Nowt today!

Shortest post yet!

Hopefully a lot tomorrow :D

Takin' a while!

Blimey, spent nearly five hours solid just trying to get the front suspension subbrame into place today.

This was how far I got to yesterday, The wheel centre/laser line needs to go back 18cm to where the end of the tape measure/chisel are.

So, we cut some more!

And more ...

It still needs to go back a further 2cm, but there is more trimming to the chassis to do on inner chassis rails as the chassis is lifting as it slides into place. Hopefully, tomorrow morning will have that sorted out, then I can get on with getting engine in place; but that will probably be Sunday.

Stuff done ...

Managed to get on with the car today so decided that I'd remove all the front suspension (no, the rear subframe hasn't been fully welded, but that'll happen once I've got front in place and the engine in place) then I'd get the front subframe into place.

This is the old Scimitar front end which is now removed and will be going on ebay at some point

This is the chassis without the suspension. It all came apart perfectly apart from the n/s lower front wishbone bolt which I had to cut. On the far right is the offered up RX8 sub. Everything to the right of suspension towers needs to be removed, along with the outer section of box to allow the front subframe to fit "into" it.

This is where we started cutting; I've also removed some of the tower and outer skin of box but forgot to take a pic :D

I also need to remove the inner lip on RX8 subframe as it fouls the Scim chassis.

Hopefully I'll get front sorted tomorrow then it'll be engine mounts :D

Another slow day...

..but more as a result of thinking time than doing nowt.

Today I removed the chassis sections that I trimmed and got the subframe welded into place. I have no idea how it happened but it is 2.5mm out but I suspect that a) won't matter as on RX8 is had so many rubber bushes it probably moved more than that😊. If I decide to fix, I'll take a grinder through a chassis rail then weld and plate.

Tomorrow will be removing the front suspension and starting to get the RZ8 subframe into place.

I was hoping to get the Scimitar front suspension removed tonight but have to make a vege curry for boxing day; so I'll also try and retrieve the engine and box 😊.

Till tomorrow then...

Build, interrupted!

So, I went shopping as mother needed some bits and pieces which meant I didn't get to start working on the car till around 3pm!

Anyway, I got the body over the chassis to check clearances and ensure wheels are in the right place which as far as I'm concerned is close enough - the wheels look to far back in pic but this is because the front of the subframe protrudes the chassis frame and pushed the body forward by an inch or so as can be seen in this pic!

I'll be modifying that once I have welded the subframe to chassis.

This is a pic of my alignment method - if you look closely you'll see a laser line running from rear of chassis through hole in centre of subframe to ruler which lines up perfectly with my two pieces of equal length steel :D

Here's a gratuitous pic of the body over chassis - it would be rude not to wouldn't it!

I'm quite excited by this as I won't need to widen the arches as much as I originally thought which is nice.

Early start tomorrow as I really do need to get front sub into chassis before Xmas!!

A little later than planned

It's been a while but I decided to wait until this fortnight to get on with the major chassis mods as I can do it at work where we have a decent welder and a lot more space.

So, I took the chassis and rear subframe to work on my trailer and got to work. Within about ten minutes, I managed to cut my thumb and a couple of fingers on very sharp flash from cut edges of steel. All bled quite nicely but didn't really stop the chassis work.

Anyway, the rear subframe is very close to being fitted, I just need to double check alignment etc then I can weld into place.

I'll also be taking front sub to work tomorrow and hoping to have that mostly sorted by tomorrow evening. Engine/box is scheduled for Friday.

Here's a pic of today's efforts

More tomorrow if all goes according to plan!

Quick update

Not much to add really - the rear axle sold on the bay and was collected yesterday. Then wheels didn't sell in original auction which ended a week ago, but I thought I'd relist on Friday night - went to do the feedback for axle man and found wheels had sold too. Brill

Was chatting to Alan who bought the axle and he asked what steering column I was using; so I told him RX8 and did he want the Scimitar one (along with old fuel tank and brake servo & m/c) as it'll all be going in the bin. He did and gave me £35 which was very generous as I didn't actually want anything for them.

Still, £230 for engine, £180 for axle and other bits, £100 for wheels which brings Scimitar cost down to £240, plus £300 for RX8 so £540 so far on the project. Have a few other bits to sell like Scim front suspension and various RX8 panels.

Anyway, I'm currently removing front suspension and figuring out how to fit new subframes to Scimitar chassis.

Hopefully more next week.

Slight change of plan...

I was originally thinking along the lines of cutting the rear lower parts of chassis so subframe could be raised into it but I'm now going to brace the subframe and cut out slots for chassis rails to fit into. Then I'll weld chassis and subframe together.

Anyway, I got the wheels onto rear end and, well you're going to need to use your imagination for the time being 😊

Axle out...

...now time to attack chassis with grinder 😊

Once I have found out the correct height that the chassis should be at, I can put it on blocks a couple of inches lower, then position the rear subframe accordingly and start cutting frame. It looks like the rear seats will be lost at there will be reinforcement to the stepup as I'll be losing the bottom bit.

Not a very clear pic but .....

This also helps to show what I'll be cutting out!

You can see where the sub was mounted to the car via the three large mountings/holes but I'll be cutting chassis and setting the subframe into it and welding into place.

Once I've sorted the mods to the front suspension and anything else that needs removing I'll get chassis blasted and painted.

Way hey!

At last, a bit of progress!

I finally got the body off - it was just the rollbar to chassis bolts clamping the shell down so I cut around it as couldn't get the bolts out as rusty.

So, I've taken the shell to work and brought the Mazda subframes home so I'll put some pics up of them later!

Aarrgghhhh!!!

Getting slightly fed up with trying to get the body off atm.

Was supposed to spend most of the weekend working on the car but managed a couple of hours but did get the tank out and the rear bumper off so I am 99% certain that 99 of the nuts and bolts holding the body to the chassis have been removed -  think there may be some glue or similar involved :D

Anyway, it will definitely be removed by next weekend so then we should start seeing some progress - or at least something interesting going on.

Apologies for the gaps in posts and lack of pics - that will change from next weekend hopefully.

Till then.

Blimey,

I hadn't realised how log since the last post - not that it makes much difference as I've had no time to get on with the car. However, tomorrow, all that will change  .....

:D

Hmm, not according to plan!

But does it ever?

I managed to spend most of the day working on the car today and got a lot of the bolts undone (well, if cutting them off with an angle grinder counts as "undoing" :D )

The ones I have so far removed are the "turret" bolts, both front footwells, both of those behind rear seats and the rearmost. Also have removed the seatbelt mountings and seat mounting bolts. Not sure if I need to remove the front bumper as I want the whole front of car off too. Rad etc etc is all long gone. The rear seat backrest mounts are proving tiresome as are the rear bumper items. I'll have another go probably on Saturday, but rather than undo, I'll remove rear wheels and get to back of bolts with grinder and cut them off; they're surplus to requirements anyway.

Steering column didn't need cutting just a hammer which I hadn't used previously as it was usually quite late and not wanting to upset neighbours.

I got the hoover out and have saved a third of a bucket - of rust!!! Still, as Colin Chapman said - add lightness.

As the resto etc is probably going to be a long drawn out process, I'm going to make an engine cradle on wheels so a) it can be moved around easily and b) I can wire it up to start it every now and again, so that's happen in next few weeks.

Back from the sun..

.. in France, and now a week at home where hopefully I'll be removing the body from the chassis.

I need to do a bit of re-organising first as there is a lot of stuff piled high on the roof of the Scimitar - mostly glass which I would rather didn't get broken as I've already broke the windscreen.

First thing I need to do after that will be to cut the steering column as the splined joint that I've loosened just will not separate, then it'll be onto removing chassis/body bolts.

Pics/updates to follow

Crane!

No, not the type that flies, but the one that'll be doing the lifting in my garage.

It's very nearly finished, but need to paint it and get the correct size bolts to mount the v groove steel wheels as I need them to be able to slide on the bolt to give me that "floating" bearing kind of effect as there is about 3mm difference between the parallelness(!) of the runner tracks and they currently have inserts in the bearings which fall out.

Anyway, here's some pics, hopefully you'll get the drift.

Sloooowwwwllllyyy does it!

No rush hey!

I'm trying to get the "2D" lift sorted out in the garage. Most of the metalwork is done - the uprights are bolted to garage walls - but the cross piece for the front of the garage is too long by about 10mm so I'll trim that tomorrow and join up the angle iron runners ready to be welded to cross pieces.

I'd originally looked at some v groove bearings and had tried ordering them, but thought they were a bit expensive. Fortunately the website I was ordering from had issues which is their loss and my gain. Anyway, looked at v groove steel wheels and got some of those for about a third of the price; just waiting for them to arrive (Weds/Thurs this week).

I am really hoping to get the "crane" as I'm now going to call it sorted by Friday evening as I have some holiday coming up and it'd be very nice if I could split the body and chassis during that holiday.

Nothing to report on the car at the moment due to the aforementioned distraction, but hopefully lots of progress one crane sorted and I've split the body/chassis and maybe I'll have some pictures to show.

Cheers for now.

Quiet around here!

Sorry, nothing to report from the last week or so but.......

I am having 15 metres of 40mm x 40mm x 3mm SHS delivered tomorrow for another side project - but one that's related to the V8 project/resto.

Basically, at some point I will need to be able to lift the body off the chassis and also need to lift chassis over new suspension and also manoeuvre the engine and box over the chassis and while I have an engine hoist, I think the alternative will be better :D

So, the 40mm box will form the four corner uprights bolted to the garage walls; some of the 80mm x 40mm I already have will form cross pieces connecting the two front and two rear uprights which will be connected by a third piece on runners. This third piece will also have a track for wheeled carriage attached to which will be an electric hoist. This will allow me to have an electric hoist that can be positioned more or less anywhere over the car within the garage.

I will also be removing the propshaft and a few other bits and pieces from the Scimitar over the weekend as I'm quite keen to get the body off, the chassis blasted and on with the chassis mods.

Till the weekend then....

Shorty....

......post, that is!

Just to say that I got the door open - loads of fart-arsing around getting the door panel off from inside (had to break it!) and playing around with lock bits and pieces in door for an hour; finally freeing up the lock, then clicking the right bit of the mech. Door jamb catch now removed!

Also had James come around and we set about removing the dash and loom and whatever else we could get out in the hour and a half we managed to spend on it. I have a medium size Sports Direct bag for the rubbish - will need to empty regularly or get a couple more. They seem to fill up very quickly!

Pics will be forthcoming in the next update, probably after Thursday.

Cheers

Oops

Decided to get on with the dismantling process - bit irritating as I closed the passenger door and can't get the thing open again!

Anyway, I got the headlights out and they'll be going in the bin a) because they are rusty as hell and b) I always planned on using some replacement lights that will fit but look much more modern. This gives you an idea of new (and knackered).

I also got the windscreen out and managed to break it but hey, shouldn't be needing it for a year or two!

The grill also got removed but here was me thinking that as I'll be using a larger engine I could open up the plastic grill to allow air through only to find that the bodywork behind is solid. Plan b) there then.

Initial thoughts are to just drill some large holes (75 - 100 mm diameter) then make a grill that will look like the original but that will allow the radiator to get air. There will also be venting towards the front of the bonnet to allow air out of the top as that's usually a lower pressure area it'll just suck out that heat. Hopefully.

Anyway that is about it for today, I'll make a concerted effort to get passenger door open tomorrow, then I can concentrate on stripping the interior and aim to get the body off :D

Till tomorrow!

Bit of tidying...

Since I started stripping the Mazda, I've just been dumping it all in my garage which doesn't really give me any space to get on with the Scimitar.

Anyway, this evening I had a reshuffle in the shed, popped in some shelves and shifted everything from the RX8 in there (except the heavy mechanical bits - suspension subframe/gearbox).

So I can now make a start stripping the Scimitar down to chassis and body.

I still have one front seat in the garage, well, in the Scimitar actually as the door got closed and I can't open it! No prob though as the RX8 door handles/locks/central locking and electric windows will be going in there.

Going to have a bit of a reshuffle in the garage over the weekend so I can get the heavy mechanical bits in there and then get on with stripping the Scimitar.

That's that stripped then.

So, the Mazda went from this

 to this:

but giving me

Plus the wheels, seats, dashboard, wiring loom, central locking, alarm, electric windows an awesome sounds system, steering column and column switches, abs etc etc.

So, I finished stripping the car this morning but this afternoon had to get on with the garden as we have a fence run with just grass up to it that has never had anything done other than mown. As we are having a few people around in a couple of weeks, thought we ought to do something with it. A quick trip to our favourite garden centre - Capel Cottage Garden Nursery and got some plants.

After "deturfing" the bit of ground, turning it over, putting the plants in the ground and covering with chippings, we ending up with this:

which I think looks a bit better:)

The next job to do is store all the Mazda bits and pieces, then start stripping the rest of the stuff off the Scimitar - front/rear suspension, running gear, interior etc and disposing of it.

Till then then!

Too much on..

Sadly, not much to report this past week as I keep finding (or being found) other things to do.

I am hoping to finish stripping the RX8 this weekend (need to really as landlord was asking about it today) but have to take my mother to see a good friend on Saturday afternoon (fingers crossed for a speedy recovery Pam!), who was hit by a drunk driver and is very poorly at the moment.

Only really have the loom/dash and front subframe that I need to remove but also want to get the front and rear bumpers off as they'll have a small resale value.

Once the strip is completed I can box it all up and put it in the shed and proceed with stripping the Scimitar down and disposing of surplus parts - all the front suspension, steering rack/column, rear axle etc etc. Separate the body and chassis and get shot blasted.

Then it'll be on with the mods to the Mazda subframes to fit Scim :D

But that's getting ahead of myself so till Sunday for an update :D

That was quite a good (fathers) day

Made a start on the RX8 dismantling - surprised how light some of the parts were!

This is me working hard when friend James came to say "hello".

I have a few bits and pieces that I'm going to sell - be good to recoup some of the cost of the car - free donor would be great!

It's a bit "redneck" but didn't involve me getting under the car so don't panic. When I needed to get under it was lowered onto axle stands :D

I got the rear subframe assembly out and have also managed to remove all the from the back of the car to the A post.

Over the next week or so (it'll be a bit slower as I have to work!) I want to get out the whole dash assembly, steering wheel/column, pedal box, engine and gearbox, brake and clutch master cylinders, abs unit and associated pipework etc, radiator, front subframe assembly and anything else that may appear useful.

If you need RX8 boot/bonnet, both front doors (bare), rear light clusters/ front/rear bumpers - give me a shout!

Till the next one!

Got it....

The donor that is.

And I started taking it apart which proved slightly problematic as the further I get, the more I thought "Ooo, that might be useful!"
You know - things like electric folding mirrors, electric window winders - brilliant system as the inner door panel has everything bolted to it. Winder mech is fab and might be useable in Scimitar
I've got all the seats out

The actual runner is attached to the black panel and is lifted/lowered by wire!
I'm also planning on using the door handles/locks etc as, if all goes according to plan and I use all the Mazda wiring, the alarm immobiliser etc with key fobs will be in use too (incl remote boot opening :D )

Tomorrow the disassembly starts in earnest - gearbox, both subframes and gearbox. I'll also get doors, tailgate, lights, bonnet, front bumper off and onto ebay and try and get some of my £300 back :D

On the downside, I broke the screen on my S6 Edge + (fortunately it's insured!!!)

Hahaha..

Well, the other day I got a bit bored and looked for a Mazda RX8 to use as a donor for

Front and rear subframes complete with relevant brakes/steering/driveshafts/diff etc etc
Pedal box and master cyclinder
Steering column and rack
Wheels
Mirrors (maybe?)
Ignition switch
Handbrake and gearlever
Seatbelts and catches
Dash (may use some of it)
Centre console
Seats (both front and rear)
Gearbox/propshaft and flywheel/clutch assembly as I'm going to make an adaptor to join this box to the Lexus V8 - no idea how it'll last but all this is so cheap, who cares.
Wiring loom
Window motors/mechs and switches
Door locks and central locking stuff
Keys
anything I find that might be useful in bringing the Scimitar up to date.

erm, and whaddya know.

I won it :)

So, tomorrow afternoon, I hire a trailer and go and collect this:

As is usual, this has suffered rotor tip wear so the engine and rest of it will be going in the bin. Shame really, as they are quite nice cars but just not worth spending money on saving.

Hope to have some pics up over the weekend.

Download!

So another "not much to post" post as I went to Download at Donington Park on Sunday - left home at 8.30 and got to Premier Inn at 11.00 - about 160 miles in 2 1/2 hours. Great run up there but as I couldn't get into my room, ambled off to Burger King for some "food" (Whopper and chips), then went to Fosse Park shopping centre to pass some time.

Finally got room at 1.30 so washed and changed and left to do the 20 odd miles to the Fest. THREE AND A HALF HOURS !!!!!!

Missed most of the Disturbed set but saw all of Nightwish (best band in my little world atm) and having seen the mud soup that was the car park decided not to stay the end when I guess 10,000 cars would be trying to get out of some very muddy fields. I'd heard of some Kent residents didn't get back to this county till gone 6 the following morning after last year's gig. 

Anyway, on the car subject, I tried a Buy it Now on a motor I'd like to donate front and rear subframes, and quite a lot of the interior but eBay/PayPal had a hissy fit and wanted me to change my address etc. In the end I've just bid on it and will see if I win.

I'm thinking about another daily driver to go with the Old Dog (my Rover 75 Tourer 2.5 V6 Connoisseur which I absolutely love!). Now, the choice is a bit bizarre for a petrolhead but I think Jay Leno hit the nail on the head, when he said that most people really don't car what powers their car so long as it gets them from a to b in a timely and reliable manor (to which I'll add excludes anything german - three Audis, two BMW's, a Merc and a VW Golf all on Saturday.  So I'm going to have a look at the Vauxhall Ampera. Work is three miles from home and the vast majority of my journeys are within 20 - 30 miles - all of which will be covered by electricity and charged batteries which work out at about £1 for 45 - 50 miles (as opposed to £7 - £10 for petrol). With free rfl I reckon it'll pay for itself :D Watch this space!

A bit quiet...

at the moment.

I was hoping to finish the trailer this evening but it has been er raining and as it's outside and I'd rather not have interesting paint patterns I'll wait till tomorrow.

The car will have a bit of a delay as the seller has somehow managed to send the wrong V5 off to the dvla despite giving me the right "new keeper" bit and I'm a bit reluctant to get carried away till sorted. I'll ring him tomorrow.

I'll  probably take three body off and strip the rest out anyway 😂

A bit of an aside...

As I'll be having to move various bits and pieces of the car to numerous locations - such as shot blasting for chassis/paint for shell  (though I'll be doing the prep work) I decided to build a trailer. Ordered some 80mm x 40mm x 2mm steel box/suspension etc etc and got to work.

Had it towable in six hours then had to go away - so it rained. Today I've started cleaning it up ready for painting.

Hopefully get it primed/painted and boarded by the weekend.