Rexanne - Gold s2 restoration project

[Steve-A]

Got a bit done last night / today between the showers.

My basic list before MOT is:

• Front bodywork metalwork & assembly
• Brakes refurb
• Fit coilovers when they come back from GAZ
• Windscreen / A pillar
• Paintwork

That said paintwork is kinda optional!

So I thought I\'d start at the top of the list, and attack the rotten front wing. This is where I started....



So I got busy with the grinder and cut the rot out.



First up I make up a section to weld in for the front corner, as it was easier! I welded it in from behind so I could leave the welds proud and not have some much grinding to d from the front side to clean it up.




The rear section of wing would be much trickier. I really need more proper metal working tools. With the help of a vice, a couple of blocks of wood and a pair of hammers I roughed out the shape I needed to fit. Here it is about halfway through the shaping.



Then I put the wing on the car and tacked it on while in place, to make sure it went on straight.



Then I took the wing off the car and seam welded it from the inside, as with the front corner.



It\'s a little lumpy, but once skimmed with filler and painted it will be at least close and should stand up to the \'looks good from 6ft away\' test

Finally I put some stone chip on the inside of the wing, and it\'s now drying till I next get to fit it!

[Ian65]

road worthiness is getting closer now Steve... looking ( and sounding) good!

[Steve-A]

It\'s getting there isn\'t it

Should be close to my target of getting to Beaulieu.

[Casey]

It\'s getting there isn\'t it

Should be close to my target of getting to Beaulieu.

I hope you make it to Beaulieu! I\'ll be ready with my camera taking a few hundred pictures to keep up the inspiration to get "Kimi" into something half as presentable as yours is looking, hopefully for Rotorstock!

Keep up that fantastic quality of work.

[Steve-A]

Cheers Casey I look forward to meeting you there then! If Rexanne isn\'t ready, I\'m gonna take my mums mx5 down.

Spent some time on her this afternoon. The main bit of progress was to assemble her face!



Took a surprising amount of time to get it all lined up right, I think someones had a gentle shunt at some stage. The metal work inside the front bumper is a little bent and there\'s a few bits of gold overspray about the place.

I decided not to refit the front fog lights that were on her when I got her, they aren\'t really in keeping with the rest of the car or the look I\'m going for. Likewise I\'ve removed the headlight washers and all associated cables/hoses.
I\'ve never had head light washers, and never felt the need, so can save a little weight there.

I also didn\'t put any of the under carpet sound deadening and insulation back in when I did the interior. I\'ll probably remove the rear window wiper and washer system at some stage too, but it can stay for now. It\'ll probably go when the interior goes.

While I was working on the body I gave the under tray a quick once over, wire brushing the worst of the rust off and then a few coats of hammerite to keep it functional for a bit.



Finally for now I\'ve made a start on re-furbing the brakes.



They are pretty full of dirt and crap, there was plenty of scum and debris in the brake fluid that came out of them. The good news is that all 4 pistons looks in pretty good condition really, so a quick clean up and polish and they\'ll be good to go. The callipers themselves will be cleaned, painted and have new seals fitted, probably during the evenings this coming week.

Dad\'s taken the rear discs to work to have one of their machinists have a look at them and a go at skimming them. I did start to have a go myself, but my lack of lathe experience started to show and before I messed anything up I thought I\'d get someone who knows what they are doing to sort it out!

Along the same lines, of letting professionals sort some bits out, I was hoping to make up my own lower rear radius arms with the help of Bill, but he\'s so busy with work right now I feel quite mean asking him to do more metal work and machining in his own time! So today I bit the bullet and ordered the re-speed lower arms (pictured), along with a double alternator pulley. I had been put off the rose joints for a road car by what I\'ve read on the net, but having been in a car with a couple of rose joined links in the front suspension it really didn\'t seem too bad.

[spoddy]

steve, looking really good.
did you respray the panels before putting back on, as in the pics they look very tidy?
are you going to sell your light washers on, if you don\'t need them.
i haven\'t an fb yet and not sure if the one i have been offered has them, its a series 3 so dunno if they all had them fitted.

i kinda like wee features such as light washers, i have them on my rx8. but to be honest they\'re just a gimmick as in the 8 they work when you pull the stalk (for more than 2 secs) for the windscreen if you have the head lights switched on.

but she looks like a car again which is great. gold looks really nice in the fb and keeping the fog lights off sounds a good idea.

not long to go now then for its MOT and your back on the road

[Ian65]

great progress now Steve.... shaping up well.
If you use a brake kit from Biggred, make sure you keep the rubber part circled in this pic from the front calipers as it\'s not included and you need to reuse your own... I presume for the back as well.
I just ripped mine out to clean up and paint the caliper and then realised afterwards ( when the kit came) that I should had kept them... luckily the rotashed boasted some spares!



How do the radius arms work with the polys? or don\'t they?

[Steve-A]

Cheers for the heads up Ian! I almost pulled one of those out earlier, but then thought \'nah don\'t get stuck into that now\' and left it. Good job!

Those lower arms require no bushes. The spherical bearings allow the movement. Being bearings they mean a more free movement, and will twist by 30+ degrees before binding at all. It\'s the \'race car\' option, as there is zero flex in the system, which hold the geometry more accurately. The down side is they need greasing, and will wear and deform slightly with impact which can lead to them being quite rattly after a few thousand miles. I guess I\'ll just see how it goes.

[Steve-A]

steve, looking really good.
did you respray the panels before putting back on, as in the pics they look very tidy?
are you going to sell your light washers on, if you don\'t need them.
i haven\'t an fb yet and not sure if the one i have been offered has them, its a series 3 so dunno if they all had them fitted.

i kinda like wee features such as light washers, i have them on my rx8. but to be honest they\'re just a gimmick as in the 8 they work when you pull the stalk (for more than 2 secs) for the windscreen if you have the head lights switched on.

but she looks like a car again which is great. gold looks really nice in the fb and keeping the fog lights off sounds a good idea.

not long to go now then for its MOT and your back on the road

Sorry mate, missed this comment before.

I\'ve resprayed nothing yet. I\'ve just chucked some grey/white primer on the fresh metal. On the whole the paint work is good, just a few corners here and there where its rotted through from the inside. So I\'m hoping to just respray small sections.

I think I\'m a bit broken sometimes, as I get kinda attached to the ratty used and abused look. I almost prefer the back of the cars looks with the bumper missing

I believe headlight washers were standard on all s1, s2 and s3 rx7s, so you\'ll have them

[Ian65]

Headlight washers on series 2 & series 3 cars.... and 99% break when removing them

[Steve-A]

Mine didn\'t break so if anyone needs head light washers, or washer motor, or washer reservoir or some 90\'s style frot fog lights youre welcome to them!

[Ian65]

Mine didn\'t break so if anyone needs head light washers, or washer motor, or washer reservoir or some 90\'s style frot fog lights youre welcome to them!

I\'ll take the headlamp washer jets off you Steve please... I\'ll PM you

[CHC (RIP)]

Hi Steve - just catching up with you.
Really pleased for you with the way Rexanne is developing and turning out. Those niggles you had with initial starting of engine are typical but as ever you have managed to ovvercome them - no surprise there then.
 
I like the way you have managed to adapt the ignition wiring but somehow i don\'t think this is going to catch on.
Here I might have the answer you are looking for, I\'m looking for a good home for the item in the following pics - let me know what you think mate?

[Steve-A]

That looks like just the man for the job Cliff! I\'ll PM you

[CHC (RIP)]

Sorted mate - you\'ll have this asap.
Cliff
:cheers