Project Rx5

Well I said I bought an Rx5, I never said it was Driveable.........

Thats where the 121 comes in ;) .......... my donor vehicle :)

Anyway heres the new beasty, 1977 Mazda Rx5, 13B Automatic, Power Steering, Air Conditioning... luxury mobile... no wonder they're so heavy theres so much crap hanging off this car :).

So the story goes like, hey I found it at the Damaged Auctions and it followed me home....

Only 91000 original k's !!! Original Paint, original everything.... but .... hmm some damage to front....

Just got it home... still on the trailer.

Front view of the 5 and also the mighty (thirsty) tow vehicle.

Check it out, I just removed the front guard for closer inspection...

Hmm Looks better from this angle :)

The Underbonnet Shot.

And from the front guard... or where it used to reside....

Hey whats this.... my new apprentice keen to get started on the new 121

Hey hang on a minute... its my wife! damn it.... thought I had a good worker for a minute there :) hi Honey. No well she did actually manage to remove the coil and the air cleaner!!!

Time to rest... Me and Phil kicking back in the gutted 121.

Heres the Jig I built on the straight vehicle to keep everything 'just right' on the good Rx5 when re-assembling.

Strut tower brace... heavy duty.. maybe Ill leave it on when im finished hehe

... oop whats this ... shit another one....

well you see honey.. I still needed a front bumper ... and this one has one :)

Heres the project Rx5 after the bent Rail was removed.. and a section of the firewall that also had a minor crease in it.

Stripped back as far as required to remove all traces of bendage... hmm new word!

Heres the 121 after removing the drivers side Rail.

And the actual Rail getting cleaned up before Installation.

The new section Mig Welded into place.

And the top section of the Radiator Support going on, with the Jig in Place.

Anyone want a ........ hmm anchor... cubby house... good restorer :)

With the good guard off the 121 and the good nosecone off the Gold car.

Almost ready to spray, the Nosecone and Stone tray are on.

The left over bits and pieces.... ready for return to the wreckers.

Heres the front after painting, not happy with the result so ive stared sanding it to paint again.

And the engine bay after painting, and the Brake cylinder and Power Steering box re-installed.

The engine out of the good Rx5... totally original with the Nucleor (thermal) Reactor still in place.

Look at all the solenoids and crap on this thing. Apparently the Air pump injects air into the exhaust ports in the rotor housing, or depending on the solenoids and valves, over the outside of the exhaust manifold and then out a seperate exhaust pipe which runs the full length of the car and out the back. From the back there is actaully two totally different pipes coming out, same as I have seen on the Early Rx7's which have a small circular pipe coming out beside the normal (twin on rx7) exhaust. The Rx5 and Rx4's have the big Square exhaust outlet. Ill get some pics of the exhaust on this page soon.

Hmm 'Never Remove Air Pump' wonder what that means :)

Heres the spare Rx5's engine bay.

..and from another angle.

Headlights in....

Checkout that stock Exhaust!! Looks more like a Crocodile to me.???

Hey heres the front of the second '5'.... hmm looks like its got new wheels... but it hasnt :(. Check out the bumper bar.... its been recessed 3 inches towards the body, and now fits snuggly under the nosecone like the other Rx models, also shedding a tiny bit of weight.. with the spacer panel behind the bumper now in the scrapheap, along with 3inches of the bumper irons :)

Well its got the grill on and the headlight surrounds....... this is my good '5'. Note it still has the spacer panel underneath the nosecone. This is because the bumper is sooo far out the front mazda had to make up a little panel to fill a massive gap that would have been behind the fron bumper. I tried it without this panel and the bumper in the standard position and it really looks crap.

From this shot you can see the power steering fluid reservoir just behind the battery, and the aircon compressor just to the side of it.

Shiny bonnet on...

Intake side of the engine. You can see the thermal reactor and the huge solenoid thingy hanging off the intake manifold, which controls where the air from the air pump flows.

The Front of both cars.

Check out the new bumper, new indicator lens.... This is the good one. Ive also recessed the bumper 3 inches on this one, plus also removed the large black rubber items (must remember not to let any females drive now... hehe... ) from the front of the bumper bar. So all up the front of the car is 5 inches shorter (3 inches for the bumper and 2 for the Rubber over riders) plus ive removed the rear ones too.... so the cars total length is now some 7 inches less! Now if I could just lower the springs by the same amount......

Woh look at the numby plates..... what a catch...

Love those exhaust pipes.... hehe... twin system... Everyone spins out when they see it! The front half of the baby one is stainless steel!... factory... its a very tough (and heavy) exhaust system.... not like the one I had in my 13B Rx2 that was rooted after a few months... after the rotary breath melts the fibreglass packing inside the mufflers :).. a few backfires probably didnt help either ;)

Anyone who has owned a rotary knows that after being driven.... not to even touch the very tip of the exhaust or you WILL get burned...... yes its that hot! Great for cold days.... heats up the floorpan nicely.... shit for hot days... burns your bare feet :)

With the bonnet up....

Underbonnet shot #1

Underbonnet shot #2

Heres the second Rx5 I bought for parts..... and ended up respraying :) This car is now registered and on the road... runs beutifully but is fairly thirsty.... 15 litres per 100k's it uses, and on the freeway it does 4000 rpm at 100k's... both speedo and tacho needles are pointing straight up... great for overtaking.... not so great for economy. Thats with the Auto transmission too don't forget.

Replacing the carby to intake manifold gaskets..

Hmm seeing double?

Heres the minor damage sustained to my Patrol after teaching a new Fairmont Ghia driver not to open her door in front of me.... and wiping it out..... $1600 worth... and somehow she's trying to make me pay like it was my Fault.... HOW do you figure that????  

Well the RACV has since shut her up and now I don't have to pay :) and let that be a lesson for the rest of ye ford drivers ;)

Thats it for now... stay tuned..........

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