How desirable are all these bit\'s on a RX\'?

[Freddy]

Pretty sure I have seen this car. What year and mileage (km\'s) is it?

 :wave

[RemarkLima]

It\'s a Dec 94 so on a M plate.

I think it\'s 49,000 miles... But only just imported really, so not registered for the road yet.

I think they got it from the Southampton Car auctions...

[Newera]

A few words of experience in buying these..

1st - There\'s no such thing as a Techno Pro Sports ECU as far as I know... Techno Pro Spirits built my AE86 engine and I KNOW they don\'t touch RX-7\'s yet alone have ECU\'s for them. A sticker on an ECU doesn\'t mean it\'s really what is stated on there. The main Japanese RX-7 tuners use Power FC\'s, F Con V\'s or in Knight Sports, RE Amemiya & Pan Speed\'s  cases, they used to have their own ECU chips - but even they use Apexi\'s mostly, these days.

Look for wear to the light switch on the indicator stalk, thin cloth on the seat bolster of the driver\'s versical section, worn gear lever, etc. If the discs are worn and the wheels show signs of having been balanced many times, this is a high mileage RX-7.

At least smell at the back for sweet smell of coolant (Antifreeze). The coolant reservoir by the n/s headlight should have coolant most of the way to the top of the pointer. The coolant should be a deep green. Also, there should not be excessive white smoke on start up, though a little is OK. The car shouldn\'t misfire when you start it. Rev the engine and check the air pump on the driver\'s side - front part of the engine stops and re-starts. If the electrical plug is disconnected, connet it first - as the electro magnetic clutch will always stay released otherwise.  

Check under the car for oil leaks too.

Test drive should reveal if the turbos are working OK. Boost should come on from around 2,500 rpm (If you have a boost gauge use that) and at 4,500 rpm there will be a slight flat spot followed by harder acceleration, should feel like someone switched on the Nitrous. If not, then the turbo control system needs attention.

Also, check the oil - if it\'s old and black that\'s not a great sign the car\'s been well looked after. Also the coolant warning light should come on when you switch on the ignition, then go out. If not, it will have been disconnected for possibly bad reasons..

Make sure the clutch doesn\'t slip in 5th either.

Also check the flanks for ripples and filler - many RX-7\'s have been in accidents. If you see "teeth" marks on the sills, then the car\'s been in a large accident requiring chassis straightening. Check the gaps between tyres and wings on each side too...

These are just a few BASIC pointers on checking an RX-7.

IMHO it\'s always best to go for a genuinely low mileage car, than a higher miler, as not only will the engine be more worn, but also gearbox, brakes, suspension, clutch, interior, etc. An engine rebuild, especially if it breaks first - is expensive. If a tip breaks, it can wreck your turbos too and will cost around £4,500 to put right.

Maybe get a good low mileage car in the first place. There\'s a mint 29,000 genuine miles example for sale on behalf of a client our website. It\'s not £6K cheap - but it\'s a car that won\'t let you down and has been stunningly well looked after since new.

Click here for details: http://www.neweraimports.com/carDetails.jsp?carId=157

(It\'s not Newera Imports stock - we\'ve again sold out of good RX-7\'s for now... having trouble finding other mint ones amongst the usual tired ones - as usual!!!)

Don\'t get me wrong, I\'m not trying to put you off getting an RX-7, nor trying to put you off this car you\'ve found... It may be a very good example - but don\'t let your heart rule your mind. Get a second opinion from someone who knows RX-7\'s well. An independent RX-7 specialist ideally - Before handing over your hard earned cash.

IMHO they\'re the BEST sports car from Japan, but it pays to get a very good one. Don\'t be tempted by cheap examples, as they\'ll dilute the experience of enjoying an RX-7 as it should be.

Good luck!

Miguel

[Newera]

...Southampton car auctions.... Alarm bells are ringing in the distance  :eek

[JamesFD3]

Miguel rejected 30 or so before buying mine about 5 years ago.Since then I\'ve learned so much about these junior exotic\'s.

Genuine low mileage non-accident damaged examples are hard to source,there\'s alot of very cheap clocked RX-7\'s with previous accident history floating around the auctions in Japan.You can buy one at a UK auction for sure but buyer beware. There are tidy genuine cars to be had but these are few and far between.

There\'s so many around now you can afford to be really picky about which one to buy,it\'s amazing the difference the way a bad one drives compared to a sweet low mileage cared for example.

A friend at work went the 4.5k RX-7 route and then spent the thick end of 7k putting it right :eek  ie rebuild,clutch,suspension gearbox...you know the drill!!

[RemarkLima]

Great advise folks! I\'ve brough a few cars in the past on heart... And then spen a fortune sorting them out before selling them on

So can take my time really, and will, thanks for the info! Just a quicky, does the ECU control boost if there\'s no seperate boost controller?

There no crash damage, I\'ve seen plenty of cars that have so the chassis was straight.

My dilemia as well is that I don\'t want a mint car, sounds odd but as I plan to track it I really feel guilty about abusing mint cars, they deserve going to a much better home I look after my cars but I\'m not a show go-er and while I appreciate the effort that goes into them, it\'s not my scene.

My race cars have been very clean mechanically but the body always end up shoddy, best way if you want to be quick! Then you\'re not worried about stone chips or chucking it into the kitty litter if you "push on" a little too hard

I\'ll have another look, maybe see if I can get a cheap standard ECU and see if it runs right with that... Currently it\'s overboosting and then cutting the fuel, the mech seems to think it\'s the ECU as everything else is good on it.

Thanks again Miguel, loads of info to look for there!

Mark

[JamesFD3]

Mark,

I\'ve been tracking my RX-7 since I bought it 5 years ago,I would advise that you get a tidy car that\'s already had a few upgrades because if your planning on buying a stock car to use on track you\'ll run into a few problems,mainly cooling related.....

Firstly the stock Mazda intercooler is totally useless for trackdays,it will be ok during your first session,then when you come into the pits it will heatsoak so badly the inlet temps will never recover and the car will feel down on power when you go back out and you\'ll struggle to overhaul hot hatches down the straights.Inlet temps of 60 degrees+ are common on tracked RX-7s.So look for a car that\'s had a front mount intercooler upgrade of some kind,charge coolers are also becoming more popular as a way of keeping inlet temps down.

I\'d say the stock rad is ok but many uprate this to one with more cooling capacity so look for a car with an uprated rad.An uprated air seperator tank is also a must(AST)as if the stock one splits on track it will **** coolant everywhere

Some may disagree with me here but I found the stock suspension is ok as a starting point offering progressive breakaway when the levels of grip are reached,levels of damping etc vary from model to model ie type R\' RZ\' RS\' so have a look at this.

The brakes will also need looking at,many have had good results by just fitting uprated pads and racing spec fluid,I use Hawk HT10 pads front and HP+\'s on the rear with Motul RBF600 fluid and as yet have been unable to get them to fade.

Overall I\'d advise you to get a car that\'s had the basic upgrades ie front mount intercooler/alloy radiator and AST,a vented bonnet is also an excellent idea.If you manage to find a tidy one with the right mods already done it will save you a packet in the long run!!!

Happy hunting........

James

[RemarkLima]

Thanks James!

I\'ve been reading around the IC issues, seems like there is no silver bullet for it tho\'

Do the V-Mount kit\'s sort out the track inlet temps? I\'d rather stick with a air to air IC than a charge cooler really and don\'t fancy water injection (something else to forget to fill up ) if there\'s a solution to not have to use it. Sounds odd but I\'d like something that\'ll keep on working IYSWIM.

The V-Mount stuff seems expensive but if it really does work then it\'s worth it IMHO.

Brakes was totally assumed as a must (even the standard Lotus pads and discs are made of cheese! I use pagid RS-14\'s which squeel like f**k but are excellent!).

I\'m happy to work with standard suspension but will look to upgrade as soon as practical, but I\'m planning to race (a different car) so that\'ll be my competitive side sorted and any trackdays in the RX would be just for fun, so I don\'t need to be ultra quick really!

Alloy AST\'s seem to be quite cheap so that\'ll be OK to do myself, as with an alloy Rad as well... But then if the V-Mount is worth it I assume that comes with an alloy rad too.

Thanks again for the info!
Mark

[JamesFD3]

No worries Mark

I don\'t have any experience with V-mounts personally,think there\'s a few members on here with V-mount projects on the go......most of the V-mount kits come with everything you need ie radiator,intercooler and fxings etc but it\'s pretty extensive work to plumb it all in.

I went the conventional front mount route,I chose an intercooler with a large frontal area and a narrow cross section to allow plenty of airflow through to the rad.Also running extra ducting through the 99\' spec bumper to the rad..Aircon was ditched.
First time out again on track and the car was transformed,no more heat soak problems and the inlet temps stayed in the low 30 degrees range even when driving the car very hard.

[RemarkLima]

Sweet!

I was thinking about a 99 spec front (really like them) whatever car I get.

Do you not worry about getting a stone chucked through the IC?

And a very nice looking car there

What kind of machinery do you get to play with in a FD? I\'ve only ever seen one on a track (out of tons and tons of trackdays I\'ve been to!).

[JamesFD3]

Yup - I really need to mesh the front but have\'nt got around to it yet!

Thanks mate :cheers  certainly spent enough on it recently!

Had a play with loads of stuff really,all really depends on the skill of the driver,consider myself average at best I followed a clio sport 182 around Donny a while back being driven like it was stolen,3 wheels everywhere and it was interesting to compare,the FD was more than a match through the twistys,when I chatted to the guy later on turns out he was a top F3000 driver who was really trying to shake me!

[RemarkLima]

Absolute agree witht he skill of the driver, I\'ve "beaten" a ferrari 360 CS in the Exige round Brand GP before, I know that car would be more than a match for one (and I was on crappy Toyo T1-S\'s!), but good to hear it (well you ) can keep up with a car driven like that! I know anything in the right hands is bloody quick!

Thanks for putting up with all my questions