Ice_Wolf

I was looking over the "What did the FC come with" thread, and was wondering what a few of the options actually meant.

The 1986 and 1987 RX-7 sport package came with "aerodynamic side air deflectors and rear spoiler." What exact parts were these because I don't remember seeing them?

2 of the 1986 FC's and 3 of the 1987 FC's came with a "diversity antenna system." What was it?

Was there any difference in the carpet and upholstery? I know there was leather and non-leather, and there's herringbone, twill, plush, and many other different materials, but what was the difference?

My GXL came with a leather driver's seat with adjustable height and lumbar adjusters along with adjustable headrests, so would it be possible to get another seat like it for the passenger side?

I was reading and it said that my 87 GXL came standard with an illuminated driver's door lock, but yet my car doesn't have this. Is there any way I could install it onto my car?

I also seen something in 1986 about "silent pack insulation." Was this some sort of sound deadening material in the car? Where was it placed?

1986 - Console & glove box inner trim - what is this?

Any clue how I tell if I've got the leather wrapped steering wheel?

Were the headrest speakers that came in the verts any good? Also, it says the verts came with a speaker and surround on/off switch, what is that?

I guess that covers the S4 models, once I figure out all these things, I'll start looking at the S5's. Anyways, thanks for your help.

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

The only thing I can really help you with is the question about the key-lock illumination and seats. I have an 86 GXL, and mine certainly came with it.. Its just that the bulb had burned out (most likely long before I got it), and the connection was corroded to boot. I'll bet if you pull off a door panel, you can see where i'm talking about.. just pull the lock cylinder out and take a look at the clear plastic ring around it, with the light mounted on.

As for the passanger side seat, I've never seen one with a Lumbar support, and the tilt adjustment, although both sets of seats I've installed in my GXL have had it for the driver. I think the passanger just gets to suffer. It seems that way on a lot of cars, though.

Ice_Wolf

Alright, I'll check out the thing with the lock then. Thanks.

The thing about the seats is that I'm wondering if I could use one of those driver's seats on the passenger side. Have any idea?

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

No, I don't think you can.. I mean, I guess anything is possible with enough time/money, but realistically, it's not a drop in replacement. The factory seats are actually offset a bit for their railings, i.e.: The inside rail of the drivers side is higher than the outside rail, and the reverse for passanger seat. So you'd have to cut the rails of, and weld them to the opposite side.. but then you start treading on the crash safety area... do you want to risk your welding job to the single most important piece in a crash? I dunno.. If my welding were better, I'd probably do it, but ya know

But unless you have someone riding with you most of the time, is definately not worth it... The stock passanger seats are rather comfortable too..

Icemark

Found in the options and standard features thread.:


requires the factory radio with the diverstity leads or an aftermarket radio with diversity leads. There are two antenna's on the FCs with diversity, one on the windsheild, one on the rear, diversity systems switch to use the antenna that is getting the best reception.

There were substantial differences between carpet in the S4 base models and the upperline models, as far as upholstry, there was probably 8 or 9 different upholstry types on the S4, and maybe 6 differnt types on the S5 models.

yeah, from Japan where the right seat is the drivers seat. You could probably go halfway there by using the back support off of another GXL drivers seat on the passengers side bottom which would then give you lumbar control (but the **** would be on the door side), but the bottom seat angle would not be able to be adapted at all.

Probably your bulb is burnt out. Does the light next to the ignition switch come on when you open the door. if so then your door keyhole light is probably burnt, if not, then you might have the wrong CPU in the car (S4 GXL models should have the FB05 CPUs).

extra insulation built into the upgraded carpet.

Flocked glove box and console box, instead of plain plastic

yeah the wheel is leather.

The sounds system for the verts was designed specificly for the verts which had different accoustics than the coupes. It would be a waste of time and money to try and retrofit a vert audio system into a coupe, as well as the parts needed are only about 10 years out of date and about 15 years too low on power.

No bumps, your bump was deleted.

Ice_Wolf

Alright, so the aerodynamic pieces are those little black things in front of the rear tires? Also, that spoiler looks like the one that came on my GXL. Is that possible that it would?

So the diversity antenna system really doesn't mean squat. I always wondered why the FC came with two antennas though.

Is there any way we could gather together pictures of the different upholstery and carpet types?

With the seat thing, the only way I'd do it anymore is if I could get a JDM RX-7 seat to match it. Welding or ripping apart a seat doesn't sound like a very good idea...

I'm guessing my light must just be burnt out then on the keyhole light cause the ignition light works perfectly. To fix is, all I gotta do it just pull out the lock cylinder and replace the bulb?

Does that mean that it was only the 1986 RX-7's came with that special carpet and the console and glove box trim? I'd like to see what each of these look like from pictures.

Thanks for the info on the sound system Ice Mark. I'm gonna look a few things over and will probably have a few more questions.

Icemark

The factory aero package was spoilers in front of each wheel, and underpanel around the oil pan, and the rear deck spoiler.

no it is a great system, and increases range considerably. Only doesn't mean squat if you have a cheapo radio.

I am not going to bother, there were only about 30 different types and colors through the whole FC run.

good luck... not sure why you would want it unless you are building a RHD car.

, no you need to remove the door panel to access the bulb, as covered above.

No as mentioned above all S4 upper market models had the flocked glove boxes and thicker carpet with increased sound deadening (GXL, Turbo, Verts and even some 88 GTU models).

Ice_Wolf

Was that aero package also know as the Finish Line package or whatever it was called?

I was talking the two antenna system isn't great for me cause I never listen to the radio, so I don't get much use out of it.

On the carpet thing, I think I'll just stick with my carpet because that means I got the special carpet with the sound deadening stuff in it and of course it matches the rest of the interior.

The bulb thing, I know you had to remove the door panel and such. I was just wondering if you had to remove the door lock cylinder to replace the bulb.

Thanks for the continued info Icemark.

Icemark

There was also a dedicated Finish line aero kit. It had a different style and was simular to the Japanese 87 GT-Limited (or GT-R I can never remember)

No, you can just turn the bulb socket and pop it out. You just have to reach up there.

Ice_Wolf

What did the finish line kit all come with? Is it possible that you could combine the aero kit and the finish line kit? What all came in the finish line aero kit?

I still have no idea why Mazda would manufacture so many different types, colors, and styles of carpet in one vehicle.

The reason I wanted to get another GXL seat for the passenger side was so that I could match both the seats and make it a little more comfortable for the passenger.

Can you buy many decks anymore with the diversity leads?

I'll be tackling the whole illuminated door lock here pretty soon, so hopefully that's the problem.

About the speaker system, I'm guessing if you were to put some components in the door panels and use the speakers in the back along with maybe subwoofer or two, you'd be getting the best sound range you could right? I've tried the speakers in the stock location in the front, and you can't even hear them over the rears.

I got a few questions for ya Ice Mark. What's your take on the factory alarm system? What are the different ways that it was set off? Any clue what the features were on it? From what I've read, it wasn't a very efficient system, mostly because you had to use the key to arm and disarm it.

Also, the stock power lock system was pretty useless wasn't it? If I remember right, it never came with a keyless entry option, not to mention the passenger lock was only run by the driver's lock.

To install those two systems onto my car, it seems better to go aftermarket because trying to dig up the parts for those two systems stock seems a bit too hard and not worth the time or money. I found a kit that includes 2 power door actuators, an alarm system, and keyless entry system. Here's the link...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...785293574&rd=1

Thanks for the help.

Icemark

No, the finish line kit would replace all but the oil pan panel.

How many different models per year (87 and 88 the peak years had 5, each with different upholstry and 3 different interior colors in each of the models, just in cloth, add in the Turbo, GXL, and Vert leather options for another 2 colors and upholstry type- and you can see the shear number of options.

Why did they make so many types you ask??"? The same reason people mod thier cars, because everyone wants something that fits their tastes. Mazda simply provided that.


**** the passenger, half of them would never ever use (or even figure out) even 1/3 of the adjustments.

Alpine and Sony did in the last year or two on their top line units. I am sure other mid-level manufactures like Kenmore (whoops I mean kenwood) Clarion and Pioneer have them also on their top line units, if not here, certinly overseas.

I recommend Dash speakers, door speakers, and if you have a coupe the rear speakers to be used as rear fill, and then a decent subwoofer all the way in the rear.

Actually the stock security is quite an exceptional system, and better than most and still light years ahead of many aftermarket alarms that do not sense when a door is unlocked without the door opening. The stock system would detect someone unlocking the door without a key and trigger. 99.9% of aftermarket systems do not. Toss in that the system still works 15-20 years later and I am even more impressed by the stock system.

Yes, Keyless was not available, but it is easily added on aftermarket.


I have both the stock system and an aftermarket remote start/keyless/security system on my vert. I would never consider removing the stock system. It is just one more thing a theif has to get past to steal the car. Why would I remove the stock system just to make a theif's job easier??? If you have broken door latch sensors, that is a simple $5 part at most junk yards.

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

Just to add something, I think the door sensors cost 10 or 12 bucks new at Mazda

Carry on.

Ice_Wolf

What I meant about combining the kits is that was there anyway you could still mount those black aero side skirt pieces underneath the Finish Line skirts, cause I'm not sure exactly how they mount to the car. Also, did they both come with the same spoiler, or was it different? It looks like the Finish Line kit came with a different front bumper, full side skirts, a rear lip for the bumper, and a different spoiler and that the other kit came with the rear wheel aero pieces, a different spoiler, and the oil pan panel.

I see your point about the interior and such now.

Once I buy a new deck, I will see if I can find one with the diversity leads on it. Thanks Icemark.

What would you recommend for dash speakers and how would you plan to power all this? Original I had it setup to power the 4 speakers with a 4 channel amp, but how would you do 6? I know the stock wiring will not power the speakers to the specifications they're made to be run at if you have anything decent.

So what's your suggestion to me for a guy with an 87 GXL with no power locks and no alarm system stock? Should I attemp to install the stock systems into my car?

Once again, thanks for the continued help Icemark. Also, seeing your avatar and sig makes me wish they still showed Samurai Jack on Cartoon Network.

Ice_Wolf

I put in a best offer for an alarm system, but still not sure about it... still kinda wondering what your suggestions are for doing the speaker system and alarm system Ice Mark. Thanks.

Icemark

I am partial to the DEI (Clifford, Viper, Python, sidewinder) and Alpine alarm products.

Speakers are something that you will need to figure out on your own. Everyone hears differently and has their own budget.

Ice_Wolf

The thing with the alarm system was that I was asking if you think I should try to get the stock parts for the alarm and lock system, or if I should buy them brand new and go from there. You speak pretty highly of the stock alarm and power lock system, so I figured maybe I should try to get them. I think you said something before though that it would be better to purcahse a keyless entry/alarm system new instead of trying to get the stock parts for it back together because it wouldn't be worth the time or money trying to install them in the car. I found a keyless entry/alarm system that includes a power door lock system for a nice price, and was wondering what you thought.

The thing with the speaker system was that I was wondering to use a 6 speaker setup, 2 in the rear, components in the door panels, and 2 in the front and a subwoofer in the back, or if a 4 speakers system, 2 in the rear, 2 components in the door panel, and a subwoofer in the back would do the job plenty. I've heard from many people that after components are installed into the panels that the front speakers can't be heard at all and are basically useless. Suggestions?

Icemark

No I just think the stock alarm is good, I think the stock door locks suck.

If you find the parts, then plug them in, if you don;t then go with an aftermarket system.

I personally almost always use the following set up (after years of experimenting with FC audio systems).

4" or 4.5" Coax in the dash.

6" Seperates in the doors withe the tweeter placed just in front of the top part of the door handle on the cloth.

6" or 7" woofers in the shock towers (running full range and rear fill)

and then a Sub in the rear (spare tire well or rear side panels)

Occasionally on show cars I will also perf the idiot light panel and put either a small 2 inch speaker or two tweets capped off at 7KHz for a center channel.

But again, that is just what I do... your budget or abilities may be your constraints.

Ice_Wolf

I've decided to just go with an aftermarket system, namely because I don't think I'll be able to find the stock alarm system in good shape, not to mention to remove it would be a huge pain for the person doing it and the fact that trying to reintstall 16 year old parts and having them work perfectly will be hassel. Well, that's my thoughts on it anyways...

On the speaker system, what part exactly are you placing the tweeters on? Could you give me a picture? Also, how are you fitting 6 or 7 inch woofers in the back shock towers? Got any pictures of a rear subwoofer setup? My setup so far is 5.25" components with the woofer in the door panel right above the window switch, which is the biggest I can fit in there with the tweeters placed on the black triangle pieces and that's all I've got so far. Also, what would you be using to power all this?

Icemark

Unless you have an early 86, it is all plug and play...

Ah, they fit in just fine, I have done up to 8" back there, but the enclosure area is a little small on the shock towers to get any low freqs, that is why you don't want to waste money on a Subwoofer, but rather just a woofer, or a coax that you disable the tweeter (there are no high freqencys coming at you from the rear at a concert).

There have been countless ones posted here. You may wish to use the search function found in the upper right hand corner of the page
, no, a true 6 inch speaker (160mm) bolts into that spot just fine even using the stock mounting holes. And you will want tweeters within 12 inches of the woofer/midrange to avoid phase distortion. Also the mirror cover is generally a poor location, as the tweets are rather forward and high and if you do not angle them back to the driver and passenger they will cancel each other mid dash and you loose stereo seperation.

you would use an amplifier. I personally like Arc Audio and the upper line Alpine amplifiers (the Japanese built stuff, not that Tiawan, Mexico built crap). Of course you would run the appropriate power lead to the battery and fuse the line there to power the amplifier.

Ice_Wolf

What do you mean it's all plug and play? You're saying that running the wires, hooking up the relays, and all that other crap is just plug and play? How can it be when I don't have power door locks, or the lock cylinders with the alarming system in them?

Also, what exaclty do you mean by woofer? As in what comes in a component system? How do you fit those big of a speaker in there? I'm guessing you cut out part of black housing? How could you run full range in these without a tweeter?

I don't see how you could fit a 6" speaker in that area Ice Mark, maybe if you were to drill it into the actual door frame, but mine's attached to the door panel. Also, there's no way you could put a bigger speaker in there without the magnet hitting the window. I just don't see how you could do it. Pictures?

In the triangle piece location, my tweeters are angled back towards the driver and passenger, and I can hear them pretty well. I wanna see a picture or something of how you have them set up.

Now the powering... it seems like a big waste of money to try and find a 6 channel amplifier, so is there an alternate way to do it? Maybe get a small amp to power the speakers that use the most power and use a 4 channel to run the remaining ones?

Icemark

no the 86.5 and later models are all pre-wired for the factory alarm. Using a factory alarm would be plug and play.

No, you would remove and toss away that housing and gain about a 1/4 sq ft of air space for the speaker.

Ah, man... audio basics???? Okay, without going into this too in depth, the normal range of hearing is considered to be from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz (well actually most people hear about 20Hz to 15,000-17,000 Hz- but that is another subject all together)- well Subwooofers reproduce anywhere from 5Hz to 500Hz (entirely dependent on size, shape, power and manufacture) while woofers will reproduce from 100 hz and up. Then there are mid range speakers that reproduce between 200Hz and 5KHz (most 4 inch and 5 inch speakers fall into this range) and then a dozen different types of tweeters which are designed to reproduce sound from 1K (1000Hz) and up. Commonly used in automotive applications are a woofer or midrange and a tweeter and attatched together with a cross over... they are called a Co-Ax speaker (or Co-Axial as there are really two speakers acting as one).

So most 6 and 7 inch speakers following the above definitions are woofers as well as some 8 inch speakers. On a Coax speaker, disconnecting the tweeter makes it just a woofer, or many of the better speaker brands have woofers without the compromise of a coax.

The opening for the door speaker on a S4 (on the factory speaker mounting panel that is mounted to the door) is a 160mm opening. This is what a true 6 inch speaker uses. As far as depth, if you have a 5 1/4 inch speaker in there, you could have a 6 inch- Magnet depth would just have to be checked. I use Apine 6" speaker in my vert there.

Now more car audio lessons: Remember that many speaker are sold as 6 1/2" speakers. This is simply a marketing size, and not indicitive of the actual size of the speaker. There are many 6 inch speakers sold as 6.5" speakers, and many 7 inch speakers sold as 6.5" speakers. Regardless of that, the mounting depth of the speaker has absolutly nothing to do with the size of the speaker.

as far as Channels and design of the amplfier, it will be dependent on your budget. In an ideal world each speaker would have its own amp, but realisticly a multi channel amp is a cost effective (both monetarly and labor wise) compromise that works well for most people. If you are building a audio show car, its probably not the direction you would want, but for most others it is a good choice. A 4 channel and sub amp or a 5 channel (or six with the last two channels summed to a single channel) would be my choices for a decent midlevel system.

Ice_Wolf

Alright, so what would I all need to hook up for the factory alarm Ice Mark? Any clue what parts I would need? How would I integrate a keyless entry and power lock system in to the car with the stock alarm system?

Are you sure I can throw away that black housing? It looks like there's a board in there that is used for something, and also, I have the auto adjusting suspension too. After that, I'm sure you could just drill into the rim of the metal. How would you make speakers fit correctly in there if they don't fit the metal part exactly?

Now about mounting the speakers in the door panel. In reality, you probably could fit a true 6 inch speaker in that space. The reason I can only fit 5.25 is because my speaker grill takes up 3/4 of an inch of space. Do you have your speakers mounted onto the door frame or onto the door panel then Ice Mark? Also, could you give me a picture of your setup? I would love to see it.

Alright, so far for my system I've got 5.25" Infinity components in the front, and I'm going to be using 16 gauge Rockford speaker wire. What size speakers can you recommend for me to use for the dash and rear speakers then based on what I already have? I'm looking to build a full range sound system, and I do have a bit of money to spend. Here's what I'm thinking...

Door speakers - 5.25" Infinity Reference Component system

Speakers mounted in door right above window switches with
tweeters mounted on the black triangle pieces, all hooked up
to the crossovers that came with the set.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Infinity-Referen...QQcmdZViewItem

Dash speakers - 4" Infinity Reference Co-axial speakers

Speakers mounted in stock location underneath dash.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-INFINITY-REF...QQcmdZViewItem

Rear speakers - 6.5" Infinity Reference speakers

Speakers mounted in stock location on rear shock tower.

http://cgi.ebay.com/INFINITY-6000CS-...QQcmdZViewItem

How's that look for a speaker system?

Ice_Wolf

Any ideas there Ice Mark? I'm checking out deadening info now, and am getting anxious to get all this started!

Icemark

yeah, if you like that sound then those are fine, but IMO it is a waste of time and money to upgrade or run new wiring for the speakers unless you are going to be using more than 50-75 watts a channel.

And you need to stop bumping

Ice_Wolf

Sorry for the bumping, but I just really need to get answers to my questions. I'd like to know what it will take to add the stock alarm to my car, and if it's possible to add a keyless entry and power door lock system onto my car. Also, what size speakers do you recommend for the fronts? I'd like to go as big as I can. I probably won't be changing the door speakers, but I would like to see your setup on the speakers. I guess that's all I'll ask for now Ice mark.