might be lucky enough to catch that, a lovely example i think.
 
Well i will continue to ponder - i haven\'t put my RX7 dream to bed just yet......
 
Rotorsy

[gsb876]

Hi Bud,

5K will buy you the lower end of the rx7 market but you might pick up a bargin and if you are in no rush then take your time and keep your eyes open, you never know ?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/266324.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/262864.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/258072.htm

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/256555.htm

A few examples :Laugh

[Speedline Imports]

We have this nice black RX7 on its way from Japan.  1993 car 67,000km and had a full engine rebuild at 60,000km so should now be nicely run in.  Standard with exception of aftermarket backbox, but will also be fitted with a set of alloys.  It might just be within your budget.

[royal]

Thanks for your honesty guys - like i said in my own post if it did go pop i couldn\'t muster up that much ££££ for the rebuild. Difficult - i have read some archived posts about rebuilds and what it is that causes the problems there are so many views on it.
 
May have to consider the other options - have been in touch with ds2000 about his lovely example which he still has. Maybe if my Golf sells quick enough i might be lucky enough to catch that, a lovely example i think.
 
Well i will continue to ponder - i haven\'t put my RX7 dream to bed just yet......
 
Rotorsy

No need to put any dreams to bed mate! If you can\'t afford one now work out what you need to do to earn more wonga and make it your goal! I\'ve done nothing but study in my spare time for the last two years and my market value jobs wise is now double what it was when I started.:bandit  Use the dream as motivation. I just used my overdraft as motivation! I made the mistake of buying my first 300zxTT without a backup fund for repairing and was way overdrawn since.