My 1980 GS Project
 

Picked this car up on trade the other day and wasn't sure what I was gonna do with it. The more I play with it the more I really really like it. Its an 80 GS that someone tossed a GSL disc brake rear end under. It has Tokico blues all around and other than those items, some S3 seats, and a nasty pieced together exhaust and radio, the car is unmolested. It has some rocker rust which is typical up here. It has 144k miles and the engine runs wonderfully! The trans shift great as well! I took these pics yesterday before I even go out and start cleaning the car today. Once I get the car cleaned up a bit more I'll post more pics.

Today I plan to put an original thermal reactor equipped exhaust on the car and get the engine bay cleaned up. If I have time to wash the exterior I will. I will also see about painting the center caps as well. I'm starting this thread as a restoration thread of sorts and I will post progress and pics often. For now, here are a few pics of my RX-8's and 85 GS's older brother:

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The hardest part about an 80 GS is the interior. So many small bits are unique to the year like the
shifter cover with the chrome bezel, the shifter knob, the door arm rest with the chrome ends.

Any pics of the interior?

The rust looks pretty scary to me.

The engine bay looks totally unmolested and stock just real dirty.

So what are your plans? Full resto? Part out?

There is a lot of rust. The floor and bins are solid though. The control arm mounts are fine. Its just cosmetic. I'm going to keep it for awhile and fix the rust and drive it and enjoy it. I'm going to find the correct seats which I think will be a challenge and I need the SA air pump and bracket and bolt and spacer. I want to put it back to stock because that's how I prefer my 7's. The car has been neglected for quite some time but was at one time very much loved by someone. I think this one will clean up well. I'm actually in the garage now working on the car.

Got the engine bay wiped down a little and tuned the carb and the engine runs much better:

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Pic of the interior as requested:

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Washed the car before work:

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Nice find, that car is actually pretty clean:)

yeah its not too bad

It's got some rust issues but overall it runs excellent and drives like a car a third of its age. It needs a few things but I think after some time and money it will be a great car! Hoping to get the original exhaust system installed by mid week. Glad I had one in the basement just hanging out!

Took some pics of the 7 this morning when I got home form work and wanted to post them up.

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I see you have the right shifter knob and center console plus the interior light lens sitting in the
usual spot when they start getting loose. :) You also have the chrome end pieces on the arm
rests (jealous!) and the carpet looks like it will clean up nice.

Dash looks good and the chrome strip just needs some luv. You will need a chrome surround on
the shifter boot. Those always seem to deteriorate quickly.

The seats are the same from 79 thru 83 so you could get some good quality high backs and
have them recovered or get the RB upholstery kit which I highly recommend. Its easy to do and
saves you at least half at getting like new seats. https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...y-kit-1071159/

How far will you take the restoration do you think?

How far I will take it depends on my other projects I suppose. I have two Porsche 944's that are ongoing and need expensive maintenance items. But, I'm a fan of the SA's and this car is seriously right up my alley. It has a certain character that I am drawn to and that I admire. It matched my RX-8 in color, so immediately it has sentimental value. The car begs to be restored and loved once again. I honestly would love to pull the engine and replace all of the external gaskets and clean it. Do some welding on the engine bay and some paint work in there as well. Then I'd like to paint the car and undercoat it. A restoration of sorts. Original color of course.

I'll look into the RB upholstery kit. I need to find a pair of correct seats first. Preferably in black. Would be nice to find them in the vinyl/velour combo. This project could go far because the car is mechanically sound. Once I get the original exhaust on the car it will be much more enjoyable to drive. As of now the exhaust is so loud I refuse to drive the car.

Its interesting the rust issues you do have but the rear wells are ok. I guess the rockers aren't too
bad to replace if you can cut and weld.

I have a great writeup you can use to restore those waffles to like new condition.

I'll check out that waffle wheel restoration thread for sure!!

Started buffing the paint a little yesterday and it started to come back nicely. Some areas have no clear left so that would be impossible to really bring back. The paint is cracked and original but still shines nicely in most areas. Hope to get the interior cleaned out today and get more pics of the exterior and interior posted up. Would be nice to get the exhaust on the car today but we'll see what happens.

my 1980 was just put on the road after years of neglect too. I hope to post pics soon.

Took some pics of the SA yesterday after I finished fixing the radio that was in the car. Took some pics to share:

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Found that the car has Hella headlights!!:

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Glad that all dash light work and look great:

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Got the radio fixed and the speaker wired in:

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Took a few more pics as it was getting dark and was playing some lighting filters:

Started out normal:

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And then started in with the filters:

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Nice find. Keep posting up your progress! Looking great so far.

Nice progress so far, the paint came up pretty good, it looks like the only thing that needs paint is the hood

The guy before me plasti dipped the hood. He says its more faded paint underneath. I'm going out now to finish hand polishing the car and to see about putting the original exhaust on the car.

If it was mine Id patch up the rust and satin black the whole car.

Finally got the original exhaust installed yesterday. The car is MUCH quieter and it feels much quicker as well. Noticed that not only does it have Tokico blues in the rear, but it also has blue coil springs. They are not stock and are extremely stiff. I'll get a pic of those today and maybe we can identify the brand. Here are a couple quick pics of the car after I got the exhaust installed yesterday:

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^Wow... yes, MUCH improved!!

I came to find out today..completely by accident... that the 1980 GS that I picked up last week was featured in a book. The book is called Sport Car Colored History Mazda RX-7. I picked up the book in the late 90's and have read it many times. I decided to pick it up today and noticed that the SA in the first spread looked an awful lot like the SA that I picked up recently. Here's how I came to believe that its the same car:

Here is the picture in question that appears twice in the book. Once in a centerfold and once in the section talking about the 1980 model year:

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And a close up of the front:

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Note the sagging left headlight and the slightly raised right headlight. Same as the car in the pic:

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Scratch on the front bumper in the same location as well as the front plate bracket:

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In the pic you can see a spot of missing paint by the left front tire. Same spot is missing in my car but it has now turned to rust:

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Proof that my car came from Virginia. Same state that car in the pic is from:

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Pin striping can be seen with the top stripe once longer than the bottom as indicated in the pic:

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Mud flaps secured with three screws. Identical to the pic:

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Remnants of the inspection stickers that can be seen on the windshield in the pic:

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The book the car was featured in:

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These are all indicators to me that the car in the book is the car I have in my driveway.

Pic of my car and a pic of the car in the book for direct comparison:

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Went out tonight after polishing the paint (what's left of it anyways) and took the car up the road and snapped a few pics. Just wanted to share the pics here:

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Wanted to post some pics of the upgrades I found on the rear suspension. Tokico blues, unknown springs and an unknown matching sway bar. Not sure what brand they are. Here are some pics:

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Took some pics after I cleaned and repainted the center caps. They turned out nice and add a fresh look to the car:

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