I'm sick of always "needing" to spend on money on this damn car! I'm not a perfectionist, but I like to have things work like they should and don't like half-*** solutions.

For instance, I just rebuilt my motor. I did it myself for about $1500. I can handle that every few years.

But, I'm now noticing that my pillowballs need to be replaced...again. About 50k-60k miles on them. I really should have replaced the boots when I did it the first time. I suspect old boots may have led to an "early" death. Plus my nylon bushings are starting to clunk also. Since my ball joints are getting up there in age, I may just replace the whole front a-arms since they come with new bushings. And get all new bushings for the rear.


(mazda motorsports)
FD01-34-350E - ARM(L),LOWER $319.35 $319.35
FD01-34-300E - ARM RT, LOWER $351.00 $351.00
FD01-34-250B - ARM LT, UPPER $181.60 $181.60
FD01-34-200B - ARM RT, UPPER $205.75 $205.75
FD01-28-710A - BUSH,DAMPER $34.00 $68.00
FD01-28-8C0A - BUSHING,RUBBER $37.15 $148.60
FD01-26-230 - BALL,PILLOW-RR LWR ARM $33.75 $202.50

Total $1,476.80

So in order to get my suspension back to "like new" condition, I'm looking at about $1600 with shipping, new pillow ball boots and this is assuming the numbers I checked are still good and prices haven't gone up.

Or I could just replace the bushings with stock and take a gamble on my ball joints being good and, once again assuming my numbers/prices are accurate, get away with the bargain price of ~$750.

Plus my stock diff has some play in it and really NEEDS to be replaced soon. A used TII unit will be another ~$250.

And to top it all off, I have developed an oil leak in the past week. I must not have got a good seal on the oil pan when I buttoned it up. I suppose that would be one of the benefits of not doing things yourself; others can be held accountable.

Not to mention that I bought one of Frank's triple gauge pods that is just sitting here because I haven't spent the ~$400 to fill it up with quality gauges.

I was thinking about getting a DVD player, or at least a CD player that will play MP3s, that's probably going on the back burner, again!

Sorry for the rant, it just seems like I'm always poor (for the last 4 years) because of the amount of money I am always dumping into this thing. I do have a decent paying job and thank god I do all my own work which has saved a TON of money. I don't ever do without, but it sucks not having any extra money to invest in something that appreciates, rather than my car which depreciates at a seemingly alarming rate.

Don't get me wrong, this car still puts a smile on my face every time I drive it, but is it really worth it? I'm starting to think no....

 

For the performance you get the FD is actually pretty cheap. If you want a cheap car to keep in perfect condition buy a regular daily driver type vehicle like a Honda or Toyota.

I know that any older car gets frustrating to maintain. But remember that even though the FD is now a 10+ year old car you'll need to spend at least $40K to go out and buy a new car that performs like the FD. That should make your suspension overhaul seem cheap.

 

It could be worse, it could be a boat.

 

haha



Oh and don't get me wrong, this thing is an animal! I just had an autocross today. My third consecutive "fastest time of the day" at the local Porsche club events, this time with the VW and corvette clubs invited.

I just don't know if I should (or want to) keep dumping money in this thing.

 

You know you want to add to the money pit. Just give in to her. I can already calling mine calling my name....

 

These cars should suck me and **** me for the kind of money spent on em.

 

Ryan,
Maybe it would help to go out and look at say, a nice used (2002 or newer) C5 ZO6. [Which probably isn't the equal, but at least in the ball park of your car in terms of performance]. Now on top of initial purchase price, factor in the sales tax, property tax and higher insurance. Now add in what would probably be accelerated depreciation over what your experiencing with the FD. And then don't forget the loss of a certain amount of exclusivity/uniqueness associated with it. And never forget that another car isn't without it's own costs of maintenance and upgrades.

I don't know, at least it always helps me.

 

draw a triangle...at each point of the triangle write: "cheap" "fast" and "reliable" A well known fact is that you can only have two of the three..it's up to you to choose which too. If you want fast and cheap..it's not reliable....reliable and cheap...it's not fast....fast and reliable...it's not cheap.


Mike

 

not when resources are available...and life is short, enjoy, especially when you can afford it.

 

what else am i gonna spend my money on? my girlfriend? not likely...lol

 

I'm a little pissed off myself.

Now, I've owned turbo rotary before. I had a T2 pushing 300rwhp, runnin rock-solid, no problems, no leaks, no nothing.

I did a bunch of research into FD's in the past, and just as I was looking into buying one.

But obviously jumping into an FD for the first time at all, ugh....tons of problems.

The seller didn't let me know anything until he drove the car 5 hours to bring it to me, to the finance office.

Next thing I know, he lists problem after problem, and doesn't even tell me about the BOOST problem.

It was creeping from 10psi to 12psi, then bam, fuel cut. God.

Now that I've re-arranged the vacuum lines on the stock seq. twins, and now I'm only getting like 7psi, and then it'll SOMETIMES jump to like 9 1/2psi around 5k.

I feel like a fkin' idiot. I guess I was overwhealmed by the car, and the conditions of the car that I was promised, and I dunno... I'm the idiot...but man, it sucks.

I'm finally taking it in to get compression tested tomorrow, one week after having bought it... to see just what shape the motor is/isn't in.

Sucks. I am considering scraping up every last dime I've got to buy a reliable single-turbo. This whole sequential twin-turbo thing is killin' me. Vacuum-line nightmare, and boost problems galore.

:[

 

Folks, I understand you have to pay to play, I'm just not sure I want to play this game any more.


Ahh, who am I kidding! I'd be so depressed if I didn't work on my car on a weekly basis. I wouldn't know what to do with all my new found time and money.

And at least I don't have the money pit that Cgotto6 refered to yet.

 

go ahead and sell it and part it out...im sure there are members that want your parts, like ME!

 

LS1 might save a lot of money IMO...

 

hows that?? He is still going to need all the suspension parts.

 

That's a $7k investment up front too. Maybe only $2-3k after selling rotary related parts, but still.


I didn't really mean for this thread to revolve around me and my on going internal struggles, I was just wondering how many of you get pissed that it costs so much to keep your baby in tip-top shape? Or am I the only one with this crazy dilemma?

 

Well the car itself was a 12k investment for me so far.

I'm already gonna have to buy a rear diff pinion gear seal. It's leaking bad. That's easy $200 + labor. Supposedly it's "Very very precise" yada yada...so Mazcare would want to charge out the *** for labor I'm sure. Tch.

These damn stock twins are annoying the sh*t outta me, though..but even if I get a good single-turbo kit with all the fittings/piping necessary to bolt it up to everything, the stock ECU is still gonna suck the big one. 12psi on stock twins would probably be the same CFM as like 8psi on a bigger single-turbo. Fuel-cut. Same idea. So THAT means...I need PFC.. $700 more..next thing I know I'm at $1,500. *seppuku*

 

They still make money, they don't make FD's...

 

short answer...nope.

You bought an old car that doesnt have much in the way of durability. Moaning you have to spend on it is like buying a 100 year old house and moaning you have to plaster a few walls or decorate a few rooms!

Ive spent more than my FD cost me to buy in parts already and its still almost standard. Get all the stuff thats broken fixed first, then start modifying - thats my philosophy. My cars had new pillow *****, new engine, new turbo, new tyres, new gauges, new brake pads, new brake discs, vac hose job, numerous oil and coolant changes, 4 wheel alignment, new lower strut bar with radiator mounts, diff brace, new air filters, new interior parts blah blah...

If you want a sweet 7, you have to dish the dollars!

The way i did it was i drove my FD for 6 months daily, and then insured my other car a diesel and started driving that. The money i save on fuel pays to fix the FD....seriously.

 

My car had that problem before i had it. It is a very precise job i think - the garage that warrantied it deals with RX7s all the time, but it still took them four tries to get the job right.

 

Just buy a Mityvac for $70, take off the UIM, and remove all solenoids and test them. Pitch the bad ones, and replace them with new ones from Mazda or used ones that test out good. Test all the actuators with the Mityvac. Reassemble with your favorite vacuum hose, exactly per the diagram. Tada, boost.

As for me, this year was a testing year with my FD. I started by pulling the injectors because I thought cleaning them would be a good idea. I also tested all my solenoids and my wiring harness. Turns out the injectors were worse after cleaning (I didn't go to one of the recommended FD injector specialist shops), and I damaged some wiring in the harness that took weeks to pin down. Till I installed new injectors, swapped out all the ignition parts, and installed a new engine harness, I spent = $1500. That's an expensive injector cleaning.

Dave

 

Just buy a C5 Z06 and be done with it

 

i dont hate it. . . buy my wife does. thats why my car is DONE!!! NO MORE MODS. . . but, the repairs are-a-comin'. . . i can feel it.

 

I'm poorer than I use to be, because of my car...but who ever said they still make money, is funny.

mainly spending way to much money at "shops" and not being satisfied...did it all myself this last round, and I haven't been let down yet...and kept a little more money in my pocket...that my girlfriend took, haha

 

haha, thats the route i took earlier on. i found out very early that i cant trust some of the "shops" out there. . . and decided to just do it all myself. it IS better that way. . . besides, theres no way i could afford it if shops did all my work. . . though, id probably have a little more sanity left over.