SinisterSavannah

iTrader: (1)

So a few months ago I started searching for a suitable car to use for AutoX and potentially track days. I already have an '85 GSL, but as it's pretty pristine I didn't want to abuse it like that (plus I wanted something a bit faster). I had a budget of just $1000, and found this '84 GSL-SE. It has high miles (over 270,000 on the stock engine), but has been relatively well kept and has a full Racing Beat exhaust (which as we all know isn't exactly cheap), so I decided to go for it.

Mechanically, the car is a lion. The only thing I have plans for is to drop in a new intake kit from rx7.com.

Cosmetically, however, the car needed some work. I guess it looked OK for a 24 year old car, but I wanted to update it to look a little more modern.

The first thing I tackled was the back carpet which, as you can see, was pretty sun baked (bad part about all that California sun!).



Also, the bin covers were not in great shape.



I decided to dye these black. Here they are soaking in my makeshift tub.



And drying, Punisher style At this point I knew they would come out burgundy instead of black, but I'm OK with that. Actually I think it matches up well with the red dash, which I don't have plans to paint.



Here it is fitted:



Well, some time after doing the back carpets, I decided to go for the front carpets. Holy crap was that harder.

Here's the back part of the front, which wasn't bad to get out:



Getting the front part out was an absolute monster! I was at this point for two days.



Eventually, I just cut it out.



After constructing another tub:

SinisterSavannah

iTrader: (1)

Turned out pretty well I think. Kind of looks like bear skin doesn't it?:





After being fitted back in:



Well, the trim paint around the windshield was more than starting to peel, and just looking at it caused me pain, so I decided to paint it (shout out to '87 turbo II, he told me all I needed to know in order to do it right!). Here are some before snaps:





Man, that trim was the ******* bane of my existence. Here it is all sanded down. My hand was epically sore after this, just so you know.





After the primer:





After a few coats of some gloss black paint:

SinisterSavannah

iTrader: (1)

All cleaned up in the garage:



Sitting pretty outside:



Next step: audio. I wasn't looking for anything fancy, just some quality speakers and a new head unit that I can connect my mp3 player to. While I intended to only use this car for AutoX, I find that it actually gets slightly better mileage and I don't feel bad about pounding the odometer. I was able to find some nice Alpine Type S 2 ways off the forum. These are the rears, which as you can see are a bit smaller, but look (and sound) much better than the stock, 24 year old speakers (the fronts are the same size as stock).



I painted the center console black, and while I was at it painted the hand brake and shift boot/**** also just to see how it would look. I only planned to keep the center console the way it is, for the rest I am going aftermarket.



I was able to secure some free shift boots, but unfortunately I don't think they fit this car very well. No worries though, luckily the interior to my other FB is grey so I am just going to swap these (including the armrest) into that one and get some nice black ones for the Bloodhawk (Either leather or suede, I haven't decided. Any suggestions on this front?). Here's how the car looks at the moment:



Besides those boots and shift ****, next on the docket is:
-Get a nice new head unit to finish up my update of the audio system. So far I'm thinking the Clarion DB285USB.

-NEW SEATS! As you can probably tell in that last picture, the driver's seat is terribly sun baked, and I think the car would look much better with some black racing seats. This is my race car after all

-Steering wheel. I actually already have my new steering wheel, but I need to get a hub adapter, and I'm going to have the wheel wrapped with leather.

-Finally, and it'll probably be a while before I can fit this into my budget, but some new wheels. I've always loved the black on black look, so I'm looking at eventually getting some Tenzo R Type-M wheels. I decided to include a pic just because they're so nice



Thanks for taking a look at my thread. I hope to have some more updates soon.

SinisterSavannah

iTrader: (1)

Oops, forgot to add these:

In keeping with the black exterior/ black and red interior:

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

SEM has colors that are a near perfect match for the OEM burgundy and aren't as glossy. Otherwise, work looks good.

SinisterSavannah

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the tip, I've been wanting to tackle that area underneath the glove box. Do you know what store that paint is available in? I've never seen that brand.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Go to www.semproducts.com