I was contacted by a gentleman looking for advice on his father's 10AE. He told me that his father had bought the car new and that he had enjoyed the car but hat some issues were causing the car to have been parked for the last three years. He told me the car would no longer start and that they were considering selling the car and asked if I would be interested in buying the car. We came to terms and I made the trek out to PA with my boys and a buddy from work. The car came with all purchase paperwork, window sticker, dealer letters, manuals, original key set, etc. We loaded the car and brought it home, unloaded it, and after installing a new battery, confirmed that it was a crank no start. The plugs were absolutely awful and the fuel pump sounded as if it were running a little slow. The fuel was in a miserable state as well. The next steps are a full tune up, drain the tank and add fresh gas, new air and fuel filters, oil change, clean the fuel pump grounds and contacts on the fuel pump assembly pump and bench test it for proper operation. From there we I will continue to update everyone with the car's progress. For now here are a couple pictures of the car on the trailer. More pictures will follow.

 

You've got to be stoked about his one, it looks nice! I'm looking forward to following this thread!

 

Maybe mention that Joe Maddox gave some free parts to this build and you told him you were going to use your power on the club to fix things? He though you guys were actually ok friends and had much in common. Anyway, I look forward to seeing the build thread as well does he!

 

Just stop, Joe... jeez.

 

Joe is a great guy and he did give me parts for my other 10AE that helped considerably. I still have that other 10AE. The forum is undergoing many changes currently and the mod staff is working on implementing the changes with the admin team and I.B.. I will continue to pull for Joe with the admin staff as I believe Joe is a good guy. Joe has never done me any wrong.

 

Thank you kindly for those words. they mean a great deal to him. He is more than willing to help out in any way he can and is also looking forward to this build thread! Everyone has loved each one so far! Keep up the amazing work!

 

Took a few pics to share before I left town for the week for my job. Wanted to share the pics as I hadn't taken many pics of some other areas of the car.









Original window sticker:



Purchase paperwork:



Dealer letters:

 

It came with that paperwork!?! That badge is epic! These are truly a rarity these days and you are awesome for restoring it! Not all hero's wear capes, but clearly they restore 10AE's haha!

 

I ordered a batch of new parts yesterday and am hoping they will arrive by the weekend. The first order of business will be to drain the gas tank and replace the fuel filter. The tank looks clean inside, just has some very nasty stale gas in it. I also need to confirm that I'm getting fuel to the rail. I checked for spark and that I do have. Really looking forward to digging into this car and posting more and more pictures!

 

Great stuff! excited to see the transformation!

-M

 

It definitely needs a lot of work but I'm looking forward to putting the work into the car! It won't be a fast build because I'm going to tackle the running condition and then the rust repair and finally paint. I'm excited to get started. I've been out of town for work, four hours from home since Monday and won't be home until tomorrow and then its back to work. My time to work on the car is limited but I will definitely make good use of my time and post updates.

 

Absolutely love it!

I wish I could come upon cars like these up here.

 

I spent some time with my youngest son yesterday working on the 10AE. The car is somewhat of a family project with me and my sons so I will include either or both of them any time I'm working on the car. I started yesterday by replacing two of the four tires on the car and ensuring that the wheels were on the correct side. I'll replace the other two tires some time at work this week. I have to work around the rust underneath, so I can only have the jack and stands at certain points on the car. So two tires at a time. We spent a little bit getting the interior cleaned up and started wiping the engine bay down. Its full of undercoating and it looks awful. We got a good start to that. I was also able to diagnose the fuel pump to be faulty. It will turn on and then get very slow and then stop working. I took the pump off and tried applying direct power to it and it does the same thing. So I have a new pump and pickup filter on the way. Took a couple pics and wanted to share the progress!

 

Just so awesome. There is a 10th AE sitting in a driveway with flat tires about 15 miles from me. There's and old Camaro in the same state sitting behind it... I pass it on my bike rides often and I need to inquire about the 10AE with the owner.

Keep up the good work!

-M

 

nice find, that car is really a good start!

 

You should inquire about the car. They only made 1500 of them and it would be a shame to let another one rot away. If anything, maybe swing by and ask the owner to look at the car. Would be great to see you restore one!! I created a 10AE registry here in the 2nd gen section back in 06 to keep track of all of the 10AE's that we can find. So far we have something like 238 cars on the registry. Considering that 1500 were made, we have found just over 15% of the total production and I would guess that there are still quite a bit more out there. I'm sure many have been lost to theft, collisions, scrapping, and part outs over the years. We would be lucky if 50% of the cars remained today.

 

Thank you! Given its history as a one owner car and buying the car in a completely unmolested state is the best thing for me. The original owner could not remember putting much work into the car over the years,but I do see that it has had both outer door handles replaced and the mufflers were replaced. All with oem parts. The down side is the rust and its going to be tough to repair. But its something that I want to do. The car deserves to be restored.

 

Next time I pass by I should knock on his door. Couldn't hurt. He's obviously keeping it for a reason but it's in rough shape, covered in algae ect.. Maybe get it cheap!

-M

 

The first batch of parts arrived last night. Today I was able to replace the plugs, air filter, and wiper blades before I got pulled away for family business. Figured I'd share some pics of some of the progress:





Air filter had not been replaced in a coons age before today. Based on the neglect of the easy stuff, I know the car had to not run well:

 

I got home form work last night and installed the fuel pump. Decided that it was time to try and start the engine afterwards. The engine was difficult to start, but came to life for the first time in 4 years. There was a bit of smoke for a few minutes but the smoke cleared and the idle settled down to a near perfect idle. Once the engine was at normal operating temp, I looked over it externally and checked for any leaks. I didn't see any leaks, so I decided to move some cars around and back the car out of the garage. I drove the car up the road gently, easing into a small amount of throttle and boost and the engine pulled well and the car accelerated very smoothly! After the drive, I checked the car for leaks and none were found. I took a few pictures and my son took a video, but I don't know how to share the video. There's still a lot more that I need to do and I'm looking forward to doing it. I couldn't be happier with how the first start and drive turned out! Here are a couple pics:

First start with some smoke:



Engine at normal operating temp before the fist drive:





Pics with my other 10AE:

 

Nice!!

I wish i had more land/back yard for all the Rx’s I want in my life. . Keep up the great work.

 

Thank you sir! I have the land but I need a building to store the cars in. I've been discussing stuff with my wife about building a workshop that I can put 6 cars in. The issue with where I live is the leaves. You take care of them and they come right back. Its a never ending thing. Summer is great here, but when the leaves come down its a never ending battle and the yard looks awful until summer.

 

Spent a little while in the garage yesterday with the 7 after installing a new set of tires. Decided to let it run for a bit and add some more fresh gas to the tank. The more it runs the better its running. Can't wait for the weather to break so I can finally really drive it.

 

Berry nice nice.

How do you explain your Mazda's and cars to your lady?

 

Well we've been married for 13 years and have 6 kids. Shes been well aware of my car addiction since we met in 2005 haha. She keeps me around despite this haha