Saving My 81 RX7

[chc]

What have you coated the underside of the body with ? A few of us in the uk have used a product POR15 and found this second to none

[Ghostkls]

Thanks, I was really happy with the finish I got on the door. Took me days before I convinced myself I was ready to cut the rust away....

I went with the full set of poly bushes from energy suspension and I must say it was a great choice! Everything fits perfectly, there were no issues with any of the bushes and the feel of the car on the road is just amazing! You don't realize how bad everything was until you pull it apart and rebuild it.....

All the little suspension parts were sand blasted and powder coated, the diif was the only thing I cleaned and painted. Would have taken a lot more than the 3 days the suspension was at powder coating for me to clean, prep and paint all the bits.

I used my own 2 step process that I did to the vehicles my dad used on the farm for years without any issues. First I coat it with a South African product called Abe Bitumen liquid which is a solvent based sealer followed by a couple coats of Bakkie liner, which is a water based coating commonly used on commercial vehicles to protect from stone chips as well as help keep road noise out.

[chc]

Cutting rust out is always a difficult one as once it's gone ........ gone but at least the chances of it returning are reduced dramatically and oh what a finished product you have ......

Yeah it looked as if you had powder coated the suspension pieces so protection and cosmetics at the same time ......

Poly bushes are good - I used Superpro which were/are dearer than rubber but never got the opportunity to drive the car as I've sold it on but from what I understand they handle brilliantly afterwards ......

If you know of a proven protective coating system then I don't blame you for using it and as long as you are happy with the result, well that is all that counts

[Ghostkls]

This is true, rust is like the cancer of cars, if you don't get it all, it just seems to come back worse than before.... Thanks, the access to people that have the knowledge to help in SA is a bit of a problem as most can't help and those that can don't want to....

When I looked at the suspension, I knew I could never get the finish or protection I wanted by spraying it.

I have been so happy with the poly bushes, has really transformed the car into a beast around corners from what it was. Still want to get a set of racingbeat springs to lower the car a little just to compliment the car and close the gap a little between the tyre and arch.

For now though, I want to focus on the engine, still playing with a few ideas though. Looking at either getting hold of another nikki and seeing how much I can pull out of it as a project or going all out and tearing the motor down, doing a large street port and a 48 ida weber,

With limited products here compared to the rest of the world, I have had to learn to adapt to what is available and this has proved to work well for me so far.

Here are a few pics of the engine bay bfore and after....

BEFORE:





AFTER:




When I do a full body restore, I want to make up a full custom harness for the car as well as do a full cable tuck and DFIS but that is a while away still.

[re japi]

Wow, thats really good sheetmetal workmate

And I really like what you done to that rear

[Chud]

Good work dude, she's starting to look clean. Fair play on the loom tuck though, that's a nasty job.

[Ghostkls]

Thanks, re japi! One of the things I was determined to try and do was remove the seam at the bottom of the door while still maintaining the strength and keeping it all looking as factory as possible. Took a bit of planning but am happy with the results and now there is no more seam to rust....

Thanks, Chud. Funny you should say that about the loom tuck as several people have had the same response when I told them I want to do a loom tuck... Thing is, I am a Networks Engineer by trade and one of the things I hate the most is messy and untidy cabling. As a result, I take pride in my cabling and actually really enjoy that kind of work.

[TOOL]

I only just realised you've got a series 5 donk in there.

[Ghostkls]

TOOL, you are correct! Bought it like that as a non-runner.... But when I had a look at the car, I quickly realized the problem was not the motor as the owner said it was. Just a really poor attempt at wiring up the ignition, also had a points dizzy fitted and the points were shot! Took just a weekends work before she was running sweet!

[ian65]

did you strip the air-con evaporator out of the car from under the dash or are you going to connect it up again?