adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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I'm absolutely jealous of your mostly working on the road Rx7! Work on mine has ground to a halt while I get the carcass of the other one stripped, and with the lovely weather we've been having, progress on that is very slow indeed! Haha its a blessing and a curse! Salt is a constant worry but I'm trying to wash it as often as I can, its also very lively on the rear end when the road is a bit slick and the turbo gets going... which is fun, but you also have to have your wits about you haha Can't say I'm particularly enjoying the 200-250ish miles between fill ups though..
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Dec 16, 2017 17:24:54 GMT
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Some snow fell. While not being entirely suited to snowy conditions, the 7 carried on performing fine It was amusing to see/hear the reactions of two passers-by as I was clearing snow off it on the worst day, "surely you're not going out in THAT are you??" Had some interesting sideways moments but the car is still all in one piece Some progress has been made on wheels I don't have a great track record with getting wheels fitted to cars particularly quickly so its nice to finally have tyres on these.. I'm going to combine fitting them with fitting the coilovers which are also sat in my living room currently, I'm also tempted to clean each inner arch as I go and apply some POR15 to the metal to keep away rust, but I'm not sure if black inner arches would look a bit dodgy I suppose I could always go over it with some red later on anyway?
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Dec 20, 2017 23:14:01 GMT
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Right, I should be waiting until I've cleaned the car and got some nice pictures of it in full daylight, but I'm going to do the update now as its been the best part of a year in the making! It was back in February when I bought these But finally, they are on the car! I first had a go at fitting them the other day but hit a bit of a snag, the recesses in the wheels for the wheel nuts are very deep and the nutts that came with the spacers I'm using are designed for a 19mm socket, which didn't fit. So onto Driftworks and quickly ordered up a set of 17mm Tuner nuts. The nuts arrived today and it all went really smoothly, 20mm bolt on spacers went on all round and then the wheels themselves went on fine and the fitment is looking pretty bang on with no clearance issues! For those interested in stats, I've gone from the standard 15x6.5 et40 BBS to staggered 17x7.5/ 17x8 both et25(including spacers) Centre caps are due to go on, I kinda want to find a tool to make sure I get them tightened up fully as I'm paranoid about one flying off. Annoyingly RAYS used a different size centre nut to both the types of BBS I have (BMW and Mazda), I think its about a 60mm nut from memory. Aside from the aesthetic advantages of changing the wheels, it seems there was a practical aspect as well. Namely the tyres on the BBS were not in a great way! The rears are both down to the wear blocks and the fronts are showing signs of sidewall cracking, and the drivers side had a worn inner shoulder (full alignment will be getting sorted after coilovers) And speaking of coilovers, the fronts were both looking decidedly 'misted' with oil residue so I think they're as good as blown. I'll be taking advantage of visiting some relatives for christmas soon to borrow their driveway to swap to the HSD's which I'm hoping will transform the driving experience of the car!
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Looks good man!
And don't worry about the arches being black, it just means that you've looked after the car properly.
P.s. Does this mean you may want to part with the BBS's?
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luckyseven
Posted a lot
Owning sneering dismissive pedantry since 1970
Posts: 3,839
Club RR Member Number: 45
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Those Rays centre nut spanners are like unicorn nobs or whatever the cliche is. Never found one at a price I was willing to pay. I've got a BBS one that's "close enough" for them... or was on the Rays I had on my old Rex. Not sure what size it is off the top of my head though
IIRC TSW used to do one back in the days of legends like Venoms and whatnot. Might be easier to track down than a Volks one. Still dunno if the right size though. Or maybe Lenso?
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Dec 21, 2017 14:00:40 GMT
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Looks good man! And don't worry about the arches being black, it just means that you've looked after the car properly. P.s. Does this mean you may want to part with the BBS's? Cheers bud, you're not wrong, black will look better than rust in any case I suppose! Yeah I was going to have a look at cleaning up the BBS a bit to either keep as spares or sell on, but in reality it would be good to get them moved on quickly as I don't like to have too much car stuff cluttering up the place! If you're interested I'm sure we could work something out Those Rays centre nut spanners are like unicorn nobs or whatever the cliche is. Never found one at a price I was willing to pay. I've got a BBS one that's "close enough" for them... or was on the Rays I had on my old Rex. Not sure what size it is off the top of my head though IIRC TSW used to do one back in the days of legends like Venoms and whatnot. Might be easier to track down than a Volks one. Still dunno if the right size though. Or maybe Lenso? Yeah the originals look a right pain to get, to be honest I'd be happy with anything that fits haha. If I had access to a laser cutter or similar, I could make up some hex adapters to fit inside a bigger BBS nut spanner or something.. I'll have a google and a think
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,244
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Dec 21, 2017 19:20:33 GMT
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They look like they've always been there. Perfect.
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Dec 21, 2017 20:23:07 GMT
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Make a wrench out of some scrap wood or metal mate.
Simple butt jointed construction piece of wood/metal either side with an angled brace either end, it won't damage the cap and you'll get good leverage so it's on tight.
Hand tight would do (if you've got a decent grip), it's not the falling off whilst driving you need to worry about, it's leaving it in car parks where magpie knob jockeys will see them that you need to be mindful of mate.
As you'll know plates and caps are hard to get hold of now, I've had a few full sets and the same with the original plastic Rays wrenches, although it's handy/valuable to hold onto them, I think it's rude not to let the new owner have them tbh, especially with mesh design wheels, simple 5 spokes you can get away with (I actually think some look better without caps) but mesh wheels don't look as clean without them in my opinion.
CV pro's look nice in gold. Looks like you're turning it into a nice example.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,268
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Dec 22, 2017 10:07:05 GMT
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That's looking alot better!
You're a braver man than me for driving a J car in salty conditions mind you!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Dec 22, 2017 12:22:26 GMT
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They look like they've always been there. Perfect. Cheers Make a wrench out of some scrap wood or metal mate. Simple butt jointed construction piece of wood/metal either side with an angled brace either end, it won't damage the cap and you'll get good leverage so it's on tight. Hand tight would do (if you've got a decent grip), it's not the falling off whilst driving you need to worry about, it's leaving it in car parks where magpie knob jockeys will see them that you need to be mindful of mate. As you'll know plates and caps are hard to get hold of now, I've had a few full sets and the same with the original plastic Rays wrenches, although it's handy/valuable to hold onto them, I think it's rude not to let the new owner have them tbh, especially with mesh design wheels, simple 5 spokes you can get away with (I actually think some look better without caps) but mesh wheels don't look as clean without them in my opinion. CV pro's look nice in gold. Looks like you're turning it into a nice example. Thank you, good point about potential thieves nicking them, hadn't thought of that! I've got some ideas for knocking up a homemade wrench so I'll see what I can come up with That's looking alot better! You're a braver man than me for driving a J car in salty conditions mind you! Cheers, haha driven by necessity unfortunately! Although you have reminded me, while fitting the new wheels, I noticed some bubbles appearing on the sill in the paint (the fresh paint from the sill replacement recently) so I need to take it back to the bodyshop to see what they do about it, annoying but they did say that if there were any issues they would sort it so hopefully they will honour that!
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Dec 22, 2017 12:57:36 GMT
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I've always drove mine as daily's mate- GTO's, Fairlady's, Aristo's etc
I'm going to get my Pajero undersealed fully though, definitely worth doing when you drive them in all weathers.
It makes it harder/longer to sort jobs doesn't it, but still I think a cars made to be driven and enjoyed when possible, why not use it as a daily?!
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 16, 2018 23:09:18 GMT
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Lets have a quick update on the 7, its been continuing to provide sterling service as a daily driver, I recently updated my fuel receipts spreadsheet (I'm an engineer, don't judge me!) and worked out that its giving me about 20mpg. Which isn't particularly ideal but I'm putting up with it for the time being So, some bad news, while cleaning the car the other week I found these on my freshly painted rear arch leading edge The drivers side is better but still has a couple bubbles. I nipped back over to the bodyshop today and they're going to rectify it, will be going back in in a couple of weeks time. I made a start on doing a wheel centre nut tool, making it out of wood and using a spare BMW BBS centre nut tool as a guide to hold the wood in But I kinda messed up my measurements so its a bit of a bodge job at the moment... essentially the wood will fit inside the BMW tool (probably glued in place), then I'll drill/cut a pocket in the wood to fit the RAYS nut, so I'll have a tool I can use with a socket pretty easily. In happier news, I managed to get the 7 along to the Queen Square Breakfast Meet in Bristol this weekend just gone, wasn't cleaned up to show standard, but was the only FC there ;P And a bonus pic from my works car park the other day, red car/ gold wheel gang Once the car has been to the bodyshop (and assuming I get my 520i back working again) the 7 will be up for sale, so I'll be trying to use the next couple of weeks to sort as many of the niggly issues as I can as I know I'm likely to get knocked down on price anyway, it should give me something to write about here!
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,268
Club RR Member Number: 170
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I've always drove mine as daily's mate- GTO's, Fairlady's, Aristo's etc I'm going to get my Pajero undersealed fully though, definitely worth doing when you drive them in all weathers. It makes it harder/longer to sort jobs doesn't it, but still I think a cars made to be driven and enjoyed when possible, why not use it as a daily?! How many miles did you cover and what roads did you drive on? I know with my old tin if I did do it I was always welding up previously solid bits (albeit solid) and keeping on top of stonechip/salt that was bad. Anything I kept garaged over the year (my RST) or didn't keep for long was OK; My old MX-5 went from new sills to them being rotten again in three years for example despite the drain channels being clean ; I know of two others with the same issues at work. There is a chance I was unlucky but OTOH old stuff just wasn't rustproofed as well. It's one reason I'm trying not to drive the M3. the wings are going again after a year and at £700 for just the wings I know it's going to be expensive when the time comes . Secondhand rust free wings are hard to come by and generally expensive too (around £400ish). adam73bgt if you still need my INPA lead let me know.
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Last Edit: Jan 17, 2018 7:36:36 GMT by ChasR
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Jan 17, 2018 18:00:42 GMT
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I've covered thousands of miles a year in all my cars- motorways, b roads, a roads... everywhere...
Stones chips are inevitable in certain conditions admittedly but I've ever had anything that made me want to cry. I would definitely baulk at the price of new M3 wings though and can understand why you're trying to protect your investment.
I've never had to have any of my cars welded underneath although some have had the obligatory rust spot/imperfection, I drive good solid examples not pristine- however I think most of todays advertisers would definitely describe them as "minters" tbh.
The only thing I've ever had to weld that was down to rust was the rear inner arch on my Aristo due to a design fault where the shocks have a rigid bracket bolted to the metal. Dirt builds up in this area behind the shock and when I fitted some BC's undoing it left a hole... My second Aristo did have rusty front and rear passenger arches though, they didn't get any worse in my ownership but it really did let the car down because otherwise it was a excellent example with a genuine 45k 2JZ and had k's spent on genuine new parts.
The only spot of rust I had on my MK2 GTO was just above the petrol cap randomly/annoyingly and my 300ZX had zero sill/rear arch rust even though I used it everyday through pretty much 2 winters- pretty much most z32's suffer from this.
My way of thinking is if a car is prone to rust there's always going to be (potential) issues but that's the nature of the game buying an older car you like, I'd much rather drive my cars mate, I used to drive new daily's but then thought why am I doing that when I can be driving something cool/older that I WANT to drive everyday?
If I had more room I probably would keep a few more as investments, which wouldn't be driven as much but unless you're intending on making/keeping it immaculate for profit/shows I'd rather spend my money on something that I can use and still not lose money by letting it deteriorate than buy an expensive ornament but the my priorities and mind set have changed over the years.
I'd prefer to see cool retro's on the road than the millions of cloned bubble sheep we see today, I'm definitely not anti modern by any means and there's tons of newer (exotic/sports) cars I'd own but the average car has no character or even real value in my eyes and is a poor investment.
FWIW To keep on top during bad weather I always get the jet wash out, blast all the curse word and road salt off. Its well worth undersealing and protecting inside the arches.
Paint and surface spots/imperfections can always be corrected mate and I've found in life that unless something has never been used/loved then it's never perfect anyway and you waste a lot of time fretting rather than enjoying in my opinion.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Jan 17, 2018 19:25:45 GMT
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Cheers ChasR I'll keep that in mind about the lead, I actually ended up biting the bullet and ordering a crank sensor in the sales over christmas so its just a case of fitting it now and hoping that was what was up with the 5. Need to muster the motivation to go and fit it!
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,325
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Rex is looking great, but that Micra properly floats my boat, just like my first one.
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300 EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,244
Club RR Member Number: 146
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It's a shame you're selling it (because I can't buy it), but hopefully it'll fly away for your asking price given how good it looks.
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Cheers vulgalour I'm hoping it will be a relatively hassle free sale but I know that these things aren't necessarily the easiest cars to sell, the engine puts a lot of people off, of the three generations of RX7's the FC is probably the least favoured and of the FC's most people seem to want a coupe! But I will be genuinely sad to see it go, owning a rotary has been a big tick on the automotive bucket list for me, and despite what many may think, I've really got a soft spot for the FC. I'm the same with the Mk3 Supra over the Mk4 as well (which I was looking for when I bought this) I think its the more angular lines, and the overlooked/underdog status they have compared to the FD RX7 and Mk4 Supra (largely thanks to the Fast and Furious). I just hope I can find someone to buy it who'll put that little bit of time and money in to make it a real show stopper, its annoying because its not really that far out of reach! With the new coilovers on and a touch of paint here and there, it would be a truly cracking thing
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adam73bgt
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,949
Club RR Member Number: 58
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Mar 10, 2018 15:58:43 GMT
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Heh, over a month later and no sale as yet, the joys of trying to sell a convertible with a scary engine, in the midst of a winter that just won't seem to go away! In the meantime I've just had it doing the daily duties as per usual. Even in the face of the 'Beast from the East' Rear end grip was becoming an issue, something I initially put down to the Toyo T1-R's not exactly fitting into the category of a 'winter tyre', but on closer inspection today I found it was probably down to this.. Woops! The net result of the odd slide/wheelspin here and there.. They'll be getting swapped out on Monday. In using the car, I've come to notice that the wheel bearing noise certainly isn't getting any better so rather than risk it being used as a tool for someone to batter me on price, its going in for a new bearing (or maybe two) in about a week's time. Also came across this pic from a week or two ago, impromptu Mazda convertible meet in the work car park There does seem to be a little more interest in the 7 now that the snow has gone again and I've offered it at a lower price with some of the mods removed, so with any luck, the next update should be a sale!
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