A turd, truly polished. My build thread...
07-13-08, 01:21 AM
#1
A turd, truly polished. My build thread...
This January I came upon an ad here in the SE for sale section for a T2 roller for sale with title. When I browsed the ad I thought "man what a POS!". Then I thought about it some more and said to myself that I don't want to let another straight bodied clean titled RX chasis go to the crusher...
After a little wheelin' and dealin' on it the next thing I knew I was meeting a tow truck driver in front of (RRTEC) Trevor's house at 10pm. The deal was that I traded him half an engine for the sunroof lid and tray, the 4 pot Sport brakes off my parts car, the 5 lug sport hubs (still on the parts car though...), and $50 for the aluminum hood.
The story starts here... This car was a complete mess!! Looks to have been parted out on more then one occasion, used for spray paint practice lol..., and some sort of government experiment to see if it could fly (park bench wing installed...). I think I got it in worse condition then these pictures indicate.
No engine, no transmission, no drive shaft, no engine bay components, no front end installed, no headlights, no tail lights, no marker lenses, no passenger glass, no ECU, no mirrors, 10 different colors, DIY window tint, no rear springs, no brake lines...
After a little wheelin' and dealin' on it the next thing I knew I was meeting a tow truck driver in front of (RRTEC) Trevor's house at 10pm. The deal was that I traded him half an engine for the sunroof lid and tray, the 4 pot Sport brakes off my parts car, the 5 lug sport hubs (still on the parts car though...), and $50 for the aluminum hood.
The story starts here... This car was a complete mess!! Looks to have been parted out on more then one occasion, used for spray paint practice lol..., and some sort of government experiment to see if it could fly (park bench wing installed...). I think I got it in worse condition then these pictures indicate.
No engine, no transmission, no drive shaft, no engine bay components, no front end installed, no headlights, no tail lights, no marker lenses, no passenger glass, no ECU, no mirrors, 10 different colors, DIY window tint, no rear springs, no brake lines...
07-13-08, 01:49 AM
#2
A little progress...
The first thing I did on my next day off was clean the parts and trash out of the car and give it a good vacuum. I installed the new passenger door glass and vacuumed the broken glass out of the inside of the door. A few days later I installed the front end components. I installed the coil packs and radiator etc too. Then came the primer. It was bugging me that it was so many different colors.
07-13-08, 01:55 AM
#3
The donor car...
Many of the parts used for this build came from this beast. The one rotor wonder! Purchased in August '07 with blown motor, no title for $300 from RoughRex... Before you say... "why didn't you get a title to this one???"... I did try, and failed. It was beautiful when I got it. Just needed a new motor. It gave it's life to better the life of 2 other cars though so it's not a complete waste.
Interior from an 88 SE. Thanks to Zach in Smyrna.
Interior from an 88 SE. Thanks to Zach in Smyrna.
07-13-08, 02:06 AM
#6
In goes the engine!
After the engine installation...
I purchased the motor from a friend of Zach (didn't catch his name). Payed $100 for the short block and a few misc. pieces. From what I understand the motor is a Mazda reman. with unknown mileage. The lats car it was in ran premix, no emissions, and a Webber side draft carb. I thought $100 was a steal so I jumped on it.
Interior started to go in...
I purchased the motor from a friend of Zach (didn't catch his name). Payed $100 for the short block and a few misc. pieces. From what I understand the motor is a Mazda reman. with unknown mileage. The lats car it was in ran premix, no emissions, and a Webber side draft carb. I thought $100 was a steal so I jumped on it.
Interior started to go in...
07-13-08, 02:17 AM
#7
How she sits today...
After countless hours of labor here is what it looks like as of today. The car drives well. Suspension from the donor car is in great shape. Brakes work well (although it is time for new pads and rotors).
I repainted the car in the yard for those of you wondering... Turned out decent. Not perfect, but better then primer and better then Maaco. Duplicolor base coat championship white and TranStar clear. There are a couple thing spots where you can see a bit of primer. I will fix them later. It has great sheen from the clear. Thus far I have not buffed it. I wet sanded with the standard 2000 gritt. Needs to be hit with some 3m rubbing compound and glazing. Followed by a nice application of cleaner wax after the paint cures.
This is my 7th DIY paint job. Not my best, but given the circumstances it is acceptable.
Repainted the wheels in Rustoleum aluminum spray.
A thorn in my side! It will get fixed eventually.
I repainted the car in the yard for those of you wondering... Turned out decent. Not perfect, but better then primer and better then Maaco. Duplicolor base coat championship white and TranStar clear. There are a couple thing spots where you can see a bit of primer. I will fix them later. It has great sheen from the clear. Thus far I have not buffed it. I wet sanded with the standard 2000 gritt. Needs to be hit with some 3m rubbing compound and glazing. Followed by a nice application of cleaner wax after the paint cures.
This is my 7th DIY paint job. Not my best, but given the circumstances it is acceptable.
Repainted the wheels in Rustoleum aluminum spray.
A thorn in my side! It will get fixed eventually.
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. That's some serious restoration. Good job and the car looks great. 
07-13-08, 02:31 AM
#9
Specs...
-88 T2 chasis, unknown mileage
-Mazda rebuilt NA motor with unknown mileage
-NA open rear end
-Sport suspension
-Sport transmission and drive shaft
-OMP deleted. Full premix.
-GXL wheels refinished in aluminum paint
-4 matching tires!!!
-White paint with clear coat
-87 Sport ECU
-Power steering
-AC delete
-88 SE dashboard and door panels
-86 GXL seats
-87 T2 rear gray carpet
-s5 radio bezel
-s5 steering wheel (leather removed from wheel, not horn)
-s4 NA guage cluster
-Broken sunroof. Opens manually by hand.
-Averaged 19MPG on the last 450 miles driven
The bads...
-Major cracks on the windshield
-Needs tail light restoration
-Small oil leak. 99% sure its the oil pan gasket maker. Once I order and install a real gasket it should fix it. Leaks approximately 3/4 quart per 100 miles.
-One tire needs replacement from dry rot
-DIY exhaust weld is a tad crooked...
-Smokes on cold start up. Possibly due to poor quality 2 cycle oil.
-New gray front carpet has not arrived yet!!
-Needs a couple interior bits
-No horns installed. I have horns, but the computer is busted.
-Under side of hood is still red. Once the oil leak is fixed it will be flat blacked or wal-mart glossy white.
So far I am pleased with the car. I wanted to build something I could use as a back up car. Something reliable and with a good ride. I want it to appear stock for the most part.
I have invested an estimated $400 into the car as of now. Countless labor. Gasoline of course... Overall it's been a great learning experience and I have managed to keep another RX7 on the road.
-88 T2 chasis, unknown mileage
-Mazda rebuilt NA motor with unknown mileage
-NA open rear end
-Sport suspension
-Sport transmission and drive shaft
-OMP deleted. Full premix.
-GXL wheels refinished in aluminum paint
-4 matching tires!!!
-White paint with clear coat
-87 Sport ECU
-Power steering
-AC delete
-88 SE dashboard and door panels
-86 GXL seats
-87 T2 rear gray carpet
-s5 radio bezel
-s5 steering wheel (leather removed from wheel, not horn)
-s4 NA guage cluster
-Broken sunroof. Opens manually by hand.
-Averaged 19MPG on the last 450 miles driven
The bads...
-Major cracks on the windshield
-Needs tail light restoration
-Small oil leak. 99% sure its the oil pan gasket maker. Once I order and install a real gasket it should fix it. Leaks approximately 3/4 quart per 100 miles.
-One tire needs replacement from dry rot
-DIY exhaust weld is a tad crooked...
-Smokes on cold start up. Possibly due to poor quality 2 cycle oil.
-New gray front carpet has not arrived yet!!
-Needs a couple interior bits
-No horns installed. I have horns, but the computer is busted.
-Under side of hood is still red. Once the oil leak is fixed it will be flat blacked or wal-mart glossy white.
So far I am pleased with the car. I wanted to build something I could use as a back up car. Something reliable and with a good ride. I want it to appear stock for the most part.
I have invested an estimated $400 into the car as of now. Countless labor. Gasoline of course... Overall it's been a great learning experience and I have managed to keep another RX7 on the road.
07-13-08, 02:40 AM
#11
I'd hate to put time and money into a car and get pulled over or someone hit me on my drive to work. They'd check the VIN numbers... Um buddy?? This car hasn't been registered in 10 years! You attempted VIN swaps?? Well your goin' to jail tonight and the cars getting crushed!!
07-13-08, 10:43 AM
#14
Yeah, but like I said there's an oil leak on the front of the engine. It seems to squirt up onto the pulleys and gets slung all over the underside of the hood. Once I get the new gasket installed I'll paint it. Otherwise it will just keep getting dirty and the oil may act as a paint stripper too.
07-13-08, 11:24 AM
#15
I'd hate to put time and money into a car and get pulled over or someone hit me on my drive to work. They'd check the VIN numbers... Um buddy?? This car hasn't been registered in 10 years! You attempted VIN swaps?? Well your goin' to jail tonight and the cars getting crushed!!
It looks awsome, thanks for saving another 7!
07-13-08, 05:56 PM
#16
Yeah I thought about finding a completely smashed 7 chasis with a clean title and swapping out the fire wall with the red cars... Then I thought... hey? Why don't I just find a straight chasis with a title and use it instead?? hmmmmm
Thanks for the comments. It went from "holy crap! That's a piece of crap!" to "Hey that's a car! ... and it drives! ... and it's all the same color!" In a mere 6 months, lol. Would have been faster, but I couldn't work on it at the apartment. Had to drive 70 miles round trip if I wanted to work on it. I put in one or two good days of work on it a month. In the meantime I was stock piling and preparing the necessary parts I needed.
I'm going to do another one sometime soon hopefully. Maybe not an RX-7, but I was thinking...
...1st gen Miata roller with blown 4 banger. Swap in a 13b or 13bt and roll bar. A good set of lowering springs and some light weight 4 lug meshes, stock otherwise. 2100 pounds + 50-100 horsepower and stiffer suspension?? Hell yeah...
...FB restoration.
...z32 300zx restoration, appearing stock...
Thanks for the comments. It went from "holy crap! That's a piece of crap!" to "Hey that's a car! ... and it drives! ... and it's all the same color!" In a mere 6 months, lol. Would have been faster, but I couldn't work on it at the apartment. Had to drive 70 miles round trip if I wanted to work on it. I put in one or two good days of work on it a month. In the meantime I was stock piling and preparing the necessary parts I needed.
I'm going to do another one sometime soon hopefully. Maybe not an RX-7, but I was thinking...
...1st gen Miata roller with blown 4 banger. Swap in a 13b or 13bt and roll bar. A good set of lowering springs and some light weight 4 lug meshes, stock otherwise. 2100 pounds + 50-100 horsepower and stiffer suspension?? Hell yeah...
...FB restoration.
...z32 300zx restoration, appearing stock...
07-17-08, 11:57 AM
#18
Well I've managed to put the new oil pan gasket on and replaced a fuel line that ruptured from jacking up the engine to fix the oil pan... So far no evidence of any more oil leaks, although the car has only been revved at idle and driven in the driveway.
Next I will install the CD player and speakers.
Just need to finish fixing up the interior and give it a good buff and wax!
Next I will install the CD player and speakers.
Just need to finish fixing up the interior and give it a good buff and wax!
