Rexanne - Gold s2 restoration project

[captainbizzaro]

I know of an S3 tank Steve, only downside is you have to alter the spare wheel well but I\'m plating that over anyway to mount my fuel pump and filter to. I tried unsuccessfully to source a solid S2 tank....

[steve garbutt]

Well a couple of guys from Autolink, an MX5 specialist breakers/restorers, drove the mx7 away this afternoon.

So I\'m gonna drop Billy at Re-Speed some emails shortly!!!!! Dampers, adjustable height springs, camber plates and stiffer roll bars, and maybe the FC brake conversion parts will be winging their way to me soon hopefully ! :3gears-lh

Done some painting yesterday, will upload pictures later, but it\'s been too cold and damp here today to do much more.

Do you know who at Autolink purchased the car ?
I use autolink as they are suppliers of mine, and am friendly with most of the guys there.

[Steve-A]

Have messaged you Tim for more info!

Steve, it was Andrew and the auto link mechanic, Julian I think it was, who came up and looked round it and took it away. They filled out the V5 in the name of Autolink itself. I think they quite fancied doing a few track days with it

[Steve-A]

Well I called off the deal on the grey Alfa as the dealer still hasn\'t got the v5, even though he was going to get it "tomorrow" last sunday, then again thursday, and friday, and today.

I\'d already paid half, and he\'d promised to give me the money back ( got that signed in writing!) if he didn\'t get it all sorted out. But he didn\'t seem best pleased when I called him today, so could be in for a long draw out fight on this one.....

But anyway I saw this red one for sale privately in Bedford, bit of a drive but overall a much more pleasant transaction experience!

So thats the daily driver stuff sorted now, hopefully I can get back to focussing my time on Rexanne. Whilst the GTV is very nice, and capable, it does lack the raw connection you feel driving something like the mx5 or rx7, so it\'s not gonna distract me from really wanting to get Rexanne on the road!

[steve garbutt]

Have messaged you Tim for more info!

Steve, it was Andrew and the auto link mechanic, Julian I think it was, who came up and looked round it and took it away. They filled out the V5 in the name of Autolink itself. I think they quite fancied doing a few track days with it

Cheers mate ill see if i can quiz them what they are intending for it when i next ring them

[steve garbutt]

Im loving the restoration threads that are going on MRC atm, including this one :Thumbsup!

[Steve-A]

Yeh, you cant beat a good build thread

I\'ve spent the last couple of nights after work sorting out a few odds and ends.

Yesterday I dug out all the Mazda bolts I\'ve collected across the years, and looked to see if I could match up and nice clean ones from my spares piles with the rusty ones off Rexanne. I managed to match up quite a few

Here\'s the bolts to choose from.



And then an example of the matching up of Rexanne bolts on the right and spare mx5/rx7 bolts on the left.



Then out of the bolts I didn\'t have spares for I found the ones I could easily replace and gave them to Dad to get replacements from his factory for me Finally the non-easily replaced bolts, such as the unusual threads/step on the bolts that hold the radius arms on, I wire brushed up the heads and gave them a quite and thin spray of hammerite, just to keep the orange-ness at bay.



This evening first my Turbo II callipers arrived from Ade, they look pretty burly. I\'m still weighing up the best option for brakes, but good to have these in the bag.



Then I chased through all the threads on the axel.



And started on repairing the fuel tank. I cut the damaged pipe down flush and gently drilled through, leaving me with a 6mm hole to thread a new pipe through and then I will expoy it into place.



I\'ve ordered the brake hard line for the axel and the fuel hard line ot repair the tank with too.

I also had a look inside the tank, and it looks fairly clean, no obvious rust, or big flakes floating around.



I\'m now soaking the screws for the fuel level sender in WD40 ready to remove and check its operation.

Finally for tonight I tested out my newest impulse buy!



Ohhh sparkly! Now I must be sensible with what I paint in glitter!

[steve garbutt]

if you can get your hand inside the tank then id be inclined to flair the end of the pipe your going to epoxy in and put it through from the inside so any force you give it via a hose wont pull it off.
Also after bonding it in id be tempted to try and support it so it wont crack.

[CHC (RIP)]

With srtipping all the bits off the tank, I\'d be inclined to flush the tank out all together, give it a gas test for cleanliness then weld the tube on and also weld a bracket to the tank to support the nozzle - at least this way there is no potential leakage point for the future.

[CHC (RIP)]

 
Well I called off the deal on the grey Alfa as the dealer still hasn\'t got the v5, even though he was going to get it "tomorrow" last sunday, then again thursday, and friday, and today.
 
I\'d already paid half, and he\'d promised to give me the money back ( got that signed in writing!) if he didn\'t get it all sorted out. But he didn\'t seem best pleased when I called him today, so could be in for a long draw out fight on this one.....
 
But anyway I saw this red one for sale privately in Bedford, bit of a drive but overall a much more pleasant transaction experience!
 
So thats the daily driver stuff sorted now, hopefully I can get back to focussing my time on Rexanne. Whilst the GTV is very nice, and capable, it does lack the raw connection you feel driving something like the mx5 or rx7, so it\'s not gonna distract me from really wanting to get Rexanne on the road!

Think it looks better in Red Steve - better rims too.  Nice choice
Cliff

[Steve-A]

Yeh I like Red best too

Thanks for the tank input guys. With regards to welding it in, Cliff, the reading I\'ve done suggests that with old tanks even if you go through all the procedures to remove as much petrol as possible, some will have working its way into the metal, especially at the seams and the welding can still be dangerous.

I certainly intend to flush the tank out properly now, especially as there will be metal fillings from the drillings inside it.

My plan was/is to make up the new tube from copper, then braze a steel plate to the new tube that will sit flush against the top of the tank, and a bracket from this steel plate to help support the copper. Then I will bond the whole lot onto the tank, this should give a huge bonding area and make the tube nice and sturdy.

[David Nock (RIP)]

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa196/steve-nc30/rexanne/Library-4433.jpg

Wow, that\'s brill!!!!

Did your Dad\'s factory make that big Iron Block, with all the correct threaded holes in it to accept the different bolt you wanted to spray up? Marvellous.:rollin

[CHC (RIP)]

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa196/steve-nc30/rexanne/Library-4433.jpg
 
Wow, that\'s brill!!!!
 
Did your Dad\'s factory make that big Iron Block, with all the correct threaded holes in it to accept the different bolt you wanted to spray up? Marvellous.:rollin

Nah, I think he chopped all the heads off flush and then he\'ll weld them back on when the paints dry :rollin:rollin

[johnnyboy]

Yeh I like Red best too
 
Thanks for the tank input guys. With regards to welding it in, Cliff, the reading I\'ve done suggests that with old tanks even if you go through all the procedures to remove as much petrol as possible, some will have working its way into the metal, especially at the seams and the welding can still be dangerous.
 
I certainly intend to flush the tank out properly now, especially as there will be metal fillings from the drillings inside it.
 
My plan was/is to make up the new tube from copper, then braze a steel plate to the new tube that will sit flush against the top of the tank, and a bracket from this steel plate to help support the copper. Then I will bond the whole lot onto the tank, this should give a huge bonding area and make the tube nice and sturdy.

I hesitate to get involved with a technical issue as you guys are so much more skilled at restoration that me, but in my day, if you had a rusty tank you just filled the tank with water to welded it.... but your idea sounds fine to me....
John

[captainbizzaro]

Good luck getting those sender screws out mate, they\'re a pain in the ass. I drill the heads off in the end and extracted the threads out with grips.