In 98 I bought my 88 T II from my uncle who originally purchased it from the first owner who lived in Canada. My uncle did not treat the car very well and let the turbo blow. After that, all he did was keep adding oil for several months before parking it. :P When I purchased it, I had the turbo rebuilt and had everything else checked and was told the engine looked ok. I also had the ECU replaced as the horn and wipers didn't work. After 11 months, it died on me for the last time. That was in 99.



Now I want to restore the vehicle from the ground up. I know I need to get a shop manual, and that will be my first purchase. My question is, where should I begin. Should I strip the interior or the exterior first. This will be a unibody up restoration. I will be having it painted a different color as well as changing out the interior and tail lamps. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.



L8r

How many miles are on this car?

its a huge job. basically pull everything out and have the body repainted. replace/replate/powder coat as needed



plan to spend a couple years, and about $12,000-$25,000 to do it right (concours, back to stock)



take a lot of pictures so you can put it back together correctly.

Yeah takes a long time..

i'd get the motor running right and everything functioning properly b4 you start strippin it down. that way you dont have to worry about it puttin it back together and it not workin. that way, all you have to do is rewire it. if i keep my T2 and get a base to swap the motor n trans into(T2 body shot), im gonna get it all running right first so i know if somethin f's up when i get ready to start it, i just check my wiring, not my motor n ****.

Currently the vehicle has about 60,000 km which I believe is around 40,000 m. It is a low milage car. It just wasn't treated like it was supposed to. Most everything is in good shape except the paint and the door and window seals are gone from sitting in a San Antonio storage lot for 3 years. The engine and transmission are definately gone and there is some very minor body damage. This was my "bachelor" car. By the time I get this thing rebuilt, I'll be ready for my RX - 7 year itch. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/wink.png Appreciate the input gentleman.



L8r

if you were able to work on it 8 hours a day 5 days a week without ever having to wait for parts, or plating or paint then it could prolly be done in a few weeks.



it takes so long because real life intervienes, you will be waiting for parts, paint and plating, you cant work on it full time either its hard to stay motivated stuff like that

How about a 20b swap?

Mmmmm 20B https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...DIR#>/cool.png

Just replace interior parts that are worn, and have the body resanded and repainted.

i hate to say it- but if you have to ask where to start

then maybe a total restoration isnt for you.



Dont get too ahead of yourself where you misplace parts and

forget where everything goes. I see lots of "shells" for sale,

cars taken compleatly apart for paint, then never finished

Well, after spending 2 summers working with a neighbor in his classic thunderbird restoration shop, I think I can handle the organizational part. I've bought shelves, bins and I will be building a workbench. I also own a labeler and a camera. The problem is, I have never taken on such a technically challenging project such as the RX-7. I was just wondering if in anybodies experience, or if you were to pick up the gauntlet so to speak, what would you do? At this point however, I've already decided on stripping the interior first. That to me seems the easiest to do and as I go I will start a parts list of things I need to get later for replacements or whatever. I will also probably start documenting each step of the process. Maybe, if i have the time, start up a web site. Of course, I could be dreaming and just need a good punch in the face. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...1047683431.gif

the mazda is nice because you can take apart big subassemblies and do those seperately. for example the dash can come out complete, you can drop the front subframe with the engine still on it, etc etc.



unlike some other cars, you can break down an fc into smaller chunks. its actually an easy car