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Restomod Rx2


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Test fitted the front coilovers and brakes today. All very straightforward, although the wheel is really close to the calliper...too close for comfort I reckon. "Mazda" is raised ~4mm so I'll need to have it machined or use a shim to space the wheel out a few mm.
 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Not much progress of late. Still waiting on a bit of fab work before it gets sent off for blasting, panel and paint.

Spent the morning sorting and boxing parts. Gave the inside a thorough cleaning, then test fitted the seats* and made broom broom noises. 

*Still deciding whether to have the seats re-padded (the trim itself is mint) or to get some retro buckets.

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  • 1 month later...

Not much progress of late. Still waiting on a bit of fab work before it gets sent off for blasting, panel and paint.

 

11 weeks and counting :angry:

Anyhoo, I have found some seats that I really like and match the original trim nicely: http://shop.bf-torino.com/bf-autositze/nurburgring/nurburgring-b16-leatherette-black.html – just waiting to hear back from Phil in Melbourne re pricing and availability. They supply rails and have adaptors for a lot of European cars, but of course not the Mazda.

Did quite a bit of research over the weekend and came up with a solution which I think will work and have shot my engineer an email, but thought I’d ask the peanut gallery brains trust anyway.

So using their rails, which are narrower than standard, I propose to have adaptors made using 5mm steel plate. These plates would bolt to the standard mounts, and in turn the rails would sit on top of the plates. I mocked it up in cardboard, and have included a cross brace (optional, pending engineer’s advice) spanning the rear seat mounts.

What do youse reckon?


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Not much progress of late. Still waiting on a bit of fab work before it gets sent off for blasting, panel and paint.

Progress!!! 

I will be installing the diff on Saturday. I'm off to the US next week, but at least it'll be ready to go to blasting when I get back in early June :D

 

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11 weeks and counting :angry:

Anyhoo, I have found some seats that I really like and match the original trim nicely: http://shop.bf-torino.com/bf-autositze/nurburgring/nurburgring-b16-leatherette-black.html – just waiting to hear back from Phil in Melbourne re pricing and availability. They supply rails and have adaptors for a lot of European cars, but of course not the Mazda.

Did quite a bit of research over the weekend and came up with a solution which I think will work and have shot my engineer an email, but thought I’d ask the peanut gallery brains trust anyway.

So using their rails, which are narrower than standard, I propose to have adaptors made using 5mm steel plate. These plates would bolt to the standard mounts, and in turn the rails would sit on top of the plates. I mocked it up in cardboard, and have included a cross brace (optional, pending engineer’s advice) spanning the rear seat mounts.

What do youse reckon?


rx2%20seat%20mounts.jpg

20170501_091907.jpg

I can't see why the engineer would have too much issue with that, although I don't think the optional brace is 'optional' It is a must. Only upgrade I would see would be making the brace out of angle iron as when you take off hard it could flex/bend. 

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Wow, that brings back some memories, I've had a long love affair with old rotaries, back when they were cheap hot rods, and before the EFI age and hot pink / purple paint, parachutes and what not

ive had just about every iteration, but my fav was the RX2 coupe, purchased for a cool $1200, I was 17 and even had hair...

Rx2 coupe

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I can't see why the engineer would have too much issue with that, although I don't think the optional brace is 'optional' It is a must. Only upgrade I would see would be making the brace out of angle iron as when you take off hard it could flex/bend. 

Thanks Jeff, I appreciate the input - I had the brace as optional as I really have no idea how much 5mm steel is prone to flex. Based on the fact that the rails sit 100mm inboard from the innermost point of the standard mount, I assume there would be at least some. 

 

Wow, that brings back some memories, I've had a long love affair with old rotaries, back when they were cheap hot rods, and before the EFI age and hot pink / purple paint, parachutes and what not

ive had just about every iteration, but my fav was the RX2 coupe, purchased for a cool $1200, I was 17 and even had hair...

$1200...I wish!

 

In other news, I've chosen a colour!

Sonic Silver Metallic as found on the current Mazda 6. It's lighter than it appears in the brochure - closer to Lexus Premium Silver:

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Wow, that brings back some memories, I've had a long love affair with old rotaries, back when they were cheap hot rods, and before the EFI age and hot pink / purple paint, parachutes and what not

ive had just about every iteration, but my fav was the RX2 coupe, purchased for a cool $1200, I was 17 and even had hair...

Rx2 coupe

and an RX4 in the driveway?

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and an RX4 in the driveway?

Yeah that was my Dad's 929 Auto, tan trim, it replaced his Mazda 808 1.3 4cyl Auto 4 door (red with black trim)......we had a few Mazda's over the years....My Dad now sports a Mazda SP20, he's never owned another brand...LOL

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Diff is in finally :D

Hit a snag though - the size, offset and dish of the rims, combined with the size of the caliper, I can't get the car any lower without the brakes (external handbrake mech) hitting the panhard mount. So it's off to the fabricator again once i get back from the US to have the mount moved inboard 100mm and the panhard rod modified. It needs to be shortened, have a kink put in it to clear the diff housing, and an adjuster added to fine tune the length.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Well I was hoping to go straight from fab to blasting, but the blaster wasn't ready, so it's home for a couple of weeks.

Anyway the fabricator did a nice job boxing the chassis rails, relocating the panhard rod mount onboard and backwards, reinforcing the four-link mounts, trimming a few bits in the wheel wells and redesigning the side intrusion bars. The trailing and panhard rods were all adjusted, so the car now sits lower, while the diff remains centred and pinion angle correct.

Probably about time I updated the thread title too, have gone well past the point of being considered a restomod :lol:

 


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Amazing how the rx2 coupe shape just looks good in primer grey without windows.

 

i feel bad,  I personally witnessed the destruction of three rx2s (2 sedans, 1 coupe) and 1 rx4 coupe.

None were actually that bad, but it was uneconomic to fix even a mild shunt then.

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Series 2 Rx7s are the pick of the bunch when it comes to bang for your buck. 

That was my first REAL sports car back when I was 17, an S2 RX7 12a. 

Man it was fun, it wasn't until I got my first GT3 that I saw an 8000 RPM tacho again, and the motor actually went there! :lol: 

I lust after a 20B cosmo these days...

 

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