Duffman's 79 Spark Yellow Restoration Project
10-18-10, 09:32 PM
#27
Sin City Rotary
Can you find me plaid seats? lol
10-18-10, 11:54 PM
#28
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nice find! you should try buffing/waxing the paint, it looks like it might come out and look fine....
the engine might not be original, but the carb and reactor look like the original ones.
consider my jealous, ive always wanted a spark yellow
the engine might not be original, but the carb and reactor look like the original ones.
consider my jealous, ive always wanted a spark yellow
10-19-10, 08:57 AM
#31
I'll keep an eye out but you know how hard those are to find lol.
10-20-10, 11:00 PM
#35
Well off the top of my head these parts are definitely different between the 79 and the 80 SA:
clutch master cylinders
brake boosters
engine and transmission wiring harnesses
5 speed transmission
SA are great car but they take so much more effort in finding parts for them. I only wish I started off with one in better condition. Good luck with the project and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
clutch master cylinders
brake boosters
engine and transmission wiring harnesses
5 speed transmission
SA are great car but they take so much more effort in finding parts for them. I only wish I started off with one in better condition. Good luck with the project and I look forward to seeing how it turns out.
10-22-10, 10:18 AM
#38
Plan for this weekend:
1) Remove the seats, carpets, door panels, and center console.
2) Try Glazedham's carwash power wash method on the carpets.
3) Try Glazedham's plastic wet sanding technique on the rear plastics and A-pillars.
4) If there's time, and if I can find some place that's open, see if I can find matching materials to recover my door panels. I've never done upholstery work so if it sucks I'll find a shop to do it lol
That's should fill the weekend pretty good, next weekend I wanna get it up on the rack and have a look at what's happening underneath. Maybe get new bushings ordered, drum brake kit, MC/BB, etc.
1) Remove the seats, carpets, door panels, and center console.
2) Try Glazedham's carwash power wash method on the carpets.
3) Try Glazedham's plastic wet sanding technique on the rear plastics and A-pillars.
4) If there's time, and if I can find some place that's open, see if I can find matching materials to recover my door panels. I've never done upholstery work so if it sucks I'll find a shop to do it lol
That's should fill the weekend pretty good, next weekend I wanna get it up on the rack and have a look at what's happening underneath. Maybe get new bushings ordered, drum brake kit, MC/BB, etc.
10-23-10, 11:46 PM
#40
Well Mother Nature decided to say F-YOU and dumped rain all day and even saw fit to send us 3 tornadoes.
Even with the treat of tornadoes and the torrent of rain, I shut myself up in the car and got the seats, rear carpet, middle section of carpet and a ton of dirt and sand cleaned up. God that center section stank, there were more staind on the underside than i could count. If Glazed's carwash trick doesn't clean them up I may have to get tan VB ones and dye them brown. The floor boards are in excellent shape too, just about a 4 inch strip of surface rust on the driver side. Oh, and I found some 14 year old porno mags behind the radio surround.
Tomorrow, weather permiting, I'll see about gettin' the front section out. I hope it doesn't involve removing the whole dash, kinda looks like it'll slide out if I losen up the center of the dash that I can pull it out.
No pics this time, forgot the camer back at the apartment.
Even with the treat of tornadoes and the torrent of rain, I shut myself up in the car and got the seats, rear carpet, middle section of carpet and a ton of dirt and sand cleaned up. God that center section stank, there were more staind on the underside than i could count. If Glazed's carwash trick doesn't clean them up I may have to get tan VB ones and dye them brown. The floor boards are in excellent shape too, just about a 4 inch strip of surface rust on the driver side. Oh, and I found some 14 year old porno mags behind the radio surround.
Tomorrow, weather permiting, I'll see about gettin' the front section out. I hope it doesn't involve removing the whole dash, kinda looks like it'll slide out if I losen up the center of the dash that I can pull it out.
No pics this time, forgot the camer back at the apartment.
10-24-10, 09:36 PM
#41
Awesome ride, man.
If your engine isn't rebuildable, the '80 engine in my '79 should be, and I could likely be persuaded to part with it. I don't think Frankenrex is ever going back to stock original. I have the original points dizzy in storage as well, and the '79 5-speed with the loooooong shifter, but it needs a bearing or two.
If your engine isn't rebuildable, the '80 engine in my '79 should be, and I could likely be persuaded to part with it. I don't think Frankenrex is ever going back to stock original. I have the original points dizzy in storage as well, and the '79 5-speed with the loooooong shifter, but it needs a bearing or two.
10-24-10, 11:50 PM
#42
Update time:
I got quite a bit done this weekend despite 47 inches of rain and 3 tornadoes Saturday, and the 20 inches of rain, dime size hail, and 1 tornado today.
I got all my carpets removed:
And good God did those things stink like rotten coffee and 33 years of dirt. Took me 6 bucks to finally get nothing but clear water dripping from them. The middle section cleaned up pretty good but needs more scrubbing. The rear did alright but it's white in spots from the sun, may end up replacing it.
Got all the front and rear plastics out, got the fender well covers sanded, waxed, and polished as per Glazed's method:
Before:
After:
Found a couple of things after getting the carpets out, one strip of surface rust along the driver side floor pan, and the source of most of the stench. Whatever had been spilled there had rotted away the sound deadening and it was a nasty tar-like goop. It was bad enough that my shop vac was able to suck up a piece of it so out came the putty knife.
About that time my helper came along and apparenty objected to the way I was goin' about cleaning it up,
.
The rust:
The goop:
Scrapped out and cleaned up:
Somebody tried to jack the car up righ next to that body plugs and bent it, a hammer will fix that. What would y'all suggest for sealing it back in place?
I got quite a bit done this weekend despite 47 inches of rain and 3 tornadoes Saturday, and the 20 inches of rain, dime size hail, and 1 tornado today.
I got all my carpets removed:
And good God did those things stink like rotten coffee and 33 years of dirt. Took me 6 bucks to finally get nothing but clear water dripping from them. The middle section cleaned up pretty good but needs more scrubbing. The rear did alright but it's white in spots from the sun, may end up replacing it.
Got all the front and rear plastics out, got the fender well covers sanded, waxed, and polished as per Glazed's method:
Before:
After:
Found a couple of things after getting the carpets out, one strip of surface rust along the driver side floor pan, and the source of most of the stench. Whatever had been spilled there had rotted away the sound deadening and it was a nasty tar-like goop. It was bad enough that my shop vac was able to suck up a piece of it so out came the putty knife.
About that time my helper came along and apparenty objected to the way I was goin' about cleaning it up,
.The rust:
The goop:
Scrapped out and cleaned up:
Somebody tried to jack the car up righ next to that body plugs and bent it, a hammer will fix that. What would y'all suggest for sealing it back in place?
Last edited by Directfreak; 10-25-10 at 10:03 AM. Reason: Added link for reference - DF
10-24-10, 11:57 PM
#43
Stared in on the dash too, what a clusterphuck of wires that was. Somebody put 3 toggle swicthes in the coin holders and every one of them was hooked to the radio in some way. The wiring was just a mess and almost every 'connection' (one wire losely twisted around another) was wraped in duct tape. 
I have no idea what they were trying to do here:
My butchered surround:
They even cut up the steel in the dash to get that piece of crap in there.
Got all of the lower section of the dash off:
And thats about it, I've got the rest of the hatch trim, windshield trim, and scuff guards here with me so I've got something to do this week. Prolly throw some pics up when they're done if I don't get blow away between now and then.
I have no idea what they were trying to do here:
My butchered surround:
They even cut up the steel in the dash to get that piece of crap in there.
Got all of the lower section of the dash off:
And thats about it, I've got the rest of the hatch trim, windshield trim, and scuff guards here with me so I've got something to do this week. Prolly throw some pics up when they're done if I don't get blow away between now and then.
10-25-10, 03:39 AM
#45
"Somebody tried to jack the car up righ next to that body plugs and bent it, a hammer will fix that. What would y'all suggest for sealing it back in place?"
POR15.com makes some GREAT body stuff - try this for sealer:
http://www.por15.com/Putty-Fillers-a...r/products/10/
You have my DEEP admiration for taking on this resurrection!!!! Hope it doesn't turn into a money-pit for you. These are great cars to work on, being so basic and simple AND so well thought out in how they were assembled. Presume you have an OEM electrics manual?? about $15 on ebay and will be priceless, esp to sort out that chopped radio-area harness. Good news here is that this is a SUBHARNESS, so my suggestion it get a 79-80 replacement piece and just plug-and-play. Trying to fix yours will be a nightmare.
Best of Luck
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
POR15.com makes some GREAT body stuff - try this for sealer:
http://www.por15.com/Putty-Fillers-a...r/products/10/
You have my DEEP admiration for taking on this resurrection!!!! Hope it doesn't turn into a money-pit for you. These are great cars to work on, being so basic and simple AND so well thought out in how they were assembled. Presume you have an OEM electrics manual?? about $15 on ebay and will be priceless, esp to sort out that chopped radio-area harness. Good news here is that this is a SUBHARNESS, so my suggestion it get a 79-80 replacement piece and just plug-and-play. Trying to fix yours will be a nightmare.
Best of Luck
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
10-25-10, 03:40 AM
#46
You will be needing one of these!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RX7-D...#ht_500wt_1132
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RX7-D...#ht_500wt_1132
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
10-25-10, 08:38 AM
#47
POR15.com makes some GREAT body stuff - try this for sealer:
http://www.por15.com/Putty-Fillers-a...r/products/10/
You have my DEEP admiration for taking on this resurrection!!!! Hope it doesn't turn into a money-pit for you. These are great cars to work on, being so basic and simple AND so well thought out in how they were assembled. Presume you have an OEM electrics manual?? about $15 on ebay and will be priceless, esp to sort out that chopped radio-area harness. Good news here is that this is a SUBHARNESS, so my suggestion it get a 79-80 replacement piece and just plug-and-play. Trying to fix yours will be a nightmare.
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
http://www.por15.com/Putty-Fillers-a...r/products/10/
You have my DEEP admiration for taking on this resurrection!!!! Hope it doesn't turn into a money-pit for you. These are great cars to work on, being so basic and simple AND so well thought out in how they were assembled. Presume you have an OEM electrics manual?? about $15 on ebay and will be priceless, esp to sort out that chopped radio-area harness. Good news here is that this is a SUBHARNESS, so my suggestion it get a 79-80 replacement piece and just plug-and-play. Trying to fix yours will be a nightmare.
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska
That's means slot coming from you Stu, your SA is the benchmark that I've set for mine once complete. If I get mine to look half as nice as yours then I'll be happy, I just wish I had the selection of NOS to choose from that you do.
Now whether or not I can pull it off...we'll see. I don't have a manual yet, I'll look on Sgt. Fox's site when I get to sorting out the wiring. I can't believe how simple the entire cabin harmed is either. I expected to find a huge harmed running down the driver side bit was pleased to see that the whole thing looked like maybe 15 wires lol. Thanks for the dash link, I'll be watching that. May be the only brown one I'll ever find, lol.
10-25-10, 09:15 AM
#49
Last edited by Directfreak; 10-25-10 at 09:59 AM. Reason: Added link for reference - DF
