^ I've never done any of that. I drain the coolant from the radiator only with the radiator drain plug, then pull the hoses off. No need to remove anything but the snorkel, and thats only 2 (12mm?) nuts. I've never swapped a thermostat but I didn't realize there was more to it. Maybe I'm not the best person to offer advice on that subject then, woops!

 

Thats right to me lol. Thermostats are really easy, just make sure you have a good gasket. And I like to use a sealer, some people don't. Then once you fill everything back up with coolant, just take off the cap on the top of the radiator. Fill it, turn the car over... watch bubbles come out, fill it up more, and just repeat until you don't have any more bubbles and coolant starts to overflow = Good To Go

 

Hoh thanks. I'll do that when I get back to Cali. The hoses should be at my house Friday!

Btw! I just noticed! I am going to be in Colorado Springs

 

So I got back from Colorado and got blue Samco hoses installed. I need to take a picture of these. Who knew that hoses could look sexy? It just looks horrid with the unpolished radiator because of coolant splash...

To-do list:
Brake master cylinder and lines (pedal is somewhat spongy, the brake fluid is eating the lines)
Fuel filter and lines (no wonder my fuel economy won't go over 16-- I hear some NA owners get 18+, but I guess it could just be the richness)
Belts, all of them, not sure if I really need to get new pulleys also
Heater hoses (I think I'll pick up water hoses later)
Brake calipers (looks like I'll have to get the rears rebuilt, so far it seems that these are no longer made by anyone and I don't need a big brake kit)
Oil pan replacement or reseal
Outer tie rod ends
Lower ball joint (Mazdatrix only has these attached to the control arms, I haven't seen anything elsewhere but if a total replacement is a good idea, I might as well also put that part in my reasons-to-be-poor list)

Fun stuff:
Seats, steering wheel, better looking wheels, better tires

 

for the brakes... are you sure you need a master cylinder? Is it leaking? You could just try stainless lines and fresh fluid

 

^80% sure the master cylinder is leaking super slowly, not too sure how to test that but I'll try the new fluid like you suggested and see about those better lines

Also attached a shoddy picture of the new hoses (please ignore red engine bay which will one day match the outside white). I took the car down to Evasive Motorsports in La Puente. Cooling panel is in the mail, never tried sanding or poking new holes to adjust fitment of anything before so I'm looking forward to how this will pan out. I still don't have an undertray though since I haven't gone to any pick-a-parts yet if I could be so lucky

 

Corksport cooling panel came in yesterday. I'll have to sand about 1/8 to 1/4 inch from the bottom to clear the bumper and sand 1/8's here and there but the biggest area of change will be for the hood release. I'm trying to figure out when I need to schedule this for myself-- any ideas on how long something like this takes?

 

awesome to see a female doing work on her own car!!!

 

^I only do what I have tools for...

So the cooling panel (sort of) went ok. I'm just going to ziptie the bottom corner since it won't sit flush with the body. That was a couple of weeks ago...

I left the FC at Neptune Speed over the weekend and I have to really commend Yoshiya for his super friendliness, JDM charm, and taking care of random stuff that I didn't know to ask for. I felt obliged to bow my head when we shook hands and introduced ourselves (Thanks Kent for referring me here!)

Compression is good, 7.5 in the front and 7.8 in the rear, well supposedly that's kind of in the middle area. New belts and new exhaust gasket (towards manifold) since I was stinking up my mom's garage... And honestly, I picked up the FC and it felt totally different. I had my suspicions of lost HP for a while and I was right-- now some of that power is back in the car it seems. (haven't dyno'd to find out what it is after the repairs) Anyway, now the exhaust gets poppy when I downshift anytime over 4000 My throttle is actually proper and not laggy, the idle is finally stable, even slightly higher by about 100, my cold starts no longer do the start and then stop issue-- freaking AWESOME.

I just have to fix my oil pan leak... and whatever random thing that will likely pop up soon.

In other news, Drifting Pretty is going to be at Willow Springs for Just Drift this Saturday. I will be there! But not drifting... I haven't any extra tires. It'll be fun times anyway!

 

yah!

moar progress ftw!

 

I think I have a cooling undertray, if you still need it. I will check tomorrow.

 

Yes, I do, thank you. Would like to know about shipping cost first though.... and if it's for S4/S5, not sure if there's a minor fitment difference anywhere.

 

Shouldn't be any difference, I'm using an S4 one on my S5

 

Yea it's for an S4, I gotta make sure it's not broken or missing any parts first though. I forgot to check on friday. I will check tomorrow, I don't think shipping would be much it's pretty light, but I will get a quote if you shoot me your zip code. You can PM it to me if you want.

It came off my 87 that got wrecked.

 

Thank you! +1 for maintaining coolness!

 

Well it's complete except for this part that goes around the sway bar I believe, looks like it got cracked in the accident. If you are still interested I'll work on a quote for the shipping

 

Yes, I would appreciate it! Thank you.

 

I'm sorry I have been super busy and I'm lagging. I will get a shipping quote for you this week! If I haven't got back to you by Wednesday shoot me a PM and yell at me.

 

Will be taking the car to Neptune Speed sometime soon for miscellaneous items-- need it soon because I have registered for autox novice school at El Toro for July 16 and 17

 

Also have some miscellaneous stuff to buy this year:
Car cover/bra thing (for the cones...)
Mother's Powerball or other effective lens cleaner
Wheels, still can't decide. BBS RS or Axis Klassics? Or something else altogether? I am opposed to rolling the fenders-- if it needs to be done, it's got to be damn well professional looking (if I can get this before Mazfest and SS14, I will be in very good spirits)
Steering wheel set up -- thinking Momo hub, NRG 2.0, a Momo steering wheel that I have yet to decide on that feels right and is not deep dish
Whatever breaks in the process... possibly another tps
OTC (preferably) jack + stands
Better tool set than what I have

 

I have a front bra for an S5 I think it's all there. It's black. I'll look into it if you are interested.

 

Get Xerapol for polishing lenses, its a plastic/acryl polish stuff.

Did my S4 tails with it and they look like new again.

Could slap the PO for using car polish wax on the tails ...



Steven

 

i think finshline would like it.

 

yup!

but i think sarah deserves it more than me. =P

 

Sarah,,you mentioned a ball joint incorporated into the lower arm.(post #54)
That is S5.
IF you can get S4 lower control arms they have the Replaceable ball joint.(separate from the control arm) and the arms are interchangeable.