Your doing a great job Gypsy! Kudos to your determination and dedication.

Thanks, hopefully it's a lesson on what NOT to buy It's been a tough slog but I'll get there in the end. I've learnt a lot and I'll be changing my approach on the next project.

I have 2 sandblasters. One has a canister on the top of the sandblast gun which is suppose to retrieve most of the media. It sort of works but is more of a gimmick if you ask me. It looks exactly like this one http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SANDBLASTING-GUN ... ctive_Gear It cost me around $25.

The other type I have and normally use is like this, I fill a bucket of garnet and away I go http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SANDBLASTER-KIT- ... ccessories This one cost me around $20. The nozzles wear out after a while.

For smaller parts a friend has a large cabinet blaster which I use from time to time. To be honest with you, my advise is to send the car away and have it professionally blasted. It'll save you a big mess and lots of time. For blasting you'll need a quality large compressor 15 - 17cfm which is pretty much as large as you can go on a 10A 240V socket. You'll be working it pretty hard and it'll be sizzling after 15 minutes use, not to mention drive your neighbours nuts with the continuous noise. I doubt the el'cheapo compressors would 1. produce the claimed air and 2. last under the continuous abusive conditions of blasting. Blasting uses a heap of air. On top of that you'll need a pressure fed breathing mask to keep your lungs clear. The only reason I didnt send my car away for blasting is that it was practically in bare metal when purchased. I have a few more things to blast like the nosecone, beaver panel, struts, diff housing etc... all this stuff will be done by a professional blaster. Blasting at home from experience is handy for cleaning inner panels that you're repairing that are not normally visible without cutting.

Painting can be tricky, I only paint in sections ie a pair of guards or doors or engine bay... never a big job. Its always broken up into small jobs. Again you need a pressure fed mask to keep your lungs clean and lots and lots of light. If you live on a small block of land forget it you need lots of space around the garage. Im undecided whether Im going to paint the shell, I'd like to but I'll make that decision after I paint the boot, engine bay and door shells. Im looking at using a solid colour which is easy to paint but less forgiving than using a clear over base coat. Mazda used solid colour which is why I'd prefer that system. The enemy of painting is airborne dust and insects. Everything needs to be spotless..... and no I havent affected any animals, if there was that possibility I simply wouldnt do it. Last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself from anything or anyone.




It should turn out to be a neat little Sunday cruiser madaz. It'll never be perfect in my eyes given the amount of work required to bring it back to life, but it'll give me lots of enjoyment and satisfaction when finished. I havent got much of an update that is worth showing.... here is a little run down since the last update.

- Close ratio TQX 5 speed has been reco'd for the 10a. Should keep the bridge port on song with less than 800rpm rev drop between gear changes when compared to a standard gearbox
- Both doors have been repaired and filled in spots ready for epoxy primer. Its amazing how a door you think is 99% straight is not so after using a guide coat and speed file and blocks !
- Right rear quarter patch is welded to car
- Started filler work inside the boot
- Beaver removed to straighten RHS boot floor
- Waiting on some beaver/ boot brackets to be sent.
- touching up some previous old repairs
- Bought 2 new rust free guards to replace the junk one from QLD. I feel like an idiot for thinking looking good means it's going to fit Oh well Im sure the sale of it is now causing someone else headaches at the moment.

Engine should be put together by the mechanic in the next couple of months + still need to source a few things for the stock engine when I finally decide I want the car 100% standard. I only wish Mazda produced new panels for us enthusiasts.

One last question for you (Prob not), have you used a gasless mig welder or do you hire a bottle, there is a welder on ebay that i have been looking at called magnum mig200, its made by allmax which is chinese. Its going for around $760, is a inverter type, reads ok on the page.

I decided not to get a sandblaster as all forums say the same thing as what you did. What type of welder to use opens a big can of worms, i know gasless is not that great but i cant justify the bottle rental ea. year for the little use i will have.

Never used gasless but I'd imagine there would be weld splatter everywhere as well as porous welds, not what you want on your panel work. If there is flux in the wire that causes other problems, rust, paint failure etc.

760 is not cheap for a a cheap welder, I had a free 800 piece of junk (SIP) that worked ok but is rubbish compared to my new unit. Both can produce nice welds but the new one does it consistantly and much easier to use. The old one you'd have to play around with it even after not touching any settings. You can buy a high quality solid core name brand (transformer) MIG made in the USA with a quality gun thats upgradable, indefintate voltage control and quality non jamming wire feed (with 3 or 5 year warranty??) for 1000. Why would you bother with a piece of junk thats going to fall to bits with a poor duty cycle ?? That extra 240 will get you a unit that will last a lifetime not half a project ! You want to be looking at Miller, Licohln, Kempii, BOC, UniMig etc etc. My advise is to take a welding short course and walk into a welding shop and forget about ebay rubbish. Gas hire is not expensive, about 130 a year bottle hire + refills. If you dont want a bottle you can buy small disposable argon mix bottles for about 30 but works out alot more expensive if you do a lot of welding on your project. Also just about every gas MIG can be converted to gasless operation. Stick with the name brands and you cant go wrong.

I went into gasworld on tues and a guy talked about the lincoln 180 mig welder, was $1000 with a 3 year warranty, also he said the consumables are cheaper and more easily available. My cars engine bay sure is getting expensive lol.

Airliquide bottle rental $151.14 AUD

More updates, there is an insane amount of hours being spent on this piece of crap to get it to a reasonable state for painting. You'll go through the update in minutes but there is literally days of work in the photos.... everything from picking up supplies, repairing replacement sections, fabricating bits and pieces etc etc.... it all adds up very fast. I sometimes look at what's being accomplished at the end of a day with not much visual difference even though I've been busy working on a section the entire day.

Pic 1 modifying the inner quarter to fit the sedan skin. They are slightly different, which I didnt know before. If there is a next time I'll just use the spare coupe quarters I have ! Pic 2 blasted prior to priming.


Primed in Pic 1, Pic 2, finishing off the wheel tub fabrication/ repair.


Finished and seam sealed, waiting to prime again. Pic 2 skin, stripped and primed prior to welding.


Plug welds done, Pic 2 shot from inside the wheel tub which was repaired (rusted from inside boot between skins)


All primed and welds seam sealed.


Marking out and cleaning plug weld areas for lower skin join.


Tacking/ welding new skin in place.


Welding pretty much done.... not too shabby


Plug welding along bottom of skin.... Pic 2, got side tracked and started finishing off doors as I wants to paint the door shells for a bit of motivation.


Doors got a smear of filler to smooth out a couple of things that I couldnt get rid of without removing the door skin from the shell, this is taking long enough without going to thoses extremes ! Doors are ready from blocking then priming then paint. Its tedious to get everything spot on.


Couple of shots of the finished skin repair ready for a little filler, then priming.


.........and that is all this time around. Shell is almost done, a few small things here and there to be done. Main things are finishing off the left quarter + repairing the beaver panel then the shell will be almost ready for paint preparation. Unfortunately its all the small things that consume the most time. Gearbox is done, will be dumby fitted shortly. Im getting the engine ready for its rebuild shortly.

Here are a few more...

Marking out LHS door mirror holes using a template from RHS. Pic 2 sorting through duplicate stainless trims that sit above door and rear quarter window.


Pic 1, they have all seen better days, lots of scratches and a few dents here and there. Pic 2, I had to go down to MazBitz to pick up some parts, since I was going there I saw it as a good opportunity to get some of the smaller side jobs completed. Rick did a fantastic job, mirror shine + no dents = one happy customer


Another pic of Rick's work.... great result and another step finished in the overall scheme. This is a dying trade unfortunately for us restorers. They are impossible to photograph because they are so shiny. Best I could do was with the flash tuned off. Pic 2 Fixing the RHS quarter window rubber holder. If you recall I had to do the left side as well. This outer holder is rusted out. I made one using a swage and jenny some time ago but had misplaced it. Unfortunately I didnt have a access to swage machine this time around so had to be a little more resourceful. Marking out the shallow S shape on a bit of thick ply for my hammer form. I found the inner panel I made a couple of years ago so that bit was easy. (part at the top of Pic 2)


Pic 1, ply cut to shape, Pic 2 metal that will make rubber holder screwed into place for hammer forming with chisel and hammer.


Hammer and chisel gradually give me the recess Im after. Pic 2, checjing out the rubber gap with outer and inner panels clamped together. Silicon glue is out of the question to hold rubbers in place!


Screwing one of the fabricated parts into place for cutting. Alot of work for something that will no be seen.


Welding into place...........


Turned out OK, still need to finish cleaning welds up then will do my filler work. Took about 15 minutes to make. Pic 2, if you recall from earlier in my build the car had scrapped a wall at some stage and malformed the wheel arch. I also had to cut the lower section of the LHS quarter to fit up the new sill panel. Here is the replacement section, I've tapped alot of it straight but still a long way to go. The amount of body filler below the crease line is freakin unbelievable !


I will completely discard the metal area below the crease line and fabricate one piece of metal from there down (thats the plan at least !). This will be done off the car. Pic 2 Im also fabricating the outer wheel arch for the replacement area. The area below the crease is a well known rust spot in coupes, not uncommon to find lots of fibreglass and bog down there. Yes I hear you, why bother...because Im more than capable and can.... it wouldnt be a resto otherwise and you'd be reading the same boring sh!t as everywhere else


Im trying to tidy up a few small jobs as the shell body work is drawing to a close. I bought this stuff from RareSpares. Rather than use Mazda's genuine plastic coated metal clips I decided to use repro Mitsubishi Sigma clips as these cant rust under the stainless trims. They seem to fit just right as well. They cost approx .70c each as opposed to Mazda charging me roughly $5 a piece. Multiply that x 36 clips and that equates to a bit of money. The part number is on the brown bag by the way. Pic 2, I need to grind off some of the clip studs that hold the stainless trims in place to finish off the body work around the front windscreen seat. They needed to come off to finish off the shape where the A pillars were repaired. I cant sand the repaired area with the studs in place. $8.50 for 15, part number on box. These are NOT standard rivets if you take a close look.


AND finally I picked up my reco'd 5 speed from SelectMaz. Issy who has years and years of experience organised to have syncros, bearings and shift forks replaced/ fixed as necessary. Im using a Rx5 extension housing and RX4 twin dizzy large starter hole bell housing to match it up the 10a engine. The gear cluster casing is 121/rx5. We turfed the TQX idea as it was a headache changing all the shift rods to make it work with the Rx5 extension housing. No 4 speed for this car as it'll be racking up lots of highway Km's. Extension housing will have paint blasted off prior to fitting. Pic 2, Rick from Mazbitz let me loose with some power tools in his shop. I salvaged 2 boot/ beaver bumper brackets as one of mine was bent from a rear hit to the right. Both these guys are very helpful, friendly as has everyone who I have chosen to use

Here is the rest of the update associated with the RHS quarter repairs.

Coupes have a tendency to rust down here as mentioned numerous times. The area is covered by a stainless stone chip / dressing guard. The area was bogged up, forgot to take photos. Was well done though ! I also welded up some damage at the bottom edge of the wheel arch as shown in pic 1. The inner sill is in surprisingly good rust free/ pit free shape Before starting the repair I filled a spray bottle with rust converter and flooded the area to kill off any surface rust. There was no need to rip this side apart. Pic 2, patch taped into place for welding. Patch was made from some left over sedan quarter skin metal.


Pic 1, the finished repair, turned out OK. Will need to drill hole for stainless dress plate screw in that area. Im looking at using a plastic screw plug of some sort so there is no metal on metal contact = rust. The entire inside area was flooded with KBS rust seal to keep future moisture out of the area and to seal the weld from the inside. RHS quarter now all done, ready for paint prep steps Actually the entire RHS, roof and engine bay is all ready for paint prep !


LHS patch tech screwed into place, all it needs is a little fibre glass to blend it into the rest of the panel. Fibre glass is good stuff as it wont rust in the future. Will also buy a 4kg tub of Rage Gold body filler to smooth out LHS quarter then we are done..... More to follow.

your takin the piss bout the fibre glass and the 4kg of bog aren't you?

You guys are too smart for me, would you believe panel adhesive and then some bog

I spent a few hours over the past couple of nights tidying up a few things with the RHS quarter. Filling over the welded area and cleaning up a few other things so I can hopefully get the RH quarter and RH sill ready for primer over the weekend. My arm feels like its about to drop off from blocking that panel with still lots to do. I need to get the hammer and dolly out to straighten out a small area under the reflector area.

Its all sanded using a guide coat and various large blocks. I use the DA sander to rough things out and then everything is done by hand. The DA seems to make a mess if you try and use it for finishing which is why I prefer manual sanding. It may look nice with the DA but is most likely not straight over the filled areas (with me using it that is). Once I think I have everything done on the RH side I'll spray a coat of polyestor more as a guide for blocking than anything. The stuff is very easy to sand, and great to pick up any missed minor "highs and lows". Most of it will be sanded off. I'd hate to discover I missed something small after its been painted. After the polyester I'll leave the panel alone for 2 or 3 weeks to make sure all solvents have evaporated then seal it with an epoxy primer.

If I manage to get the right side to the polyestor stage i'd like to fit up the engine and gearbox so I can sort out the gearbox mounts. It's good to do something different to keep the motivation going + I really want to know if the gearstick is going to come out the factory floor hole. If not I'll need to try a different gearbox extension housing.

More updates.........


Repairing the bottom section of the sill. A little filler work after welding and repairing the reflector area.... sorry forgot to take before shots.


Marking out 3 repairs to be done. Pic 2 welded up a couple of small pit marks.


Area ground back in Pic 1, Pic 2 finishing off the quarter window rubber holder with a little filler work.


Welded up the old tow bar holes on the boot floor. Pic 2 my new gearbox and engine mounts. Engine mounts cost me under $25 each.


Pic 1, engine mount threads are protected by a rubber sleeve. Pic 2, for people that have never seen a rotary engine. The 3 little holes are the exhaust ports, the holes directly above the exhaust are water coolant galleries, the 4 remaining holes are for induction.



New gearbox mount installed, I need to test fit gearbox to sort out its mounting points. Im installing the engine and box by myself from under the car. The gearbox is a 5 speed, not a 4 speed. Pic 2 Engine and Box mounted together along with front cross member. The gearbox has been reco'd. I'll clean it up prior to permanent fitment.


Engine/ box mounted to sort out gearbox mounts. Took 20minutes including looking for nuts to bolt the 2 together all done on my own without a hoist.... 6 bricks, 1 bottle jack and 1 scissor jack was all that was required !


I used an Rx5 extension housing so that gearstick comes out factory hole. Pic 2, sanded the rest of the quarter for polyester.


Pic 1 another angle, fixed a few minor things along the way. A skim of filler over the welds. Pic 2, washing down the quarter panel with a scuff pad and wax/ grease remover.


An 808 floor cut with gearbox mount against an Rx3 floor. Floor stampings appear to be different between Rx3 and 808. Pic 2 the mount that Im thinking of using off an 808 mounted further back. I'd like to see how other people have relocated gearbox mounts.


Another shot of the bits Im thinking of using to mount the gearbox.


Back to the panel... turned out pretty good considering the repairs Ive had to do. Not much filler has been used and you can see. Pic 2, sprayed the polyester, will leave for several weeks before blocking. By then the beaver and boot floor should be done as well,


Pic 1, thinking of putting another plug weld here... is it needed to prevent the paint cracking at the join in the future. Pic2, final quarter photo.... thats all !


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AND a few more !

The mess in pic 1 is the last remaining hurdle. The patch is screwed in place so that I can fabricate the section below the swage as well as fix the rusty arch. Everything will be a walk in the park once this bit is finished. We'll see how I go making up the piece. If you see some guy loitering around your coupe with an angle grinder be very afraid Pic 2, I never sit still... Im already having a go making the parts. Ive pretty much made the L shape wheel arch bit. The other large bits of metal will be shaped (I hope, unless you park your coupe somewhere near me) to form the area below the swage line. I hope to be able to make this out of 1 piece. Time will tell if I succeed. I've run the sheets through a slip roller then folded it with a panbrake. I did this some time ago when I was attending after work metal classes. I will make some templates/ profiles using the right side.


Yes I removed the beaver panel, will make for a much better repair. Ive straightened out the kink in the boot floor from a minor rear end bingle. I can now beat the lower beaver section back to shape which is very wavey with ease without breaking my back in the process. While its off I'll repair the beaver edges on either side with fresh metal so I can get my lines right. Once done it'll be off to the blasters to clean it up for a fresh coat of modern water proof sealer.


Went out to the garage last night to check out my work, Im pleased with the way the quarter turned out. There are a couple of minor things to fine tune before the epoxy goes on but overall it looks very good !!

If anyone has photos of custom gearbox cross members in 808's or Rx3s post them up. Ive got a few ideas on how to mount the gearbox but want to see what others have done. One of the previous 200 owners of my car mounted the gearbox cross member to the floor, not something Im keen on doing. Its only sheet metal without any strength to take engine loads. If I were to do it that way I'd have to weld re enforcements to the floor. At this stage Im thinking of welding the 808 mounts further back in the tunnel and make a custom cross member which raises another question. At what angle should the gear box be mounted ? I may need to mount the diff to get a straight line as much as possible between the gearbox yoke and diff flange. Are there any factory correct length tail shafts that fit my configuration without needing to spend several hundred dollars to have a custom tail shaft made ? I'll get some measurements at some point.....

Looking fantastic, How much more do you think it will weigh?

Probably one of the few cars on earth that inspires people to restore them to the extent that many do.

I dont get you, why would it where any more..... because of the gearbox

one word.

Wow.

nice metal work! i wish i had your skills

Thanks for your comments. Much of what is here can be directly applied to your 808 wagon....... zakte72, its not as hard as you think, just takes willingness to learn and lots of motivation. Give it a go on metal some offcuts, thats how it all starts for everyone !

Well today I accomplished alot more than expected and pleasantly surprised myself. The left quarter is the final difficult challenge thrown to me in regards to the panel work. Once I've finished this part of the resto I'll literally will be laughing because the bodywork difficulty level drops back 10 points to an an easier level.

While Victorian residents wasted another weekend watching footballers jump around in tight pants touching each other for 2 hours I wasted my weekend doing something constructive..... the Rx3 resurrection ! I dont have time for AFL, the real final with real men is this Sunday, its a shame Sea Eagles got knocked out... there is always next year

Some panel fabrication, before you start asking.... why didnt you use a good offcut from a wreck. I'll answer your question with a question, when was the last time you saw a rx3/808 coupe sitting in a wrecking yard with no rust in that spot !! OR find a coupe in a wrecking yard !! I called around, no one hard one so I decided to bite the bullet.

Making a template from the good side and transfering it onto fresh sheet metal. The sheet has been run though some slip rollers and had the bottom edge bent in a panbrake. You can get the curve using a sign post pole if you dont have slip rollers available.


Pic 1, marked out, Pic 2 template transfered to the inside so I know where Im hammering when I flip the sheet around. Note the locating holes I drilled through the panel so everything aligns 100%.


Inside marked out....


Gray area is a curve... I cut the bottom edge for the little pointy bit at the bottom of the quarter. Easier doing it this way rather that spend hours stretching the metal in that area. You can see Ive started beating it from the inside using a heavy claw hammer. No fancy tools used.


Pic 1, tipping over the bottom edge to match opposite side. Pic 2 making a timber form out of hardwood for more precise shaping.


Gradually getting the desired shape.... almost gave up at this point !


Defining the first edge using a small blunt cold chisel, I did this on the lawn to muffle the sound from the neighbours.... starting to take shape....


Lots of hammer/dolly work.... one of the many trail fitments.


I went ooh at this point.... pic 2 the reason why all this is happening, because the off cut I had as well as the 3 other quarter panels were all rusted in the same spot.


I cant believe my own eyes.... very happy at this point.


Finishing tipping over the flange and run the DA over the flange to reveal highs and lows... pretty good though wont take much to remove the forming dents.


I'll be cutting the factory offcut just below the swage line and grafting this the new piece into place. Pic 2 I traced the missing quarter panel area onto the patch so I know how much I have to work with. The panel will be cut down, no need to use all of it.


Made some wheel arch curve to replace the rusty bits... pic 2... more trial fitting.


Another shot of my work.... Edge will be trimmed when welded.... it has a nice fit as well. Needs a little more tweaking but pretty much done ready to be grafted to the larger piece.



A bad ass Rx3 without its ass.... Beaver work soon !


Approx 4 hours was spent creating the patch to this point.... will need a 3 or so hours to clean up, then weld onto larger piece then prime for fitting to car.

Very nice work!

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Hi John,
im hoping that u are keeping your build going on this site as its not the cesspool that AR is. I and many others look forward to your updates and it would be a shame to see one of the best early rx restorations go unseen by the true enthusiasts that are watching it.
Either way thanks for sharing what u have shown so far and i look forward to seeing the end product (hopefully). Thanks, Regards Matt

x2! I thought I was imagining things when I saw the tread on AR Please keep this one going and up to date John.


Keith

X3.. Please keep this alive.. Maybe I never comment on it but I love to read it. Much knowledge we can gain here.. Take care buddy.

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