PAGE AND CAR UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

 

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=801903

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=800210

 

page 1____RX7
page 2________ Ford Focus daily driver, Southern Redneck Chopper
page 3______________Build in aquarium install.
page 4_____________________Interior design kitchen projects..

1980 MAZDA RX7, SCCA/IMSA Widebody
Here on this page I am welcoming you to experience. transformation of an classical MAZDA RX7 into contemporary drift style machine. Become a part of the one of the biggest non-professional/job related project that I've had, end enjoy the story of a car restoration:

Upgrades after restoration:
-12A Turbo. Greddy I/C.
-Eibach Coilover & Adj. Koni shocks, poly suspension. Shevy 10 bolt rear.

 

 

pic w/body kit partially off
-Caged W/sway bars & RacingBeat Strut Brace + HAND CUT camber plates.
-RacingBeat intake W/Holley.
-Front 225-45/16 Falken, Back 245/40-16 Hossier. Bronze clutch.

RESTORATION PORTFOLIO

 

 

One of the biggest obstacles prior to completion of the project was to get right place to start the restoration. Oversizes dollies made out of large casters (Dumpster diving) and wood planks (highway construction) were resourced to build raised platform.

 

RUSTY holes were reconditioned in a manner:
- Stripper (loosens paint and rust corroded particles)
- Neutralizer: baking soda/water
- Rust inventor, lightly torched right after application to release water particles out of metal, sparky burns non-solid metal rust, and then reapply inventor to seal the surface.
- Aluminum paint, glazed and wiped off. It replaces lost metal particles.

This method was tested very positive throughout span of 3 years, with the car partially sitting outside

pic before and after rust treatment.

Paint removal:
CHEMICAL STRIPPING works well and it is way more inexpensive than sandblasting. Marinating paint on metal works the best if you leave it covered w/ plastic. Take that much more time, as how many coats of paint on the car. Also use aircraft grade stripper which has almost a sandy/gel consistency. Car had 2 different paints, primers and multiplicity of body fillers from the previous restoration on the body. Stripper loosens them all up, but it took me almost 12 hours of reapplying. On another hand I made a major mistake leaving stripper on fiberglass parts for too long. It pulled gel goat, but at least did not damaged fiberglass. For fiberglass I recommend using mild stripper, or soak a pieces of cloth with paint thiner and lay on paint...or even sand the paint off. MAKE SURE TE NEUTRALIZE stripper with baking soda after job done.

...Thinking now in retrospective, I would have gone with sandblasting. It is a judgment call for you, which is based on space availability and the scope of labor that you are going to put into a project (complete or partial). When I have started the project i did not have the space, nor did not plan such of large scale, therefore chemical way was initiated.

After this point (as of may 2008) I have stepped into a finishing stage of the project. In order to get chases rolling, but water sealed i did fiberglassing the body. I am completely pleased what is happening right now, and it is great refreshment from stripping and cleaning the body for the last couple of months. I vent into PURE joy of progress, and into the start of my artistic/design input.

 

Pictures below shows glassing and wheel flare reinforcement. Keep in mind an minimal usage of filler/bondo type material. Straightening up fiberglass and epoxy, together with sanding to almost finish like look ,just like surfboard building- vinyl putty utilized to obtain volume and build up or straighten dents and bumps.

In order to attach flares i used combination of screws, fiberglass cloth and resin squeezed with a fasteners

Here we go with more of never ending pain of chemical stripping. By now i feel like Jacqueline Hyde living as mystery life suffounded by alchemy of aircraft pain remover

The final effect pays off.

 

Side by side with exterior the progress has followed interior of the car. Car restoration differs from customizing of a new vehicle by the way you alter original design, but in restoration in order to customize, you have to first recondition the parts. One of the bigger hidden disappointments in the project so far, was the body pan under the carpet. From the outside the bottom looked fairly good. I was ready for minor rust patching, but did not expect this find. Previous owner has treated the car with undercoating. This undercoating has developed pockets of air gaps, which have held water from leaking sunroof. That resulted in a structural damage of body pan, and the frame. Well...nobody said it's going to be easy, and as much of this rare classic I'll touch, that much stronger and unique Frankenstein i will build, so I have left the largest damage area to be fixed for later, during spring time trip to metal shop.

Body pan had been scraped, sanded and rust inverted. Rubber undercoating was heavily sprayed through the surface. Places affected too heavily with rust were simply sealed and put aside waiting for biopsy. Poly 3xFoam was used to fill hollow body sections to create denser structure.

 

 

 

 

One of the first steps of restoration was to fix speed seized spindle (to be able to bumper push car to garage). In handy came Hybrid: 1st gen/adj coilovers. KONI/EIBACH.
Bolt pattern had to be changed, and aluminum camber plates to be cut

 

 

Butchering resources to obtain founds for the project(made 800 bucks in parts:)~...keep in mind i always rub the street w/ shampoo after cleaning:)..my favorite picture- this is a real ghetto style! and that's how i do it!

Good thing about taking a time to shop around is to get misc items cheap, but sometimes incomplete...

 

 

 

 

Actual picture less needle light. Simple upgrade of visual. Original has nice red tint to it, but SPORTY looks priors. Tools needed: + U'll have to burn holes for wiring.

 

 

Solid mounts, gauges and poly suspension

Gauges will be installed on the passenger side, due to lock of space next to steering wheel.
And the jewels- Greddy filter adapter for oil press/temp sender unit .

 

 

Set up shown above: inter/cooler plus radiator

Hood scoop goes out of my perspective. I might add shark lung fins on the hood, which will be matching rear window louvers.

 

Patch up

 

Bend and spray templet

Cutting out the corrugated plastic.
vent louvers templed, they will have to be redone more precisely before glassing

 

Rigid fiberglass for the sides, and thin unidirectional for the fins ,it will help follow the 3D shape

 

Hood skin fiberglassed

 

sanding first layer of fiberglass with shears (blade is convex side to side not length wise)

will clamp wood stip wrapped in foil, to create straight body edge and prevent resin from sticking to the hood

                                                                

                                                                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ok next gig step rear end out looking for 8.8" ford