And what does one do when they finally have a garage? Immediately start tearing into their car, of course! (Sorry for the fuzzy Messenger pic)



Things to do:
- Remove inspection items (allegedly)
- Address inconsistent brake issue

After having driven three FDs, each with an inconsistent first, second, and third press of the pedal (each firmer than the last) and after having driven my Z where each press was consistent, I decided on the nuclear option. We're gonna nix the booster entirely, and get rid of the ABS along the way (which never worked in my car anyway).



My choice was Chase Bays here. Everything looked simple enough. So, I got to it. Lets get rid of some stuff.






What a mess this was turning into... Seriously...




Lets do a test fitting and see how it's going.




Not bad, in my book.
Both masters went in without issue. So much space there now. I love it.

 

During the move, I found a few odds and ends to install at some point. One of which is a newer igniter courtesy of a wrecked car I bought in 2019. Was a 1997 Bathurst R, poor thing. Driver understeered right into a utility pole, frame was all twisted up. But I got a decent deal and a spare engine out of it. If only he hadnt been driving on 12 year old dry rotted tires with minimum tread, might never have happened. My cat also likes the spare seats that I have waiting to go in the car soon.





So I got the igniter in, and the kouki Y pipe bits back on as well as my Greddy air pump delete pulleys now. Time to button up this part of the project.






There we go. All back together and so much more free space in there. I like this quite a lot.

 

Into February 2022, I got my hands on a cool new JP3 short shifter to put in. Since I was going to be in there anyway, Just went ahead and changed out the rather rubber shift boot. The shifter install itself was rather straightforward. Much more notchy and purposeful in its engagement. I'm liking it. But I'm feeling a rather pronounced detent moving from 1st to 2nd that pushes the shifter towards 4th that I'm not a fan of. That might need addressing later...




We also made a nice change to her shoes in March. A set of RPF1s , 17x9+45 with some Dunlop Direzza DZ102 tires in 245/40 square. I did add some spacers to get the fitment where I wanted it. Boy she look good. I can definitely feel the lightness of the wheels going down the road. Steering is much more responsive and I feel a lot more of the little undulations.






And then, we ran into a problem one day while I was out doing errands... Leaving the parking lot, the clutch started having an inconsistent engagement. Started getting earlier and earlier into the pedal travel. So I pulled into a spot to investigate so I wouldnt be trapped on the side of the road. Lo and behold:


Well that's a problem. Little did I know, my clutch master was slowly leaking. So, I take a long walk over to the exchange and grab me some more fluid, refill it, and think I'm on my way, when


Continuous bubbles. Let's just get home and deal with this later. Pulled over twice on the way to double check levels. At operating temperature, that area gets HOT. So taking the cap off was not fun.
I get back home to see how bad it is, and find it leaking all over. That's it. No more of this "remote reservoir" and o-ring sealing mess. I've always had bad luck with them anyway. Went ahead and ordered a replacement Wilwood master cylinder with integrated reservoir to never have to deal with it again.

 

Your car looks like how I wish my car looked. lol. How are you still in Okinawa?! I thought military people got moved every couple of years...

 

I'm no longer active duty. I filed a package for an on-island separation ~6mo before my EAS and secured a civilian job during that time. So I transitioned right into a different career with only about a month in between. Life has been good for me here and the people who helped make it that way I will forever be grateful for them.


I'm still sorting through some pictures, as this last puts me into mid-2022. Got some big changes coming up as she's now at version 2.0. I just felt the need to document things more here.

 

Nice... JDM wife, JDM life? heheh

 

Don't I wish. This girl right here is my JDM wife, I tell ya. Aint hardly got the money for the human kind. That and I'm quite the introverted individual. So, meeting people is relatively rare. The things we dedicate our time and money to..

 

Looking awesome, can't go wrong with classic RPF1s. I too have a lazy shop cat that loves to sleep on my seats haha.

 

Not much to report until ~September 2022.
During the time it was finding and acquiring the body kit pieces that will be going onto version 2 of the car.

Mazdaspeed A-Spec skirts





Border Racing front bumper, zenki light style





And a Knight Sports rear bumper





I created myself a simple "photochop" (dating myself a bit lol) to get an idea of what this could be



Time to start talking to the body shop about what we're doing from here, scheduling body work and an engine rebuild

 

Into October 2022, I finally got around to replacing that god awful remote-style clutch master cylinder. Same size, same everything, but with an integrated reservoir. Leaks be gone.

Before, side-by-side, and after




I have also decided what vented hood I'm going to run. R-Magic Type 1. Deciding between FRP and carbon fiber was a bit of a decision, but after emailing the staff over there, they informed me that there was a single carbon hood they had left in stock and it was their last one; that there would be no more as there were issues with the shop they had making them. So I'm like, "Hell yes. I will take the last one." But, they told me there were imperfections, you can see some of them here.








Totally didnt care. Week or so later, here we are. Safe and sound in the garage. And the imperfections in person, really not that bad.

 

While waiting to hear back from the body shop, I also decided to grab these MISSION frp headlight covers. If I'm gonna go all out with body work, may as well replace what I can. The mounting tabs on these are significantly thicker than OEM. They should last a long time.





I wasnt doing anything else, so I figured, why not go with a small A/V upgrade too?
Went with the Atoto S8 Ultra after seeing it in my buddy's GDB. Slick little thing. Much thinner than I thought it'd be, save a lot of space in the back for wiring , and a little bit of air to help keep it cool. The worst part about the whole install was having to cut the center brace away for the OEM radio/cubby. Bit of a bummer. Maybe there was a way to keep it? But it wasnt my intent for the future of the car so, out it goes.










Looks pretty good in there, I think

 

2023 has arrived. The year of the big changes is finally here. Some of my friends leaving island as well, so had to get in a few more pictures with them.






All the new body parts are in, including the RS Pantera front fenders and carbon RE Amemiya wing (which it seems I forgot to take pictures of). Dropped off at the body shop ready to go.



A friend's car at the same shop getting a full respray in the newer Mazda Snowflake White pearl


Last drive before drop off and I lose her for a couple months

I dropped her off with my mechanic for the engine pull with a friend (didnt take the final drop off pics) and within a few hours got pics that the process was well underway.





My garage feels very empty at this point.

Okay, it doesnt look that way with all the parts and stuff. But it feels like it without her there

 

The following day, time to go pick it up from the mechanic and move it on to the body shop. Thank goodness we still had the side brake installed. Almost rolled away from us a few time. Following the wrecker on my bike, was an odd experience. I am happy that it was for something good, rather than because of a problem.



Issue identification and minor repairs began quickly, but it would still be a while before my turn comes for paint.


So much... nothing

Thankfully, the rust from these support bolts was about the worst that they found. Easily replaced with new stainless hardware

Old dents FINALLY getting filled in that have bugged me since day 1






And we got the old engine back home now. Ready to pick for parts, see what is going to be used in the future.

 

It's exciting to finally get the car in for paint!

 

I can appreciate a guy with an aesthetic vision. That poor hood man, hope they cut you some kind of a price break--that thing looks like it was hit with buckshot

Also, loving the flag/tapestry you have hanging in the garage--- seems to say "May the Bridges we Burn..... Light the path to Hell"

That speaks to my soul. Tell me more!

 

They did end up giving me a discount. I believe the final number was ~60% the price on their website. So I am happy enough with it. Be going into a little more detail in future posts on what we're going to do with it.

The flag does indeed say that.
If you were curious as to purchasing one, they can be found here:
https://www.hellsent.us/category/flags

 

Into April 2023 now. With body work still in progress, I can continue collecting things that I'll need in the next few months.

The engine bay will be repainted, so there's no reason in my mind not to replace some of the really shabby old things in there. Chief among them, the crusty old overflow and washer tanks.
Here you can see the new items in the center. Holy crap what a difference.


Since I'll also have a vented hood, I've also decided to grab a number of JP3 goodies. Greddy vmount duct, relay mount, grounds. I've also picked up the RX-8 A/C kit to retrofit because R12 is becoming an increasing pain in the butt to get ahold of.






Middle of the month, I go to check on the progress of the car at the body shop. Find out if there's anything they need from me along the way.




Much more in the way of flattening going on. Wheels are removed in order to do the fender rolling I'll need for the new wheel/tire setup


I made a special point to remove the gas struts I had installed so they wouldnt reinstall them on the carbon hood. Figured that struts gassed for the aluminum hood would cause a real headache attached to something so much lighter.

We need to discuss the imperfections in the hood. What will we do about them? Repair? Hide? Find out next time

One of the things that did require attention was the rear bumper support brackets. On the car, they were completely eaten through. But, I did have spares from a parts car years ago. While they are still rusty, it wasnt nearly as bad. They still feel extremely solid, no hollow-ness to tapping through the whole rust area. So I'm gonna clean them up and use em.


Despite its looks, it really has barely eaten into it.



So I decided to give this rust converter stuff I found at the local hardware store a try. Maybe it'll work wonders? Maybe it wont. I've had such crap luck with chemicals not doing all they're supposed to in the past, so I'm not expecting much.

 

After a couple cycles of trying the stuff, it came out "okay" I guess. But, nothing like the pictures lol. So, we'll be going to a wire wheel for the rest.





And, after going after it with the wire wheel, I couldnt get it to come out anymore than this after a few different bits on the Dremel and getting burnt a few times from its hot exhaust. So this is where it'll stay. Is it perfect? Hell no. But i think it'll be satisfactory for at least, a long while. I can live with that.






What I cant live with is them looking like that going back on the car with as pretty as it will be. While you wont be able to see them, it's one of those "But I'll know" things. So, prime and paint these suckers.





More good news as the month comes to a close: The tires are in for the new setup and the wheels have shipped. The upper and lower intake manifold for the new engine as well as the PPF and strut tower bar have been sent out for powdercoating. The new ORC 559 clutch has also come in.






I wonder just how bad driving a twin disc clutch is going to be...

 

Not long after. I received one of my favorite things about this project.




These will be absolutely fantastic on the car. So very happy to have spent the money on them.

Still waiting on the body work to finish up, we get to prep other portions of the car. Get ready for the new engine. I decided that I didnt really care for many of the factory nipples on the UIM, so those were pulled, and all holes tapped for plugs or screw-in nipples where required. Then, out for powder coating with the PPF. Also decided to give the fan shroud a new coat of paint as the plastic had faded, and go over many of the plastics of the car with a ceramic coating in order to restore their factory luster.






Fan shroud before:


And fan shroud after:

 

And we have some awesome forward progress with paint and body. I've created a YouTube channel to accompany the car moving forward as well. So this is the first in-progress video of it being posted there.











Definitely cant complain. Very excited as everything is becoming that finished vision from years ago.

A short while later, I got more video updates. Man I love this color.

 

As the time for getting the car back approaches, it's time to finish up what's necessary to get the engine rebuilt and into the car. The intake components have been powdercoated along with the PPF from a stale black. I also sent out my previously-red Mazdaspeed tower bar mounts to be refreshed back to a color as close to original as I could manage. I guess that happens as we get older. Less "hot boy" stuff now.




The white tower bar mounts were the result of a miscommunication and was rectified quickly.




Plastics before :


Plastics after cleaning and application of CarPro DLux ceramic coating:

 

Man! Everything is looking really good!
That paint color looks amazing

 

Keep up the awesome work, the car is coming along very nicely... love paint color and all the detailed work.

Also, I just returned from visiting my son in Okinawa, he's stationed @ Kadena. It such a cool place!!

Steve