oregonmon

Shhh, don't tell him, but he wasn't doing 1:33s.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

A good mt.net citizen would have updated their thread regularly to provide the masses with the free internet entertainment they think they deserve.

Current status: the car is on jackstands. No oil in engine. No radiator. Transmission is off. No seats, radio and gauges hanging out of dash. But, gauges are completely wired. So, almost ready to roll, really.

ABS install:

• OEM ABS lines run, ABS brain/pump installed
• OEM sensors installed. Front wiring is as oem. Rear wiring runs along the PPF harness, rather than through the chassis, because where it runs is too hard to get to without more disassembly than I'm willing to do.
• rest of ABS wiring installed, awaiting only final connections at stub harness
• connecting to the brake switch line was a @#$$ing PITA. My 6'4 wingspan makes it almost impossible to get both hands up under the dash to the same place at the same time.
• At this point, other than having no brake fluid in it, mechanically the car should have working brakes.

ABS installation requires ABS uprights all the way around, which leads to

Suspension install:

Basically the entire suspension has been replaced from what was on the car in October: springs/shocks/sways/uprights/front UCAs/front LCAs/rear LCAs/ball joints/tie rod ends/all bushings. The only unsprung weight left from October rolling into the garage is the rear upper control arms.

This came about as follows:

• ABS uprights installed. This ended up being more work and money than I had anticipated. ABS installation requires ABS uprights all the way around so the sensor can be mounted. I knew this, I obtained used uprights. The fronts were fine. The rears, however, were very rusty, which I could fix, but came with bazillion mile rear hubs still attached ... which I doubted my ability to remove. New rear hubs were on the list anyway, so new rear upright/hub assemblies were ordered from Mazda. Wallet pain. These were then given to Aidan and rear sphericals happened.
• Sadfab poly/bronze kit installed, with Delrin in the front LCA. This required some work from Aidan as the V8R stuff uses different sizes. While he had my arms, he said "Hey, your UCA ball joints are bad, I wouldn't run them." This necessitated another order from V8R for their upper control arms, with a corresponding delay for their next production run.
• When I took the rear LCAs off and pressed out the bushings, I noticed the arms overall were quite rusty, and the inside of the bushing area on the arms had huge corrosion rings. I worked on it for a while with a file then said f*ck it and got replacement used ones from The Parts Group. No corrosion in the bushing areas. Win.
• Xidas big grip kit, 900/500 installed.

Miscellaneous:

• Switch for launch control tied into clutch switch and MS3 LC input.
• EBC wired.
• Singular 2.5" brake ducts installed. These had to be clearanced due to the new tie rod ends.
• J hook rotors of the gods awaiting installation onto my TSE hats.
• AC has been removed from the car.

Still awaiting:

• Mazdaspeed front tapered roller bearing hubs (backorder, supposed to have shipped already)
• Passenger harness (in transit)
• Passenger harness compatible seat. Not sourced yet, have a line on a used Tillett B5 as a possibility.

I need a few hours to get the stub harness wired up and get the harness tucked away neatly etc. Looking at it, this will require me to unhook and remove the ABS brain temporarily to get the harness routed down underneath it properly. No big deal, but time consuming. After that it's a few hours to get the interior put back together, trans back in, radiator in, all the fluids, bleed the brakes, go through the ABS bleed procedure about 15 times, and debug any issues. I have been super meticulous about this god damn wiring, so hopefully the **** just works.

Then drive it, align it, drive it some more. Maybe do an autocross or a track day for stress testing, then back onto jackstands for Trubo installation.

I have many pictures of all of this. Maybe I'll get motivated and post them.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Trubo before the rest. Needs more boost.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

No, I need to verify all of this before moving onto that.

Brakes B4 Boost

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

That's a borderline bannable offense. Boost > all

18psi

iTrader: (76)

brakes?
you're just not driving well enough

oregonmon

I've watched this painstaking process on our chat and have given you plenty of grief for the crazy amount of work, but funny how when you put it into a couple of paragraphs it sounds rather simple. i know its not, and I envy your method.

This shall be an amazing build.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Right? I wrote it out and was like, damn, that should be a couple of weeks according to what I just wrote ...

I am not fast. Partly because I don't have to be. But also because I try to do stuff the right way, and when I run into something unexpected I research the **** out of it. And my blessed children inadvertently suck my will to live and I no longer have the stamina to head back out to the garage at night.

Thanks for the words. I had hoped to get back on the road before you became #floridaman, but that appears unlikely. Come to MRLS!

dleavitt

iTrader: (1)

I can relate. To all of this. Work, wife, kids leaves very little time for wrenching unless you are okay with losing the wife and kids. I admire your persistence though! I gave up and have AR doing all the work.

EO2K

iTrader: (37)

Where are all the pictures? All I see is words, I thought I was in my own build thread for a moment.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

I am very behind. I lost Mine/Tues/We'd of this week when I walked of the plane Sunday night from Atlanta with a 202 degree fever. Finally figured out it was my CDiff resurrecting itself for a third go. Started the metronidazole Tuesday night and I'm now a functional human being again, but not out of it by any means. But the fever is gone and I can sleep now. Sleep is good.

Looking back I can see now how it is coming in the last three weeks to a month. It had steadily affected my sleep by causing me to think I needed to pee earlier and earlier. The last week I was probably getting up every hour and a half. Miserable.

Yesterday I had to do all the **** that didn't get done because I was laid out in the couch for 3 days. Today I got some time, tightened down those damn ECU bolts, and multi-checked my pigtail wiring diagram, doing final wire length checks, etc in preparation for actually wiring those wires.

Passenger harness has arrived, almost got distracted by it, but fortified my focus and worked on the wiring.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Yeah ... my original wheels rolling target was early March. Suspension stuff delayed that. Once I missed that, it's when it's done. Mazda still owes me front hubs. But, I have an update.

I am triumphant! Radiant streamers of effervescent glory flow from me like the scents of Paul Mitchell waft behind a top-down Miata on the freeway!

First wiring test. ABS key on, brake depressed diag test cycles all three channels. First time!

From this mess:





To this mess:



Now I go back and arrange / wrap / tuck all that so it looks presentable and stuff.

ToDo list:

• connect boost/vac gauge sensor to vac line
• finish pax harness hole drilling
• reconnect hard lines to abs brain, fill/bleed brakes
• install hitch
• install hitch wiring
• install trans et al, fill with fluid
• install radiator, fill with fluid
• put oil in engine
• install seats
• calibrate lc2
• align

ok f*ck IB. How do I in-line attachments now?

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Engine has oil and filter.

Transmission / PPF attached, driveline is complete.

J Hook rotors installed.

All wiring complete except for oil pressure sensor ground wire, and miscellaneous tidying up in the cabin where the wiring enters the cabin through the AC line opening in the firewall.

Remaining:
brake fluid & bleed & bleed & bleed
radiator / coolant
hitch, hitch wiring
trans fluid
diff fluid
pax harness
cabin reassembly
exhaust

Bonus: sold my extra set of NB wheels for a good price unexpectedly.

turbofan

iTrader: (1)

dem j-hooks doe

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Engine bay is complete, until turbo.
Hitch is on.
Pax sub belts in.

Remaining:
coolant
trans fluid
diff fluid
brake fluid / bleed
clutch fluid
cabin final reassembly
hitch wiring

curly

iTrader: (25)

You know you can fill the trans through the shift turret, right? Not sure why that easy one is still on the list.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

Well hello, Mr. Smartypants! Thank you for your valuable contribution.

Remaining:

Exhaust
Cabin reassembly
Hitch wiring.

Ran into a snag with the exhaust. One of the studs on the header needs to be chased. I have it off and will chase it in the morning.

This also afforded me an opportunity to see all the lovely oil on my exhaust manifold flange. Suspect supertech seals in the head.

aidandj

iTrader: (5)

Huh. Sounds like a reason to install the turbo instead.

Mobius

iTrader: (2)

No, not yet married man with no children and a workspace bigger than the living space. I need to get the car rolling and sorted, then turbo.

This stud can kiss my ***.