mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

just thought i would share some pics of how the LS looked when i bought it. and some more recent pics. i will be adding to this thread as i bring the car out of storage in May and being going through it as it has been sitting for a couple of years without being driven, only being started and moved back and forth. so at any rate, here are some pics of the car when i first got it in Dec on 03 (pics from ebay auction) with just over 56,000 original miles. car now has 61K.













more to come!

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

more recent from 2004:















more to come!

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

a few more from a day at the park in the spring of 04:

ourxseven

iTrader: (1)

nice LS,

that was some alarming overspray on the MAZDA badge when you got it . Is it a good repaint match to the origonal code ? Were the rims that colour stock ?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

and the last set for now. first one was taken in summer of 04 and the last few were taken in the spring of 05:

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

the paint is actually the original paint and thus showing its age. the front emblem was extremely weathered and looked almost golden. it has since been replaced. the wheels are original and were painted solar gold from the factory as they were part of the Leather Sport package. other LS colors included brilliant black and aurora white..all LS colors came with solar gold wheels.

Rotor_king

iTrader: (2)

Been a huge fan of your ls for a while now. Replaced the muffler since 05?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

thank you. no i havent. i've been lazy about it since the car is garaged year round. i havent driven it since aug 06. this year will be a different story. i may switch to a RB muffler or for teh sake of originality, which i want, i may repair the muffler. i have all necessary oem parts to do so. i have the outlet pipes and i have the chrome tips.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

That's a pretty car

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

thank you Ray. thats an awesome compliment coming from someone like youself that is so much of an RX-7 enthusiest.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Sweet lil beast. Golden waffles, makin me hungry...

It that a stock 80 shift ****? I've never been able to lock down whether mine is original or not ,but it's quite different from yours.

Mickster

iTrader: (2)

Never seen the before pictures Dave. Thanks for the look back. At 17 I had my sights set on an RX-7. I fell big time for the LS model and loved each of the three colors. It was the gold waffle wheels and rich brown leather interior that really made this limited model stand out to me. I wish I would could have stocked up on the original Bridgestone RWL Steel Belted 70s. That spare of yours is fantastic to see.

Your interior is in very good / excellent condition. Are the Clarion radio and cassette deck components still operational? Any other significant breakage / wear? My chromed plastic couplings on the door handles have significant cracks and are very fragile. My windshield defrost vent covers are also heavily oxidized and cracked.

That is indeed an original leather wrapped shift **** for the 80 LS.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Mike, definatly an original LS shift **** well, some things are worn. the defroster vents are extremely brittle and barely fit in the dash due to heat shrinkage... the chrome plating on the shifter trim is wearing off on the radio side. the cassete deck and radio work well. the left rear channel has a terrible buzzing due to a possible bad amp or channel in the radio. i removed the speaker and all is well but as soon as the original or an aftermarket speaker is plugged in, the buzzing persists...its annoying. the muffler has seen better days... one small area of stitching came lose on the drivers seat but is not noticible. you have to feel it to notice it. the sunroof wind deflector was burned at one time and i have been trying for nearly six years to locate another black/brown one...other than that...i should take a pic of the floor mats..not sure if they're original but they're definatly vintage if i think of any other malfunctions i'll let oyu know. i just cant think of many off the top of my head but i'm sure there are more...

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

Yes, you've got a nice ride, Always admired the LS's and this one has survived way above average condition. I remember them back in the day but don't recall the stripes. I'm assuming those were part of the package?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

the stripes were a silly dealer add on. when i repaint the car they are not coming back. i would like to find literature on the LS. i have never been able to find any..

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

I would vote for not repainting it. The value will be higher in the future if you can preserve the existing paint and the stripes may seem silly but they're oh so 80s. I vote keep them as well. Thats a fantastis LS you have and of course I love dem waffles in gold. BTW I want your chrome shift boot rim as well

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

I had to make the paint or not to paint decision year before last. Overall it looked good and there has never been any rust. It was just a couple problem areas, checking and a big nasty scratch down to the bone. (someting fell on it on the garage) I opted for the redo. Lost some oginality but she sure looks sexy in new materials.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i would really like to keep the paint original. i hate to get rid of such beautiful paint..but we'll see. there are some nasty scratched on the front end and a couple aft of the driver's door..

ray green

iTrader: (14)

I agree, stay with that original paint as long as you can. It's a fantastic color and will be hard to match, even getting the factory original color will lose something because the finish you have has aged like fine wine, very rare.

7aull

iTrader: (2)

Dave -
I'm with Ray, always nice to stick with original paint if its save-able. Maybe try a "paint-as-you-go" technique? I've been spraying worn panel areas in sections with good results (mind you, a solid-colored Sunrise Red in very good original condition) - good paint shops can do some amazing things with color-matches. I started with the nose/bumper/under panels/ rear bumper - doing the rear/rear quarter panels/roof next. First thing is get a body or detail shop to do a pro-machine polish of existing paint to bring it up to absolute best, then start making judgements on condition of paint on each panel. You may be amazed at what a huge diff a proper polish can make if the paint is basically sound. $125-ish well spent in evaluating what can ultimately be a $4K+ re spray (at least, in Alaska).

As for your dying interior trim bits, man, start hunting now if your looking for new parts! New LS-specific stuff is, of course, unobtainium, but the stock trim bits are still floating around in small numbers. Download the 79-80 parts manuals, transcribe the part numbers and start harassing Dealers...
Happy Hunting-
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

RXDad

iTrader: (2)

Nice...
A little elbow grease in the engine bay and your car is something special.

RXDad

Banzai

iTrader: (13)

I argee, best to keep as orginal as possibile, but if you have scratches through the color coat or rust / corrosion comming up from underneath what alternatives do you have? Live with the the bad spots or redo. And once you start to refinish things-at what point or percent do you say it's still orginal or not? No right or wrong answers here. If orginial paint is going to add $$$ value, the rest of the vehicle better be up to snuff as well, otherwise it's kind of moot. A vehicles paint / finish will almost always be the single biggest first impression and can alter every other judgement of a vehicle after that. In the end, I think a person needs to do what's going to please them the most. Is it that orginial "Patina" with a few imperfections, or shinny new perfect?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

well, i really want to keep the original paint. i will try and go to where the car is stored and take some pics of the bad scratches. i was thinking of touching up the areas with a nice re-spray but i fear that the re-spray will never match. i'm all for originality and when i restore an RX-7, they are always 100% stock before any modification is made..and thats a rare time when i modify a car because i value originality so much. i plan on keeping this car 100% stock and as original as possible. i'll get the pics when i'm out and about today..timing belt on my 95Ranger gave up the ghost and i have to rent a special tool to get the harmonic balancer off. it held me up last night.. its all apart save for that thing.. so, i have to knock that out today and get the truck back on the road before 7pm tonight when i have to go into work. i'll post the pics this afternoon.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i've already downloaded the parts manuals in pdf and have plans to do just that. the dealer that i go to treats me well and with a 20% discount on every part that i order, so needelss to say, they've earned my business for good! i have very little that i need for the car, but the parts that i do need will be costly and tough to find. the dash vents are my number one replacement for the interior. and mechanically, we're set except for the rear wheel bearings. i replaced the original front brake pads in 05. they were completely worn. i'm so sick that i saved them, just so that i can have all of the original parts:

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

got the pics of the scratches this afternoon but since i'm at work until 7am tomorrow morning, i will not be able to post them until tomorrow.