digger

Having recently joined the ranks of rotor lovers I am interested in more "in depth" opinions of stock versus modified cars.

My rx7 was found at a pawn shop. It is an 84 gsl-se and had oil pooring out of the cooler leak and a bad brake master cylinder. After some haggling we agreed on $900 as a fair price. The car came here to Missouri from Texas and has no rust, but the paint (white) is dull and chipped on the front. There are a few minor parking lot dings, but overall the outside is in pretty good shape for an 18 year old car. Both tops came with it and the steel sunroof has never been on the car since new, just the glass one. Aluminum louvers on hatch glass. The interior is in superb shape except for a chunck of the welt missing from drivers side seat back and the door pull cups are bad. Everything else works as intended. The engine is original (never rebuilt - I found the previous owner and got all maint history on the vehicle) and has 144xxx miles. Leaks a little at the dowells, but still runs very strong.

I guess you can see why I'm so interested in your opinions.

I am curious about each of your experience with your car. I understand there are not too many bone stock gsl-se 7s left, but :

Those of you with (any) stock first gens, why have you not tried to reach the full potential of the car? Would you trade it for a higher performance modded one?

What about those of you with the modifications already done, are you really glad? Do you, at this point, wish you had thought about it more?

Anybody have both? Which do you prize more? Which do you have the most fun with?

I know this is a long post, but so far the only modification is a Setraub oil cooler and aftermarket antenna, and I kept have 2 stock oil coolers if I want to go back to stock. I will keep all the parts if I change anything, but it would be hard to un-streetport the engine.

Hoping for lots of posts.

digger

rx7passion

well if you kept it stock it would cost you more to replace half the parts if they are messed up vrs getting new performance stuff. example exhaust stock rx7 cats are reaaallllyy expensive compared to a aftermarket header setup.
imo why would you want to keep it stock? i would only do that if A. it was a 50k mile under car and was in mint shape. B. if i was a broke *** and like driving a relativly slow car

Felix Wankel

I haven't thought twice about the mods on my 85 GS. I had a stock -SE and had I not been so far along into the GS, I would have modded the -SE instead.

Pittdp

I am all for after market parts as long as it does not change anything directly on the engine. I have a modified intake and exaust but, as long as I have been looking on the form , I always see everyone trying to take off emissions stuff and report there engine and they never seem to last to long. I am a firm believer of keeping the engine stock, because most of are cars have 150k + on them and they made it that far stock!!!

Denny

I'll tell yuh, Buckaroo....

I'm kinda in the same woods, but I do have a trail I'm gonna try to follow. My SE is a Texas car too, and had 140,000 on the odo when I picked 'er up. Has oxidized paint, bad brakes, but the engine pulled real strong, and there's no leaks.

I've spent some time on 'er, some polyurethane on the front suspension. Constructed my own cold air induction system thru a K&N filter. Put in leather seats from a 2nd gen. Added Hella driving lamps, and removed the stock grille and put in a hidden, flat black, screen to keep out the big things, but the front opening appears like a dark cave. Put in a new double disk clutch, and a short shifter. Finally, I purchased an aluminum double inverted wing, tested the height and angle of attack, then modified it so that it's functional and in my opinion, looks rather racey. (some might say ricey) I've spent time fixin' the power windows, the rear antenna, put synthetic into the trans and rearend, new clutch hydraulics, and brake hydraulics, including booster, and so on.

I really don't wanna port the engine, but I will add a header soon, but not a loud exhaust that will cause the lady of the house not to want to ride with me. Have several options available on rims, don't particularly care for the stock design. Have the polyurethane for the rest of the front end, and have new suspension pieces, shocks, and struts....All that goes on this comin' Summer. Seriously considering a MSD ignition as well. All in all I want the vehicle to perform better than stock, and look different than stock, but I'm not going to race 'er.....Just cruise the country, and look good!

A tip of the Stetson,
Denny, from the 'ol corncrib....

digger

Wow this is very interesting. I had expected comments on both side, but it is looking like, even though everybody appreciates the rx7 for what it is, they want their own to be special and the best it can be.

Thanks for the input guys - Anybody else?

branca

iTrader: (1)

digger,

personally, I like the stock looks of my GSL-SE. No wings, air dams, stripes etc. But, thats where it ends.

No way would I ever go back to the stock intake, flywheel, struts, springs, exhaust system, stereo, etc. The car is much more fun now.


Besides, I've got another car in the garage that stays
stock

digger

That is a very sweet ride!!!

mar3

iTrader: (8)

There is nothing more scintillating than driving under a bridge overpass and hearing the exhast note of a headered rotary...modify it...

adssoccer

i just got mine last fall, and i am also very new to the rotary world. however, i have high hopes for mine. i plan to run scca solo IIs in csp come spring. my plan is to do a little each year to improve overall performance and handling, but i dont want to radically change the look of the car too much either. being new to rotaries, i have read anything and everything i could get my hands on about them. speaking from everything i've read, not experience, i'd say that they seem very responsive to aftermarket stuff, and from what i've heard, a stock 7 is fun, but a modded out 7 is much much more fun! go for it!

branca

iTrader: (1)

well said hombre!

Gizmo

Yeah, originial stuff is more expensive than newer-better-less costly-aftermrk stuff. Just say direct fire ignition... Al flywheel... tokico shocks... headers... electric fan... why go without them?

digger

Well thats pretty definite. I guess I need to be saving up for those 6 port headers!
Thanks!

Denny

Jeez, forgot to say that I constructed my own tower brace and mounted it....That also makes a positive difference in the handling....Have fun!

A tip of the Stetson,
Denny, from the 'ol corncrib....

rxtasy

i've had my '85 GSL-SE for about 6 years now, had a stock '84 GS before that. The only mods I've done are the exhaust (Racing Beat Header,custom pre-silencer,Random Tech Cat, and Racing Beat Muffler) I had the engine rebuilt about a year after i got the car. i didn't get it ported because there was talk of emission testing here and my mechanic couldn't promise i would pass with the stuff i had, never mind ported.

i don't regret it because the engine has lasted a long time and still runs great after the rebuild. i actually like the look of the stock SE wheels, but i am finding it hard to get a decent set of tires to go on them. i'm am getting around to the suspension this spring (no pun intended) i will likely go with RB springs and Tokico shocks/struts.

that is my strategy now that the car is getting close to 300,000 km. if something needs to be replaced and there is something aftermerket that will provide a bit of a performance boost i will do it. there is very little rust for a CDN car driven all year round and the paint is still in good shape, but i am considering a new paint job. the only thing holding me back is that i don't want a cheap crappy job, but don't really have the $$$ for a good one.