82transam

iTrader: (18)

Thanks! I'm really happy with how the paintjob came out. I got 0 runs in the paint, and barely any bugs/dust/trash or orange peel. It won't take much polishing at all. I got a bunch of new oem parts for it too, like badges, the plastic triangle piece on the quarter windows, the windshield washer nozzle, wiper arm grommets etc. Also got new door handles (inside and out) and window reg's. It's like having a new car (well, almost lol)

Just glanced at my pics again and noticed that I didn't take any after putting the windshield trim back on. oops, Guess I'll have to take a few and post them lol.

twinkletoes

iTrader: (17)

Paint definitely makes a car. Sometimes when in the kitchen i'll open the door to the garage just to look at my 7 . You get all the new parts from mazdatrix or just the dealer?

I'm not happy with my windshield trim and door handles since the paint shop went at it with a spray paint can instead of the paint gun like I thought they would. I'm going to take it back and tell them to repaint the trim with a gun this time.

More pics forsure! After the polishing too

82transam

iTrader: (18)

I got all the OEM parts from www.yourcarpart.com They have basically nothing listed if you search by year/make/model, but if you go to foxed.ca and download the Mazda parts manual you can search by part number. Their prices are considerably cheaper than Mazdatrix and they had much of what I was looking for. If they can't get a particular part he will send you an email the same day as your order to let you know. Conveniently he also has Subaru parts so I ordered a few things for my Impreza while I was at it lol

I agree paint makes the car. It's a shame they rattle canned your trim. I had some black leftover from my Trans Am so I used that. Same PPG single stage that I used for the red.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Got a few more pics from this weekend of the car all together. Ran into a slight snag putting the door panels on though. The doors I used for this were from a 79, didn't do my homework apparently because a few of the blind nuts that the door panel and interior handle (the door pull) are in different spots than a FB door. I never knew that, and only realized it once I started trying to put my panels on.. Oh well, a few drilled holes, some nuts, a small bracket made from sheet metal and a few welds later and I was all set. It's nothing fancy, but the rear screw for the door panel needed a simple nut welded in place. The lower screw for the door pull though needed a bracket made. The SA door frame has an indent in that spot, so I needed to build it up so it would be flush. It's nothing fancy but it does the job, and you don't see it once the panel is on anyway

At this point the car is all back together, but still needs to be polished. Hopefully I'll get to that this week.

On a somewhat related note I've added some new tools to my arsenal. Picked up a plasma cutter and a TIG welder. The plasma cutter has to be the coolest thing ever lol. I haven't picked up a Argon bottle for the TIG yet, but I will soon.

Enjoy.

dream36realms

iTrader: (4)

it is always a pleasure to see your work. I just realized you are not far from me (Im in northern Delaware). How many beers would I need to pay you to come down for a weekend to help finish mine? I promise I would need your plasma cutter and welder too.

Frankenmazda

iTrader: (2)

Looks great.

Tig welder and plasma cutter? I'm jealous!

82transam

iTrader: (18)

dream: Thanks! I didn't realize you were in Delaware. What needs to get done on your project at this point?


Frankenmazda: Thanks! The TIG and plasma cutter were two of a few tools I always had on a pedestal in my mind since they cost so much, but I was looking at Eastwood's site last week (They have a lot of good stuff for us hobbyist types) and they had a deal (should still be available) for the TIG and plasma cutter along with a cart that holds both for $1300 free shipping. Obviously these aren't pro level tools, but will do everything I'll ever need of them.

They have a 3 year warranty and their customer service is great so I figured I should go for it while I was able to. They shipped it from somewhere in PA and I had it two days later. The cart was actually missing a piece so I emailed them about it, and 1 day later (delivered on a Saturday!) I had that as well. I'm just waiting for a chance to get to a welding supply house to get a tank of pure argon. I get my MIG mix from Tractor Supply but they don't have straight argon...

dream36realms

iTrader: (4)

Oh, yeah I was born and raise din DE. I spent 9 years in the army and got out in november so im home for good now.

I have to finish tying in my fuel lines, make and install brake hard lines (all of them), shorten my grannies driveshaft (grant made it 1" too long), and find a Ebrake cable for a rear disk setup, and run exhasut from the headers back.

that is it. I do have a ton of electrical crap to do but I can handle that in an evening once I have the parts. My goak is to have it at least movable by the 23rd for the car show 2 miles from my house. I would love to see you there too. If you know about the AudioScam I mean AudioJam, you should check it out. I went through the 2010 pictures and got pissed off because that year was held the day I deployed to Afghanistan and my girlfriend got volluntold (or lose her job which she quit anyway) to be a model at. I wasnt o keen on her shoving her *** in the judges faces but its what they wanted. anyway, if you are going to a meet or anything let me know.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Realized I haven't updated this in a while. I've been slowly widdling away at the colorsanding and rubbing/polishing. Slowly being the key word, I've gotton the roof/sail panels and hood done, but haven't had time to do anything else. It's looking great in either case so I'm in no rush at this point.

I put a different steering rack in on Monday, originally when I did the FC subframe I depowered a 15:1 rack (found on T2's, GXL's and a few other models) but it was too heavy for my liking, and made the car kinda a bear to drive. A few months ago I got a 17:1 rack (found only on the 89-91 base model coupes) from ApexAutoParts on ebay (a great seller, I have purchased a bunch of stuff from them and would definitely recommend them) depowered it and figured it was about time to actually install it lol. It made a huge difference, the car is much easier to drive and I'm much happier with it. I'm able to park it one handed again which is what I was after lol. I was going to search for a 20:1 manual rack (found on S4 base models) to also try, but at this point I'm happy with the 17:1.

Not a whole lot of pics to post, but I have one of it basking in the sun at my bank, and another of the roof post polishing. One of these days I'll borrow a real camera to take some shots of this thing... My phone camera is on the way out, it's been blurring the background of a bunch of shots lately.. oh well

Directfreak

iTrader: (2)

What did you use for the trim? Gloss/Satin?

IMO, if you are going to keep that wing black, the car would look better
with black moldings. Photo-shop it it and decide.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

The windshield trim, hatch hinges and spoiler are all done with some leftover paint I had from painting my Trans Am. It's a GM color called "Lamp Black", gloss black essentially. Like the red its a PPG single stage. When I have some time I'll re spray the windshield wiper arms with it too so they match the trim.

I've never been a fan of the side moldings on FB's, I'll leave em off

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

the car came together beautifully! i'm a huge fan of this car!

Boriquaguerrero

iTrader: (18)

the car look sick !!!

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Thanks!

twinkletoes

iTrader: (17)

Looking really good! Great job as always!

highnitro12187

iTrader: (21)

wow, your car looks fantastic!

for some reason im thinking you have a vmount in there? do you have any current engine bay pics?

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

yes the car really turned out great. the 17:1 rack is my favorite too, the manual rack is too slow, and the 15:1 is too fast, but 17 is just right

82transam

iTrader: (18)

^Yeah the 17:1 is about perfect, I'm thinking the manual rack would be a bit too slow as well. They also seem to go for a bunch of money so I doubt I'll bother getting one to try.

Thanks for the compliments guys, I still have some more color sanding and polishing to to, but the roof and hood are all done and those are the most obvious anyway. I'm currently working on cleaning out my shop (an old barn basically) to put up some insulation and put in a budget floor (basically a wood deck, can't afford concrete at this point) since uneven dirt kinda sucks to work on lol.

No V-mount on this, just a small (size of the oil cooler more or less) I/C mounted above my oil cooler in front of the rad. I can get some engine shots later but it's nothing special to look at, very dirty and on my never ending list of things to clean up lol.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Been busy working on the floor in my shop (moving 300+ cubic feet of dirt by hand kinda sucks lol, at least it's cheap...) so not much to update on the car at the moment. I did take it for a drive last night and tried to get a few cool pictures, but as usual they were with a camera phone, so they aren't great, but I figured I'd post them anyway. I tried to get artsy with the last one, I think it came out kinda cool..

For those interested, the plan for the next few months (on this car anyway) is to finish colorsanding and polishing the new paint and take care of a few small details that I've yet to finish (trim around the quarter windows is kinda sorry looking, things like that) then it's on to the megasqurt install (I hope haha)

On a side note, my other FB (the panda FB) rolled over 200k earlier this week. It's not on the original engine (or much else for that matter) but I seemed like a good milestone either way haha.

Anyway, enjoy.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Had a few requests for pics of the rear wheel/tire fitment. I'm running a 20mm spacer to keep the rear visually the same (more or less) as the front, since the FC subframe is wider than the stock FB stuff by a little bit.
Figured I'd post the pics here...

twinkletoes

iTrader: (17)

Hmm tough call. Thanks for the pics! Looks like I might try a 25mm spacer. Maybe even 30mm in rear.

AXA

iTrader: (2)

Love the Red...... Great car...

82transam

iTrader: (18)

^Thanks!

As for the wheels, yeah if you want them to have that flush look (and you said you already rolled your fenders right) Then a 25 or 30 would push them out nicely. I'm happy with the setup on mine now but if I didn't have too many other projects going on I might consider changing them to see if I liked it better lol.

datsun1200

Wow what a great job...was the car very solid...

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Thanks! The car is solid now, but back in 2007 when I first tore it apart for the T2 swap and black repaint it was a mess. Lots of rust from being a daily driver for many years.

I have an old thread about that "version" of the build here: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...update-624258/

I didn't upload all the pics of the rust repair, but here are a few good ones lol