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So I ended up getting a great deal purchasing a lightly used PFS resonated mid-pipe from a Canadian forum member. This one is all 3" mandrel bent 304 stainless, with a Magnaflow resonator; seller wrapped it with heat insulation to reduce the heat into the cabin. Fit perfectly, and completely squelched the remaining racket I had when it was a straight thru pipe only. Pictures of the install:
It's so much nicer driving a relatively civil FD - no more headaches on the highway, unwanted attention and I can hear my stereo and carry on a conversation with a passenger. The header wrap is also a nice perk, as there's less heat intruding into the cabin - shifter & tunnel area feels noticeably cooler than it was before. Now I just need to find a local fabricator who can recirculate the external waste gate dump tubes back into the down pipe for me. That will become more of a necessity as I think I'm going to change out the my WG springs soon to allow for lower boost levels (~9psi at the low end), and tune a few different boost control profiles into the Link ECU.
Cold Air Intake - or how to cram 20 pounds of s**t into a 5 pound bag
So with the crappy weather trashing most of the plans I had for the Memorial day weekend, I got busy creating a cold air inlet plenum for the FD. With the single turbo sucking its air thru a shorty cone filter and a cramped heat soaked engine bay, it wasn't doing my IAT's any favors. From the data logs on my Link G4+. I can tell that the IC is doing its job, but once the engine bay gets good & hot, the IATs keep going up because there was no separate cold air supply for the air filter.
I ended up taking advantage of that roughly 1-1/4" wide sliver of space between the radiator and the frame rail that is normally blocked with a piece of foam in a stock FD (I never had that on mine). Started getting crafty with some sheet aluminum and pop rivets to build a plenum that would direct cold air from in front of the radiator into a box enclosure that would surround the shorty cone filter on my turbo's inlet. Here's pictures of the process...
This is the nearly completed base section of the plenum. It was like making aluminum origami! Here you can see how the "snout" side of the plenum fits in the space between the frame rail and radiator assembly, so it can direct cold air from in front of the radiator into the air filter Picture #1 of the mock-up and test fitting under way. Picture #2 of the mock-up and test fitting under way. My hard line to the boost solenoid interfered with the lid section, so I'll be switching that to silicone hose. 90* brass barb fitting is already installed Picture #3 of the mock-up and test fitting under way. Almost done, fan relay box & OEM relays fit fine. And here's the completed installation!
Looking forward to taking it out for some test runs to log data and evaluate how this works to solve my IAT problem. If I can get IATs in the ballpark of about 20~30*F above ambient air temps, I'd call that success.
Oh hell yeah, you will see a decrease in temps no doubt. My red neck engineered plate added to Pettits cool charge was around 10°f... This looks awesome!! Looking fwd to the results.
WOW that's some impressive fab work, Pete! Did you use some sort of sheet metal brake to bend everything?
Dale
Thanks Dale! I do have a small Harbor Freight bending brake which is fine for pieces under 12" long, though it's kind of a PITA to setup and use. More often than not, I find it easier to improvise my own bending brake with pieces of AL square stock, some C-clamps and the workbench and/or vice. Another handy tool to have is one of those seam pliers the HVAC guys use for duct work - makes quick work of the small pieces less than 3" long that need a bend.
After test driving it today, I'm finding that it's meeting my IAT reduction targets - kept my IATs within 20~30*F higher than the ambient air temps even with the engine bay heat soaked. But there is a mechanical flaw I need to fix - since the plenum is just press fit in between the radiator and frame rail, engine torque, vibration & bumps from driving around make the whole box assembly want to twist & move around some. And since the box around the filter and the plenum is one rigid part, and the clearances are tight, the upper right corner of the box tends to dig into the IC - already bent a few fins.
So I'm re-thinking a V2.0 design... Use a flexible section to couple a separate lower plenum section to an upper air filter box. Then I could rigidly bolt the lower plenum section to the body, and bolt the upper filter box section to the turbo itself - I can either use the unused threaded hole on the compressor housing for the turbo speed sensor port, or design the back plate part of the box to sandwich fit between the compressor housing & cone filter (tightening the filter secures the box around it; a removable box lid allows me to get to the worm gear clamp). And maybe that old oval FC cold air intake rubber coupler I have laying around might make itself useful as the flexible coupler between the sections I need!
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole with development on this, you can get a differential pressure gauge that can show the difference in air pressure in the air box and ambient. That can show if you have a restriction in the air box, it measures in inches of water and is a good way to find out if you have a restriction, either the opening isn't big enough or what have you. A small difference sometimes can translate to a substantial difference in horsepower, especially at high RPM.
So with the crappy weather trashing most of the plans I had for the Memorial day weekend, I got busy creating a cold air inlet plenum for the FD. With the single turbo sucking its air thru a shorty cone filter and a cramped heat soaked engine bay, it wasn't doing my IAT's any favors. From the data logs on my Link G4+. I can tell that the IC is doing its job, but once the engine bay gets good & hot, the IATs keep going up because there was no separate cold air supply for the air filter.
I ended up taking advantage of that roughly 1-1/4" wide sliver of space between the radiator and the frame rail that is normally blocked with a piece of foam in a stock FD (I never had that on mine). Started getting crafty with some sheet aluminum and pop rivets to build a plenum that would direct cold air from in front of the radiator into a box enclosure that would surround the shorty cone filter on my turbo's inlet. Here's pictures of the process...
This is the nearly completed base section of the plenum. It was like making aluminum origami! Here you can see how the "snout" side of the plenum fits in the space between the frame rail and radiator assembly, so it can direct cold air from in front of the radiator into the air filter Picture #1 of the mock-up and test fitting under way. Picture #2 of the mock-up and test fitting under way. My hard line to the boost solenoid interfered with the lid section, so I'll be switching that to silicone hose. 90* brass barb fitting is already installed Picture #3 of the mock-up and test fitting under way. Almost done, fan relay box & OEM relays fit fine. And here's the completed installation!
Looking forward to taking it out for some test runs to log data and evaluate how this works to solve my IAT problem. If I can get IATs in the ballpark of about 20~30*F above ambient air temps, I'd call that success.
Nice work Pete!! Definitely some awesome #garageguywork 👍
Cold Air Intake Version 2 - still cramming 20lbs of s**t in a 5 pound bag
Although it worked to bring down IAT's, the version 1 box I made had a significant flaw - being a rigid design, engine torque and bumps/vibration was causing it to bend & deform. So it was back to the drawing board for version 2. The v2 design concept is similar, but it separates the air filter box from the plenum, so now there's a movable joint between the two.
Here's a shot of all the parts after fabrication was mostly finished. To the left is the plenum piece (aka - the snorkus) which is just a duct that directs cold air from in front of the radiator past it and into the engine compartment near the turbo. To the right of that is the air box & air box lid - this obviously encloses the air filter, and is rigidly mounted to the turbo using an unused threaded hole on the compressor housing that is for an optional turbo speed sensor. The part in the middle foreground is what makes this work - a plenum coupling that provides an air path from the snorkus plenum into the air filter box, while allowing some movement between the two. Basically the rectangular hole in the bottom side of the coupling slides over the top rectangular "probe" of the snorkus piece. A bit of weather strip foam insulation was added there to keep it relatively air-tight, but still allow some motion between the parts. The side of the coupler plenum has a rectangular hole that mates up with a corresponding hole in the air filter box
And here's some shots of the test fitting and installation under the hood...
Air box under construction test-fit. This shows how it mounts to the turbo via a small bracket I fabricated to take advantage of an existing threaded hole on the compressor housing. Making progress on the test fittings, cracked the code on the plenum coupling piece - took lots of trial & error mock-ups to make that sucker fit! Nearly finished - almost everything is back together And done!
Wow, that is some serious work you have done! You have really refined the car and made it much more drivable. Ironically I was living in SC at the time when I was shopping for an FD. I messaged the previous owner about this car asking what it needed to get the AC working again. He promptly told me AC does not work in FDs and since I was a noob he would not sell me the car. Good thing I did not buy it, because I got a car that works better for me. Glad to see you were able to put AC in the car and are enjoying it!
Wow, that is some serious work you have done! You have really refined the car and made it much more drivable. Ironically I was living in SC at the time when I was shopping for an FD. I messaged the previous owner about this car asking what it needed to get the AC working again. He promptly told me AC does not work in FDs and since I was a noob he would not sell me the car. Good thing I did not buy it, because I got a car that works better for me. Glad to see you were able to put AC in the car and are enjoying it!
Thanks! The A/C isn't completely done just yet though - I'm still chasing leaks! Last time I posted about the A/C, the system was basically done, but I found a slow leak at the shaft seal of the used compressor I picked up. But the system was cooling the cabin a bit on a partial charge while I was hunting for that leak, so partial win - at least I know it will work once it's leak free.
So I found a rebuild kit for the Denso TV14C compressor, and with the FSM to guide me, I attempted to replace the shaft seal. Looked easy enough, but it ended up leaking worse than before... or so I thought (more on that soon). Here's a picture of the rebuild parts:
So thinking the used & now rebuilt compressor was toast, I went and purchased a new aftermarket compressor from these guys: https://ackits.net/product/14-3662nc/
New compressor arrives, and as promised by the vendor, it came sealed with a 100psi charge of nitrogen in it to test & verify it's leak free before installing. Since one of the caps had a Schrader valve on it, I stuck my tire gauge on it, and sure enough 100psi, good compressor! So now I yanked out the used compressor and installed the new one, and went to pull a vacuum - and it won't hold, WTF?
So now I pull a vacuum and charge with 1 can of duster gas again to go leak hunting with the sniffer again. Since I was more confident the new compressor was good, this time around I was a bit more deliberate in using the sniffer, and I isolated the leak to joint where the compressor pipe on the suction side is brazed onto a male insert O-ring (MIO) fitting where my hose connects to it. So more than likely, my rebuilt compressor was fine - due to the proximity of that pipe and the compressor pulley/front, I probably misdiagnosed that same leak before using the sniffer. Anyway, this was my 1st attempt at brazing aluminum, and apparently the learning curve is steeper than I thought! The brazed joint developed a hairline crack, probably from me R&R'ing the compressor a bunch of times. In the interest of getting this job done, I'll be cleaning up that pipe, getting a new MIO fitting and get my local welder guy to weld it for me, which is what I did for the discharge pipe.
I finally got this damned A/C system leak free and it held vacuum overnight! As discussed in previous post, I had my welder guy weld a new MIO fitting to the same suction pipe that I originally tried brazing a MIO fitting to, that attempt failed with a hairline crack. Anyway, I went ahead and charged the system with R134A. Since this system has an aftermarket condenser, dryer & custom plumbing, the OEM R134a capacity specs to charge by weight didn't apply, but close enough to tell me I'd need at least 2x 12oz cans of R134A, and it would need to take at least 1 full can. So the charging procedure was as follows:
1. Start with a solid vacuum - run the vac pump for at least 30~60 minutes to boil out every last molecule of air/moisture.
2. After bleeding the yellow hose, engine & A/C off, let the vacuum suck in the entire contents of the 1st R134A can as a liquid via the LOW side (can inverted, valve fitting on bottom). That gets ~12oz in, and is enough to get the compressor to run. Close the low side valve on the manifold gauge when done.
3. Hook up the 2nd can to the manifold gauge set & bleed the yellow hose. This time we're charging as a gas (can right side up, valve fitting up top). Start engine & flip on A/C to MAX cooling, max fan, & RECIRC; Stick a thermometer (I used a DVM with a thermocouple temperature probe) in the center dash vent to monitor outlet temps. Also have a hose handy to mist down the condenser to help facilitate the charging process along, and a helper to hold engine revs at a steady 2000 RPMs.
4. On 1 can, the compressor should be running, and probably cycling a bit; crack open the low side wheel on the manifold gauge when the low side pressures bottom out (low side pressures will quickly rise as R134A gets pulled in). Goal here is to slowly throttle the R134A in while keeping an eye on your vent outlet temps and low/high side pressures. You're going to slowly charge until the outlet temps bottom out. My vent temps bottomed out right around 40*F while charging. If the car (and condenser) is starting to heat soak, give the condenser a spritz with the hose. Depending on the ambient temps at the time, the correct pressures can be found in the FSM in a chart. In my case, it was about 87*F, so I was shooting for a high side pressure around 220psi, and a low side around 32psi at full charge.
Vacuum held at 29~30 inHg overnight
Since the cabin is now cooled with A/C, I figured it was time to do something about radiant heat under the hood, so I picked up a PTP Turbo blanket; went for the "lava" version, which is supposed to handle significantly higher contact temperatures than the standard versions. Next up will be to wrap the DP, but that job will have to wait until I get around to getting a fabricator to recirculate my open dump waste gates into the DP.
I have to say getting the A/C working again makes this car a joy to drive - Took a little road trip to NJ for a rotary event at JPR Imports this past weekend, and it was nice driving there & back with a nice chill going on inside! Not having sweaty ***** in the FD on a 90*F swampy day is priceless
Congrats on your ac and the air box. The airbox looks super cool and I know the goal was to lower IAT but were you able to do so with out restricting the air flow to the air filter?
Nice update Pete!
Glad to hear she cooling you down on them road trips.
I love having a/c in mine 👍
Thanks Steve! Yeah, the A/C really makes the car more enjoyable!
Originally Posted by spintriangles
Congrats on your ac and the air box. The airbox looks super cool and I know the goal was to lower IAT but were you able to do so with out restricting the air flow to the air filter?
Thanks, I'm sure there is some restriction associated with the airbox, but I think the net effect of lower IATs will result in an overall performance gain and a safer/more reliable tune. When I get this thing on a dyno, it might be a good idea to test it with & without the airbox lid on to try to characterize the airflow vs. IAT trade off. The logs are telling me the air box really works well at lowering the IATs. When it was just the open cone filter, IATs would climb pretty quickly to the 120*F range on an 80~90*F ambient temp day, and soar way above that when heat soaked sitting in traffic. Now with the box, the IATs won't go much above 100*F on the same 80~90*F ambient temps, and they'll stay there as long as I'm moving. And the real key is that even if the car starts to heat soak when sitting in traffic, the IATs don't rise as high or as quickly as they used to, and they will quickly drop back down to the lower 100*F range once I'm moving again (i.e. about 10~20*F higher than ambient).
So I finally got around to knocking off two more things on my FD's pre-tuning punch list - fuel pump & fuel filtration upgrades! Per the previous owner, he didn't get around to doing anything with the fuel pump, so I was expecting to find an OEM FD pump in there. Much to my surprise, an older Walbro 255 was in there, and I was also happy to see the tank & pump hanger were pretty clean and free of rust Picture of the old Walbro & hanger:
I decided on purchasing a Walbro 450, and the IRP pump install bracket kit to make it an easy & relatively painless install. Ended up purchasing the Walbro 450 pump with sock & install kit from Banzai racing, and get just the bracket kit from IRP.
Since the hose that came with the pump install kit Banzai provided didn't fit the hanger hard line (ID is too large), you need to get less than 1 foot of 5/16" ID submersible fuel hose locally to finish the job - look for the SAE 30R10 markings to verify that your local parts guy is giving you the right stuff. Oh, and you'll have to cut the OEM hanger fuel tube above the bell-shaped end that connects to the OEM pump to install the Walbro 450 (and similar pumps).
For wiring the pump, I didn't want to risk running the puny OEM electrical bulkhead connector because it can't handle the current. So I basically did the same thing that Steve did with his build - the ATL wire-thru bulkhead fitting that lets you pass 12~10 AWG Tefzel (PTFE Mil-spec wire) right to the pump. Here's a link to his build thread for pictures; I was too lazy (and stinking of fuel) to shoot pics of mine, but it looks the same - https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread.../#post12397093
The only difference between my setup and Steve's is I used the fuel submersible Metri-pack connector that came with the Banzai kit instead of butt connectors to terminate my wires to the pump, since my pump came with the mating connector already installed. Here's some pictures of the build process. Hardest and most nerve-wracking part of it was finding a good place to drill a hole in the OEM fuel hanger assembly for the ATL fitting - there isn't much space where it will fit and not interfere with something else when installed. Also drilling the hole just right is critical - too large, and it won't seal!. I used a step drill bit, followed by a "step-less" multi-size drill bit to ream it out to the precise diameter needed, which was somewhere between 5/8" and 11/16".
Preparing to drill the hole... Hole drilling done! Pump installed, detail of new wiring And covered and plugged in
With the fuel pump installed, it was on to upgrade fuel filtration. Issue with the stock FD fuel filter is it probably doesn't filter much below 10 micron particle size, at best. Bosch, ID and just about every other fuel injector manufacturer are specifying filtration in the 4~6 micron range to keep their injectors happy. So I decided on installing a Fuelab 81831-1 filter. This one filters down to 6 microns, has more than enough (like double) the flow capacity of my Walbro 450 LPH pump, and uses -6AN fittings on each end. The filter element is also replaceable (about $40) and readily available at Summit, JEGS and probably Amazon. Picked the filter up on Amazon -
I had to drill one hole in the JP3 bracket to adapt it to mount my Fuelab filter using the saddle bracket provided with the filter. Pictures show the gist of the install; the filter outlet is on top, and routes via hose to the existing hard line where the stock filter used to go. In the inlet (bottom) of filter, I ran hose direct from the tank hanger hard line outlet nipple as the hard line where the OEM filter connected to was too clumsy a routing. To plumb to the filter, I used a couple of 6AN to 5/16" hose barb 90* adapter fittings.
Here you can see where I had to drill the additional hole on the JP3 bracket to mount my Fuelab filter And this shot is the filter installed on the bracket, using the saddle bracket that came with it. Bracket & filter installed on the diff carrier/frame, prior to fuel line plumbing And installed & done!
The hardest part of this job was just getting the old OEM filter out, and the hoses off, what a PITA, WTF Mazda? Next time it will be easy-peasy!
Strong work as always Pete thanks for sharing!
Running a upgraded or bigger pump and then using the stock in pump wiring is asking for trouble!
These bigger pump pull alot of juice.
I just did a status check on my ATL bulkhead fitting last week.
Wanted to make sure there's no seepage or leaking and everything is still bone dry
I gotta do that fuel filter relocation too,,, love how yours turned out.
Steve
Last edited by estevan62274; 08-06-21 at 08:58 AM.
This is something I'm needing to do and also needing to do on one of the other guy's FD's here (Jason). Thanks for the pics, where the hole in the fuel pump hanger goes is BIG TIME helpful!
Hope you have the car up and driving soon, that sucker is going to be a blast to drive. Also really hoping it's all 100% for DGRR next year, I really want to see it!
Strong work as always Pete thanks for sharing!
Running a upgraded or bigger pump and then using the stock in pump wiring is asking for trouble!
These bigger pump pull alot of juice. I just did a status check on my ATL bulkhead fitting last week.
Wanted to make sure there's no seepage or leaking and everything is still bone dry
I gotta do that fuel filter relocation too,,, love how yours turned out.
Steve
^That's good to know, you've had yours in for about a year now? The potential for fuel wicking up the wires past the seal does worry me, I haven't tested it on a full tank yet.
Originally Posted by DaleClark
This is something I'm needing to do and also needing to do on one of the other guy's FD's here (Jason). Thanks for the pics, where the hole in the fuel pump hanger goes is BIG TIME helpful!
Hope you have the car up and driving soon, that sucker is going to be a blast to drive. Also really hoping it's all 100% for DGRR next year, I really want to see it!
Dale
Figuring out where to drill that whole really was the hardest part of the job. Given the size of the ATL bulkhead pass thru, and all the crap on the top & bottom sides of the hanger top, the location I got was literally the only place you can drill a hole that big that allows the ATL to mount up without interfering with something else.
So tonight's topic is the FD interior. My FD interior needed lots of restoration help when I got it - here's a few pictures of what I started with... No radio, no speakers, but more gauge holes than I will ever use... and I'm not digging the lightweight purple shift **** Here's the hatch area that once had a Bose system in it.
Fortunately the instrument cluster hood was almost brand new from the PO, so it wasn't too hard to remove it partially so I can get that HVAC/radio panel out. I sourced a used HVAC/Radio panel, shifter console panel and a new Redline leather shifter boot from a forum member. I refinished both panels & ashtray assembly using the SEM Trim Black paint, which matches the color & smooth texture of the cluster hood perfectly. For the refinish job, I used Easy-Off oven cleaner to strip the rubbery coating off of the used plastic parts - let them marinate a bit, and wipe off with a scotch-brite pad. Then wet sand panels with 1000/1200/2000 grit sandpaper, wash with a water based de-greaser and a final wipe with alcohol and dry prior to applying the SEM paint in several light coats.
For the sound system, I got a 2DIN format Kenwood Excelon DMX706S with Android Auto/Carplay support. I mounted that in the dash with a Pioneer ADT-VA133 double DIN install kit/cage, which made the installation simple. The factory radio wiring was a bit hacked up, so armed with the FSM wiring diagrams, I built a little sub-harness to integrate the factory wires to the radio with Deutsch DTM connector. For front speakers, I installed Infinity Reference series 6-1/2" round two way speakers using mounting adapters found on Amazon. For the rears I mounted 6x8" Infinity Reference 3-ways using DIY speaker brackets that I fabricated, and DIY speaker grills that repurposed the old Bose cubby bins. The "how to" on the brackets & grills can be found in these two forum threads:
And pictures of the radio install, and rear speaker grills...
Radio installed with refinished HVAC & shifter panels DIY Speaker grills installed
With that done, I had a weighted spherical aluminum shift **** laying around that fits, so I used it to get rid of the purple one. It had a great shift feel, but sucked when the interior was too hot or cold - my bare hand would either get burned or frozen. So I scored a nice OEM FD ****, also weighted that had its leather recently refinished from a forum member, made for a nice upgrade - more pictures...
Aluminum **** Leather refinished FD OEM ****
To fix up the hatch area, and reduce cabin noise, I applied some of this 80mm Noiko material to the floor of the hatch area, this stuff is very similar in design, construction and application to the more expensive Dynamat stuff. Link to Amazon:
I also applied this stuff inside the door panels, and under the bins. Overall, my FD is still a noisy car, but it has substantially improved from what it was before.
On top of that, I had just had my dishwasher fail, so before I tossed the DW, I had the bright idea to repurpose the sound insulation blanket from it and use the material on the trunk floor for additional sound insulation. It weighs practically nothing, was easy to cut & fit, and it helped fill the gaps and "flatten" the floor for the final cosmetic step - covering the hatch floor with the hatch carpet mat that Garage Alpha sells. Pictures of the process and end result.
That silver matting on the top is the Noiko sound insulation. It's a rubbery self-adhesive substance, you just apply and use a roller to flatten it down And here's the repurposed dishwasher sound insulation that I cut to fit the floor area. It simply lays in there, and is about 1" thick when uncompressed And here's the Garage Alpha carpet mat to finish the hatch area.
That's it for tonight, next time I'll cover my tan-to-black plastics refinishing work
Interior restoration, part 2 - Tan-to-Black plastics & seatbelt restoration
On tonight's post, I'll cover the tan-to-black refinishing of most of my interior plastic panels, and seat belt restoration. My tan seat belts were pretty grungy, especially the driver's side, and showing some frayed edges. Since my attempts at cleaning them didn't help much, and I didn't like the frayed edges, I decided to ship them off to Safety Restore to have the belt webbing replaced with new OEM webbing, and get the belt mechanisms refurbished for 100% proper like new operation. Link: https://www.safetyrestore.com/
That job was pretty easy - just remove the belts, ship them off to Safety Restore and wait for the newly refurbished belts to return. Cost me less than $200 all in, including the shipping, and I got them back less than a week after I shipped them out. The only catch is for old cars like the FD, they can't source parts like the seat belt tongue. So since I wanted to change the tan webbing to black, I needed to find some black FD seat tongues for them to use. You can read a bit more details on how I accomplished that task here - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-cars-1145595/
Bottom line is if you have no luck finding an actual FD seat belt tongue in black, and nothing available in the junk yard works, you can buy an inexpensive pair of DOT approved "seat belt extenders", and harvest the tongues from those. I picked up a pair from Ebay for about $17 that did the trick. Some pictures...
Above is a picture of the OEM tan seat belt tongue, next to the Ebay "seat belt extender" tongue that I harvested. Works just fine with the FD seat belt latch. Restored driver's side belt assembly
I did much of the tan-to-black restoration while I had most of my interior apart during the spring of 2020, while I was rewiring the ECU, and "de-modding" the rear bin battery relocation. Process I used to refinish the plastic panels is similar to what is described in at least a half dozen "tan-to-black" threads here on the forum, but here's the summary:
1. If panel has that '93 style rubbery coating/crud on it, strip it off with Easy-Off oven cleaner spray, let it marinate a bit and use Scotch bright pads to remove the stubborn stuff.
2. Wash panel thoroughly with a good water based de-greaser. If it's a smooth panel, wet sand the panel with 800/1000/1200 grit sandpaper. Repeat the wash & de-grease step after sanding.
3. Air dry the panels.
4. Using SEM paint, apply paint in several light coats. Follow the directions on the can to the letter. I found this stuff drys quickly, so at about 70~80*F low humidity days I did this, it only took about 10 minutes between coats.
5. After the final coat, put the panel somewhere safe & dust free so the paint can cure for at least 24 hours before attempting to re-install it.
So far I've tan-to-black refinished all the cabin plastics with the following exceptions: Seat plastic parts; hatch/gas tank release piece on the floor; headliner trim & related bits. Haven't decided what to do with the seats, carpet and headliner yet. There's a local shop that tells me they can actually recolor/repair my seat leather to look & feel as good as new for about $500, and there are a few online sources for replacement leather seat skins that I could DIY install. Did that job on my FC some 15 years ago and those seats still look & feel like new. My carpet is in pretty good shape, so since replacing the OEM carpet is a major PITA, I'm leaning towards keeping the seats tan, leave the carpet as-is and just get some new mats and call it a day. I kind of like the way the tan leather pops in the mostly black cabin. As for the headliner, I could convert that to black too, but the tan headliner is kind of growing on me - the lighter color contrast up top gives me the optical illusion that the cabin is less cramped than it is, and you really can't see much of the tan headliner from outside the car. Anyway, here's a bunch of before & after pictures!
Before shot of door panels, prepped & ready for SEM paint Before shot of rear quarter trim Quarter panel spraying in process... A bunch of the smaller refinished panels Refinished bins Refinished door panels Refinished bins, quarter trim and hatch divider installed Driver's side door panel installed View of cabin from passenger side My solution to the battery mod hacked passenger side bin - using a tool bag to restore the hacked bin to functional. It ain't pretty, but it works!
For that storage bin, what I did was repurpose a small tool bag I had to form a soft bottom to make the bin functional again. With the tool bag wide open, it fits nicely over the remaining plastic edges that the PO left when he hacked the bin for the battery relocate mod. Then I just drilled a few holes in the plastic at a few points around its perimeter, and fixed the open tool bag to it with some zip ties. Ugly, but it does the job, and it gives me a little more usable storage space than the un-hacked driver's side bin.
As for the durability of the SEM paint, everything is holding up great after about a year and a half - no chipping, fade or any other issues. The only exception to this is the driver's side door sill trim, On the door sill trim, which is taking a beating getting abraded by a very TIGHT door seal, and my shoes getting in & out of the car. The paint is just scratching off wherever the seal rubs it when opening/closing the door, and where my feet typically hit it. I've tried refinishing that piece 2x so far, with no improvement, so I will need to get an actual black piece there.
For the sills, those shouldn't be too hard to find used. Or get the stock aluminum ones or the CF aftermarket ones. I got some of the CF ones ages ago and they look and hold up great.
05-02-21, 06:48 PM
Picture of the old Walbro & hanger:
