Hi All,



So I have my 1986 N/A FC stripped down to bare shell. I knew I had some rust spots to fix going into the car but after further assessment of the damage, I'm questioning as to whether or not its worth spending the countless hours fixing. Now before anyone gets the impression I'm a lazy shmuck who wants the easy way out, I'm not. But i do realize that when it comes to projects theres a certain point where you have to accept what it is. My car has body rot in the following places;



both drivers side and passengers side between the doors and wheels. To the point where i have a 2"x2" hole going through my floor pan (its rotten through roughly 4/5 layers of sheet metal.



Boths sides near the rocker panels underneath the car



One or two random holes through the floor panels in the trunk area.







The majority of the car seems okay but there could be more.



At what point have you guys called it quits and decided to find another chassis to build? I have a mig welder (I'm still a novice welder) and have the tools to fix although this will be my first time doing this type of fabrication. I know it's hard to judge without pictures but can you guys give me some insight as to what I should do, fix or junk and use for parts.



Thanks,



Greg B.

Gardner, MA

 

Being a novice at it... i would suggest that you get a new rolling chassis and swap your parts over to it. Nothing to do with being lazy... but you'll be able to pick up a solid car for less than you'll have tied up in the fabrication and time. With that being said.... after you get the good one put together, go practice on the rusted out car. Since you are a novice welder, most likely you're gonna warp the hell outta the sheetmetal which trying to put new panels in.

 

Thanks for the input. I have been researching the hell out of metal fab. I want to build my own cage and some one-off parts but I completely agree that I need some practice before I start building things that my life could depend on.



BTW: as im sure you guys are aware, MA isn't the greatest place to find a clean solid chassis so if anyone has or knows of one let me know. For a good chassis, I'de be willing to drive.

 

Life was so much simpler in the old days when we had separate frames and bodies.

You could easily prioritize your metal work into "structural" and "cosmetic" and attack the important stuff first, leaving the appearance for whenever.



Unibodies are much different and such luxuries are not possible, heck, even the windshield glass is a structural member nowadays.

You chassis sounds like it has extensive problems in the car's weakest area...the span between the wheels, and you can be sure that the rot you can see is probably dwarfed by the rot you can't.



Any car can be brought back from the dead- look at British car mags from the 60-70's and you'll see unrecognizable piles transformed into pristine examples- but the question must be asked, "At what cost?".

The 2nd gen RX7 hasn't the cache(and the attendant value) of the "classic" sports cars and honestly, probably never will.

Your car doesn't seem to have any particular sentimental attachment...it's just a car you happen to own, so the tremendous effort required to save it will probably overwhelm you.



If you are a novice fabricator and welder, jumping in the deep end with a really extensive project is an almost guaranteed way to discourage you and end your interest.

The techniques/methods needed are much more easily mastered in small steps with knowledge and experience accreted in steps, not leaps.

You don't learn to dive on the 10 meter platform, you don't learn body repair on a full unibody chassis restoration.



Part of being a pro is knowing when to walk away.

This seems like the car to teach you that lesson.

 

Well put Clokker. Thank you

 

yeah find another one, outside of the rust belt, its not hard.



once you get it all swapped over, maybe use the old one as practise