It looks like I may be doing the bushings sooner than I planned: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/steering-pulling-problem-977370/

I also picked up a fender over the weekend to replace the bent one I have.

 

keep the louvers. they are awesome. keep the car way cooler in the summer and the ice off in the winter. i'm taking the louvers off my gsl to put on my gsl se for that purpose. plus they grow on you. love the louvers man.

 

I plan to keep the louvers.

I'm giving the alignment shop one last chance to get the car right on Friday.

 

love the louvers Chris! glad to hear that you want to keep them!

 

I will be rebuilding the louvers soon. I picked up rivets and I need to have them welded.

I just installed an S5 fog light switch and in fits the car like it was designed for it. I'll get a pic soon.

 

 

I did a little work to the car.

I did my oil change, rebuild OMP, fix door jamb switch, took apart and cleaned dash switches, and fixed wiper/washer switch. Rebuilding the OMP fixed my slight oil leak and I'm happy about that. I installed an antenna booster. I also pulled and cleaned the power window switches.

 

I'm hoping to have the car in to be painted in the next few weeks. I can't wait.

I'll keep everyone posted with updates.

 

The car is in for paint. The paint guy is doing an assessment of the car and will start disassembling the car this week.

I will post pics when the car gets under way.

 

The converter is here and looks great. I plan to get it and the throwout bearing installed very soon.

I met with the paint guy last night and we have a plan of attack. We will need to swap out the entire front end, everything in front of the shock towers. I have the front of my old car that we will use in its entirety. Basically we found out the there is way too much damage to the front of the car to make it work without going to this extent of work. He is going to let me remove everything from the front of the engine compartment. This includes the radiator, radiator support, battery tray, air box, a/c condenser, oil cooler, etc. Also I will be moving things like the wiring harness out of the way.

While I'm working on pulling the front apart this afternoon, he will be working on minor dent repair. He said other than the front end, the car is very clean overall. There are a few minor rust repairs, one quarter size hole on the side of the car, a few small rust holes around the windshield, rusted upper inner rear fenders (over wheel), and slight bin rust. The car has a few parking lot dings but nothing bad.

Overall I'm very happy with how the car is coming along. The paint will be ordered today as well as all the other supplies. I will be ordering all the seals, emblems, etc this weekend.

 

Here is what the car looked yesterday at noon:







Here is what the car looked yesterday at 5pm:

 

Tomorrow we will be cutting the front off of the car and getting ready to weld the new one on.

 

A pic of the Bönez Performance Converter System I just got:

 

it looks really good. i just recently got a biege gsl se for my son. it had a 12a in it,so no fuel injection. keep up the good work.

 

Thanks. any pics of your car?

The car will be cut in the next 2 days. Today will be the start of the sanding and prep. I met with the paint guy last night to start on the getting a parts list together. I need to get things ordered asap. We plan to meet tonight and finish the list so I can order tonight.

 

I spoke with the paint guy. Body work is getting done. The car still needs the front end cut off. I have the list of parts I need to buy and I'll be ordering everything today.

 

Parts are ordered:

-Column Cover Upper Brown
-Column Cover Lower Brown
-Door Seal Left
-Door Seal Right
-Window Seal Outer 2
-Window Seal Inner 2
-Channel, Glass 2
-Rear Hatch to Body Seal
-Sunroof Seal
-Emblem Front
-Emblem Rear
-Emblem Side RX-7/Logo 2
-Emblem (GSL-SE) Rear
-Emblem Retainer Clips 11
-Nozzle (L), Washer-Front
-Nozzle (R), Washer-Front
-Gasket Key Cylinder 3
-Gasket (R), Mirror
-Gasket (L), Mirror
-Screw, Mirror 2
-Screw, Mirror 2
-Screw, Mirror 2
-Windshield Wiper Washer, Cup 2
-Windshield Wiper Cap, Seal 2
Windshield Wiper Bushing, Outer 2
-Clamp, Hose 4
-Clamp, Hose 6
-Hose, Water Upper
-Hose, Water Lower

Total cost just shy of $800 (time to pass out now)

 

That's a pretty healthy list you got there but its definitely money well spent. Its motivating to see you restore your car back to were it should be, I only ever make it as far as ordering parts . Keep up the good work sir.

 

Thanks.

I don't think I could handle having any parts sitting around for very long. I get antsy quick, lol. The car should be painted the beginning of next week. We are supposed to have weather in the 60s so it will be perfect for painting. I'm hoping to start putting the car back together in a week or so.

I will post more pics as I have them.

 

You seem to be trying to do really good job, so I thought you might get some benefit from my experience. I rebuilt a lot of wrecked 1st gen RX-7s back in the 1980s-90s, and did several tower cuts, usually on one side but a few with the complete clip (both sides). A few years ago I did another one, and I thought if your body man has not done these before on a 1st gen, my photos and comments might be helpful. The upper and lower frame rails are "triple construction", meaning there is an inner piece that should be welded if you want to do this right. I am an aero engineer, and I always try to do structural repair "at least as good as original". I always cut the lower rail between the two mount studs for the crossmember, in this case cutting through the center of a small hole, which makes a good reference point. I cut a small window in the outer skin and folded it back, allowing access to weld the inner structure, then closed it up and welded it shut.
On the upper rail, drill the spot welds and fold back the piece shown in the photo, then make the cut below that, which lines up with the tower. I also cut out a small piece to allow welding the inner structure, and close it up afterwards. When all the welding is done, fold down the upper piece and weld it back on- this covers the splice completely, except for the part covered by the fender. A little minor bondo work, careful seam sealing and some undercoating on the outside, and I think even an experienced body man would have a hard time spotting this repair. More photos of this car on my cardomain page listed below. Best luck with your restoration.

 

That looks almost exactly the way my body guy is doing it. He's actually owned 4 first gens. He worked for a body shop back in the day and the did a custom (new) '85. He did say it had been about 10 years since he had done a first gen project that was this extensive.

Thanks, that is a big help.

 

the best for last:

 

So when I was cleaning things up last night I found out is is definitely a remanufactured motor. I found a plaque on the motor with a serial number, build number and a date of 5/01.


I have no idea if it was a Mazda Remanufactured Motor or if it was done by another company.

 

Yes its a mazda reman only they put those plaks on them.

 

Thanks, That really good to know. At least i know now for sure that it was a proper rebuild.