oo7arkman

iTrader: (2)

I guess maybe someone should have told me? A freind of mine could have used some help. I may work on mine, but I don't like to touch other people's cars. I even asked on the ok bbq site with NO responses about shops around here. Didn't keep pestering b/c I don't need one personally. O WELL.

AND JUST TO CLARIFY, I was not talking trash about ANY rotary shop in OK. I had no knowledge of any shop in the immediate, or semi-immediate (OKC) area that works on rotaries(dealerships don't count). Appherently I offended Rob unintentionally and I apologize.

ProjectD

iTrader: (15)

Don't worry about it man. There is a reason nobody reffered you to him when you asked LOL. Well honestly I cant speak for anyone but myself. I have done business for him on 2 occasions. The irst time he installed a clutch and flywheel for me. Everything worked perfect but he told me he broke the tires loose getting on the highway when he was testing the car. The fact that someone other than myself was bearing on my car really pissed me off. Especially sense it was a new clutch which should have been broken in easily at first. But like I said the clutch worked great and lasted quite a while.

The second time I just brought some bearings over for him to press in. He complete fucked one of the up and mangled the other one a bit too. When I came back he blew me off and said it wasn't his problem. I was thruogh dealing with him at that point. But in his defense he did end up calling me up to oppologize and even paid the full price to replace one of the fubared bearings. Also his prices are very affordable. But the quality of his work and the way he handled himself as a business man left a sour taste in my mouth and I still don't every plan on letting him touch another vehicle of mine.

Whew.....(end rant)

oo7arkman

iTrader: (2)

No worries. I do most all my work myself and am pretty self sufficient. If I could only learn to tune.... Like I said, I do have a friend that could use someone close, but it will not be that guy. Sounds like the professionalism is a long-term problem.

brandynmarie

So sorry for the slow reply. I will be doing some PM tomorrow. THe short is..
THe car was purchased from rotary performance in 2005. It was a total rebuild and auto to manual swap. Ran well coming home from arlington.
Was in the shop over a year having the massive body construction done.
Ran pretty good for the last year.
Notice coolant under the car one day about a month ago when I drove it to work.
Brought it home and parked in my car shop. Went out a couple weeks later to mess with it and it started slow, smoked a tad, started tracing the leak, swapped the radiator fill cap, went to start it to test.....
NOTHING. Just turns over.
Battery and alternator are new as they went out this summer.
It is killing me. I built my old '68 12 years ago and have had 0 trouble. THis car seems to have something every time i turn around.

I love the looks and handling but the constant tweaks are getting to me. I would love to do a V8 swap if I could find someone to do it but who can afford that.

The engine is supposed to have less than 20k as well as the transmission so I would love to get it going.

THanks for all the help so far and I look forward to chatting with some of you soon!

djseven

iTrader: (56)

Install new spark plugs, almost guarantee the car will fire right up. Where was the coolant at underneath the car? Was it near the passenger side? Could have a failing coolant seal causing overflow from the overflow/expansion tank.

DCrosby

If you built your own '68 whatever... you can Definitely do your own V8 Swap.... There's a descent community around that swap with some searching or PM'ing... Just like there is around the rotary. The only caution I would put forward is that the V8 is less "fragile" than the Rotary, but all the stuff like temp sensors relays, etc... electrical gremlins in a 16-18 Year old Car (which got baked by the rotary/turbos) are Very Fragile, and will break, which will start a different cycle of "shop" visits...

Bottom line, these cars are a hobby and like any hobby cost time and money, how much is up to you.

brandynmarie

Thanks for all the input from everyone. I am planning to do the plugs tonight to see if that helps. (Any suggestions???)

Also, the leak looked to be coming from right under the cooling fan but I never got it started again to get it checked out. I just did the AST removal replacing the upper fill kneck with the 2nd gen with overflow.

brandynmarie

I tried the spark plug trick and it fired right up. I let it run a long time and did the rev then kill as recommended.

I am going to fill up the tank and run some good fuel system cleaner through it. Then, I think it is off to Tulsa to see about getting it back to 100% or whatever % these things can get too!!

Thanks again to everyone!!

ProjectD

iTrader: (15)

I'm glad it fired up for you. But just out of curiousity, who in Tulsa is gonna be getting your car back to 100%?

brandynmarie

Well....suck a duck!!! Got it fired up, drove it very little this weekend and ran into a local guru. I was going to take it to Tulsa but timing did not work out. Good thing I did not try to make the drive....

Apparantly...the engine is shot, the turbos are not spooling, it is missing cooling parts, a reservoir, and a bunch of other stuff.

Again, I had not idea as this is just how it was when I bought it. The only mods were on the body and the transmission was swapped from auto to a 5 speed before I purchased it.

I cannot believe this is happening. All this money on the body, (before losing the long term job...) and now the engine is shot.

I am scared to death to find out what it will be to rebuild the engine and or replace the turbos and whatever else it needs.

That V8 swap is starting to sound pretty good.....

THanks anyway for all the help but I am ready for this car to go...time to lose my shirt or on this little "investment"...would have been better off in the stock market!!

HAHA!

JHew84

iTrader: (9)

Why is the engine shot? what did this guru tell you? what specifically is missing?

The whole thing sounds a little odd.... if it was really in that bad of shape I find it hard to believe a new set of plugs would have allowed it to start right up.


Just FYI, you'll have a lot more money invested in a V8 swap than you would a basic rebuild . Send the motor off to a reputable builder, you'll be happy with the end result .

WaachBack

iTrader: (21)

You sound like you know absolutely nothing of which you are talking about. To me, it sounds like blind assumptions. No one ever said an FD is an investment, most competent owners know that these cars take tons of money, knowledge, and work.

Sell the car.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Coolant seal or apex seal? What test did it fail?

If the turbos are not spooling it is almost never a problem with the turbos. It's almost always a problem with a vacuum hose, solenoid, or check valve. Cheap fix, although the diagnosis process can be testy. If your local friend was a "guru" they would not tell you to replace the turbos because of a lack of boost. Blown turbos have other symptoms.

Perhaps the AST was deleted? If so, that's an improvement not a problem.

This not the car to be spending money on bodywork and pretty stuff before maintenance and reliability. Sorry that you have to learn that now.

Rebuilding the engine is a whole lot cheaper and easier. With a few reliability mods it's also quite powerful and more reliable.

brandynmarie

Wow, thanks for the constructive feedback and up yours to the mean people. It is no wonder that people get such a negative view of RX7 owners so quickly.

The GURU was a highly recommended person on this site by the name of Mark at Eurosport here in Norman. He had quite the perfect RX7 in the showroom where I took the car Saturday.

It failed a series of tests that frankly I am too upset to go through on here, I was just trying to say thanks to everyone for the help.

I know hobbies take money, I just choose to drop the cash into one of my cars that I could actually get the investment back from, so sorry if that upsets some of you.

The engine is actually missing coolant hoses, a large part of the system, the vacuum lines were hooked up wrong, the turbos failed numerous tests, and the apex seal was shot as well as coolant seals.

THe oil was filled with gasand coolant. THe coolant with oil.

As for spending money on the body first..I agree...but that is what I get for trying to take the word of the builder everyone recommended...oh well. Not the first lesson learned the hard way.

As for the helpful people here, thank you. For the rest of you, try to get an attitude adjustment and realize not everyone shares your excitement to throw money at projects that they do not have time to do theirself.

My family must come first and I must choose my pasttimes wisely.

ProjectD

iTrader: (15)

Sorry for your lose man, It's always a tough pill to swallow knowing your engine is crap. Are you planning on selling or going lsx?

brandynmarie

I found an engine here local that is still in the car running that was built by "Atkins" Rotary???

Considering buying it and having it swapped........or V8 swap....or sell.

I just don't think I want to sell as it is or I will lose too much money. I always look at things from a stewardship of money outlook.

I can invest some and get way more in return, it is just being able to trust the work to sell it. I can never sell a car without knowing what is up with it etc. I am too honest for my own good when it comes to selling cars....could never work a car lot, not that there is anything wrong with that! LOL

Anyway, I am waiting to hear back from the guy with the engine and trying to get an idea of what a v8 swap costs, even though most people here would love to hang me for even mentioning that......

djseven

iTrader: (56)

I can sell you an engine that you will have no questions about, might as well do it right the first time especially if you are having someone else do the install. The coolant hoses missing you talked about are probably just the typical stuff that gets deleted, probably nothing to stress over. These cars arent that complex, just not that forgiving.

WaachBack

iTrader: (21)

The LSx swap will cost around 5k-8k if you do it yourself. Around 2k more if you have someone else do it. Personally, I think it's a good idea if you plan to keep the car forever and can afford it.

And no, I am not trying to be mean at all, I just don't think that these cars are meant to be owned by just anyone, especially people lacking basic mechanics. As stated above, these cars are not forgiving it all...

brandynmarie

Got it back from Eurosport and it is running great now. Ends up the wiring harness was wrong as well as the ecu.....so, super fun drives ahead.

I still think I will sale it though as I have too many cars to keep up with at this time.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions along the way!

Montego

iTrader: (1)

^^I agree completely. Sell it and quit while you are ahead. This car IS NOT FOR YOU my man.