85 GSL rescue project
 

i came across an excellent deal on an 85 GSL. after a long trip to get the car, its safe and in the garage. i'm not sure what my plans are for the car other than to fix it and drive it. the biggest issue will be the rust..the second issue will be the interior and after that will be a drivetrain and then finally the bodywork.

here's how the car sat on the trailer last night on the way home:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09799.jpg

in my driveway this morning:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09802.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09803.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09804.jpg

the interior when it arrived:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09805.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09800.jpg

interior after i removed all of the parts:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09808.jpg

found a nasty ecu location:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09817.jpg

cleaned the area and replaced the ecu:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09818.jpg

engine bay this morning:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09806.jpg

engine bay now after i adjusted the hood, installed coils, a clutch master cylinder, repaired some wiring, repalced the fuisble links, installed the battery tray, installed the harnesses into the firewall, installed the washer tank, installed a new negative battery cable and wiped some areas down a little:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09822.jpg

the interior now after i replpaced the radio surround, shifter boot, and installed the ecu. its still sooo far off. i need to aquire a maroon steering wheel (for now i have an extra gray one), a maroon rear carpet and some minor interior plastics. the carpet will be deep cleaned and i will get the interior back to 100% stock:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09819.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09827.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09824.jpg

as the car sits before i went in for the night..its got my garage a DISASTER!!!:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09828.jpg

its still a long way off. i need to get a power window switch so i can roll the windows up and down. they are both down slightly and its annoying. i have some pics of the rust that i'll post tomorrow..most people would part this car based on the rust and the crappy body..i should but something is telling me to fix this one.. if anything it'lll be good welding practice and plasme cutter cutting practice!

I've restored many old school RX-3, RX-4 and RX-2 and REPU in the past. In fact, I'm workign on my 3rd RX-3 right now. I say do it. strip it down and then send it to the body shop. have them paint in and out the car including the engine bay. then switch to a different color interior. S3 arent hard to find. this will keep you pre-occupy

Please say you got it for free...

yup

good luck with your new project, it has potential.

For the low low price of FREE you got a good project there, and even if it does wind up in the scrapyard you haven't lost anything.

looks like an aborted turbo swap?

i dunno if its worth NEW parts, but i do have the last two red rear carpets...

i won't put a alot of expensive parts into it. if you have the rear carpet section i'd be interested.

That last pic, it looks like it's staring adoringly up at you, thanking you for rescuing it from the pound.

I'd love a free 7, even it there was only a few salvage parts. Did the apple juice come with it? ;)

my daughter loves the apple juice and my wife just throws the stuff in the garage..which ticks me off but i tolerate it because its for my daughter..i did however find a bottle of generic febreeze in the car as well as a dane cook cd and a jacobs ignition box which is kinda neat.

the car probably hasn't seen the inside of a garage in a decade..it really should be a parts car but it reminds me of my very first 7...and i regret scrapping it. this is kinda like my second chance at restoring a boneyard destined 7. i mean whoever had the thing must have hated it..they bondo'd over the hatch lock location and it looks like they jumped some railroad tracks with the thing..sad..

here are a few pics of some of the rust. there's going to be a lot of fabricating to make this car road worthy. the driver's side rear wheel well is literally near gone and the control arm mount had rotted of at one point and had been welded back on. i plan to re-weld all of the areas and add new metal in both wheel wells.

right side storage bin area:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09810.jpg

left side:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09811.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09812.jpg

thats some pretty bad looking cancer, good luck though. Ive had my dealings with cancer in my 7. :)

yeah its really bad..bad enought that it should be a parts car. i've just got some weird facination with RX-7 restoration and i kinda like this car..

Whew, that's a lot of work! But if anyone can do it Dave, it's you. I look forward to seeing the progress, the one really good thing is that it has a HUGE amount of potential.

i'm doing my best here and i'm hoping it turns out well :) i'll update the thread tomorrow with new pics. i've been working away on this sad little 7.

I need to put in a plug for Georgia here. That new project of yours Dave is why I don't live in Ohio, more salt than Laguna Beach on your roads up there during the winter. Georgia cars, even ones over 25 years old, are pretty much rust free.

But you guys are tough, if you can make it through those winters there's probably a pretty good chance you can get that GSL in show room shape again.

a bit more progress has been made but i've been a bit sick so i havent gotten any new pics. i'll be sure to take some after work tomorrow and post them up.

as promised, some recent pics of the 85..nothing great but i haven't spent a penny on the car yet and its starting to look worlds better. i want to get the car as complete as possible before welding in new metal and replacing body panels. the car is trashing my garage in the process, littering it with parts and..ok, i'm lazy and haven't taken the unused parts to the shed and placed them in their perspective box.

as the car sits now:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09829.jpg

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09843.jpg

replaced the steering wheel...don't have a maroon one yet nor a maroon horn button:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09831.jpg

no maroon rear carpet but i sourced my best maroon interior parts to fill the spots that were missing the trim:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09830.jpg

new acrylic sunroof off the shelf. matched better than the cream one that was on the car:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09834.jpg

replaced the old scummy tinted hatch with a good one i had on the shelf as well as the seal with a good seal from the parts box. hatch even has a wiper arm..though not the correct wiper arm unfortunatly:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09835.jpg

cleaned the nasty left front wheel and installed a wheel bearing cap (cap was missing when i got the car):

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09838.jpg

with a quick wash, the right front wheel came mostly clean:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09841.jpg

replaced the entire rear harness with a good one off the shelf. old one was cut in several places and was corroding badly:

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...e/DSC09842.jpg

I'm beginning to see possibilities...

I'm looking forward on watching your progress with this. if you feel like driving up to Grant Michigan, i have an extra transmission I'll give ya for free.

Good luck with the build!

i'd be interested in that. whats your zip code?