So I'm considering purchasing this car: Click Here for Craiglist Ad



I've heard that rotary engines don't last long and when they go down, they go down hard. I love the way rotary engines perform when I drive and I love the look of this car inside and out (I'm ok with doing work on it, but I'm also not trying to open a can of worms). I'm just looking for any help anyone can give me. I realize this is going to be seen as a newb question and I've been searching on multiple forums for info, but when it comes down to it you guys are the pros and the ones that can let me know whats up.



Here's the info from the Craigslist ad in case some of you can't go to that site at work or something:





FS: 1988 10th AE RX7 Turbo - $2200 (Seattle)





The engine stopped running, not sure why, could be a stuck seal. Since it is unreliable and I want it gone the price has been adjusted in the following way. The car will have to be towed as it does not currently drive. Seems like a stuck seal since it ran the day before when I was just moving it in and out of the drive way. I was not boosting or anything. After I parked it I couldn't start it up a few days later.



$3200 for the car as it sits with the supra fuel pump, agx suspension, one set of 10th AE rims, strut tower bar.



$2700 for the car minus the lights and BOV (I will supply sealed beam replacements, but you will need a couple rx7 headlight motor arms)



$2200 for the car minus the lights, BOV, and Exhaust



162XXX Miles on the chassis

Uknown mileage on the motor (it's a jspec swap)

3" Racing Beat downpipe

3" Racing Beat pre-silencer

3" Mandrel Bent mid-pipe

3" Kakimoto rear section and muffler (less than 1000 miles on it)

Upgraded Turbo Supra Fuel Pump (the car runs a bit rich right now)

Brand new Tanabe Strut Tower Bar (Not pictured)

Old school HKS Super Sequential Blow Off Valve

Eibach springs with KYB AGX shocks front and rear

Brand new custom Hella dual 90mm headlights with 6k HID's

One full set of 10th AE white rims

Manual Steering Rack

Brand New FD alternator with custom dual alternator pulley (has a higher amperage output than FC's)



Engine:

Engine, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, and turbo are from a Series 5 Jspec Turbo II

The electronics were used from the original Series 4 Turbo II

The engine starts and runs perfect, but does need to be premixed as the Series 5 motor used an electronic oil metering pump and the S4 used a mechanical OMP

All emissions has been removed (there are a few options but you will have to decide how you want to do emissions)



Chassis:

Super clean minust the paint chipping on the hood and sunroof. 10th AE's are notorious for bad paint, mine seems to be one of the better one's out there especially since the paint chips are largely restricted to the sunroof and hood only. There is a few dents and dings, and one dent underneath the drivers side (pictured) but the shell is straight and sound.



Reason for sale/Extra info:

Simply put I have too many projects and not enough time. I'd love to keep the car as it was the first car I bought, but I just can't do it. Maybe I'll regret the sale in the future, but for now it's gotta go. The car has never been registered to me, but I do have title in hand and will sign a bill of sale over to the new owner. It's super easy and you will have no problems transferring it at the DOL minus the emissions which is your responsibility.

 

that car is way over priced for the shap it is in. Keep looking you will find a better one that runs

 

Yea definitely doesn't look like a "steal" to me either.

 

Actually, a rotary that is well-cared for can run as long as a reciprocating piston engine. It's not unusual for a n/a rotary to go over 200k miles. The turbos generally don't fare quite as well, although mine is over 100k with the original engine, and since I've acquired it, it has been driven hard, mostly at the strip.



What the rotary does not tolerate is abuse and ill-considered mods that fail to ensure adequate cooling and air-fuel ratios.



If you had any doubts about the general durability of the rotary engine, you would need look no further than it's successes in racing.



All that aside, I feel that if you're going to drop over 2 grand on an RX-7, it ought to be a running one. If you really like the car, you could use the fact that it doesn't run to negotiate a better price. It might also be worth getting his permission to do a compression check, since that would give you some idea if there was any hope for the engine.



Finally, I paid $2k for my T2 and it didn't run, but it turned out to be simply flooded.

 

I had an na S4 that had over 250K Running super stronge and my buddy decided to boost it and it went BYE-BYE ! ! ! when we took it apart the only damage was from the blown apex seal other than that the engine was cherry. The bearings did not even have any copper showing through.

 

that car could sell for 4000 or more around me. but if your area has them for cheaper, see if you can talk him down. 10AE's are hard to come by.