For anyone looking for the other project threads:
Project Naomi I : New Project on an Old Favourite
Project Naomi II : Giant Rotisserie Pictures Update
Project Naomi III : End of Summer 2010 Update
Project Naomi IV : Almost Off The Rotisserie
Project Naomi V : Finally PAINT!
Project Naomi VI : IT LIVES!
Project Naomi VII : Coming Home

-----

Hey Guys,

So a few months back I posted about my new Mazda6 and mentioned that my FB was starting into a new project.

Well I finally got some progress (and pics) to share with you guys, so I'd like to introduce Project Naomi

For any of you who've been around the Ottawa group (or the 1st Gen Section) for a few years, you've undoubtedly seen my Sunbeam Silver FB. On the forum it was last seen somewhere in the vicinity of the Titanic and the Last Supper (bonus points to anyone who can dig up those pics).

In November I dropped it off at ClassicAuto and asked Joe to hold it for the winter, so that we could start on the project first thing in the New Year when I was ready. In February I went back down to ClassicAuto, signed the papers, dropped the deposit and said "go!".

The scope is nothing short of a complete teardown and rebuild. I drove the car 600km to get to ClassicAuto, running perfectly, in one piece (more or less, damn groundhogs), and when I pick it up it will be ready to drive the 600km home.

They're stripping it right down to the metal. Glass has all been removed, interior completely stripped, the dash, carpet, and roof liner are out, suspension's coming off, engine and tranny will be coming out, the fuel lines, brake lines, the works.

Then it'll be mounted on a rotisserie/spit, sandblasted and chemical stripped down to the metal, any rust will be removed and new metal will be welded in, then it's primer, paint, clear, and reassembly.

In the process the whole interior is getting soundproofing (Second Skin's Damplifier Pro and Luxury Liner Pro), a whole new carpet set is going in (from stockinteriors.com), the engine bay wiring harness will be completely re-done with new connectors and wires, and any parts that don't look so awesome when they come off aren't going back on the car again. We'll replace things as needed if they don't look like they'll last at least another decade.

It's a hell of a project, so without further adieu I present the first pictures of progress on Project Naomi:

 

More Pictures...






Word has it that it should be mounted on the rotisserie by the end of this upcoming week

I can't wait to see what kind of crazyness is hidden under all that paint and rust. I know that the floors are all jacked up and need to be flattened/straightened, and that the front passenger fender, bumper valance, and brake ducts took a hit from a fairly fat groundhog... And that under the rubber molding on the driver's side I found patches of bondo, so we'll see what's revealed once all the paint comes off!

I'll update again as soon as I've got more

Jon

 

subscribed! Excited to follow this.

 

I wanna see the spit. Can't wait to see the final product!

 

I can't imagine what having work like this done costs (I became a DIY mechanic mainly through economic necessity), so anything you'd care to share in that regard would be appreciated, too.

 

Jon,

Looks like you eliminated your AC? If you don't plan on having AC in the car again, you should have them weld up those holes that run through the firewall. There are 4 of them total. 2 for the refrigerant lines, one for wiring, and one for the drain. Just a thought. Looks good so far!

Jamie

 

Same here. Seems like you could buy three or four clean rust-free GSL-SEs for the cost of this. I guess love is love...

 

Ah, the black and white 1st gen! You should make a special request to your shop to replace all colored exposed wires in the engine bay with black or gray. I see blue spark plug wires - that's why I'm suggesting this. I want to see monochromatic!

 

DD - the answer is one of those "if you have to ask, them you don't want to know" type of answers... but since you did ask, it'll run somewhere close to $16k Canadian, or about the cost of four good condition stock GSL-SEs. Yes, I am crazy, nope, I don't want help

Jamie - I didn't delete the AC, my GS just never came with it! But I'll definitely keep the hole welding in mind.

Jeff - You know me too well. Wiring is all being done by me, black looms for the harness and a set of bosch wires. I'm not as picky about my wires as I am about my plugs so a set of black bosch wires will do fine and keep with the colour scheme. The carpet is going to be black and the dash and seatbacks will be dyed to match. The centre console plastic is going to be repainted silver as well. All black and silver throughout, should look awesome when it's done!

 

I have a theory that the 84-85 cars are more prone to the storage bin rust than the previous years were. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like pretty much every 84-85 has the storage bin rust. I have had two 1985s, one with 120,000 miles and one with an unbelieveable 80,000 miles. Both has storage bin rust. The paint on the 80,000 mile car is near perfect so it doesn't really seem like it has been out in the elements that much. I had a 1983 also, with 122,000 miles and the paint was complete crap. It was originally from New York yet there wasn't any rust on it anywhere. Go figure?

I think Mazda redesigned something in 1984 that is stressing the sheet metal in that area, even moreso than the 1979-1983 cars experienced. What it is I'm not sure. A suspension change, or a change in the stiffening of the body of the car somewhere? Who knows. Over time the continual stress of the forces acting on the metal causes it to rust out. Just my own personal hypothesis....

 

Interesting hypothesis... Mine had virtually none until about 2 years ago, but once it catches, it spreads like wildfire.

One thing that I'm going to have to find, which has been almost impossible to find in the past, is a set of door panels for it. They have to be from an 84-85 with manual windows and a grey interior. Mine are slashed to hell, I need ones in good condition. That combination seems to be one of the rarest though, since only the base model GS had manual windows for the S3, and most base models seem to have burgundy interiors...

Jon

 

My car probably has the same interior as yours. I've got a 1985 GS with gray interior. My door panels are in good shape aside from the cheapo vinyl at the top. I'm going to see if I can just re-cover the vinyl at the top and save the checked pattern carpet that matches the seats.

 

Nice! I can't wait to see what that kind of money buys these days.

 

For ye who are about to spend; we salute you!

 

Thanks guys!

DD - I originally became a "backyard mechanic" out of necessity too. I was a poor college student who was approached with the deal that "if you can fix it, you can have it". I've done all the mechanicals on the car myself, helped friends swap engines, the works. I just don't trust myself to do body work, and now I have the kind of job where I can do the kind of resto project that I always dreamed of. I figure this car has survived 25 years, I'm going to make sure it survives 25 more!

Along with the paint job it's getting a completely new undercoating. The material being used is closer to truck bed liner than anything else I could describe, and will do a good job at protecting the underside for years to come. Or at least, that's what the intent is!

Kentetsu - Amazingly, to everyone except the folks here on the forum, it won't really look like it "bought" anything different than any other Sunbeam Silver GS. To you guys, little things like the undercoating, the soundproofing, the new carpet, the dyed interior bits, and existing changes I've made like the clear tails and corners and smoked glass sunroof are going to stand out. Details like the inside of the engine bay will only really be seen by folks who want to see it, and only enthusiasts will have any clue that a thousand little things are different. For me, I'm getting the piece of mind that I *know* what's in and under every nook and cranny the car has. It's my car, built from scratch to my specs both mechanically and cosmetically. And it still costs me less than buying a new miata or rx8 so why not?

... though I guess it sort of "buys" me another two decades of enjoying the car, because with the rate that the existing rust would progress I'd be lucky to get five more years out of it before I started worrying about the control arms busting loose. And this is Canada - even without driving in the winter we still get lots of rust. My car is one of the more pristine samples I've seen around here in recent years. If I had to buy another one, I'd go looking to import it from the west coast for sure.

Jon

 

I saw your car on the 5th at the swap meet Joe was having at his place. I was contemplating yanking your Sterling to be an ***, but thought better of it. I'm pretty sure Joe would have thought it suspicious of me to be in there for long. Good luck with the project.

 

Well, I have a '84 GSL-SE with not a spot of rust. I tore out the entire interior looking for it. The rustiest thing was the tin plate protecting the stock ECU which went into the trash when I put the Mirotech in the glove compartment.

 

Can't have too many Sterlings I've often debated buying another one to keep on the side "just in case" I need it. Not that my existing one would break, but rather I might pick up another 7, or meet someone with a 7 who needs one... Or use it to convince people who don't have them that they really should have one... That kind of thing.

It really was a transformative experience when I put that on. To me it was an even bigger change than going from stock exhaust to RB Street Port exhaust, and you hear people talking about how big that is all the time! I just can't wait to get an engine under it that can really make full use of it. Right now it's just a stock 12a with over 200,000km on it. It runs borderline compression, but it's even across all chambers, and yet thanks to the Sterling and the RB exhaust it puts out more power to the rear wheels than it put to the flywheel when it was new!

Jon

 

they did actually change the lower link pickup points for 84.

i think really though you have a poor survey sample. ive had almost a dozen 84-85's and not had any rust in any of them.

 

I thought they changed it in 81... I seem to recall that something back there was moved 10mm for the FB, might have been the swaybar though, my memory isn't working well at the moment.

Either way, at 25+yrs old these cars are going to get rust on them at some point no matter how they were designed (assuming that design used steel). All we can do is sandblast it off, weld in new metal and apply a new protective coating to get another decade or two out of it.

It's pretty daunting undertaking a task like this.. You start to wonder things like "Now that it's in a thousand pieces is it ever going to go back together the same way? Will I be chasing squeaks and rattles from interior parts? ". You've just gotta trust your shop and keep telling yourself it'll come out better than it went in!

Jon

 

I've thought about getting another Sterling for display. I need to have mine repainted since it's black/gold theme doesn't match the silver/red theme I have going with the new engine and RE-Speed bits. You'll definitely love some porting with the Sterling. While my car isn't running very well right now, once I get to 3K it starts to come alive and I can tell it has the potential to get me into A LOT of trouble.

 

Hell, I can get into enough trouble even without a port job! You really have to love the Sterling. If I had the cash laying around, I'd be picking up at least one spare just to have it on hand...









.

 

Wait until you see the motor I want to build next year to put under my Sterling ^.^

Let's just say I threw out the old "Ultimate N/A 12a" idea when 12a parts became NLA and the only words to describe what I've got planned now are "Frankenengine"

Jon

 

^That's what I have, a complete frankenstein motor. 12A plates, REW housings, GSL-SE rotors and e-shaft. I would have gone with the lighter 2nd gen rotors, but the engine as it is was way over budget. Mild/medium streetport primaries, aggressive streetport on the secondaries. 74 RX-4 manifold which has completely individual runners so without opening the secondary throttle plates the secondary ports aren't seeing any intake charge. In theory low-mid rpm driving should be fully streetable, then when I need some oomph I just push into the secondaries. If I get bored with this, I can bridge the secondaries and get a few more top end ponies without really sacrificing low rpm power.

 

Here's what I was thinking

TII Irons (4-port)
Any FC rotor housings
S5 N/A Rotors (9.7:1)
Rx8 Stat Gears and E-shaft (hardened stat gears, lightened e-shaft)
12a front cover
GSL-SE Oil Pan

And all the little things like the thermal pellet, conversion to an FMOC, street/strip clutch, lightweight steel flywheel, etc...

So parts from right across the generations! The only generation not represented is the FD, which really doesn't have much to offer a carb'd N/A build!

Jon