Rexanne - Gold s2 restoration project

[Steve-A]

Haha no worries mate some times two words are all you need!

Anyone got any insight into radio wiring?

Had a good poke around under the carpet in the front too, no signs of rot there

[captainbizzaro]

Good news about the rot-what is it you are after regarding the wiring?

[Steve-A]

Mainly where it should take it\'s power from. The radio is currently drawing power from the clock and rear window heater switch. But it doesn\'t look original, it\'s been done with cheapo halfords connectors not Mazda style stuff.

It\'s not the end of the world, but nice to not draw power from the wrong places!

[David Nock (RIP)]

Wouldn\'t it be great if Haynes just had a set of diagrams that said \'Definitive diagrams for UK Series 2.

But they don\'t, just \'heres a sample of different diagrams for later models, poke about in that lot mateys\'

The radio isn\'t even shown in the \'S2\' typical diagrams, just an arrow off page to \'Audio\'.
BUT.....looking at S1 diagrams and also that fusebox pic that automatic18 was querying with Cliff before Christmas (remember), then I think the radio takes it\'s feed from the \'Radio/Antennae\' Fuse in the fuse box, through main connector X02 to the radio. I think that fuse is fed via the ignition switch so\'s you can\'t drain the battery by mistake.

There\'s also a separate illumination feed which seems to come from the positive side of the illumination control (ie radio light is not dimmed).

Sorry it\'s not that helpful but nothing to work with except generalised drawings and guesswork.

[Steve-A]

Thanks David

I\'m gonna have a go at finishing the radio wiring off tomorrow, I\'ll trace that 12v feed back from the fuse box.

Even if I use the same sources as the lat owner did, by actually soldering it together and insulating the connections it\'s gotta be a good start!

I\'m hoping to get some good progress over the next couple of days. I\'m done with family/christmas type things for a while, and its meant to be dry, so it\'s time to get back out there

[Steve-A]

Didn\'t get much done yesterday in the end, but got plenty done today

I got the radio and centre console back in yesterday, but didn\'t get any pictures because there\'s nothing to see now, just a normal s2 interior.

Today I dropped back onto the metal work. Having had a few days break from it with christmas I decided I\'d just keep focused on basic metal work for now, then when its all done I can go over the whole car with seam sealer and proper paint.

So first up was just finishing the drivers sill, by finishing off the end cap.



I\'d been indecisive about what to do about this corner.



It\'s the bottom of the rear edge of the drivers rear wheel arch, the rot is only minor and doesn\'t look like it would need to be structural. I was considering just filling the front edge to look pretty for paint etc, but figured while i was down here doing things properly I\'d do it properly!



Then I moved round the the corner of the rear valance thats rotten.





That went fairly smoothly, will just need a little filling as the thin metal of the valance buckled slightly with the heat. I was trying to do lots of tacks and spread the heat out, but its still not quite flat, the welds have sunk.

After that it was starting to drizzle and was getting dark, so I had a bit of a poke about to see just how bad the passengers sill is and packed up for the night.



The rot on the sill isn\'t quite as bad and doesn\'t extend quite as far down the sill as the other side which is good. More of the inner structure is stable

The floor near the lower suspension link mount is more rotten than the other side was and will need a slightly bigger plate, but not the end of the world.

All in all a good days progress and I\'m looking forward to bashing through the metal work on this side of the car!

I keep getting tempted to order my polly bushes from re-speed, so that once the metal work is done I\'ll be ready to put the rear suspension back on. But I still don\'t know how much I will be ordering from re-speed and it makes sense to wait and buy everything at once to save on shipping.

And similarly I\'m keen to order my PCD adapters for my wheels, so the car can sit on its proper wheels and I can decide what to do about the arches. But I don\'t want to get the spacers made up to fit stock PCD and centre bore if this might get changed in the process of upgrading the brakes.

[Steve-A]

Got another couple of hours in today, before I had to go out and do a little filming.

Started off by carrying on cutting out all the rot on the passengers side sill l area. This is what was left when I\'d finally got down to real metal.




I\'d not had to cut as far along the sill, but there\'s more inner arch gone and more floor gone.

For the other side I\'d been using a wire wheel and flap wheel on a drill to help clean up the surfaces, but knowing I had a large area of rusty paint and stuff to clean up under the car and heavy rust to remove from the axel I\'d caved in a bought a knotted wire wheel for my grinder. Nowe the packet went on about heavy duty rust removal so I was a bit cautious but damn I should have bought one before, twas amazing. Bit right through the paint and seam sealer and undercoats etc with no problem but then didn\'t seem to eat the metal at all.



I\'m sure as I clean the underside ready to coat it in por15 it will save me loft of time and effort

I was running out of time before I had to go film, so I just stuck some primer on the cleaned up metal and left it there for today.



I feel much more confident doing this side after the success of the other side, I can see it being a much much faster process

I think I will order the bushes tomorrow and the wheel spacers, as hopefully it wont be long till I\'d be ready to mock up the back of the car with wheels and sort out what to do with the arches.

[Ian65]

Great progress there Steve, it\'s coming on great!
I use the same wire wheel on my grinder and it\'s the best thing for shifting that rust and crap.
Are you going for a full polybush kit from Billy at Respeed? I\'m thinking of ordering one as well this week... he does a smaller kit or the full kit... which are you going for?
I\'m thinking of the full kit...

[Steve-A]

I was gonna go for the full kit. Not a single bush on the rear end of the car doesn\'t show some signs of perishing, so I figured I\'d be silly not to get the full kit. Think it\'s worth seeing if anyone else is interested and maybe doing a group buy, could cut post costs down lots? I imagine the post wouldn\'t be cheap from the states.

I am intending to run the car considerably lower than stock height ( though still focused on performance so a little higher than my friends in VWs that hit cats eyes if they aren\'t careful!) and I\'ve read about the full polly kit causing the rear suspension to bind more than the stock bushes on lowered suspension. I\'ve read about people using normal bushes in strategic places to help stop this, so may yet not use the full kit. I\'m hoping to play about with some other ways to stop the binding though so again full kit makes sense to me.

[Ian65]

I\'ve read that too about binding up  but Shaun runs the full kit in his S3 and swears by it... I think he had his from Respeed

[myatt1972]

What sort of money are we talking for a full kit?

[Ian65]

What sort of money are we talking for a full kit?

$160 for the full kit ( about 100 quid??) plus shipping....

http://mrcmfg.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=112_41_91

[Steve-A]

I\'ve read that too about binding up  but Shaun runs the full kit in his S3 and swears by it... I think he had his from Respeed

There\'s a huge discussion on the american forum about rear suspension and the binding problems. Seems it only really becomes a problem when you want to run the car much lower than standard.

Because the upper links are shorter than the lower links the diff tilts slightly as it moves upwards, and the watts link bushes aren\'t designed to take the tilt in that plane and bind up.

I always tend to take opinions on american forums and their approach to car handling with a pinch of salt, something I learnt from mx my5 days, but just something I\'ve become aware of.

If the binding is an issue for me, I\'ve got a couple of ideas. Rose jointing the watts link would allow it to twist in the multiple planes it need to not bind up. The other option would be adjustable length, or adjustable mounting point, upper links that re-set the diff to the right angle with the suspension more tucked up.

But as you can see right now anything other than basic \'is it made of metal or rust?\' type problems are wayyyy ahead of me!

[Steve-A]

Did a little more on the passengers sill yesterday. The wind had got up a bit so I had to modify my gazebo for a bit to act as a wind break.



With a little help from Ian, I started to build up the internal structure.




Still needs a bit more shaping and the bottom edge trimming level, but when its cold and windy out the metal work can feel a little anti social. So I took advantage of the extra pair of hands and we stripped back the front of the car on the hunt for more rust.



Whilst we found no more proper rust, we did find the drivers side front sill was slightly collapsed.



It was hard to photograph, but the sill line is curved and the bottom of the sill is pushed up slightly. Whether someone\'s been a bit brutal with a jack or whether theres some form of internal weakening I don\'t know. There\'s no other signs of damage to suggest a crash or anything.

It will need more investigation! Is this a usual rust point or anyone got any info on how much of a big deal this is?

[David Nock (RIP)]

Hard to say really Steve but it looks to me like the result you\'d get using the Mazda side jack on any car that\'s pushing 30 years old.

I only use a trolley jack on Gus, always on the front cross member/back axle; I never use the side jack. (Getting caught at the roadside might present a problem of course).

So if it\'s not rusting through I\'d not worry too much. However the MOT man tends to jack in the area of the front outriggers so they want to be sound. When he does that he\'s only got half the front car load on each side. With the Mazda side jack you might conceivably be above that?