JDM Familia Interplay BG5P Restoration

[Scrummatron]

Hid these weld marks before I finished it,pretty much done with this arch now,on to the other side.
Couple of other pics of totally finished bits inside the boot,wasn't fully satisfied with the way I could pick out weld marks,so got them down to factory look.

[Scrummatron]

Again a long gap between posts,....
The title of mz4 will go to an old 323 gti of mine that I located in a breakers a couple of hundred miles away,...the car was crushed,..along with my dreams of locating and buying this car again someday,after selling it 9-10 years ago.
I did take the few remaining parts,to give them a proper burial....
And am happy to say that a few of these bits will live on through other BG lovers,and other members.
This car was not the beginning of my long standing love affair with the good madzee,but so many good memories associated with the car that I will literally,..never forget it.
cant really say much more.
Don't have a pic of its coolness from years ago,these grainy images were sent to me by the eccentric breaker.
Last pic is all that remained.

[Cloud_Strife]

Hey sham, lookin' good, back from the dead.

Keep up the good work!

[Scrummatron]

Lol,not quite dead,...busy with life,u know urself
Did you get the belts and seats sorted?

Moving on,...another 323 appeared for sale cheap,...
Mz5 hadn't been on the road in 5 years,1.3efi Dark forest green "infini" type colour,and was a realy nice car in the flesh...low milage and what must've been a beauty of an interior in its day,along with a bumper and door strip upgrade,...meant it looked like a great mass wagon,...
The horror of what was inside wasn't expected,..the last owner was,I can only guess,a clumsy painter.
the entire interior was completely destroyed in paint,including a 3 inch thick,solid,wheel well shaped,block of paint in the boot,...
Being a little down about it at the time,idiot here didn't take a photo of car while there,or the sexy interior,..I just took what I could,and left in a bit of a huff.
Crap photos are ones from the sale ad.

[323Permin]

Oooooo ..that's a rare lower spolier. You keeping it ?

I am interested....

Needs the matching upper spolier.

[Scrummatron]

Oooooo ..that's a rare lower spolier. You keeping it ?

I am interested....

Needs the matching upper spolier.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]69385[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]69386[/ATTACH]

Ah,...funny you should mention that spoiler
Haven't been taking much notice of the Mazda world or cars in general for the past 5 years,until early this year.
However,many years ago,I was approached by a couple of people with gtr's,..who were looking to swap their spoiler,(both the stepped and square'ish one)and give cash to attain this spoiler,...wasn't really sure why,.,but have had a few different types,and always thought this was the coolest for some reason.
Was glad to re'acquire it,even if it did take a while.

Recently bought the super huge top spoiler.

[Scrummatron]

so rounding out the other mz's,a red hatchback interplay,that was somewhat a joint venture,and while not offering very much to mz1 directly,barring somthing I haven't figured out that I need yet,..
Oh,maybe the clean and straight rad,..
It will be very useful to the planned mz2 resto in the next few months.
and has already provided a couple of key pieces that I was looking for for this future build.
Don't want to go on to much,but quick history of this car is,it has 220k Kms,has been through 3 owners in 6-7 years who all planned to restore it but gave up rapidly when they realised the magnitude of that task,it hadn't been started at all in a couple of years now and,honestly,was never going to be restored by anyone,as it is completely rotten underneath-(pics of rot to follow here)

[Scrummatron]

The car is complete though,and all except the floor is in good shape.
complete in that it has its original fittings,interior,wheels and engine,everything except the obvious boot contents missing and broken a pillars.
The engine will be getting a possible re'build in the future,if it can be saved,it will be.
Having had a load of these red hatch mazdas over the years,I had thought about trying to save it and using mz2 for what's needed,However it pains me to say the car cannot be rebuilt,unless a lot more money than I'm ever likely to have spare can be thrown at it,and mz2 is by far the better condition car,..
I really love these red hatchbacks though,it was my signature car for "years!",and I'm a little gutted to pull it apart,but it will breathe life into 3 of its kin,and my rationale is that,it's gone to the right person/people.
Therefore the car is being broken.
Few more pics before dismantle.

[Scrummatron]

In between acquiring these 3 cars,or 2 and 1/10th of a car,I was at mz1 a couple of days,doing minor bits n bobs around.but mainly hacking away at the drivers side rear arch,and grinding and sanding the belly during down time.
Progress is slow as usual,and light,time and various other problems are hampering quick progress.
But progress is progress...

[Scrummatron]

Few pics of what I'm really dealing with underneath,...
Almost all the circles of rust are where the factory underseal was compromised,but it's all really just cosmetic.....even so,the thoughts of "painting over rust" doesn't sit well with me,so I'm hand sanding practically the whole underside from the front of the petrol tank back.
It's laborious,and disheartening to come back after a few days to see new light surface rust in its place,but this is what the manufacturers of this paint want u to paint over I guess??
So the final plan is to sand all systematically,and just before painting,sand off any more fresh surface rust before 2 step por prep.
Few pics of bits currently getting work.
Last pic shows how bare steel chassis legs look after being rubbed down to metal and left for 2 weeks of damp winter weather in Ireland,in a shed,not a garage.hence I'm reluctant to bring it all back to metal,or near it,till the last minute before painting.

[Scrummatron]

After what I will only described as a "busy" Xmas and new year,...things are starting to settle down,and I can get back to work on the good madzee.
A few days till I can get at it in Ernest,but things will be really happening over the next few weeks,so best get some minor details out of the way.
Before I do,quick few pics of rotten mz6,only sharing these to make myself feel better about breaking a red hatch interplay,..
But it had to be done.
In the last pic u can see through the wheel arch,and through the sill to daylight on the other side,doesn't look too bad,but reality is,..it took a while to get onto blocks due to jack turning floor to corn flakes on contact.

[Scrummatron]

Will put mz6 to bed now,has a lot of bits I want for mz2 down the road,(front bumper,interior,grill, to name a few)but will elaborate on this again,Unfortunatly it's only contribution to mz1 will be a sun visor for now,maybe window regs,....but rad is damaged.

Mz5 had something that I got in mz3,but sold in error to another BG restorer,...
Thinking my own wiper indicator controls were perfect,when they were in fact pretty badly damaged and worn,I sold the mint one I got.
But mz5 had a pretty good one,not "mint",as there is tiny wear on the printed on markings,and the hazard button is discoloured a smidge,but,about 90% in my book....a "NOS" one of these would be a nice find,lol.
Few pics.

[Scrummatron]

Quick skip over other salvaged bits n bobs though,virtually all sorted now with correct bits to re'assemble interior and exterior to factory spec,..
Pic 1-cup holders with white lettering still there from mz6
Pic 2-door handle cup I got from mz5 is perfect,but a different colour (
Pic 3-Oem alloy wheel nuts
Pic 4-1 of my door strips had a small crack in it,fixable yes,but luckily it was the only 'completely' perfect door strip on mz5....delighted.

As well as a perfect door handle cup,a perfect plastic 'ariel surround',maybe a better than 98% perfect rear garnish,and maybe some mint ones of the rubber headrest springy looking things,this is all I don't have that's "perfect",and am still looking for these.
Anything else I will be looking for now,will be OEM or period jdm extras,so if anyone has any they want rid of,hit me up.

[Scrummatron]

Some progress on the underside,rear beam and chassis legs grinded,wire brushed,sanded and then the famous goo slapped on everywhere.probably could've painted over the surface rust with the por15,but just couldn't stomach it.this is ready for a quick sanding and paint like the first arch,have to finish other arch and do a bit at rear arm mounts and where front of petrol tank hangs,...
1 more day I think.
Hope to get a lot more time at car now weather and lighting conditions have improved.

[FE3-323]

so much work!!