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[Modderxtrordanare]

I have a few questions.

Is it legal/do-able to purchase a car without a liscence (from ebay or somewhere) but not drive it, just work on it until I turn 16 soon?

Or does one have to be 16 to be able to purchase a car.

I was thinking of getting an rx-7.  Is that somewhat of a good car?

[Himura]

I believe its perfectly legal since you only need a license to drive the car but you should always check your states laws.

Also, Im also pretty sure that you wont be able to afford a RX-7 if youre not even 16 yet because they are rather overpriced way above Blue Book Value (depending on what year you want though). RX-7s also have a lot of problems so be ready to spend LOTS of money fixing it.

Btw, are your parents gonna be buying the car for you? Because seeing how you asked your question, sounds like you'll be buying it yourself?

[Modderxtrordanare]

I would probably be paying for half the car.
Whats wrong with an rx-7.

'93 rx-7 is what I'm looking at.

[Modderxtrordanare]

Or no mechanic bills seeing as my brothers best friend is a mechanic, as are most all my friends. Ill just get them to do the work.  

[Rylinkus]

QUOTE(Modderxtrordanare @ Feb 19 2006, 09:34 AM)

Or no mechanic bills seeing as my brothers best friend is a mechanic, as are most all my friends. Ill just get them to do the work.  

are they experts on RX7s? No offense but no 16 YO needs a 93 RX7. It's far too overpriced unless you're merely looking to try and impress people. And plenty of very solid mechincs cant deal with a rotary engine let alone a newer RX7 and the million vacuum lines there. If you think you have people to work on that car be damn sure theyve worked on several of them before, because it truly is a one of a kind engine bay and unless youve dealt with them before theyre a nightmare to work on. And I really hope you take that to heart. Certified Mazda mechanics, (The ones at the dealerships), have issues with FDs. So unless you have a rotary expert, or a guy who specializes in those cars be very aware that theyre gonna have severe issues with em.

And if they tell you "It's just like any other car" or "How hard could it be?" stay the hell away from them, because they know nothing about that car and will mess up the vacuum system. Andone of maybe 30-40 vacuum hoses being hooked up wrong means losing a ton of HP.

And parts for them are way pricey.

[Rylinkus]

QUOTE(lans @ Feb 19 2006, 10:50 AM)

unless you just wanna go the way of swaping out the legendary rotary for say an LS1 getting a good mechanic like Rylinkus said is going to be hard

Good man, but an LT1/LS1 swap ruins the true greatness of the car, mainly the handling.

[Modderxtrordanare]

Well my brother is a mechanic and he owned his rx-7 for a long time and he know how to work on them I guess.
If not an rx-7, what else would someone reccomend.

The things I'm mainly looking for in a car is.
-Rounded features (not like the '85-'87 rx-7 or cars with sharp lines)
-Somewhat fast
-Good handling
-Manual


Edit: -Dont want a car that gets 15 gallons to the mile  

[Modderxtrordanare]

Also, a rotary engine is not hard to work on, seeing as it has next to no moving parts.

[Himura]

QUOTE(Modderxtrordanare @ Feb 19 2006, 12:19 PM)

Edit: -Dont want a car that gets 15 gallons to the mile  

Thats the RX-7 right there for you  

Read around some and learn more about it.

Heres a great site also:
http://robrobinette.com/

[Rylinkus]

Theyre also fairly high maintenance. Rotary engines are far from reliable. Eve if all the labor was free, parts alone could be a bitch. I think it's easier to suggest cars if we have a price range and have some idea what you can afford to upkeep/insure/drive. Also if it needs to be drivable in snow. Or any othe criteria you may have. Ill admit that the newer RX7s area verynice looking car. Id never own one though. After upkeep and the overpriced nature of them to begin with I could find myself a much nicer sports car.

QUOTE

Also, a rotary engine is not hard to work on, seeing as it has next to no moving parts.

Your brother has rebuilt rotary engines? Because there's plenty of mechanics that wont.

[Modderxtrordanare]

Ok, so Ill try my best to supply information.

Im in Texas so I doubt snow will be an issue.
Odds are, Ill sell one (or more) of my computers and my 360 along with working for money.
So a price range should be within or around $1,500-4,000 ish.
Uhh what else...
Insurance I guess, Im gonna go as cheap as possible on that, such as liability only.  I dont really know much about insurance so I wouldnt know what they base their charges on.  It probably will be joined with my parents insurance.

[lans]

if your not too concerned it be ver high powered i would sugest find a later model camaro/firebird with a v6 and a manual those things sometimes go for under 4k

[Modderxtrordanare]

I dont want a camaro/firebird seeing how high the insurance would be for me.
Plus, everyone and their grandma has a camaro.

[ubernewb]

mkIII supra turbo..

quick, handling very similar to a FD (have driven both extensively), and since it's a toyota the maintenance is fairly cheap. the only thing you need to be on the lookout for is the head gasket.. best thing is to have the head and block machined/decked and install a metal headgasket. after that you should be golden

and you should be able to find one in your price range pretty easily as well.. i just picked up an 87 2 weeks ago for 1900. damn is that thing fun

[Rylinkus]

With a budget of about $4K I dont really think that a 93 RX7 is achievable. Theyre generally quite pricey.