1974 RX-4/929 wagon. Upgrades Round 1

timmy201 · **Posted:** Sat Dec 17, 2011 6:18 am

Are live axles that good off road? I could just imagine how bumpy it would be - and not so good for traction/cornering?

ewokracing · **Posted:** Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:06 pm

They're fine, it's ground clearance which is the big factor.

aaron_hogan · **Posted:** Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:30 pm

ewokracing wrote:

poly bushes, king springs and koni shocks.

I gave all of that back to aaron to go into his coupe, now it just has poly bushes and standard springs.

Just a note: we found out the hard way that the wagon rear end is different to the coupe and sedan. The wagon's leaf springs, saddles and shackles are wider. Thus the springs that were in the wagon were actually coupe springs - King Springs part # MAZ505.

ewokracing wrote:

I've got an idea about shocks and stiffening up the rear end, but I want to see how it goes offroad first.

I think it would be prudent to salvage another set of wagon springs and have those modded to minimise down time, or at least to raid an extra leaf or two.

ewokracing · **Posted:** Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:07 pm

^ Forgot about that. Thanks Az.

I start prep'ing and maybe even high-filling the repaired sections this weekend. Did I end up giving you those clips or do I still have yours? I found another bag of them so I must still have yours?

I found a better windscreen guy too.

timmy201 · **Posted:** Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:45 am

Bring back the hotwires?

What's left to do this year?

ewokracing · **Posted:** Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:38 pm

^ apparently that car was written off and no longer exists.

I do have some hotwires floating around, but I kinda have some other tricks up my sleeve.

pulled the car out last night and washed down all the dirt and crud, I'm going to recruit Aaron into giving me a hand to mask it up and spray some hi-fill and primer down soon.

ewokracing · **Posted:** Sun Feb 05, 2012 6:58 pm

So, to recap:

Rust. Bad.

Paint. Good.

I deliberately haven't polished it up yet, but I've taken all of the paper and masking tape off and it's come out really well. I've done two very light coats and then another "heavier" coat so I'm not sure if it will stand up to being polished with a machine. (I've never sprayed and polished paint and it's only with aerosol cans too). I also sanded back and painted inside the passenger front door jamb where whoever did the last respray left primer overspray.

I have decided to sand back and paint above the windscreen where the previous owner had some race tape holding the stainless trim piece on (it has lifted the paint) and where the paint blistered while it was covered. (I put a sheet of plastic over the windscreen as it was leaking, water then got past it in the rain, then we had a really hot day after some rain and it caused some small bubbles to appear.)

No huge drama, but I figure now is the time to do it while the windscreen is out and I have all of the materials. Plus my rough spray repair will be covered by a surprise I have.

I also have some Koni Shocks coming for the rear and they were at a bargain price. Got a stack of mojo now to finish this off before the Phillip Island race meeting in March.

ewokracing · **Posted:** Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:56 pm

Are now on my workbench:

ewokracing · **Posted:** Mon Feb 13, 2012 5:26 pm

So way back when, I had the wagon stored outside. Because the windscreen was leaking, I stretched a big sheet of plastic across the windscreen and used the doors to hold it tight against the windscreen and the frame.

Unfortunately, being Melbourne, one day it rained and then came out extremely hot. Where the top of the plastic sheet was laying against the roof, the paint blistered in a few spots. Where someone had also used race tape to hold the stainless trim in place around the windscreen, it also lifted the paint off when I took the tape off.

I thought now was a good time to fix the blisters before they became rusty and to fix the ugly areas where the race tape had been.

First I masked off the front part of the roof, then sanded back the blister "bubbles".

Then tacked it down, then prep washed the area.

Then I layed on some primer, just normal primer. I could probably have used hi-fill around the area where the race tape was as it seems that it took a few layers of paint right off, but I'll see how I go with the primer.

The other side. I'll be sanding it back tonight and seeing how I went at filling up the blister holes and where the tape went.

Aaron's also given me a heads up about fading the colour paint in so I think this is going to turn out ok.

ewokracing · **Posted:** Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:14 pm

Here we go!

Will ring up the windscreen guys tomorrow and see if they can fit me in for this weekend. After that I've got someone at work coming to sort out some wiring. Next is the brake issue. Then registration. After it's registered, I'll do all the other little jobs like front guard mirrors, sump bash guard etc.

ewokracing · **Posted:** Tue Feb 28, 2012 6:20 pm

works 510 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 4:09 am

whats plans for this?
full rego?
daily?
or?

ewokracing · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:36 pm

full rego

daily/motorkhana/hillclimbing/regularity circuit racing/road trips.

I've also touched up were the windscreen guys chipped my paint. :evil:

Also ran some new tubing for the windscreen washer jet and refitted the wipers.

ewokracing · **Posted:** Mon Mar 12, 2012 7:52 pm

New tubing!

timmy201 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:19 am

Wiring and brakes? A weekend at the most :lol:

Chuxa · **Posted:** Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:52 am

I done tubing on mine about a week ago

mine cracked and selfdestroyed when i was disassembling my car for paint

ewokracing · **Posted:** Tue Mar 13, 2012 3:05 pm

Tim: brakes - not sure what is going on. As detailed a few pages back, I've replaced everything bar the booster and the master cylinder and drums, but the pedal feel is lousy. I have a feeling that something is leaking somewhere (I've bled it all a few times, same result).

I live with a few small "light" industrial areas nearby and there is a mechanic with a dyno and a brake/clutch place next door. I might just leave it with them for a week and see if they can fix it. I have a feeling it is the booster, but this car was driven on a regular basis before it got pulled down, so the brakes were working (or at least I hope they were!).

Wiring: I have NFI what is going on. I have plugged everything back together in the original looms, so I'm not sure why the heater fan, windscreen wipers and headlights/indicators are on the fritz. I've got one of the guys at work fired up to sort it out, but he is flat out with his cars on the weekend.

Chuxa: yes, the old plastic tubing gets very brittle! I broke one of the little clamps that holds the tubing in place, a dab of superglue though and it was as good as new.

timmy201 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 13, 2012 6:31 pm

I did the master cylinder on mine and that helped alot. The seals were totally shot and I replaced them - still was crap so I got a complete cylinder. I think the seals were $40 and the complete unit $100, so it made more sense getting the whole thing. No booster should still give you a solid pedal?

ewokracing · **Posted:** Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:40 pm

Yeah, that's why I'm scratching my head. How did the last guy who drove this (literally from Melbourne to the boarder of Vic/NSW), drive this if the brakes were like this?

Unless, since this had a brake conversion, and there's something about the master/booster that isn't working with the stock type brakes that I have put back on.

Buzz3n · **Posted:** Sun Mar 18, 2012 7:33 pm

Have you tried ajusting the rear brake drums?, check for air in lines? I did this to mine and they were 100 times better After afterwardsO

1974 RX-4/929 wagon. Upgrades Round 1

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