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What schwanke JDM part did you just HAVE to have from Japan??
Well, since you asked...
The car has a set of the Budget Bilsteins on it (as seen in the The Better Bilstein Ebay Coilover Thread ) but the bump stops (red, foamy looking things, maybe stock?) have completely disintegrated to the point where they are falling out in pieces in my driveway. Which is really bad. After reading though that thread (and the one on m net, and the one on CR...) and consulting folks who have done it before, I decided that as long as I'm refreshing these things I might as well do some of the other optional "extras" as long as I'm in there. They were built with NB top hats, which is good, but we can do better.
Parts list:
Maruha Motors 20mm extended top hats
Mazda S Reinforced NCY0-28-775 Upper Damper Bush, NB
Mazda S Reinforced NCY0-28-776 Lower Damper Bush, NB
Energy Suspension Coil Spring Isolators 9.6103R
Integra Speedthane Shock Bumpers 310 3019-50 (Medium, cut to spec)
I'm waiting on a couple more things but if all goes according to plan, I should be able to refresh the shock setup this weekend
JDM box y0
Wow, these are so nice. My understanding is the bushings are dimensionally the same as the stock NB bushings, but made of a harder durometer rubber. Sold under the Mazdaspeed name in Japan, they would be closer to what we call a Mazda Comp bushing. Stiffer is always better, amirite?
Impossibly nice. Totally out of place on this car.
Jumped on the struggle bus last night with this ******* steering column.
I completely munged the twisty steel collapsible section that bolts to the firewall. It got stretched out so now its too long. I spent some time abusing it with the vice and some C-clamps and eventually got it to the point where everything lines up again. Kinda. Struggled mightily to get the splined section back into the steering rack and eventually gave up and asked the wife for help. With some unreasonable force and violence we managed to get everything lined up. Yay! I loosely bolted things up at the firewall, clamped the column to the dash bar and thanked her for her assistance. She hopped out of the car and dislodged the clamp, dropping the column and re-stretching the collapsible section. /sigh.
Fuckit. I'll just modify the mount where it bolts to the dash bar, I don't care anymore.
I then pulled the dash bar out along with the dash wiring, and then disassembled the remains of the HVAC system. Heater core was clean (thank god) but I'm glad I pulled the diverter box because it had about a pound of leaves and acorn shells in it, along with a tremendous volume of other ... unsavory things. Deciding I'd like to actually use the HVAC I disassembled the box, ripped out all the foam and cleaned the surfaces with disinfectant. Likewise, the ductwork in the dash was removed and cleaned. I knew some sort of rodent had been in the car but I hadn't realized it had taken up residence in the dash. This strikes me as squirrels rather that rats or mice, but I'll be cleaning everything now regardless. I'll probably pop the top and trunk lid off the car and pressure wash everything, followed by more disinfectant. Have I mentioned I hate rodents?
Dash and HVAC ductwork are back in the car, along with the AC bypass duct. Also, I really need to find a new home somewhere in the car for that ECU. Maybe I'll throw some rivnuts in the firewall behind the pax seat and it can live there again, or I'll figure out how to get it somewhere up under the dash.
And I spent some quality time re-looming the dash harness. The blue tags from the PO are great, I love seeing things like "Radio (I hope)" and "Cruise control (maybe)"
Most of these things are superfluous anyway due to the lack of associated switches. I'll tape or zip tie them up out of the way to prevent the spaghetti mess of wires under the dash from getting any worse. Hopefully it won't be too much of a bastard to get that dash harness back in there...
Big shout out to internet friend @Midtenn for helping me out with a much needed coolant overflow reservoir and some fun random plastic bits for the hood and surprise bonus air filter. My old reserviour tank literally collapsed in my hands while I was trying to clean it. Thank you sir!
Anyone recognize the filter? Its constructed like a K&N but doesn't appear to be oiled. I'm trying to figure out it's care and feeding requirements.
Trying to decide if I want to paint up the tank like the other cool kids Might legitimately help with future UV damage as well.
So when you have friends who have similar hoarding problems...
One of the things that never sat right with me about the NA back when I first bought it was how Mazda switched from a true oil pressure gauge in the 90-94 cars to an "idiot gauge" from 95 and up. Coming from the old, dubious carbureted Fords where oil pressure is life or death, one of the very FIRST parts I bought from Arlington/Finishline/Rosenthal back in the day was an actual OE Mazda Oil Pressure Gauge. Try as I might I could not find the matching sender in stock anywhere so I ended up buying a used one from a dismantler. For years it sat in my closet in a box somewhere until I forgot about it and sold the car to @gesso . After stumbling across it some years later I handed it off to him, and he left it sitting in his garage... and sold the car. So after the NA went through 2 other POs and subsequently landing back in my hands, gesso found it and sent it off to me again.
Thanks to @revlimiters fine website and writeup, I can confirm this is actually a legit oil pressure gauge. Glad to know Rosenthal didn't rip me off nearly 20 years ago.
So now, maybe, I can finally get an OPG in this damn car.
+1 on real gauge readings, are the earlier setups hard to find in US?
they sell well over here - seen some senders @ £35 for used! and I sold a few pairs of sender/gauge for £35 within a day of advertising
I hacked a spare early cluster (slightly) & a 'real' gauge (more than slightly) for my car..
I'm playing with too many ideas at the moment so this may be junked for a whole diferent cluster-panel using racetach & elliot gauges
Real OPG is nice but mine throws a fit WOT 4th gear above 4k rpm on track lol.
Mine used to freak me out wiggling around at ~4k, seriously thought it was detonation on one of my old setups (some here have posted that you can see det through the OPG if it wiggles). Ended up mostly remedying this by fixing the wiring, getting the spade connector to clamp tighter on the OPG, and redoing the frail wiring.
However it still starts to freak out over 6k or so doing WOT pulls. I just ignore it now. I think it's engine harmonics at that RPM causing it.
Pls don't make it too good 
09-29-2020, 12:07 PM
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) for my car..
