Project Mazda needs a lot of help

Depending on the condition of the engine, you may be able to get by with valve stem seals only. That is a lot easier job than a valve regrind and head service.

In thisase, you dont have to remove the head. You WILL have to have a valve spring tool to remove and replace the valve spring. You will have to be very careful that you do not drop a valve down into the cylinder when you remove the spring. There are several ways to hold the valve into place, but you have to plan how you are going to do it.

As far as body work....rust is a bitch...If you dont fix it properly, it is like cancer... It will come back and eat you alive. You cant just paint or Bondo over it.

You will have to sand or blast the bad areas down to white metal to get rid of the rust. If it is too "lacy", you will have to cut out the rotten spots and weld (or rivet, or screw) in patch panels. When you have all the bodywork done, then clean, prime and paint.

You dont have to take the whole car down to white metal...only those rusted spots. If you have good metal and ugly (but sound) paint, just sand it down with several stages of fine sandpaper, prime over the old paint, and paint your creation.

You'll learn a lot on this project.

Thanks for the reply. I will learn a lot since this is gonna be my first project truck. Do you have any suggestions on what will look cool as well as help me out. Something that isnt hard on the wallet is prefered. I would love to drop the truck a little lower since it is 2 wheel drive. If it was 4x4, I would lift it and stuff big tires underneath it, but to drop it should I get new front drop spindles, or would just a new spring be better?

IMHO you probably should go ahead and start on the bodywork before you even worry about how you're going to drop it. You may decide that bodywork is not for you and start looking for another truck to be your project. To add to the previous poster's comments, when patching rusted metal, the patch must be sealed on BOTH SIDES or the rust will come back. NEVER leave filler unpainted; it draws in moisture and actually promotes rust. PRimer does not count as a paint; if you need to "hold" a patch until you're ready to shoot the whole car, paint over the repair with cheap spray paint rather than leave it primed. The only exception to this is if you're using a primer/sealer like DP-90; that can be left uncoated but also generally requires a primer/surfacer over it before final paint.

That said, I'd prefer drop spindles to keep the factory geometry for anything more than the mildest of drops. Shorter springs will make the suspension work in ways that it wasn't exactly intended to from the factory, and unless you really know what you're doing, you won't know if that is important or not until you drive it.

nate