...so my dad had an FB when I was a little kid. I just found it, actually still owned by the couple who bought it about 25 years ago. I told them who I was, and they said they've actually recently been talking about selling it.

The wife told me that it doesn't run, and has been sitting for a while, and the seat leather is cracked up pretty badly...but none of that really matters to me, as I want to build a track car out of it...put some race buckets and a cage in it, put a hot bridgeported 13b in it, etc. The good news is that a tree limb fell on the car during Fran about 15 years ago, and they had the car repainted, so she says the body is in good shape (although I think the insurance company totalled the car out).

Any suggestions for:

1. How much should I pay for a good FB roller? I'm willing to pay a fair price--not looking to score a deal, for once...but I'm not a charity, either.

2. Where are the good places to get a 13b built nowadays?

7/31/2012 9:45:40 PM

since when was tree limb damage a good thing?

1. i can't imagine it being worth any more than $700 tops. especially if it's been totaled, plus the fact that it doesn't run. they're getting to be rare cars, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're desirable past a certain point.

2. i think BRE in concord does a good bit of rotary stuff? i know they built and sponsor (or own?) a 20b FC. beyond them, no clue.

7/31/2012 11:25:15 PM

You could fit an LS1 in there.

Or an LT1

Or a SBC

Just sayin'

$500 Bob.

You are going to have to redo a lot of the suspension (bushings, etc) if you want to start tracking it. What about the master cylinders? (brake and clutch), fuel lines, fuel pump, etc.

It all adds up. I wouldn't pay more than $500 for a non-running car that's been sitting.

[Edited on July 31, 2012 at 11:29 PM. Reason : ..]

[Edited on July 31, 2012 at 11:29 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2012 11:27:43 PM

^^ good in the sense that the body was gone over and repainted, although I don't know the quality of the work or how it looks now, 10-15 years later.

7/31/2012 11:29:57 PM

so how's that truck coming along...?
I'd say FUCK an fb. you'll spend a mint making it anything decent

8/1/2012 1:09:52 AM

forget BRE

check out Rotorsports Racing in Kannapolis. I stopped by there once to get advice about my ECU (official Electromotive dealer) and it was a little RX7 heaven

8/1/2012 4:44:36 PM

I say do it man. I don't know how bad you want a rotary in there but I know you've been talking about diesels, so what about a 1.9 vw tdi in there? Then you have a nice light aerodynamic torque monster that will get a million mpg. I don't know a whole lot about the specifics but it appears that plenty of people have those engines close to 200hp without a lot of drama.

8/1/2012 5:13:55 PM

1st gen is seriously ugly car

8/1/2012 8:08:49 PM

Putting a v8 Ina fb seriously messes up the car's handling. Go look at it for fun. Open the door smell the must and maybe some of your dad's lingering cologne from back in the day and call it a night

8/1/2012 8:53:32 PM

I don't want to V8-swap it (although I don't think an LS1 would mess up the balance too much). I want a hot rotary, partly because of the cool factor, and partly to keep the torque specs manageable for the chassis/drivetrain when I (hopefully) triple the horsepower by going from a stock 12a to a very hot 13b.

I've already seen and driven the car a few years ago, back when it ran. I tried to buy it then, but they wanted an insane price for it (had just replaced the 12a and thought they could just tack that on to the price), so I walked away.

I couldn't remember where it was, and my grandfather (who knew the guy) developed Alzheimer's, so he couldn't remember. My grandmother finally remembered and told me.

[Edited on August 1, 2012 at 9:07 PM. Reason : ]

8/1/2012 9:05:07 PM

I for one think it's pretty cool that you found the car again, and I think you should go for it if you can get it for a reasonable price. Unfortunately I really don't know what that reasonable price would be...

8/2/2012 1:13:40 AM

Quote :

"I tried to buy it then, but they wanted an insane price for it"

You think they're going to be more reasonable now?

8/2/2012 8:01:59 AM

^ the worst they can say is no. might as well give them a reasonable offer.

8/2/2012 8:32:19 AM

what 2k max? is what i'm thinking and that's if the body looks like a 4 year old car... not 37+

btw tripple the hp isn't that hot of a 13b... but i'm guessing you're talking n/a so it might be.

8/2/2012 9:17:53 AM

I would imagine an FB would be tons of fun with a 300 hp rotary. In a car like this that's really all you need I think.

8/2/2012 10:03:06 AM

^^^^ Well, last time, prob 4 years ago, they had just put a new 12a in it, and had this idea that they could just add that on to the value of the car, or pretty close to it. Obviously that's not how it works (let alone that it still didn't really run exactly right).

Now it won't even start, and hasn't been run for several years. Hopefully now they're ready to face reality. There is no way in hell I'd pay $2000 for a non-running FB, by the way...and yeah, I think 300 hp from a naturally aspirated 13b would be a pretty hot build.

8/2/2012 6:46:33 PM

Quote :

"and yeah, I think 300 hp from a naturally aspirated 13b would be a pretty hot build."

I don't care how hot you port it, you won't get that from an NA 13b. Turbo, it's possible, but NA? Not hardly. Ever.

Walk. Away. From. The. Car. NOW.

Unless, of course, you just like dumping time and money into a car that is at best mediocre by today's standards. The FB has a solid rear axle. No IRS. Simple cheap ass strut front suspension. You don't buy one of these to really go fast. You buy it for nostalgic reasons. Or to race IT7 in SCCA or the like. Unless you get one that's been ported to hell and back and that godawful Nikki carburetor shitcanned, they're also pig slow.

8/3/2012 1:35:28 AM

^^ yeah i was thinking fd 13b which made me be like... dude that's the stock engine + exhaust... that's not that hot... but on an n/a motor...yeah that's porting the shit out of her and winding her to the moon.

Should sound great though.

8/3/2012 7:52:03 AM

I know a guy who races IT7, a few times a year

I say a few, because he has yet to make an entire season

you can go faster and outhandle this crap with a miata

i say stay away, too

8/3/2012 9:37:05 AM

buy it because you want your dad's car if you buy it... not because you think you could make it fast.

i have a '57 t-bird that's good for nothing but being a convertible and attracting attention. But i would never get rid of it because dad and i restored it together when i was in high school.

8/3/2012 9:56:38 AM

If you want a carb'd, bridge ported 4 port 13B you might get to 180-200rwhp realistically. It kind of depends what you are looking for. Fuel economy will be absolutely terrible.

The 89-91 6 port engines had a variable intake runner system and fuel injection. Figure 160-180rwhp revving to 8000rpm comfortably with ok torque. Rx-8 engine is actually by far the best non turbo rotary ever made despite a few of its problems, but swapping that just isn't worth it. There's always a 2nd gen turbo engine with basic modifications and you're at low 200s to the wheels with actual torque. But then you have to figure out the wiring.

I'm not a 1st gen expert but I've been messing with 2nd and 3rd gen Rx-7's for 8 years and I've built a motor so I can answer some questions.

[Edited on August 3, 2012 at 12:19 PM. Reason : .]

8/3/2012 12:18:45 PM

Talked to Rotorsports today; they said they built an NA engine (13b) that made 330 hp on an engine dyno. That was a full-on race engine, but I would imagine 300 at the crank would be pretty doable for a primarily track car where everyday driveability would be a non-issue.

However, building this bastard would cost a lot...like, as much or more than I could just buy that turbo-Miata powered, IRS Locost 7 for...so I might go ahead and buy that, sell the Z06, buy a DD, and then keep an eye open for a good used 12a or stock 13b to put in that RX-7...buy it and keep it stock or close to it just to play around with.

8/3/2012 5:26:50 PM

or forget the rotary and put in the you-know-what

8/4/2012 12:53:54 PM

Or just don't buy it at all and be happy with your Z06 which already blows it away in every way.

8/4/2012 6:42:11 PM

never drive a car with a cage without a helmet

8/4/2012 8:46:22 PM

...well, she says she wants $1600 for it.

Sorry, I'm willing to even make her an attractive offer on the car due to its history, but no way am I paying that.

8/22/2012 8:52:50 PM

$100 sounds attractive for that shit heap

8/23/2012 12:07:21 AM

In about a month send one of your friends over with a reasonable offer. Sounds like they are trying to work you over for the sentimental value, or pass on their lost investment to you. Fuck 'em

8/23/2012 2:16:14 AM

Wow

Finally got a price out of her...$1600. !!! WTF?!

We're talking about an '83 RX-7 that has been sitting up for years because the engine won't run. Additionally, the sunroof is rusted badly and would need replacement and repainting. Oh, and the interior is in pretty poor shape. It's a pretty good roller, with transmission and rear end, but that's it.


That's double the $800 I was going to offer her, which I thought was quite generous. I guess I'll let her flail and try to sell it. Maybe some sucker will pick it up. Maybe she'll eventually get on the reality train and practically give it to me (but I doubt it; this is twice I've walked away from this car over the course of probably 5 years due to them wanting 2-3x what the car was worth. At least last time it ran and drove).

[Edited on September 2, 2012 at 8:30 PM. Reason : whoops, forgot i'd already posted that in here. ]

9/2/2012 8:29:26 PM

you sound mad.

9/2/2012 8:32:42 PM

not mad, just amazed...and a little frustrated. I'm willing to pay a more than fair price for the car, but as it stands now, I'm not gonna have the car, and she's not gonna have the money, and the car is gonna sit, be in the way, and continue to deteriorate...because she is being utterly delusional.

Same thing happened when I tried to buy my first car ('71 Cutlass) back a few years ago. I sold it to him for a fair price in very clean original condition; he was trying to sell it for at least 50% more than he bought it for, after he let it deteriorate into a fucked up rustbucket with dogs living in the interior. I walked; it continued to sit for maybe 6 months. I then deployed again, and when I came home it was gone. There is no fucking way that anyone paid anything even REMOTELY close to what he was asking (I think he wanted $8k or thereabouts). I can only assume that he either gave up or got desperate for cash, and either way sold it for a fraction of his original price...but being all dumb and white-trashy, hadn't kept up with my contact information.

9/2/2012 8:44:05 PM

9/2/2012 9:45:21 PM

Quote :

"In about a month send one of your friends over with a reasonable offer. Sounds like they are trying to work you over for the sentimental value, or pass on their lost investment to you. Fuck 'em"

9/3/2012 10:23:30 AM

no idea why anyone would want an FB these days unless they were doing that Spec RX7 shit.

9/4/2012 4:49:30 PM

Well, sure enough, that RX-7 never sold. She just emailed me again to offer it to me at $700. I think that's still kind of steep for a non-running FB with a ratty interior and rusty sunroof, even if everything else did get a respray sometime over the last 3 decades. Once upon a time, I would have paid it and not sweated $200-300, but now I've gone with the Seven and don't have much use for this. Hell, I still need to sell the 'Vette and my Ram--at the moment, I have the Z06, Seven, Insight, Ram, BMW motorcycle, and a '66 Chevy pickup in the middle of a frame-off resto, so I need this old RX-7 like I need a 7th vehicle.

On the other hand, I used to like riding around in it when I was a little kid, like first-grade or so. It'd be neat to snap up yet another cool vehicle from my childhood. I think I might offer her $400-500, and if she'll finally take a good deal when it lands right in her lap, have that shit towed to my grandparents' house to store in their shop...and then maybe someday build an ITA or Spec 7 racer out of it. Hell, maybe in another 7-8 years, it'll be a perfect car for my daughter to chase me around Barber or NoLa in.

12/12/2013 1:39:25 AM

Quote :

"can't imagine it being worth any more than $700 tops."

scratch that.... $300

[Edited on December 12, 2013 at 7:49 AM. Reason : didn't see this was from 2012]

12/12/2013 7:43:51 AM

If you can get it for $500 do it. Can't put a price on childhood memories and they're pretty cool cars anyway.

12/12/2013 8:14:18 AM

Got it for $500.

It'll sit in the shop for a while. I probably won't mess with it for a few years.

Maybe if I get tired of the Turbo Seven or something, I'll get to it sooner, but this will probably be a project for down the road. I'm thinking ITA/IT7 car...

[Edited on December 22, 2013 at 9:03 PM. Reason : if anyone happens to need FB parts--like seats or something, let me know.]

12/22/2013 9:02:45 PM

Good stuff. Keep us posted when you get to doing something with it, and in the meantime at least it's safe and sound (and $500 isn't bad at all).

12/22/2013 9:31:07 PM

Cool! Got any pics of it?

Also, you got it for $500, you don't have to go IT with it...you could go Lemons. I'm just sayin'

12/23/2013 10:46:04 PM

It doesn't run, though. I don't want to trash it, either.

Pics later

12/23/2013 11:43:22 PM

This was it back in the 80s in our garage:





Now:

12/24/2013 12:41:57 AM

It doesn't look that bad. Btw, here's a mint one for sale http://jalopnik.com/for-3-998-be-down-with-the-brown-this-christmas-1488532268 for $4k.

If I were in your situation I'd try to get it rolling for cheaply as possible - and maybe swap something interesting into it (and brush up on your fabrication skills). How about a Miata drivetrain?

12/24/2013 9:53:11 AM

i bought my 89 turbo II for 1000. i wont pay more than 500 for this

12/24/2013 10:54:44 AM

Quote :

" I think I might offer her $400-500, and if she'll finally take a good deal when it lands right in her lap, have that shit towed to my grandparents' house to store in their shop...and then maybe someday build an ITA or Spec 7 racer out of it. Hell, maybe in another 7-8 years, it'll be a perfect car for my daughter to chase me around Barber or NoLa in."

I'd definitely go budget racer with something like this. Much cheaper on both money and time to strip it and put in a pair of aftermarket seats than to try to restore it part by part to make a decent original. Get it running, update the suspension, get the basic repairs needed to stop the rust and get a decent paint job back on it. You'll probably still have more money in it than it's worth, but it'll be a fun cruiser.

[Edited on December 24, 2013 at 11:12 AM. Reason : l]

12/24/2013 11:11:23 AM

http://grannysspeedshop.com/

12/24/2013 2:21:04 PM

yeah, this one will never be worth what I'll spend on it, much like the '66 pickup, but then, I probably won't be selling it, anyway...and at least with this one, I shouldn't have too much money in it, anyway.

a stock 12a build isn't very expensive, even if it needs a rebuild. i think this car already has the rear disc brakes and LSD. Most (all?) of the paint is pretty good except for the sunroof.

It'll still add up...at a minimum, it'll need engine repair/rebuilding, all new fluids, brake pads, brake lines, tires, wheels, header/exhaust, cage, seats, harnesses, battery, plugs/wires/standard tune-up stuff, electric fan(s), probably shorter gearing, shocks, springs, sways, bushings/spherical bearings, suspension brace (strut tower bar, etc), weld in sheet metal in place of sunroof...who knows what else, that's just what comes to mind immediately.

12/24/2013 3:58:12 PM