I'm looking for several things, now that I'm back to wrenching on the RX-2, and I imagine that others need the same stuff.



Windshield

Defroster Vents

Stainless Polishing and Chrome

Ball Joints, Tie Rods, etc...

Suspension Bushings

Shocks and Struts

Carpet and Upholstery

Wiring (EZ Wiring vs American Autowire vs ?????)

Dash Recovering





If y'all have tackled any of the above, please add to the list. Let's build a happy-experience vendor list for some of this old resto hardware.

Alot of the ball joints, bushings and such for the REPU I have been able to find at places like Autozone. May be worth checking for the RX2

for the windsheilds call chriss @ground zero motorsports, he's got a line on em.

for the windsheild moulding, maybe a bmw one would work? they used that style of window well into the 90's



toms right about the bushing, might wanna check mazda as well, they have some too



shocks and struts are easy, in the front i think you can use SA or FB inserts shimmed to fit (rx2/3 is like SA but longer, FB is a little shorter than the SA)



rear shocks are easy, you need the measurements, i understand either FD or miata struts work... miata is a little short.



carpet and upolstery might be best done locally, i know we've got several nice upolstery shops in the area here

Stating the obvious: don't buy a rusty, damaged, or incomplete car. While this is good advise even on cars where parts are readily available (Chevy, Ford, Porsche, etc.), it is even more important on cars where parts are basically non-existent as potential restoration costs would exceed what the car is worth when done.



If a super nice RX-2 Coupe were worth $35-50K, collecting parts along the way would make sense. But they aren't. Although I have seen a super clean, 10K mile RX-2 Coupe (albeit with automatic) which the owner valued at $25K, my personal, professional opinion is that $10K - $15K is top notch money for a correct car, with correct twin-dizzy, correct paint, paint label, headliner, rubber mat and all 3 cardboard covers in trunk. How many of those exist?



Everything with modification, especially modification not generally appreciated, will be worth considerably less. Best, recent example is the RX-2 that just ended on eBay at $6,6K, reserve not met. Although the interior is original and the car looked reasonably clean, it was lacking the side moldings, the trunk stuff, had been fitted with an incorrect engine and painted in clown clolors (yikes!).



That said . . . most parts you will need you will find via eBay by being patient. Finding the rocker moldings will be pretty much impossible; same applies for the hood chrome, the trunk rubber and cardboards. Non-rusted hoods are hard to come by as well.



If you want to go stock, there's a guy on eBay selling NOS Monroe shock inserts for $80 a pair. Go for it! If you want gas shocks, buy them from Australia. Rubber . . . Australia. Suspension parts . . . Australia. Correct headliner . . . from SMS in Oregon. Everything else . . . be patient. A good upholstery shop should be able to duplicate the seat upholstery. You can go custom, and again decrease your car's value. Go stock wherever you can, with the single exception of generally accepted "upgrades" in the brake and supension department. Never change the color of a car, never paint the engine compartment black, never throw away any twin-dizzy stuff or anything you think is only "okay" because . . . it might be worth gold to somebody who's missing that very part.

Beware of the Aussie Suspension parts.

The idler and pitman arms will not work



I had to have mine done by :Rare Parts



Car rides like its on rails

Well, I've got a cracked windshield and was working on a run of them from Iowa Glass, later Vintage Auto Glass. I've got my stainless and chrome, but just didn't know where to send it off. I don't have an incomplete car, it's just that it's blown apart into hundreds of pieces, so this is the best time to address all this stuff.



Aussie parts weren't a big deal, except that the pittman arm is different on the Aus vs. US cars. Because of the taper, they only go on one way, and the steering stop is backwards on the Aus part. I bought rubber door seals and bushings from Scott's Old Auto Rubber, but would like to make a list of good vendors for guys that might grab that next barn find.



BTW, I got a followup email from the guy with the RX-2 that just closed, and he's relisted with a buy-it-now of 6k. No bidding, no reserve.

Lots of old school stuff at http://www.rockauto.com/



Got RX-4 and Cosmo ball joints and tie rods from them. Looks like they have them for RX-2 also.



www.classicgarage.com has struts and shocks for some old school.

Thanks for the links. Those are a big help.

Following that thought process then the majority of these cars would be crushed. Most of us enjoy the process of looking for parts and part sources to put them back together.



Yes, I do realize this is an old thread https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.gif





-billy