2015 Build Thread

Finally got my wiring harness completed. Words can not describe the level of planning and execution that went into this. Everything was routed, then heat-shrink wrapped and labeled. (Think Ry-Wire style.) Spent about $150 in heat shrink alone, not to mention all the wire, solder, etc. Probably have close to 100 man hours into this harness. All connectors were de-pinned and removed so that I could fit the shrink over the bare wires. Again, insane amounts of work. You kinda have to work backwards, from the end of a wire to the base, because you want your smaller heat shrink to go inside the bigger one, as you progress down the "tree."











 
Imageshack crashed yesterday. They assured "48 hours" should be back online. Check back this weekend!
 
Imageshack back online. All images should be restored. Can everyone see them alright?
 
Will you have time to install and drive before old man winter shows up !!!
 
Imageshack back online. All images should be restored. Can everyone see them alright?

80% are working! Oh man that OEM AC block-off. I remember when I was looking for that I kept getting responses that it was NLA from Mazda. Where'd you get yours?
 
It has been discontinued, you're right. Pulled it from a junkyard out of an SE with no A/C. I do have an extra if you're interested PM me.

Glad most of the pics are back up, sucks because they're cached on my machine so I see them no matter what.
 
It has been discontinued, you're right. Pulled it from a junkyard out of an SE with no A/C. I do have an extra if you're interested PM me.

Glad most of the pics are back up, sucks because they're cached on my machine so I see them no matter what.

No need. I made a block-off from some ABS plastic I had cut and mounted studs to hold the PS reservoir.
 
No need. I made a block-off from some ABS plastic I had cut and mounted studs to hold the PS reservoir.

Sorry, I was confused. I too made that block off out of some textured ABS i glued to the evaporator box. I thought you were talking about the BUTTON in the HVAC controls. Those are also discontinued but easily swapped in. That's what I have a extra one of.
 
Sorry, I was confused. I too made that block off out of some textured ABS i glued to the evaporator box. I thought you were talking about the BUTTON in the HVAC controls. Those are also discontinued but easily swapped in. That's what I have a extra one of.

Ah gotcha.
 
Sorry it's been awhile since the last update. Got the harmonic balancer torqued on and the alternator / water pump belt tightened.



Didn't like how I had the intercooler brackets mounted to the bumper, so I built some new ones and welded them on. I suck at welding, but they're strong. Cleaned the FMIC as well.





Now that the wiring harness was complete, I could mount the subframe, new control arms and bushings, and start getting the front end back together.



 
Decided to get rid of the power steering for better feel, and simplicity. Many people will just "loop the lines" but that is the hack way of doing s***... I actually set out to de-power the rack.

Rack removed:



Rack disassembled. The piston on the rack needs to be removed or else we're pushing fluid / air which gives resistance.







I searched high and low for metric plugs to fit where the stock lines used to go. Couldn't find any. Decided instead to weld up the stock fittings. Doesn't need to be fancy or airtight, just enough to keep dust out.









 
The pinion shaft acts like a fancy hydraulic valve, it's actually quite simple in its design. I won't explain that here, but it needs to be welded solid to eliminate slop in the steering once the valve body is removed. Again, I'm no pro welder, but I got good penetration and a strong bond.



Got the housing cleaned up and painted, ready for assembly.





Select the proper grease, and be sure to use lots on the shaft now that there's no steering fluid inside the rack anymore.





Completed rack, re-centered and installed back into the car.



 
Nice work. 3 things I wish I had done when I re-did my bay: 1. Gloss paint 2. De-pinned and sleeved all lines 3. Full de-powered rack. Gonna be great to see it all done.
 
With literally 3.5 times the stock power level stuffed through the transmission, something was bound to break. This is officially transmission #4. The Protg trans is extremely fragile for anything over about 200WHP. To combat this, I've done a number of things. Completed a gear swap (3rd, 4th, 5th) from an '89 Mazda 323 GTX Turbo AWD. (Remember those?) They are marginally stronger than stock, and swap right onto the stock shafts. I've also installed a Mazdaspeed limited slip differential (on my 3rd one now) and welded it to the ring gear so the stock press pins won't snap. (A common problem.) There are options available like a fully custom straight cut gearset from PAR engineering and MFactory, and other limited slip differentials such as Quaife or MFactory, but for what those cost, I can afford to have spare trannies kicking around with upgraded Mazda internals.









The main issue with helical cut gears is their tendency to pull apart under high loads. The stock aluminum transmission case can only take so much before flexing under high horsepower and allowing the shafts to spread, breaking the gears. To combat this, there is available a machined steel reinforcement plate, which does not allow the shafts to spread apart under load and should make for a much more robust transmission.

The stock case needs to be machined to accept this, so I called on the amazing skill of legendboy to do the machine work for me. Pics of the plate and machining:





 
Years previous, I've used the '88 GTX gears in my transmission rebuilds. In 1989 there was a revision to the design, figured I'll try them out and see if they're any stronger. A pic for comparison:



With the machine work done, I could focus on cleaning and painting the cases, as well as disassembly for the primary and secondary shafts.













The new gears were installed onto the shafts, clearances set as per the factory service manual. New bearings pressed on, and new races installed into the case.





 
Hardware installed into lower case half, and shot of the welded differential. It still functions as a limited slip. It's not welded solid, it's just permanently affixed to the ring gear.





Differential installed, and shafts in place.



Shift mechanisim installed, case halves dry fit and bearing preload set (with shims.) Now ready for final install of upper case half.







Case half installed, and 5th gearset installed. 5th/reverse synchro set shown. Waiting on a security nut (Mazda sent me the wrong one) which should be in tomorrow and I'll be able to put the top cover on.



 
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Got the security nuts from Mazda today. Installed and torqued. Installed top cover.









For the reverse and neutral sensors, I de-pinned them and built the wire loom like I did on the main harness. Bolted on all the misc. mounts, clutch slave cylinder, etc. Here is the finished transmission:





 
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