Not looking for someone to hold my hand or anything, so I'll get to the point. I'm looking to rebuild my 1980 RX-7, Liam. He's had a damned rough 27 years, and I think it's about time for an overhaul. Whoever owned 'im before me ragged the ever-loving hell out of 'im, so I'm looking at extensive wear and tear all over the place.

It's practically going to be a "from the ground up" restoration effort. The entire interior from the carpet all the way up to the factory 8-track need to be replaced, which should be easy enough to find. I'm not too worried about that. However, just last year a young-buck clipped the right rear fender from wheel-well to bumper in a green Cavelier, so now my gun-metal grey friend has an ugly *** dent and green feces smeared all over it.

I'd like to just get the entire panel replaced, but I'm having difficulty tracking one down. Does anyone have any suggestions on a sort of "one-stop shop" on the internet that I could use to kinda put all my eggs in one basket and get a more concrete number to shoot for in terms of complete restoration?

Aside from the interior and that body panel, I'd also like to replace all of the decals that have fallen off over the years, update the headlights (that should be easy enough, but suggestions are welcome), and get a new factory paint job. It also needs new exhaust, new brakes, new shocks, and it's probably about time to have the transmission and clutch rebuild/replaced. I just had the engine swapped about 3 years ago, but I'm afraid that the seals are starting to go, so a new engine, or atleast another rebuild, will be necessary for that. All the belts and hoses need to be replaced, as well as the radiator.

Like I said, this is going to be a massive restoration project, and I just thought I'd try to get some help from someone that's done this before and is familiar with the in's and out's, as well as the minor setbacks and debacles associated with this. I want to get my little beast road-worthy again, as he's been sitting for over a year an 4 months now (I had to leave him when I moved to NOLA for Katrina). If anyone has any links to good online stores that will have what I need, please feel free to e-mail them to me, as well as suggestions on what NOT to do. Thanks!

DT

 

First off be prepared to spend more then you think you will, second your first priority is to rip out the interior and get your angle grinder and welder ready because there will be rust that needs to be fixed, also the for sale section of this forum is the absolute cheapest and best place to find parts for a first gen RX-7, people are parting out their cars all the time there, listen to trochoid and remeber to read the 1st gen FAQ's at the top of the first gen forum index.

I'm also restoring my 7, all the above are whats making it possible.

 

I've never heard of a factory 8 track in an RX-7...I think if they had any kind of tape player it was a cassette.

As for the restoration, I did a ground up on an MGB a few years ago...very rewarding, but a lot of work. Stay organized. I put small parts in ziploc bags and labeled where they came from. Larger parts went into boxes that were similarly labeled. Take tons of digital pictures and keep them organized (I like Picasa...freeware from Google). I documented my work on a web page (http://64mgb.home.mchsi.com/) so anyone that was interested could follow my progress. When it came time to start putting it back together I ran a network cable to the garage and stuck a computer out there for easy reference to my pictures. That helped alot.

Good luck!

Rich

 

I'm not sure if its your intent to go stock all the way or not, but here are some good sources for parts:

blackdragonauto.com (more expensive for most items but lots of interior parts)
mazdatrix.com (oem & aftermarket/ performance parts)
racingbeat.com (mostly performance parts)
ebay.com (caveat emptor!)

There are some other sources but these will get you started nicely.

Like it has been said already, read the FAQ section and do searches, you will uncover many helpful tips and pics from people who have already been there, done that. If you don't do your homework in searching properly before asking a question (starting a thread here), its quite possible that many people will just ignore you, tell you to do a search, or to read the FAQ. The archives, FAQ, and search tools are here for good reasons, so I strongly encourage you to utilize them first, always. This forum has a plethora of info and you will soon find yourself spending hours on end here!

Since you have an '80 (also known as an SA), be aware that several significant changes were made for the 81-85 models (also known as an FB) sokeep that in mind when shopping around. Good luck with the restoration and welcome to the forum!

 

Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, I'm not at all mechanically inclined, so just about all of the work that doesn't involved the stripping of the interior and such I'm going to have to pay someone to do. I know, I know. "What a dick". But I'm not going to test my learning ability on a car that I want to get back to pristine condition. Not only that, but I don't live in an area that accomodates me working on a car after work or the weekends. If I was still out in the country, I'd happily get some of my buddies together and tackle this project, but as it stands I'm going to have to rely on professionals to help me get this job done.

My intention is to get the interior and exterior done before I worry about the mechanical stuff, but I hope I'm able to make this work. As it is, step 1 of a million is still atleast two years away easily, but I needed some sort of goal, somewhere to place the bar that way I could judge when the time was right to start undergoing this project. It's definitely something I'm determined to do. I'm tired of my car sitting hundreds of miles away from me wasting away. So, once again, thank you for the help. I'm going to make sure to bookmark all of these links for future reference, and I'll be sure to start posting some pictures when I finally get this ball rolling.

 

Welcome to the forum and the Darkside.

Having 'Been there, Done that', let me point out your first 2 mistakes before you even get started. 1. Do as much work yourself as you can. Even if you have to buy tools and rent space, it's cheaper and ultimately many times more satisfying. Not to mention the new skills you can learn along the way. 2. Do not make the body 'pretty', then discover you are out of cash to finish the mechanicals. They should be done coincidental of each other. For example: while the suspension is being refurbished/replaced restore the underbody of the car, along with the lines and fuel tank , while the engine is out, do the engine bay, etc..

As for the rear quater panel, no one make repops of them so you will need to cut one out of a donor car. This is best left to the professionals. If you are serious about the quality, extent and longevity of your restoration, remove everything, every nut, bolt, bracket, piece of glass and trim. Restore/refurbish/detail each piece, bag it and put it away until it;s time to put the puzzle back together.

Research your restoration materials and products. Buy the the best you can afford. If it comes in a rattle can and doesn't say SEM on it, don't use it. For small parts, buy an hvlp touch-up gun and a compressor. Use only automotive grade primer/sealers/base and clearcoats from your local autobody supplier. The rattle can **** found at the local autoparts/hardware/home centers and Walmart will NOT stand the test of time.

In my sig line is a link to the online FSMs, carb manual and other rotary related material. Read, download whatever you need and read some more. The last link is my my project. The only items left on the shell during restoration were the dash and the main wiring harnesses. Everything else that could be removed, was.

Good luck with your project and feel free to ask any questions you may have about restoration proceedures or products. There are a few of us who have gone a bit over the top with our projects and we're more than willing to help guide a quality restoration.

 

this is in my 74 rx4 wagon.
still works too.

 

That's hella-cool (as Cartman would say)!

Rich

 

It sounds like you pretty much want to replace/restore everything, including the engine...and get a factory paint job. And you're "going to have to rely on professionals to help me get this job done."

Well brother, unless you have a strong personal attachment to this particular car, or enjoy paying someone else huge amounts of money to do all the work, I'd suggest you buy one that already probably looks like your "dream car" for about $2500 or less (look in the For Sale section in this forum), or be prepared to spend 2-3 times that amount.

Just a suggestion, and just my opinion,

DD

 

2 to 3 times that amount?? If he's going to repair or replace everything that needs it and paint it, I'd say you're looking at way more than that. And be aware that when you're done, your car won't be worth what you've put into it...you need to do it for the love.

Rich

 

Yes I'd think about finding another 80 in good condition for under $2,000, that you can drive every day and get to know intimately. The new one will keep you plenty busy. Then use your current car for a parts car or a long term restoration (or both) if that's where your heart is.

You'll hear a lot about upgrades on the forum here, but here's the only one I'd suggest:

 

the 8-track is a great item , i knew of at least one workign one for a rx7 being sold on the forum . i have an 85 i am restoring and an 81 for my daily driver . i am tossing what i cant use off my 81 and putting all the stuff i am replacing from my 85 onto it. it makes me want to rebuild that one too , maybe in time . but i have rebuilt hyundai excels from the ground up just because . so dont let aneone discourage you in your quest to keep one more peice of automotive history out of the junk yard .

 

Of course we will never get the money back out of our cars that we put into them. I do ALL of my own work. On the widebody build, there are 2 things that I didn't do myself. I didn't set the fixed glass, the windshield and the 1/4 glass, and I didn't tint the hatch or 1/4 glass. Total outside labor paid for was less than 100 bucks. Even at that skill level, I still spent 6k in parts to build the car. I still need another 3-4k in parts for the TII swap and that's not including another 1-1.5k I've already spent for more tire/wheel/brake upgrades.

To top all of that off, I still have a very inexpensive paint job and can easily spend another 1500 on that, on materials and supplies alone, to get what I want for a finished product.

 

Was this car damaged by the floods or high dry during Katrina? If its was flooded your going to have to strip it all down completely anyway.

 

The car is and always has been in Ft. Worth. I had to leave it when I moved to New Orleans, because it wasn't in any condition to make the trip. I've often thought about buying another 1st gen RX-7, and I just might do that, but that doesn't mean I want to sell mine. I do have an attachment to it, and I'd like to see it restored someday.

Thanks to the information I've gotten from you guys, I'm confident it will happen someday, hopefully sooner than later. Thanks!