August 2008 Pics and Updates On My Turbo NA Bridgeport Project
 

What would the summer be without at least one post regarding my ongoing Project Tina? I'm sure at least two of you are wondering how the car is doing after the GT40R install, tuning and dyno runs of last summer, the details of which can be found in this thread. Here's the latest update on the project and set of pictures, covering the first half of the summer.

Now that the major mechanical work is done, the first half of this update deals with suspension and brakes. The second half gets into dealing with the interior restoration. Along the way there are a few other tasks thrown in but as the engine bay is basically complete, there's none of that stuff this time.

Leaving off from the last thread, we ended on a passenger side shot of the completed engine bay. Through the rest of last summer the car was tuned, driven, taken to the track and just plain enjoyed. However with it's new found power, the worn out suspension became even more obvious. During the winter while the car rested happily in the garage it was time to go shopping.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...sener Side.jpg

An order to Mazdatrix resulted in a wonderfully large box showing up at the door a week later. Contained within was a set of Racing Beat springs, KYB AGX shocks, new clutch slave and master cylinder, stainless brake and clutch lines, an a set of Hawk HPS brake pads. A trip to the local auto parts store to pick up a set of 4 piston front calipers and 5 lug rotors completed the pile. Always nice to have a stack of parts to stare at while watching TV in the cold of winter.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...rake Parts.jpg

As soon as spring came, it was time to get right down to work on the car. After pushing it out of storage it was prepped to drive and then taken on a short journey to make sure everything was as it should be. Immediately after, the real work started. The short drive had reminded me of an annoyingly intermittent sticking front caliper. Additionally, the single piston brakes were becoming a safety hazard. They are simply not adequate to rein in 400 HP. This became obvious during some 1/4 mile runs, and even before that when tuning out at the airport. Something had to be done and a new set of single piston calipers would not do the job.

Everyone knows that a 5 lug swap gets you the 4 piston calipers, which is all fine and dandy if you have a set of gross stock wheels. But what if you already have an investment in a nice set of aftermarket wheels? I'm perfectly happy with the split 5 spoke CSA wheels I've had on this car for years and can't imagine a wheel style that fits the 2nd gen any more perfectly. Moving to a 5 lug setup would get me the big brakes, but mean I would also have to swap wheels. Unacceptable. Knowing that the spindle setup for both 4 and 5 lug are the same, I figured there would have to be a way to mount the 4 piston calipers on a 4 lug car with a minimum of fuss. As it turns out, the calipers bolt right on after you remove the bracket for the single piston unit.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Lug Rotor.jpg

The calipers fit fine, but we all know the 4 lug rotor is much smaller then the 5 lug. Just putting on the 4 piston calipers is pointless as half the pad area is hanging off the rotor.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Lug Rotor.jpg

I figured it would be easy to redrill the 5 lug rotors to fit the 4 lug hub, and I was mostly correct. The 4 lug rotor was placed on top of the 5 lug rotor to decide where to place the new holes. As you can see, the center locating hole is the same on both rotors. This means the hub-centric rotor will stay centered on the hub even with a set of hand drilled holes.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...otor Holes.jpg

I drilled the holes out to 13MM, just a bit bigger then the factory holes. This allows a bit of wiggle room since when hand drilling, things can move a little bit. :) At this point the 5 lug rotor is now a hybrid 4/5 lug, and will fit either hub. You see this often in aftermarket brake kits. It thus mounted to the 4 lug hub without any drama.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...Test%20Fit.jpg

It was time to bolt up the caliper, and it's here I ran into a small snag. It seems that Mazda decide to make the cast face of the 4 lug rotor a lot thicker then the 5 lug. Placing the redrilled 5 lug rotor onto the 4 lug hub made it seem as if it fits, but this is not so. Once the caliper was bolted in place, the back of the rotor scrapped the caliper. Confused, I measured the thickness front to back of both rotors. It turned out the same so that was not the cause. I then measured the thickness of the face of the hat on both rotors and found my issue. It seems the face of the 4 lug rotor is about 4MM thicker then the face of the 5 lug rotor. Thus, the 5 lug rotor sat further back off of the hub and smacked the caliper. To overcome this I stacked washers behind the rotor to move it back out to the center of the caliper. Below is a mockup of the brake setup using the washers as a spacer.

I then drew up a spacer in CAD and sent the drawing off to the local laser cutter to have some made in 4MM steel.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ton Mockup.jpg

While the spacers were getting cut, I turned my attention to the suspension. A new set of KYB AGX shocks and RB springs were installed front and rear. I also replaced the supper strut mounts at the same time as the originals were 22 years old and well past their useful life.

No pictures of the rears as I only had the spring compressor for the weekend and ran into s small snag. The driver swapped out with no issues, but the passenger was another story. The lower strut mount (located on the control arm) was totally mangled due to a past "mechanic" over tightening the bolt. The mount was ballooned out, which also destroyed the bottom of the strut. Attempting to remove the bolt promptly snapped it, and the strut then had to be forcibly removed with a pry bar. The result was that a replacement mount was needed. Unfortunately the Mazda dealer could not get that bolt as the parts catalog showed NLA; No Longer Available. Luckily Joe of RPM Motorsports had a replacement on hand from a J-spec clip. A bit of heating and impacting removed the broken mount, then the new mount and strut was installed. For the record, the hex on these mounts is a weird sized metric...It doesn't exist. However a 1 1/8" deep well impact socket will fit it as long as the hex is undamaged.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...d On Front.jpg

A few days later the machine shop was finished with the 4 lug 4 piston spacers. I ended up having 8 cut as it would have been the same price for two. So if you want to make the same setup yourself, send me a PM and I'll sent a set out to you for the price of shipping.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... 4 Lug Hub.jpg

The inner radius of the spacer needed a bit of grinding to fit flush on the hub as the factory hub casting has a little bit of a taper to it. A few minutes with the grinding wheel it fit perfectly. I anti-seized it up and then placed it on the hub.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ted On Hub.jpg

Next, the rotor was installed. Nothing annoys me more then rusted brake rotors so I sprayed the hat and outer edge with some VHT silver caliper enamel to help keep them looking fresh. You'll also notice that the stock dust shield was cut in order to fit the larger diameter rotors. I could have used the 5 lug shield, but this was far easier and will allow more cooling air to the rotors.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ith Spacer.jpg

Finally the calipers were installed after being painted with VHT black caliper enamel. Funny, I purchase this paint constantly and have for years yet this is the first time I have ever used it on an actual brake caliper. The caliper bolted right up aside from one annoyance. For some odd reason my 4MM spacers moved the rotor closer to the outer side of the caliper then the inner. Functionally this is no problem, but it does look odd when the wheel is removed and you are looking directly at the end of the caliper. If you are going to have your own spacers cut, use steel closer to 3MM. The stainless DOT approved lines from Mazdatrix fit up fine. Note that they are the single piston lines.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...nless Line.jpg

The complete 4 piston 4 lug setup. I wonder how many people would notice what's wrong with this picture?

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...Lug Brakes.jpg

With the brakes complete it was time to fix another annoyance with the car; the e-fan. Controlling the e-fan relay with the Microtech works just fine, but the fan cycles on and off annoyingly. The temp of the car goes up, so the fan comes on. Then it cools back down and the fan shuts off. Rinse and repeat for as long as you are driving slowly. It got on my nerves and was nowhere near as transparent as the stock clutch fan. After reading about the SPAL FAN-PWM on this forum, I decided to give it a try.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon I wired it into the car. I made a small mounting plate to located the FAN-PWM near the stock front relays.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ler Wiring.jpg

I then modified my harness with the harnesses included with the FAN-PWM, tying into the stock engine coolant temp sensor with the white wire as per the instructions. The harness was then loomed up and secured into place.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Installed.jpg

The idea of this controller is that it turns your electric fan (on/off) into a clutch fan (continuously variable) by reading engine temperature and adjusting the fan speed to match. In theory it's a wonderful idea, but in practice I'm torn as to loving the unit, or hating it. There are problems with the unit's construction and design.

I applaud SPAL for trying to build a quality product by using WeatherPack connectors. However the connectors they used are clearly made in China and of inferior quality. The plastic feels weak and shows casting flash, and the silicone seals are poorly molded and very transparent.

The unit itself seems to mostly work as advertised. I have my fan set to low speed around 78C and high speed around 92 C. Thus at thermostat temp of about 84C it is at half speed. However this was very difficult to achieve. Because the circuit itself is poorly designed it was a real pain getting this thing to work. SPAL combined the signal and power ground in the circuit, something even a 1st year electrical engineering student knows not to do. The temp sensor input is also not isolated. This in combination with the ground setup means that a voltage offset can form when the fan draws high currents. The poor quality WeatherPack connector introduced a bit of resistance into the ground line, which totally messed up the voltage the unit was seeing from the temp sensor. This caused the unit to misread the temperature and be unsettable. It basically ran the fan high all the time. It was only after a week's worth of tech support emails to SPAL that I was told to cut the ground line off of the WeatherPack and ground directly to the chassis. Once I did, it behaved for the most part.

The other design issues are with the control algorithm. It's totally linear, which anyone versed in electronic control systems knows is almost never an appropriate method for a closed loop system. For example, if the fan is set to run half speed at 84 degrees and full speed at 94 degrees, it runs at 55% at 85C, 60% at 86C, 70% at 87C, etc. The issue is that this linear approach means the car can "stick" at a temperature. Even though the fan is running faster, there is more heat to remove so they cancel each other out. What's needed is a "gain" setting. The fan needs to overshoot the target speed for a little bit. Using the example above, the fan should run at 80% at 87C until the temp drops to 86C and then resume it's normal 60%. The higher off the target temp of the vehicle, the faster the fan should run to bring it down. That's now closed loop control is properly done in this case.

Additionally, setting the unit is confusing. If you accidentally set the low speed and high speed temps too close, the fan simply won't run. This is not an acceptable fail safe. The fan should either run at high speed until the situation is corrected, or a medium like 80%.

Those faults aside, the unit does seem to be working for me now. After tweaking the high and low settings for a week or so I've got the fan adjusted properly. Another bit of good news is that in speaking with the SPAL engineers, they have told me the new version of the circuit fixes the ground issue. They didn't isolate the input, nor did they implement a gain control, but they did add a signal ground. That should go a long way to solving the problem.

With the fan nonsense behind me it was time to turn my attention to the interior. The existing interior of the car, aside from being half ripped out, was in terrible shape. The maroon carpet had faded to green, the seats were covered in stains of unknown biological origin, and most of the plastic had long since cracked. Again, it was time to spend some money at Mazdatrix. I ordered much of the commonly broken trim: idiot light surround, demister grills, front defroster grills, shifter surround and boot, steering column cover, heater vents and rubber shifter boots. From the local speed shop came a few rolls of Dynamat. As it turns out, I would need a LOT more Dynamat. The seats are just some made in China sport seats that I literally purchased out of the back of a van in a Petro Canada parking lot in Scarborough (Toronto's ghetto). The quality and comfort of these seats surprised me. Will the last 20 years? Probably not. But for the price and the 5 years I will get out of them I'm not worried. Also I grabbed a set of red anodized lug nuts, just because.

Not shown in the picture is the Auto Custom Carpets carpet set, purchased from Black Dragon. We'll talk about that later.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...rior Parts.jpg

Fitting the driver side seat was easy. All it took was redrilling the stock seat rails and elongating the mounting holes a bit. The seat almost dropped right in.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...river Seat.jpg

The seat fits fine on the stock brackets but is a bit higher then stock. I'm torn between really liking the new driving position (it allows much easier heel-toe) and thinking it's too high. There are half in spacers on the seat rails so I can always lower the seat later if I feel it's too high.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Up In Car.jpg

The passenger seat was a bit more complicated. Mazda designed the passenger seat and rail very oddly. The outer mount (closest to the door) is standard. However the inner mount on the transmission tunnel is mounted at an angle and up quite high. The seat then has a matching depression and angled mounts to bolt up. This means that an aftermarket seat with a flat bottom doesn't even come close to fitting. It would have been an easy affair to make a set of spacers to match everything up but that would have raised the seat at least an inch. That was unacceptable as the stock seat is already high enough.

Redrilling the outer rail in the same way the driver side was done took care of one side. I then fit the seat in using the single rail and figured out the angle needed to make a set of tabs. Then, the ends were cut off of the stock inner rail.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ts Cut Off.jpg

I then made a set of tabs using 1/8" plate.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...Inner Rail.jpg

The seat was then installed into the car with the outer rail, while the tabs rested on the inner rail. A bit of careful tack welding secured them. Plenty of wet cloth was wrapped around the area during welding to avoid setting the new seat on fire.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...d Top View.jpg

Here's the bottom view of the mounting tabs. You can see the angle of the inner passenger mount.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ottom View.jpg

The rail was then removed from the seat and the mounting tabs fully welded and trimmed. While the fitting was very time consuming and tiring (lifting the seats in and out and in and out and in and out), it really wasn't that hard.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...lly Welded.jpg

After all the welding, the seat fit quite well in the car. Two pieces of 1.5" square tubing were used as spacers on the outer rail to level the seat. Still needs a bit of tweaking to get it perfect, but for now it's fine. The rails still slide and both seats have full adjustment.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Up In Car.jpg

Time to quiet the car down a bit. Long trips in this car have always been very tiring due to road noise, exhaust noise, drivetrain noise and general rattles and squeaks. The factory sound deadening does a good job, but with the tar undercoating removed for the POR-15, the car was far noisier then before. I decided to cover the entire floor pan in Dynamat, so I purchased two 12 square foot rolls of the stuff and started applying to the floor pan and hatch area. I was surprised at how little coverage 12 square feet actually provided. Then again, when I drove the car with the floor and hatch partly covered, I was amazed at the difference it made. It sounded like a whole new car.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...d On Floor.jpg

Since I ran out of Dynamat and the store was closed for the weekend, I installed a new set of door seals. The original set had disappeared 8 years ago when the car was painted and a lot of road noise and dust entered the car as a result. These new seals work well enough to make it hard to close the door due to air pressure and are well worth the investment. In addition to the plastic retaining clips I also used weatherstrip adhesive in the areas subject to sag.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...Door Seals.jpg

I also decided that I had lived long enough under the oppression of standard chrome wheel lug nuts, so I installed the anodized red replacements. Say what you will, I like them and they match the car. Also my original nuts were well past the point of worn out and appeared to be randomly salvaged from other cars as no two matched.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...l Lug Nuts.jpg

A big box of 36 square feet of Dynamat arrived for me at Jim's Speed a few days later. Continuing with the installation, I began covering the rest of the floor pan. This is actually very time consuming. To do a good job each piece must be carefully measured, cut, and then slowly laid onto a clean surface. Overlaps add a lot of thickness so I worked carefully and slowly to avoid them. All in all, this took about a week and a half.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...river Side.jpg

I covered the rear wheel wells completely including the shock towers, the rear storage bin area, and the full rear hatch floor.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...Hatch Area.jpg

The entire passenger area was covered as well.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...enger Side.jpg

How much Dynamat did I use? Approximately 52 square feet. That is considerably more then I thought I would need. This stuff is expensive, but it is worth it. I probably added 50 LBs to the car and I must say that besides the turbo system, this is the best 50 LBS ever. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the car feels like a totally different vehicle. Gone is all the road noise, transmission noise, random rattles and shoe melting heat from the transmission tunnel. The car is now comfortable and far less tiring to drive, staying much cooler in operation. My only regret is that the stuff works so well that some of the wonderful turbo noise has been muffled. It's a worthwhile tradeoff though.

If you are going to do this I have one very important tip: poke all your bolt holes and upholstery clip holes as you lay the Dynamat. Hunting for them later with a pin really sucks.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Rear View.jpg

As I could have purchased several 2nd gens for the price of buying a new dealer carpet set, I decided to go with the ACC replacement carpet offered by Black Dragon. ACC advertises their products as "The highest quality aftermarket replacement carpet set in the industry". This may be true, but only because there are no other aftermarket carpet sets for the 2nd gen. Consider this: If the OEM carpet is a "10" on the quality scale, the ACC carpet is a "2". The major problem is fit. It doesn't! All aftermarket carpet sets are shipped folded in a box so they need time to stretch back out, so the lack of moulding didn't initially worry me. They also all need to be trimmed, so I didn't worry about th excessive amount of material (better to have more then not enough). However as I began fitting the carpet I realized that there were some issues. First and most importantly, the moldings (for things like seat crossmembers, corners, etc.) were not distinct/deep enough. The seat crossmember moldings were far too shallow. This meant that the carpet had to be stretched to fit, creating massive wrinkles and bunching elsewhere. At first glance, the carpet looks great. I decided to do some trimming around the shifter area to avoid having to remove the dash. This worked out well.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ivers Side.jpg

However take a look at it from the passenger side. See how flat everything is? Notice how the rear seat mounts disappear? Because they were not molded the carpet had to be bunched and folded to lay flat. This pulled some areas very tight, and left others very loose. The end result is that it is just plain a bad fit. I think ACC is far to used to molding carpets for flat muscle car floors. A floor with contours like ours is out of their league.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...enger Side.jpg

After a lot of fitting and trimming, I was able to get the fit into the "acceptable" category. Still nowhere near OEM, but it's much better then the stained and faded carpet I removed.

Here are a few other issues I noticed with this carpet set:

1. Rear speaker/wheel well areas did not have enough extra material. They fell several inches short at the end and needed a lot of stretching.

2. The colour was several shades too light. The OEM carpet matches the trim perfectly. It looks like ACC just pulled the colour out of their existing stock instead of bothering to match it. However I do actually like the brighter shade. It brightens up the interior and bit and brings in a little contrast.

3. Several blemishes were on the carpet right out of the box. Not a huge deal, but a new carpet should not have missing tufts.

4. Did I mention it doesn't bloody fit?

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Installed.jpg

To protect my new carpet and deal with all the shifter air leaks I installed new rubber boots around the shifter. This is a worthwhile fix for probably 90% of 2nd gens out there as I have never seen one with the boots in tact that this point. A new set of boots stops all the hot air pushed up from the transmission tunnel from baking your hands, hugely cuts down on road noise, and quiets the transmission greatly. Awesome way to spend $30. If you have an exhaust leak, these boots also prevent you from stepping out of the car wearing that "rotary perfume" that the ladies love so much.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...bber Boots.jpg

I then trimmed the rear of the carpet and secured it to the rear bulkhead using the stock fir trees. It looks a bit wrinkled in the picture but actually lays fairly flat. Some of the wrinkles will disappear as the carpet molds itself to the contour of the car over time. Once the carpet was in place, the rear fiberglass deck was reinstalled.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Installed.jpg

The rear main carpet was put into position and it actually fit quite well. Much better then all the other pieces of this carpet set. It included pre-cut holes for the storage bins and required only a little trimming around the storage bin hinges and screws. The stitching around the edges is of acceptable quality. My car didn't come with storage bins originally. Years ago I added a single bin, but this time I needed both (the battery sits under the passenger lid).

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...Front View.jpg

Here's another view of the rear carpet. See that little hint of silver in the top right corner? That's an area of exposed Dynamat caused by not enough carpet. It was cut this way from the factory. I'll glue a piece of scrap carpet down underneath to camouflage the spot, but I find it annoying and odd that ACC did not include any extra material in the two pieces they shipped to cover the shock towers.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Rear View.jpg

I transferred the rear carpet retaining trim from the old carpet to the new. It actually is fairly simple to do. The teeth were folded up, which allowed the plastic backing to be removed. Then the trim simply slid out of the old carpet. I laid the old carpet over the new and then traced for the slots, cutting them with a razor blade. The trim then just slides into the slots and at that point, installation is reverse of the removal (don't you love it when they say that?). I'm still undecided about the square vents. Without them the rear of the hatch area looks clean and sterile. But having them is more authentic. I can install them at any time, but once the carpet is cut to fit them I can't uninstall...

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Installed.jpg

The kit includes two small pieces that fit between the rear carpet and the shock tower carpet. They fit miserably. Again, not enough material was left for a decent overlap so you can see the gaps that have formed. I'm going to glue a backing board in place to tie them together and add a bit of structure.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Installed.jpg

Sometime long before I purchased this car, a previous owner had installed a low end AM/FM/Cass stereo in place of the AM radio the car came with. This install was a real hack job, amounting to nothing more then cutting the factory harness to pieces, poorly crimping on the new harness, and then jamming the unit into the center console, grinding until it fit. The result was as expected. The first mod I did after I took delivery of the car was to replace the awful unit with a less awful unit and then correct the wiring nightmare. As the stock stereo bracket had disappeared previous to my ownership I also mounted my slightly less crappy Pyramid tape deck to the center console. We all know that the S4 center console is not really a very strong piece of plastic. 20 years of sun exposure turns into a brittle mess. The result is that at least once a year the weight of the stereo would crack the console, and I was off to the wreckers to replace it.

This time around I did things correctly. According to Mazda, the stock FC stereo mounting brackets are no longer available. A quick trip to the wreckers and $20 later, I had what I needed. Since almost all OEM stereos are of a standard DIN width, the only thing required to fit the new JVC KD-BT1 (AM/FM/CD/MP3/USB/Bluetooth) stereo into the FC stereo bracket was a bit of trimming to flatten out the inside of the bracket. After that it bolted right in with some M5 stainless screws. Finally I'll have a stereo that doesn't move around when buttons are pressed!

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ed Bracket.JPG

Some tested. Yeah, it still fits. I had actually wired the unit into the car at the beginning of the summer and zip tied it in place temporarily. Listening to the engine is great, but I got kind of tired of having no other options.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...or Testing.JPG

OK, here's the thing. I had originally intended to use the carbon fibre stereo surround produced by FIBREMAZ, but after two units he shipped me didn't fit, I bought a new surround from the dealer. I don't blame FIBREMAZ. For whatever reason, his consoles don't seem to fit my car. After sending back the original due to 1/4" gaps at the top, the replacement had a slightly smaller gap but still didn't fit. Others have used his consoles in the past and had no problems. Though for whatever reason, they don't fit my car at all. However the new console I purchased from the dealer fit perfectly.

Anyone battling with cracking stock consoles should consider just buying a new one at the dealer. The cost was $101 exactly and it arrived next day. Not only was it in perfect condition, but it is actually flexible! It's a sobering reminder that FC trim is not crappy, just old. I can bend and twist this console with no fear of cracks.

I temporarily installed it with a brand new set of vents and new shifter surround/boot to check the fit of the stereo, making sure it was level and at the correct height.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...ifter Boot.JPG

The ugly space underneath the stereo needs to be filled. Additionally I need somewhere to mount my switches (daytime running lights, windows, fog lights). Previously I had a black Lexan panel mount to the backside of the center console. It worked, though did have a tendency to crack the 20 year old console after about a years worth of use. This time the switch panel would be made of aluminum and mounted solidly to the stereo bracket. I simply cut a piece of 2MM aluminum to size, then bent each end to 90 degrees. Took two tries to get the correct distance between bends though.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...eo Bracket.JPG

Seems to fit well in the stereo surround. Notice that I also trimmed the two side pieces to allow a little more clearance to install the console over the stereo frame. I then found out that the frame detaches from the stereo. Doh.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...In Console.JPG

Next I drilled the appropriate holes in the panel to actually mount the switches. Additionally I added a cutout for a DB9 serial port. The port connects to the serial cable coming from the Microtech LT8s and provides a convenient spot to connect without having to dig around in the carpet or have a tonne of cable tied up under the dash.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... For Paint.JPG

When painted with DupliColor black automotive trim paint the new switch plate is almost a perfect match to the OEM plastic. Prior to painting I aggressively attacked the aluminum with the wire wheel to give it a rough texture. After painting the texture shows through and looks like the OEM wrinkle finish. 4 light coats of this paint should stand up to years of wear.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...In Console.JPG

Finally, the whole mess was permanently installed. Everything still fit and any gaps were small and even. New trim really is a joy. None of it is brittle, scratched, dirty or worn. All of it just fit and can be removed without concern over breakage. The colour between pieces is a bit uneven, probably due to manufacturing differences. A bit of Armor All will even things up.

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil... Installed.JPG

You'll notice there are still a few bits of trim to be installed. I'm still trying to find my ash tray. It's in the shed somewhere...somewhere. If I can't find it or it's not in good shape I'll just order a new one. I have a new steering column surround waiting to be installed. The only question mark is the console between the seats. I'm trying to decide whether to go maroon or carry the black through. I've also got to send the door panels out for re-upholstering as soon as I decided on how I want it done.

I think that's enough for now. The car is getting very close to being done. As far as fabrication goes, I think that's the bulk of it. There are still a few nagging issues: the oil leak at the front hub is driving me crazy, I need to fix my metering oil pump lines and actuator cable, and some kind of LSD is required to actually have a hope of getting traction. Oh, and a boost controller so I can really have some fun. :D

nice yea im having the same problems with the pass. seat on mine (thanks for the write up)

car's looking good ive been thinking about dynomat as well for the 7 (52 sq ft dammm)

black dragon strikes again.....

I'd totally recommend Dynamat'ting the car. It's made a huge difference in how the car feels. Without a doubt it's worth the time and money to have a quiet, rattle free car. It's not going to turn the RX-7 into a Lexus, but really, who wants that anyway? It will make the car less tiring to drive, you and a passenger won't roast your feet on the transmission tunnel, and the rear speakers will no longer sound like a wax cylinder phonograph.

I don't really blame Black Dragon, they are just reselling the ACC carpet and you can't expect them to test fit everyone they ship. But ACC in my books makes a crappy carpet for the 2nd gen. I've seen their stuff on other cars and the quality is much better.

Aaron, I really don't understand your car...

NOTCHING the frame rail so you can keep the NA intake manifold on the motor?

Fabricating stuff and drilling your brake rotors so you can stay 4 lug?

You seem like you're pretty good with your hands, but some of the decisions you make while putting the car together completely baffle me.

Great updates Aaron. Are you ever going to do anything about the "lovely" red/brown dash?

Aaron . . . . . I need you as a neighbor

As always you have done a very clean job while keeping the original look of the car.

I know it is a SUPER long drive, but will this car be at SSXI?

I admit, notching the frame rail was not the best way to allow mounting of the stock turbo. If I had been thinking, I would have remote mounted the wastegate actuator or simply shifted it's location and modified the rod. But as they say, hindsight is 20/20. I've asked several experienced body people and they aren't the least bit concerned with the little frame notch, and it's been fine for 6 years.

As I explained in the posts above, I wanted to keep my wheels. Going to 5 lug posed no advantage at all to me. In fact, nothing but disadvantages since it would mean having to buy a set of 5 lug hubs, rear calipers, brackets disks, and new wheels. As you can see, my (rather unique) wheels are 4 lug.

The pictures make the dash look horrible since I don't really bother lighting anything correctly, but in reality it's in good shape. A little dirty, but not faded at all and no tears or cracks. Just a bit of cleaning then a wipe down with Armor All and it will look good as new.

My front door to Irvine CA is 3,873 KM, or about 37 hours of driving. I'm thinking that if I attend Sevenstock (which I am debating), then I will fly down. Driving is just out of the question unless someone wants to provide me a big truck and a flatbed. :)

That reminds me SO MUCH of my MX-3 when I bought it. He had the cheapest CD player I have ever seen (the $40 Durabrand one from Wal-mart). The worst part was the wiring. He had cur off the factory harness completely (and left almost no slack for me to fix it....) and the decided to run ALL NEW WIRES. This included running new wires to the speakers and running wires though the firewall to the battery. This means that it was on all of the time, so I had to turn the stereo off when I turned off the car to avoid killing the battery. He also used shitty home stereo speakers in the rear. They were sitting where the spare tire should have been.....


Anyway, another awesome post in in the ongoing TIINA saga!

Isn't it just that the S4 radio surround is a non flexible plastic while the S5 radio trim is rubberized? I could have sworn I read that somewhere. IIRC you can't get the S4 radio trim anymore, only the S5 and it fits the S4 dash just the same.

Nice work on that switch panel. I love the DB9 port. I been thinking of doing something similar.


You painted the wheels! I think they look better in black. :)

that is not your wheels,your wheels are silver and the ones on the picture are black,is that what is wrong on the picture?oh and i still want those spacer Aaron.Thanks buddy

As usual Mr. Cake, your log is nicely illustrated and cleverly written...kudos.

BTW...instead of Armorall I'd recommend you try generic unscented petroleum jelly on your plastic parts. Park the car in the sun to heat up the interior, then move to the garage. Slather on a goodly coat of the jelly and let it sit.
Revisit after a few hours and add more to the areas that have prematurely dried.
Let sit overnight then buff the surfaces with an old t-shirt or diaper.

You'll get a nice matte gloss instead of the artificial high shine of Armorall and it lasts much longer. It's not as messy as it sounds and supposedly the petroleum revitalizes the plastic as opposed to just laying a skin over the top. I saw this in a detailing forum a few years ago and have been very happy with the results.
Plus, it's a lot cheaper than Armorall and it's kin.

How do you like your new struts and springs? Ive been running the same set up for about a year and a half and love it. They seem to be holding up to Indiana's finest gravel roads anyways. My only beef is that my car still sits pretty high. It could be that it's a Sport, and even then stripped down to few accessories. Hope you enjoy it!

With that microtech cable now in your center console, how will you attach it to a laptop? Plug in another cable to the spot below the radio then run that to the laptop?

Regarding first pic of the sterio install: RAMMSTEIN FUCK YEA!

^ LOL I saw that!

Whats wrong with that picture?

You put the spare wheel on!

Old diapers? :)

Good idea, I'm gonna use this!

Aaron, I mounted my MT hand controller, with the cable excess contained inside the stereo surround. I figured I could pull the cable out when I need to tune with a laptop, and tuck it away when I don't need it. Good work, your stuff is always interesting!

Pardon the dusty interior:

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...I/IMG_0330.jpg

arent the caliper pad retainers on backwords? should be on the inside

Aaron, i have a COMPLETE maroon interior from and 88 SE if there's any little parts you need to finish your car let me know. i'll send them to you for the price of shipping.

car looks great. i really respect the amount of blood, sweat, time, and money goes into these cars and it seems as though its paying off well for you!

^ +1

Awesome write up. Almost makes me wish I had an n/a just so I could emulate your creative solutions.

I'd never thought I'd see that much dynomat in a 7 before. The added weight should help with your traction problem at the track and yeild some better times. Great Job Aaron.

Also, kickass choice of music. Ramms+ein is the best.

for next time lol, if you heat the backin up on the carpet with a heat gun, or even a blow drier it makes forming it 200 times easier

looking good tho Aaron!

you'll need to put in a cage and the 5 point harness's to go to the drags with those seats, youd be better off just selling them to me hahahahahaha

your not aloud to use the stock seat belt with aftermarket seats

Very nice work. These updates are my favorite threads.

What are your plans as far as getting an LSD?

Home speakers! Awesome. I may actually be able to beat that though. Years ago I had a '78 RX-7 GS as a winter beater. I bought it pre-rusted but with VERY low mileage. The previous owner did his own stereo install consisting of a Jensen AM/FM tape deck. It was actually mounted into the dash properly, but that's where the goodness stopped. The main power of the unit was connected to the dash dimmer circuit so if you turned down the dash lights, the stereo would quiet down until it failed due to low voltage. A no-name amp was installed under the driver seat but would get wet from the carpet. It kind of turned on and off randomly. It powered two Realistic wood cased Hi-Fi speakers tossed into the back of the hatch. The only thing keeping them in place was gravity so they would move all around as you drove...

Yes, the S5 surround is a more rubberish material then the S4. To make it fit in the S4 you also need to swap in the S5 vents. After that it's bolt in but honestly I've never found the S5 surround to fit quite right in the S4. It always looks a little off, and I prefer the less complicated S4 panel.

To get mine I just walked into the Mazda dealer and ordered it. Showed up the next day. I'd say that means they are available though you probably have to give them the part number as it's hard to find on the fiche. Most, if not all, of the FC trim is still available and surprisingly cheap. The prices have dropped over the last few years. I suspect less fade prone colours are more available then maroon.

Last night I made a DB9 male to DB9 male straight through cable to complete the installation. I just used a spare DB9 from an older AT style computer (the ones that used to come with the motherboard and get mounted to the case or in a card slot). The connector will mount to the cutout in the switch panel in the same way it would have mounted to the computer case.

I painted the wheels black a while ago and covered it in another thread. :) The wrongness I was referring to is the 4 lug 4 piston setup, for those who don't see this thread... ;)

I'll get back to your PM regarding the spacers. I've just been busy lately working on the car and then writing this thread.

I'll give that a try. I'm not a huge fan of the shin that Armorall adds but it does seem to do a good job in preserving the dash. I assume that before I try the petroleum jelly I will need to strip off any remaining Armorall?

I'm very happy with the results. Keep in mind I'm comparing new struts and springs to 22 year old worn out parts. The difference was dramatic. Small bumps and uneven roads don't upset the car anymore and I can feel what weight transfer is better on any kind of transition. The ride quality is much improved as well. On the softest setting the car rides like a Civic but without the mush. I currently have the fronts set to 2 and the rears set to 4. This seems to work quite well. I may go one stiffer on the rear though. Initially I was concerned over how much the car would drop but the 3/4" or so is totally manageable.

To connect to the laptop, I'll just use a female to female DB9 straight through cable to connect the dash to the adapter. The adapter then connects to the laptop.

The whole setup is as follows:
DB9 M (on Microtech) -> DB9 F to DB9 F extension cable to dash -> Small DB9 M to M (on switch panel) -> DB9F to DB9F (to laptop)

I think that makes sense.

Damn straight.

I don't actually have a hand controller, though I did consider possible future use of one when I set up the dash serial port. In that case I will just make a very short serial cable so the controller can be mounted, and then keep a longer cable in the dash.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm good. :) I just buy all new trim at the dealer. It's actually quite cheap...

That works to restore the contours or make your own. In the case of this carpet that simply doesn't have the required material in the places it needs to be, it won't help unfortunately.

They aren't racing seats, so there will be no issues.

A lot of people (and I mean a LOT of people) run at Sparta with clapped out shit boxes that are far worse then a set of aftermarket seats. Funny though, I'm ususally the only one that has to go through tech inspection...and the inspector clearly has no clue what he's looking at.

Just an NA LSD that bolts right in. I may rebuild it and have the gears hardened, or use an aftermarket center section (Kazz or similar).

Actually there seems to be quite a bit of anecdotal evidence that shows that Armorall accelerates the drying/cracking of plastic-especially areas subjected to frequent direct sunlight.
While I'm not sure about that, I do feel that Armorall is bad to the extent that once you start using it you have to continue or it ends up worse than before.

Anyway, the first time I used the petroleum jelly I prepared the surfaces by scrubbing with a t-shirt dampened with hot water and a bit of dish soap.
It was amazing how much crap came off, especially in high wear areas like the top of the door panel where your arm rests.
Since that initial cleaning I've only dusted before treatment.
Here in Denver- probably because of the high UV exposure- I've found about every six months to be the service interval.

This thread is an epic win. Aaron, I love reading the updates. Please keep them up!

The interior restoration is incredible. It's so nice to see a stock-ish interior that's actually new. I may just spring for a dealership radio surround.

The Dynamat job looks really good. I will probably do that, too, once I get around to reviving my 7. Your hardships without it reminded me of my brother and his gutted interior of his Civic. Lots and lots of rattling and other noises were extremely annoying.

Please keep us informed. This is like reading an RX-7 magazine that comes out every few months or so. I love it!

wait....is this still on the stock n/a transmission Aaron.
I read through your modification list and transmission wasnt listed.

Stock NA drivetrain.

with that huge turbo on a stock n/a transmission....awesome feat I must say.

I was thinking about going the same route but Ive never seen a n/a tranny taking more then 220hp. A friend of mines swapped a TII engine to his n/a driveline and after 2 months the transmission went clunk and no more shifting for him.
Of course though, he drives like a dick, and races alot.

My drivetrain has been fine for two years on the GT40 so far. Previously, I ran it for a year on the stock turbo.

just seeing that it hold that power shows that they are capable of withstanding it, alot of it depends on the driver and the history of the transmission

i was suprised he wasnt listening to the best band in the world.










RUSH!!

Correction...you mean the best Canadian band of all time :)

...just like Europe is the best Swedish band of all time :)

Yet no one mentions the greatest Japanese band of all time, also shown in the pictures:

http://www.aaroncake.net/misc/rebuil...%20Console.JPG

Cibo Matto can clog dance?!

(bonus points if you get the reference)

Anyway, just a quick note to say that I installed the steering column trim on the weekend and finally was able to get some time to totally clean the interior. After vacuuming the carpet gained much fluffyness and a more even colour. Since I already had the Armorall out for the Honda I applied it to the cleaned surfaces of the dash and associated trim. The dash sucked the stuff right up and regained it's even colouring and shine. The new black trim really started to match everything else after a light dusting of Armorall as well.

Today I think I'll stop by Mazda and see about a center console. If maroon is still available I'll go with that, but if not I think black would work well too.

As much as I admire your attention to detail and all around craftsmanship, I gotta say...I absolutely hate your switches.
They just scream RadioShack!- or even worse, PepBoys!.

I must have missed where you describe what they control, but seems like a few hours in a junkyard could find some OEM switchgear that didn't look so obviously "added-on".
Also, since I'm feeling comfy playing armchair quarterback, I'd move the DB9 port to somewhere hidden (like behind the ashtray) since 99% of the time nothing will be connected to it.

Bonus points: Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

I've been debating about swapping the switches for a while. Indeed, the center toggles are actually from Radio Shack. The two center switches control the windows, while the left switch is the daytime running lights and the right switch controls the foglights. I could replace the two light switches with something more contemporary but I feel the window switches need to remain as toggles for ease of use. Then two nicer switches beside two toggles would look just as bad as 4 toggles.

Cutting down the lever of the two light toggles and then filing the edge round would probably make a big difference.

As for the DB9, I love it! :) We'll see how many people ask "what's that?" when they get in the car.

Hmm...The Buffy reference was too easy.

Bonus points to the first passenger who enters and immediately plugs in an Atari joystick...

Good work.

I have the same story with my FC. When I got it, there was a Kenwood CD player wired up and only half the (factory) speakers were working. Turned out someone had don't a installation and hacked up the wiring both at the receiver end and the speaker wiring along the rear harness. It had long since been fixed.

Since installing the alarm, I reworked the rear, front and dash harnesses to streamline things. Since I have a stereo with separate amps, I excised the speaker wiring (or reused it and its pins on the plugs for other functions) and converted the three (or is it four) plugs to a single six-conductor connector, and ran custom-made RCA patch cables to the rear and separate cable runs for the speakers.

I did the sound deadening insulation too, but went with RAAMaudio BXT Mat (cheaper than Dynamat, but equal in quality), and went a little further with a layer on the doors (also a layer inside along the reinforcement beam) and a layer of foam on the backs of the plastic trim pieces (1/8" I think) and some areas such as the floor and rear with 1/4" and 1/8" (ensolite) acoustic foam. If you want to improve the sound of the door speakers, put a square layer of acoustic foam directly behind them.

I also got rid of the factory jute backing and replaced with waterproof foam where I could, and made up a new hatch mat (the plastic mat under the rear carpet with jute backing) with the original black plastic top layer and a layer of foam (1/4" and 1/8" sandwiched to match the same thickness as the original) and also a cover for the factory spare tools set using a piece of aluminum sandwiched by two layers of 1/8" foam.

For the fog lamp switches, my setup uses a Toyota OEM switch in the center console between the seats. It's a good quality rocker switch that has a good feel to it and just plain works. I didn't go with power windows, though I have power locks, power hatch release (replacing the cable driven mechanism while retaining the lever using a actuating switch) and keyless entry. You'll need 7 pounds of pulling force to release the hatch.

Oops, I rambled.

Again, great work.

That would be awesome! She'd be a keeper. ;)

I intend to Dynamat the doors as well. Probably on the outer door skin and around my speakers. Just figured I would wait until I had to pull the door panels for upholstery. Also I may be in for a passenger side door skin replacement. There is previously undetected rust along the bottom seam that looks fairly bad. Either I'll be replacing a strip of metal along the bottom or replacing the whole skin. Didn't want to waste Dynamat if I was just going to have to weld on the door later on...

What year/model of Toyota?

I have power locks I added years ago with an AutoLoc kit, but don't have a power trunk release. I do happen to have an extra 6 channel remote box sitting downstairs so I may install it. I'd eventually like a power hatch release as well as remotely controlled power windows.

And holy crap, it says in your signature that you're also an Insight owner! I thought I was the only one. :)

The switch is made by Hella, Toyota part number 00550-35976. I purchased it from Susquehanna Motorsports. http://www.rallylights.com/hella/swi...ted_rocker.asp

I didn't use a kit when I put in power locks, and there are no interior switches (the alarm locks and unlocks the door with the ignition). Instead, I used existing factory wire runs (crimped, and heat-shrunk connectors and connections), actuators from 12voltparts, and put together a progressive unlock circuit with relays, connectors, sockets and the 2nd-unlock feature from my alarm system brain.

Speaking of power window modules, I used one (that interfaces with my alarm brain) to add one-touch open and close on my factory sunroof (which can be opened and closed by remote). One day, I may add power windows, but I've been happy with the crank windows (odd, considering).

Yes, I'm an Insight owner; best money ever spent on a car and just about perfect as a year-round car in Michigan can get.