1983 Limited Edition Resto/with some goodies
 

So Bill (WE3RX7) has been on me to make a build thread about my project so here we go. Bill I need some pictures of progress if you still have them lol

I bought the car in Feb. 08 for $1200 it was in pretty good shape no rust and 65k on her, and missing the LE wheels. Latter on Brian (Bigpimpin) hooked me up with a RB intake/Holley and header so I started to tear into it In process of that I also picked up and new ACT HD street/strip clutch from ebay and a techna fit braided clutch line. I had issues with the tune and getting the omp set right and ruined at set of plugs and got pissed up. Not to mention I ended up having ignition issues and found a bad J109 :mad: So the LE sat for a while and I collect my thoughts on this, and it got the best of me I started to nit pick and tore the engine bay apart due to a stain left by a leaking windshield washer tank. So that's how it sat until just this week! I forgot to mention I got real lucky again and picked up a set of near mint LE wheels from Brian for a trade of GS cross wheels with fresh tires, but they were powder coated red :dunno:
So I moved the car from my parents house in BFE to my shop in Manassas, and decide to finish what I started 3 years ago.
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/100_0425.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/100_0428.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/100_0435.jpg

So some of the pictures are going to be out of order, I have a few on my laptop and bill has a few and the rest I have to dig of my old hard drive.
Stock and very dirty
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My bad idea that turned into a 3 years of doing nothing
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WTF was I thinking????

Holy crap you made a build thread... its a bit out of order for timeline though, lol..

I will have to dig up some older photos for you.

Here's the most recent stuff I took when painting the engine bay yesterday.

http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_107.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_109.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_111.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_113.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_114.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_116.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_118.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_119.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_120.jpg
http://www.findtuners.com/FCProject/IMAGE_121.jpg

Yea I know its a little out of order for a time line, but like I said a lot of the pictures of when I first bought the car are located on my old hard drive. I'm going to try and get it in order the best I can but cant make any promises! lol...

engine bay looks pretty nice there. how long did that take to do?

It was all done in stages but I would have to say 5 hours or so.. Lots of prep time about 20 min in painting lol

Restorations make me.... Frisky....

Not sure about Frisky? :dunno: But I didnt feel as excited as I figured I would be after layin a fresh coat of paint, more like damn all that for 20 min of spray time and now I got to put this shit all back together!!

Key point - put that shit back together :)

Next step... grab the engine and bring it up to the shop... get it cleaned up and lowered back in the hole.

Oh don't worry you will have almost as much build time on the LE as your FC when im done with you!! lol

I'd have to work on your LE for another 6 years to catch up, lol...

Now, get some more pics tomorrow when you get it all untaped and the front end back on her...

cool build

Thanks for the comments!! So I got the tape and plastic off need to get some pictures up. Got a question to all that have done a project like this before. Whats the best method of cleaning up all the hardware, I was thinking of just wire brushing them, but will that cause them to rust faster?? Im sure paint wouldnt stand up to tools tighting them back up.

^ new hardware really is the best way. I took a quick wire brush to mine, painted them and went from there. The paint didnt hold perfectly, but everything still looks good...

New pictures, almost time to put it back together!!
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/DSC00596.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/DSC00595.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/DSC00594.jpg
http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s...b/DSC00598.jpg

Looks pretty good to me.. Its always bad when you have fresh paint and 25+ year everything else. Its ok though. We'll get that engine cleaned up and back in the hole and it'll look nice again. The rest of the acc. should be flat blacked and polished... a good mixture will set it off.

When are you bringing the engine up to the shop?? Need to degrease that thing and get it lowered back in. Should take less time than painting the engine bay, lol...

Ah - need to clean out that bell housing and input shaft too...

Your wheels will probably take me another two weeks or so as well, but they should come out pretty good...

Bill, I hope it will happen in the next week or so..all that personal shit your aware of has just screwed everything up, and looks like we are going to put an app on that 3 story town house with the garage next week. So I think the LE should be back in Culpeper by 1st or 2nd week in Feb.

So just a little update, We got the keys to the new house today so the car will be coming home in the next week or two and I can get some more work and pictures up!

Congrats on the house. now get back to work.

BTW... my RX-8 made 194 rwhp at Dave's on sat.

Thats sweet Bill told me all about it! Now he is going to go after you, Bill doesnt like to be beat lol

On another note the LE will be home soon so if the weather holds off we should have a mini meet here at the new place.. I want to see your new 8!!!

I'll get some pics up - but the car did make it back to one320fc's home so hopefully more progress will start VERY soon...

I have already started but not on the car:( But I am working on the new work bench and got My mazda parking only sign, picture from deals gap 08, old license plate and some die cast rx7s!! The garage looks more like a garage now!! Will post some pics soon..

Lol... get that hood off and the hinges. We can paint them weekend after next if needed. Get the engine dropped in too!!

So here is a little update more so on the place most of the rebuild will take place! I'm pretty excited its my first garage so here are some pic of the LE in its new home!
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Also found out today a guy a few houses down has a turbo miata! Should be some good times this summer.. BBQs and cars!!

Should've sealed that floor, lol. Its gonna get messy in there over the next few weeks.

My phone is not playing well with me this evening, so no pics for you.

Garage looks good but it needs a little something. I think it needs some junk parts laying around, a garage isn't complete until its full of car parts and fluids everywhere.

It will look like that soon enough! I just have to do my best to keep lawn mower and other crap out of there and I will be doing good! The good thing is the wife says the garage is my domain and will respect it lol

Man - we worked on the car on Monday and still no updated pics??


Bah, I got some updates for you. Here are some teasers for you... and no, this isn't the garage warming gift, lol.

So far, I've got about 6 hours in just one wheel, although the next ones should take a lot less time now that I got a system that's efficient at removing powdercoat.

How they looked from the start. A nice powdercoat job, but just not the right color scheme:
http://www.findtuners.com/rx8/le_wheel1.jpg

Gray powdercoat removed and prepped for polish:
http://www.findtuners.com/rx8/le_wheel2.jpg

All washed up after 3 rounds of sanding/polishing:
http://www.findtuners.com/rx8/le_wheel3.jpg

Here you go, far from done. Needs some more work and of course repainting the centers, but it's getting there:
http://www.findtuners.com/rx8/le_wheel4.jpg

Hopefully this will provide some motivation for you! If you ever sell the car, I want these wheels back, lol - my fingers are worn!!

Bill, Thank you so much!! that looks great I feel like I owe you big time for the work you put into those wheels.... Now I cant wait to see what they look like with fresh black powder coat on the mesh!!!

Black?? I thought you were going silver/aluminum look. The black will make 'em look like the old enkei's...

Lookin good. You guys seem to do a bit of repair. Think you could swing by my thread and see what you think of my latest dilemma? Sorry to get off topic.

Yea im going to stick with the silver I think! lol Black with that hand polished lip looks so sexy though!!!!

Hmm thats a toss up. If the car is going to stay silver I would lean towards the black to offset it but the silver/aluminum look would be sex also.

So this car only has 63k miles and was a complete virgin when I got her or so I thought!! Bill yes I was working on the car today! lol I was working on the wiring harness and found some things that raise question...
This is part of the body harness
Attachment 9780
Lots of cut wires :uhh:

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I wouldn't worry about them it looks factory they prob went to the other markets like I was talking to you about ( headlight squirters/ marker lights ) if everything is working and nothing missing they shouldn't hurt anything to leave them in place or remove neatly but leave access to them just in case

2gslse - just noticed you had to put your WHP number in your signature... bastard.


Chris - we can test the wires and trace 'em back to figure out what they are. As MC said, they probably aren't important since the car was running fine without them before.

Yea i'm not to worried about it anymore! I picked out my tires for when Bill finishs the polish job. Genral Altimax HP 195/60R14. Good reviews and price, my moms got a set on here 07 Mazda 3s and they do a great job wet/dry!!

OK so not really an update to this project but I need some advice/ideas...The LE project wont be a bank breaker but I really want to pep up the ol 12A,till some day a swap or turbo are things I can afford!
So exhaust is easy my question is fuel, I already have a carter FP and have a Holley 465cfm carb but no manifold for it. I also have a Dellorto DLHA 48 w/ upper manifold but no lower. I know the Holley is 465cfm and from what I can find the Dell is 400ish? whats more suitable for a stock port 12A? Just the cost of new parts wants me to go with the Dellorto but is it the right choice? Thanks!!

Dellorto:
LIM $190.00
Rebuild kit $ 37.95
Air Cleaner $ 39.95
Total: $267.90+s/h

Holley:
LIM $285.00
Bracket $ 22.00
Rebuild kit $ 25.00
Air Cleaner$ 60.00
Total: $392.00+s/h

I'm there with you on the budget build. Except we are building ours a little out of sequence! I'm doing paint last!

I had a Weber 45 DCOE sidedraft with the RB intake manifolds that was going to go on it, but I swapped with a local guy for the Holley kit instead. 4 barrels offer a little better driveability from what I hear. jfaplanet has the Dellorto 48 on his REPU and it works well with his set up. Most guys around here run the Holley kits, so that is why I am going that route. Don't forget that with the Dell, you also need an upper manifold.

Which Carter pump did you get? You will also need a regulator for either carb you pick.

Are you going to DGRR with this? We can compare once we are there :)