Thinking about buying a cheap NA FC

[colonelk]

Hi there, Im a Rotary virgin :wave

I have always been interested in the FC type RX7s and was lucky enough to recently have a good nose round one (SadGoth\'s) At the reading jap meet.

This peaked my interest thoroughly.

Now I have been offered this.....

I need something economical and turbo diesely and i have too many cars  so the rex has got to go  
It`s a black F reg n/a RX-7 has done about 8k on rebuilt engine,bodywork is scabby ,interior is stripped,it has Turbo II rear lights  welded diff(i have a normal one too) the exhaust manifold is blowing.
i`m looking for about £400 will swap/px for something turbo diesel  

I dont know if he uses this message board or not, if you do mate.... hope you dont mind me asking about it!

Now, Ive yet to see it, the \'scabby\' bodywork doesnt bother me too much as this would be used as a 90% track / drift tool. He told me on the phone that he had to do a lot of welding on the car to get it through the last MOT (Sills mainly) but it is now solid.

Also, he says it smokes on startup.

Now, my question is, do you think its worth the money? I dont mind if the shell dies later in life, if I have a decent 13b and gbox left over to stick in something else  Ive yet to see it to comment on the state of it.

Your opinions please.

[Gman]

£400 is not a bad price but i would ask why it is smoking on startup after only 8k on a new engine.

If it is going to be a drift toy then if the body work is a bit crap you aren\'t gonna mind when you bend it on track.  What I would consider is that Ok after all the welding its solid for normal driving, but on track if you hit a barrier or somthing the damage my be more substantial if the body is slighty weak.

[colonelk]

good thoughts there. Whats the reason behind the smoking? Anyone know? I thought it was common ish on the Rotaries when cold.

[initialD]

I am new here and looking for fc also.

what is performance figures for fc without turbo? 0-60? 0-100? etc?

any links or reviews?

[Gman]

Look at my thread about what to look for when buying a 2nd Gen.

Take a look at //www.teamfc3s.org/forum for some threads on specs etc.  Be aware this info is from the US.

[initialD]

cheers Gman, I will have a look at that site.

out of interest, are there many n/a cars in the uk? anyone on here got one?

[Gman]

Not sure on that, most have TII\'s

[Brett]

I have one, see the top few threads in the 2nd Gen section.

[grinder]

for £400 i would buy it - if not tell me where he lives and i will !

i started out with the NA and now have a TII

to be honest the NA was a fantstic car and kept me ammused for months

the TII is just stupidly quick in a straight line

to be honest i prefered the NA over the TII

less things to go wrong - you could throw it into corners and not worry about a turbo spooling up and spinning the car etc...

to start off - go with the NA

[colonelk]

Well, I had a look yesterday (long time I know)

The bodywork isnt as bad as I thought it would be, and it is a complete hooligan thanks to that welded diff. :3gears-lh

Good points:-

-Ive beaten him down to £300
-Body isnt as bad as I thought
-No real rust (hes sorted it all out as he works in a bodyshop, I saw his work.... looks good)
-Doesnt smoke much at all really on startup, didnt see any during running

Bad points:-

-Needs new tyres
-Uses water (slightly worried about this, although he says he thinks its one of the hoses, I tried taking the radiator cap off with it running (cold) and couldnt see any bubbles like I had been told to look for)
-Speed and load related Vibration, owner reckons its the gearbox mount as he said he had tried solid mounting it, and it did the same thing.
-Is likely to kill me with its hooligan ways! :evillaugh


Only problem now is Im skinter than a mofo!

Plus Im trying to find insurers who\'ll take me on a classic policy (most want me to be over 25 :rolleyes: ) There are some out there apparently tho.

What are peoples opinions about it? Esp the water usage thing?

[grinder]

the water usage could be an issue - it depends on how much it actually goes thru

it could be a water seal in the engine - which could mean a rebuild ( but the bubbles in the rad would prove that )

i would check for split hoses if its using gallons of water - and check the rad - thats prone to splitting ( mine did at the top )

the vibration - that could be a thousand things - mine is the same and very very annoying - i think mine is bad ball joints though

if i was you at that price - run the car until it goes pop - and then break it for spares

or keep an eye out for an engine  - but they are rare and usually ££££££££££££££££££££££ !!

glad you bought one though - welcome aboard !!

[colonelk]

Havent bought it sadly

Some unforeseen bills have put paid to my plans. Really annoyed as it was a hooligan

If anyone else is interested, contact Mark on 07971 259928

Hes just outside the M25 SW direction (A24ish)

[grinder]

you didnt - ekkkk - at 300 its worth it for the shell !

do some dodgy deal - put it in the for sale section for 400 - get a buyer - you get it for 300 and you make 100 - simple eh !!

actaully not sure if that would go down to well ??

can you not beg , borrow , steal the cash - at that price its worth it to sit on the drive for 6 months

[colonelk]

sadly no,

Cant afford it no matter how I do these sums

Gah. It\'ll just have to wait. Ive seen cheap ones before, there will be cheap ones again.

*sigh*

Seriously if you want to buy it go ahead. But the tax has run out now.

If I bought it Id have no money at all to live on. Then it would just have to sit on his driveway til I could get it! LOL