i have an FD coming should be here soon i may be able to work with you on it payment wise, i also do work for a top Rx-7 tuner, he will be able to help you repair any problems and have it done right so it lasts.
Buy a cheap civic since its your first car. (I’m assuming your 16-18 with little driving experience)
Save up more then 10 G’s and buy a decent GTR/FD down the road.
95% you will crash your first car, especially one of those.
I don’t know where everyone has their rotoaries re-built for $5000…
I there’s a shop that does it for far less and is an expert in rotaries.
Also, I don’t where you guys buy your FD’s from.
A close friend bought a JDM FD with 50,000 km on it. Only thing wrong? A scratch in the bumper. What did he pay? $9000 shipped to his door…
Yes!..i love these threads i can be a shit disturber. I own a JDM FD and have owned a skyline for a brief period. I currently have a JDM FD that has been rebuilt by a very competent mechanic. He pretty much took me through it step by step and i purchased rebuild videos there’s lots of them around just to know what you’re getting yourself into. I suggest you pay attention to this post because i know what i’m talking about. With rotary engine’s it depends on what’s blown on it. If the coolant seals are gone and it hasn’t been driven alot of KM’s which tend to happen because these cars sit in Japan for years without being driven. Yeah they’ll start right up but the coolant has been sitting in them for quite sometime. That’s never a good thing it chews away at your coolant hoses and to a more severe extent destroy your seals. If it’s in the early stages you will smell coolant on the start up but the car will show no signs of struggling. It will overheat and you wont notice unless you have a aftermarket temperature gauge. That rebuilt will cost you around 3grand if you pull the motor out yourself. 4grand if your mechanic does it and these are rough numbers. There’s a good possibility one of your rotor housings are cooked. roughly around 800 used to 1200 new for one. So add that on the bill. If the apex seal is gone on a rotor that can be catastrophic because it will destroy these housings. Plus you might need new rotors. The rotors are about 300 used. It really depends on how well it was taken care of you can easily spend 5 grand on it. Plus the stock ecu on those cars are garbage. Think about getting a power FC with a good tune that costs about 1200 bucks just for the power fc a good tune around 300-400 dollars. Then usually the tires are worn down to a nub. so think about 4 new tires. New brake pads, new rotors. This is just trying to get your car safe for the street and running properly. You’ll probably end up spending 7-8 grand getting this car up to PAR especially if you Buy it from tigerjapan. Their car yard is more like a junk yard those guys are crooks stay away from them. I would say budget for 16k for either car. An FD is a beautiful car one of the best. But it needs to have a knowledgeable owner and proper care. Their shit loads of fun it’s actually recommended that you drive this car hard or carbon buildup with happen to your rotors. That will eventually lead to something called “Carbon Lock”. It gets 15mpg stock look it up on edmunds and you have to run premium. I’m not trying to scare you i just don’t want anyone getting in over their head. My take on this GO BUY A 240SX. Great car tons of aftermarket support and you can find basic maintenance parts without paying an arm and a leg. Oh and the Skyline is the same story. Remember these cars are 15+ years old they’ll need some TLC. 10 grand isn’t enough for an FD and don’t even get me started on the GTR. That’s my 2 cents good luck.
I say buy a FD…but I love the Skylines to
[QUOTE=S13counterpart;332462]I don’t know where everyone has their rotoaries re-built for $5000…
QUOTE]
They get them built by a shop who has experience.
As I said before, $2000 engines are built with sub-par used parts that will not make the engine reliable.
I now build every engine with brand new rotor housings ($800 each), a complete rebuild kit is $1300, labour to spec and clearance all of the seals and assemble the engine is sometimes well above 30hours. (includes cleaning and painting)
Cheaping out on an engine build is a band-aid solution. Especially a Rotary.
who resurfaces your irons now? ^
Nobody, I only use within spec irons.
Resurfacing irons and getting the right RA finish and nitrid process is near impossible unless you send them back to Mazda in Japan. Mazda uses a 3 stage nitriding process. The regular flash heat treatment done by most places could warp the iron.
I’m not going to risk it. Either use excellent used irons or buy new ones.
Several veteran Rotary engine builders I know have told me the same thing.
I’m pretty sure Joe has a handle on rebuilding engine’s, how did your last one turn out?
agreed, buy a civic and from there dont even by a gtr or rx7 to unrealiable for someone who is just starting to drive. if you have 10k save another 10 for repairs and then continue saving because it will never stop!
Don’t buy a Skyline or rotary powered RX7 as your first car. A $5000 rotary re-build doesn’t mean it’ll be done right and be reliable. My suggestion is to buy a clean FC chasis and drop a LS1 engine in it.
altough it was a bit of a long post, drezkouki hit it right on the money.
save ur dough…then make your choice.