Visited the car today. Got it up on blocks, so I can fix the tyres and be able to roll it, and went over it to see what is going to be needed.

The list is long!!!



There is some rust on the passenger sill (both inside and out) and the front cross bar has been removed (the previous owner was going to put in a RB20). The doors are also rusted at the bottom.

 

Get friendly with a cutoff wheel, some sheet metal and a welder! Should be a good project, have you done body work before?

 

I have never done bodywork.

The bonnet is no good and it now appears that the doors are beyond hope.

And the list gets longer!!!

 

I am in the same boat as you my friend. Just recently got an SA that has extensive rust on the passenger side rocker panel/rear fender, hood, and a few other minor spots... even a little bit near the lower control arm. My brakes are stuck too... and I haven't done bodywork either. It's gonna be worth it my man!

 

How hard is it to find parts where you are? that rust along the rocker panels along with the rust I'm sure you'll find in the wheel wells should be first on your list. If you plan on doing it yourself just start playing around until you get it right

 

Thats an interesting color.......did it come new in that shade, or is it an age faded gold/yellow?

 

Holy crap!
anyone else notice that his front fenders have NO SIDE MARKER LIGHTS - completely blank! kuel...
seen pics of this fender version in a few overseas brochures, put never in "real" life...
OK. so I'm a bit of a parts-weenie
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

id like to see that on the road. im feeling the gold

 

Bring her back from the dead, I believe thats the same color thats on mine. Which is a original mazda color called Solar Gold.

 

The car was repainted but I belive the colour is close to the original so it could have been like the one above.

The original registration says brown.

 

The passenger door.



Going on Saturday to check out some doors, a bonnet and some tail lights.

 

yummy, that brings back memories of about 2 months ago.....

 

This was done by the previous owner so that they could put in an RB20DET

82Transam: Do you have more pictures of your car from before you started?

 

solar gold only came on the LS model in 80

 

Well mine doesnt have LS badging but has the all vinyl seat option instead of the material inlay and I have read that the all vinyl option was a upgrade.

 

time to bust out the por 15!!haha

 

unfortunatly no, solar gold was available on all grades in 1980. as you are perfectly aware, the special thing other than the leather interior and the LS badge were the wheels, which were painted in solar gold. the Leather sport was the only RX-7 to feature the solar gold wheels.

 

So the frame rails in the engine bay are rusty and particually bad infront of the engine mount.



I went this evening to see a piece of a car which I am collecting tomorrow.

My question is how should I graft what I am getting onto what I have.

The piece is all the inner pieces from the front (no bumpers fenders etc) all the way back to just behind the front seats. It is cut at the bottom of the A pillars and has a complete fire wall, inner wheel wells, floor, inner sills, frame rails etc.

Should I cut just in front of the engine mount or remove the old frame all the way back.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions would be appriciated.

 

wow looks like you have rust in a structural part of the front frame.....

are you sure that car is salvagable???

anyway I noticed that the front fenders dont have marker lamps in them, must have been just a US thing.

 

and judging from the second pic, the rocker panels look to have rusted from the inside out. whats the floor look like, under the carpet?

also is the wiring as bad as the body.

i am not trying to knock down your dream just being realistic, you will need some impressive welding skills to replace some of those parts, and a good frame rack or at a minimum a level slab of concrete to support the vehicle on jack stands and level it all up before you start cutting structure out of it.

I see that you said you have not done body work before????, what do you plan on using for donor parts, and such, do you have another car lined up for parts?

if so maybee that car is a better choice for a restoration.

would be fun to do but a lot of work , mostly skilled technical fab. work.

makes me appreciate my rust free 1979 SA.

i have dont this work on a 70s trans am and the hardest part is the prep just to remove some of the parts with out the car coming apart on you.

those front frame rails look scary as well as the rocker panels.

good luck man

 

i was unaware. i was told by a few guys who have a rotary shop here in pa that solar gold was a LS option only.

 

looks like you've got your work cut out for you there. you're braver than me, but it ought to make for big satisfaction when you're done. good luck and keep postin' the pics.

 

Good luck with that, but if there is too much rust on structural parts it is going to be a lot more work than it may be worth. Just keep that in mind.

However, having said that, I really hope you have enough love and devotion to this car to get it golden again.... get it? Golden? haha.... alright that isn't that funny.

 

I might be able to find some pics of my car before. I didn't take a ton of pictures, but there might be some. That rust is pretty bad I'll admit, as the others have said, you might want to give this serious thought before digging in too deep. I imagine finding another shell in Trinidad isn't the easiest thing right? If not then get real friendly with the sandblaster, cutoff wheels, new sheet metal and a welder and start going at it....
I'll see what I can do about more pictures.

 

Getting a shell would be difficult. Fortunalty most of the rust is concentrated forward of the crossmember. What do you think about cutting out the whole lot and replacing with the rust free section?