Day 2. (sunday)
I'd spotted some rust holes on my initial poke about. Now to find out how bad it really was.
Out came the seats and carpets (no need for niceities, hack, slash and in the bin !)
Wow !! there was some considerable rust.
Note.
If you are considering buying an old RX-7 the rust spots appears to be:-
1. At the back of the rear passengers foot wells.
2. Beneath the accerator pedal and front passenger foot well
and
3. on the rear wheel arches under the rear seats.
Day 3. (monday)
After seeing the extent of the rust, I took the car to a friend who was also a dab hand at welding.
He informed me that he had seen far worst !! and quoted me Ł130 (cash in hand) to patch it up.

Day 4. (tuesday)
Time to lighten the load.
Out came all the door linings, boot liner, rear wiper, electric winders, seat belts, centre console and anything else that could be removed, which would not be required whilst maintaining its street legality..
The car looked fairly sparten, and something was needed.
After looking and asking around, I finally found that I could buy a sheet of 2mm aluminium checker plate from and engineering company not 200yds from where I worked (things are always the last place you look.)
Day 5/6. (wednesday-thursday)
Day of rest Wednesday - 8' x 4' checker plate arrived Thursday.
Phoned all the usual UK sources for rx-7 parts and found nothing I was looking for, but found a side draft carburettor at Rotechnics (A future purchase...no doubt).
Ended up ordering front and rear race springs, perches and camber adjusters from www.mazdatrix.com in america ($400)
Day 7. (Friday)
Collected some big pieces of cardboard from the office.
Bought small angle grinder on way home from work.
I laid the cardboard in the passenger footwell and cut it to size, then used the resulting creation as a template.
Attacked the aluminium with the grinder. After about two hours of grinding, cutting, bleeding and swearing...I had my first footwell.
Note.
When using an angle grinder, ear protection is essential. When I went to bed that night, could not sleep due to high pitch whistling in my ears.
Day 6. (Saturday)
Cut out drivers footwell twice (1st time I had the template back to front) and pieces to cover doors and sides.
Went to local scrap yard which specialises in performance cars.
Came back with seats from Lotus Elise and Ł200 lighter.
Day 7. (sunday)
By this time, wife and neighbours starting to complain, so I delivered the car to be welded.
The bond between man and car had formed and saying goodbye was difficult.

(To be continued..........)

PART II is now online