When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello guys .
I've always wanted to make a thread about my journey with this FD . after seeing all the nice build's and restoration thread it made me sort of hesitant simply because of the fact that every one else's are awesome, so nice and filled with so much good information. but what the hey , here goes mine
back story. I bought this FD not long ago from the original owner knowing it had high mileage on the chassis and it was daily driven till he retired bout a year ago.
good thing is he never modified it or attempt to at least, and he kept all the documents for everything he has ever did on the car besides minor oil changes and tire service.( know the cars history pretty well) I noticed whenever something fails he would take it to Mazda to have it fix/serviced or to a rotary specialists to have the issue checked out . the car is by no means in very great condition , however it was cared for and not neglected in terms of drivability and what not.( big selling point for me )
the not so good part but not deal breakers.
it was a daily driven car since new off the lot . its showing its age. torn leather seats, missing driver side cup lid and at one point he installed a in car telephone which resulted in 4 tiny holes in the middle of the rear bins, not a big deal to me. I think theres ways to fill them and have it repainted or just simply getting my hands on some very good condition ones down the road.
blown front speakers and none working center speakers as well. little things here and there such as very old and worn suspension parts and dying door handles .... anyways...
I'm not sure where I want to take this car in terms of goal or what I want out of it
all I know is right now I want to return the car to its factory glory with a twist of modern technology. drive as if it was just off the show room floor. tight , no hesitation and of course a blast to drive in general . so... here we go
the day I bought it and on its way to its permanent home
right after I got it home I went to get a hair cut. you know... gotta look fresh and all lol
went to hang out with a local supra owner/friend ( his supra is sooooo gorgeous and hes also looking for a FD )
first thing I bought arrived at my door all the way from Russia within 5 days( thanks 1ga )
99spec lights ! a little dusty but they cleaned up very well
super mint center lights to match the mint 99 lights( the one off the car was pretty faded )
Looking good, man...ya gotta love the Montego Blue Mica color!
What is the advantage of the 'soft' engine mounts?
You say the chassis is high mileage but...what about the drivetrain?
I like all the pictures you've taken, great job!
Food for thought. You may want to close off the crossover hole at the top of the IC that feeds the stock intake and convert the stock intake to a poor man's intake that gets fresh air from the bottom. This provides dedicated fresh air to both the IC and intake. You can still install the stock crossover cover for a factory look.
Also, do you have the inspection plate for the transmission? You can probably fab a piece of AL if you don't
Nice ducting on the oil coolers and IC. Lot better than mine.
And where you are going is the land of single turbos and V-mounts. Eventually.
Looking good, man...ya gotta love the Montego Blue Mica color!
What is the advantage of the 'soft' engine mounts?
You say the chassis is high mileage but...what about the drivetrain?
I like all the pictures you've taken, great job!
from IRP it's consider the street version mounts. close to stock feel. then there races version that is harsher
the drivetrain haves very high mileage as well(on its second motor ,installed by a big name shop here in CA 40k miles ago. they didn't do a very good job and I feel like the OW got ripped off just a little bit, alot of small things are missing from reinstalling of the motor and loose bolts/ nuts ) , I have already replaced the clutch and a few things along with it , new fluids new ss clutch line etcetc. also will be swaping out the diff with a low mileage one
Originally Posted by TomU
Food for thought. You may want to close off the crossover hole at the top of the IC that feeds the stock intake and convert the stock intake to a poor man's intake that gets fresh air from the bottom. This provides dedicated fresh air to both the IC and intake. You can still install the stock crossover cover for a factory look.
Also, do you have the inspection plate for the transmission? You can probably fab a piece of AL if you don't
Nice ducting on the oil coolers and IC. Lot better than mine.
And where you are going is the land of single turbos and V-mounts. Eventually.
thanks for the suggestion. I definitely will look into it and make a move. my stock box is in pretty good condition and I don't want to hack it up , sure can always get a used one and try it out
I know I'm missing the trans bottom pan and I already bought one. which inspection plate are you referring to
rubber stopper right there broke off with out me knowing resulted in 3 days of trouble shooting my ignition and starter because the car will not start.
I gettho fixed it with a short screw and nut , vualaa starts with out hesitation
driver side handle was getting stuck more and more so I opened it up and sure enough it is in very worn condition
replaced the handle with a low mileage mint one and everything is fine again
the twins were having secondary boost issues where it only boosted 3~4 psi after transition
took off the lines on turbo control actuator and notice there was no pills in them.. both of them
replaced with holly jets and hopefully once I button it up it'll fix the problem
picked up a super mint mazdaspeed cluster with 3000km on it for a steeeeeeal price
not sure when I want it installed .. doesn't hurt to keep it and it sure does look nice on my display shelf
got a 99 FD nardi wheel . will be fabricating a small bracket on the side to retain cruise control(more pictures on that later )
replacing the old thermostat with a new one
also I thought it was a good idea to replace the water pump too
but what do you know? I broke a stud while removing the pump and ending up having to drill in the waterpump housing to take it off
so while I was scrambling to look for a good condition water pump housing I decided to just replace the entire unit with a new one . since the old one is just .... old and pretty rusted
took me a while to source the new 5 speed water pump assembly since it is out of production and NLA from mazda . every where ive looked wanted north of $350 and with atkins wanting $400+
I almost gave up for a new one then I came across the member on here offering me a new unit minus the pump it self... I jumped it
You can also grind metal off the top of the flapper, so that it can open further. Or, so I hear. With everything apart I bet you could see what the fuss is about.
I noticed IRP has the series 7 Mazda updated water pump for $125 new with no core. It's a direct replacement for anyone needing a water pump that doesn't want to pay $350-$400 for one.
Figured I would mention it for anyone who found themselves in your predicament.
originally i wanted to buy some super nice wheels like Desmond, Fikse or volk for the FD but some small **** happened to my Z which resulted me to spend around $1700 to have it repaired ( update at a later date ) so.... i can only go the stock route and toss the MOMO wheels that the OW put on after he bent the stockers.
i went out and bought a set of stock wheels from a member here locally (so-cal. super nice guy BTW and looking forward to seeing you at 7stock this year)
the stockers were showing its age too, a little beat up and scuffs all around. but no sweat
i had my friends professionally refinish them( underground auto wrkz in indio CA) and new paint ( thank you Jose)
sealed
finished
soo shiny( center caps painted as well just forgot to take pictures of them )
You can also grind metal off the top of the flapper, so that it can open further. Or, so I hear. With everything apart I bet you could see what the fuss is about.
damn it wish i had made this thread sooner so i could take a look at that and make adjustments , now that the turbos are back together i really dont want to do it again
perhaps i can still do it since the twins are not installed yet and im in the middle of making some nice heat shield for them , thanks for the headsup
Originally Posted by ZoomZoom
I noticed IRP has the series 7 Mazda updated water pump for $125 new with no core. It's a direct replacement for anyone needing a water pump that doesn't want to pay $350-$400 for one.
Figured I would mention it for anyone who found themselves in your predicament.
noticed it too when i was looking for a new assembly . i had the water pump from mazmart that i stashed away when they were offering them a while back.
what i broke was the housing so i was in need of a new one ( minus the pump)
so i figured i can just buy a new unit ( filler neck housing+water pump housing)
the new unit i got was nice and came with new water level sensor and updated thermostat already minus the thermoswitch and coolant temp sensor.
thanks for the info for my future reference and others who are viewing my journey
You can also grind metal off the top of the flapper, so that it can open further. Or, so I hear. With everything apart I bet you could see what the fuss is about.
I grinded off more metal in the turbine housing where the flapper hits, it can open a little further but I'm not sure how much it helped with boost control.
which resulted in 4 tiny holes in the middle of the rear bins, not a big deal to me. I think theres ways to fill them and have it repainted or just simply getting my hands on some very good condition ones down the road.
.... anyways...
criticisms and suggestions are welcome
