Project Jay-Spec MX-326GS

[IMACHU2]

I don't know where you find the time, I'm a single parent and I can't seem to even finish reading your work log. Great work so far from the bits and pieces I get time to read.

I have a short person that looks like me too (from my previous marriage) We share him, two weeks with me, two weeks with her. The weekends I don't have my son I usually spend at the garage. My son is 13! now. (I am 36) He has discovered gerls, he usually spends all his free time chasing them or hangin' out at the skate board park. My new gerl friend is very supportive of my car addiction.....so far My new gerl has a bun in the oven, so come April it may become harder to escape (once junior pops out).

[_-Night-Shade-_]

Nice work so far man!

[IMACHU2]

Worked on the car Saturday and some of Sunday. Got the spot putty out and filled in all the scatches and pin holes.




I made a boo boo on the drivers door. some left over glue from the molding made itself visable when I primed it. I sanded all the glue off.


Fixed the hood, there was a visable body filler line in it.


Smoother and ready for more primer.


Tough to see, but I painted the rockers and tail panel (behind the rear bumper) with ruberized rock guard.






The bumpers were base model, molded in color plastic bumpers. The car is actually an "SE" these bumpers were off a parts car. Years of improper storage had them looking pretty rough. I was surprised how well the cleaned up. I went from 80 grit all the way to brown scotch brite pat to smooth them out.



The 626 lip was a good 6" to long.


I chopped it down.


Not very scientific but, I cut the front lip an inch too big, screwed down the corners and removed bit by bit with a sanding disc on the angle grinder until it fit perfectly in the middle.


The fart can and the rear bumper were in conflict. (Pacesetter MX-3 cat back). I considered chopping off the tip, but I embraced my inner ricer and trimmed the bumper to fit the tip





Test fit.


I sanded the bumper and removed the mud flaps, they were in nasty condition. I was going to buy new ones, but I like it without them. Less weight LOL






Woot! Woot! bumpers installed!




I can't wait to paint it. I ended up visiting relatives most of Sunday

[Evo_Spec]

it looks like a car!!!

[IMACHU2]

it looks like a car!!!

It does! For the first time in three years

[IMACHU2]

I "painted" the car on Saturday. (with Semi gloss black Plasti dip)


Lord Vader your 326 is ready













The suff is really weird to spray. It goes on looking like rock guard with texture, and it dries all smooth. For those not familiar Plasti dip it is a removable PVC coating like what hand tool grips are made out of.

[AaronTietje]

Does it look as good in person as it does in the pics? Regardless , it's very cool.

Nice work.

[IMACHU2]

Does it look as good in person as it does in the pics? Regardless , it's very cool.

Nice work.

It is not a perfect finish, it goes on like splatter paint, 99% of it smooths out, close up parts of it still look textured. It looks much better then a conventional flat black rattle can paint job. (way more uniform). It does look much better then any other sub $150 paint job I have ever seen ($14.95 a can x 10)

[Mooneggs]

wow that looks awesome It looks like my Moonwax method should upgrade to plasti-dip!

[IMACHU2]

wow that looks awesome It looks like my Moonwax method should upgrade to plasti-dip!

My cars are always flat black (My favorite color). So far Plasti dip seems like a winner, I was researching that foam roller technique when I stumbled upon it. Going to Plasti dip my daily driver and see how it is effected by snow and salt.

[DeepBlueMX3]

-Looks awesome, so carefully worked.
-I loved the color too, well done guy!

[ethand]

I've been reading my way through this thread, trying to read everything from start to finish for a few weeks now, so I don't miss anything! Awesome work you're doing, it's really re-ignited my dream of restoring on old car someday with modern underpinnings, etc... Which will of course have to wait til I finish Uni, and get a house with some space! I think the one I'd love to do is an original MX-5, or maybe an old '80s RX7 or something
I also read a similar story on a local generic car forum, where someone's doing this to an E30 3series.... They're just such interesting reads!
I look forward to further updates, and eventually seeing a finished MX-326 GS - a world first, I'm sure!! hahaha

[IMACHU2]

Thanks for the comments guys. I have "restored" a few cars now, If I were to do another, I would spend weeks or a few months taking it apart instead of hours LOL. I would take a picture, then remove a bolt and put it in a zip lock bag with the picture labeled Left strut bolt ect. Then the bag would go into a rubber maid bin labeled "front suspension". Sounds like over kill, but unless your independently wealthy these projects take years, and remembering where everything goes can be tricky. I have three 323's, so thankfully I can look at them to see where stuff goes. A Mazda is an excellent car to restore because Mazda really looks after their old cars. Everything I needed to "restore" the 323 / MX-3 was in stock at the Mazda warehouse and could be had in 24 hours. Try that with a 18 year old Ford, or a 8 year old Ford for that matter LOL The one thing I did right this time was keep everything, even if it was junk, the junk can be measured or used as a sample to buy / make / modify the new part. The only problem with my "system" is you have to look through 20 rubber maid bins full of crap to find the washer nozzles......for example

I can't decide what or if to "restore" another car. I find mass produced cars to always be a compromise, building a performance car out of one, is like building a ship in a bottle or often building a ship in a rusty can. I dream of building a Lotus 7 style car from scratch, to remove all the compromises mass produced cars have, but most days I think that would be best left to the automotive engineers. If I restore again it will be a car from Arizona, that makes life way easier and cheaper in the long run if you start with a rust free car. I think I love the process of building cars, cause it is the only way to justify spending $$$$$ on $$$ cars.

Contemplating putting a 5.3L LS engine from a Chev Sierra into my old Mustang, (easy, cheap 325hp + cam + valve springs = over 400hp) but I keep thinking, sheot I could just buy a C5 Corvette......but then I would just be another wanker with a C5 Corvette

[ethand]

If I were to do another, I would spend weeks or a few months taking it apart instead of hours. I would take a picture, then remove a bolt and put it in a zip lock bag with the picture labeled Left strut bolt ect. Then the bag would go into a rubber maid bin labeled "front suspension".

Wow, you only took 'hours' to take it to peices?! I spent like half a day just removing my dash, door trims & replacing my side indicators!! Then again, I have got significantly less experience! Sounds like a good system, though, I'll try remember that for next time I do something major - I even forget where all the screws come from that I have sitting in a ziplock back from my dash... I'm thinking 'I know I took all of these out from somewhere on this dash, but I have no idea where!!

A Mazda is an excellent car to restore because Mazda really looks after their old cars. Everything I needed to "restore" the 323 / MX-3 was in stock at the Mazda warehouse and could be had in 24 hours.

that's why I wouldn't attempt something like that on a car like mine - SO hard to get parts for where I am! Any other Mazda (except something like an AZ-3!) would be sinch to get parts, but for some reason, nobody knows the Eunos 30x here... I got asked yesterday if it was a Ford Taurus!
When I went to the wreckers the other day, I had to phone around forever, and only found one place in my city that had parts!

If I restore again it will be a car from Arizona, that makes life way easier and cheaper in the long run if you start with a rust free car. I think I love the process of building cars, cause it is the only way to justify spending $$$$$ on $$$ cars.

Haha, yeah, thats one good thing about living in Australia - cars tend not to rust so badly here as very few places ever get snow... (although, if you don't look after the paint, it can - the only really populated areas of the country are coastal)
And too right about building cars - it's not only justification, but you get to build the car exactly as you want it (within the limits of what will work with the chassis, etc. you choose to work with, obviously!)

[IMACHU2]

I worked at a late model Auto Recyclers, the 323 and the MX-3 were very, very easy to dismantle compared to say a new Mercedes, so yes hours LOL

At most Canadian Auto Recyclers you would likely not find a car older then ten years old. The road salt eats them.

My previously restored headlights got stolen, by my own daily driver!! So I cleaned up another set with the Mothers Buff ball and plastic polish.





I put some new Piaa bulbs in. I may put a HID kit in it eventually. I have the same ones in the Mustang and my other 323. I like them, they don't scream aftermarket bulb, they are just white and bright.






I put the headlights, hood pin lanyards and scuff plates, grille, rear spoiler, rear washer nozzle, window trims, and the antenna on. The headlights were modified a bit to clear the rad, but thankfully the original grille mounting was not affected.










I lightly tinted all the lights with Nite Shade tinting spray.