Ok, I have had a couple of PM’s to do an update.....

Not a lot has really happened of late.....lost a fair bit of “mojo” in terms of wanting to work on it....to be honest felt like crushing it....but alas we are back into it when time permits....

A few pics below..... front end is all in, rear end is all in and car is rolling......









Wheeled it outside for the first time in years today...... Must admit it was pretty exciting......

Need to finish off a couple of bits in the rear end, tighten up the arms now that it is on the ground and then start the process of rubbing it back for respray V2.......

Comparison of the last time it was outside........











Got some tyres on the restored rims, just need to get the whitewalls done. Car has brakes for the first time ever since I have owned it!! Never even had a handrake!!

Purchased a heap of stuff to finish the car off. Getting close now, just need to keep going......

A quick little crappy vid.....

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9818/esb.mp4

Will post some more updates soon.

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

looks good mate! well done on all the solo work! a bit of golden era cranking in the backround too

Ha Ha, yeah bit of Golden Era, nice pick up!!

Oz Hip hop has helped me build this car......always cranking it in the shed when I'm working on the car!! Reckon my neighbours are sick of it though!!

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

Awesome mate ! Keep going. Its good to look back and think to yourself I have build this Rx2 better than Mazda.

About time Benn, I was getting lonely here !

I've just finished painting the bonnet, one panel to go the nose and some minor bits and pieces... I can't believe it after so many years. If its any consolation v2 will be much easier. Use quality paper, a long block and some guide coat and you'll be right. Just don't deviate from your sanding pattern when you hit those lows. Painting my bonnet the second time was much easier.

Looks good in those photos, diff looks nice as well, still need to do the same. What have you planned for the interior ?

Ha ha, yeah you were looking lonely.... I read your thread all the time, just haven't commented...using it as inspiration.

I bought the durablock kit that you have, just need to source some long paper....Do you use the adhesive stuff or just the sheets wrapped around the block?

Hoping V2 will be easier. Like I said the paint is pretty good, it is still off the gun in those pics, its just the prep underneath. The car is not flat in places.

As for the interior:
I have the hoodliner ready to go
Got repro door trims, just need to make new cards
Retrimming the crash pad at home as they cant be vacuum formed - got the vinyl there ready to do
Getting the back seat retrimmed as per stock or close to
Black carpet
Have restored the dash already - Running the "flat dash" as I like the look of it better than the "T" dash. I think the car was a factory "T" dash. It was fitted with one when I bought it. Using AM radio etc with hidden JVC head unit.
Have an old school MOMO wheel for it
Using old school race seats in the front
Venetian blind
Using a sedan console as it goes better with the flat dash
Have some traditional autometer gauges as well that will are mounted in location that can be removed with no evidence.
Really want to put a half cage in it, but don't think I will......
Also have "boxed" out the boot so not very original in there, but I like the look of a tidy boot setup. Nothing too fancy though.

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

those shots of the running gear and diff etc show why it pays to do the little things along the way. top work!

Very nice! this is quite inspiring to get to work on my 2

take 3... dont know whats wrong with this place, keep loosing my reply

Dry Sanding
80 - 120 25M Roll, Norton NoFill or speed file with pre cut speed file sheets
180 - 320 50 sheet packs of Norton NoFill

Anything finer than 320 I find you have to switch to wet.
320 - 600 SIA Wet paper (50sheet packs)

For dry sanding if I want the really long block I stick 2 sheets together. You can do the same with wet sanding sheets although I generally find the shorter long block should suffice. You're not taking off much material once you get to wet sanding. Sand in an X motion and never sand in the one spot, keep the block moving. Always use a guide coat whether dry or wet sanding.

Tripple check lines and edges prior to paint, if you're not sure about whether an area is good enough for paint then the answer is NO, learnt that the hard way

With the dash top, Dash Doctor can do it in a vaccum form machine. Send them the metal panel in front of the dash as well so they do a nice fit.

Thanks for the tip Gypsy. Will go and get some paper sorted so I can start work on this thing soon.

I spoke to the dash doctor, apparantly cant do early RX2 dashes as they have no internal support....basically just foam and vinyl. The metal panel in an RX2 is part of the whole dash frame and non removable.

Hopefully this time everything will come out OK.....

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

Nice thread dude. That's a lot of dedication.

That's my Belgian delivered orange RX2 coupe on page 2

Hi Ben, there's a place out here in the metro L.A. area, that can replicate the dash exactly. Price is steep.

http://www.justdashes.com/

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Hey guys,

been a while......Sadly my poor little Maz is sitting in the corner of the shed covered in dust.

House renovations have kicked in full swing so I am looking at a 12 month break from the car while I finish the house and yards off. Planning retaining walls and pizza ovens instead of fuel systems and ride heights......

It will get finished......just going to be later than planned......postponed but not forgotten.....

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

Sad we won't see any updates for a while. Good luck with the yard!

With 12 months of House renovations in front of me and the sad news that my still not finished RX2 will be pushed into the back corner of the garage to gather dust whilst I complete the renovations, I needed something to keep me sane.....

In desperate need for a trailer for the next 12 months to assist in picking up supplies for the house and doing runs to the tip I started searching online for a trailer. Nothing fancy, maybe a 7X5 to make the house project easier.

I soon learnt that trailers are hot property....they are sold very quickly and often sell for much larger sums of money than I really wanted to spend.....especially on a trailer.

Last friday morning I jumped on the computer and had a quick search. Located just 10 minutes from my house was the perfect trailer.....

Its a 1978 Mazda B series ute....well it's half of one anyway!!

Built in 1998 and still using a Mazda chassis its a strong unit. Still has the full Mazda diff, brake and suspension setup in it!

Pretty it is not, but functional it is!! Tows brilliantly, takes a massive load and is a lot deeper than a normal trailer.

Dressed in matt black from purchase, I quickly gave the rims a quick squirt of white paint and added some pin stripes to set it off, as well as repainting the MAZDA across the tailgate. Throw in some period decals and instant classic!!

I never thought you could actually like a trailer, but I like this one!! Will upload some pics soon!!

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

haha, that sounds awesome! Nice find Benn.

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occasional blog: http://ewokracing.tumblr.com

Brought to you by me as I search Alta Vista for Geocities webpages using Netscape Navigator while listening to Jam & Spoon.

Pic....

My Japanese Nostalgic Trailer......



Have some 8 inch widened Navara rims from my brothers old SR20 Rodeo with passenger car tyres on them.... thinking about fitting those up and maybe some moon discs......or paint the rims red and put flapper whitewalls on them....

obviously added the Rotary Engine sticker to it for laughs......

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

pimp trailer. showing our age again, enjoying backyard builds/trailers! hope things go smoothly so you get time for the rx2 asap!

Yeah me too. Really depressing seeing it under sheets tucked in the corner. So close yet so far. Plan is max 12 months on the house, then a Mazda blitz......start amd finish it very quickly. We will see how we go...

On th trailer front stuck on the powder coated 8 inch steelies with chrome trims. Have 215 14s on them, way bigger than the 185's.....also couldnt help myself and bolyed an aussie style 3inch angled dump pipe under the back for shits and giggles.

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

Ha ha! I wanna see a picture of that!

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