Solo Automotive - Mazda Starter Kit.

Well I finally pulled my Mazda into what some would call a Concrete Coffin. Let me let you in on a little of my past. I used to own a custom shop here in Ohio, it was up and running for a couple of years until I got my head scrambled buy one of those female creatures. I mainly specialized in fiberglass but I was one of the only people in town doing adjustable suspension. here are a few of my past vehicles:






Those were all build in my 5 car garage that i used as the shop. I told you that you tell you this; I now will be building this mazda in an 14x11 "garage" that my in laws have so genously allowed me to use. But anyways, on with the show.

The Mazda:


I picked this thing up as payment on some rental property that I have.
I tried to get rid of up several times and have decided that if I'm gonna keep it then it's going to have to undergo the Solo Automotive (the name of my old shop) rebuild.
I am going to tear it apart and redo anything that isnt the way I would have done it to begin with (which should be everything). Gonna put some nice very functional slow air ride on it and a lil bigger wheels. i'm not sure of the time frame, as I said this is crammed in a very small garage and I may just tinker with it till the weather warms up around here and then pull it out into the yard. But here is a little what I did yesterday. Enjoy:

pulled into the garage:

interior pic:

front before teardown:

tear down of front:

original "air" set up:

And the Badly installed V8:

And so it begins, I will take everything that I can and try to get this back to a nice dailey driver. It is sorta impressive that this was originally build by a guy I know and it was done a little over ten years ago and you can tell its been through SEVERAL owners since him and still held up. But as far as I'm concerned it is a nice pallet to start with. I like to consider it a MAZDA STARTER KIT.

looks like you got a good start

Day 2:
got the front apart:

ready to start cuttin:

this has got to go!

so getting a little closer



Also thought this would be a good time to clean out the storage building where I put some of the old stuff I had left over from the close of my shop. I just may have enough spare parts laying around to not have to spend a ton of money on this thing. That is my goal: to have a nice daily and not have spent the same money as if I was building a show piece.
this iswhat I have (that I found):
4 bags off an old rv set up

like I said before, this will be a nice simple slow set up


stuff I prob wont use but it here if I need it.

Somewhere I have a couple more bags and a viar slim tank but I'm sure I'll run across it sooner or later.
it coming along but only time will tell.

good start man, makin me jealous

hey ben nice to hear from you. Are you still interested in the wheels. As you can see they aren't doing me any good right now and anytime is good to come and get em.

yeah man definetly just gotta get some extra cash up. i had a guy right down the road make a great deal on a set of 17's so i picked them up, and as soon as i get my money back situated (which shouldn't take long) im gonna take a trip and come see you. are you still needing some wheels to roll on?

hell ya good start

i have taken 3 mazdas in trade for rent

keep the fender trim man i love it

well its sunday and that means yummy food at the in-laws for lunch but more importantly that means I get to play in the garage on the mazda. not a whole lot of progress today but only worked on it for a few hours and only had an electric cut off tool and no saws-all. So I got done what I could with what I had. should be able to sneek over sometime in the week and do the passenger side, now that I have an idea how to get that crap off there, shouldn't take near as long. Hopefully will have the front mocked up next weekend. BOY do I wish I had a plasma cutter.
enjoy:






Like I said I will hopefully plate it and get it mocked up next week.
who has the best deal on brakets for the front? Im pretty sure I can make em but may be quicker and cheaper in the long run to buy them?

i bought two sets of torsion brackets from suicidedoors.com and they were both great. like $55 or so, a few years ago when i bought them