Labor of love

[-Six-]

Here is what I hope is the humble beginnings of my restoration project, I have lots of work ahead and it will be a daunting task. I am hoping my chronicling the progress will keep me motivated as well as help me keep tabs on what I need and want to do with the car.

I bought my 89 TII from the second owner in late March 2005, with just over 116,000 miles. It came equipped with cold air intake, racing beat dual exhaust and I believe down pipe, Greddy BOV, racing beat FCD, some knock off "Mazdaspeed" seats, and and unknown sportier clutch/pressure plate. It ran pretty well at the time, had a bit of a coolant leak from what I discovered was a crack in a plastic coolant pipe going into the thermostat housing. I quickly replaced the bad pipe and the car served me well for a little over a year and a half. I had a blast with the car, I loved it to death.

The problem set in when the car began being difficult to start, and eventually struggled to maintain idle without giving it some throttle. A compression test quickly confirmed what I had feared, the engine was dieing! I decided to be aggressive and rather than wait until it was completely unresponsive, began tearing things apart in anticipation of a quick engine rebuild. However, it did not happen quickly; job loss occurred, re-employment with significant loss of salary, entering and graduating tech school, moving/purchasing a new home, all interfered heavily in my plans.

So, the car sits in my garage now some four years later, in pieces. I have reached the point of disgust, I determined that it must be returned to former glory and better or be sold as-is to someone who might do the same. Needless to say, I just couldn't let go of her, poor sap that I am. I flirted with a V8 swap, and came really close, but realized I would miss the rotary buzz and the sound of that turbo spooling. Plus, I think I knew deep down, without a rotary engine, the car looses some of it's personality. So without further adieu, I will post some pics of ground zero; the disaster I must now rebuild...enjoy!

[-Six-]

Here is what I hope is the humble beginnings of my restoration project, I have lots of work ahead and it will be a daunting task. I am hoping my chronicling the progress will keep me motivated as well as help me keep tabs on what I need and want to do with the car.

I bought my 89 TII from the second owner in late March 2005, with just over 116,000 miles. It came equipped with cold air intake, racing beat dual exhaust and I believe down pipe, Greddy BOV, racing beat FCD, some knock off "Mazdaspeed" seats, and and unknown sportier clutch/pressure plate. It ran pretty well at the time, had a bit of a coolant leak from what I discovered was a crack in a plastic coolant pipe going into the thermostat housing. I quickly replaced the bad pipe and the car served me well for a little over a year and a half. I had a blast with the car, I loved it to death.

The problem set in when the car began being difficult to start, and eventually struggled to maintain idle without giving it some throttle. A compression test quickly confirmed what I had feared, the engine was dieing! I decided to be aggressive and rather than wait until it was completely unresponsive, began tearing things apart in anticipation of a quick engine rebuild. However, it did not happen quickly; job loss occurred, re-employment with significant loss of salary, entering and graduating tech school, moving/purchasing a new home, all interfered heavily in my plans.

So, the car sits in my garage now some four years later, in pieces. I have reached the point of disgust, I determined that it must be returned to former glory and better or be sold as-is to someone who might do the same. Needless to say, I just couldn't let go of her, poor sap that I am. I flirted with a V8 swap, and came really close, but realized I would miss the rotary buzz and the sound of that turbo spooling. Plus, I think I knew deep down, without a rotary engine, the car looses some of it's personality. So without further adieu, I will post some pics of ground zero; the disaster I must now rebuild...enjoy!