what to look for

[richrx]

hi all
im going to see a 1990 FC on thursday, i know what to look for on an fd but is there any fault common to fc's which i should look for?

any other tips would be great.

cheers

by the way this is Robbies fault for taking me to trax in his fd;)

[MikeLMR]

main thing in all older cars is rust.

[richrx]

yup rust is a major killer, so how do you check for bad rust under the car, i think it's been in scotland its whole life so rust will be worse than english cars:(

[grinder]

check the simple stuff

1 - it starts ok from hot and cold
2 - with the engine cold - remove the rad cap - start the car and check for bubbles - if so - bad news - replace cap before it gets hot
3 - check clutch at 40 in 5th ( floor it and check for reving ) - this is supposed to be the maximum drag on the clutch
4 - check lights work , and all electrics
5 - check sunvisors for water damage ( due to leaking sunroof)
6 - check boot floor
7 - make sure all lights work on the centre dash thingy
8 - check elec ariel
9 - check the rear sils and round the bottom of the rear arches
10 - look up under the back wheels and check round the rear suspension ( last one i looked at was rotten at both sides )

thats a start i suppose - but its a start

so what sort is it richrx ???

Happy hunting

Stu

[richrx]

just rich is cool.

its a black TII coupe, 137000 miles totaly standard as far as i know, it has a folder full of reciepts, it has a scrape on the bumper which they done but it will be fixed.

its 1990 so does anyone know if its a series 4 or 5, i think if it has air con its a deries 5 right?

also when the cruise is engaged should i be able to adjust the speed up and down?

its just £2500 ono :D

[grinder]

i would say its a series 5

it should have air con !! ( make sure that it works and has been recently serviced ! )

when you engage cruise at say 70 you can hold the set button in ( red one on the end ) and it will increase speed

if you then press a pedal the cruise is cancelled

you can then press resume and it will speed up to the last set speed ( most un-nerving when the "go faster" pedal moves all by itself !! )

when using cuise you can also slow down by pressing the lever down and it slows down , you can then press the resume to be taken to the last set speed

although cruise takes the fun out of driving - i liked it in mine

137000 miles you say - i hope its had a recent rebuild for that price

the next door picked up a g reg turbo II with about 96K on the clock and a rebuild at about 60K for £2000

so when are you picking it up ???

[clive]

Originally posted by richrx
hi all
im going to see a 1990 FC on thursday, i know what to look for on an fd but is there any fault common to fc's which i should look for?

any other tips would be great.

cheers

by the way this is Robbies fault for taking me to trax in his fd;) Hi Rich ,

Good man the Turbo11 is Sooooo underrated , for the money it's an awful lot of car.

Stu has pretty much told you all the info you need.

All the best Clive
clive@mazdarotaryclub.com
www.mazdarotaryclub.com

[richrx]

was only going to buy it if it was what i wanted, although the body on it was very tatty

rust at the top of the wind screen, a bit around the sun roof, the bumber had been sprayed 3 or 4 times and was damaged so needed replaced, also the sill were very bad, there were various other spots also. key'd too in places.

the engine was warm when i got there, maybe had been started about 2-3 hour before i arrived, also the idle speed was at 2000rpm other than than no real probs with the engine.

where should the turbo come in, i could only take it too 80 in 3rd and there was quite a whine about 3000rpm, the turbo came in at about 3500, sound right. Only problem was it didnt feel much quicker than my current car:confused:

checked the clutch and it was ok no slipping, although it had a bit more bite than im used too.:D

electrics all worked although i couldnt really get a cruise speed as the traffic combined with the small roads in aberdeen was a pain, also it was only me and my friend who went out in it so didnt want to stray too far and get lost.

also i wasnt used to driving a rw drive car and when i went round a corner at maybe 50(in a 60 limit of course :D) the back felt like it was swaying slightly or it was way different from fwd anyway.

i think the guy wanted 2500 with SOME of the body repairs done but im thinking 1500 and pay £1000 for a paint job myself.


here's a pic, when i pulled up behind a car i could see the reflection, it looked like Night rider:D:D:D:D

[grinder]

not being funny here - but from what you say - for 2.5K i would keep looking

if you can get it for 1.5K then its not toooo bad !

what car do you drive now ? - a TiII should be RAPID !

good luck

stu

[richrx]

i wont be buying it. i drive a 16v cavalier- 17 sec 1/4 mile though my friends does a 16.1 and that feels 10x faster

[grinder]

is there a reason for not buying it ?

[richrx]

the bodywork isnt what i wanted it was quite tatty, there was alot of rusting underneith. Also it idled at 2,000rpm. im still waiting on the guys lowest price for the car as is.

also i cant insure it till jan when my current policy is up.

[richrx]

how many black T-II's are out there? i havent seen many and i loved the T-II i saw there in black.

[grinder]

to be honest , i havent seen many TII's in black !