Every project requires planning, you cant just pick up a hammer or shovel and see where it takes you.. if that were the case i'd end up with bmx jumps in my back yard and a bat mobile for a car! With this in mind I have been back to my note pad and laptop, trying to get some solid direction for the modifications of the wagon and also the construction of the shed. so one thing at a time..

Shed: In agreement with my Neighbour we have decidied to replace the entire fence along one side of the house, this will give much better privacy and allow me to build a small retaining wall along the fence to support my paved area. The yard is now at a point where my lawn is established and almost ready for its first mow, attention has turned to the shed.. I have been able to drive in and out of the yard for a while now and i'm getting used to the driveway into the shed area, like anyone the idea is get the biggest shed I can fit in the limited space I have.. with this in mind I have room for about 3.5 x 7.5m with 2.7 walls with a 3m wide roller door, not a massive area.. but enough for my mazda and considering I have a double garage also, I think I should be fine for work space. With that confirmed I was onto the car..

Wagon: body work is slow, really slow. To keep myself busy I have been reasearching repuatable mazda workshops trying to get answers on running gear brakes etc etc, having had my problems before I'm not keen to let my car out of my sight, but obviously need to at some point ask for help.. I mentioned a while back the running gear and brakes for the wagon, that with the helpful tips from JNC readers only raised more questions. So not feeling that I had a clear decision made and the possibility of problems I set to planning this correctly. I admit this has caused me to have to opt out of a few things I wanted like being able to run 13" steelies.. With the help of a "low key-no bull shit" workshop in my local town I have now got a fool proof set up planned for the wagon, everything should go straight in and with a bit of tweaking gives me the upgrades needed. here is the plan.

Front brakes S4 disc and caliper, coilover strut, adjustable strut top. with brake booster as 808's never had them!
Rear, I am parting with the borg warner in favour of Hilux diff, with r31 skyline discs, all re studded to 4 x 110. may need a brake bias for the rears but overall very happy with the combination and fact it will all fit no problems!.

Next was making sure the auto meter products I wanted to use would suit my car, Temp is fine, volts no probs hardest one being fuel level.. with the high and low levels but they have this covered with programmable fuel level settings or an auto meter sender unit, so I feel at ease that this will be ok too. oh and monster tacho.. too easy snip a wire and connect it up!

Now I have started looking through my bits scrubbing down door trims, fishing through boxes here and there cleaning them up. sending my dash cowl down to be blasted the repainted charcoal grey for something different. the rest of the dash is in a box ready to be sent to dash original just to get a once over and tidy up.

By beans161 at 2011-11-13

I recently had a weekend in sydney with some mates where I was able to meet Dave from Restoremaz and deliver a couple badges for resto.. While on the topic this guy does a great job and is an asset to the restoration community, the work i saw in his shop and also on my mates parts is just amazing, stoked that he is doing some parts for me. thanks for the lift too Dave!!!

I am still chasing rare rx3 bits as every car builder does, but thanks to some helpful lads on this forum things are getting there! pics in the next update. cheers

I am liking the build up - both the RX3 and the house!

_________________
1979 Toyota Corolla

Update:
I've been flat out at work lately so the things I do are done before or after work which then leaves me forgetting the important things like the camera for the progress shots and updates!!! gees I know your all thinking what good is an update without pics! but the reason was I had little time and lots of cross city driving. So anyhow the last couple weeks has seen some great steps forward.
Firstly my nice green lawn..

By beans161 at 2011-11-13
Thanks to mattrx2 for replying to a previous post and supplying me with a series 1 rx3 grille and centre badge! I had it a day then wrapped it up and sent it to be restored! sorry for the phone pics.

By beans161 at 2011-11-13

By beans161 at 2011-11-13
I have sent a few badges and tid bits over to get some love from the mazda fiddly bits master restoremaz. Its scary when he sends a progress pic of a very rare badge or vent that took you 5 years to find in perfect condition, stripped back to bare plastic! I almost couldnt look at it.. but cant wait to see them all done.

By beans161 at 2011-11-13

By beans161 at 2011-11-13

Wheels:

After pondering the Diff and Brakes for so long the next thought was rims. So I hit the forums and online info for others experiences and found sweet FA apart from some pictures.

Following around 15 phone calls to several tyre shops and wheel manufacturers I have been sizing and pricing up everything from Watanabe's, Konig rewinds and Superlites. With all this said I found the most helpful to be Performance Wheels and the extra bonus was they are based in my home town!

By beans161 at 2011-11-13

The hardest part was the offset. No body seems to have any clue about what actually fits under the guards of an rx3 808. Even guys who own rx's seem to have no idea or they like them with the arse in the air or chop the guard inners, most go for drive in drive out packages and have no idea of offset.

Being the type of guy that goes to the source I rang the Performance Superlite factory asked some questions, then got my dogs in the ute and went down to visit the staff.

They gave me a few different options but the only size they could assure fits was 15x6. this to me was ok...as a last option. BUT if i'm going for rims ideally I want 16x7.. the answer straight up was NO.

So I persisted with my annoying questions of other wheels for other cars that I knew fit under a mazda, by this stage i'm behind the counter flicking through the offset guides folder until they could see I wasnt going to give up. Then the helpful staff at performance went and grabbed 2 brand new 16x7 rims in 2 different offsets and said take these and go try them!! Now this is what I needed from the start, rims to try on!

With 2 brand new superlites in the back of the ute, and a couple of happy hounds that we are driving again. I went to try them on the wagon, thus disrupting the panel shop for an hour or so. Everybody seems to like to stop work and help tinker with my car when I roll in with boxes of bits.. No wonder panel work takes ages! good to see the wags again though

This is where I wish I got pics to show you all! instead I will try to explain in brief and not write a book.

Trolley Jack under the diff, No struts in the rear so the wagon is on the shaved bump stops, which helps me measure clearance as I plan to run her nice and low when done.

The first rim out of the box a (25p) <technical info onto the back and I take a deep breath as I sit it under the guard, without any drama it fits!!! I'm shocked at just how easy that was! The main area of concern is the rear wheel arches and the silly little metal bit for the door frame I got roughly 10mm clearance but plenty inside so when the new diff is shortened I can shave a couple more MM.

If you own an Rx3/808 sedan or wagon you should know what i'm talking about. For interest sake I tried the other rim supplied a (12p) <more technical inuendo, It was way too deep dish! and thats the one out of the sizing book they said would probably fit as it is the offset they use for 15x7 and 16x7, lucky I didnt just take their word for it or i'd be needing a flare kit!

Now for the fronts..

Front was not so easy, about 2 to 3mm clearance on the strut, luckily the brake upgrade offers an extra 10mm clearance but has a thicker strut shaft so this will give jussst the right ammount of clearance.

Next was trying a guard on, much to the Panel shop boss' dislike as the front guards are ready for paint hanging high in the shed out of reach, he didnt want me messing around with them too much, but then i broke the sad news they would need a shave for clearance at full lock anyhow.. and if looks could kill They fit under by about 10mm and like all RX's with mags wheels its a close fit, but will look tuff when dialed in with a wee bit of camber.

Trial Rims back into the boxes, back to performance factory (dogs still in the ute)

This is where it got even better (the service I have received so far tops any other place I have been)
Performance only offer Superlites in 2x silver or black color way with a machined lip. I didnt want either color or the machined lip, always the difficult customer!

So I asked for charcoal all over in true JDM style. They said ok just this once as we have a little charcoal paint left over. So I now have ordered a custom for me 1 off set of Performance Superlites 16x7/4x110 in charcoal grey for my wagon, delivery time approx 2 weeks! sweet..
So after that long winded story the pics will come when I pick up the rims!
That is my biggest news in a while. I'll follow up with some pics asap! Thanks for reading!

Tuffrx3 on Ausrotary has some gutter trims and some of the other window trims I think you're looking for. However I don't know of anyone that's successfully fitted the RX3 style wagon side and rear stainless window trims as our cars had different rubber seals and the trims don't fit over them from what I know.

I'm also curious as to which badge you have the wagon tailgate trim(right side)?

Looking good, should be nice when all done!

_________________

1978 808 Wagon
1970 1200 Wagon
1969 1200 Coupe - SOLD
1971 RX2 Coupe

A while back I set to re-designing and landscaping my back yard. Now please note, I'm not a landscaper or designer or tradie. I have had no help or instruction.
Building a concrete sleeper retaining wall is hard yes, but doing it on your own? well with some good planning a trusty sack truck anything can be done. as you've seen so far I'm well on my way with the walls and the yard is looking good. my trusty bulldog gets into all the pics he can!

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

My plan for the day was: build the beginning of the ramp driveway into "the soon to be" shed area.
Previously to this, I already mentioned the grass area off the back of my house, this (for reference) is 400mm lower than the new paver height out the back door of my house. shown here (1 sleeper is 200mm)

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

Keeping things true and level would mean my shed slab should be 400mm below the same paver height.
After some tape measuring and hammering stakes in the ground I finally attached a string line at the proposed slab height on my wooden stake, Then ran a string back to the corner of the grass shown above, I was 5mm out, first try! thank god its all looking straight and coming together. that sorted it was onto the next thing.....

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

Driveway Problem: I need to make 400mm of fall over 4 metres (2 bays). I have purchased 2 tapered sleepers for the top row of both bays to help make the ramp shape, but they only give 100mm of fall per 2 metre sleeper (1 bay). This will leave me 200mm higher than I need.
Remedy: Set the whole lot of sleepers at a 100mm fall per bay. This means I have to build the whole wall slightly out of plumb (100mm). With this said I shovelled in some gravel and placed out the bottom row and measured again. To get 600mm on the high side and 500mm on the lower side. Then cemented in the steel column. You will see the spirit level is slightly out of plumb due to the angle needed.

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

With this in place I doubled checked the remaining heights left for the final sleepers, all good. Notice they all included the 100mm of fall required. then layed out the agregate pipe for drainage and buried it. .

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

Moving sleepers is easier with a sack truck as they weigh 85kgs each! I cant lift them alone so its allot of shuffle shuffle.

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

Then check the remaining heights again prior to the last sleeper placement. All my retaining walls have thick plastic behind them to reduce moisture seepage through the front face of the wall.. I align the sleepers as I back fill the wall to get them all straight.

By beans161 at 2011-11-20


All back filled and ready for the shed. The driveway is heaps wider now very happy with the progess.

By beans161 at 2011-11-20
By beans161 at 2011-11-20

WAGON: Dash cowl is powder coated, wrapped and stored ready for build day. Now I am tinkering with the centre console facia mock up. Using thick card this will be my final template for preparation.

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

By beans161 at 2011-11-20

Thanks for reading.

I was uploading pics onto my laptop and had to share! wheels came in on time. Here are the pics I should have had a couple weeks ago to go with that previous post of verbal dribble, glad I waited though as they look better in charcoal than silver!


By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

oohhh my I am a happy Lad.. A common problem is the wheel nuts and the counter sunk hole. I found this issue when trial fitting the other wheels and when I ordered them they assured me the socket they supply fits in. Guess what, the socket doesnt fit...! I dont want scratched lug holes first time I do them up, so I opted for these allen key style lug nuts. I actually like the finish counter sunk in the rim! will probably run no centre caps when done.

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

now for a trial fit... make sure they got it right!


By beans161 at 2011-11-22
Tape measure to show the clearance I mentioned in previous posts.

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

my fav shots of the day, these will be my inspiration for a while to come.


By beans161 at 2011-11-22

By beans161 at 2011-11-22

thanks for reading and kind words of support!

Love the updates

_________________
REgards, Mo Melville

Your Superlites look awesome..... Green with envy! Way better than my charcoal grey stockies....

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

Thanks Mo!
Jdmrx2 Charcoal steelies look tuff, the shot of oldmaz's orange coupe pulling out of a driveway is so wicked! I wouldn't be too envious, your car is mad and well on its way! If you decide on rims later that's an easy addition.

looking good, the wheels look great in charcoal all over!
one word of warning with the allen key style nuts, dont use a rattle gun to do them up i had a tyre place do that to some on one of the old cars and they split the nuts where the corners are made them a bitch to get of again as the nuts all flared out and the key spun in them!

Thanks for the helpful hints Mrfibbles.

The last few weeks has seen me digging through my shed, and out "pickin parts" in local wreckers and some older ones up in the hills near my place. Sadly not allot to be found! I think I just enjoy walking around seeing the history of cars that wandered our streets.

Found some bits I may sell, The 808 pointy nose cone off my wagon, inc headlight surrounds grille and chrome strips, an Rx2 horn button. mazda rx4 quarter panel badges just the mazda word. Oh and an rx4 boot lock key hole flippy thing badge all in good original condition if you got an rx4 or luce and keen for them pm me. Still got a disc brake borg warner diff here too. A 808/rx3 sedan rear quater panel skin, good original condition. Original rx3 sedan boot lid with badge holes. Not really fussed if they dont sell. Open to offers on all of it, no fixed prices, I'm not an ebay-scrooge. PM for details.

In my travels recently I grabbed a 2wd Hilux diff housing and axles, ready for the running gear upgrade in the new year. Next was an original s1 rx7 air cleaner box and some form of rotary engine mount not sure what yet. (next to rims in pics)

Picked up some rx3 badges from good ol' ebay, I have Savanna badges in the packet I bought from mazda years ago when I attempted the sedan, they have been stored away since then. As I have a blend of rx3 and Savanna parts all over the car I like them both and hope that either wouldnt look out of place on my car.

I did however snag a pair of 4x110, 15" Mazda e1400 van rims to use as steelies/white walls when the brakes are upgraded. They came from a now closed wrecking yard in the hills. The old guy now has a paddock of assorted cars and is not really interested in selling anything. After a funny chat he shuffled up the paddock with me and let me strip the wheels off. I couldnt stop for happy snaps as he was the type of fella that wanted to be left alone. So it was in and out quick as the old boy could move. But most of you would know what a rusty steel wheel looks like.

After collecting the rims, straight to the tyre shop on the way home to have the old worn radials removed, then swing by the powder coaters and drop them in. Didnt even make it home with them! So here they are Sand blasted, zinc and powder coated charcoal. Again no progress pics, I think Gypsy has the sand blasting progress pics covered! So here they are finished.

By beans161 at 2011-12-21

Not 100% happy with the color but its way better than the old rusty look. I will fine tune that "OG" Mazda wheel color later.

Next is progress shots of some bits being restored, this is more interesting stuff. all stripped


By beans161 at 2011-12-21

copper coat


By beans161 at 2011-12-21

chrome


By beans161 at 2011-12-21

thanks again to Restoremaz.

centre console template, still a rough cut.


By beans161 at 2011-12-21

To end this update I would like to add some shots of one very nice 808 I came across online. This is as close to the Rx3 combo I wanted as I could find, and its great inspiration... pity I dont have a spare $12k NZD its forsale!!!


By beans161 at 2011-12-21

By beans161 at 2011-12-21

By beans161 at 2011-12-21

If I can get my wagon anything close to this I'd be one happy man.

Just got Council approval for the shed!!! had to do a quick edit to add the exciting news. 2012 is looking to be one big year for my Mazda! Merry Christmas JNC'ers chat in the new year!

The trim pieces look great! Whats the cost to get those restored? Do you know how they remove the old chrome back to bare plastic?

_________________
1956 oval bug
1958.5 datsun 210
1962 chevy nova 2 400
1965 ford falcon 2door
1965 datsun 320
1966 vw bus sundial camper
1970 toyota corolla ke11
1971 toyota celica st
1972 datsun 510
1972 datsun 240z
1972 toyota corona mk2 wagon
2-1973 mazda rx3

Cheers! And they are just progress shots! Must say I'm happy with what I've seen so far.

To be honest I couldn't tell you, for a couple reasons. One: I haven't got them back yet, so i havent got my bill, and two: it's not for me to comment or quote on as my work is done by Restoremaz and depending on the condition of the items and work required would really factor in on price I'd say? But my advice would be contact Restoremaz and enquire with him.

this car is great, also love the wagon - have to follow this thread

Thanks for the support! I've been slugging away in the yard over the last few weeks. Will update again soon, until then I will enjoy reading other JNC members great build stories!
Thought I could add a shot from the day "pickin" Funny because the 808 was stacked up high on a rack balancing on a blue transport pallet. safe!

By beans161 at 2012-01-11
some string lines and cementing in a bracket.

By beans161 at 2012-01-11
and finally, The frame for my deck. 929 parked where the shed will be. Yes the rubber strip was peeling off the poor old 929 we had a few hot days in a row and the double sided tape just let go.

By beans161 at 2012-01-11

By beans161 at 2012-01-11

By beans161 at 2012-01-11

Awesome. Build mate love the direction this is heading in, I've often thought of doing a 3 wagon similar to the way this is going. Congrats on the permit also for the garage my garage build looked fast but was close to a year to complete due to permits and approvals etc. If I wasn't moving overseas in April I'd do fix up the new shed I have but I don't have the time, 12m by 7m its heaven lol

Buzz3n 12x7 is massive! I hope you dont mind but its a few styling points I will attempt to build in my shed, like the show picture boxes... Your car is just sick. Everytime I look at that pic of your car roof racked up 13bt I just have this thought, I bet it gets all loose on those 13" steelies. You are a mad man, in a good way.

Time for an update:
The works in my yard have really taken shape and now start to show the vision I had in my head, back in June last year. Going from design planning, demolishing, building retaining walls to rolling out lawn to now trying my hand at wood work and building a deck...

The shed is on its way with delivery a week or so away, my anticipation/excitement is getting the better of me. I dont know what to do next! but then again the to-do list is seeming endless pick a spot in the yard and i'll find something that needs to be done.

Recently, I discovered the learning value of mechano and lego as a child. While out the back cutting drilling bolting the deck together I had flash backs to sitting on my floor as a kid building all sorts of structures etc. No instructions no training no plans just built by hand by me. So after all these years my big kids lego is the yard and the mechano is my mazda.

While uploading these I looked at some old pictures, this one made me laugh. a true before shot!

By beans161 at 2012-01-17
and now..

By beans161 at 2012-01-17

By beans161 at 2012-01-17

By beans161 at 2012-01-17

By beans161 at 2012-01-17

Next is the deck lighting then nailing down of the deck planks. Also as the shed is built I will finish the last of the driveway retaining wall. The last steel RSJ will be cemented in with the shed upright for an exact fit anf finish to the driveway section. Then finally the garden and pond can be done...

Its not all backyard for me, lately has seen a few more parts trickle in. badges and yet another set of mirrors, more period correct Levin mirrors. I will get a picture of the two types I have for the car to show why I changed my mind.
Found a lil Japan sticker from my last visit to Japan might keep it handy for adding that JDM style at build time.
Christmas I received a replica model of a 10a wagon from my girl. her reaction was "its a lil wags".... now I finally think shes getting to love my mazdas.

By beans161 at 2012-01-17

By beans161 at 2012-01-17

Hi Mate, nice work on the car (and the yard)

Good to see another Adelaide car getting some work, I wish I could say the same about myself

I know you mentioned how you got the 15" steelies but you wouldn't happen to know of any others laying around? I'd really like to get a set for my 808 as I've upgraded the brakes but I love the steely look.

_________________
'73 Mazda 808 Sedan - Unrestored
'74 Mazda RX3 Sedan - Undergoing restoration

I only have the one pair of van rims so far. Currently hunting another pair for my car sorry.

looking good man!, love these diy builds, cant wait to see the garden finished should look pretty cool! be sweet if you somehow tied the shed in as well so the outside looks like an old jap barn but inside nice and modern, ya the shadow boxes are easy to build, there slightly overthe top for a garage but eh dont bother me lol. keep up the good work man