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If you were building you car back from scratch, would you do anything differently? Obviously, the changes you are making as you paint it would be included.
I'm happy to finally be reading this Dale, after finding all of your other threads so informative. Glad to see your own car take the spotlight.
I've been struggling with what paint to pick. I dropped off my car at the painters, and i've got a few weeks until I REALLY have to commit. My car too is originally Brilliant Black, but i have a hard time going back to that, as I've never had love for black cars in general.
I see your 10 million posts with good insight and lots of technical knowledge, but yet know nothing about you, your car, and build
so its nice you posted this up.
Looking forward to the end result as the car has lots of nice cool old school stuff.
I did a year at UWF, 2001-'02 ish, you may have seen this beauty (stock N/A, auto) but still the coolest thing I could afford back in the day!
If you were building you car back from scratch, would you do anything differently? Obviously, the changes you are making as you paint it would be included.
Cool car - great to finally see the legend.
First off, Thanks!
This is a good question. I'm happy with how the car generally is right now, there's always more refinement to be done but it checks a lot of boxes -
- It's dead reliable. I've been driving it to and from Deal's Gap every year since 2010 and driving the hell out of it up there, it's about an 8 hour one way trip. Car has been rock solid, no over heating, no suspension rubbing, no weird leaks, etc. etc. etc. Just get in and go.
- It's fast. About a year or two ago I finally said the heck with it and went from 12psi to 14psi and BOY does it move. Nice, fat, flat power band, power starts at 2000 RPM and is dead steady to 8000 RPM with no transition dip.
- It handles great. It's always done amazing at the Dragon but my suspension has been really harsh, it was on old Tein Super Street coil overs. I got the Flex Z's about 6 months ago and took them to the Dragon this year, VERY pleased. Car is more comfortable on regular driving but still handled the Dragon no problems - dug into the corners and ripped through great with no rubbing or drama. Tires are starting to get old which sucks because they do still have a decent amount of tread.
There's always room for improvement and other things that I would like to do, update, or change.
I always tell people "let the car tell you what it needs" - too many times people go down the rabbit hole of neat stuff they WANT but that isn't what the car NEEDS. Don't buy a body kit and race seats when your car is overheating and has dry rotted tires.
My car has been screaming for a paint job for AGES. Time to finally do that!
I do have 2 big things I would like to do -
- Go through the engine. It's solid, but there's a lot of things that I would like to do with an engine-out. Street port, FINALLY get the damn oil pan to stop seeping oil, do some ceramic coating around the turbo, put on the ported/flow benched UIM and LIM I bought 10 years ago, clean up things some, probably some new rotor housings.
- Pull the dash. Lots of aftermarket wiring for various electronics, some of which are done well, some of which are not. I'd also like to re-foam the heater core and all that.
I got lucky when first buying the car that I got a good, solid, cared for car to start with. I also specifically wanted a '94 so I wouldn't have to deal with the '93 interior plastics. The hard part is trying to climb uphill to fix a ton of broken and hacked stuff from negligent previous owners.
I do also need to dyno my car to see where it sits now power-wise. It's DAMN fast right now and I'm happy with the power level, I would estimate 330-350 to the ground.
I'm happy to finally be reading this Dale, after finding all of your other threads so informative. Glad to see your own car take the spotlight.
I've been struggling with what paint to pick. I dropped off my car at the painters, and i've got a few weeks until I REALLY have to commit. My car too is originally Brilliant Black, but i have a hard time going back to that, as I've never had love for black cars in general.
Either way, I look forward to the progress!
The big wisdom I can give you on color is pick an OEM color. If you get some custom pearl candy paint job it may look awesome but if you are ever in a fender bender or need minor body work it will be damn impossible to color match that. If it's an OEM color, even from another manufacturer, you can always give a body shop that paint code and they can match the paint.
Also dip is a great way to try something different. DipYourCar has TONS of cool colors, color shifting pearls, gloss, matte, and satin finish, you name it. It's also a good way to protect your paint if you are doing a lot of track days or something.
- It's dead reliable. I've been driving it to and from Deal's Gap every year since 2010 and driving the hell out of it up there, it's about an 8 hour one way trip. Car has been rock solid, no over heating, no suspension rubbing, no weird leaks, etc. etc. etc. Just get in and go.
- It's fast. About a year or two ago I finally said the heck with it and went from 12psi to 14psi and BOY does it move. Nice, fat, flat power band, power starts at 2000 RPM and is dead steady to 8000 RPM with no transition dip.
That's where you want to be, just get in and go. Mine has been the same since 2014, few weeks ago I woke it up from a 4 months nap, change plugs and fluid and did a 7 hours round trip to autox.
12psi to 14psi is a noticeable different, not sure how much better the 99 twins can hold up on higher boost, but I've been running my N3C1 twins at 14psi since 2014 and it is starting to have oil stain around the primary now.
How's your seq system holding up? I have had no issue with mine since I changed out all the hoses in 2013, and using all original solenoids.
Originally Posted by DaleClark
I always tell people "let the car tell you what it needs" - too many times people go down the rabbit hole of neat stuff they WANT but that isn't what the car NEEDS. Don't buy a body kit and race seats when your car is overheating and has dry rotted tires.
True statement.
I think the last picture I have seen your car was in black with blue stripes, didn't know it is yellow now, and that engine is well organized. Excited to follow the progress, and can't wait to see the new look!
Haha, I peeled that off when I got home, it was getting REALLY sad looking.
I ran 12psi for so long because I had heard the 99's didn't do well long term with more boost. After running them for 10 years or so I said the hell with it . If they go, I'll do something else.
I will say that if the turbos died the 8374 is SUPER SUPER tempting. But it's hard to justify spending that much money when my car primarily keeps my garage from flying into orbit.
I haven't really checked them out deep down in some time, but I'm not getting any oil smoke or see anything out of the ordinary.
Also, I have been running a water injection nozzle in front of the primary turbo for a while now. It's a small sized nozzle and I have one of the nipples on the HKS intake that I think the PCV attached to removed then I drilled/tapped and installed the nozzle there. Temps do drop like a ROCK with the WI going.
Can't even tell you have WI from the engine bay picture, it definitely provide a good peace of mind when the AIT starting to creep up on the commander. I had an Euro tank and the AEM system sitting in the garage for 6 years, finally installed it last month and it did well to keep AIT in check during autox on a warm day.
The pump is on the driver frame rail and I'm pulling from the stock washer fluid tank. I added a level sensor to the tank to shut off the system and flash the warning light if it runs dry.
I love the AI system, it's been dead reliable, drops temps like a rock and makes the car feel like it's a cold day. Really interested to see how the inside of the engine looks carbon-wise one of these days .
That's a great idea using the level sensor as trigger, mine is wired to the Euro headlight washer switch via a latching relay, so I can turn it off on a cold day that really have no need for WI or when the fluid run low. Another thing is I don't have the level sensor install yet, the AEM sensor is quite long, to install it in the Euro tank I'll have to place it half way up the body, kind of defeat the purpose of having a low level warning that early. I'm looking into the VW washer sensor, they works the same and have a very short probe, and they also might fit in place of one of the pump opening so no need to drill additional hole.
I bet your internal is fairly clean if you have been running WI for some time. I have been missing out for sure for not installing it sooner, my GReddy elbow was cold to touch after each run at the autox. But better late than never right? Haha.
Dale, great to see you make a build thread... Black FD's look the best all cleaned up!
Look forward to seeing the transformation but I not gonna lie I'll be missing the yellow
Oh and make sure she's done/ready in time for DGRR 2023.
Steve
👍
Last edited by estevan62274; 05-25-22 at 05:55 PM.
Really fun story and thank you for sharing Dale! Your FD looks great and the engine bay is really clean imo. And don't get me started on those sweet wheels!!! Whoo-wee those are very, very cool. Awesome to see you still rolling on them. I just love old school wheels for some reason.
Yes, the car is BB originally. I've touched up the paint under the hood a number of years ago.
Wanting to do the RX-8 A3F paint which is Brilliant Black Clearcoat. Really want a nice clearcoat on the car so it will last and I can buff out scratches and scuffs over the years. I plan on USING the car not leaving it in the garage, but I would like to take measures to keep the car nice.
Once done I will be looking into a clear bra and definitely doing a good ceramic coat on it. Doing ceramic coat on my RX-8 daily (which lives outside) is what pushed me over the edge to going black again. Black is just such a hard color to keep up, car always looks dirty, but when it's on point it looks SO good. The ceramic coat keeps junk from sticking to the paint, it stays cleaner longer and takes less effort to clean, many times just a good once over with a hose and the car looks great again.
BTW I've been using the Avalon King stuff that all the YouTubers hawk, been happy with it and the price is fair. One bottle goes a long way too.
Dale
Just my .02 but if you're doing a full repaint I would highly recommend doing a full PPF from Excel. They have a self healing one that I always put on my new cars. You can also ceramic coat it to keep it really clean. You can do whatever panels you choose but I would say just do the whole car.
Yep, I am definitely planning on some sort of PPF. Probably just on the front end.
I haven't heard much about it in a while, but DYC has a pro line called Autoflex and one of their products is a sprayable clear bra. You have to spray with an HVLP gun but it's perfectly clear and peel able. I don't know how it holds up over time, though, or if it has the nice self-healing properties.
I invited a bunch of the car guys over, had about 10 of us total over today. Started around 9am, had a lot of BS and goofing around, then started getting down to business.
By 11am the car was 95% done. Fired up the grill at that point and we had burgers, chips, Winn-Dixie cookies (if you know, you know) and a ton of diet root beer and Mt. Dew. Everyone had a great time, weather was awesome here today (mid-80's but actually not humid) and we put up the pop-up canopy that helped a LOT working under the shade.
The dip peeled off well, I was afraid of it being on there so long, but that was no big deal. Panels like the doors all came off in one big piece. Some spots had thinner dip and required more work to pull little pieces at a time but most was a good thickness. The front bumper I sanded and worked on before I did the dip and it had a rougher matte finish, the dip stuck VERY well to that, so much so that 3 of the guys spent the whole morning just doing that bumper. On the shiny panels it came off easily.
It looks REALLY WEIRD to see the car in black again, it's been a LONG time. You can also see ghosts where the old vinyl stripes were on before I did the dip. Also various spot repairs - I had a shelf collapse in the garage some time back and it dented the passenger A-pillar and the door up. I fixed it with some bondo and paint and it's been hiding ever since .
Few pictures -
My buddy Shannon with the passenger door dip all in one piece Peeling the dip off of the passenger B-panel. You can see the white first layer on the opposite side of the dip. The whole crew at it peeling. Yeah, we needed to move the tent for the front bumper guys. Pretty much done save for the pressure washing. You can see a few yellow spots, those will be worked on as I blow things apart. You can see the patched up B-pillar and some paint work/body work that was done on that fender The rear hatch was repainted by me, poorly, a number of years ago, it's VERY crappy looking now. Car looks kind of sad, but it's going to get better.
DOORS
(1) Outer Door Belt Molding – Left (FD01-50-650E)
(1) Outer Door Belt Molding – Right (FD01-50-640E)
(1) Mazda - Molding LH Door Drip (FD0150530E)
(1) Mazda - Molding RH Door Drip (FD0150510E)
05-23-22, 09:38 AM
. If they go, I'll do something else.
