offtopic forsure, but this picture deserves to be in flickr.
i like it.

oh and keep up the good work :)

thanks! i have to take some more pics of some of the little stuff i've done recently and post them..

Wow nice work man

thanks! its coming along slowly but its a whole different car compared to when i brought it home. a relay issue is giving me a run for my money now..always something, lol.

Any new updates?

there are a few. i need to go out today and get some pics and post them up!

any updates?

yea but i havent posted the pics. i've been working my tail off at the p.d. i'll get some up tomorrow afternoon when i wake up or some time tonight on my lunch break.

Winter accidents? That seems to keep the PD busy here all winter.

oh yeah. we had a ladydrive her car striaght into a ditch..on a dry road.. just truned into a ditch.. and last night we hada two car spinout that ended up wiping out some guard railing.. people want to drive too fast when he have 5" on snow to contend with!

i've got some time today before work to get more donte on the car and get the pics up. i've gotten quite a few things done in the last few days working for a little bit before work. i'll get some pics up this evening before 7pm.

ok as promised, here are the updated pics.

i started testing the waters of restoration by cleaning off a small area and undercoating it. i had to chunk off the dirt from where the car had sunk in the mud. after i cleaned it:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00884.jpg

and then undercoated it:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00885.jpg

i finished most of the interior up the other day. i am using some grey parts due to not having the proper maroon parts to install:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00902.jpg

whats left of the lower valance i was able to get bolted up today on the right side:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00905.jpg

now that the cradle is installed permanantly, the front end sits much better:

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00909.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00911.jpg

http://i636.photobucket.com/albums/u...b/DSC00913.jpg

you're getting there.

Looking good!

thanks guys! yeah its getting there slowly. i hope to get out and turn some wrenches on the car tomorrow.

got a few little things done lately.. one thing that has been vexing me is that the main relays do not click on or off with ignition power.. i also have a couple dash lights that stay on (very very dim) once the key if turned to the off position... and the stinking right blinker illuminates on the cluster when the lights are turned either to the parking light or on position and it causes the right signal not to function. functions normally with the lights off.. go figure i have gremlins that are unpredicatable...

If you are interested, I have a bunch of '84 GSL-SE parts in my basement. They are left over from a part-out that didn't seem to materialize. I don't have many body parts, but I have some stuff you might want. PM me.

you have my attention. pm sent..

Looking good Dave, nasty bit of rust of there on the roof though. Good luck with that. Dunno what to tell ya as far as the electrical gremlins, I can't stand messing with electircals. Makes me glad the 78 has such a simple harnes, lol.

i have a replacement roof panel for the rusty sections. i'll post a pic of it today. the electrical gremlins i will need to sort out shortly. still trying to get three apex seals freed up on the engine i want to put in the car.

I have done something similar to what you have done. The things my 82 had that yours didn't was an SE read end and a 74 13b 4port (blown) oh and the most massive pack rat nest I have ever seen. Looks good, man.

thanks man. i havent had much time to work on the car due to trying to get parts and some of my extra cars sold to pay down some debt that my wife had accumulated and due to work and family. i'm hoping to get some stuff done tomorrow..

Blame the wife
 

Sure, blame the wife for all that debt says he who has 5 cars. lol

well, i have 10 cars, lol... but my wife has run up over 10k in credit card debt and wants me to sell my cars to pay her debt off. not gonna happen. money is tight right now and until we can dig ourselves out of the hole we are in, not many restorations will take place.

well, i'll be goign back at this one full steam.. its been in a garage for awhile and now that i've sold some cars off and bought a new house, i can continue on bringing this beast back to life.. i need to find a power steering pump and pulley and brackets for the car as it has power steering and i think i'll keep it.

next decision is what i want to do about an engine. if i can free up some stuck apex seals on a spre GSL-SE engine i have in my garage i will use that. if not, it may be another SE short block i'm after. gonna install a new rear end in the car as soon as i get it to the house. the one in there is pretty toasty, lol. new pics to come when the car is brought home.

after much debate with myself, i think that i'm going to reinstall an original SE engine back into the car.. i have to either rebuild what i have or find a good short block.

Are you going to put SE suspension back under the car?

Dude, good jobs saving the fb

the plan is to eventually put the correct SE suspension back in the car. i also want to aquire a set of original SE wheels to complete the suspension package. after its running and on the road, i want to get a pair of maroon SE seats and door panels to make the interior correct. oh, and i also have to get a maroon shift knob.. sold my good one to Ray Green, lol

Glad you're back at the resto on this one!

this one may take a bit longer than the others once i am ready to do everything on the car. the plan is to use what parts i have and sell or trade parts for the ones i need. this will keep the cost down and will add a nice car to my fleet. i have been getting the itch to get another RX-7, so when the opportunity came up for me to do this car i decided that i'm going to go at it full steam. pulling and cleaning the carpet may also be a viable option.

this was the scene late last year and the interior looks similar. i was replacing the entire wiring harness for a perspective buyer. gonna swap in another good SE harness here next week

Attachment 698040

looking good.

talked to a buddy yesterday and he is willing to haul the car home for me sunday or monday. there will be a lightning quick transformation on the car as i will get started right away. first order of business is installing a different GS rear axle and parking brake cables. then i will install a new caliper on the left front and then get the brakes fully operational. i will reinstall a good GSL-SE wiring harness and button up the interior. if i can get a friend to come by this coming week with his welder i will weld in two new pieces of metal for the sunroof tabs. the current ones are swiss cheese and i have a good panel i cut out of my parts car!

while all that is happening, i will be trying to soak the inside of a good SE gas tank that i have. there's currently a nasty layer of tar that was once gas on the inside. i am going to try and salvage it myself. though i may have to have a shop boil the crap out of there. once the tank is underway, i plan to hunt for a good SE pickup and feed assembly that bolts to the top of the tank as mine is missing. the tank will go in and i will replace the fuel pump and filter and get all of that ready. then i will either rebuild or replace my current SE engine. i will also be on the hunt for a good 84/85 transmission and a maroon shift knob and a nice looking original SE stereo. then once the engine is in, i will install the rest of the parts that i have saved up, have the windshield replaced, and then car will be awaiting paint..which it may be waiting another year or so because i want to install the correct GSL-SE front and rear suspension and original wheels. i will also make a parts list of things that i need. i will post them here and i will also make a want to buy post regarding the SE parts that i need.

Good job with that restoration!

well its coming along. i haven't really touched the thing in a year due to buying a new house and a shift in priorities in spending more time with my kids over being in the garage all day.

i'm glad you're working on this one again, its a perfect long term, i'm just going to putt around in the garage project. ie you could just go play with it when you want to go tinker with stuff.

i do wish you lived closer, i have tons of GSL-SE stuff...

i wish i lived closer too! i'll pay shipping, lol.

its a great long term project and its perfect for tinkering here and there. i've had the bug to restore another 7..all the while i was forgetting about having this one waiting for me across town in my mom's garage. the maroon interior parts i need are gonna be tough to get ahold of.. the shift knob, steering wheel, some minor trim, and seats are all going to be mildly tough to come by.. and a lot of parts close to me that have been exposed to the elements will be rusty and in need of sandblasting and restoring. so, yeah, i wish i lived closer. CA parts are top notch and clean!

I got this car nearly complete. A friend of mine picked it up from his friend that did nothing with it, he got it from the original owner and he brought it up here from Texas...if my memory is correct. My friend Has nothing to do with rx7's, he just wanted the rearend to put in his accord. After he taken the rearend i picked it up. I parted it out and Dave wanted the shell. When i bought it there wasnt a dent, ding, or broken anything on the car. Glass was nice. Someone not paying attention (i was told) was backing up the backhoe at my home and backed into it resulting in the dent in the door and broken windsheild. I was VERY upset when that happend. I should have kept it...... I may be able to get ahold of the original rearend. The Original engine from this car is in PeeJay car currently.

if you can get ahold of the original rear end that would be sweet! i'm currently selling rx7 and corvette parts and guns to fund this restoration. i want it back to its original form.

wasn't able to get me SE home yesterday unfortunatly. things didn't line up so i worked on my property here. today i will retrieve the car though..if the rain settles down.. one way or another it will be here today!!

I have some parts that might help you out. Some maroon pieces and other stuff. I have a black se with maroon interior. I have some good se engines and suspensions with wheels....PM me and we can talk.....

well i got the car home today and i started cleaning the paint a little bit before i get started in swapping the correct SE wiring harness back into the car. i also installed a glass moonroof i had laying around in the garage. photobucket is refusing to load at this juncture so as soon as it loads before i head to bed i will be sure to post pics!

Rotaryhaven, i will be contacting you!

ok, i was able to get photobucket to load so here are a couple pics form today. more to come tomorrow.

loading the car:

Attachment 697206

Attachment 697207

at home in the garage as the car sits now:

Attachment 697208

Looking good

made some progress today. i was able to remove the entire old wiring harness and i installed a new complete GSL-SE wiring harness. tomorrow i will install the dash and complete the interior assembly. here are a few pics from today:

old harness out and the new SE harness and parts going on:

Attachment 697105

new complete SE harness installed in the engine bay:

Attachment 697106

side shot of the area i hit with the buffer:

Attachment 697107

Looking good. Don't go crazy with the buffing though if you plan to repaint it. Gonna have to be real careful about cleaning all that off!

have you tried removing the door panel and seeing if you can work that dent out with you hands?

i just with it with a polisher and some liquid clay bar to bring back the finish. then i tossed a very light coat of wax on it to preserve the body for winter. it might be next spring or summer before an engine goes in and i can't paint it until after the engine is in. with my luck i'd scratch the new paint installing the engine, lol.

Chris, i have tried popping that dent out from the inside. i can't access it unfortunatly. it wold pop out and look worlds better i'm sure, i just can't get at it. maybe i'll try again..

i did make some progress yesterday and the dash is back in and the interior is nearly completely back together. i will post pics later today or this evening.

awesome resto!