so a few weeks later i get it back and to work i got on it. the engine bay was as far as i could get it without the oil lines so i got to messing with the interior. first, i had to deal with the radio harness. it was completely hacked. the factory plugs were gone and it was just wire ends. i ordered new plugs and got to soldering to get it back to normal. for whatever reason i didnt get pictures of the harness repaired but believe that it was beautiful.
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after getting the radio harness sorted, next thing was to work on the speaker wires in the rear. fortunately the brackets were already there but the speakers were not and the wires were cut as well. i got new terminals on those and installed a set of oem honda speakers in the back because gathers is jdm yo. once i got working on doing all sorts of wiring fixes and routing on the inside, my work space got to be a little messy but it was organized.... to me anyway.
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the next big task was installing all the extra accessories: gauges, the navigation and the new antenna for the radio. the kenwood double din im using has attachments for a garmin based gps unit. i found one on ebay coupled with a "non working unit" for super cheap and jumped on the deal. come to find out that the issue was just a real poorly put together wire harness. got another one and all was well. i opted to mount the gps box under the main armrest thing all the way in the back. its attached with some velcro to the carpet so it doesnt bounce around. and i put the antenna for it just in front of the rear view mirror with the wire tucked into the headliner. the double din has options for a rear view camera as well. i ran the wire for it to the rear and left it there just in case down the line i get froggy and want to install that.

since i got the stock antenna shaved, i went with one of those hidden amplified antennas that no one is really sure of and it works very well. this is the one i went with
Metra Part # 44-UA20 | Aftermarket Antenna | Metra Online

i didnt choose it for any specific reason honestly. theres 100s of options for antennas like this and i just didnt know what to pick. i just went with the name brand one that wasnt too cheap or too expensive and ended up with this one. it works very well.
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after getting all the wiring behind the ac panel sorted, the panel could be installed. pretty happy with the end product.
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then with everything done on the passenger side footwell, theres no reason to have it all apart. got that all assembled and looking good. my glove box had broken internally so i had to take it apart and use some epoxy to reattach the latch mechanism. unfortunately i didnt take any pictures. but once you get it apart, its clear what needs to be done for it to be repaired.
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i did the fuel pump rewire but ended up undoing it. i left all the attachments in the trunk and the wire on the battery so it can be reattached in a few minutes. i undid because at the time i was having a really nasty flooding issue and i thought some how the two were connected.
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taking a break from the inside since there were quite a few panels i still hadnt restored yet. i got as far as i could. one of the bigger jobs i had to do was bleed the brakes and slave. i got myself a mightyvac and the whole bleed process was super simple. greatest tool ever made.
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by this time i also received the oil lines for the coolers. i was able to put the right side of the bay back together. the coil pack bracket thing worked out great. the one thing i didnt like was that it was only mounted on one corner with all the weight of the coil packs kind of making it pivot on the other end. oddly enough, it worked out. with the mount bolt tight, the assembly didnt move. in this location and orientation, the stock length wires reached all 3 with more than enough slack. the coil packs have since been put back in the stock location. part of my troubleshooting lead me to believe i was having spark issues from a poor ground through the bracket.... which ended up not being the case.
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that night, this was my engine bay. the tensioner for the ac/ps broke so i had to deal with that.
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moving forward, i got into gear and got to work on the interior panels and did the rear bins since everything mounts on top of that. that allowed me to position the battery and the power cable. i also did the rear trunk side panels and just got the trunk squared away.
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some time later during troubleshooting i replaced the fuel pump with a denso tt supra pump. i was saving it for my blue fd but i needed to use it now =(
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at this point, the trunk was together and the car was running well enough to say its running and i had been troubleshooting for a while. this was the point where i made that video. more time passes and my trip to okinawa is approaching. the car needed to go BACK to the body shop for more finishings and to get the front installed and aligned. so i dropped it off there so while i was gone they would work on and when i got back i would pick it up. that was plan but thats not how it went. to summarize, insurance work takes priority. so much so, that it took 8 weeks to get a front bumper installed. explain that shit.
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anyway, i went to japan to get my blue fd ( https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...ility-1048550/ )ready to be shipped home next year. overall the trip was great. it was sad since i should have never left to begin with but whatever.... life goes on. due to some great friends, my car is ready to come on over. it will be on a boat in december to go to mainland japan then shortly after, another boat headed to america. also on my trip i had to deal with my old 99 ( https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...japan-1079708/ ). the person i sold it blew the motor. long story short, i bought it back and parted it out. i kept all the parts of course but still..... i had to tear it apart.

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so that was over and done with. back in america after and time to get back to work. i had to wait 3 weeks for them to finish my car at the body shop since when i got back and checked in, the car hadnt been touched the whole time i was gone. it got pushed into a corner and forgotten. fast forward and i have it back with the bumper and everything on. then i really buckled down and put the interior back together since i was getting tired of the months of trouble shooting and getting no where. i had to move on. keep in mind up to this point the inside was only put together in the trunk and the rear bins. the interior is basically done. i managed to break my cluster so i cant put that whole section of the dash on yet.
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moving on to the outside, this is how the car looks now.
Shine mazdaspeed bumper with the carbon canards and the hot water labs led bumper lights
hot water labs headlights (first gen)
jdm fenders (side marker install pending)
unknown brand side skirts that i had from my first fd
99 wing
hot water labs carbon bumper guard
i love old skool license plate frame because this cars 25th bday is in march
rocket bunny diffuser (pending install and paint)
wheels: origin lab dna01 17x9+30 17x9.5+15 sqaure 255/40-17
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now were all caught up to now. at this point i have narrowed the issues im having to a problem with the tune. the soonest a tuner around here is available is 2 months. i most likely wont be in north carolina in 2 months. i contacted kilo racing and they will be tuning upon my return to florida since their shop is down the street from home. in the mean time, i am taking care of odds and ends getting the car all sorted so that i dont have to do anything but enjoy it after it gets tuned. i'll be posting all that stuff here of course. pretty sure i covered everything but if you guys see something that you want more info on then i will be more than happy to explain.

Looks great! For the heat wrap, did you soak it in water first? Makes it much easier to wrap, and tighten up more once it is dry.

thanks man... no i didnt soak it first. i thought about it since ive heard of people doing that but i really didnt want to deal with all that water. the dei wrap was pretty easy to handle. it was like handling a scarf made of........... wool(?) or something like that. really easy to handle....

Selling your car?

yes... this red one will be for sale after its all the way sorted.

spent a while in the garage today. i got majority of the odds and ends done. there are a couple super minor things left and i'll get to them at some point but theyre not incredibly important. i got the fuel filter changed most important. luckily the previous owner relocated it and swapped the clamps out. this job took all of 5 minutes.
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i got the belts and the tensioner pulley on. the belt i was using with the alternator was a 4 rib instead of 5 rib. i was having a hard time finding a 5 rib in the correct length for these pulleys but thats all figured out now. same situation with the ac/ps belt.
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the coil packs are finally mounted permanently. ive had them just sort of hanging out for some time now. i found these super cool plug wires with an additional ground wire on them. only 2 of them have it so i decided to put them on the leadings. with that, my engine bay is fully assembled. only thing left now is a lot of cleaning.... a lot. i got the fender liners on too but didnt get any pictures.
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i just wanted to show how cool this bumper is with the ducting. with the mocal 19 row coolers the duct sits perfect on them as if they were designed together.
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im gonna wash the car tomorrow and take a few more pictures of everything. the plan is to get it back to the body shop monday so that they can finally finish it and i can be happy. :egrin: now that the car is as sorted as its gonna be, theres nothing more i can do to it until i get my other cluster and get to florida. so honestly, the body shop is in a position to take their time although i wish they wouldnt. one thing that i noticed that i need to figure out is why the power fc isnt registering speed. it just stays at 0. hopefully the sensor didnt go bad. i checked the plugs and the sensor itself but i am going to go searching to see if maybe theres a fuse or something that would cause no speed input.

Looks nice.
Probably gonna wanna run some wider tires in the back.
Shouldn't run square tires on staggered wheels. Sidewall stretch. Blah blah.

yea... i understand. the tire fills the wheel out just fine really. also, these tires were on the wheels when i bought them.

i took the car to the alignment rack on monday. pretty cool watching them get the car onto the rack especially with the twin plate. they did a good job with everything. i didnt request any specific numbers for the alignment. this is a street car so any kind of "performance" specs would be pretty useless. i also dropped the car back off at the body shop yesterday for the 4th time. something ive never heard before was that the finishing steps of the paint job was an "extra service". i asked what steps were taken after a car is taken out the of paint booth and was told...... nothing. they went on to explain that buffing and all that is only done if its requested ahead of time and of course paid for. they agreed to do it anyway. is that something that anyone else has ever heard of?
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Pretty common for most body shops in my opinion. Only the really high end shops will include color sanding etc

hmmm.... interesting. i assumed it was part of the process. i guess ive been spoiled in japan.

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o.O omg

Why this would end up here rather than to someone who wants it?... Fairly disappointing.

Your build is looking nice though keep it up.

went to the local cars and coffee yesterday and hung out. a few nice cars out there.
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today i washed and waxed the car and got a few pictures of the inside now that its all assembled. then next big update wont be coming for a few months. the car is as done as it can be until it gets to florida for kilo racing to tune it. if there are any developments to note before then, i will update the thread. i am going to be doing another walk around video not that its finished just so theres an "after" comparison.
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not much to update since nothing has really changed and wont until ~january but a friend and i spent a day making one of those cool videos...

bruh... who the fuck is drivin your car?

And why isn't this video in HD?

i do have friends you know -___-

windows movie maker 2.6 doesnt recognize .mov files so i had to convert them to .avi and lost ALL of the quality. i dont have a computer strong enough to handle any video editing software that isnt windows movie maker so i had to make due :(

so.... a whole lot of nothing has been happening but i moved my tuning venture a lot closer since im getting tired of waiting. i contacted angel motorsports in virgina and they will be tuning my car. i will be driving up there in the fd on dec 4. i'll be making a video (in hd) of the trip. should be a fun adventure....

so a its been a while, a little bit has happened since the last update. i dont remember everything but i'll cover what i can recall.

in a series of modifications, i ended up with a plug and play ignition amp that isnt a twin power. other models exist... go figure. it works great. it leaned out my idle quite a bit and driving it so much more smooth now. night and day difference. im also very proud of myself for the super sleek install as well. pat myself on the back for this one...

then the street tune happened in va at angel motorsports. it was a lot of back and forth on that road. the car ran great afterwards. i later went back to finish up on the dyno and a little more tuning on the street to get it just right.
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then it was a whole lot of nothing going on. jan 17 we went back to va to get on the dyno and put down 350 to the wheels maxing out the injectors. we used the dyno at a shop called ramey built if you ever heard of it. i have no explanation for the graph. the tq number is obviously incorrect. they were saying something about the dyno being set up for something else... idk. either way its wrong. the hp number is correct though.
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so the 17th we went to the dyno and the 19th we moved from north carolina to florida. i wasnt going to drive the fd back i so got it trailed. it only took 2 days to get to me.
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unfortunately, it was damaged while being loaded. i wasnt mad about it. i left the car with a friend of mine and he wasnt really up to the twin plate. i was going to get the bumper repainted when it arrived anyway so... nothing to really be upset about. the pictures make the damage look worse than it really was.
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getting that repaired was no big deal. i went with a black for the front "lip" of the bumper and it makes a world of difference. i didnt realize just how much red was on the car until this happened. i think theres a much better balance now. theres a small one man shop in orlando called justins custom auto. the guy (justin) is super cool and does outstanding work. hes my body man moving forward for the rest of forever. he also hooked it up with the diffuser install. he lined it up for me and made an outline so all i had to do was drill the holes. i was worried about doing it myself for fear of making it uneven. the goal was to install the diffuser and trim slits in the stock rear lip thing for the diffuser to sit in. well i messed that up big time. it looks terrible. im on the hunt for another so i can try again.
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and thats basically it.... not much has really been going on with this car. ive just been driving it around and enjoying it. ive fixed a few little things that ive been putting off and will be deleting power steering and upgrading the brakes soon. now that my other one has arrived, this car is going to be taking a back seat to life for quite some time. which is ok. i think it needs a break.

The car looks great dude! Where in Florida did you move to??

Nick

Dang that sucks about the car getting damaged in transit.

Good work though, digging the rocket bunny rear diffuser.

thanks... i live in tampa now.... its nice


thanks man. i wasnt worried about it. my friend called me in a little bit of a panic after it happened. which is understandable. i really wasnt worried about and am still not. the bumper was going to get repainted when it got here regardless.