Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

I have a lot of vacation time I'm going to be forced to take before the end of the year, so at least one week of that is going to be spent totally on the shop in the hopes of getting it done. Having one less building to work on is going to give me a whole day every week to work on the car. As opposed to a few hours.

PnoyRx7

iTrader: (3)

"and the last time I checked, nope not dead either"

I got a chuckle out of that.

Been following all your builds for years. Very interesting. I think the first time I saw your FC was either at a parts swap meet at classic autos or a rotary meet at Mazda Scarborough(or some dealer in Toronto) I believe in 2008-2009 I think. There was also a very cool bright orange Rx-3 I think ?

distr0

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HAH, I was at that meet... good times - Mazdaspeed North @ Scarboro Mazda, Aug 23 2009! (found the photo album). The 110s Cosmo was there too

This orange one?

PnoyRx7

iTrader: (3)

Yes!! This was when my expensive addiction began. I also liked a dark grey FC with the lexan headlights instead of pop ups. I think he was selling it at that time.

It was a fun day to say the least.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

This may be the, uh, grey FC with the Lexan lights among, um, other things...



I have pictures from the event on my website here:
August 2009 Meet - Mazdaspeed North

PnoyRx7

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When I saw it the doors were not open. Now I must retract my statement I thought it was different in a weird way that it was all molded together.

I thought the front end was ok. But hey my tastes have matured since then

Aaron Cake

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It's here! Part 42 of my 76 Mazda Cosmo restoration, which finishes off the LED tail light conversion, has finally arrived. It's been a long time since the last episode, so let's make this one long and nicely detailed. As I often say, sit back with a drink and enjoy. Or perhaps several drinks if required. This episode picks up where part 41 left off beginning with mounting up the turn signal boards. Here I cover designing and building the rest of the circuit boards for the brake lights, building and programming the Arduino ATTINY85 powered controllers, modifying the tail light housings and lenses to accept the LEDs then putting it all together for a spectacular demonstration of the completed lights.

Circuit schematics, source code and PCB designs in this episode can be found at:
Halo Style Arduino Controlled LED Tail Lights Schematics and Source - My 1976 Mazda RX-5 Cosmo Restoration

thirteenbees

Best reality T.V. out there!

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

I didn't think I'd ever have to release an episode like this. But unfortunately we live in a world where someone like me, who just wants to live their life and work on their passions, falls victim to another undesirable segment of society with no goals past finding the way to their next fix. Then it's up to me to put life on hold, spend my time, energy and money to pick up the pieces. Set backs are part of building a car in the real world, without a TV crew to show up after hours. I just didn't expect nor need this kind of setback.

Neo

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That absolutely blows man!
I'll send you a PM.

distr0

iTrader: (1)

damn. that's horrible.

if you need any help with cleanup or anything, i'm not too far form london - and always looking for an excuse to take the rx-7 out

Aaron Cake

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The support from everyone has been impressive. Not only online, but I was given last week off of work so I could sort things out and secure the building. Ended up finding my circular saw under a bench so I don't think anything was actually taken. Working on sorting this out has been a sort of therapy so for the time being I'm feeling much better.

And with all the work I've done, it will be VERY much more difficult for anyone to get into the building. And if they do, the entire neighbourhood is going to know and there will be clear video footage.

It's still going to be some time before I'm completely done and back on track because after putting my life on hold to deal with this, I have to go back and deal with the backlog created.

Aaron Cake

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In part 43 of my '76 Mazda RX-5 Cosmo restoration, I begin the process of doing something about those horrible '70s "safety" bumpers. It was a dark age from 1973 to 1982 when the US federal government mandated that bumpers must sustain a 5MPH collision without damage. The result being atrocious protrusions at the front and back of a vehicle sticking out 6" on pneumatic shock absorbers. While most of the rest of the world got sleek, stylish bumpers which actually enhanced the body lines. The solution of course is the old hot rodders trick of tucking, shaving and smoothing the bumpers to better flow with the rest of the car. So unlike last time with all that delicate electronic work, this time it's all cutting, welding and pounding metal.

thirteenbees

Going to look so much better. What are your plans for finish? Paint or....?

Logan Reinisch

I must ask at about 32 minutes could that be a 20b e-shaft?

damic

I count 4 lobes (26B) not 3 (20B), but I can have it wrong

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

I have waffled between going black chrome on all the bright work, or powder coating/painting a flat shade a little darker than body colour. The latter is probably what I will do. I've seen it as a trend at AutoRama lately and when done correctly looks very modern while retaining the original styling cues.

Add one rotor to that count.

damic

Jeeej I win, what did I win :?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

A new year, a new bumper for my '76 Mazda Cosmo. So in part 44, I finish off the bumper modifications started in part 43. The smoothening continues with flush mounting the light lenses, then moves on to addressing the gaps between the bumper and body. Finally, a duct is added for the oil cooler which will eventually integrate with the front valence. So get ready for a bunch more metal work, a flurry of welding, and a metric crap ton of grinding.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Here’s hoping the project gets finished this year! ������

Aaron Cake

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As I alluded to in episode 44, part 45 of my '76 Mazda Cosmo restoration deals with retrofitting in a pair of new seats. My *** chose those out of a 2007 BMW 328i, which I then came to know as an "E90". I was looking for a set of modern seats will all the power features and not only did my butt confirm that these were mighty comfy seats, but the measuring tape confirmed they would fit well in the Cosmo. Because there's little worse in a custom car than a set of seats that look completely out of place. Turned out that while the seats fit well into the car, actually mounting them took somewhat more effort than I expected.


Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/aaroncake

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Aaron Cake

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I find them quite comfy. Never really been one for high bolsters. Mainly I'm looking for support on the *** and back which these seats do very well.

Aaron Cake

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First things first: I'm going to freely admit that this project is not critical to getting the car finished. Honestly it has just been an idea that seems to have implanted itself in my head a few years ago and rattling around inside me since then. So I decided to inject a little fun and magic into the previously shaved doors (remember part 8?) with the addition of RFID actuated openers. And yes, I realize this episode is fairly long and perhaps should have been lacerated into two parts, but I think you'll understand why I didn't split it up by the end and chose to keep it homogeneous. It also turned out to be very involved, in the sense that part 46 includes almost every fabrication technique I have access to: welding, rapid prototyping (3D printing to the lay person), fiberglass, electronics, programming and anatomy. Oh, there might also be a visit from a certain special guest to help out. One other fascinating fact is that I used more disposable latex surgical gloves in this episode than all previous episodes combined!

Electronics schematics, PCB patterns and Arduino code at: https://www.aaroncake.net/76cosmo/rfid_doors

Neo

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