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New Member, Silver RX8, Atlanta from progressive / copart
Hello RX8 Forums,
I'm Brian and my Son Cameron (22) have just purchased his dream car at auction at CoPart. It's a 2004 RX8, 6 speed with a hardtop. We don't know much about the car other than the pictures online so we thought we would see if:
a) Anybody knows anything about this car
b) Anybody has any parts radiator, core support, hood in the southeast
c) Anybody has any advice for him as he starts this journey.
He's wanted a rx8 Rotary since we first saw them running the Sahlen at Daytona Rolex24 in 2005-6. We are car folks, i build and race chevies, but this is HIS car.
So, yes we got it for a REAL CHEAP price at auction sight unsheen..
Looking to learn anything we can, we'll pick the car up early next week.
Id start with a compression test, best to know the health of the engine before starting the project. I'm going to assume its going to need a rebuild - but you could get lucky!
We picked it up yesterday. Very clean interior (except for the 2 airbag deployments). Well cared for it seems from the Malibu Car Wash membership card and the oil change sticker.
Came with 18s (god awful plasti-dipped), Nexen tires with some life left in them, he's going to be looking for some very used RE71R or Rivals from somebody cheap.
Needs:
1- Crash bar
2- possible radiator, but not really sure yet
3- nose cone
4- lower lip / facia
5- windshield
6- stock radio
7- right side foglight
battery was almost dead, car crank over but hasn't fired yet. i expect the morons over at CoPart flooded it , which is a major problem with rotaries. we will do a compression check after we put a full charge on a battery to see. He's a poor *** college student, so this is going to be a SLOW project. Anybody who has ANYTHING that could even REMOTELY be useful for him, please let us know -- if you have anything you want to "Pay it Forward" for this car, PLEASE HOLLER AT ME, i will pick them up from you on one of my many trips around the US (or I will pay shipping).
overall, this car has been a "Dream Car" for cameron since he saw the 3rotors spitting fire at the Rolex24 at Daytona in 2005
I'm happy for him, i think it's going to be fun. He is going to start in CStreet and go from there, so we need to get the car back to street.
It's a good day when your kid grows up enough & saves up enough money to buy his dream car, even if it's a $625 wrecked 2rotor Rx8.
he might be going in with his twin brother on 1/2 ownership so he can have some working capital to get it on the road again. -The Dad, Brian
Last edited by cameronlarose; Mar 22, 2016 at 10:59 AM.
IT's ALIVE... IT'S A RUNNING MOTOR.. WHEW!! MAJOR SIGH OF RELIEF. Now to get the radiator, hood and windshield replaced before ETR Points #2. I have a VERY VERY happy son.. He's out there in the garage working on it now. Point of Order to the Car guys and gals here -- Folks at a JunkYard probably don't understand rotaries enough, they FLOODED it, cameron and I did the DeFlood a 2nd time today with the air pump disconnected and on the 2nd try it fired up.... It also didn't hurt that it's a manual tranny. smile emoticon
Went by the shop today and visited Kevin at @RotaryResurrection. We picked up an OEM radiator, stock fans, hood latch and air bags. Very pleased with the shop, Kevin is a very helpful guy and VERY knowledgable about Rotaries.
WE WILL BE BACK TO VISIT HIM. If you have Rotary needs in the East Tennessee / SouthWest Virginia, i STRONGLY recommend Kevin.
Congratulations! You may want to think about upgrading the cooling, since overheating is a major issue in shortening engine life. If your son is thinking of tracking it then a more efficient all-aluminum radiator is recommended (and possibly an upgraded water pump and lower-temp thermostat from Mazmart as well). For street driving an OEM radiator is ok, although many here do mods to get the fans to start running at lower temperatures.
Once you get the car running, an inexpensive OBD2 bluetooth scanner connected to a mobile phone app can provide some really good info on things like coolant temperature.
Id start with a compression test, best to know the health of the engine before starting the project. I'm going to assume its going to need a rebuild - but you could get lucky!
What he said! I'd do this before sinking in any more funds. After the test, you'll have a better feeling of where you guys are standing.
New Member, Silver RX8, Atlanta from progressive / copart
