Finishing off the right sill........

Dummy fitting and cutting down the new replacement corner.


Sandblasted clean prior to fitting


Finished off some overhead welding. will be ground back. To get decent welds overhead I turn the power up otherwise there is not enough penetration.... and yes gravity does apply to welds as your welding. The area is blasted clean and sealed as well. Pic 2 finishing off the top triangle piece. Note the little creases in front have been worked out with hammer and dolly, a quick 2minute job, unfortunately I forgot to take after photos.


Both parts welded and finished off.


Blasted the kick panel seams and pillar flange and given it a quick prime before packing up.


Underside shot.... right side pretty much done.


Will clean up a little better next time as was running out of time, apply the Sikaflex around seams then spray with a 2 part primer. The area will need a smear of filler over the weld to make all look factory. When I say smear I really mean smear for finishing purposes. At the same time I'll also finish off the filler work to the right hand windscreen pillar that was repaired previously. Now that welding to the area is pretty much done will spray the internal sill cavity with wax. The lower edge of the sill is a little wobbly (not crushed) so will rectify this when I have the car mounted on the rotisserie. I have no idea how it got like that, but I can definitely make it look alot better. The repair turned out pretty good considering that someone else has had a go when trying to fix the front end with seam welds. The only way to improve on the repair would be to replace the entire door pillar which Im not prepared to do considering that 1. the area is sound and 2. None of it will be noticable once primed/ sealed etc.

I have decided not to carry out the rust repairs to the right outer box section as I managed to source a brand new panel. What can I say other than these old cars are full of nasty surprises, being an Rx3 coupe has meant it has especially had a hard life. I'll try and get it as best I can. It makes me wonder how the other 3 or so cars I looked at that were just as bad in areas and worse in others ended up. One car that comes to mind is a 10a Rx3 coupe that was for sale at Mascot with rust and crash damage everywhere.... I would have saved that car as well had the seller had been reasonable with the price. it's not my fault that people overpay for badly damaged cars. What are are these people thinking ! I dont have any more to say at this stage other than still a lot of work to do which means more future updates....

_________________

Another small update, better than nothing ! Im getting close to spraying the engine bay but still alot more to do. Spraying is the easy bit, everything else leading up to that point is time consuming...

My brand new box panel that fits under the right guard should be arriving this week so will concentrate on doing everything so that there isnt much delay in fitting the panel. Here Im preparing for bushing on the rubber seam sealer to ensure moisture stays out of the joints. There is a photo of the product in a previous update. Its pretty messy stuff but got the hang of it. The only way to do it neatly was to mask.


Finished with the seam sealer + a little bog work before spraying the water proof 2 part primer sealer. I smeared a little filler over the bottom of the sill corner that will be visible when the door is opened.


Mixing the bog should be done gently to avoid pin holes. The area that is filled is shot blasted clean prior to applying. Sorry forgot to take photo of the process !


Blasting the skirt welds clean, these were coated in a rust proof agent until I was ready to prime... well that time has come... Pic 2 the pillar and front door jamb has been stripped and prep'd ready for priming. Unfortunately I ran out of time so didnt prime that day. Rather than leave the areas in bare metal I sprayed a light coat of etch primer. I'll have to blow out the sills from blasting grit again despite my attempt of sealing them prior to blasting. The stuff goes everywhere, no biggy just needs time to vaccum and blow it all out before spraying cavity wax.


A light coat of etch primer where I finished for the day. Pic 2 cleaned out the garage and the car for a little priming. I spent more time cleaning than priming... cleaning up afterwards also took a bit of time. I now know that I need roughly 200 - 250mls of product to prime the area shown (2 coats) using a 1.8mm needle. That means I'll need roughly 700mls of paint for the engine bay (2 coats) using a 1.4mm needle. Better to mix extra than run out half way through !


Im happy with the result, the primer went on like glass with lots of gloss. I had to go back inside to check that I picked up the right tin and not the paint as the primer is sort of a similar colour to the paint I was surprised by the gloss as I was expecting a matt finish. The product used was Lesonal EP 440 mixed 4:1 with hardener.


Well this almost concludes the right side repairs. I can now fit the panel when it arrives and then spray the right wheel well with paintable white deadener, by the way not the horrible bitumen based sealer that you get from your local auto shop. If the engine bay turns out as good as the primer I'll be very happy. Next I'll be finishing of the left sill repairs, then move on to prep'ing the engine bay...

As Big Kev used to say........I'm excited....

Don't you have to weld these boxes back in place??

_________________
1994 mazda 626 1.8L 16V hatchback
1977 mazda 818 1.3L 8V coupe
1992 mazda MX-6 2,5L 24V

Yes the box sections will be fitted, they were only primed/ sealed for fitting yesterday. Its impossible to properly prime the inside cavity once they are fitted. Im not sure if you realise but the white colour on the car is sealer not paint ! The panel without holes is a brand new panel that someone sold me, the one I had needed too much work although still repairable.



Will start fitting these panels over the weekend.

very nice job your doing over there!! When your finished it's better then when it came out of the factory.

_________________
1994 mazda 626 1.8L 16V hatchback
1977 mazda 818 1.3L 8V coupe
1992 mazda MX-6 2,5L 24V

There's a little bit of everything this update. I want to finish off all the sections I've started before starting any new repairs. Many thanks to Dennis for the new RHS panel, its now gone to good use

Continuing with making the left hand sill repair. Pic 2 flattening out the bend as it was slightly out. These are the headaches you dont see !


Remarking and preping the patch sill for folding.


Patch folded again, but still slightly out. I could have bogged it or had another attempt but got frustrated and decided to repair an off cut that I had. You'll spend 5% of your time to get things almost right and the another 95% of time to have things perfect. Remember that ! Pic 2 I had a seized snapped nut on the replacement left corner, this is common in these areas. Drilled a pilot hole, I didnt bother with an ez out, it only would have snapped.


Drilled an appropriate hole and tapped to factory spec.


I thought I had no chance at removing the rear snapped bolts as they were bent. I get surprised every now and then. Here I used a different approach, drilled a tiny pilot hole off centre to loosen things up then screwed on 2 small nuts that allowed me to use a spanner.


Final step was to run a tap through the thread. Pic 2, finished blasting some sections for primer and fitting. A photo showing the repaired left sill patch, much easier and faster in the end that making my own part.


Comparing old and new sections, big difference. Some people would try and fix the rusty one, it would make no difference to the appearance of the paint until it gets wet of coarse. Pic 2, primed box sections for fitting.


Primed the inside of the cowl with sealer, and anther photo of the new sill patch with the old.


A general shot of the area Im working on, car is still a mess. Pic 2, spent a little more time fitting up the rear quarter section making adjustments to the inner panel. Coupes and sedans are slightly different, just enough so things arent as straight forward as i first expected.


I got part of the lower flange to line up with the outer skin, a little slicing and dicing is required to make a sedan skin fit on a coupe (to the innards). The joys of fixing a coupe with not being able to get good replacements ! I have a replacement panel off a coupe but there is little benifit using it unless it was new. It also wouldnt fix the rusty bodged innards that I had to cut off and still in the process of fabricating. Pic 2, I had to trim the repair I did at the back (inner panel) before shaping it a little more. Sorry forgot to take an after pic


Someone had cut an access hole to fix the rear wheel arch. I cut it out as its easy to fix. I tried straightening out the arch cuts, in the end its easier and better to cut the area out, straighten it out with hammer/ dolly and then weld a new part in. The area will be blasted, cleaned and primed after welding takes place.


Drilling pilot holes in the new RHS box for plug welding. Pic 2 drilled the holes with a larger drill bit, now ready for fitting.


Clamping the panel in place to mark where on the skirt panel the plug welds will go. I then remove the panel and go over the markings with a spot weld drill to clean the area back to metal where the MIG will strike its arc for plug welding. The arc needs to be struck on the rear panel not the outer panel. Clean area = clean easy welding, its as simple as that.


Clamped for welding and pic 2 welded in place. I move the clamps around depending on where Im welding.


Some close ups... lots of fun when everything is humming along nicely, the prep work pays off


Penetration around the skirt... inside the strut tower...


..... and a couple more shots...


and we're done.....

Looking the goods Gypsy
This is car definately going to better than new when it's done!!

Got to love rusted bolts in these old Mazda's hey!! I never owned a tap set till I started on mine..... Have thrashed it so far, especially underneath the car. All the fuel tank bolts were rusted in and snapped when I undid them!!

Keep up the great work mate!!

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

Your project is unbeliavable!

Mate, first of all I would like to complement you on your great workmanship and attention to detail. What you have done with this car is remarkable and inspirational.
I think half of us now want to go do a course at our local TAFE's

Just a few questions if I may.....
I believe I read here some place that you are in Melbourne also???? Is that correct?
Do you know the paint code for the steel wheels (dark gray??)??
Also do you yet have your dress trims for the wheels? I am looking around for some stainless steel ones as will last much better than electroplated steel ones. I don't know what Mazda used origanally but i'm wanting stainless.

Cheers Alan

_________________
Current old school Jap rides: 1974 Mazda 1300 4 door (in middle of rotary conversion), 1973 Mazda 808/RX3 coupe (still has piston motor but RX3 body bits, lights, nose cone etc).

Thanks for the compliments


Yes that is correct, these days I pretty much spend most of my time in Vic.



Sorry no I dont, I had the wheels sandblasted then etch primed while in Sydney then dropped them off to RestoreMaz for a coat of paint. I dont believe there is a Mazda paint code for these wheels. Dave (RestoreMaz) had the paint matched with a good unfaded wheel he had then sprayed them for me. I think the paint used is similar to a Nissan (Skyline??) base coat without the clearcoat. The spare I had was as good as they come and the colour is pretty much spot on to whatever colour Mazda used.

The other option you have is to have the wheels sandblasted and then powder coated. The only problem with powder coating is that they cant guarantee the powder coating will make its way deep into the joins. That isnt really a problem until you start wetting the wheels (rust MAY appear if the powder coat hasnt made its way into the joins of the wheel).



The original dress rims are made from stainless steel. You can get them off an old used Mazda from a wrecker, they are pretty much the same just be aware that they will not fit all 808/Rx3 wheels as they are constructed slightly different between early and late models.

If your fitting them to your 1300 these are far better options in my opinion...

Famila JDM hubcaps


OR a set of 14" R100 wheels without hubcaps... sorry cant find the pic

On the topic of my car, all welding to the front end is now complete, still need to dress some of the welds before prep'ing the engine bay for primer. Im currently finishing off the roof and the left sill. The next update is at least a couple of weeks away as I have to dig up some old repair photos of the roof which was mostly done 2 years ago. Hopefully by then the roof, engine bay, sills and A pillars will all be in primer leaving the rear quarters, right door and boot floor to complete.

You got new ones???????????? Mazda had new ones??? haha
Are you going to be running the 155/80 r13 to stay true??? Or the 175 sumitomo white walls?

The current set of wheels I have on the 1300 are a powdercoated set of 626 steelies and I dont like it. You only have set colours to choose from and it is very hard to get the stick on weights to stay on. Didn't want to use clip on as may chip and cleaner on outside with no weights showing. Maybe if you used some sand paper to roughen it up and give it something to stick to.
I was asking in reference to the coupe. But thank you for the info about the 626 trims, I had not realised they came with them.
As for 14inch R100 rims??? $$$$$$$$$ lol On that note, I wonder what tyre size the R100 ran and if you can buy it as a white wall????? I have been the painting on white walls path and had to get it done too often for my liking.

Maybe some time I can drop by restoville

Alan

_________________
Current old school Jap rides: 1974 Mazda 1300 4 door (in middle of rotary conversion), 1973 Mazda 808/RX3 coupe (still has piston motor but RX3 body bits, lights, nose cone etc).

Lots of progress lately, here are some of the photos..

Finishing off left side box section. Masking and applying SikaFlex and rubber seam sealer to keep moisture out of joints.


Pic 1, tape pulled away, Pic 2 sprayed some water proof Epoxy before fitting box section. Will prime entire area once box is welded into place.


Pic 1, another shot... you can see that the inside section of the box panel has been epoxied (sitting on passenger floor). Pic 2, cleaned up areas where plug welds will go.


Clamped into place and Pic 2 welded and cleaned up...


Welding little tabs to chassis rails....


Preparing the patch for the front of the sill panel, cutting to shape. Will post more photos of this next update.


Knocking the bog out of the windscreen corner, this is the last of the rust with the exception of the left inner quarter / rear sill.


Covered the front of car in plastic sheet so blast grit doesnt end up inside of newly installed box sections. The bogged hole was also taped up so I didnt fill the roof with garnet. Damaged metal cut out and spot weld removed.


Blasting revealed a couple of holes that I wouldnt have seen otherwise. Blasting is the go for effective repairs. Pin holes welded up and then area is treated with Deoxidine. The Deoxidine is left to fully cure before applying primer to the area otherwise it reacts and lifts the primer. If the panel was a roof or door skin you could scrub it off with a scourer and thinner.


Test fitting the patch and priming the innards.


Pic 1, patch welded into place. Pic 2, patch then plug welded to replace factory spot weld. Turned out nice :8


Final Pic, preparing the roof for polyester and primer after getting it as straight as possible. The roof of this car was really bad from sitting in a farm paddock for many years (15+ years). I've removed the guide coat, treated with deoxidine and then washed the roof down with a scuff pad and thinner.


More pics to upload next time.....

Some more progress which means more photos for you people The project is finally getting to the stage where Im starting to see some of the long hours invested paying off. Im very happy with how things are turning out. Things are starting to take shape with the shell at least..

Back where I left off last update, roof has been sprayed with polyester to catch the imperfections that I couldnt get out without performing some major intrusive surgery. I'm using the Sikkens range of products on the car through to the paint stage. The Polysurfacer was left for 2 weeks prior to blocking. Pic 2, this is at the bottom of the left door pillar/ sill panel corner cap. The inner panel has rotted, I had tried welding it up a couple of years ago and was going to leave it. After blasting the area clean to prep for repairing the outer sill panel, it became evident that it was too far gone. No amount of welding was going to fix this ! Pin holes everywhere, media blasting never fails. You can kid yourself with rust converter but media blasting reveals the true condition without fail.


Inner sill/ rocker patch made and welded in, still needs a little cleaning. You can see the area cut out was like bending paper.


After 2- 3 weeks I started to block the roof with a very large block. I had to shrink a couple of areas I missed and resprayed the area. One thing I will say is that even though you remove most of the polyester, it makes a very good guide coat when using a large block... there is no guessing if a panel is straight or not. Very easy to dry sand as well (polyester is porous). Pic 2, the inner sill has been primed and the outer panel tacked into place.


Outer panel welded, turned out OK... was hoping for a similar result to the opposite side... Im not complaining still pretty good. Still in the process of cleaning the area up, need some new flap disks to level off the remainer of the area. Pic 2, inside of the repaired area, nice and clean on the inside.. no birdshit welds here. Will clean up the smoke marks with thinner before attaching end piece. The area will also be sprayed with cavity wax. For you people with a keen eye, yes plug welds still need to be worked flat.


End cap being dummy fitted. Pic 2 a front guard that I was file finishing. I think I picked the wrong guard for this type of work. Very usable and straight now although Im getting a little lazy to finish it off !


They all rust here (well alot of them)... making a patch..


More patch work, currently welding it up... more pics when completed.


The earth harness screw was seized.. wouldnt budge. I ended up stripping the head, then recut the head and stripped it again. The damn thing was going to come out one way or another since Im the boss of this project I first drilled a small hole and tried an ez out, I gave up on that idea because I thought the ez out was going to snap and then I'd be stuffed (try removing jammed harded steel from a bolt hole). I ended up drilling a larger hole and to my surprise the heat and vibration from the drill unscrewed it !


Cleaning up the thread with a tap set and then fitting a bolt with the same thread pattern as the original, result perfect


All this work is leading to preparing the engine bay for a coat of epoxy primer to water proof everything prior to winter setting in. The roof, sills and A pillars will be sealed in the next few weeks once I finish off all the repairs to these areas (very close).

Before I sprayed the epoxy I blasted all the rust converter from the front end weld seams. Pic 2, cleaned out the car and garage (took 1/2 a day) then shot a couple of coats of epoxy to water proof everything. The hardest part of spraying a small engine bay (this is no Mopar !) is being conscience of your fresh air line as well as the compressor line and also ensuring you dont knock the spray gun on the fresh coat !


I started to dream that this was the colour coat, its been many years since this car has been all one colour. Next it'll have a couple of small blemishes fixed and then sprayed in HiFill closer to the paint stage.


Another shot of blocking the roof which is 70% done. Pic 2, the engine bay wouldnt be complete without applying the seam sealer to the joints to keep the moisture out. I used 3M Dripcheck for this job.. the lines are neat because I masked the areas up prior to application and then removed the tape before the sealer started to set.


The current status of the shell which has been to hell and back, its looking alot healthier now. This is the bonnet I repaired, I searched high and low for a good bonnet over the past 3 years... lots of people have promised me a good bonnet but no one has delivered. I gave up after looking at 10 or 12 over the years and repaired this rust free one which was better than nothing. I'll wash it down with thinner to remove the etch and then spray it in polyester to fix the remaining flaws. All the lines are sharp and Ive repaired the ends to either side of the bonnet lines well... I cant get the centre 100% without removing it from the shell and I wont be doing that !


Todays bargain, other half wanted to stop by a local neighbourhood garage sale in Malvern today. I said to her they only ever have rubbish at those things. To my surprise I found an original jack that the factory issued to Rx3's.... cost was $2 ... for once I left with something ! This will be blasted, painted in the original colour and have the new decal applied.


Thats all for now, next I'll be finishing off the roof and A pillars for sealing and then I'll be dummy fitting the 10a engine and gearbox to sort out the 5 speed mounting. Then it'll be up on the rotisserie and somewhere in between that I'll be back in Sydney going through my spares so that I can finish off the rear quarters.

Nice work!
I find that by using a left handed drill bit, 90% of the time the offending fastener backs out while drilling it out
John

Looking good Gypsy. Hard work starting to show!!
Nice find with the jack!!
The donor car i bought had the jack, wheel brace and folding wheel chock still all in the boot. Don't know if I am going to put them in my coupe or not yet. Would look pretty retro though!

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

Nice find with the jack - my 1300 had it, the brace (stamped with a little Mazda "m") and some other bits.

I think Letzgo makes the decal doesn't he?

Yes that's right, letzgo makes the decals and they are the perfect addition to any restoration. I cant fault his decals at all, they are brilliant. Here are a handful (I have a complete Rx3 set). The bendix decal is screen printed on reflective material, looks just like the original. The other 2 are the decals that will go on the newly acquired jack once I sandblast and repaint it. Like I said to someone in a different thread, there is no need to source parts from Japan, as far as Rx3s are concerned you can pretty much get everything locally..... they have a huge following in Australia.


More progress.............

Bonnet has been repaired as much as possible before filling, it got the point where I was chasing my tail. Its very hard to repair with such a large frame on the underside.... The bonnet skin was pulled, shrunk, stretched before I polyestered using Sikkens Polysurfacer. This is a 2pak spray filler. The polysurfacer evens out the surface where there are minor lows/ ripples. Most of it is then blocked off leaving an even surface. The bonnet however is completely rust free. Pic 2, general shot without all the paper, cleaning up bits and pieces. The engine bay and cowl have been sprayed with Lesonal Epoxy Primer which is water proof.


Not the best photo, trial fitting ensuring that lines flow from bonnet to scuttle area. Pic 2, after leaving the bonnet for a couple weeks I sprayed a guide coat to start blocking the polysurfacer. Its an expensive product but sprays great and is very easy to sand without clogging the paper which must be dry sanded due to being porous. I use large blocks to ensure I have a straight surface for painting. There were hours and hours and hours and hours involved in getting this straight, you wouldnt understand unless you had to do it yourself. It turned out pretty straight, you need lots of patience with this part.


Finishing off the sills.....

Masking to give me a straight line for cutting with the snips.


Pic 1, fitting to car for final trimming. Pic 2, before welding begins I blow out the sills of any remaining rubbish.


Butt welded and plug welded.... Pic 2, dummy fitting the guard that Im currently repairing. Turning out nice....


Finishing off the A pillars with a skim of filler.... really didnt use much. Final pic is of bonnet after being sprayed in Epoxy primer, will leave it for several weeks give it a light sand to ensure there are no imperfections and then spray in primer ready for painting next spring/summer.


Most of the shell repairs are now complete, Im going for a long drive over the weekend to pick up some coupe inner lower rear quarters and wheel tub to give the rear end a nice finish before welding on outer rear quarter panel.

Not sure what I will be working on next, will need to mount 10a and 5 speed to ensure all fits right before I hook it up to the rotisserie to clean up the underside. Like previously mentioned I intend to seal 3/4 of shell before winter sets in (except rear quarters) so there is lots of blocking to be done.

Hehehe, One of the decals says "Be sure to jack the PRACES shown by arrows."
, sounds very authentic 70's Jap-english
Love your work though. Really excellent stuff mate

Yep, those stickers are defintely 70's Japlish. The decals are exact copies of the originals.