Given your Renaissance-era capabilities (caring for the infirm- both animate and silicon- is quite a trick), I'm sure you'll find suitable employ soon.
Perhaps in the emerging "elderly android" market.

Despite the somewhat shabby current condition, looking at your car reminds me that I think white is the best color for a S4, it goes so perfectly with the black body trim.

I always wonder about the logic behind the European mandate for bumper mounted license plate lights.
Those little wart things can't be significantly brighter than the JDM/USDM versions and it's just extra wiring and mess for little apparent gain.
Plus, I'd think they would be easily obscured by snow buildup on the bumper ledge.
Explain yourselves, Yurp!

i must say clokker, when i awoke this morning i was a bit bummed. it feels like life has thrown me a few curve-balls lately especially where my economy is concerned but your updates seriously make me laugh out loud and get on with it and i thank you for that!
and you were actually right in a way.. my buddy that i work out with has hooked me up with a job taking care of asylum seeking children. i honestly have no idea what to expect but whats the point of living without intrigue?

i couldnt agree with you more on the color scheme. (of course this is a heavily biased statement) and coincidentaly enough i thought about this today whilst at the garage. the current (albeit shabby) colour scheme is just that. black and white. the gtr wheels however, are what i would call a gunmetal grey which i think works. what do you guys think? should i paint he steelies the same?

Attachment 649926

its actually alot darker to the naked eye and im thinking that plain black will endup looking mediocre as ferk. decisions decisions..

i must also agree with you concerning the stupid license plate lights and go even a step further to ask why in the name of all that is holy did they change ANYTHING compared to the udsm versions? i only say this because it is these small differences that have been a thorn in my side throughout the entire project so far.

anyhoo.. i had a go at the brake calipers today. of course i did it wrong and popped out the first piston straight away. that ish is dangerous! hehe :nod:
fortunately i learned this without flattening my fingertips..

heres some piccys of the process...
Attachment 649927
Attachment 649928
Attachment 649929
Attachment 649930

thats as far as i got today. it was actually easier than i thought and one of the pistons was well sticky which may explain the crappiness of my brakes? the first one always takes ages (my excuse for only doing one) but ill be there all day tomorrow taking advantage of my (hopefully) momentary unemployment =)

You split the caliper?
Ballsy thing to do with no replacement orings....

i was a bit unsure if i should do it but thought what the heck. it made it easier to get into the fiddly bits i just scraped away all the oxidised crud with a sharp screwdriver i didnt really want to use the wire brush there anymore :lol: luckily i bought an o-ring kit a while back so i should have replacements but tbh the ones in place seemed really fresh. :icon_tup:

Just FYI, you really never split calipers and either make sure your new o-rings are resistant to hydraulic fluid or reuse the originals (if possible).

thanks clokker i didnt know that. fortunately i only did the one so ill not do it on the other. it was alot easier to clean though =)
i just had a big "uh oh" moment. since i got the seven i have had a crack in the windscreen that will not allow her to get through the safety test. considering the usual difficulty with getting parts for it my paranoia got the better of me and i started checking around to see if anyone has them. the glas replacement companies i rang all use the same suppliers and i cant find any in the scrapyards. i found an old thread on the wankel forum here and it seems like its a real pita to get a hold of. this has suddenly gone up to priority one on my stuff to get a hold of list...

You'll probably be OK reusing the original oring but keep your eye on that caliper for a while.
I think that if it's gonna leak it'll do it right away.

I sympathize with you about the windshield.
I need one desperately.
Fortunately, I don't even need a windscreen since we only pass emissions and have no safety inspection.

i still have the sealant i used on the block off plates, i could put a smidgen of that on the o-ring when i replace it. hopefuly it will tolerate brake fluid.

the safety test here is quite stringent. your not allowed any cracks in the drivers line of sight/eye level. the sad thing is i dont even think it was caused by a stone. it looks like the PO dropped something on it and found out what a bugger it would be to get a hold of a new one hence the sale of the car in the first place.
whatever the case its my problem now..:sad:

No sealant, just oring.

ok ill just have to cross me fingers and hope she doesnt leak.

after a little more hunting i called my local mazda dealership. i have to say, these guys have no interest or inclination to help out when it comes to my rx7. this is the third time i have gone to them for parts and recieved little to no help. the guy is spoke with fobbed me off to another glass company who told me that last time they had ordered one they had done it through mazda. they've got me running around in circles at the mo.. im going to have try another dealership tomorrow and hope that they want my money.

returning to my clumsiness with the water temp sensor,

Attachment 649836

i only found one thread about it here..
im beginning to wonder if i even need it connected? if i do, do i have to get this from mazda or are there generic ones that would work? im not that hyped about getting anything from mazda at the moment..

Dang, I'm going to need a windshield for my fc too this spring before inspection. I haven't looked into it yet, but I never figured it would be a problem. I guess I should start asking around

-sean

i would recommend it sean my searching so far has me looking around in finland..
im hoping this is going to go on the insurance. the only quote i received so far was for 5000kr (774 bucks).

ill be selling my ass on the street by the end of this thread..

Enough with your hobbies.

höhöhö ok it was a bit :gay:

today i finished off rebuilding and painting the calipers..

Attachment 649778

i also cleaned up the afm and painted it. ill put up a pic when its done.
then i did something that literally made me howl with anguish...

Attachment 649779

i broke YET ANOTHER sensor with my clumsy sausage hands while putting the respective bits of the engine back in place after the engine mount install. this time it was the sensor that sits on the slave cylinder. i am cursed.
just when i had sorted out replacing the temp sensor..

i have been reassured that if im going to find a windshield for the seven it will be in one of our neighbours in the glorious european union...yes you geussed it. finland! mielikuvituksellinen! (means fantastic.. i think..)
i have been told by the older guys at the garage that the finns are renowned glaziers and that i should be able to get away with doing this on my insurance and paying the deductible.. (i have seriously forgotten the word for this in english. i know i never called it that. its a sad state of affairs when you start forgetting your own language). now if i can just stop breaking things...

You didn't break a sensor, that is a condensor that protects the oil pressure gauge circuit.
Just tape up the plug and don't worry.
Lots of FCs are missing those with no problems and very few makers even use 'em to begin with.

As long as you limit your breakage to trivial shit like the two pictured, you might make it through this ordeal.
Keep away from the new windscreen though.

well thats a releif! i was proper bricking my pants. i am so over speaking to those grumpy tossers at my local mazda.
looks like its windshield week for me. i just had to replace it on my micra today. i wish the seven was as cheap as my dd but at the same time i dont find myself wishing for the same boring driving experience..
on a positive note, i spent half the night glowering at a countdown on ebay. i swear it was the longest 3 hours of my life! at the end of it i got this..

Attachment 649750

yes, i did a proper funky chicken dance around the apartment :)

Nice man, s5 tails will look great on your car.

Any progress on your wide steelies?

-sean

not a day goes by where i fight down the urge to call robban and ask him how its going with the steelies. the only thing that stops me is that we met whilst working together.. and that man is one of the the most diligent workers i have met in my life! i just know that if im waiting on him, he's waiting on someone else...
i was actually supposed to have lunch with the fellas in the archipelago today but i had to sort out my DD. last time we spoke he had sent his measurements to his guy that can sort out the cylinders and was waiting on them. im pretty sure that its gonna be happening soon so im concentrating on the bits and bobs i have left to do on the seven. i thought id finally get around to sorting out the lip this weekend...

http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/59/5920a...f692fe30f7.jpg

Wow, turbo taillights.
I assume you've done the supporting mods so the bulbs don't run lean and take out the reflectors because man, I only gots one word to say bout that...Chernobyl.

sounds serious! due to the fact that i am useless at electronics, im going to have to ask you to elaborate. i was always under the impression that these were plug and play. im assuming that you mean they need more juice? i want to avoid all things pripyat-ish where the seven is concerned..

^ he's just making stuff up, electrically they should plug and play no problem (mine did).

Physically however, you will have to trim both sides of your license plate backing thinger by a few mm, and grind away a bit of body metal behind where the tail lights mount to. The s5 lights have all the same mounting stud locations, but for some reason interfere in those 2 spots. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from when I installed my s5 lights, and can't recall anything more specific about the modifications (it was long long ago).

I believe that Aaroncake in all his infinite wisdom has a brief writeup about s5 lights on an s4 car if you care to Google it.

-sean

Found it -> Aaroncake's s5 tail light install guide

-sean

dammit :lol: i got got.

i had read the write ups before hence my surprise when i heard about the "mod".
aaron cakes is good but i think i found a better one. this guy really puts that extra effort into a very comprehensive detailed step by step breakdown of the whole process here
..

I made a funny.
Oh, how we laughed.

Yup, he really boils it down to the essence.
I admire- albeit from afar- the "don't give a fuck, BFH" approach.

If you'd like to see a more longform example of the genre, search google for "Project Rufus".
That guy is bashing together wildly disparate pieces of junk to make a semblance of a boattail roadster and the hammer is one of his more sophisticated tools.
It's endearingly hilarious.

Those taillights should fit right in with the license plate mount that usually comes with those...

the worst thing is i really give a fuck but i still end up with the same standard of workmanship :scratch: i dont know how i manage =)


interesting that you mentioned that as im pretty sure that the ones i have ordered didnt include the mount. i have been thinking about how i am going to solve it. thing is even if i had got them, the swedish plates i am going to get are 300x110mm so i probably would have ended up bodging them up anyway.
the only idea i had was to either fix a nice peice of metal and cut it to size, or make something up with fiberglass which i really want to have a crack at working with because it seems like it could be useful in so many applications..

today i had to take my trusty daily driver for a safety inspection. i got three demerits.
1. a little bit of play in my right tie rod
2. rear right hand parking brake out of function
3. no wiper fluid.

the reason i mentioned this is that i completely understand 1 and 2. but 3? kamaaaan.. i just thought its a bit exaggerated.. (considering that according to regulations here you can have holes in your floor as long as you cut/grind away the rust)

but i digress.. my main objective today was to get a replacement for the aforementioned temp switch that i had bludgeoned to death with the sway bar.
a little bit of searching on the net led me to believe that i had found a replacement that is also used on the 626 and 323. i whipped down to mazda but it turned out that even though it looked exactly the same i was told that i would unfortunately be unable to use it because it doesnt activate at the same temp. back to square one. i will also add that this time i was there they were extremely helpful and friendly and really interested in rotaries! i must have misunderstood the vibe the last times or the debut of the sun this year has had its usual effect on the denizens of stockholm and myself. (yes, you geussed it. vitamin d and uncontrollable good-naturedness..)

the thing is, i only found one thread about this switch here. its only one page. the thing is im still unsure if i really NEED it. it says that it is for the aws system (cold start?). this has me thinking that considering that the seven is a summer car anyway, wouldnt just waiting a couple of minutes on idle before i drive away make this unnessecary?
the thread descended into a bit of tech bickering so i got a bit confused. (meerkat fact #263. this is easy to do.)

whatever the case, this bloody switch (to me) amounts to a hole in my cooling system which i would appreciate not having.. i also forgot to mention that the guys at mazda could get a hold of a replacement, but this would have cost me 1070kr (167 ferkin dollars!) i can tell you right now that hell will have frozen over before i part with that amount of money for a frickin sensor but im still at a loss as to what to do...

Not having an S4 (or even a S4 manual), that sensor is a mystery to me.
Is it normally open or closed?
How much hotter/colder do the "new" sensors trip compared to stock?

A quick read of your posted thread leads me to believe you can just ignore the sensor and be fine.
If the sensor is normally open and closes at a specified temp, maybe joining the two loose wires together is the way to go...but can't say I really know.

Seems to me I've read about this in some radiator threads.
Some aftermarket rads lack a bung for this sensor and folks have wondered what to do.
Might find a more comprehensive answer there.

you did all that with your fc with no manual? gawd damn! i salute you sir.

its encouraging that you came to the same conclusion. i had a little bit more of a look around and found this thread and it seems more and more like its ok to just leave it disconnected. they talk about "starting it in gear" which is supposed to bypass it. then theres a load of talk about the bac which, considering i have removed it doesnt seem to apply to me anyway. looks like just waiting a couple of minuites before i drive away should suffice. this was actually one of the first peices of advice i got when i got my first car by my colleague who was an old mechanic. the reason he told me to do it was to let the oil circulate first to avoid metal against metal when cold starting which is probably a good habit to have with regards to prolonging engine longevity which is already an issue where wankels are concerned :nod:

i havent read any worrying "dont do that youll blow your engine" type warnings about it so it seems safe enough to at least see if theres any difference with it disconnected. plus it said in the previous thread that its not connected to the ecu so i shouldnt get any warnings either.

i just had a little read through this thread just to recap and see if i had missed anything. looks like risu had told me what to do about the split air pipe ages ago. (thanks risu!:icon_tup:) looks like putting a 1/8 nipple in the middle of the blockoff plate to the bac at the back of the engine will do the job. i noticed the other day that i already have some hose for that so thats one less thing to buy.

it was also nice to get a reminder how i have had so much help and support so far with this thread. i wouldnt have gotten this far without you guys and i hope you know that i appreciate it very much!

now im gonna have to go break the piggy bank. i need brake pads..

I ordered some ebc ultimax today. and i didnt have to break the piggy bank either! had to take the bog-standard ones for the time being ill be putting in some nicer ones up front when the opportunity (money) presents itself..

I only made it to page ten but awesome thread so far subscribed so I can continue reading tomorrow

I couldn't resist but to click on the spoiler and I have to say I'm a little surprised by the way the writer chose to finish off his characters development. Also, quite a twist? I couldn't have seen it coming

hahahaha i actually have no smart retorts for this one.. i shall however do my utmost to escape my impending doom and emerge triumphant with a rx7 with wheels :)

which reminds me.. next week ill be ringing robban for a status update..

apropos the atmospheric scandinavian scenery, me and a buddy decided to take a last minute weekend trip, anywhere that wasnt stockholm. after meeting at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am, we drove 4 hours northwards to his stepdads villa and will be relaxing there (read grilling, fucking around with assorted airguns and drinking alot of beer and rum) this weekend and doing a little snowboarding.

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Attachment 649366

next week will compose of knuckling down with the seven =)

aaah the trials and tribulations of rx7 ownership.. most of them dont even make it past the pilot series..:nod: but im a stubborn bugger....come hell or high water and all that..

Heat treating your e-shaft at home...very resourceful (and you even have a spare).
How are your tires coming along, will they be ripe and ready for picking when Robban finishes the wheels?

I even added a very nice red wine marinade :lol:
At the moment i havent even received my brake pads which had me very surprised when i returned last night. Today just flew by. Im going back to school for a couple months just to get my grades up so that i can maybe have a hope at a decent job in the future so i was running around the whole day buying books and getting my head around this online studying stuff.. The last six months have forced me to realize that something has to change hence the decision but ill be doing it part-time so it shouldnt interfere with the build..
I got a new job today as well. Its only for three weeks doing some construction but it will keep the boat afloat for the time being. Just another day in the life of an immigrant in sweden hehe:)I havent got around to calling robban yet but i shall be doing so tomorrow to get a little status update. Geuss ill have to wait until the weekend until i can get cracking on the seven again..
i have had a look around at tyres and it shouldnt be too expensive but i had better make sure the money rolls in so that i can afford them when the time comes..

Got my bits today! the lights were in better condition than i thought! work tomorrow but i have the weekend free and i know what ill be doing :)

Attachment 648968

Please do a detailed write-up- with pictures, of course- showing how to install brake pads into
taillights.
We've all had to do it but we never talk about it, like we're ashamed or sumfing.

i just get tired of telling all these noobs to use google search.. everyone knows you just plug the cable at the back of the taillights into the box and presto! plug and play :lol:

A little bit off the subject but a pretty cool thing happened yesterday. I got put in a swedish skate video! i got a coupla tricks in around 03:23. you will see that although short, the summers here are great!

Fullängdsfilm: Pop Luvit - Artiklar - Tacky.se

thinking reflectively, i have been doing this for so many years and taken countless spills to finally be able to do some of the stuff that i saw in skate videos back in the early 90's. this may serve to explain my stubborness with the seven. anythings possible if you keep at it! i hope it wont take 20 years to finish the seven though haha :lol:

The 7 will never be finished because no project is ever finished.
In fact, the car isn't even the project, you are.

The experience, techniques and approaches you gather from the project are of far more value than the physical manifestation of your work.

Besides, you don't have any wheels.

Sweet little skate vid, the editing was really nice. Were you the one with your shirt off? If so, Jesus Christ! You're a monster!

-sean

I hear ya sensei! thinking about it your absolutely right. if anything were to happen to the seven (god forbid) it wouldnt be a complete loss i have definately learnt alot though this little project. robban said he was going to go to his cylinder-dude on friday. i assume he will be giving me an update this week instead.

thanks sean! if we had better weather here i would probably have more fun things to do then train at the gym hehe. its kind of a side effect of the winters :lol:

this weekend felt a bit short and i didnt really get much done. thats what happens when you drink wine with your neighbours till 6am..
anyways i peeled myself out of bed around midday and got down to the garage.
i was actually there yesterday for a couple of hours and test fitted the s5 tails. straight away i noticed that on both of them, the edge furthest out at the bottom of them had been broken off. i dont know how it happened. either in transit here or from me to the garage. it was just a bit sucky really because the fella that sold them to me couldnt have packaged them any better..
i went and got some epoxy glue and made the best of the situation..
thats some cut off bit of some random plastic box that had some fuses in it.. should work as a flexible reinforcement. no automatic carwashes for this old girl in the future or i can say goodbye to those..

Attachment 648670
Attachment 648671

you would have to look close to notice the crack so ill just have to live with it i suppose.. it felt a bit sacrilegious but i chopped into the body to make space for the tails and then sprayed them with a bit of clearcoat to protect the metal from rust.

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im so glad i got them. they really really make a difference! i wont even say how long i just sat there mesmerised by them. the reverse lights and blinkers worked fine. i managed to get the front brakes on and because there wasnt a bracket for the brake line on the coilovers i had to bodge one up. its not very pretty but ill have to fab up something nicer later on. it will work as a temporary solution for the moment at least.

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I bought motor oil, coolant and brake fluid today and realised that theres nothing really stopping me from putting everything together and starting her up. Ill be trying to get that done throughout next week with what time (and energy) i have. the work im doing at the moment has turned out to be quite physically demanding and im tired as a dog and hungry as a wolf when i come home everyday. its a good thing i'm a meerkat :)

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Looks sweet with the S5 lights. I did the same thing (sat there and just looked at them) when I mounted a pair on my old S4.

Then television was invented and your whole world changed.

It's kind of weird when you go in for the first start. When I did mine I kept going over my list trying to find something I missed even though everything was checked off!

thanks man at least i know im not alone in gawking at them like they would magically dissapear if i blinked hehe.

then video games were invented and an entire generation went to pot. in more ways than one :lol:

that reminds me of two things, a very embarressing situation where i forgot to refill the cooling system after doing something with the skyline when i was alot less knowledgeable and overheated the engine :facepalm4: (now im more knowledgeble but still in a perpetual state of confusion) and that i have to assort all the cruddy bits of paper i have in, on, and around the car and put them together into one comprehensive checklist. this reminded me actually about something i had been meaning to ask on here that didnt even make it on to my list.
it concerns the connection of the split air pipe.
i found it in a earlier post on here by risu. am i to assume that i can fit a 1/8 fitting like the one on the left..

http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/graphics...TG-033_450.jpg

into the middle of this block-off plate..

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...1/DSC_0587.jpg

and connect it via a hose to the split air pipe on my rb header to activate my auxiliary ports?
i swear i had asked this before but i couldnt seem to find it in any of my recent posts. i must be going mad..mad i say..:fruit:

sorry for the inactivity over the last couple of days but its quite easily explained. pure fatigue.. itll be nice to catch up on my sleep this weekend and by that i mean just a solid 8 hours.

i was actually at the garage last wednesday and got a little bit more done.

rear brakes complete..

Attachment 648431

and i trimmed down the registration plate holder to size so that it would fit between the s5 tails..

Attachment 648432
Attachment 648433

i spoke to robban and his cylinder dude had been caught out by the most nefarious of viruses, the common cold. he wont have the time to get down there until next week.
i also have a pair of nice spanky new american size registration plates on the way! serious respect to the poor sod who had to cut through all that red tape to get them allowed on rx7's. after speaking with one of the adorable ladies at the transport authority (read ill-humored, tetchy and downright unhelpful) for five minutes, i was already living out murderous fantasies in my head. in short, they arent very nice people. usch fy.

i went and bought the last couple of bits i need for tomorrow on the way home from work. tomorrow i will be going to the garage early to put everything together again and bleed the brakes. i mean to start her up tomorrow. i have butterflies in my stomach right now and its gradually worsening. the weather has made a big improvement today. it was actually frickin glorious. as long as the weather report is correct, tomorrow should be much the same! fingers crossed.

I too am hoping for a productive Saturday, so good luck to us both.