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(38K) 609 x 439
Please ignore the primer... =)
It looks even better since the picture was taken, with the wider 205/60-13 Yokohama AVSi tires.
Still needs paint, though.
The fiberglass wing that I picked up at the wrecking yard for $20, along with a glass moonroff (also $20). I had to repair a crack, a hole, and a bunch of pinholes, but it came out pretty nice!
Also note high performance exhaust tips! :)
Close-up of my big-name performance exhaust... adds 10 HP!
Amazing what you do when you're bored...
I've upgraded to Big Red performance exhaust tips - they give me 20 HP (they're red, you see :) )
Photo taken by DFW-RX7 web-weenie Stephen E. at the ID Drag Wars at the Texas Motorplex 12/00. Also a good shot of my stainless-steel Mazda emblem.
The end result of lots of Castrol Super Clean, and even more elbow grease.
Note more-than-adequate battery cables.
Quite a bit of custom work involved here, see upgrades page for details.
More recently replaced with the following...
The new aluminum bezel, before the gauges were installed. This piece was cut on an Omax waterjet machining center, after many trial fittings with chip-board.
The finished product, including my Autometer Ultra Lite gauges. It all fits with a bit of trimming of the metal structure behind the bezel.
This doesn't look unusual, unless you're familiar with 79-80 RX-7s. That's an '81 gauge cluster. Gets you an oil pressure gauge, and a separate volts meter. Required a bit of wiring harness adaption, but no biggie. How-to on the Modifications page.
These jewels were also machined on the Omax. Kinda wish I'd have put "Mazda RX-7" on them rather than the double "Mazda". Oh, well.
With grille. Looks like it's time to re-upholster both the grille and the pod...
Details of how I built the pod are on my Modifications page.
This is a Boss 8" coaxial speaker that I threw in to fill the hole in the rear deck (79-80 have no storage boxes). They were cheap, and they work, even after several years in there!
Eeeew! This is how the rearend looked after it came out from under the '82 GSL it was living in. Got excited and started on one of the rotors before I remembered to take a picture...
It cleaned up really nicely. I didn't paint the housing - that's how it came out!
I just painted the calipers, rotors, and brackets, cleaned the housing, and put in new gaskets and seals
All cleaned and painted, waiting for the Tokico strut inserts. The strut housings cleaned up that well, I didn't paint them. The calipers are painted with Testor's Enamel (the kind in the 1/4 oz. bottles). It's lasted well over a year, so far!
My new, used engine. It's an 80 model, so it should be more friendly in my '79 than the '81 engine now in there. The differences between 79-80 and 81-up are small, but significant.
My new, used engine. It's an 80 model, so it should be more friendly in my '79 than the '81 engine now in there. The differences between 79-80 and 81-up are small, but significant.
A little degreaer made a big difference in how this little puppy looked. I've since painted the irons metallic black, along with most of the brackets and etcetera.
This would be the brackets and etcetera.
I'll actually be using a second-gen water neck, since they have provisions for a water temp sender. Problem is, the neck hits the air filter housing snorkel. Guess the snorkel will have to go!
A paint job I'm contemplating. probably when it becomes primarily a race car...
These are early '80s 626 Turbo 15x6-inch wheels. They have the right bolt pattern and offset for a GSL-SE.
These wheels had peeling and flaking clear coat; this is after the clear coat was removed using aircraft stripper. They're now ready for polishing.
This is the worst wheel of the bunch. the white spots are where the clear coat flaked off, and oxidation of the aluminum set in. It'll have to be sanded smooth before polishing.
This is one of the wheels after a little work - pretty good. This is after a little 600-grit sanding; it still needs some 1000, then hit with a polisher.