Whoa...amazing find. Love the "preservation" rather than restoration. Can't wait to see more updates!!

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Rockin' the 7 in a street near you.....

??

Great pickup Nigel - car looks mint, no doubt will look even better with your touch going on past efforts!

Ah yes the sandcast housings.. Rare, however prone to chrome flaking - which is what happened to one of mine. When you take off the exhaust, see if they have the peripheral exhaust port vs the 3 hole standard TD arrangement.

Simon

I do mind you asking. If you dont mind me asking what is your annual income?


RANDOM

No plans to pull motor down at this stage still has some signs of smoke hoping it may get better with a few Km under it. Like most rotaries if they are not driven the seals become perished big chance the side seals have seen better days, saying that it still has good power.
I actually have a 10a with the same cast housings this will be getting rebuilt shortly hopefully they are all good.

In the theme of preservation while the door trims were off instead of removing plastic protection that was ripped i got some clear contact sheets and repaired them, came up a treat.


Also fished oiled the doors


I also remove the engine cowl plates as from experience there is usually a ton of debri which is what i found. Good thing like the rest of the car no rust.

That's OK if you don't want to say what you payed for it, I was just curious and really don't like being ignored. There's nothing wrong with saying smething like "I'd prefer not to say what I payed for it." I can understand and respect that.

My annual income? NOT ENOUGH!!

Back on topic, good luck with the preservation of the old girl.


Keith

Worst thing I did was pull the motor down.. It was going through water, but it turned out to be the water pump.
Even with the flaky chrome, motor started off then key in under 2 seconds and pulled like a freight train - when I stripped it I got a shock!

You will know if the engine has peripheral exhaust ports.. They are loud! Mine ran with a Rotaflow rear muffler and 3 Rotaflow silencers, and I would still have to roll off the throttle when I saw the police!!

Bloody good engines those TD's..

The colour is Espace Blue Metallic, Mazda used it from 72-75. Not sure what markets or vehicles though. Pretty sure rx3's copped the same hue at some stage.

Great find, looks like you're doing a good job of it.

Great survivor! I looked up the paint code, C7 Espase Blue Metallic. Not sure if it's correct, I have non Mazda paint chips.

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Car was now mobile and free of all trim it was loaded onto trailer and taken to Dave/restoremaz.

At some point car has had a bump in the drivers rear



Bumper mounting bracket was the main damge


Bit of heat to the bracket and use of a slide hammer and dolly and it was out



It was now time to clean up the paint


Initial signs were good

A couple of hours later detailing of the car was complete. Came up a treat considering the condition of the paint at the start all the oxidisation was gone still some blemishes or character scares I like to call them. Original painted pin stripe still intact.
Decided not to remove the non genuine door stainless trims as they are period correct and i think suit the car.




Car was now loaded back on trailer for ride home. It is amazing how straight this car is, good to see a car this straight knowing there is no repairs or filler under the paint.





Now to put all the trim back on.

Great find, as you have stated it looks to be in tip top order for its age. keep the pics coming.




It would be nice if you could share some more details on your import. Just general info so you dont have to share your price. Maybe how to go about importing a nostalgic car, the work needed prior to it leaving japan or after it landed, shipping companies and general shipping charges, stamp duties etc. If there was a dealer online such as a JDM legends for example that you used or one in Japan. There are quite a few guys like myself who I'm sure regardless of their "annual income" would love to save a nostalgic for themselves but are not sure where to get started.. I have come to learn that its the true enthusiast who will go to any length when they find what they are after.

I have a friend in Japan who organises it all for me.

There are companies like J-Spec that can do this for you. All answers can be found on the net im sure. Importing is the easy bit finding them is the hard part.

I figured the radiator was cactus and a recore was the only solution I was referring more to if there was a product on the market to flush the scale out of the alloy block with?

Amazing how the paint came out. I'm assuming there was some Wetsanding prep before the buff?

I figured the radiator was cactus and a recore was the only solution I was referring more to if there was a product on the market to flush the scale out of the alloy block with?[/quote]

I just bougt the most expensive one i could find at super cheap, cant say if it done anything flushed it out 3 times. Will run another through it soon before i fill it with coolant.
For sure there is still some crap in the chambers it would need to be stripped down to clean it out properly.

Why arent you putting a rotor in the wagon anyway?

No rubbing back, like i said it was mainly oxidisation on the paint, there is still surface rust patches here and there and scratches.

I will be replacing every badges except for the grille center badge and GR badge on the rear garnish with better examples i have due to the originals being heavily corroded.
Originals on the top new on the bottom.
I also will be fitting some original NOS L&R guard blinkers



A better set of door handles and rear quarter reflector housings also will make there way on the car



Replacement un-restore grille RE badge top, original on the bottom for comparison



These must be the rarest part on the car, wheel arch trims. I have seen them only on the GSII coupe before tried them on my S4 RX2 coupe only the front fit not the rear. These must of been a option as they were not on my previous GR.



Gave them a quick polish and sourced some new SS screws and washers.

Front and rear lenses will also need a tidy up. Top lense is a NOS i had left over from previous GR.


Heres the front after a good clean and polish


The rear cleaned and polished. NOS one on the left for reference



Had to make new gaskets for the rear lights as they rock hard and brittle. Note the unique beaver panel for this model



Found some material at Clark Rubber which looks to be exact as original.
Used the gasket of the NOS T/Light as a template to make new ones.



All done ready to install.