The feedback on YouTube has been the same. While most people still watched the repetitive, boring sheet metal repairs (and I say that, being the guy that did and filmed them ), most also agree that by now, they see where I'm going with the sheet metal. So I think what I'll do is only cover the most interesting of sheet metal.

For example, the passenger front frame rail around the idler arm area needs to be repaired. Since this is a common problem for all older RX cars, then it's worth putting on camera...then again, since I won't be reinstalling the idler arm, maybe not. Well, for that matter, probably covering the frame repair on video is worthwhile anyway.

But yeah, I'm glad to hear that everyone is just as bored with sheet metal as I am. It will save me the trouble of filming it all and editing it together, only to end up with 20 minutes of yawn.

What sucks is that I'll be working on sheet metal for the time being. Though there are a few things I can mess with in the mean time.

If I can throw together an empty mockup engine block (I'll have to check what GSL-SE parts I have), I can do a little manifold and related work, which will be far more interesting.

 

It's fantastic work you're doing buddy. I have no idea how you're capable of doing all this and still keep a day job.

Can't wait for the next installment.

 

How did I forget to watch this update?!

Also, yes, 3M paint removing discs do kickass! I love them!

Wasn't the rapid-cooling of your welds said to of been a bad thing in one of your earlier videos?

Moar!

 

The firewall metal is a bit thicker, plus there are a bunch of stampings that add strength, so it takes more abuse than the door sheet metal. Plus I can easily get to the other side of the firewall and pound out any issues. All in all, it turned out pretty flat.

 

Jones'n for more. Cant wait to see the motor/ecu setup go together.

 

Part 19 of my '76 RX-5 Cosmo restoration continues with sheet metal repairs, but hopefully in a less boring format. First off I totally remove the rotted out front inner fenders by drilling out about a billion spot welds. Then we move onto the very complicated rear inner sill repair. This brings the introduction of POR-15, the first time I have used it on this project and by far, not the last. Included are many tips on working with this product. I promised less sheet metal, but wanted to show the rear inner sill repair because it was by far the most complicated sheet metal repair I have yet done on this car, and likely will remain as such. Included in this episode: drilling out spot welds, air hammering off panels, using MetalReady to prep for POR-15, applying POR-15, POR-15 usage tips, cutting out floor to access rear inner sill, fabricating a new rear inner sill panel, welding it all back into place, nudity of me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_ri6poq_BM

 

Bravo Aaron.
I can't believe you're able to work on both the Insight and the RX at the same time.
I don't think you'll be able to drive Tina in this type of weather we're currently getting.

Can't wait for episode 20!

 

That is a ton of work that I can't even imagine undertaking for such a small area. I'm going to have to anyway since I've got a few doozies on the 7, but damn I'm impressed.

 

It wasn't quite my choice to have to deal with the Insight, but with almost 300,000 KM on the car, there was just some work that needed to be done. The input shaft bearing had been in a state of failure since this spring, and it was time to do the clutch, brakes, and a few other items. It was just horrifically unpleasant because that was the first week of my wonderful October of being sick.

Still driving Tina! Sure, a little snow on the ground here and there, but as long as there's no salt, it's all good. Perfect turbo weather. Though I think this weekend will finally be the time to store the car for the winter.

Thanks! What's funny is that anywhere else on the sill, a repair would have taken all of 5 minutes to fabricate because the rest of the sill is basically flat. But no, the rusted area had to be in a spot with multiple compound curves where 4 other pieces of sheet metal come together. Sigh.

 

its funny how some people think that once water freezes it becomes super corrosive. lol its definitely the salt that gets ya.

 

No point in having the car and not driving it. If I did that, I might as well own an FD. Just one day I'll get around to actually plugging my laptop into the Microtech and adding a bit more fuel after startup, because it annoys me to have to crank the car twice to start it when the weather is < -1.

 

hahaha I had to buy 2 to be able to drive 1

 

Salt is a killer. Absolutely hate it. But alas, if you want to live here, you have to deal with it.

I take the FD out on nice sunny days. This season I took it out 8 times. 8 freakin times in the entire season. Hardly have enough time to do anything nowadays.
But when I do take it out...

300k on the insight?!?! How's the body holding up?

 

Body? I'm curious to how the battery is holding up!

 

I know Aaron replaced the battery pack once already. Don't know if he's replaced it a 2nd time already.

 

Seems to be about typical for FD owners. Need more cars to beat the odds.

8 times?!

The aluminum body looks as good as the day I bought the car, minus a few dings and scratches. I just recently had to replace the rear bumper due to it being caved in by a tenant of my office building. What's also nice is that almost all the fasteners are coated, so they don't rust either. It's a very easy car to work on.

The battery is a bit of a story, but to summarize, it was replaced last February by Honda on warranty. I brought the car in with an IMA light (basically a "there's something wrong with the hybrid system" light) because the car showed a battery deterioration code. I wanted them to just have it on file, and I had planned to just reset the battery controller, let it recalibrate the battery pack, and then continue on my way. The pack would have been fine for another 5 years or so, the BCM was just freaking out because the pack had slightly less capacity through normal wear and tear, plus the temperature had swung in a day from -20 to +5 or so. Anyway, when the tech handed me back me keys he said "We've ordered you a new battery pack on warranty". So I now have a shiny new battery pack, at no cost to me, replaced at about 250K (the warranty ends at 250K). Fine for another 15 years.

They would not let me keep the old battery pack which is fairly unfortunate. I could have made a wicked electric go kart.

Edit...that was the original battery that had been replaced.

 

I can't believe I forgot to ask this way back when you were doing the power window/locks, but where did you get the rivnuts? I asked at Facca as well as a few other hardware places and they all looked at me like I was crazy. I know they exist, it's not in my head!!!! Would have sealed the deal by yelling that.

 

I buy them from Facca off of Exeter. They typically have them in stock. Princess Auto also sells rivnuts, but only in standard. Facca has them in proper metric.

 

Fantastic Videos, Saw all of them in the past few days.

Congrats on all the work. Will be nice when its all done.

 

Hmm, could have sworn that I had asked Chris at Facca about them and didn't get any results. I'll have to go back in the spring. Thanks.

 

Haha, I actually buy them from Facca relatively often. The last time was sometime late this summer. That's also where I got the little tool. They go by the name "rivnut", "nutsert", "threaded insert" and a few other variations. If you Google image search "nutsert" you'll get a bunch of examples you can print out or bring on your phone. But I always go to the Facca on Exeter because the other Facca doesn't have near as much stock.

 

Merry Christmas everyone! It's about that time in the day where one starts to get tired of their crazy extended family, so to brighten the mood with a distraction, here's Episode 20 of my '76 Cosmo Restoration. In part 20, I media blast the front end and engine bay, removing 35 years of rust, gunk and dirt. Then POR-15's MetalReady is used to preserve the freshly blasted sheet metal and prevent surface rust from forming while the repairs are performed. So grab that new tablet or laptop, sit down with an adult beverage and enjoy. Included in this episode: making a blasting tent to contain the mess, info about media blasting, blasting the front end including inner fenders, wheel wells, frame and engine bay, and using MetalReady to prevent flash rust on the fresh metal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzv1X_v3dHk

 

I was looking at the tags you listed for this thread, couldn't help but notice you left out 'weld' and 'grind'.

 

YAY!! I'm always so happy to see anew video. Keep it up bud. I got some work done today too, but I was in the driveway.

 

Other people are tagging the thread, not me.