- :
- 2001 Mazda MP3
You moved back to VA?
Lighter = Faster (RX-7 Build #2)
- Thread starter magnumP5
- Start date
Yep, I'm officially a Virginian again as of last Thursday. I'm in Richmond; Chesterfield specifically.
Happy to hear the car made the journey safe and sound...not so happy to hear there will be no progress til summer
Seriously going through wrenching withdrawals right now. Stuck in a small apartment with nothing to work on. We should close on our house in late March but I still probably won't be able to restart work until late June or July. Already planning garage upgrades...
That was a depressing "update".
I saw the notification in your build thread, and it was from you and was like "Oooh! Picture time!". Boo.
edit- but congrats on the new house and potentially getting a lift. Very exciting stuff, buddy.
I saw the notification in your build thread, and it was from you and was like "Oooh! Picture time!". Boo.
edit- but congrats on the new house and potentially getting a lift. Very exciting stuff, buddy.
Yeah, no real update again. We finally moved into our house a couple weeks ago and it's been non-stop unpacking, organizing, etc. At least I'm closer to the RX7 again and I can turn the engine over a few times a week. Unfortunately, I've realized several of my tools have gone missing in the move. By several, I mean over $550 worth, which includes my wire strippers and crimpers (fortunately not my Deutsch crimper). I'm in the process of submitting a claim with the movers but for the meantime it means I can't finish up the wiring. The list is much smaller, which makes waiting just that much more painful:
-Finish chassis wire harness
-Make power wire harness
-Apply sealant to some body seams
-Die/paint interior carpet
-Install seat harness
-Install radiator shroud with fan
-Initial tune and start?
In other news I bought some random stuff. In a fit of anxiety I bought another master cylinder because I've never been happy with the brake pedal feel. This will be my third and I went with a Beck Arnley unit that I found for stupid cheap on Amazon; like, $35 with free 2-day shipping and no core charge cheap. Evan's latest brake issues with his MS6 haven't helped so I'm also keeping my eyes open for a cheap remanufactured brake boost as well. I'm considering a RX-7 Turbo II booster (7.5/8.5" dual diaphragm) instead of the 929 one I currently have (8/9" dual diaphragm, I think). I'm concerned the larger diameter 929 unit will over-boost the system causing an overly soft/sensitive pedal. I should probably wait until I have a running car first... I also bought ANOTHER remanufactured right rear caliper since the parking brake isn't working on my current one. That, along with some new lines will hopefully cure my parking brake issues.
-Finish chassis wire harness
-Make power wire harness
-Apply sealant to some body seams
-Die/paint interior carpet
-Install seat harness
-Install radiator shroud with fan
-Initial tune and start?
In other news I bought some random stuff. In a fit of anxiety I bought another master cylinder because I've never been happy with the brake pedal feel. This will be my third and I went with a Beck Arnley unit that I found for stupid cheap on Amazon; like, $35 with free 2-day shipping and no core charge cheap. Evan's latest brake issues with his MS6 haven't helped so I'm also keeping my eyes open for a cheap remanufactured brake boost as well. I'm considering a RX-7 Turbo II booster (7.5/8.5" dual diaphragm) instead of the 929 one I currently have (8/9" dual diaphragm, I think). I'm concerned the larger diameter 929 unit will over-boost the system causing an overly soft/sensitive pedal. I should probably wait until I have a running car first... I also bought ANOTHER remanufactured right rear caliper since the parking brake isn't working on my current one. That, along with some new lines will hopefully cure my parking brake issues.
Hey, I got to work on the RX7 for a couple hours this weekend! Nothing fancy. The non-functioning parking brake on the rear right has been bothering me so I picked up another reman'd caliper. Got that swapped in on Saturday along with new brake cables and everything appears to be working now. The bad news is I noticed the left rear caliper is leaking. Perhaps this is the source of my vague brake pedal feel. Another reman'd unit is already on its way. Not looking forward to painting two more calipers though. At least I can re-use the bracket so that's one less thing to paint.
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- MSP 1145
just stumbled onto this thread. the car is very nice man!
and welcome to the east coast.. again, maybe?
and welcome to the east coast.. again, maybe?
I got the front harness completed and wrapped up. I used fire-resistant expandable sleeving and adhesive-lined heat shrink tubing for the parts that will be in the engine bay.
It's not the prettiest since it's the stock wiring harness and I didn't bother braiding any wires. Now I need to rip out the dash and start putting all this stuff in the car.
It's not the prettiest since it's the stock wiring harness and I didn't bother braiding any wires. Now I need to rip out the dash and start putting all this stuff in the car.
stanvanover
Member
- :
- 1992 mazda miata
Very nice
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
Actually put in something like 16 hours of work on the car this weekend. Didn't take any pictures because there isn't much to show. Got some cheap heat/sound insulation laid down on the floor and started throwing the wiring harnesses back in. Unfortunately, I've lost some things in the move last year so I need to stock up on some terminals and wire. I noticed a pool of brake fluid inside the left rear wheel; it's been leaking from the bleeder and not from the threads so I know it isn't seating correctly. I've already tried cleaning the bleeder and the port in the caliper but it's still leaking some. I'm going to try a new bleeder next and if that doesn't work it's new caliper time. This is already my second reman'd unit too...
So I've started working on this again. The chassis wiring is 99% complete. Only the reverse lights aren't connected. I had some fun with the CPU and OEM alarm still arming every time I connected the battery, which resulted in the horn going crazy every time I opened the door. This is because the CPU houses the alarm and horn relay internally. I had already severed the connections to the lights so at least that didn't start flashing. The CPU also controls the door and ignition chimes, which I want to keep but are part of the same connector that triggers the alarm, so simply unplugging that wasn't an option. It turns out one of the terminals was a normally-closed circuit and by removing it I left it open, which is why the alarm kept getting armed. I grounded that terminal and everything is good.
I got the seat and harness mounting points and positions all sorted out. I moved the seat an inch or so further forward since I forgot about the steering wheel quick release adding to the column length. The seating position is a bit NASCAR-esque so if I'm still not comfortable with the pedal positions after they're adjusted all the way out I'll make some spacers...
The only thing preventing me from finishing the interior is the carpet. My original '89 had a black interior, which I preferred so I kept everything that wasn't somehow connected with the automatic seat belts. The '86 I have now came with a gray interior. It was easy enough to paint all the plastic trim but I'm left with the gray carpet. I tried my hand at dying last night. Unfortunately all I succeeded in doing was dying the edging.
Even then, up close the edging looks to be more a very dark purple instead of black.
I used liquid Rit dye with the hottest water available to me. I know dying plastic (nylon? rayon?) requires high heat and apparently this wasn't enough. I had no way of keeping the heat up over the hour the carpet was submerged so that probably didn't help either.
So now what? I don't want to leave the carpet as is. I thought the black upper/gray lower look might work with the dark edging but I'm not sold. Leaving the carpet out isn't something I want to do. I have a bunch of black vinyl and fabric spray paint I could try. It worked well enough on the vinyl door pieces. I'm not to concerned about texture. I just don't want the color to rub off.
I got the seat and harness mounting points and positions all sorted out. I moved the seat an inch or so further forward since I forgot about the steering wheel quick release adding to the column length. The seating position is a bit NASCAR-esque so if I'm still not comfortable with the pedal positions after they're adjusted all the way out I'll make some spacers...
The only thing preventing me from finishing the interior is the carpet. My original '89 had a black interior, which I preferred so I kept everything that wasn't somehow connected with the automatic seat belts. The '86 I have now came with a gray interior. It was easy enough to paint all the plastic trim but I'm left with the gray carpet. I tried my hand at dying last night. Unfortunately all I succeeded in doing was dying the edging.
Even then, up close the edging looks to be more a very dark purple instead of black.
I used liquid Rit dye with the hottest water available to me. I know dying plastic (nylon? rayon?) requires high heat and apparently this wasn't enough. I had no way of keeping the heat up over the hour the carpet was submerged so that probably didn't help either.
So now what? I don't want to leave the carpet as is. I thought the black upper/gray lower look might work with the dark edging but I'm not sold. Leaving the carpet out isn't something I want to do. I have a bunch of black vinyl and fabric spray paint I could try. It worked well enough on the vinyl door pieces. I'm not to concerned about texture. I just don't want the color to rub off.
- :
- MSP 1145
So I've started working on this again. The chassis wiring is 99% complete. Only the reverse lights aren't connected. I had some fun with the CPU and OEM alarm still arming every time I connected the battery, which resulted in the horn going crazy every time I opened the door. This is because the CPU houses the alarm and horn relay internally. I had already severed the connections to the lights so at least that didn't start flashing. The CPU also controls the door and ignition chimes, which I want to keep but are part of the same connector that triggers the alarm, so simply unplugging that wasn't an option. It turns out one of the terminals was a normally-closed circuit and by removing it I left it open, which is why the alarm kept getting armed. I grounded that terminal and everything is good.
I got the seat and harness mounting points and positions all sorted out. I moved the seat an inch or so further forward since I forgot about the steering wheel quick release adding to the column length. The seating position is a bit NASCAR-esque so if I'm still not comfortable with the pedal positions after they're adjusted all the way out I'll make some spacers...
The only thing preventing me from finishing the interior is the carpet. My original '89 had a black interior, which I preferred so I kept everything that wasn't somehow connected with the automatic seat belts. The '86 I have now came with a gray interior. It was easy enough to paint all the plastic trim but I'm left with the gray carpet. I tried my hand at dying last night. Unfortunately all I succeeded in doing was dying the edging.
Even then, up close the edging looks to be more a very dark purple instead of black.
I used liquid Rit dye with the hottest water available to me. I know dying plastic (nylon? rayon?) requires high heat and apparently this wasn't enough. I had no way of keeping the heat up over the hour the carpet was submerged so that probably didn't help either.
So now what? I don't want to leave the carpet as is. I thought the black upper/gray lower look might work with the dark edging but I'm not sold. Leaving the carpet out isn't something I want to do. I have a bunch of black vinyl and fabric spray paint I could try. It worked well enough on the vinyl door pieces. I'm not to concerned about texture. I just don't want the color to rub off.
I've used the spray dye paint stuff before on the interior. never had an issue with it rubbing off. required a few coats though. my headliner is also done in this stuff.
I had a buddy before, dye his integra seats in his daily. didn't rub off. but after like 2 years it faded.
mymmeryloss
Member
- :
- 13bT Mazda B2600i
No luck on finding a black carpet kit on ebay or something similar? Cant be more that $100
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Oh, they exist. I'd be looking at somewhere in the $200-250 range to replace what I have. The reviews aren't so favorable over on RX7Club. The other thing is any reproduction carpet is going to have the rubber/just backing, which I've removed. I'm not ready to admit defeat yet!
I decided to put more trim in as a test. I don't know, maybe the two-toned look could work...
I wasn't planning on putting the side carpet pieces in but after this I think I'm going to have to. I just need to find something to do with the tops where the speakers used to be. It wouldn't be hard to just make a lid out of something but a big part of me wants to cut the sides down so the rear damping can be adjusted without any trim removal.
I wasn't planning on putting the side carpet pieces in but after this I think I'm going to have to. I just need to find something to do with the tops where the speakers used to be. It wouldn't be hard to just make a lid out of something but a big part of me wants to cut the sides down so the rear damping can be adjusted without any trim removal.
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