by "Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
Published 02/01/2017 at 09:34
by "Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
Published 02/01/2017 at 09:34
Tags: Project Cars
STARS: 4
I would like to relay an important message to my fellow enthusiasts. Don’t be like me. I’d like to think I’m a cool guy, but in reality, I have committed horrible crimes against my beloved enthusiast car. In 2004 I bought a 1991 Mazda RX-7 Turbo to replace my previous RX-7 (which was near perfect and stolen by people that I dislike more than cockroaches). It was a little rough around the edges, but it was a bit of a rare breed as one of the last single-turbo rotaries from Mazda. I daily drove it for a few years until one of the oil cooler lines started leaking. I bought a new daily driver and came up with the idea that the FC needed some love. It was in need of paint and body work and a new interior. I thought I could do the work myself and very quickly. Please, stop laughing.
We’ve all heard this story countless times, so we know where present day brings us. I have a non-running, interior-less RX-7 that has lived in my garage for over seven years. Seven. Years. Sure, I think I have somewhat valid reasons for its non-complete status. Unbeknownst to me (and her), my wife was pregnant with our first child the day I started the project. A couple years later and along comes child number two. Throw in a career change and it’s no wonder the car lived on jack stands without its rear sub-frame for over a year at one point. Every “deadline” has completely passed. But, I’m totally going to finish this year.
I leave you with a picture of the car on the day I started (it looks better than it really was, I promise) and a picture of the car taken at the end of last summer.
"StoneCold" (StoneCold)
02/01/2017 at 09:41, STARS: 2
Your pain, I know it so!!
"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
02/01/2017 at 09:45, STARS: 1
I tried to do that with a 1972 240z. I gave up and gave the car to my dad for parts.
TURBO II 4-LIFE.
"LightweightSasquatch" (lightweightsasquatch)
02/01/2017 at 09:52, STARS: 2
Don’t think of this as neglect, more as preservation!
Seriously tho, it is great to see people are trying to take car of these. Please keep us posted on any and all updates!
"TorqueToYield" (torquetoyield)
02/01/2017 at 10:16, STARS: 1
At least you saved it from some flat brimmed vape loving dude-bro who would have turned it into a “sick rat-rod drift missle brah”.
Unless you are a flat brimmed vape loving dude bro and have those plans...Hmmm...
"HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles" (hondasfordsvolvo)
02/01/2017 at 10:16, STARS: 0
You have succeeded in making it look more like a red squadron X wing. So that’s cool.
Also a few years ago it took me 5 months to replace 4 brakelines, and do a timing belt change on my Galant. So don’t feel too bad.
"Nothing" (nothingatalluseful)
02/01/2017 at 10:27, STARS: 0
It looks like you have a great space to work on it. While my car was bought with the intent of being a project, I’m just now getting to the project part, instead of the replacing-things-that-break-thus-making-it-inoperable part.
"CobraJoe" (cobrajoe)
02/01/2017 at 10:45, STARS: 1
Every “deadline” has completely passed. But, I’m totally going to finish this year.
Don’t stress about it so much. It looks like you have a great setup for a project car. It’s in it’s own space, plenty of tools around, a lockable door, and a daily driver.
That all adds up to a project that you can just close the door on and leave it for a while, which is by far the least stressful way to work on a car.
Take your time, do your work to your own satisfaction, and most importantly, have fun while doing it. Getting stressed out over trying to complete it will only take the joy out of the completed project. (And I’m partially telling myself that advice as well, I just started a project that will probably take 5 years or so before I can drive it.)
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
02/01/2017 at 11:01, STARS: 0
I do not wear flat brims. And I most certainly do not vape. Plus, if that was the plan, I would have been done in a day after I welded the diff, brah. So, I guess I saved it.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
02/01/2017 at 11:02, STARS: 0
It’s preservation, but only if I finish!
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
02/01/2017 at 11:04, STARS: 0
I gave up on stressing over it a long time ago. I work on it when I can, and I do things the way I want them to be done. And hopefully, in the end, it turns out the way I have envisioned.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
02/01/2017 at 11:05, STARS: 0
Yeah, I’m lucky that I can keep it in my garage and not have to worry about it. If I get around to installing the garage door insulation I bought, summers may even be better with the door closed.
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
02/01/2017 at 11:07, STARS: 1
Once the oil cooler line started leaking, it sat for four months before I changed it. Even though I ordered the lines the day I noticed the leak. I think we are almost even.
"gawdzillla" (gawdzillla)
02/01/2017 at 11:09, STARS: 0
lol you tell me
I have a project thats sitting in the garage for 3 years+
i told myself i can finish this “engine swap” all by myself
the only thing that i actually completed was completely taking out all the interior and the wires......
"Jerry Harding" (jerrylh3)
02/01/2017 at 11:13, STARS: 1
Deconstruction is the best part! It’s so easy and you feel like you’ve accomplished so much. Then reality sets in.
"TheD0k_2many toys 2little time" (thed0ck)
02/01/2017 at 11:23, STARS: 0
aww man i have a black 91 FC.
non turbo car and i bought it after it sat for 10 years. Im engine swapping it though.
"ateamfan42" (ateamfan42)
02/01/2017 at 11:31, STARS: 0
That all adds up to a project that you can just close the door on and
leave it for a while, which is by far the least stressful way to work on
a car.
Very much this!
In the past, the majority of my car projects were performed at my parents’ place to take advantage of my dad’s shop. Encountering an unexpected broken part or other issue is kinda a big deal when your ability to go home again hinges on getting the car you are working on operational.
"CobraJoe" (cobrajoe)
02/01/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0
It’s even better on a car that never has to go back together. I’ve spent the last few months stripping a donor car of what I need, and it never needs to be reassembled. The excess parts are getting in the way now though...
"LightweightSasquatch" (lightweightsasquatch)
02/01/2017 at 12:13, STARS: 0
I have high hopes this car will carve roads again. Only truly devoted and crazy people don’t run away from the spinning triangles! So there is obviously a certain desire. Just work on it step by step and don’t think of the whole list...at least that is how I am keeping my project on some sort of course. As always browsing a bit of Oppo helps get me motivated to get out there and make progress happen no matter what challenge I have set up for the day!
Anyways best of luck! I will keep an eye out for any and all future updates.