My nightmare... errr restoration thread.

[Wedg1e]

grahamw48 said:

I think you meant 204 @ the wheels Ian ?

Doh! Yes of course. Blame the 7.5 hour drive up from Portsmouth.

[Brap_Brap]

adam quantrill said:

But at that altitude/loss of air it's screaming out for a supercharger!!! Next project perhaps...

Or a 50 shot of laughing gas...

For the few and far between times I need extra power I don`t think a 50 shot of NOS would put too much strain on the internals.

[Brap_Brap]

Ripped the boot carpet out this weekend. It stunk to high hell with mould and mildew.

When I started back working on the car this past spring there was a lot of stagnant water
in the spare tyre recess that made the carpet underlay putrid.

Also, a mouse or mice had been living in the boot stting all over the place and shredding things
to build a digusting debris and hairball nest.

I ripped out everything, got as much underlay out as I could. It's glued down pretty good.
After that I scubbed it out with pinesol, water and a hard bristle brush and it still stunk
pretty good. So this morning I bought some mould and mildew killer and applied it liberally.
After it dried I used up two cans Gravel Guard, a rubberized paint that dries like a membrane.

It smells a helluva lot better now.

Edited by Brap_Brap on Sunday 23 September 22:08

Edited by Brap_Brap on Sunday 23 September 22:13

[Brap_Brap]

I just inherited a decent amount of money and have decided not to worry too much about driving my car this autumn.
Instead I'm going to rent a heated garage over the winter and refurb all the leather, wood, veneers, carpets, hood and also get it resprayed. I'm not a guy who can do all of this myself, but I do plan on doing what I can to save money. I used to lay carpet and linoleum as a young man so I can do the carpets myself. I figure I can handle the body sanding prep work and just
let an autobody shop finish the rest. I can also remove and replace the leather bits to save money.

I would also like to get a full front/rear bushing kit and redo all the bushings. If new lower wishbones are available
I would also like to replace those as mine look pitted from rust. I would have them ceramic coated like my headers for a nice
look. New dampers front and back are also in the plan. I also wish to get a nice classy looking set of white faced gauges.

I'm also thinking about getting an Aluminium flywheel as well as custom made Aluminium half-shafts and the driveshaft.
Lighter rims and lower profile rubber is also something I'm considering.

I can't wait to see it in all its glory when it's done.

[Campbell]

That boot area looks a lot better since you have painted it.
Im not sure what you will gain with an alloy fly wheel except more chances to stall the engine when you try to get going , as for the drive shafts and prop shaft made in alloy that would be interesting, some one with more experience that me im sure will say the good points and bad points of the drive shafts made of alloy as since they are also the upper wishbone too, i would link they could be a little soft and not save to much weight, still would like to see this in practice and see how it would turn out.
Keep the updates coming on how your are getting on with the wedge...

Cambelt

[Brap_Brap]

Campbell said:

Im not sure what you will gain with an alloy fly wheel except more chances to stall the engine when you try to get going ,

I've already put two alloy flywheels in other cars, both low torque mazda rx-7's, and it makes a HUGE difference in the first 3 gears. I admit I do have to slip the clutch a tad more to get rolling, but once your foot gets used to a light touch it's no big deal. What I do find annoying is driving at a crawl as it gets very jerky with gear lash. Are the pros worth the cons? Absolutely! Given the fact my rover v8 makes far more torque than my mazda 13b engine, I don't think stalling it is very likely.

One single kilogram removed from the flywheel in first gear has the same effect of removing FOURTY kilograms off of the chassis.

(edit)

Campbell said:

as for the drive shafts and prop shaft made in alloy that would be interesting, some one with more experience that me im sure will say the good points and bad points of the drive shafts made of alloy as since they are also the upper wishbone too,

Remove the half-shafts and the wheels will fold in right? That's the hinge point. Tensile strength is not a factor and using aircraft grade Al tubing I'm not worried about compression either. Also, the half-shafts take less than half (parasitic losses in diff) the stress of the main shaft. The only remaining force to worry about is twisting, and good custom reliable Al shafts are made in the thousands...
(/edit)

Edited by Brap_Brap on Saturday 29th September 00:09

Edited by Brap_Brap on Saturday 29th September 00:10

[Brap_Brap]

A few years have passed and besides moth, rust, mildew and time, nothing has happened to my wedge since the EFI/Carb swap. Last weekend I pumped the tires up, turned the key and ripped up and down a dirt road for maybe three miles total. That was all it took to get bitten by the bug and get inspiration again to get it done.

Part of my quick burn.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BAKbXKuDZH4


At any rate, fun as that was I have work to do.

At a minimum to pass my insurance saftey (mot) it needs a 4 wheel alignment. New spax/koni shocks. A new speedo (have already). Also new bushes all around. There's also an electrical quirk or two.

Not too much if you ask me. Not easy either, but I think I can get it done this summer.

Updates to come.

Edited by Brap_Brap on Sunday 24th May 00:06

Edited by Brap_Brap on Sunday 24th May 00:08

[Leithen]

Holy restoration thread resurrection!

[mrzigazaga]

Sounds awesome to me...I love the way the wheels are spinning up in 2nd gear and then in 3rd you get some grip and then the tail starts to slide out..Very near a telegraph pole i might add...That was a bit scary..I nearly stove mine into a pub wall one afternoon pulling out a bit lively...

Its interesting what you say about the carbs..What do you have on there..Edlebrock intake manifold & Carbs...Are you using the standard jets or did you have to change them?..

[adam quantrill]

Nice vid - do I hear lots of stones hitting the insides of the wheelarch?

Yeah shame about the imageshack pics, what a bunch of tossers they are...

Glad you have the inspiration to finish her off.

[calgarytrainnut]

Mike,

Drop me a line if you need help. My stupid busy part of the year is over and I can spring some free time if you need a second set of hands now and then. About to start electrical on my car too (one of these days) as there are way too many extra wires and switches that do nothing apparent or noticeable. And tunes would be nice too.

Cheers!

Michael

[Grady]

On the tunes front, check out my thread on installing Miata type speakers, they fit in the OEM headrest. If you can't find the tread, I can update. Grady

[calgarytrainnut]

Thanks. I remember that one. Voraciously read through lot of threads after I bought my car. Been very helpful. Now it's upgrade and sorting time as it's working well. Also considering using the original speaker locations and moving the higher frequency up front in the doors and perhaps the mids. It's a Tiv so we're not talking concert series sound but we used an iPod and speaker tossed up by the clock powered by the cigar lighter for the Vancouver trip. It was decent and helped the miles go by. But I should get the radio working.

(Sorry Mike. We're hijacking your thread for a couple of messages...)

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.