Making old parts look new again :)
03-26-10, 06:38 AM
#176
Thanks for the compliments. Does making the whole car, which is old, look new again count for this thread? Haha.
Mainly I think it will be nice to clean up and detail every little piece that goes back in there. I bought all new OEM style hardware (flange head bolts/nuts, etc) from a local supplier, so it will all get replaced with new hardware also.
Once Im done with getting her running and going again (shes been sitting 7 years since she was stolen), I will tackle repainting the rest of the car and making the whole outside look new again, haha.
~T.J.
Mainly I think it will be nice to clean up and detail every little piece that goes back in there. I bought all new OEM style hardware (flange head bolts/nuts, etc) from a local supplier, so it will all get replaced with new hardware also.
Once Im done with getting her running and going again (shes been sitting 7 years since she was stolen), I will tackle repainting the rest of the car and making the whole outside look new again, haha.
~T.J.
03-26-10, 11:44 AM
#177
Yes, anything that is old that turns out new (with elbow grease) counts. Don't worry about
thread jacking, it's an open thread for me. I post what I do in case others want to do the same
later on, saves on forum bandwidth
That white car looks BEAUTIFUL!
I wish the PO kept my car white and didn't respray it silver
thread jacking, it's an open thread for me. I post what I do in case others want to do the same
later on, saves on forum bandwidth
That white car looks BEAUTIFUL!
I wish the PO kept my car white and didn't respray it silver
03-27-10, 06:03 AM
#178
Well, I was hoping to get ideas on how to clean stuff up from this thread when I start installing stuff again, and I already have some ideas. I have a bench grinder, but never thought of the brass wheels for it, I have steel wire. I do have deburr and buffing wheels for it too that work well also for various tasks and can be less abrasive.
All the brackets and hard pipes going back in are going be "restored", but instead of the factory plating, I will be painting them semi gloss black for simplicity. Should be fairly clean looking, and the color scheme will be white, black, and silver/aluminum.
~T.J.
All the brackets and hard pipes going back in are going be "restored", but instead of the factory plating, I will be painting them semi gloss black for simplicity. Should be fairly clean looking, and the color scheme will be white, black, and silver/aluminum.
~T.J.
03-27-10, 01:09 PM
#179
Well, I was hoping to get ideas on how to clean stuff up from this thread when I start installing stuff again, and I already have some ideas. I have a bench grinder, but never thought of the brass wheels for it, I have steel wire. I do have deburr and buffing wheels for it too that work well also for various tasks and can be less abrasive.
All the brackets and hard pipes going back in are going be "restored", but instead of the factory plating, I will be painting them semi gloss black for simplicity. Should be fairly clean looking, and the color scheme will be white, black, and silver/aluminum.
~T.J.
All the brackets and hard pipes going back in are going be "restored", but instead of the factory plating, I will be painting them semi gloss black for simplicity. Should be fairly clean looking, and the color scheme will be white, black, and silver/aluminum.
~T.J.
If you do go with the brass wheel, make sure it is a BRASS wheel, not a BRASS COATED wheel. They will try to trick you
Basically everything I used so far to clean:
Engine Brite
Windex
Nylon brushes (Harbor Freight special, 2 nylon/steel/brash brushes for $3)
Paper towels
Garden hose
03-27-10, 08:21 PM
#180
Bump!
FINALLY
I found the mystical 12x1.5 threadings I was looking for! Home depot, Lowes, ACE hardware,
none had this. It was literally the ONLY size they didn't have. Everything up to 12x1.25, then
it skips 1.5 and goes right to 12x1.75 and on! Well, went to this mom and pop store, and
they had some OLD threaded bars. Apparently they bought it from a hardware store that
was going out of business... 30 years ago. Lucky me, but the price was $35 for 3 feet of
it Atleast it is automotive grade!
Coil mount gets fabricated tomorrow!
FINALLY
I found the mystical 12x1.5 threadings I was looking for! Home depot, Lowes, ACE hardware,
none had this. It was literally the ONLY size they didn't have. Everything up to 12x1.25, then
it skips 1.5 and goes right to 12x1.75 and on! Well, went to this mom and pop store, and
they had some OLD threaded bars. Apparently they bought it from a hardware store that
was going out of business... 30 years ago. Lucky me, but the price was $35 for 3 feet of
it
Atleast it is automotive grade! Coil mount gets fabricated tomorrow!
04-17-10, 09:39 PM
#181
Bump from the dead!
Got a lot of work done these past 2 weeks. Finally got another battery to replace the gigantic
hulk that was my old, dead one. This one is slim and tall, puts out about 500ish CCA's. Man,
what a story that was. I got 60" of 2 gauge battery cable for the positive, and 12" for the
negative, 2 gauge as well. So I get it home and stick it behind the rear seats. Get a hole
drilled/painted/grommet and... find out the positive cable is too short. Like, a lot short. So I
bring it back to Advance autos, and see if they have any 2 gauge by the foot. Lucky me, they
do, but only 7.5 feet of it. I snag that and a terminal for the battery, and a end cap for the
other side of the cable for the starter. Go home, get the cap put on, mock up the 2 gauge...
and now it's short by a foot. BLAST. Bring it back, they have no longer pieces. I end up calling
everyone within an hour's driving distance if they have any 2 gauge cable by the foot. NAPA,
Pep Boys, Autozone, Advance, Oreilleys, etc. No one has it. Finally found a NAPA in Belmont
(about 1.5 hours away) that had some. Got 9 feet (!!!) of it, and cost a pretty penny too.
Well, at least this will last another 20 years Get it mocked up, and have about 6" to spare.
Passenger headlight has been removed, cleaned/degreased and painted. Brass wheeled the
band on the motor and the bolts that hold it down. Looks good with the contrasting black on
silver. Luckily I got it out and back in without snapping any of those plastic clips, unlike the
drivers side light. Mazda wants something like $40 for the whole arm, since they don't sell
the clips themselves. Searched the forum and found someone who used a rubber grommet of
some size and it worked perfectly. Have to find that thread again.
Went to Lowes and grabbed 1"x1/8"x8' of aluminum so I can make a hold down for it, and
have some to spare. Looked funny coming out of there with this 8 feet of aluminum coming
out of the dinky lowes bag. Got my battery hold down fabbed up, and the battery is ready to
rock. I was going to find a circuit breaker for the battery (better safe than sorry), but the
biggest they had was 50amp, and the Haynes manual says the starter takes "up to 50a" of
juice... Big help. Returned that and got some 12g crimp on connections.
Remounted the MSD, but had to lengthen all the wires coming from it. I draw the power for
the box from the fuse block where the starter power runs in. Had to strip/solder/heatshrink
everything, took a few hours. Even ran the white wire to a switched ground where the
power window switches are, so I can crank without spark if I need to. Or just turn it off so a
thief (knock on wood) would just get annoyed and leave it. Got that finally ran, and put it in a
loom along with the taurus fan wiring that I turned into a pusher. The fan runs great, and I
have it set up with a switch in a cabin. Big bright red LED lights up when the fan turns on,
that way I know if I am not annoyed by this light then something is wrong
Harness is finally done up, all I have to do is tape and loom it up. Got a ton of wires cut out
and lots of crap from the engine bay thrown out like windshield washer tank/pump. Cut and
ground that bracket down because someone thought it would be a good idea to weld it to
the car instead of bolt it.
The only major thing I have left to do is weld up some dowels for my coil mount bracket. It
will look ace when finished. Everything else is just a matter of reconnecting wires and
taping/looming. Should be cakewalk.
Not going to be able to hid the wiring this time around, but next winter that will be the task.
It is far too beautiful out to keep her in the garage much longer. Haven't driven it since
August, and should be driving it by the end of the week.
Also, can't find the camera to show pictures of all the work I have done. All I have is a
crappy cell phone picture of what is left of the main harness and the MSD wiring. Hopefully I
can find it soon and bust some pictures out. The main harness went from being 2" in
diameter to an inch
Got a lot of work done these past 2 weeks. Finally got another battery to replace the gigantic
hulk that was my old, dead one. This one is slim and tall, puts out about 500ish CCA's. Man,
what a story that was. I got 60" of 2 gauge battery cable for the positive, and 12" for the
negative, 2 gauge as well. So I get it home and stick it behind the rear seats. Get a hole
drilled/painted/grommet and... find out the positive cable is too short. Like, a lot short. So I
bring it back to Advance autos, and see if they have any 2 gauge by the foot. Lucky me, they
do, but only 7.5 feet of it. I snag that and a terminal for the battery, and a end cap for the
other side of the cable for the starter. Go home, get the cap put on, mock up the 2 gauge...
and now it's short by a foot. BLAST. Bring it back, they have no longer pieces. I end up calling
everyone within an hour's driving distance if they have any 2 gauge cable by the foot. NAPA,
Pep Boys, Autozone, Advance, Oreilleys, etc. No one has it. Finally found a NAPA in Belmont
(about 1.5 hours away) that had some. Got 9 feet (!!!) of it, and cost a pretty penny too.
Well, at least this will last another 20 years
Get it mocked up, and have about 6" to spare. Passenger headlight has been removed, cleaned/degreased and painted. Brass wheeled the
band on the motor and the bolts that hold it down. Looks good with the contrasting black on
silver. Luckily I got it out and back in without snapping any of those plastic clips, unlike the
drivers side light. Mazda wants something like $40 for the whole arm, since they don't sell
the clips themselves. Searched the forum and found someone who used a rubber grommet of
some size and it worked perfectly. Have to find that thread again.
Went to Lowes and grabbed 1"x1/8"x8' of aluminum so I can make a hold down for it, and
have some to spare. Looked funny coming out of there with this 8 feet of aluminum coming
out of the dinky lowes bag. Got my battery hold down fabbed up, and the battery is ready to
rock. I was going to find a circuit breaker for the battery (better safe than sorry), but the
biggest they had was 50amp, and the Haynes manual says the starter takes "up to 50a" of
juice... Big help. Returned that and got some 12g crimp on connections.
Remounted the MSD, but had to lengthen all the wires coming from it. I draw the power for
the box from the fuse block where the starter power runs in. Had to strip/solder/heatshrink
everything, took a few hours. Even ran the white wire to a switched ground where the
power window switches are, so I can crank without spark if I need to. Or just turn it off so a
thief (knock on wood) would just get annoyed and leave it. Got that finally ran, and put it in a
loom along with the taurus fan wiring that I turned into a pusher. The fan runs great, and I
have it set up with a switch in a cabin. Big bright red LED lights up when the fan turns on,
that way I know if I am not annoyed by this light then something is wrong
Harness is finally done up, all I have to do is tape and loom it up. Got a ton of wires cut out
and lots of crap from the engine bay thrown out like windshield washer tank/pump. Cut and
ground that bracket down because someone thought it would be a good idea to weld it to
the car instead of bolt it.
The only major thing I have left to do is weld up some dowels for my coil mount bracket. It
will look ace when finished. Everything else is just a matter of reconnecting wires and
taping/looming. Should be cakewalk.
Not going to be able to hid the wiring this time around, but next winter that will be the task.
It is far too beautiful out to keep her in the garage much longer. Haven't driven it since
August, and should be driving it by the end of the week.
Also, can't find the camera to show pictures of all the work I have done
. All I have is a crappy cell phone picture of what is left of the main harness and the MSD wiring. Hopefully I
can find it soon and bust some pictures out. The main harness went from being 2" in
diameter to an inch
04-18-10, 06:59 PM
#184
Glad this helped some, if I knew someone would be doing somewhat the same I would have labeled what all I removed to make it easier.
Well, got it all finished with the wiring and looming! I am pretty much at 98%
complete. Only things left to do is drill 2 holes for my battery hold down and wire the
white wire from the MSD to my switched ground, then hopefully she runs! I would
finish it, being that it would only take an hour, but my back is KILLING me. It is
pretty cool, on the drivers side I have about 5 more inches of wiring that "came up"
from the stock wiring, and on the passengers side I had to end up hiding about 2
feet of extra stock wire!
05-08-10, 07:06 AM
#185
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hello all, i have just read this thread the entire way through and i love it because i am doing similar stuff to my seven as well. surely there has been some more progress? i have a couple of photos of my car to show so i will upload some tomorrow.
Cheers!,
luke
Cheers!,
luke
Last edited by mazdawat; 05-08-10 at 07:07 AM. Reason: cos i wanted too...
05-08-10, 04:04 PM
#186
Car starts and runs, but I think the timing is off. As soon as I get a timing light we
will find out!
Wired a relay into my fuel pump using the stock + as the signal and ground the
pump to the frame rail. Pump no longer cycles with the turn signal and seems to
have more power (energy-wise) throughout the car.
Yesterday I wired in a push button starter. Debated on clipping the stock wiring,
but instead taped it back in case I want to return to it. Mounted the relay on the
battery tie downs.
Pulled the rear carpet back and made a spare wheel cover out of some leftover
wood. Now I don't have the huge depression in my trunk where my carpet sinks
into the spare tire hole.
I will borrow a better camera phone and post some pictures.
EDIT: I am thinking of doing a wire reloom for others, to show what bare
essentials they can leave and what they can cut.
05-08-10, 05:51 PM
#187
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That Wring reloom thing would quite literally rock my world... i hate seeing 10m of wrapped up wires cluttering my engine bay so this would be awesome. but even if you dont i'll have fun trying it myself.
EDIT* And congratualtions for completing your wiring work. looks like a hell of a job to do.
Here is a before and current of mine...
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/23if2mw/5[/IMG]
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/b9ht08/5[/IMG]
EDIT* And congratualtions for completing your wiring work. looks like a hell of a job to do.
Here is a before and current of mine...
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/23if2mw/5[/IMG]
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/b9ht08/5[/IMG]
Last edited by mazdawat; 05-08-10 at 06:21 PM. Reason: pics uploaded
05-13-10, 04:03 AM
#189
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Australia
Posts: 43
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
is it possible to have a little of both? so like a list of the order you did it in (not into much detail at all) and then maybe a couple of diagrams? i dont know, whichever suits you to be honest because ill love any bit of info i get =)
06-26-10, 11:45 PM
#191
El Coqui
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Houston, TX
Posts: 236
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wow
That is a big difference!!! My Engine bay looks bad, and I want to start cleaning it up myself...lol I just don't know what to start with..lol 
I do use my car for work, its about 9 miles away, I had a company truck but the company started making us park them at the office so I have to use my car so that's why I have not started...lol I am dying to start working on my car little by little.
I do use my car for work, its about 9 miles away, I had a company truck but the company started making us park them at the office so I have to use my car so that's why I have not started...lol I am dying to start working on my car little by little. That Wring reloom thing would quite literally rock my world... i hate seeing 10m of wrapped up wires cluttering my engine bay so this would be awesome. but even if you dont i'll have fun trying it myself.
EDIT* And congratualtions for completing your wiring work. looks like a hell of a job to do.
Here is a before and current of mine...
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/23if2mw/5[/IMG]
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/b9ht08/5[/IMG]
EDIT* And congratualtions for completing your wiring work. looks like a hell of a job to do.
Here is a before and current of mine...
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/23if2mw/5[/IMG]
[IMG]http://tinypic.com/r/b9ht08/5[/IMG]
06-26-10, 11:47 PM
#192
El Coqui
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Houston, TX
Posts: 236
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
07-05-10, 06:44 PM
#193
Bumping an old thread!
Got a MIG welder and started getting rid of all the holes in the engine bay. Today I got 14
holes welded and ground flat(ish). Mostly the passenger side. Had a scare when I forgot to
turn the wire speed down, and a nice big red ball of metal fell on my lower valance. Lucky me
I had some water I doused it with. Burning plastic stinks! I was finger sanding with some
150g paper, then thought "To hell with this!" and used the grinder (lightly) to remove the
paint around/in the hole. Works MUCH better and saves like 5 minutes a hole of sanding the
paint. Mind you, the car was originally white, so I had to go through silver, then white, then
primer, then get to metal.
Pictures are from the camera phone. Bad quality but it works. Would have done more, but my
ears are ringing!
Got a MIG welder and started getting rid of all the holes in the engine bay. Today I got 14
holes welded and ground flat(ish). Mostly the passenger side. Had a scare when I forgot to
turn the wire speed down, and a nice big red ball of metal fell on my lower valance. Lucky me
I had some water I doused it with. Burning plastic stinks! I was finger sanding with some
150g paper, then thought "To hell with this!" and used the grinder (lightly) to remove the
paint around/in the hole. Works MUCH better and saves like 5 minutes a hole of sanding the
paint. Mind you, the car was originally white, so I had to go through silver, then white, then
primer, then get to metal.
Pictures are from the camera phone. Bad quality but it works. Would have done more, but my
ears are ringing!
07-06-10, 08:11 PM
#195
I got 6 more holes welded on the passenger side done today, and 13 on the drivers side.
About 60% done with the drivers side, most of the other holes are hard to get the grinder on
to... I'll have to remove the brake and clutch bits on the firewall to get to most of them. All
that is left are 2 holes on the lower passenger side, which I am still debating on how to do...
They have soundproofing and possibly carpet on the inside. Also cut off the AC nozzles on
the firewall and ground them down, so those are the last 2 holes on the passenger side.
So what about those stock coil mount holes? Those things are huge! I was looking around
for some sheet metal to cut to shape and weld in, but found nothing Almost used a lid of a
paint can, but I thought that would be way to thin, and would end up just blowing holes
through it... Then I saw the solution! Had a junk quadrajet carb here... Secondary butterflies
are almost the right fit! They leave about 1/8th an inch around the hole. Tacked one on, but
it isn't flush, so I will probably end up welding on top of the plate to build it up to size. TONS
of grinding I will have to be doing on that one!
About 60% done with the drivers side, most of the other holes are hard to get the grinder on
to... I'll have to remove the brake and clutch bits on the firewall to get to most of them. All
that is left are 2 holes on the lower passenger side, which I am still debating on how to do...
They have soundproofing and possibly carpet on the inside. Also cut off the AC nozzles on
the firewall and ground them down, so those are the last 2 holes on the passenger side.
So what about those stock coil mount holes? Those things are huge! I was looking around
for some sheet metal to cut to shape and weld in, but found nothing
Almost used a lid of a paint can, but I thought that would be way to thin, and would end up just blowing holes
through it... Then I saw the solution! Had a junk quadrajet carb here... Secondary butterflies
are almost the right fit! They leave about 1/8th an inch around the hole. Tacked one on, but
it isn't flush, so I will probably end up welding on top of the plate to build it up to size. TONS
of grinding I will have to be doing on that one!
07-10-10, 01:06 PM
#197
Finished about 95% of the welding. Got 4 holes on the passenger side to worry
about, and a few small holes on the upper drivers firewall left. I'll have to get a
smaller grinding wheel or dremel to get to those spots for grinding.
Went to the junk yard today and got some bus fuses for the 2nd gen fuse box
(thanks sam!). I will be cutting a slot on the drivers side radiator shroud/panel and
mounting it flush from the inside, that should take care of my fusible link setup and
help keep things out of the way!
Fusible links with bus fuses in them, where they are bolted to now (ignore the
brake line, I hate that thing):
Where I will be putting them next, but inside the panel and flush:
07-15-10, 08:58 PM
#198
Well this has been an interesting week. Replaced the fuel pump in my buddies B2300, and
found out that he is missing teeth on his timing BELT. So I have tackled that for the past 2 days
in the sweltering heat and humidity. But good news! I only have 3 small holes I have to bond
over, since the grinding wheel will not get to it. Picked up a small tube of *shrudder* bondo,
some sand paper and some high build primer! Tomorrow I will be giving it a bath and get all the
metal dust (a TON of it, it went everywhere) off of it and dry it. Pictures tomorrow after I rough
it up some and throw down some primer!
found out that he is missing teeth on his timing BELT. So I have tackled that for the past 2 days
in the sweltering heat and humidity. But good news! I only have 3 small holes I have to bond
over, since the grinding wheel will not get to it. Picked up a small tube of *shrudder* bondo,
some sand paper and some high build primer! Tomorrow I will be giving it a bath and get all the
metal dust (a TON of it, it went everywhere) off of it and dry it. Pictures tomorrow after I rough
it up some and throw down some primer!
07-16-10, 02:01 PM
#200
plus about a dozen sand paper grits.
Just rolled her out of the rotor cave and into the sunlight. Washed it for a while, it
was scary trying to rinse as much of the metal dust as possible off before I
physically washed it. It was like I could feel every speck of metal gritdust that the
rinse wouldn't wash off grinding against my paint...
Clean for the most part:
Just gotta let it sun dry and I will wash it once more for good measure, then the
paint begins!