More pics added to the 2nd page. It'll probably be 30 min or so until the site updates.

http://community.webshots.com/album/132281433kiUBKO

It is amazing how funny a car looks without the doors and hatch. It literally takes like 10 min to remove the doors. The hatch is pretty simple but requires the headliner and 1/4 panel trim to be out.

 

My car had almost the same damage as yours and as right now it looks just like your, no doors or hatch, and yes they do look funny without them Good luck on your car

 

Looks good, I like the emergency eye wash station in the background, kind of a nice touch.

 

It's coming along nicely..... sanding must be a pain in the butt tho

 

dont forget to get those doordings b4 paint

 

Looks awesome Jeff, have you started on the CYM as well?

 

are you keeping it vr?

 

I haven't started the CYM until this car is sold.

It is getting painted the original color.

Any buyers?

 

Both times I've had my hatch off to paint it, I haven't removed a single interior panel that wasn't on the hatch.

Remove the hatch trim panels, unbolt/disconnect and pull out the wiring harness, unbolt the struts at the hatch and leave them attached to the car, and then hand a buddy a 10mm wrench and remove the 4 10mm bolts holding the hinges to the car while supporting the hatch. Done.

 

So you pulled the wiring out of the hatch?

I guess that way would work, it just seemed easier to leave the wiring in the hatch. Thanks for the info.

 

Nice work, Jeff. Your garage looks like an RX-7 dealer lot.

Sonny

 

Yep. Once the trim panels have been removed (starting at the top/center, then sides, then rear/bottom), there are two 10mm bolts for the ground terminals, one on each side, IIRC. Then there are two or three small connectors to unplug, and that's it. The wiring for each side pulls right out of the hatch after the plastic clip in each rubber accordion boot is unsnapped from the hatch. Be careful with those... remember the accordion boots I asked you to send me? I broke a tab off of one of the clips the second time around.

There's a longer wiring harness that attaches to the underside of the hatch beneath the panels and heads down to where the light (and rear wiper, if so equipped) is. If you're not doing a complete color change, you can just leave it in place.

We just wrapped the wiring for the hatch on each side to keep it from scratching anything and then taped both to the roof of the car to keep them out of the way while painting. I would have posted a picture, if the forum would let me.

 

Sounds easier to remove the headliner than pull the wiring out of the hatch.

 

You still have to pull the wiring out of something... Either the wiring comes out of the hatch and stays with the car or it comes out of the car and stays with the hatch.

 

Are you keeping the CYM?

 

Good lord, I want your garage! 3 RX7's, YAY... oh wair CYM... 4.

Is the car all stock? Who is doing the paintwork? How much are you looking to get for it after she is back to her old self?

~Kris

 

The car is all stock with the exception of a downpipe.

I have a great hookup on body and paint. A local shop allows a couple of employees to do side work, so it is done professionally.

I'll wait until the car is all done until I decide on a price.

 

Good! My paranoia is justified!
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=299011

 

turbojeff, i know that you've had a lot of experience at doing these kinds of rebuilds, but, how long would you say it might take for a novie (such as myself) to tear down a car, paint it, and get it back together in running form? i have access to all equipment etc. including a paint booth so... just thinking ahead (as i often do) cause i'd like to paint my car black without having to shell out multiple thousands of dollars on a complete paint job.

 

The devil is in the details... I'm not a bodyguy but I've painted about 8 cars in my life so I'm familiar with the process. Of course my experience equals probably 1 month of work by an actual bodyguy. This car is painted at a shop we me doing the grunt work not by me.

It all depends how nice you want the job to turn out and what lengths your willing to go to and of course *natural ability*.

If you didn't count the body repair from the tree incident then the bodywork would probably take a skilled guy 40hrs or so, then the paint work would take another 30hrs or so, big guess here. Finding all the small dings is hard and takes time to get them right.

The teardown probably took me 3-4hrs, reassembly will take a little longer because I'll clean the interior and of course be careful not to scratch it.

I'll post some more pics tomorrow of the car in primer.

If you use good quality paint don't be surprised if you spend $600-800 just on paint and materials.

 

hmmm... maybe i should do the teardown myself (gonna pull the engine compartment... maybe) and leave the rest to a pro, sounds like alot less headaches thanks

 

jeff great work
check your other thread tomorrow for pics of my torn apart interior on my last 3d gen that I said I was going to post

btw I had called you on that blown reman a while back but your wife said you sold it so I didnt bother calling again. My new engine is being built right now so no worries. I just dont want to open mine because I know its not even worth it with such a large overboost.

Yanni