Hey guys, I got someone swinging by my house today with his 93 R1. I made an appointment to look at it because I just needed the power of a turbo car, and what better way to do it with sequential twins. I would like input and a suggestion as wether or not to dive into this car.

Although I haven't seen it yet, It has 116K miles, some minor body damage (passenger headlight mis-aligned), and it idles high (1100rpm), however; There is a boat load of mods including a streetported motor and the name PFS comes into play a bit. There's some more, but I just can't remember right now. I know it isn't emmisions legal because of a DP and MP. I live in MA and boy can emmisions be a bitch. Emmisions isn't a big problem for me but more the price. With all his mods he wants 15 grand which doesn't seem right. I went to KBB.com and saw the Trade In for a 'good' conditioned rex was $8,175. The Private Party report, same condition was $10,640. Should I pay the 10G's and add another grand or two for compensation of the mods? It's extremely high mileage for a 19yr old without a huge bank account to rebuild/repair engine/turbo's. Well, he's coming by in about 4 hours or so so if you can reply soon, it'd be appreciated. I'll let you all know how it feels and drives after, just so we can make a better decision

Thanks a lot guys...
Chris
88 GXL

 

You have to remember that the book value is for a stock car..

Obviously if the motor is street ported, it's not on it's original motor. Make sure to get a complete list of mods that have been done on the car. See if the owner has any receipts for the mods or receipts from work done to the car while under his/her ownership.

See if you can get a compression test done on the engine and see if you can fine out when and where the rebuild was done.

 

116k miles and minor body damage?

I wouldn't pay more than 12k, tops...mods do not add to the value of a car

 

Chris, I assumed you look at the car already? How was the car? Where is the seller from? If you need someone to look at the FD I can do it for you. Let me know.


Tony S.

 

YZF, I'd agree, I only wanted to spend around 12K for an FD. Well, I drove the car and I took some pics. I'll post 'em tommorow after work so you can see. Mahjik, a compression test was in mind and I was thinking of having Barry at BPR do it since he's less than a mile away from my house. I didn't get to open her up unfortunately but now I can see what you guys are addicted to the power of the 3rd gen.

Well, this is what I remember from the car; He said it was an R1, but lacks the Bose System and Sunroof but has the rear spoiler.
Remembered Mods: (sorry, but it should be close and pardon if I don't know the manufacturer but:

Electric Fan
N-tech Intake
new Radiator
PFS Intercooler
some DP
some Catback
Rebuilt and Street Ported motor at 103ishK
Reduced 5th gear ratio (w/ new tranny??) same time as motor I think
Short shifter
Boost Controler
M2 Big Brake kit/fronts only
Petit ECU

Problems:
Idles low on an attempt to fix the high idiling
Front lip is cracked/falling off
Drivers door handle is cracked and must open door from inside
small rust developing behind the wheel wells
Passenger headlight cover cracked from misalignment
no Mazda decal or RX7 badge in the back (the best part of the car so people can actually know!)

Just about worth that 15K now, don't ya think? Well, that's pretty much all I can remember now since it's gettin' kinda late. The car is from Woburn MA and the guy is really honest and pretty cool. I like going fast, but it has to be a reliable fast, thats why I drive an NA FC I'm afraid of that equation where more Hp=more money=less reliablity.

BTW Tony, Barry has done the rebuild and porting back at Primespeed so he should be familiar with the car.

But anyways, time to get some shut eye, and I appreciate the responses... I'm really unfamiliar how a turbo is set up and works ;ie boost patterns, proper spooling, and what psi I should be running at so I hope I can talk to you folks later about all this jazz... peace out guys and thanks again.

 

It doesn't sound like there is anything horribly wrong with the car. The idle problem is probably just because it's running a midpipe (not for sure). If so, usually upgrading to a reprogrammable ECU like the PowerFC can help even out the idle.

The only things that would concern me are the door problem and rust. Everything else doesn't seem like a problem to me, however make sure to get a compression test.

If you can drive the car again before putting money down, run the boost test and see what you are getting:

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/boost_test.html

Also, R1's didn't come with sunroofs, Bose stereo systems or cruise control. Those are options for the Touring and PEP/PEG models. You can find more information about the options for each model here:

http://rx7.voodoobox.net/infofaq/bguide3g/bguide3g.html

If you want to make sure it's an R1, check for 2 oil coolers and a strut tower bar.

Good luck!

 

Very helpful site Mahjik, thanks... I would post some pics, but I'm assuming I need someone to host them. I've never posted a pic before, so if someone can help me out with that, I've got about 6 pics of the car.

And yeah, it has an R1 strut... but I didn't notice two oil coolers... I wouldn't know what I'm looking for

thanks,
peace

 

Just to update anyone who's actually paying attention

I talked the guy down to 12,500, but he's removing the:
Intake
Short Shifter
Intercooler
Boost Guage

I think this is pretty fair. I like Apex-i's Dual Intake, and since I needed an upgraded intercooler, I was thinking about doing the Apex'i deal - Intercooler/Intake for just under 2K. Add a paintjob and I'll be pimpin' in my FD3S.

By the way guys, I'll probably be in here a lot looking for help...

Thanks
Peace

 

Cool man, are you going to buy it? 12,500 that's not bad at all!

 

Well guys, I took it out on Rt. 95 today, a highway infamous for it's speedy travelers. I must re-itterate(sp?) the fact that turbo and boost are probably the best things that can ever happen to a car. WOT in 3rd gear was the BALLZ! I was at 120 and still moving (usually where my FC slacks off). The guy was in such a chill mood he was talkin' to me and tellin me stories and stuff, it was great. I wonder if you guys could help me with a little dillema I've got going. He said, he'd give the car AS IS for $14,000. This is without removing the aforementioned parts. Now wouldn't it be wiser to pay an extra 1500 bucks over the previously mentioned $12,500 to keep an Intake, IC, Boost Controller and Short Shifter? I think I fell in love with the car, and now I can only hope the banks can understand my infatuation with the car.

I've got 2, pretty much as close to minimum wage as you can get jobs. I was thinking about working some sort of night shift to help me pay off the car that much faster.

From anyone's personal experience, would it be better to keep my FC as a daily driver and save on mileage on the FD? I could probably get three grand for my FC to someone who is willing to pay it. I just don't know how crazy insuring two cars is actually gonna be. Anyone have a cheap insurance agency they go through?

Thanks guys,
Hope to join the 3rd gen side soon,
Chris

 

Yikes!

Well, what you need to think about is can you afford to fix the car if something breaks? Being able to afford to purchase the car is one thing. Being able to fix it if/when it breaks down is another...

I would call your insurance company (and a few others) and find out the difference of having your FC and FD verses just having the FD (insurance quotes are free, don't be afraid to shop around). See what your payments are going to look like per month and what your car payment is going to be. Now compare that with what your income will be and add in gas (estimate that you'll get about 15mpg with the FD and how much driving you are currently doing. Then see how much you'll be shelling out for gas).

If you are "just barely" going to be able to afford the car, I would suggest not getting it. Nothing is worse than getting a nice car, having something go wrong with it, and not being able to afford to fix it. Then you have to sell it for less money than you bought it for because it's not working and you lose money on the whole deal.

 

is it legit???

 

Doesn't sound like that good of a deal to me. A lot of miles and a bunch of problems and the bs about taking the parts off. You can do better.