i was wondering around ebay today and found an RX-7 TT for sale. It was 6200, which isnt to bad i think, if it had a motor. That price was just for the body. The front skirt, rear wing, and motor were gone. BUT, it did have 3/4 of the tread left on the tires! Have i just gotten used to seeing donor bodies, or even whole cars, go for like $500 for a zcar or is that body really worth 6200?
-John
Absolute Z Club
L.A./Orange Counties
73 240, PnP E88, webers, coil-overs, 17's, "Bolt-In Power Steering", train horns; you know, the norm... "Yea its green, but the chicks love it"

It's an FD RX7, rare when they were in production, even more rare now that they're no longer made. The LS1 is a popular swap now to put into those as the wankels aren't exactly the most reliable. I'd like to have a nice 2nd gen Turbo II RX7.

God made sh!t and mazda made it move, little saying we have over here lol
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

Yes, the Z has spoiled you. Plus, the FD is simply on of the SEXIEST cars on the market.
______________________________________________
'82 280zx -- 400+hp 355 sbc / T-56
'72 240zt - T3/T4 hybrid / TEC-II / not much stock
'82 280zxt - Stock...for now
'77 280z 2+2 -- Ongoing battle; currently in the process of "ricing

agreed.
I think the sexiest cars were the FB, FD, Z32 and the 240/280z. I'm not sure what order i'd put them in. well put the Z32 on top though because this is a zforum :P.
1994 300ZX N/A T-top 5-spd

I'd say my top 5 Jap cars go:
FD RX7
2g DSM (I really like the burnt orange color) and Z32 tie for second
S30
2g MR2
R33 or S14

Very rare car, very light car [under 2500lbs in almost all trims], exceptional handling chassis, very good looking car, bingo. You are looking at it the wrong way.
How much is a clean FD go for? 10-15k, closer to the later.
How much does it take to get a rebuilt engine into a FD chassis? 2-4k.
2-4k [3] + 6200= 10200. No surprise there.
The FD engine is not extremely durable, but it is cheap [2k out and in again rebuilt] to rebuild.
19[TT]91
My TT beauty is gone.
2[00]2 Honda 954RR
Suzuki 1200 S; sportscar eater
19[I4]94 Integra GSR Sedan
Long live the Z...
aka SAHTT

Yeah who cares if the engine doesnt work, aslong as it handles good right? :P
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

A good, working FD on the market is a very rare thing and I would seriously consider buying that body.
As zlover57 suggests, that cost of getting it going and buying a working example could probably be about the same. The big challenge, however, is finding people who really know how to work on car and taking it to a mechanic with the know how could potentially be very costly.
I would personally think about stuffing an SR20 in it. At least it'll have a reliable engine.
3 Zs, 1 "Rusty", 4 more to go

How can you seriously rate a car with a p.o.s engine? It doesn't matter how sexy it looks, how good it handles etc if the guts of it is junk! I got friends with RX7's, the cars all spend 90% of their life in the garage in bits and even when they do get it going as soon as they take it out and have a good run they're back in the garage fixing something else that broke. Absolute garbage if you ask me, they're rare and sold without engines for a reason and it's not a good reason lol
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project
Post Edited (Mar 8, 5:59pm)

Hey, escangelion don't take what 85ZX says personally. He's an extremely brand loyal ******* who thinks anything is a piece of crap that doesn't have a Nissan badge on it.

BS! It's a known fact RX7 motors are junkers! You're just still upset because I dissed your Mitsubishi months ago lol
And for your information I own other cars apart from Nissans...
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

HA HA HA
Okay, Matt, I shall hold off.
3 Zs, 1 "Rusty", 4 more to go

the wankels are junk, they are pretty reliable when treated right, still by no means like are engines or pistons for that matter
the problem that madza had when they made the car was cost, in order to keep cost down they had to cut corners here and there
that's why you see most fd drivers do reliability mods first, like an air seperator for the intake and the radiator,
also what most people don't seem to realize is you need to tune the engine for every mod,
the apex seal can't withstand any detonation. If the driver knew his car and knew it well, i wouldn't hesitate to buy it from them
spend some time on rx7club.com and figure out what you should be looking for.
the engines are pretty reliable if you know how to treat it, should last at least 120k, but that doesn't compare to ours does it...LOL
6200 pretty high for a donor car, i'm sure others could be had
engine is 2.5-4k rebuilt or a remanufactured one from mazda themselves.
plus labor etc. look aorund i'm sure you could find a donor for 4-5k range
1993 Red TT

People dont make posters like this for no reason...
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

yes i agree with you guys saying they aren't as reliable as a piston engine,
but rebuilds on those things are simpler than the regular pistons engines...just take care of it like ur supposed to and it should last a far while,
not as long as a conventional piston engine but long enough and rebuilds on those things are lot cheaper than on the Z
1993 Red TT

So your logic is, it's cheaper and easier to do a full engine rebuild but you'll have to rebuilt it more often? How does that make any sense? Wont the amount of times the rebuild is required cancel out how easier/cheaper it is to do? lol
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

The old 12A rotories were fun as hell -- no matter how hard my friend tried, he could never blow the damn thing up. It still runs today! You're right about the apex seals, they can't stand detonation, and a major problem with the turbo FD was the secondary injector isn't large enough to compensate any raise in boost, let alone barely adequate for stock setup. Although I would take an LS-1 over a rotary any day of the week, they aren't as bad as 85zx is making them out to be. You just have to know how to treat them.
______________________________________________
'82 280zx -- 400+hp 355 sbc / T-56
'72 240zt - T3/T4 hybrid / TEC-II / not much stock
'82 280zxt - Stock...for now
'77 280z 2+2 -- Ongoing battle; currently in the process of "ricing

I'm not making them out to be anything, I just know how little time my friends RX7's are on the road working and there's no disputing how unreliable they are.
Everyone who tries to say anything good about them always says something along the lines of "Aslong as you drive it like a grandma, and do all this stupid crap everytime you make a simple upgrade they run fine" lol
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

Go look at all the pages that come back with RX7's that've blown up if you dont believe me lol And I've lost count how many are for sale on ebay without engines because of that fact.
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project
Post Edited (Mar 8, 7:11pm)

yea they aren't as reliable, but no where near what you are getting at,
sure they don't last 200k miles but they do last at least 120k if taken care of,
that's not much compared to a piston engine, but for a rotary that is pretty good,
this car wasn't meant for someone who wanted reliability, the car was meant as a fun, great handling sports car and fast.
mazda also cut a lot of corners to reduce cost, and that also reduced quality.
so the bottom line is: they aren't as reliable as the conventional piston engine.
but if u have money, and want one, go for it
1993 Red TT

I see tons of 2nd gens on cars for sale websites with over 100k that are still running. The difference in one lasting 150k and one lasting 20k depends heavily on the driver. What if it's some jackass rich kid whos parents buy it for him, then he runs it without oil, or low oil. Or maybe they use low grade fuel and it detonates. There are many factors that cause them to break. However, with one of the late great Japanese supercars, having to baby them or maintain them is the price of owning one.
Let me put the idea in a different way. A dumbass emo-music 16 year old's parents buy him a brand new Les Paul Custom. He goes on stage and plays his crappy emo music and jumps around, swings it around, doesn't pay much attention to the guitar or where he leaves it when it's not strapped around him. Do you think that guitar is going to last and perform as well as it would if a businessman bought it, kept it in its case when not playing it, regularly had the strings changed, frets polished up, and setup? Hell no. The kid who owns the Les Paul is going to tear it apart and it's going to be crap. Then he goes on a forum and slams how "crappy Gibson Les Pauls" are. Does that make it any different than this? 85ZX, who says your friends are competent Rotary mechanics that know how to properly work on a wankel? Did you ever think they're just some dumbass grease monkeys who usually work on plain ol low-technology cars? Rotaries are not as simple to work on as a piston engine...that's why there are very few rotary shops.

I understand your point totally, and I agree...
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project

It ultimately comes down to who owns the car. A business man who wants a nice car to impress clients and spend the money he's went through years of college and wheeling and dealing to earn and spend...or a dumbass kid who has rich parents who buy him the car so he can hotrod and show off to chicks and race every single sports car he meets at a redlight. This is true for any car, when you start modifying the driveline and things to perform way beyond the specifications it was designed for, you drastically cut it's life expectancy. The RX7 isn't a bad car, just expensive because of it's rarity.

>that's not much compared to a piston engine, but for a rotary that is pretty good
That's one of those gems of truth. It's good for a rotary, but it's not saying much. The Renesis didn't fix it either, I've already heard of many going back for replacements... yuck.

the FC engine was reliable against any standards.
The FD engine was reliable to 60k of hard miles if modified correctly.
The FD engine was reliable to 100k if reliability mods are done and it isn't modded.
The FD engine is good for about 3 seconds if it is modified incorrectly.
The FD engine is good for about 40k if it is not modded and no reliability mods are done.
The engine is not a 'POS', it is just very unique and sensitive. It is very cheap compared to a piston engine to be built to withstand near 1000rwhp. So maybe the piston motor is a POS. It's a matter of what is important to you in an engine. Durability? Smoothness? Uniqueness? Cost of rebuild? etc.
The FD engine has an undeserved history. Its reputation is deserved because yes, they caught fire, yes, stock ones blew up regularly in the mid 90's, etc. However, much of the problems had to do with emissions standards being forced on the car as it left japan. Most importantly the primary/1st cat were way too constrictive causing massive heat build up in the engine compartment, effectively roasting everything.
2nd, you cannot mod them like a piston engine, they require a more perfected and balanced tune.
Regardless, the total package is a great and legendary car that is worth some very good money, even 93's muchless 95's.
19[TT]91
My TT beauty is gone.
2[00]2 Honda 954RR
Suzuki 1200 S; sportscar eater
19[I4]94 Integra GSR Sedan
Long live the Z...
aka SAHTT

My '90 RX-7 (FC) engine went at 103k. Two apex seals on one rotor. NOBODY in the RX-7 community was the LEAST bit surprised. P.O. was an accountant, I had all service records. It was very well-maintained, never abused.
I LOVE the FD. But it'd have to be a really sweet deal for me to buy one.
I think the idea of the rotary is fantastic. Small, lightweight, decent power-production. But the fuel mileage and reliability are absolute SHITE.
For reference, when I replaced my '7 convertible with a '95 Z28 convertible, my mileage went UP by 16%! 19mpg vs. 22mpg. And of course the Z28 is much faster in a straight line.
Driving the RX-7 was WAY more fun than driving the Z28, though. I miss that car...
Anyway, it always kills me to hear people talk about how reliable the FC rotaries are/were. Maybe relative to other rotaries, but they're still nowhere NEAR the reliability of just about any piston engine.

Oh yeah, the line above about FD's weighing under 2500 lb. is way off. Try 2800 lb.
Anybody'd really be far better off in every respect with an SR20DET 240SX.
Except for the sex-appeal factor!

I only saw a couple comments here from actual RX7 owners. I owned a 94 for a few years. Little stuff here and there would break, cheap plastic parts. I gladly compromised fixing the small stuff to drive a unique, fun car. I realize that the engine had a short shelf life but hats off to Mazda for taking chances. Wish Nissan spent a fraction of the time refining the Z. The new Z was designed for just looks which I think is still lacking. Look at how much time Mazda spent in the wind tunnel just refining the aerodynamics. Give credit where credit is due. Having said all that, the RX8 sure is lame..
78 P79 mild mods

Also fuel cutting off to the rear rotor was also a very bad thing Mazda designed into the car. Bad Mazda bad!

Dan Baldwin, no disrespect, but you have little idea what you are talking about.
Have you EVER seen a FD weigh itself at a track or station? Please refrain from just regurgitating what you find online. The numbers are heavily skewed to make the car appear heavier than it is. There are rules and insurance guidelines to understand when a car is too light. Most rated them between 2650-2750, but the hardtop is in the mid 2400's and the heaviest model is just under 2700 with 1/2 tank of gas. This isn't a matter of opinion or source, this is fact. At the Baytown drag race track outside of Houston, there were 7 FD's weighed in a row. One that had lighter exhaust and race seats was at 2400lbs exactly with a little under 1/2 a tank of gas. Take every statistic you grab off the net or a forum with a grain of salt.
19[TT]91
My TT beauty is gone.
2[00]2 Honda 954RR
Suzuki 1200 S; sportscar eater
19[I4]94 Integra GSR Sedan
Long live the Z...
aka SAHTT

I've never seen ANY car weigh itself at the track!
I remember when the FD came out, the actual measured weights in magazine tests being ~2800 +/-. Nowhere near 2400. Maybe they only tested loaded models, I dunno.
2400 lb. stock FD? I'll believe it when *I* see it.

Here's a link to a discussion of weight on an FD forum:
http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=227517&highlight=weight
Judging from the posts, it seems to me the stock FD must be somewhere between 2700 - 2800 lb., empty of fuel.
From the above thread:
"I weighed in right at 2700 pounds with half a tank of gas.......no cats, no airpump, p/s or a/c, stock wheels........."
"What he said, same mods, 1/2 tank of gas, 2700# with no driver"
"About the lightest, NON-CUT FD I've heard about with twins is 2500lbs. PS, no AC, no airbags, stereo, spare tire, non-stock seats, l/w flywheel, etc.
If you went single you'd save a little bit of weight (maybe 13-18lbs), stock wheels (this one had CCWs on it) may save another 20-30lbs (guessing). Even with a CF rear hatch and lexan windows I think it would be hard to get much lighter than 2400lbs.
My R1 weighs 2740lbs with stock wheels and light on gas, no spare. 2800lbs in street trim full of gas."

Power
Weight
Durability
Cost
I think your engine can only have three.

true on the comments about the pre cats, they are way restrictive and that's one of the reliability mods, is to get rid of them so they don't fail later on and clog up the main cats while allowing the exhaust air to escape quickly to prevent the engine from building up all that heat
1993 Red TT

You just can't halfway do any performance mods on the car. Upgrading the cats frees up airflow but can create a lean spike. The computer should be upgraded, knock sensor, intake, stock intercooler is way too small. Before you know it, you've blown almost 10 grand..but what a ride! Until the next rebuild..
78 P79 mild mods

Sounds like fun for someone who likes their car in the garage more than on the road...
85' 300ZX NA
86' 300ZX Turbo
88' 300ZX Turbo
89' 300ZX Turbo
300ZX Turbo Project