To buy or not to by (Drag RX3)?
 

I have eyed this rx3 for over 1 year now. Guy wants it gone and contacted me today. I can buy it for very cheap. Its been sitting for quite awhile now., Has a full cage and 9 inch housing only and a 4 link. Comes with grill and other parts for body. Body is in good shape with no major rust. So what $$ are we talking for me to get this thing up to par? Say 9 second car on e85. Not worried about motor or turbo in the price build but suspension wise and supporting parts. Give me your thoughts. Not looking for a show car just something to do as fun project.

Looks like it has a lot of potential! The final cost all depends on whether or not the chassis/suspension in usable in it's current state. Do you have any shots of the inside of the car?

I have a pic I will dig up. The 4 link is good but the springs and struts look old school. I would redue those. On the front I have no idea as I ddint even look. But it is not rusted out by any means.

it is about how much you want to do something!
 

i am no ball-er by any means, i have just stayed focused at the job at hand.it is all in how much you want to do something.anything other then a stock chassis is a big deal to build.what i have found out in the 18+ years of doing what i enjoy, (building and racing shit wagons) it is very hard to do if you have a negative influence in the process of building your next project.the wife who hates the car,to many projects and not staying focused at the task at hand.a good supporting group of friends and shops,(if you do not have the tooling and skills) is a must.from what i have seen so far in my limited rotary experience is that WE are the smallest group of drag racers out there.the only way to keep it all moving forward is to build more cars.my vote is to buy it,build it,race it,brake it,fix it:icon_tup:

Buy it!!! If i got offered that i wouldn't be able to help myself haha. imo you could spend anywhere from 2 to 20k on the body and setup. I'd just take my time on the car (only cause iv'e got 2 other rx3's)
It looks tuff as it is now, just imagine with a nice paint job :rolleyes:

I say buy it....like others here have said...a good project is fun project without letting the neg. in...Take your time with it and as time goes by the project will take shape and form.

Nice project and seems as though from what you have posted the car is almost somewhat done and near ready for the track...

Thats weird, Mike. I've been looking at RX-3s too. I don't think i'd have the patience to do any sort of body restore though.

The body is the least of the work needed. Its straight just needs prep and paint. The hinges are tight and need repair. There are no tubs in the rear, just open.

I am going to phone the guy today and see what we can work out.

Pic
 

Here is a inside rear shot. cage is pretty rusty, think its usable or would you redue?

From the photo I'd say the integrity of the metal is OK. Have someone media blast it and you'll probably be good as new. I'm no chassis expert but it look like there needs to be some more work done on the upper shock mounts and the four-link mounts. IMO they'll need to be tied into something much better than they are currently.

Buy it! :D

Looks good... blast it, tin it, toss a motor in and go have some fun..

what's his phone number? I need to ask him something :lol:

The guy had a datsun caged with rotary that he already sold. Last time I was there he had 2-3 20b's on the shelf. Also has his own custom built lapping table! He knows a little :lol:


So how the hell do I learn to tin (guessing thats the interior part?)= sheet metal? CAn I sand blast it , whats media blast ?

not sure about the blasting.. I know media is better but not sure if it's needed in your case.

I built my tubs and rear panels from scratch. I didn’t know jack about it. I just got a bunch of cardboard and masking tape and went to town. I made everything with cardboard first until I was happy with how it looked.

I then went and bought some $30 harbor freight electric metal shears, a $40 sheet of 20 gauge metal and starting cutting and stitch welding it all together, I then followed that up with some NAPA seam sealer.

You might not need to get crazy since it will be a track car I’m assuming and it won’t need to be completely sealed.

Just start measuring and playing with some cardboard, that should give you a idea of what to do.

FYI, I also used ½” square tubing underneath to brace everything.

Mike,
That RX-3 looks like a fun project!
........just buy my car and we'll both be happy! j/k
Steve

Thanks for the info man.. What type of welder did you use for this?


Going to pick it up in the next day or 2.

Steve, just keep that car. Why not crank the boost up and enjoy it?

i would buy it ..

Lincoln Mig.... 110 v

As far as the blasting you can shoot about anything at it with enough air pressure. ;) Sand is common but it can be very abrasive and pit the metal. Media is a more generic term for anything from plastic pellets to walnut shells. For something like this with light surface rust you'd want a media that's not going to pit everything it touches. Soda is a good media for this type of thing as it dissolves with water and washes right out. Anything else will still be falling out of the body panels 5 years after the fact.

I'll say again, I'd take a look at all the construction before simply tinning out the rear and hitting the track. That's just common sense anyway. The upper shock mounts in the rear and simply tied into a piece of fairly thin plate. When you launch the car those plates are going to be supporting a very large portion of the sprung weight of the car. Doesn't look like they're well designed IMO.

I agree on that. I always thought it looked weak. I have some homework to do.

do you have any hotrod buddies, someone with some chassis experience? have them go look at it with you...

yeah, those shock plates will bend upwards after a launch or two.... might be able to somewhat box them in but I'd just cut them out and run a normal shock bar across...

After further inspection, the entire design just looks weird. Normally, if you were to back half a car, you would run the shocks/coilovers inside the frame rails, not on the outside. That definitely doesn’t look like a shop built car, but more of a backyard/hillbilly build.

I’m not saying that it won’t work, but I would want someone to make sure everything is atleast square and safe.

Tubs would be a mother to build with the shocks outboard like that…

If you don't want it I might be looking for anothe rproject like this.. Tin work sucks.. it can look good with a good bit of work but most people half arse it ...

not much of it left except for a shell hih?

take a look at this thread, it will give you some idea's of what's and what not's.

http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/sh...ghlight=rotary

Wow that Toyota looks like what not...LOL...