The 1972 Mazda Rx2.Time to get going

No pressure with the reptile then! your names going to be mud if anything happens!

I get these blighters making me jump as i'm out for a stroll. 

apparently somewhere this thread has something to do with a rotary engine...  stumbled on this on youtube and it seemed...erm...shiney! 

Maybe of intrest for you :

Works also over a wooden form.


Doesn't go as fast as your huge machine

Made some good progress on the two over the weekend. Cleaned up all the front scuttle panels/ bits that I have. They are going for 3D scanning this week,if I get a chance to get out the workshop.

It might seem a bit like I am jumping all over the place for awhile, bear with me. It’s at the stage where I need to spend a fair chunk of money to proceed. There is more chunk than money 🤣. So, it’s a case of prioritising. Bang for the buck. What’s going to keep me busy for longer. So, whilst the bootfloor is nearly ready to get going on,it’s going to have to wait a bit. I still need to finalise some of the drawings, but,it’s not far off. I have decided instead of getting going on that,I would be better off getting the scuttle panel 3D scanned. Also not a cheap exercise,but,once I have that done,sorting that all out in CAD, designing the press tools to make it,etc,will keep me busy for quite some time. It is also something I can do from the comfort of my nice warm study at home 🤣🤣

Moving on,to  the front inner fenders. I have both of these new old stock,one from Holland and one I bought in the States. Neither have the chassis leg,that’s a separate part. So,I pulled out the donor Inner fenders that will donate the chassis  legs.
These I cut out of a car  in South Africa and shipped them back. I slapped them full of red oxide before shipping them. They are not the greatest as inner fenders,full of pinholes along the line of spotwelds on the outside,but the chassis legs don’t look  bad.The joys of unsalted roads 😊 The one also is a bit crumpled on the top,previous accident damage by the looks of it.  So, out with the angle grinder. ...

Got to love that angle grinder. Proper piece of kit 1700w makes it considerably more powerful than your average little Makita or Bosch jobby,that generally are all sub 750w. It runs a 125mm disc,with speed control. The blade never bogs,the harder you push,the harder it goes. Because the cutting disc is running at optimal speed all the time, they last considerably longer. It’s also got a soft start,starts spinning slowly and ramps up to speed,brilliant for starting a cut. Also,I battled to find one in the U.K.,but that handle is available in Europe. It’s more akin to using a bonsai 9” grinder,you can really get hold of it. Not everybody’s cup of tea,but the more I use it,the more I smile


It made short work of trimming the panels up,and I was left with the two chassis legs I want to use

Looked up that fein grinder, seems a very capable piece of kit. Certainly not the sort you throw away instead of changing the bushings in anyways.

Swopped the cutting disc for a wire wheel. Turned the speed down to one.

Made short work of exposing the spotwelds. Great being able to turn the wick down on the grinder,especially with a wire wheel. So much more controllable and you don’t limp away looking like a voodoo doll/ acupuncture model / metal hedgehog full of  wire 


Then, new weapon of mass destruction, a belt sander. Prefer this over spot drills for getting rid of welds when you want to save one part and sacrifice the other bit welded to it. 

Seems they do like to rust, and given the work needed to repair properly I guess it's no surprise so many succumbed to the chicken wire & isopon treatment...

🤣🤣🤣