This is a car that I have had a couple of years ,well more than a couple of years,that seemingly has stalled as a project. Well, to be perfectly honest,it hasn’t. It was always going to be a monumental rebuild as it’s pretty shagged. Chicken wire and silicon sealer are not ways to prolong the life of anything, let alone a a Japanese classic. A couple of photos to jog the memory. One of the car before I bought it,and the other one a random internet photo,this time of a two door coupe. Mine is an original U.K. registered car. There are less than 5 left in the U.K. ,including a couple of left hookers that a bloke brought in from a Holland a couple of years back.
What has been happening over the years,is I have been slowly amassing parts for the rebuild. I have had parts from Holland, Belgium, South Africa,France , Japan, United States,Malaysia,Australia and NewZealand. Even parts from unlikely places like Russia and Blandford Forum 🤣. One of the biggest problems I face ,is the rarity of the cars in the Uk. Probably the biggest issue is the scene tax parts attract. These cars are very sort after in Australia and New Zealand, and if you think a Ford scene tax is bad,you should try Mazda on for size . A rear quarter panel , new old stock ,will easily fetch £1000 in Australia. This unfortunately has had a very negative result for owners of cars in Europe, as 99% of the spares have all been shipped to Aus and unfortunately it’s not been for the love of Mazda, but rather the love of Coin.😡
I always maintained I would not start the restoration of this car until I had all the parts required,or,had a way to make the bits I need. Well, it’s nearly happening. 😊. There are two pieces of the puzzle left. The scuttle panel under the windscreen and the boot floor.
There is a bloke in Nz that does a boot floor. Not particularly well made,but seeing he’s the only one who makes them, fair play for him trying. He won’t, however ,be getting an order from me, any time soon, as they land up very overpriced for what they are ,especially by the time I have shipped it half way around the world.
The two bits I am going to concentrate making next
I wouldnt buy a car from myself...now theres a recommendation! To be honestly i rarely sell a car... if i have one less than 5 years ive barely got comfy in it.
So , with making the two panels I need, two very different approaches are going to be adopted. The windscreen scuttle panel will be done with a fairly standard Toolmaker kind of approach. A big press tool and press it into shape. There is a market for this scuttle panel as there is a built in water leak that rots the panel out. Worth spending the money and time to do it properly. Dug out the two I have today. One Left hand drive , one right hand drive .
For the bootfloor I am going to adopt a very unorthodox way of making it. Mainly for a laugh, but also just to prove what you can do with simple tools and a bit of lateral thinking. No cnc machining. No milling machine. Only hand tools the average DIYer would have, a computer with a drawing programme on it, again, easily accessible, and a tool you could probably buy, use and sell on, or rent from a tool hire place. Wish me luck....🤣
For the bootfloor I am going to adopt a very unorthodox way of making it. Mainly for a laugh, but also just to prove what you can do with simple tools and a bit of lateral thinking. No cnc machining. No milling machine. Only hand tools the average DIYer would have, a computer with a drawing programme on it, again, easily accessible, and a tool you could probably buy, use and sell on, or rent from a tool hire place. Wish me luck....🤣
Still struggling to picture this. Have you been on the business end of one of these before? They are a handful!!
Yep. Needs a bit of modification to suit my requirements. Reason it’s a handful is the angle of the foot. Straighten that out a bit and it shouldn’t be such a beast to control. Like a concrete power floating machine, there is a definite technique...😊
