RX-7 now in the family

[mazdaspeedpower]

Yeah, so my Cousin just bought a 1989 i believe(could be wrong) Red RX-7. It's the 2 seat 13b FI NA version. I am impressed with how nicely the car was taken car of, only one body imperfection(a small dent on left rear, just above tailight, tailight housing slightly damaged). The only mechanicle problem is the battery and Alternator, which is to be expected on older cars. He got it at a steal for 1000 cdn, the guy he bought it off of couldn't get it to start. He took it to his dad's shop, got it checked out, it was the fuel filter....on backwards...lol. He's got the thing road ready, and is getting ***** on insurance(2 seat sport car, for a 16 year old). He's putting in some heavy stereo stuff, and all sorts of neons(Rice I know, but it's nice on the car), and he plans on finding some form of turbo for the car. What I want to know, is from people who own, owned, or know alot about the 89 13b FI NA RX-7. What problems are known to the car, what should he watch for, etc. Personal opinions welcome, I'm just trying to learn a bit about the car, for him, and myself. Oh, if all goes well, we will be racing our cars at the track sometime. I think it'll be a close race(with him probably infront, then again, maybe me, as he's still a virgin to driving stick...lol). So yeah, fill me in on this car.

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

bump

 

[mp3moose]

How many miles on the engine?

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

I have no clue. Overall, the car is imaculate, once we got the battery to work(hooked up to a charger) the thing ran amazingly, no stutters, no low idle, no high idle. Didn't burn funny, reved nicely, slipped through the gears well(in driveway anyways). We will be taking her out in 2 weeks time, once it's insured, and all that. Even the interior is amazing, the leather is in awesome shape, and the moonroof has a small paint flake spot....and thats it.

 

[Charlie97L]

that's awesome... the big problem with rotaries are the apex seals... if he turbos the car, or it's high mileage, he definitely wants to upgrade to aftermarket ones. post some pics man!

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

I sure will get some pics ASAP. I leave for work again on Sunday, and won't be back for 12 days, but I will get some pics then for ya'll. Yeah, they are gonna go through every part of the car, and make sure it's all up to par. Also, the turbo is a little while off, like a few months. His dad knows alot about cars, and I'm sure he'll make that a great turbo car.

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

bump for the morning crowd

 

[Jims5543]

N/A RX-7's will run for over 200K miles w/o a problem if taken care of.

Your cousin needs to do a shitload of research before he puts a turbo on. Its more that just slapping one on. While most people shy away from putting a turbo on an N/A motor it has been done with decent results... but it costs a LOT of money to do it right.

N/A Rotary engines have higher compression that turbo RX-7's and the higher compression tends to make the care more prone to detonation. Detonation in a Rotary car = death for the engine.

Tell your cousin to sign up a an RX-7 specific forum.

I am a Moderator on http://www.nopistons.com/forums/ he is more than welcome there. We encourage newb's to ask the stupid questions and we will never yell at them to go search for an answer. Although our FAQ sections are pretty informative.


Good luck with the car and enjoy it. Make sure he changes the oil every 3K miles and remember they were built to burn oil on prupose. They have an Oil Metering Pump (OMP) on them that actually pumps engine oil into the rotor housings to help lubricate the apex seals. My point is to check the oil when your filling the gas.

 

[mazdaspeedpower]

thanks for the info...I will relay it to him..I'll tell him to sign up to the boards, yours and this one