Jerry's RX-7 Turbo II restoration

JerryLH3 · 06-11-2010, 08:09 PM

Last July, my RX-7 went out of commission with a blown oil cooler line. It had been the daily driver for over four years at that point and RX-7s had been my only daily driver for nearly ten years. After thinking about it, I decided it needed to be my fun car, so I bought a new car for a daily.

Over the years, I hadn't abused the RX-7, but it had been seriously neglected. After not working on the car for many months, I finally replaced the oil cooler lines. After a couple more months, I decided to just dive right in, tear the whole thing apart and replace all the junk interior bits and repaint the exterior.

Here was my starting point:

JerryLH3 · 06-11-2010, 08:14 PM

The work finally started a couple of months ago in April. My friend said that before we started, I needed to deface the car as kind of a breaking the ice. Even though I knew the car needed massive amounts of body work to make it better, I'll admit it was hard to take the grinder to the car.

The passenger side fender was in pretty rough shape due to a parking lot accident a few years ago. We pretty much knew the fender was junk, but to practice a little bit of body work skills (which we had no idea if we possessed or not), we took it off and had the mindset that we were going to save this fender (even though I'm really not - it's beyond repair).

After a day or two's work, things were starting to disappear off the car.

JerryLH3 · 06-11-2010, 08:17 PM

I spent quite a few hours with the sandpaper and Meguiar's PlastX to revive the foglights and FTP lenses. I'm still on the fence about just replacing the FTPs with new ones, but they do look better than they did.

JerryLH3 · 06-11-2010, 08:21 PM

The collection of new parts is quite large at this point. I started stockpiling these a couple years ago in anticipation of one day needing to tear this car apart.

The interior was finally completely stripped as of a week or so ago.

A pretty big problem area that I had known about. I believe it was caused by a clogged hatch drain that would spill water into the emergency jack area. I've done a fair amount of stabbing at it with a screwdriver and it appears to be just really bad surface rust.

JerryLH3 · 06-11-2010, 08:27 PM

I did a quick little clean and polish on the instrument cluster and put on a new tripmeter knob. I'm not sure why, the bare metal rod bugs the hell out of me.

The stuff that needed to go to the trash heap was really beginning to pile up after two months, so this all went to the curb a few days ago.

That's where it stands right now. Impending fatherhood means I can't spend quite as much money now as I had been, but I still want to get it painted, back together and running in stock condition by the end of the year. Then next year, I can start on the mods.

project86 · 06-11-2010, 09:26 PM

fantastic project car. and yes its a money pit.

it always will be. ill keep an eye on this one. i like the step by step too.

MaczPayne · 06-12-2010, 02:39 PM

Wow, I am definitely going to come back to this often! I love restorations!

NoDOHC · 06-12-2010, 07:19 PM

That dash looks pretty good to throw away!

The project is looking great so far!

JerryLH3 · 06-12-2010, 07:29 PM

The dash looks good in that last picture, but the bubbling was pretty severe and it was fairly faded as well. There were multiple broken mounting tabs as well. It looks like I threw away a pretty good piece, but I assure you I did not.

Max777 · 06-13-2010, 03:23 PM

how are you going to source a replacement? surely you're not going to buy a brand new dash are you? Cause that's crazy....

and baller.

JerryLH3 · 06-13-2010, 03:59 PM

I'm not sure new dashes are even available. A member in Raleigh, NC on the other forum had one for sale. I talked to my friend in Myrtle Beach and he was willing to pick it up for me as he and his wife planned on going to Raleigh one weekend anyway. He picked the dash up a few weeks ago and will be delivering it to me when he comes to stay down here for his grandfather's 80th birthday party in just a little over two weeks.

I wish I was baller enough to think about buying a brand new dash if they were available.

Max777 · 06-14-2010, 07:01 AM

Still baller.. how much did you drop on all those new interior pieces?

JerryLH3 · 06-14-2010, 01:06 PM

Over the past two years, on all the OEM stuff, I've spent close to $2000. That's obviously an exorbitant amount of money to pay, but when I'm completely done with the car, I still will probably have less invested (wasted?) than other people spend on their car. I'm just spending mine in a different place as my power goals are very moderate.

The pictures I posted really don't do the car justice as to just how bad the interior was. Every vent on the car was broken, one A pillar was broken and they were both so faded they looked gray. The carpet was in poor shape behind the driver's seat. The center console had been drilled into to mount a crappy cup holder. The center radio/vent surround had lots of burn marks on it and the list goes on an on.

A lot of parts I have sourced secondhand, I just waited until I found something that was in great shape. The carpet I bought looked practically brand new. He said it was in a car that only had 70K miles on it. The cargo cover is nearly mint too to replace my crappy one. The interior will definitely look good once I am done with it.

prrex4ever · 06-17-2010, 07:51 PM

Awesome project, can't wait to see the finished product.

need RX7 · 06-17-2010, 09:10 PM

Nice. I really like this build. As cool as mega power super fabrication builds are, seeing a car restored to the way it looked decades ago is special in it's own way.

06-11-2010, 08:09 PM	#1
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	Jerry's RX-7 Turbo II restoration Last July, my RX-7 went out of commission with a blown oil cooler line. It had been the daily driver for over four years at that point and RX-7s had been my only daily driver for nearly ten years. After thinking about it, I decided it needed to be my fun car, so I bought a new car for a daily. Over the years, I hadn't abused the RX-7, but it had been seriously neglected. After not working on the car for many months, I finally replaced the oil cooler lines. After a couple more months, I decided to just dive right in, tear the whole thing apart and replace all the junk interior bits and repaint the exterior. Here was my starting point: __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-11-2010, 08:14 PM	#2
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	The work finally started a couple of months ago in April. My friend said that before we started, I needed to deface the car as kind of a breaking the ice. Even though I knew the car needed massive amounts of body work to make it better, I'll admit it was hard to take the grinder to the car. The passenger side fender was in pretty rough shape due to a parking lot accident a few years ago. We pretty much knew the fender was junk, but to practice a little bit of body work skills (which we had no idea if we possessed or not), we took it off and had the mindset that we were going to save this fender (even though I'm really not - it's beyond repair). After a day or two's work, things were starting to disappear off the car. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-11-2010, 08:17 PM	#3
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	I spent quite a few hours with the sandpaper and Meguiar's PlastX to revive the foglights and FTP lenses. I'm still on the fence about just replacing the FTPs with new ones, but they do look better than they did. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-11-2010, 08:21 PM	#4
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	The collection of new parts is quite large at this point. I started stockpiling these a couple years ago in anticipation of one day needing to tear this car apart. The interior was finally completely stripped as of a week or so ago. A pretty big problem area that I had known about. I believe it was caused by a clogged hatch drain that would spill water into the emergency jack area. I've done a fair amount of stabbing at it with a screwdriver and it appears to be just really bad surface rust. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-11-2010, 08:27 PM	#5
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	I did a quick little clean and polish on the instrument cluster and put on a new tripmeter knob. I'm not sure why, the bare metal rod bugs the hell out of me. The stuff that needed to go to the trash heap was really beginning to pile up after two months, so this all went to the curb a few days ago. That's where it stands right now. Impending fatherhood means I can't spend quite as much money now as I had been, but I still want to get it painted, back together and running in stock condition by the end of the year. Then next year, I can start on the mods. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-11-2010, 09:26 PM	#6
project86 Can't.Make.Up.My.Mind. Join Date: May 2009 Location: Murfreesboro, TN iTrader: (3) Posts: 1,377 Rep Power: 17	fantastic project car. and yes its a money pit. it always will be. ill keep an eye on this one. i like the step by step too. __________________ '90 GTUs Stay up to date with my photography '06 Toyota Highlander Hybrid '10 Toyota Prius "Initial Success or Total Failure"

06-12-2010, 02:39 PM	#7
MaczPayne Bah! Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Riverside, SoCal iTrader: (1) Posts: 442 Rep Power: 17	Wow, I am definitely going to come back to this often! I love restorations! __________________ Johnson TA FC in the works!

06-12-2010, 07:19 PM	#8
NoDOHC The quest for more torque Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Sheboygan, Wisconsin iTrader: (1) Posts: 855 Rep Power: 17	That dash looks pretty good to throw away! The project is looking great so far! __________________ 1986 GXL ('87 4-port NA - Haltech E8, LS2 Coils. Defined Autoworks Headers, Dual 2.5" Exhaust (Dual Superflow, dBX mufflers) 1991 Coupe (KYB AGX Shocks, Eibach lowering springs, RB exhaust, Stock and Automatic)

06-12-2010, 07:29 PM	#9
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	The dash looks good in that last picture, but the bubbling was pretty severe and it was fairly faded as well. There were multiple broken mounting tabs as well. It looks like I threw away a pretty good piece, but I assure you I did not. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-13-2010, 03:23 PM	#10
Max777 Pirate Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Central IL iTrader: (5) Posts: 1,323 Rep Power: 18	how are you going to source a replacement? surely you're not going to buy a brand new dash are you? Cause that's crazy.... and baller. __________________ Rotaries:They are NOT that complicated!

06-13-2010, 03:59 PM	#11
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	I'm not sure new dashes are even available. A member in Raleigh, NC on the other forum had one for sale. I talked to my friend in Myrtle Beach and he was willing to pick it up for me as he and his wife planned on going to Raleigh one weekend anyway. He picked the dash up a few weeks ago and will be delivering it to me when he comes to stay down here for his grandfather's 80th birthday party in just a little over two weeks. I wish I was baller enough to think about buying a brand new dash if they were available. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-14-2010, 07:01 AM	#12
Max777 Pirate Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Central IL iTrader: (5) Posts: 1,323 Rep Power: 18	Still baller.. how much did you drop on all those new interior pieces? __________________ Rotaries:They are NOT that complicated!

06-14-2010, 01:06 PM	#13
JerryLH3 Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Tampa, FL iTrader: (0) Posts: 40 Rep Power: 0	Over the past two years, on all the OEM stuff, I've spent close to $2000. That's obviously an exorbitant amount of money to pay, but when I'm completely done with the car, I still will probably have less invested (wasted?) than other people spend on their car. I'm just spending mine in a different place as my power goals are very moderate. The pictures I posted really don't do the car justice as to just how bad the interior was. Every vent on the car was broken, one A pillar was broken and they were both so faded they looked gray. The carpet was in poor shape behind the driver's seat. The center console had been drilled into to mount a crappy cup holder. The center radio/vent surround had lots of burn marks on it and the list goes on an on. A lot of parts I have sourced secondhand, I just waited until I found something that was in great shape. The carpet I bought looked practically brand new. He said it was in a car that only had 70K miles on it. The cargo cover is nearly mint too to replace my crappy one. The interior will definitely look good once I am done with it. __________________ Jerry 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo - the current project/money pit

06-17-2010, 07:51 PM	#14
prrex4ever Rotary Fanatic Join Date: Oct 2008 iTrader: (1) Posts: 274 Rep Power: 17	Awesome project, can't wait to see the finished product.

06-17-2010, 09:10 PM	#15
need RX7 Clean S4 Nutswinger Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Sterling Heights, MI iTrader: (0) Posts: 485 Rep Power: 17	Nice. I really like this build. As cool as mega power super fabrication builds are, seeing a car restored to the way it looked decades ago is special in it's own way. __________________ -Ted -1986 Mazda RX7 Sport [DD/beater]: engine finally let go at 205k. parts car status. -1986 Mazda RX7 base [resto-mod project]: S5 n/a swap in progress.