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I purchased a 1985 GS for parts recently. I bought it for the superior front and rear suspension and brakes to replace the 1979 suspension that was swapped into my 81 by a previous owner (and because it came with an unused Respeed rack and pinion kit). The parts car is mostly complete.
I plan to strip the car of parts I need and selling or junking the rest. My question is, what parts are worth keeping around for spares, and what parts are worth pulling to sell?
Is it rust free? If so, I'd cut up the shell an save the B-pillars and rear wheel wells which are prone to rust, even on nice "rust free" cars. I'm a bit of a hoarder, so I'd save anything I could remove from it, but if you want to be judicious, I'd start by looking at a Black Dragon catalog to see what is no longer available, and the Mazdatrix website to see what is also NLA and save those parts. You'll even get an idea of what IS still available, but very expensive.
I would save everything! I strip wrecked ones down to a bare shell. I keep EVERY nut and bolt and organize all of the parts into labeled boxes. I like to cut the quarter and rocker panels off as well as the front clip, along the seam just forward of the strut towers. Cut the glass out and save it as well. Parts are getting harder and harder to find. Why not box the car up and save the parts?
When I part out cars I keep EVERYTHING that can be unbolted. Those spare nuts/bolts/clips/etc. are useful beyond measure when you can't find the original one from your car. List it up in a Part Out post in the First Gen Classifieds and you'll have plenty of us nut cases buying parts from ya - you'll most likely make a lot of your money back on the purchase
I've half written a response here about 5 times, then gotten distracted and busy, so I'll keep this one shorter.
Unfortunately the wheel wells seem to be succumbing to rust, so they're unlikely to be worth keeping. The rest of the body has more minor rust.
Thanks for the advice on checking catalogs for out of production parts, I'll keep that in mind. I suppose it's also worth sticking it in the for sale section and pulling parts to order for anything I don't keep. Only issue is shipping will likely be prohibitive since I'm not near a major centre (Saskatchewan).
I'll try and remember to go out and take a picture to share soon.
Dang, that's a hell of a nice parts car! Wheel well / bin rot is common, but fixable. Considering what some people start out with on these boards that car looks NICE. Not sure what the rest of the car looks like, but just sayin... Not trying to tell you what to do - you do what's best for you - but I've seen guys build stuff that's worse.
im in about the same situation. got an 85 GS that has a title but its rx7#3 in the driveway and i'd rather harvest and hoard parts and let the rotted shell take a hike. paper thin bottom but the shiny side is nice and interior is minty fresh.
Sorry to resurrect my own old thread, but I felt like sharing. It's a good thing I didn't plan to restore this car, because it turns out its 2 car halves welded together (poorly).
