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rx2 build: ヘドラ Hedora
ヘドラ is the smog monster that fought godzilla in 1972. english is hedorah; he feeds off the smog created by humans.
more about the car. a friend on a local nissan forum found this gem and picked it up about two years ago. i learned that he had the car about two weeks ago and offered to purchase it. after going up to take a look at it, we agreed upon the fantastically unfair price of 350$. finally had time today to drag it down and now that it is solidly in my garage, i can finally make a build thread on it. the history of the car is a mystery. word on the street is that an older gentleman owned a decent collection and passed away. his family in all their great wisdom (and in somewhat of a disrespectful fashion) had all the vehicles towed off to a yard for scrap. i was told about 6-8 vehicles in relatively fine condition met the same fate as their loving owner. this car and another rx2 were all that were saved and only just. the family was not any help or willing to get titles or paperwork or history so i need to go through some bureaucracy to get a title for the smog monster. plans are uncertain as of yet; just make it run(most likely rebuild with either an aggressive street port or bridgy) and clean it up/replace broken or missing stuff.. ive always loved old japanese cars and rotaries but have never been in the right position to have the two meet. my other toys are a 3 rotor fc and a basically bone stock fd so this should fit in well. pictures are scant at the moment but i will try my best to update and add pics as progress is made. https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0089.jpg photo PO sent me when he first told me he had the car https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...8-06-34952.jpg getting it loaded up to transport https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...IMAG0119-1.jpg finally on the road https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0120.jpg and home https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/CIMG2677.jpg https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/CIMG2678.jpg rust isnt bad. car is really solid throughout https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/CIMG2679.jpg https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/CIMG2680.jpg interior is dirty and missing a few pieces. road tripping tomorrow to pick bulk majority of things mia thanks to perterno(sorry if i spelled that wrong) so after i got settled down a bit, i decided to see what the condition of the twin dizzy 12a engine was in. removed some parts to get to the front hub (carb was already removed and stuffed in a box in the back seat) https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/CIMG2681.jpg all the bolts seem to be sticky but arent breaking after the initial crack. the 19mm on the front of the engine was finally exposed and i put the breaker bar on it and gave it a gentle twist.. then a harder twist. then went hulk green and tore the bar in half. engine didnt even flinch. next course of action was to pour atf down the intake and spark plug holes so removed plugs which were really tight and all four had me worried that i was going to break one in the housing but they came out.. .. then i found something very interesting https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/CIMG2676.jpg all four plugs were caked solid with some kind of crystalized substance. a poke inside the plug holes with a screwdriver confirmed that the engine is caked solid with this stuff. well that happened quicker than anticipated. oh well still going to be a blast to work on and im really excited to get to rebuild the engine and i am very happy with the condition of the car. |
Nice score, good luck with your project!
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ahh the old poke inspection. lol never fails.
good luck with the car looks to be pretty much intact. :icon_tup::icon_tup: |
nice find!
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Good luck with the build....
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nice find, it looks like the paint might buff out!
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Love the color. Good luck nice find.
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so took a 4 hour one way road trip to get some parts from some guys today.
they had their own dealing and i just kind of crashed it. colorado and california meeting in utah to swap cars and parts. it was hard missing the jdm legends open house but im glad i have most of what i need to return the rx2 to the road. guy in cali traded this http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0125.jpg for this http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0122.jpg and a truck bed full of parts . super clean shell and basically no rust. makes my car look like a huge rust bucket. kid wanted a pic in front of the rx3.. i didnt teach him this crazy behavior http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0123.jpg after i got home and took a nap, i decided to try out the hood and tails http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0127.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0128.jpg i think they really help set the car off. i think tomorrow i will either pull the engine or start tearing into the interior and cleaning it up. new projects always feel so daunting but the end result is sometimes worth it. |
love the car, nice find.
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$350, some people have all the luck. Lol Good luck with the build!
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The color will buff out nice.my rx2 was worse and turned out really good with a quick polish.
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^^ yeah just unintentional rubbing against it is shining it up.
im not sure if it has had a respray or not. there is no overspray and the green is everywhere, including under the carpet and the "EU" color stucker is still in the engine bay along with all the other factory stickers but there is a paint run in the engine bay which makes me think its been resprayed at some time. not sure though anyway, i started cleaning up the interior i pulled the carpets out and vacuumed them with the house vac and used the shop vac to clean up the metal and door cards. all the plastic was just scrubbed with soap and water or windex unfortunately when i tried to put the front door cards on, i realized that they were for a coupe and were about 3 inches too long oh well http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0131.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0129.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/IMAG0130.jpg carpet isnt in that great of shape, its very brittle and im missing the right rear piece. it will probably be cheaper and easier to buy a set from ebay but i think it looks way better than it used to |
Awsome buy. welcome to the rx2 fun. looks like its in good shape. I bet the crap is from coolent in the engine . Thats how myn were.
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nice derek. And I didn't even know you had this. should be super fun.
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Keep plugging along. Want to get rid of your door panels?
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That car is great...get it running in short order...and drive the snot out of it and THEN put it down for a nice refresh...you will be so much more motivated to do a top job already knowing how much fun this car is to drive and being in touch with its shortcomings will drive you to correct things the right way. Good luck with it.
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Originally Posted by banzaitoyota
(Post 11112157)
Want to get rid of your door panels?
Originally Posted by cfamilyfix
(Post 11112178)
That car is great...get it running in short order...and drive the snot out of it and THEN put it down for a nice refresh...you will be so much more motivated to do a top job already knowing how much fun this car is to drive and being in touch with its shortcomings will drive you to correct things the right way. Good luck with it.
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good shit...can't wait to see a video of it running!
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350usd is about 460nzd...... dude a rx2 like that over hear would sell for 8 to 10grand, nice score man and good luck!
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so yesterday i pulled the engine out of the old gal. it was really quite enjoyable and i found myself smiling a lot. its really the nicest old car ive worked on. everything came apart with little fuss and no broken studs or bolts or seized nuts. the torch just sat in the corner getting dusty. the hardest part was trying to get the exhaust to separate from the manifold. a wonky angle and rust made it want to stick around a little longer but finally i got it freed up.
this engine was absolutely water logged. i drained the oil prior to removal and a good 2 liters of fresh mountain spring water poured out before the 2 quarts of oil found their way out the drain hole. after i got the engine out and started moving it around to tear down to the keg, more water poured out of every orifice that happened to be pointing downward at that time. i had to squeegee my floor constantly to try and keep the garage dry and not sloppy. after i got it to the keg, jefespeed came by and helped me tear the keg down. it came apart a little roughly, it was a nasty smelly sloppy mess inside. rotors were frozen to the irons and took a bit of persuasion to finally get everything apart. i was pretty bummed about the housings. they looked like they were in really really awesome shape and looked even better after i started cleaning them up in the wash sink but alas, right at the end, i found a couple deep pits in the bottoms of them where the water has eaten through the chrome. no chatter marks, no scars, no triangle grooves.. no idea why this car was put up. it looks like engine wise, it was very nice and had no defects.. well.. till someone decided to top it off with a lot of wet stuff. ill take pictures of everything after i get back in town but if anyone wants or needs any early 12a stuff, let me know. irons, housings, rotors are junk but the e shaft, oil pump are good and all the ancillary stuff is good too like intake manifold, twin dizzy front cover, factory exhaust bread box thing/manifold, starter, alternator, water pump, air pump.. etc.. i think now my plan is to find a cheap running fb, possibly even a gsl-se if i can find it, and just do a quick engine swap so i can enjoy life. so much for making it appear stock under the hood. |
i already stashed the rotors and irons so i couldnt take pics of them but here are the housing
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2682.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2687.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2684.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2685.jpg engine bay looking even more sparse http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2688.jpg i love how wonky the exhaust is on these old cars. sucks that the frame rails are so shot though http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2689.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/CIMG2690.jpg not sure how im going to fix them.. |
am i missing something? how are the framerails shot?
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You keeping the complete stock exaust system when you do the swap or is that available to?
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Also do you need a front bumper? there is someone on the RX2 facebook page parting a sedan
http://www.facebook.com/groups/mazdarx2/ |
Originally Posted by sodrifter
(Post 11117911)
am i missing something? how are the framerails shot?
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I missing something?how are the frame rails shot compare to most cars.sell it to me...i offer $500 with no motor no trans lol.that's a $150. Profit for washing it lol.
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Originally Posted by RX2fan
(Post 11118058)
You keeping the complete stock exaust system when you do the swap or is that available to?
Originally Posted by RX2fan
(Post 11118061)
Also do you need a front bumper? there is someone on the RX2 facebook page parting a sedan
http://www.facebook.com/groups/mazdarx2/ |
Yup... those rails are fine, just surface rust.
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i've got plenty of good used Rx2 engine parts if you need em
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had a lead on a bow through turbo 12a so i went and checked it out today.
kind of exciting to see but pretty disappointing too. was the factory 12a turbo but converted to carb with an hks setup. mani, box, turbo.. anyway it looked neat but i pulled the plugs and spun it over and it had a dead face. on top of that, i was told 400$ on the phone last friday and when i got there, the price changed to 650$. i took a pass on it. im going to go look at a 79 SA tomorrow. if it has a good engine, im going to pick it up and part it out. i did take the rx2 to the car wash for a spray. we flat towed it. the front brakes or bearings or something is dry and screwed up. super high rolling resistance and sounds like death. the exhaust also fell off on the way.. how embarrassing.. anyway. there is a rotary car bbq on the 16th and i think it would be a blast if this thing could chug down to the park and back by then. |
Man I wish I was working on my rx3 I love working on it, I been working on my rx8 is fun but it will never compare to old school.keep us updated nice find.
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kind of a mini mid week update.
yesterday another piece of the interior puzzle showed up; the heater/radio and shifter surround. now i need to figure out how to hook the controls up and find out where all the missing electrical connectors are. only have one pic and it makes the interior look shotty but thats ok i suppose. i dont have any interior screws so this weekend im going to go pilfer the junk yards and fill my pockets with them so i can start to bolt this stuff in to place. interior needs another round of cleaning too. https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0145.jpg oh and the chrome plastic stuff is flaking off the surround. any ideas how to take care of that issue or repair it? |
Was that Rx3 for sale..
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Carlos, im not sure about the details of the rx3.. it exchanged hands but thats as far as my knowledge goes
small update.. had some time to play so i decided to try and clean the plastic interior stuff a bit more.. sorry in advance for the more horrible than normal photo quality. my camera took a vacation https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0184.jpg https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0177.jpg https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0182.jpg also dug into the trunk a bit more and this is what i found https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0172.jpg https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0173.jpg drivers side has the harness clipped in about the same spot too. the yard i was told that had the repu, didnt have a repu so i guess i am now on the hunt for some sockets and wiring for an rx2.. thanks for letting me share |
Keep it going, these cars are classy. And a four door, even better.
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so my curious friend came by to look at the new project and he brought his camera. here are a few shots from saturday.
all of these are also available in high res so if you have interest in them for wallpaper or whatever, email me and ill send you your very own copy for free!!!! http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/DSC_7999.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/DSC_8001.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/DSC_8031.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/DSC_8033.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...2/DSC_8035.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...3-Version2.jpg http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d5...4-Version2.jpg |
Sucks about the motor bro I ran into a similar issue with my s4 TII keg..was completely unusable 'cept for e-shaft, oil pump etc.
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Nice RX-2 project you got there! What kind of wheels are those on the RX-7?
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Those wheels are Centerline Champ 500's or that was what they were called when I got them years ago for my Torino. They had to variant's though the billet style like this and some other older ugly ones. Very cool wheels though. I haven't seen them in years!!!
Nice wheels Derek!!! |
These are MB 72s. They are intended to be truck wheels but price point and size made an attractive option plus the atypical application gets a lot of compliments.
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yummy crusty rotors!
the one on my shelf used to look about the same before i scrubbed it shiny again. |
Its a real shame about the RE badge on the grill =/
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I have the other half, just need to figure out how to reattach them... or I send australia 300$i
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so after a few comments on the sad state of the RE badge, i decided it would be something nice to take care of on this lazy saturday afternoon where its too hot to be in the garage
first thing i did was jb it back together. i thought about trying to solder or weld it but the internet said it was possible to damage it more than not and its not a stressed part so this should hold https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0240.jpg after it dried, i decided to get my gf involved and she painted the whole thing for me https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0238.jpg finished product https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0239.jpg trial fit back on the car https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0241.jpg https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0242.jpg not bad for 20 minutes of work with materials we already had laying around next is the M logo on the grill. i think there is some kind of resin substance that they sell at the hobby shop that will have a similar thickness and color, so ill try that out this week or next weekend https://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d...2/IMAG0243.jpg also about 5 seconds away from just buying an SA/FB for the engine and other parts. there is a complete and running 79 for $500. just worried that i dont have any more room at my place for another dilapidated car. |
RE Badge came out great! I'm real interested to see how the Mazda Logo comes out, I've always wondered what would be agood way to paint it.
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Great work on the RE badge!! The repair looks seamless, I have a nos center grill badge, if you need pics for reference.
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i think you have the right idea with resin, fiberglass resin with some light color mixed in might do the trick but the tricky part is not slobbering it in and just filling the pockets, that is where precision work comes in.
it's not as difficult as it may seem to restore some things, just a little time consuming. |
There is a guy on Ausrotary...or at least there was. Restoremaz...(Dave was his first name) His whole business caters around the restoration of badges and emblems. I know its australia, but to ship such a small item shouldn't be too bad.
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2 Attachment(s)
started cutting the old paint to see whats under there. basically free if you have free time. so much money into home remodels and other cars, havent had much time/cash to work on this thing this summer.
Attachment 695903 Attachment 695904 i plan on going over it again. i rubbed the pass quarter by hand and it has a lot more gloss than the drivers side which i used a machine for. used compound then over with polish.. i think it will look good enough to drive on til next winter. |
Just rolled our 24 Hours of Lemons RX2.
Will be parting the car shortly if you are interested. I have NEW - 1 race rear struts (Miata) that fit the car and the cut rear springs that are required to fit. I have first gen RX7 Tokicos that fit. I have rebuilt front calipers, non rebuilt calipers, four front brake rotors, braided stainless rear brake lines, booster, new first gen 7 master cylinder, pretty much anything for brakes to get them going. Even have new unused brake pads and shoes. New rear wheel brake cylinders. I have a lot of the dash components, stock steering wheel original wheels Have one fender badge and both of the ones on a coupe B-pillars Lots of stuff from a running RX2 (keeping the REW halfbridge and 1st gen 7 transmission). More |
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