I bought this car back in 2004 in Texas while an owner of Gotham Racing with the intent of using it as a daily driver. Now I work in NYC with a company car and barely drive the poor vert.

Here are the problems it had:

(1) Overheated and seized engine FF
(1a) 5 and 6 ports fused shut ** FF
(2) Crunchy 2nd and 3rd gear tranny **
(3) Utterly trashed exterior, it looked like somebody took a hammer to all the body panels FF
(3a) All exterior trim pieces to include wiper arms looked they had been sandblasted in the deserts of Kuwait FF
(4) Extremely heat damaged leather seats FF
(5) Cracked taillight FF
(6) Cracked side view mirror FF
(7) driver's side window regulator shot ** FF
(8) doors dont lock **
(9) carpet trashed
(10) TPS bad ** FF
(11) slightly leaky fuel injectors **
(12) driver's side popup headlight motor bad ** FF
(13) 2 small tears in top
(14) door panels trashed FF
(15) antenna no workie **
(16) cig lighter missing
(17) and I am sure a bunch more I can't think of right now

items marked with a '**' I was unaware of at time of purchase. I bought the car for pretty damn cheap, and the battery was shot so I assumed it would have electrical problems. Items marked with a 'FF' have been fixed. Next up is swapping in a good tranny I acquired locally for cheap and fixing the small tears in top, and sending the injs to get cleaned.

 

Wow, car looks pretty damn good for what shape it was in. Its always good to see someone salvage FCs in that condition instead of scrap them or part them out. Keep up the good work.

 

damn...Id drive that vert like that...

its a cut above the 86 GX N/A beater that Im driving now......I miss my TII - soon my pet.....

good luck on the project, doesn't look like its too involved, just minor stuff

 

here's my DD...pretty good condition except,

5/6 ports weren't opening - fixed that
Need windshield - Getting fixed right now
Fuel leak this morning EEK! the lines come from under the car, then into hard lines...and it looks like the fuel is leaking from the other side of the hard lines...I don't know what all is involved there, but I will be tearing the UIM off and the whatever you 2nd Gen guys call that other "s" piece this weekend. Sucks I have to have a back up DD for my DD, haha!

Sure doesn't look as easy to work on as my single turbo FD.


Oh Rich, where did you get those clean turn signal covers?? TIA

 

^ no offence intended ... but your car looks so bad next to the lambo. Then again, most cars do lol.

 

I was thinking the other way around...let me take a picture next to my moon vehicle to show how good this 16 year old car looks

 

Lambos=Overrated...

I think the vert looks nice next to it though....hmmmm...which car do i steal?

 

i disagree the vert looks like sex in metal form.

 

Yeah, 95% of the project is done. The paint job was top notch, and involved a new hood, new front bumper, and new fender. I may sell the vert, but I have over $7k into it, and this is with doing most of the labor (including the engine build) myself!

 

They are Mazda OEM parts from my homeboy Ray Crowe

 

Update, because I've been spending a bunch of time working on this friggin' car

Here are the problems it had:

(1) Overheated and seized engine (cleaned and rebuilt with new oem internals)
(1a) 5 and 6 ports fused shut ** (FIXED)
(2) Crunchy 2nd and 3rd gear tranny ** (FIXED)
(3) Utterly trashed exterior, it looked like somebody took a hammer to all the body panels (FIXED)
(3a) All exterior trim pieces to include wiper arms looked they had been sandblasted in the deserts of Kuwait (FIXED)
(4) Extremely heat damaged leather seats (replaced with nicer oem seats)
(5) Cracked taillight (replaced with good shape one)
(6) Cracked side view mirror (FIXED)
(7) driver's side window regulator shot ** (FIXED)
(8) doors dont lock **
(9) carpet trashed
(10) TPS bad ** (FIXED)
(11) slightly leaky fuel injectors ** (FIXED)
(12) driver's side popup headlight motor bad ** (FIXED)
(13) 2 small tears in top (FIXED)
(14) door panels trashed (FIXED)
(15) antenna no workie **
(16) cig lighter missing
(17) front brakes shot (installed cross drilled/slotted rotors and ebc green pads)

I recently bought a nice black vert carpet and also a full set of door/trunk locks from lov-2-rev here on the forum, so those are next things to get swapped in. I also have an antenna and cig lighter which need to be installed as well.

New Stuff:

(18) Clutch line cracked and leaking (replaced with stainless steel line)
(19) rear brakes shot
(20) clutch going out
(21) bad exhaust leak, mufflers and piping in catback section rusted
(22) fuggin' top leaks at the seam where the top meets the targa, need to troubleshoot as there are no apparent sources for the leak

If anyone has a spare clutch, lightweight flywheel, or dual catback they are looking to move shoot me a PM

 

Ok, another update of all the problems this damn car has and the fixes:

(18) Clutch line cracked and leaking (replaced with stainless steel line)
(19) rear brakes shot (installed all new cross drilled/slotted brake rotors, ebc greens, and s/s brake lines at each corner)
(20) clutch going out (installed new oem mazda clutch, along with Fidanza alum flywheel and newer tranny. Also r&r'ed the pilot bearing while I was in there)
(21) bad exhaust leak, mufflers and piping in catback section rusted (installed Bonez high flow cat and Borla catback with all new gaskets and hangers)
(22) fuggin' top leaks at the seam where the top meets the targa, need to troubleshoot as there are no apparent sources for the leak

I also installed Racing Beat springs, tokico shocks, and all new oem upper mounts.

The only real problem that remains is that the brakes have an intermittent thing going on, basically like there is no power assist at low speeds. I think the brake booster might be shot.

I can honestly say I love the improvements all the parts have made to the car. Handling is much better, car revs faster, exhaust note sounds better. It still stops like crap though

 

ill say that the vert doesnt look as good as the lambo in this picture, although i dont, in general, like lambos

i would steal the vert. . .
why you ask?
if part out the vert ill make a few grand and never get caught because its a common car

how many lambos are there? how hard would it be to get away with that one

 

GoodfellaFD3S, don't listen to their jealousy. Great job on the "masterpiece". A guy found me driving through a parking lot, I got his "sitting for more than a year now" car running, but he says it's not worth fixing. Looks exactly like your beauty, except for 10 pounds of dirt, bird crap, and love. I think he'll take $500 for it. Love the verts.

Again, great work, and hope your "smoking" utensil I sent is more than adequate?

PEACE THE DOG

 

Nice to see another vert getting some needed attention. The handling is much nicer with those springs and shocks right? When I put them on my vert they made a night and day difference. Keep up the good work man!

 

Thanks .

I've been meaning to ask you, what setting you kept the tokicos at? It's a big pain in the *** for the rears b/c as you're aware the shock towers are not easily accessible. I set all four corners to '2' and plan to leave them there.

 

Whatever they were set at when I sent them to you is what I had them set at. I forget what settings. I think I had them all at 3.

 

Steal the Lambo, sell it, and buy 209839023 7's.

 

So yes indeed, I still have this bad boy!! TEN YEAR BUMMMMMPPPPPP

Barely drive it, but have still been making small improvements to reliability and appearance.

Recently had the OEM seats recovered by the Edwards brothers at ESH Upholstery and they came out freaking Amazing. These guys turned my 25 year old seats into 2015 show car level for sure

More info on Alex and Edwards business: https://www.facebook.com/Eshupholstering/?fref=ts

Will posts tons of pics soon

 

You're such a tease. Bring on the pictures!

 

Does it still have the top on it I sold you?

 

Not done yet lol

 

Yes Sir it does

Sold the car to one of my best buddies, who has been driving the car all over creation and enjoying the hell out of it.

Really happy that after all the blood, sweat, tears, and endless cash spent on storing her inside out of the elements that my vert is getting used the way Mazda intended

 

I love a happy ending!

 

use the money to buy mine