Thanks Ray! Yeah, the wheels are exactly the look I wanted. Also, my dad will be in town the week of June 6th, so the plan is to bring him to the OGTA meet on the 7th. This will be the same day I reveal the car to him. This has been an incredibly tough secret to keep!

Perfect, as usual. We look forward to checking out the new wheels, seeing you and the car again and meeting your dad at the OGTA meeting on June 7!

those wheels are awesome!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...5ae7a8ef0b.jpg
THIS is old school!!

Thanks!

Honestly, I love those deep dishers too. Car looks fantastic !!

Thanks a lot. So does yours. Glad you got your paint situation taken care of!

Never been a fan of the "waffles". What you now have just sets it off and it "sits" perfect. I'll bet your mate has to make you come to bed cause you're sitting in the garage staring at it from all angles all night..!!lol

VIDEO UPDATE: Dad sees the car for the first time!
 

After months of keeping this secret, dad finally sees the car for the first time. He got really emotional about 5 minutes into the drive. He absolutely LOVED it.

that's great! hopefully you guys will make it to OGTA today.

Awesome video man! That truly makes my soul happy lol. I even explained the whole story to my wife last night and she was happy because of it! Thanks for sharing.

And indeed, Phil, his Dad and the Spark Yellow 79 were on the OGTA scene last night, lots of fun:

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Awesome story! Love it, and hope to repeat the story myself one day.

Thanks guys. My dad flew back home last night, after a very fun and emotional, week long visit. The Rx-7 surprise was certainly a highlight, and something that we'll cherish for a long time. About 5 minutes into the drive on the video, a song came on from one of his old mix-tapes which I'd converted to Mp3, and he was overcome with emotion. Back in the day, he made a bunch of mix-tapes, which I always referred to as the "Rx-7 Tapes", because I have such vivid memories of listening to them in the car.

As I posted a while back, this was his first visit after losing his long-time girlfriend/best friend to cancer, so he was still very much in a state of grieving. But these tears were most certainly tears of joy, as he was taken back to a much happier time in his life.

It's funny how something like a car, or sound, or song can have such an impact, but this particular car certainly touched our family in a unique and special way. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to find it, and share it and our story, with you, and my dad.
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Wow.

Ray, there you go again bloviating relentlessly. Seriously though... What he said.

Very cool.

New pics. B&G springs and Kyb's installed
 

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...bc361ef02a.jpg

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Thanks for the story, and I absolutely love your car. Spark Yellow is one of my favorite colors for RX-7's. The wheels look great, and very period appropriate.

Love those wheels plus great story.

Rear Seats Installed!
 

After months of searching, I finally came across some rear seats, identical to the ones I sat in as a kid. Well, identical except for color (my dad's were beige, the ones I found were red) I found a local upholstery shop though, shared my story, found some matching material, and had the seats shipped directly to him. While I waited for the seats to arrive, I ordered some brown lap belts from ebay, installed them, and prepped the area for the seats. I think they turned out great, and the wife and kids absolutely love them! It's now the "family car" of choice for dinner out and trips to the park, etc.;)
[IMG]=http://s291.photobucket.com/user/ppruitt223/media/20161009_164543_zpsnvbycwoy.jpg.html]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...psnvbycwoy.jpg
[IMG]=http://s291.photobucket.com/user/ppruitt223/media/20161009_164254_zpscw889ft0.jpg.html]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...pscw889ft0.jpg
[IMG]=http://s291.photobucket.com/user/ppruitt223/media/20161104_142958_zpskwnuunzn.jpg.html]http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...pskwnuunzn.jpg

Enough to make you want to have kids.

Very nice Phil and beautifully executed.

Creating more memories...priceless

Thanks guys. Yeah, we're definitely creating memories, and having an absolute blast!