1stgen8
12-17-2007, 06:42 PM
I have a choice to make in the next few mos and was wondering what most of you would do. Earlier this year my best friend offered to sell me a NA 89 RX7 and a Camden SC he has laying around his garage...I passed cause I needed the money for something else. SC came off his 87 that he put an upgraded turbo II swap in. He is the original owner of the SC and had it reworked by Camden a few years ago. He replaced the pulley with one from a SVT Mustang.....good for 10 psi. The car runs like a top and has no rust but the clear coat is starting to peel a little. It will also come with 17" wheels, cd player, tinted windows and exhaust. He only puts about 7-8k on it a year. If I buy it he even help me install the SC and make sure it's running right.
On the other hand I would love to turbo my 8 but have always questioned the reliability of the Greddy kit. I'm sure the other kits on the market are a little better but I'm not trying to shell out 8-9k for one of them.......not worth it to me. I know there are a few who have the Greddy kit but there are also a few who sold them not long after they purchased it.
Well anyway....the original price my friend gave me on the 89 RX7 and supercharger was $2500......now he is saying he will give it to me for less cause I'll need to get it painted.
What would you guys do?
chickenwafer
12-17-2007, 06:44 PM
for $2500 that's a steal. It's going to cost MUCH more to turbo your 8, keep that in mind. And always budget for an extra $2k over what you originally thought
mysql101
12-17-2007, 06:46 PM
greddy is reliable if it's setup properly and tuned. my only beef is with the turbo bearings.. it wears out after a while (in my case, after 13k miles). It costs about $30 if you replace the bearings yourself, or $500 if you get a shop to rebuild it and balance it. Alternatively, you can replace the turbo. MM has a replacement in development now that will make more power and has real bearings.
Low price on an older gen RX-7 should be expected, but FI 7's are not well known for being reliable. It's common to drop 10-20k on a 3rd gen to get it up to snuff. Not sure about a 1st or 2nd gen.
1stgen8
12-17-2007, 07:02 PM
greddy is reliable if it's setup properly and tuned. my only beef is with the turbo bearings.. it wears out after a while (in my case, after 13k miles). It costs about $30 if you replace the bearings yourself, or $500 if you get a shop to rebuild it and balance it. Alternatively, you can replace the turbo. MM has a replacement in development now that will make more power and has real bearings.
Low price on an older gen RX-7 should be expected, but FI 7's are not well known for being reliable. It's common to drop 10-20k on a 3rd gen to get it up to snuff. Not sure about a 1st or 2nd gen.
Well I can tell you he bought the SC in 1989 or 1990 when we were stationed in NJ. He had it on his 87 that was ported and polished up until last (2006) year when he decided to go turbo. His 87 was his daily driver for atleast 5 of those years with no problems. He has performed all the fixes and upgrades that needed to be done to the SC kit so I'm not worried about reliability.
chickenwafer
12-17-2007, 07:07 PM
greddy is reliable if it's setup properly and tuned. my only beef is with the turbo bearings.. it wears out after a while (in my case, after 13k miles). It costs about $30 if you replace the bearings yourself, or $500 if you get a shop to rebuild it and balance it. Alternatively, you can replace the turbo. MM has a replacement in development now that will make more power and has real bearings.
Low price on an older gen RX-7 should be expected, but FI 7's are not well known for being reliable. It's common to drop 10-20k on a 3rd gen to get it up to snuff. Not sure about a 1st or 2nd gen.
Stock turbo FC's are all get out reliable for the most part. The FD is whole other animal. Most of the FD's problems stem from a radically undersized cooling system, overly complicated sequential twin turbos, and failing hoses, solenoids, etc under the hood (caused by that inadequate cooling system).