Shotgun or new piston rings?

[TerminalVelocity]

The bird is slowly dying...the tranny is giving and if I dont warm it up, I can stall the car. The serpitine belt needs replacing, the rear brake pads do too, the engine has 62,000 miles of hard rallying. I nolonger have a heater, and with the tranny, I get some torque converter slipage. Now my question is.

Should I just rally it till it dies, probally 10,000 more *which will go fast* and save my pennies untill I gan get My second warhorse *70mach1, do conversion for 429 but put a 460 in instead*

Or should I rebuild the tranny, engine, and fix all those problems and rally it for another 70,000?

Its still fast *shut up redneck, your engine cost more than the car so by that alone, it is fast, because its fast for its class... *

There isno poll, because I want to hear what you say and why.

[Cbass]

Hell, I think if you're going to rebuild the engine and tranny, they might as well go in an RX7... you know my multiple posts on how cheaply this can be done.

From a racing standpoint, I think the Bird is pretty heavy, and if you're going to throw a lot of money into something, it might be a good idea to start with something lighter... like an RX7

Of course, an RX7 doesn't really have rear seats, so that's a big consideration. Maybe an LX Mustang?

As cool as a '70 Mach 1 is, it'll be expensive, and there's no such thing as a cheap big block. Since you've already got the drivetrain, I suggest putting it in an RX7.

[-The Stig-]

I'd like to point out... you got the car with 40k on the dial.. thus the last 20k has only been Hard driving.

I personally say Rebuild the bird and just take care of it, if you do the 460 Mach1 like we've talked about you'll be hating life trying to feed it with enough gas.

those trips to Ventura would get mighty expensive. Keep the bird as a daily. Save up for the Stang to be the weekend bruiser.

[Cbass]

It doesn't matter what we say... if he loves the Bird, he'll keep it... if it's just another car to him, he'll move on.

[TerminalVelocity]

I loved the first stang, but I moved on

The woman who owned the bird before me had "a lead foot" and aparently ran it hard like a motherfucker

Last thought I forgot to put

Get a cheep fun semi-fast runner, like say a Daytona, or maby a delsol with a lil work to it.

Any more thoughts on this?

[hybridsol]

Originally posted by TerminalVelocity

or maby a delsol with a lil work to it.

I realize this sounds biased b/c I own a delsol, but you'll probably have saved money in the long run by buying a delsol or other honda. Due to the fact that they get excellent gas milage. Then again if you think the Tbird will be more lucrative to fix (as redneck suggested) do that. I only say this b/c I know you make alot of long trips.(that and I love my car)

[RACER D12]

Try something new because you cant drive a car forever you had your good times and your bad but now its time to move on. Lifes short so experience as many different cars as you can. I mean for me when im old and they take away my drivers licents because i cant see and i ran over a biker i want to look back on all the great and not so great cars I had and know I experienced alot. I dont want to look back and be like man I only had 3 or 4 different cars and they all just burned a hole in my poket and thats way im sleeping on the street because i have no retirerment money left because I spent it all on fixint the mother f@#kers. But who knows maybe im saying this because im new and havnt found a car i really love yet:spam2: (just wanted to use this)

[Polygon]

Like hybrid I'm biased as well, and I say you can't go wrong with a Daytona with the 2.2L. Put a Garrett T3 and slap on a boost controller. Plus the car can handle like no other.

[DMC12]

We had some good times in the TBird. That 5.0 V8 can sure win some races, but like RACER D12 said... it is time you experience something else!

You know that the bird is fast, but you know how nobody will race you because they think you're a narc or that you got grandma's car. Get the Del Sol, Daytona or RX7!!! Those three all have some really good options... for example, with the Sol you can get aftermarket EVERYTHING! The Daytona will be cost-effective performance. The RX7 has "race me" written all over it (perfect for Saturday nights in VC) :smoka:

[-The Stig-]

Hahah... getting a totally new car wont help...

Remember people the Bird itself doesnt have much resale value. So that limits the ideas of buying other cars such as Del Sol's with 'work done to them' and Daytona's with a Garret T3 Turbo.

It would be cheaper to have the motor fixed, if not rebuilt than it would to go out and buy some real beater and hopefully make sure it it lasts.

And whatever you do... do not get a Rx-7... especially if you're on a tight budget. Cause if something went wrong you'd be screwed. Cause none of us (me, tom, YOU) have any idea how to fix a Rotary motor. Plus parts aren't exactly cheap from what i've gathered. Not that we can't Learn how to fix one... but it's not going to a quick fix like if it were a Pushrod Motor.

When I was still installing alarms we put in a system at a place called Mazdaspeed, all they did was fix and upgrade Rx-7s. I like Rx-7s but unless I've got some green to back one up I wouldn't want to touch one.


Jusy my take on it.

[RACER D12]

Originally posted by RedNeck383
Hahah... getting a totally new car wont help...

Remember people the Bird itself doesnt have much resale value. So that limits the ideas of buying other cars such as Del Sol's with 'work done to them' and Daytona's with a Garret T3 Turbo.

It would be cheaper to have the motor fixed, if not rebuilt than it would to go out and buy some real beater and hopefully make sure it it lasts.

And whatever you do... do not get a Rx-7... especially if you're on a tight budget. Cause if something went wrong you'd be screwed. Cause none of us (me, tom, YOU) have any idea how to fix a Rotary motor. Plus parts aren't exactly cheap from what i've gathered. Not that we can't Learn how to fix one... but it's not going to a quick fix like if it were a Pushrod Motor.

When I was still installing alarms we put in a system at a place called Mazdaspeed, all they did was fix and upgrade Rx-7s. I like Rx-7s but unless I've got some green to back one up I wouldn't want to touch one.


Jusy my take on it.

I beleave the RX-7 idea was to swap motors witha small block not keep the rotary.

[fatninja19]

My vote is to save money for a second car with loads of potential... But it may take a while to buy the car.. then there's also insurance for the second car.. So in actuality, I don't know what I vote for..

[94svt5.0]

I would fix it up and sell it. It has low miles for its age, you should make a little money on it. I would then plop the money down on a nice stang

[TerminalVelocity]

I might be able to get a bigmac outa the bird...trust me its not the best shape...and in perfect shape they go for 3 grand at best

[Cbass]

Thank you Racer D12, that was exactly my point. If you're going to get into the engine and rebuild it, you might as well put it in something it'll make fast. Hell, you could use your original 3.08 gears in the car, and it would still fly, and good gas mileage. A series 2 RX7 weighs about 2350, and the swap might add 100lbs. This is still 1500 lbs lighter than the bird... Result? Mucho fast, and it'll get 30mpg on the highway.

There are so many options for improving handling, braking, the looks... the only real drawback is lack of rear seats, and not enough rubber