Engine harness as it currently stands:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9758663314/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9758663314/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr

I'm loath to do any further work on the engine harness until the engine is built. I do not want any excess wire, so need to test fit the harness on the engine and adjust some lengths before looming the rest up. The eagle eyed among you will be able to tell what fuel setup I am going to be running from that pic .

The main thing I've been spending my time on recently is the front and power harnesses, but shamefully I have no pics yet due to the rain (Cannot easily lay it out in the garage due to the size). I've stripped out everything I do not want in the harness (Air con wiring & relays - Air pump wiring & relays - ABS wiring & relays - Coil wiring - Cruise control wiring - Drivers headlight wiring etc etc).

I've added wiring for my new coils (IGN-1A's) and HID headlights (Sakebomb) into the front harness & modified it in preparation for my battery relocation (Which is also now underway ). These additions are completely integrated, ie. in the same harness, relays are located in the main front relay box for tidiness and ease of fault finding. The added items are powered from the main front fuse box, using PAL fuses as per stock in the spare stock slots. It all looks standard - I'm not a fan of random inline fuses around the engine bay, so we're having none of that. I'm also making my own wiring diagrams as I go along, so anyone can look after this car, should I ever decide to sell it. All power and earth wires have been replace and upgraded. Some of the stock joint locations seemed strange/impractical to me (Possibly due to compromises as these harness are used in LHD cars, as well as RHD like mine), so all that is corrected and minimal wiring length used to reduce weight. All plug pins, joints in the harness etc are soldered, then insulated with heat shrink and insulation tape.

I've also finally finished my coil mount (The project I actually took the FD off the road for), will gets pics of this and the front harness when it stops raining.

 

Excellent choice on the Advans, timeless design that really fits the FD.

 

Thanks! They've always been one of my favourites. I'll prob have to roll the arches a fair amount to get these in as they're 9.5j ET14 all round...I want to keep the stock arches, so may have to weld on a small lip. I prefer metal as it doesn't warp in the sun .

Engine is getting done as the last item - I want all the oil to be where I put it for the first start . I agree on the wiring, shoddy wiring is a pet peeve of mine - Could you tell? . I was quite lucky with this FD, as the only aftermarket wiring was the addition of an alarm. But as these cars are 20 years old now, I replaced quite a bit of the wiring as preventative maintenance. All shielded wiring (CAS, knock and o2 sensors etc) have been redone with better shilded wire (Never know, I might even get an accurate knock reading ..). Most of the engine harness is new wiring & plugs - Only plug I couldn't find was the coolant thermosensor plug.

 

Top notch work. Really like the progress you are making. Love the rims also and they should look really good on the car. How old are those Yokohamas? They look a bit shiny to me (not the Armor All parts) so I'd check the date codes on the sides of the tires. I had a set of Michelin PS's and the tread was great but they were over 4 years old and had hardened up. Great tread but no traction

 

Thanks David - Good eyes! They are old, cracked & have had minimal use since 2007. I may use them for my break-in miles, but will get them replaced before any spirited driving .

 

Is that a plastic LIM?

 

Man even I can't wait till you get this thing running. I can't even imagine how you feel.

 

Its cast aluminium coated in a heat reflective ceramic coating. Then gold reflective tape on top of that.

Haha, I enjoy the building equally as much as the driving, so I'm not in a rush . I am quite looking forward to driving it, though. Will be a nice change from my daily diesel that corners like a bus .

 

Slowly getting all my wiring diagrams done...

Stock diag:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9822060064/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9822060064/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr

My modified version:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9822176774/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9822176774/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr

After going through all the wiring diagrams...It seems I'm making changes to every single one of them....

Just small things like the passenger window being slower than the drivers when going up, addressing all these little issues that annoy me .

 

I'm in love with your attention to detail buddy!

You've done some amazing work and I wish I had your skills with welding and such.

Keep the pics coming and I look forward to seeing the finished result (as i'm sure you can't wait to drive this beauty when she's done)

 

^ Thanks, appreciate it

Fixed link for the missing pic above:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9870240544/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/9870240544/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr

Got a lot of updates to post, will get around to it at some point this week .

 

yum, looking good!

 

Hey man awesom DIY work on your FD!

I see you from UK. Do you battle to find spares in the UK? Im from south africa but my dad is often in UK for business and Id like to bring in some spares and parts from UK for my FD.

Here in south africa there are minimal parts available

Keep up the good work mate love the Advan wheels

 

Thanks!

The advans are gone, traded for some regamasters in a grey met, will get pics up when I can.

Yeah there are plenty of parts in the uk, try mazdarotaryclub or fduk.org

Couple of fuel system pics. These parts are not tightened down as I'm still waiting for a few bits, just mocked up :thumbsup:.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/10490063766/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/10490063766/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/10490060645/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/10490060645/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/10490256393/http://www.flickr.com/photos/98724842@N07/10490256393/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/98724842@N07/, on Flickr

 

Looks like most of my pics died .



Haven't updated my build thread on this forum in a good while as I'm not on here so much recently... But the car is still progressing, albeit slowly..

So here is basically a picture dump of my progress .

Front subframe is back in, supernow arbs mouts, Tannabe arb's & IR drop links fitted. I modified the rack for manual operation, no power steering for me .


Rz/spirit r calipers:

 

After Gloss topcoat
Quick rega's test fit

 

So, car is going all S8 spec body wise, with S8 rebar, bumper, splitter, lights and rear wing. The only non S8 side of the look will be the montego blue.

 

 

Everything looks great! Do you have a completion date in mind or are you just working as you go?

Did you paint or anodize your rotor housings?

 

It will be running in July all being well, but unlikely to be sprayed until August-September as the shop I want to take it to is pretty booked up.

The housings & front cover are painted in VHT engine enamel. I'm not using that turbo now, going a little larger, but nothing stupid, only after mid-late 300s at the wheels .

 

Where are you finding all the parts? Say the R-spec brakes, Sprit-R dials etc etc?
I am fresh in the FD game, so i could use some pointers. a lot of the stuff you are doing looks to be right down the road i am going with my now stock black 94 EU spec FD.

 

I <3 montego blue. Such a nice color.

 

I buy a lot of used parts off of the Yahoo auctions in Japan, its a great source for parts. The spirit r tacho was new from Mazda, although I'm actually not using it now as I've got a different cluster.

Originally I wasn't sure if I liked it, but in person it looks awesome imo, especially if the paint is fresh. It will be resprayed the same colour soon .

Bit of progress on the car:

Bay in primer:




I've actually sprayed the base colour too, but haven't taken any pics yet, will get it lacquered and finished by this weekend.

New comp wheel/housing on the left:




30th anniversary cluster:



I'll convert the speedo to MPH, transfer the mileage across and swap the wiring over to maintain warning light locations etc this weekend. I love how the tacho looks at night on the 30th anniversary cluster.

Picked up a Mazdaspeed PPF, didn't really need it as I'd already reinforced my stock one, but its red & looks cool, so why not .




Looking forward to the engine bay paint being done. With that out the way I'll be able to fit the brakes, brake lines, all the wiring looms, lights, interior etc etc, so progress should pick up soon .

 

Man that is a lot of super sexy parts! I love those rare OEM upgrades!

Ah, yeah, i have heard about the Yahoo auctions, but i do not quite understand how the process of buying is. Do they ship to Europe, or do i need to have some middle-man i japan who take care of that?

Do you have the part numbers for the entire cluster setup? And what was the price for the one you got?

 

Thanks - I cant resist oem upgrades .

For yahoo auctions its best to use a service e.g. Rinkya, as most sellers will not ship internationally.

If you want a complete Spirit-R cluster you would be much better off buying a second hand complete cluster. The cost of the parts new is silly money! The tacho I bought new was just over £300 before postage and import duty.