Aaaaannnnd the coolant leak was caused by....?
What is a torn Dowty seal?



Maybe not, apparently they always rip like this when coming out.

 

Great looking build so far Charles. Definitely not afraid of diving in, especially with that transmission rebuild! I'm subscribing. Hopefully we can get a part or two on your car before its done!

 

Thanks Carl, I hope so too... will have to see what else you can fab up for these things.
Maybe a from-scratch coilover kit that I can afford with proper matched spring/damper rates for EVERYDAY use. That's the one thing holding me back right now from decided on a set.

I'm not cool with a rock hard suspension for driving these backroads to school everyday...
I'm taking a Mechanical Vibrations course right now and I want to design coilovers as a project... Would be awesome machining my own to have a one-off set on my car.

 

Centerline has a CNC machine, but of course you already knew that

ps: we cut rene fresh stickers last week, so go get one

 

Centerline only has a CNC table cutter to cut up to 1/2" metal I believe they said - mostly for flanges and stuff like that. Not a mill or a lathe... unless they've expanded and I didn't hear about it? haha

 

So I had a breakthrough moment for what I was going to use as some rubber bushing things to mount my amplifier bracket to the chassis. I have had an incomplete Energy Suspensions bushing kit that I bought on the forum (unkowingly incomplete, that is) sitting next to my desk for about half a year... realized I could put a few of those small endlink bushings to good use!




I got time to finally paint and drill and mount the amp bracket too... got some foam stick-on pads I had lying around and put them to good use as well.


And finally mounted... for now. Going to clean up those terminals before I actually wire it back up. I've got some other stuff to do back there before it all goes back together anyways. I know the cuts are rough (just used tin snips) and it isn't a pretty bracket but I don't really care since it sits hidden under a cover, but this is waaaayyyyy nicer than the double-sided tape gig I had going on before.



Next up, I need to get some POR-15... or something similar. There's so many damn products on their webpage I don't actually know what to buy, to be honest!

 

Cool, looks nice.

Taking notes.

 

I haven't given up yet; just settled into a period of excessive amounts of caffeine and even greater amounts of sleep deprevation. That's right, it's final exam time!
My plan is to go at the car at full force to finish things up after my last exams on the 24th, and have it on the road by the 5th when it's due for an e-test.
I sold my kyb's and RB springs to 2Fierce so he could get his car back on the ground, so a new suspension is in order. That of course means another excel spreadsheet for my options. It isn't quite done though... still waiting for pricing from a couple people and a few other options that aren't for sure yet.

Hope to get that ordered by the end of the week so it will be here on time.

 

What suspension do you think your gonna get? My 10th AE could use an upgrade.

 

Ian right now I've half-decided on the ground control coilover conversion with KYB AGX and new stock front top mounts (GC's come with the rear one). I can get all that for just under $1000 and it SHOULD be significantly comfier than a cheaper set of coilovers.
I'm perhaps too picky with ride comfort since I drive it every day but apparently the BC coilovers are good for the money, as well as the Stances which I've been told are a little better quality-wise. These are of course referring to the cheapest sets of each.
The Ground Control coilover set doesn't allow separate ride height/spring preload adjustment which is more important for a track car than it is a daily, really.
And the HSD I still haven't got pricing on but was another set in the $1000 range I was considering.
I wouldn't even consider the cheaper set like Megan or RotaryWorks or Godspeed or any of those sub-$800 brands. Reviews are terrible and not recommended for daily use or you'll go mad from suspension rattling.

Now, there is one set that I'm waiting to hear back about. Lucky-10 (not to be confused with Lucky-7) who are based in BC and run by a couple guys designing and building some top-notch suspension parts already. Carl says he's aiming for somewhere in the $1000 range to keep them competitive and based on the quality of their other parts, I'd love to give them a shot. That's the only reason I haven't pulled the trigger on suspension yet. Maybe you can help convince them to finish developing some more sets as well.
Lucky-10 | Research Design Fabrication
https://www.facebook.com/Lucky10RDF

 

FOr some reason I thought lucky 7 and lucky 10 was the same guy. I would like a good suspension. One that can be used for track and street but yes a comfortable setup on the street is nice because that is 80% of its use. I wish ohlins made a set for the FC. I can't make up my mind. Currently the 10th AE is to clean to track but why store it in the garage I will wrap it in race tape lol. My old bilsteins worked well but AWR racing apparently makes a better setup but pricey.

I have a set of new front and rear camber plates I can use. Right now my reinstallation on the 10th AE is going slow so I have time.

 

I assume your budget is quite a bit higher than mine; especially if you want a good suspension for the track.
Ohlins are far too pricey for me, but there are comparable sets out there:
ANZE: ANZE Suspension Applications(probably into the thousands of dollars, plus springs and top mounts)
Blitz:
Cusco: Coiloverkit Search | CUSCO Japan co.,ltd.
JIC: JIC Magic - MAZDA ZMS S single adjustable Coilover kit

For the money, I have always heard that the Ground Control full coilover kit was the best, and to be honest you probably don't need to adjust height and preoad separately if 80% of your driving is on the street. I would say comfort is #1 priority, especially if the wifey is going to be riding shotgun a lot! They ask you right on the website what kind of driving you're going to be doing so I assume they give you spring rates accordingly. http://www.ground-control-store.com/...ion.php/II=839

and there were a few more higher quality brands I came across when I spent an afternoon looking at my options. Some were 7 grand, most were far less.

Actually I had read about these ones from Silk Road http://www.nengun.com/silk-road/section-spec-rm-a8
and they were reviewed very well for the price. Someone in another thread was raving about them after switching from a $1000 set like Tein or something. He tracked his car.

 

Also, these:
http://www.endlessusa.com/#!__suspension-kit

 

Another thing is rebuildability. Most of the Japanese of shore brands are not rebuildable. My budget is not crazy money LOL. Most I would want to spend is 2500 for a single rebuildable setup. Also if your read up on suspension you will know why those shocks are 1k. Ie no repeatability and never the same shock dyno values on the same settings etc. Ante is crazy money.

 

Truth.
The BC's are said to be paired together based on shock dyno values, when you read through their taiwanese site: Taiwan Bor-Chuann= BC-racing =
"to within 5%"
I couldn't find anything even related to shock dyno's on any other manufacturing site.
Hotbits suspension rebuild Cusco, Maruyichi (a CSCS sponsor) is the importer for BC suspension and I believe will rebuild (or replace), and I'm sure you can get JRP to send out your HSD's to be rebuilt.

On that note: Hotbits is local in Brampton, and they have their own FC suspension setups for just above your budget lol http://hotbits.com.my/catalogues.aspx

 

Alright, well....
Exams are finally done, and binge drinking has started to slow down, so some progress has been made and will continue for the week before I start work.

First off, I've ordered my suspension. KYB AGX with the Ground Control conversion. I'll also be ordering some front camber plates from Carl at Lucky 10(Luck-10 Parts. I don't think they're ready to order yet so maybe I'll be lucky enough to get the first set? But quality looks fantastic on everything else so I'm not worried about any hiccups.

Brought all my stuff to the rally shop to get everything pressed out. Forgot to bring the diff with me but I'm thinking I'll just unbolt the rear cover and bring that so it won't be such a pain in the *** to do.


This one was a bitch, as many people can attest to, but once we found a method that worked well it was actually quite easy: Using a bearing puller/separator thing like this (on the right Puller Thing) just wedge it between the bushing and the flange on the arm then use that as your surface to sit on the bottom of the press, while you press downward on the arm through the center of the bushing. Worked like a charm!


I spent the day cleaning suspension pieces, and then started putting one of those POR-15 super starter kits to work. POR-15 Super Starter Kit

After I stripped some of the old paint off (not a necessary step) and wire-brushed 25 years worth of **** off of them

I used the Marine Clean and rinsed, then used this Prep&Ready stuff which is just a rust converter I believe. Coats everything with Zinc Phosphate when its rinsed and dried.





And then painted


I was able to do one coat on these three parts with just less than one can. Probably enough left over to do a really light second coat after these dry.
Note: POR-15 is UV sensitive but I didn't use any of their top coats because this is under the car and... well... I shouldn't have to explain that.

Next up while I'm POR-15-ing is probably some surface rust fixing under the car!

 

<3 what youre doing to my car, keep up teh good work...now come help me with wiring!!!

 

ps: when I did my suspension research years ago, i concluded that if I had the money I would buy the super*now coilovers or the zeals. The reviews on the zeals are unparalleled

 

^ I didn't know Supernow made coilovers... I don't think they ever did.. ??

More stuff.

Cleaned, prepped, and POR-15'd some spots under the car. Just preventative mostly to keep some spots from rusting, or from getting worse, particularly the spots that the subframe was hitting against the body for the past year. I'll need to do a second/third coat obviously, but it has to dry first.


I won't bore you with all of those pictures, you get the idea.

Then I spent some time cleaning the hubs and dust shields.

I dunno why Mazda decided to design the dust shields to make them non-removable unless the hubs are apart but damnit that's annoying. I cut the rear ones off so I could clean easier but didn't even bother with the fronts; just cleaned them the best I could with them on.

Then I took apart the N/A diff... because I felt like it.
I just wanted to see how easily it came apart for when I take apart the GXL diff to replace the rubber mounting bushings.

 

Awesome job as always! You are going to town on your restoration. Doing it right the first time.

 

Nice! Been there and covered with muck thats for sure. Keep it up.

 

Been there done that. I fully understand this scope of work. Good work taking this much work on. I am doing my Front Subframe now with POR15. (Did the rear years ago) Issue is I bought 2 4oz cans. Most expensive paint out there and tiny. Thought that one can would do and have a spare backup but now I'm wondering if two cans will even do one subframe. LOL.

 

Zeals are for FD's no?

 

Thanks guys!

And Ian, the Zeals are made (or sold) by endless. These ones: EndlessUSA
They have FC stuff in the catalogue

 

Some more done today. Started on the Prothane kit for the front. Overall it's a pretty easy install - didn't even need a press for any of the bushings.

These guys just pressed in by hand after lubing them up with that Super Grease that comes in the kit, then the sleeves can just be tapped in with brass hammer. Simple!


The endlink bushings don't actually come with the Prothane kit but I had them from an incomplete Energy Suspension kit I bought from a member on the forum. Went in just as easy as the control arms.


Just a comparison of the control arm ball joint boots that were pretty worn. The preload checked out on the ball joints themselves so I didn't replace them.


I did buy new outer tie rods, but replaced the stock boots with the ones from the kit. The big rear bushings on the control arm were just easy to press on by hand, with the help of the garage floor and 180lbs of.... well, me. .


Overall, really liked how easily the Prothane kit installed on the front so I'm excited to feel how it improves the ride.

Next was just some more **** removal from the floors, prepping for where I'm going to be cutting and welding along the edge. The plan is to get the car driveable again and take it to the rally shop where we'll be doing that work, possibly some stitch welding, and maybe even some sort of roll bar. We'll see what the guys say about that.