Been a while since I posted anything… Ok, warning in advance – long story, and I’m looking for opinions and inspiration.

I bought my FB in 2001. It just came out on nice days for cruising around town. It was in pretty solid shape, ran well, and was just, all around, good fun to drive. Eventually, I broke it, but we had a good run prior to that. I fixed the RX-7, just around the same time a new rallycross season started. Well, I no longer had my rallycross car (recently sold my WRX). So, what better idea then to take the RWD RX-7 out on the snow and ice that January? Anyway, over the last couple seasons, the RX-7 has been my rallycross car. I haven’t invested much into it, other then racing seats and tires. I’ve replaced all the suspension bushings, stripped out a lot of weight, but haven’t spent anything.

As the car stands now, it is gutted completely. Everything non-essential is gone. The rear open diff has been welded up for off-road use. Some parts have been replaced without spending money (which means some of my OEM Mazda parts have been replaced by stuff on the shelf – random parts from other cars that will work).

There is some rust underneath, but not too much. Mostly on the exhaust, the chassis is pretty solid. The engine also runs strong. Tranny is decent, I replaced the clutch with a slightly less worn clutch last summer, and it’s pretty good. Overall, the car runs fine.

Spares… I’ve got a limited slip diff, a lot of tranny parts, brake parts, engine gaskets, an engine, like three carbs, a few intake manifolds, a couple starts, a couple alternators, some extra ignition coils, I used to have some body panels, too, but I needed the space. There are boxes and boxes of other parts I haven’t looked at in a year. A lot of brand new parts as well, that I inherited from a former racer.

So now, the car is still functional as a rallycross car, but I’m in need of a project car. I have the urge to start tinkering with something again. I could use the RX-7, but I won’t put that much time and money into a rallycross car, so I would have to stop using it for that. So, I’d be out of a rallycross car, and I’d have to find something else for it. Never liked autocrossing. Don’t have time for road racing. That means it would have to become a street car. That would require a fair amount of work, mainly on the interior. It would be cool to “modernize” it inside as I went. While it would add some weight, I could do new carpets, a new dash, good sound deadening, a nice stereo. Obviously, that will be a ton of work and a fair amount of money. And in the end, I risk being plagued with problems from a 23 year old chassis and driveline. Anyone even know where to start building a new dash? I don’t even have the old metal framework from the stock dash anymore, it would all be from scratch. I guess I could find someone selling stock one, but I’d rather go a bit more custom…

Or, I leave it where it is, and buy another RX-7. But at least I know mine is pretty strong. Plus, it’s already paid for. I would hate to shell out a couple grand and find out I bought something that was, in the end, in worse shape then what I had. However, I could buy an FC, and get the IRS. I’m not a big fan of the live axle. Of course, I could work with it. Buying another RX-7 would mean I need to wait at least another year before I do anything. I’m getting married this summer, and while she has no problem with me spending money on cars, she would not be happy if I spent the wedding money on one.


So, my big thing here, is it worth it to make my car roadworthy again? The performance / handling aspect of making it a blast to drive (more so then a stock car) I can handle. It’s reconstructing a dash and dealing with rust that has me the most worried.

Think it’s worth it? Or should I just leave it be, and go another direction?

Throw some opinions at me.

 

Cliff Notes?

 

Got a completely gutted FB that runs strong, mild rust. Think it's worth it to rebuild it back to street use? Or should I just say screw it and run it into the ground?

 

Do you still have all the orginal parts and can slap it into the car?

If not then probably no. You are probably better off getting a decent shell with a bad engine and doing a swap with your car, then sell off what is left for parts.

Just my opinion. You can buy a non running for so cheap these days, why screw with trying to find parts and putting the car back together?

 

I hear that. Mine was only $300. A fairly decent interior, and just a bunch of dings and scrapes.

 

Sentimental value, I guess...

I know where there are two non-running shells I could probably have for free if I wanted.

What worries me about non-running shells is they may have been non-running long enough to begin to rot.

 

That's why I am saying do an engine swap. Unless you really want to keep thrashing that other FB around you might as well switch.

I do understand sentimentality though. I think that is what makes up put 5K in upgrades into a 2K car.

 

Yeah, you're probably right.

 

I'd probly turn it back to a street car. No one said you needed the full dash. I wish I still lived up there, I could help you out. I'm a good metal fabricator and quite good at engineering stuff. To think I was only 3 hours from you....

 

We've been discussing it here at work, and if I made it back into a street car, I would put a very simple dash on, probably just an aluminum panel with switches and gauges. So, while I myself am not great at metal work, it wouldn't be terribly difficult, so I should be able to find someone who is. Feel free to fabricate a dash and send it up.