Charlie, ya know if the FD harness will work w/ that headunit? Or will it require some creativity and splicing?

~Thanks
Ramy

 

i heard installation for the jdm gauge cluster is totally impossible... or insanely difficult... the boost guage instead of the fuel pressure is a killer... and that 160km/h top is... a little low...

 

Getting the boost guage on the 99 or later clusters to work requires the 99 dash harness or some splicing. See this thread for details:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hlight=cluster

The speedometer can be recalibrated to mph (it still says kph on the cluster but it will actually be reading mph).

Also worth mentioning is that the Mazdaspeed clusters are plug 'n play as far as I know. They have the same guages as the US RX-7 and a 300 km/h speedometer.

 

Thanks Jason

99spec and up clusters can definitely be used. You'll just need a separate lead for the boost gauge. It's all in the thread BlueRex posted.

As for the 180kmph speedo, like Jason said, it can be recalibrated to mph (so it reads a top speed of 180mph), OR I can get the 300kph speedos (which read 186mph top speed )

~Ramy

Black faced (also available from Mazdaspeed):



White faced:

 

I'm not 100% sure, I'll see what I can find out

 

Thanks Charlie. You the man

 

Ramy, do you have pics of the blue face gauge cluster. Was it MS? I am not sure.

 

Jason, sure do.



Not the greatest pic, but imagine the 99spec cluster I put up earlier, in blue, boost gauge and all, but w/ a 10K rpm tach and 300kph cluster in the 99spec cluster font.

Oh, and I have NEVER... EVER seen this cluster used. I've seen it ONCE new, and it would have cost just under a grand (900some odd dollars) by the time you got it here and paid all the associated costs.

~Ramy

PS: Why do NONE of my threads ever stay on topic?

 

Ramy, just in case you need it..... Here's a close-up of a Spirit R Head Unit.

 

NICE! Thanks man VERY close to the Millenia one!

 

I sold that guy that cluster long ago and I pluged it in to my 92 FD and it was fine as long as you left the boost gauge disconnected. I dont know what all this splicing/diagram nonsense is coming from. I wish I would have seen this years ago...

There is no reason it shouldnt be 100% plug and play for the cluster.

When I pull my 6cd changer from my Spirit R type A I will let you know if the harness is the same as the 93-95s.

-Jesse

 

Hey Ramy -

There was a thread a while back in the Audio section about using later US head units in the FD. The Protege head units are a direct plug in and bolt in for the FD, but if you get the double-din unit you have to trim the plastic divider between the two din pockets.

I think that head unit is also modular in that if you get the basic head unit, you can add other features like minidisc player, tape player, etc. to it. Pretty neat.

I've seen them on Ebay frequently as well - an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MAZDA...26878559QQrdZ1

You could probably hit up the Protege forums and get 'em for cheap.

Dale

 

Jesse, thanks for the info. Yea, you need a seperate lead for the boost gauge, right?

Dale, thanks for the info. I didn't think about going to the Protege forums...I'm sure they're a dime a dozen there!

~Ramy

 

Ramy, might I caution you about the Protege unit:

If you are still using the Bose speakers and amps in your RX-7, the Protege head unit could potentially burn because of the bose amps putting too much strain on it. I would try to find a Millenia S Bose unit, or a Miata Bose unit. I do know that the Miata Bose units light up red as well, and I think an in-dash 6-CD changer was an option for the Miata.

Also, using a Bose Head Unit will yield better sound quality, as the unit's circuitry is tweaked to perform in conjunction with the Bose amps and speakers.

Joe

 

Joe,

Thanks for the head's up. But what's Bose? I have Boston Acoustics man

~Ramy

PS: I'm actually after the original Spirit R headunit now..."close enough" isn't good enough

 

Damn, I hear ya man. And to think you didn't have the money to buy my car.

FYI, I might be interested in the cluster

 

I actually have a protege headunit in my USDM FD. I believe it is similar to the JDM 99 spec FD headunits.

The headunit fit without any problems, but I had to buy the later Mazda radio connectors ( about $8).

One of the nice things about this headunit is that the single cd module can be swaped out for an in-dash 6 cd changer. Although mine is a single cd, it already has a LOAD button built in. Also, the illumination lights up amber, and matches the interior lights very well. All together doesn't stand out, and looks very clean.

 

Looks good. Are you still using the Bose speaker system and amps? If so, any problems?

 

On the 2002 protege radio, does anyone know what (wire/pin) is used for the radio back-lighting? The lighting for the (clock/station) display works and so does the dimmer. I just can't get the backlighting to work. I am using an aftermarket
harness for the radio. See this link for reference.

http://www.gweep.net/~sfoskett/miata/audiopins/#J-01

 

Good to know. This will definitely make the 99 spec clusters more popular since you won't have to splice half the dash harness to get it to work.

 

Are you running this headunit with Bose speakers and amps?

 

Well, I've found a solution to all of this (to those interested). The non-Bose Modular radios' cannot be used in a Bose-equipped car. The reason: The Bose system uses line-level outputs from the headunit, and the external amps do all of the work. The non-Bose radios' have speaker level outputs and the headunit does the amplification. If you try to use a non-Bose radio in a Bose-equipped car, you will burn the amps. However, the Bose radios' can be used in Bose equipped RX-7s' and the non-Bose radios' can be used in non-Bose RX-7s'. The solution? See this link.

 

Joe, why you makin things so complex? I have a spare Spirit R headunit....

~Ramy

 

Hook it up!

 

double din decks are