I came across this site, wasn't sure if anyone has seen it or not but it has good pictures of a restoration project. It seems a bit expensive to me, I would think you could find another RX-7 that would require less work and money but that's my opinion. Also, I had no idea our cars were welded together from a front and back section(when you see the pics you'll know what I mean). Check it out...

http://webpages.charter.net/wbauman/rx7/rx7_main.html

 

i saw that a while back, that guy put some serious time into it i love the outcome of the car looks great, kinda like my project just not cutting the body up

 

Wow, that's a sh*t load of work. The result is worth it though.

I'm really impressed.

 

All unibody cars have a front "section" and a back "section", though some are bolted together as opposed to welded.

 

Not all those welds are where the original welds are ... the sills, the B pillars and the C pillars in particular ... this is why its actually against UK law to do this to a car and then sell it as it affects how a car crushes in an accident

He did one helluva job on it though ... quite an acomplishment !

 

The sub enclosures are pretty nifty...

He didnt do ANYTHING to the 12a!!! Oh well, i guess restoration is good too.

 

that guy must be **** as hell,

you could roll a ball bearing down every seam, everything is perfect.

 

That was the first site I found about fixing deep unibody rust. I was very depressed for a while because that's totally out of my league. Then I came across a fairly clean 82 GSL shell and just decided to swap all the good parts off my 85 to it.
Senti-mental value aside, it's not worth it to replace half the car. And unless it's done perfectly, the car will not be straight for alignment nor as strong in a crash.

 

What kind of arm rest is that in there??

 

Good eye. Doesn't look stock. You got me curious as well. Although Jim Tesla's Volvo armrest with the cup holders is the shiznit..

 

That car is sweet, I want it.

 

Real nice job. I might be doing the same thing, unless i find another 79-80 car in good shape. My car has more rust than his, i wonder how it stays togather rolling down the road. Time to do something about it.

 

Not bad, but the B-pillars are covered in bondo, and they tend to flex as the body twists over bumps. In 2-3 years the paint will have spiderweb cracks on both pillars from the cracking body filler underneath.

In addition, he coated the entire inner rear hatch area with rubbre spray-on coating to "prevent future rust" and put rust-protectant undercoating. Porsche tried this in the late 60s - early 70s and found that by sandwiching the metal between two layers of rubber like that it creates a capillary action that draws in moisture - then traps it there. 10 years later those porsches were falling apart, as will this chap's ReX, and he'll have to weld on a new hind end to replace his disintigrating one.

 

I'll have to agree that it was a good job but unless you have good ties with a body shop that sort of work could easily cost you $5000 probably more, just a guess. Also, I'd worry about the saftey and alignment aspect of it as well as mentioned before. For that kind of money I would buy another body, and modify the engine too.

 

I was wondering how he keeps everything aligned without a jig, but I've never tacked two body sections together...

 

EXACTLY, I kept saying this the whole time I was seeing it... This should be VERY VERY evident to why we have inner wheel well rust, sandwich two pieces of something on top of them and they will rust from the inside out... Also I hasten to further add when you weld pieces of metal together, like on the sides above the quarters by the roof, after you weld something like that, you leave metal on the other side exposed...

And for GOD's sake man, why didnt you just buy a car from a NON rust area,like Arizone, or California ? I just dont get it?