Duddley

early euros (pre 1980s) were 4x100 too. Maybe some weird little Citroens/Peugeots/Fiats had 12"?

want need more

Keen! Will ask Cazz if she's keen. Failing that, I'll ask if she'll let me pinch the mk1 seeing as that's the only going OS car we got now. 

So 9.30 at the Westshore pub again Sunday sunday sunday?

A sweet site for any kind of parts is this site Wallothnesch.com. They often have deals and stuff too. Can't wait till I can make orders from there!

Decided to take this center boot support out so I can figure out where the rust began and ended. So drilled the spot welds out and broke the super crappy brazing/welds off and found that it wasn't too bad under there. Will ditch it and fab a new one soon

Decided to also to take the boot catch assembly out as well so I can tidy what's in behind there too.

However someone put the dick on this thing.. It's structurally strong still so will bash it back into shape, clean it up and reuse. I'm thinking someone previously replaced the boot floor and bent this thing up (where the rusty bits are towards the top of the photo), then bent it back down and welded it in place and called it a day. Stink.

Anyway. Time to get stuck in and get it ready for paint

Let me know if you're gona get new wheels and wana ditch the old ones. 

Never change that paint

Gona start OSing hard instead of weddings. What's happening next year on the 31st?

Surprise surprise.. Rust holes in the wheel well

Crappy welding/brazing here n there

Aaaaand bogged up seams that were supposed to be welded! (Gif is me turning light on/off where gap is between floor and behind drivers side wheel arch panel)

I'm thinking the floor has been replaced at some stage.. Badly.

Time to clean this shit up

Tank out and cleaned up

Dents underneath and dumbness 

Not sure what to do about that dent. Other than getting professional help.. 

What else have I done.. I've polished up the front bumper and some other stuff. Taken the headlights apart and have cleaned and painted the housings matty black. Taken some other bits apart..

About to get stuck into the boot

YEAH NOW WE'RE TALKIN

Have been thinkin of replacing all the running gear with something jap. Like not just the engine, but the entire running gear too and try make it all work. Sounds like too much work. 

Thomas you do it

$7k!! I probably could get an S14 for that easy. Plus that don't even come with cup holders. What a rip

I would, but I hate it when vtec just kicked in. Yo.

If money/kidneys/arms/legs wern't a problem then S14 or M12 would be my ultimate preference. I know exactly where to get em too..

At only 27,500 euros, that's the cheaper of three engines on that site.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-M3-E30-kompl-Motor-M-3-E-30-S14-engine-/281515187966?pt=DE_Autoteile&hash=item418b9cdefe

A snip

SO TEMPTING

Another reason I'm keen on the M20 2.5 is that performance parts and spares look like they're easy to come by. Anything from stroker kits to bolt on turbs packages etc. Pretty keen on keeping it N/A to begin with.. Possibly with ITB and a link to keep that shit in check. Same with M42/44s I guess

I'll just get all the engines. Problem solved

I'd have to spend millions on apex seals puhuhu

HONESTLY.. I've thought about it.. I am from Whakatane after all

Haha I wouldn't say I know my shit, but I know my research!

It shouldn't have to go too far back at all.. People have put m20s in without touching the firewall. However they've had to cut the nose/radiator assembly up to bring the radiator forward.. Which I'm not too keen to do.

But yeah, m20s weigh roughly 40 or 50kgs more than the original m10s they came with so weight shouldn't be too much of a problem.. I hope. Nothing a set of new springs or coil overs can't fix!

Boring progress update

Finished cleaning up the floor and fixing the small rust problems.. You'll see there's a fair bit more paint I could've continued to grind off, but the bare metal and problem parts were already starting to get some surface rust going on.. So gotta do something about that quick..

Boom! POR-15 all up in there. That should hold up nice till I'm ready to spend up on sound deadening stuff and carpets. Oh yeah, decided to go carpets instead of the clean cabin (like in the porsche shots above) as some of you fine OSer's pointed out that it usually looks like shit in no time and it'll just look like it's unfinished.

Anyway, update over.

However! I keep changing my damn mind on what to do on the engine side of things.. My latest idea is to do the M20 swap from an e30 325i. The swaps been well documented by lots of '02 peeps and it looks as though it'd be easier than the M42. The M20B25 is roughly 40kg heavier than the original M10 engines and won't take much effort to fit. The gearbox tunnel is already in a bit of a state so bashing/cutting that up to fit engine and box ain't no thang. All I'll need is a doner e30 325i manual and I should be set. The tricky bit will be fitting a larger radiator in the front and moving it forward. 

No doubt I'll change my mind again.. but for now.. That's it!

Next up: rust holes all up in the badunkadunk

Holy shit yes. Everything you're doing is right. Keep it up!

Carpet is easy to get and not too spendy. So will take your guys lush wisdom into account and ponder further. 

Most of the time cars just end up looking ghetto without carpet on the floor.

Ahh that reminds me.. An old mate had an 808 made to look like an rx3 with bare floors. They looked choooice when he got it back, but they did indeed look ghetto after a few months of fat laps at the mount etc. Although the floors were unmolested bare floors and not smoothed off or anything. 

I think I'll concentrate on fixing the sills and shit before worrying about the floor. Cheers

Stripped all the black underseal stuff from out of the passenger footwell to find that a patch plates been welded in there to accommodate the mazda gearbox:

Keen eyes will also note that the gear shifter hole has also been moved forward too. I'm taking this as good news, cause when I get new engine (still thinking it'll be a 318ti manual) it wouldn't matter if it fits or not as I can't make it any uglier than it already is! Woo!

Long over due update. It feels like bugger all has been done, but I have been messing with it a few nights every week so I guess somethings getting done!

I've stripped the engine bay along with the interior a bit more, but have done nothing to the subframe as all our axel stands are still being used on Cazz's Dad's mk3 Cortina. Shouldn't be too much longer till that's back on the road.

Anyway.. I went on a rust hunt and found it in the sills, doors and the bottom of the front nose panel. Got the wire wheel out and went on the attack expecting to find shit loads of rust. Was surprised that there's bugger all rust! What you see is what you get.

I could just fibreglass and bog the sills, but I'm thinking i'll not be a dodgy bugger and I'll get 'em cut out and replaced as I wana take a peek at the inner sills are looking like.

Passenger front sill 

Passenger back sill

Drivers front sill

Passenger back sill - Worst of the lot

All is pretty good.. However, here's the passenger door:

Pretty bad.. I've found a guy in auckland/northland that has a heap of spares and has some rust free doors. The drivers door only has a spot or two of rust. So will grab a passenger side (or both) when I'm allowed to spend money. 

Other than the rust, I've been continuing to fix and polish the trim. 

Next up: strip it inside and out and do some panel work.

Plug a duck call on the BOV

OOOOORRRR a dog whisle. then dogs will go nuts and annoy their owners and they will be super annoyed and the world will be a better place

This is soo lush and awesome that you're in Napier also. Will look forward to seeing this around!

Bolt a big flash as heck gold throne on it and become pimp of all whakatanes

I'd like to imagine that there wouldn't be too many 2002s out there with mazda engines.. So maybe this is the same one?! If this had a 12a turbo in it, I woulda at least got it going again and had a hoon with some laughs.

Any idea what a 2ltr mazda engine's worth?