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-***** 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?



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
fortunately i learned this without flattening my fingertips..

heres some piccys of the process...





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 luckily i bought an o-ring kit a while back so i should have replacements but tbh the ones in place seemed really fresh.

 

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..

 

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,



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 *** on the street by the end of this thread..

 

Enough with your hobbies.

 

höhöhö ok it was a bit

today i finished off rebuilding and painting the calipers..



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...



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 **** 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..



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...

 

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 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 ****, 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.