[DEFUNCT] The College-Budget P5

Yea, it's been work in pretty good so far.
I could have replaced the front pipe but I would have probably ended up having to replace the entire exhaust including both cats, so it was worth my effort to Jerry rig it for now.

The leaking tire was stupid though.
I spent ~ $15 on tire plugs and rubber cement when it only costs ~ $20 to fix it right in the first place.
 
My shifter finally gave out and went full-slack. Can't re-tighten it thanks to the stripped screws, either.

So, I have an idea! This shifter's toast, so I'll just epoxy the adjuster in place to my specification. Too bad the hex screws were potmetal...damn. What a waste of money. Definitely OBX's shoddiest product.

As for the leak, TO BE CONTINUED...

EDIT:

Just stuffed a s*** load of duct tape on the shifter around the adjustment cylinder. It's keeping it from going down, but you can still pull it up. Ghetto as all hell, but functional at the moment!
 
Last edited:
I don't quite know how your shifter works but is there any way you can drill a hole and install a compression pin at the height you like ??

 
As nice as that sounds, the damage has been done :^/

I went ahead and welded the s*** into position. It's not going to bother me again lol
 
Resumed Normality

Alrighty, it's all good for now.

I used some of that epoxy and welded the s*** in position. It sucks that the build quality was garbage, but now, it's not going to slip ever again!

pkwBm0Z.jpg


I reinstalled my stock shifter in its place. All I gotta say is that I can't wait for that epoxy to finish curing, since I'm really missing that short throw!

And I had one spare exhaust ring gasket I accidentally bought before my catback came in. I thought "**** it, let's put 'er in" since my recent flange gasket designs have not been doing well.

My goodness, it sealed the leak! It actually worked! Granted, there's probably some of the gasket hanging inside of the flange connection, but man I don't care. I've been so sick of having exhaust leaks, and this works. Now, to keep an ear out just in case it blows out or something.

I kept forgetting to upload images of my custom gaskets. Check these bad boys out:

QOHVNdR.jpg


They weren't so good.

Even so, after confirming that there are no leaks, my car has that slight rasp to it. I think that at this point, it's just how the car sounds due to the headers + midpipe + catback combo. It's a quiet rasp, though. Nothing audibly ricey.

Well then folks, beyond this point, it's going to be just keeping things running. That crap Wallmart oil + seafoam is still in the engine, and the dipstick hasn't darkened yet. I'm thinking of doing one more crap oil + seafoam for 100mi cycle, and then switching back to the good stuff with a little bit of seafoam.

Of course, I still have that MP3 ECU, and I still need to grab an Intake Manifold to rip the VTCS out of (or perhaps I could find an MP3 IM). Then, there's also the idea of getting a Hydra Motorsports lightweight crank pulley.

Well see. Until then, it's going to be lots of school s*** and maintenance. Thanks for you guys's support!
 
The welded OBX shifter is back in. I drove it just around the block, and it feels good. The throw's short and notchy with little to no play.

But man my "custom" shifter boot is such an eyesore. It's served its purpose, so perhaps I should get something new.

Only problem with this is the heatshield. It lightly touches it when wiggling the shifter around in neutral, and now vibrates horrendously when I modulate the clutch and gas to move from a standstill.

Without any pressing mechanical issues, I think I'll set aside time in the future to rip out the old heatshield, and install a new one with rivnuts.
 
Riot_Polizei said:
.
.., I think I'll set aside time in the future to rip out the old heatshield, and install a new one with rivnuts.
Click to expand...

Save some money and just rivnut your old heat shield in.

It's good practice and no ones gonna see it unless you flip your car over.
 
pcb said:
Save some money and just rivnut your old heat shield in.

It's good practice and no ones gonna see it unless you flip your car over.
Click to expand...
I misspoke, I meant that I want to make a new heatshield out of sheet metal. This one likes to rattle, and is coming loose
 
Uh oh, it wasn't the heat shield itself that was rattling...

My epoxy welds on the OBX were no good. They didn't hold, and slid right on through, despite me sliding the thing into place with the epoxy inside the sliding fulcrum-mechanism itself. Guess I'll have to revert to stock in the meantime :^(

Although, swapping shifters isn't a problem at all anymore. After that one day where I really screwed things up and learned how to put things back together, I never forgot. I can put together and take apart that stuff like nothing now, so it'll probably be the first thing I do tomorrow.

Also, I really really wanted to make sure I had no exhaust leaks, so once again I went underneath my car and did the shopvac test. Nothing was leaking downstream...but sure enough I have a teeny tiny leak at the header ports. And I mean REALLY tiny...just enough to create the cutest little bubbles you'd ever see. That might be the cause of my slight rasp in my car. Problem is, I can't fix this fully, since I snapped of a bolt head while installing this header. This is definitely something I can fix in the near future.
 
Riot_Polizei said:
My epoxy welds on the OBX were no good. They didn't hold, and slid right on through, despite me sliding the thing into place with the epoxy inside the sliding fulcrum-mechanism itself. Guess I'll have to revert to stock in the meantime :^( .
Click to expand...

What about drilling a hole through it and installing a bolt and nut to hold it..
Assuming the bolt head and nut won't be in the way.

Or maybe a couple of tac welds if you have access to a welder (assuming it's weldable metal)
 
Last edited:
I reverted back to stock once more. Really, it's not all that awful...but sometimes the long throw catches me off guard, and I miss putting it into gear (particularly third gear).

323 said:
you can fix anything with jbweld and tape
Click to expand...

pcb said:
What about drilling a hole through it and installing a bolt and nut to hold it..
Assuming the bolt head and nut won't be in the way.

Or maybe a couple of tac welds if you have access to a welder (assuming it's weldable metal)
Click to expand...

I gotta figure out what type of material this shifter's made of. The epoxy held very well in some parts, but not others. Either way, this shifter's really ****** up lol, so every suggestion is worth trying.

Tomorrow, I'll take a close look at my motor mounts. Mostly out of curiosity.
 
Crazy Idea...

The next race day is upon me, and unfortunately, paying for this fall semester and focusing on repairs left me quite a bit short to pay entry and remain cash solvent :^S

Add on to the fact that Jimmy John's will not sponsor racers sub-corporate level (only if I was a super mega racer would they consider sponsoring me) and that Mazda hasn't gotten back to me, I'm still paying out of pocket.

Well, I've been thinking...See, I like this P5. I like it a lot. It's an excellent run-about that serves all my needs and then some. I've thrown shitloads of cash at it, and I think I'm comfortable with where it's at at the moment. I don't know if I really want to get to ripping it apart some more to get more power or whatever for a while, now that it's back to a "normal" operating condition. So, I starting thinking about getting myself a second cheap(er) car or whatever to screw around with.

On craigslist, I saw a 1999 Honda Prelude salvage title up for trades. It's a little banged up, as it was in an accident. The guy's interested in outdoorsy stuff, and specifically mentioned being willing to accept a firearm as a trade. This is ideal, since for my 12th birthday, I was given a 12 gauge Mossberg Maverick. I haven't fired that thing off in years, and shooting never interested me. Ya get where I'm going?

That way, I can start racing this bad boy instead of my P5, and not have to risk blowing up my daily anymore! Although, it's a bit of a slap to the face, since I dropped all that money on it.

What do you guys think?
 
Last edited:
shoot, might as well make use of that offer seeing as you can get something worth messing with out of it.
and if youre only planning on screwing around with that car for racing, salvage title should be okay!

i guess you can look at it as protecting your investment (P5) and not worrying so much about it with the honda.
 
Im a bit of a Honda guy and if you want to race, Id suggest an EG Civic or better yet, a DC2 Integra
 
All Patched Up

I finally got around to replacing that snapped bolt. It took me less than five minutes to remove the header, another two to spin it out with a pair of pliers, and then five minutes to put everything back (including the dreaded EGR bung).

7trHLET.jpg


No more leaks! Everything's patched up.

Yet, I still hear some sort of buzzing when I open the throttle. It sounds just like an exhaust leak, but...it's only from the inside of the car?

I stepped outside my car with the door open, and leaned into it to step on the gas. I didn't hear any rasp or buzz that I heard while inside the car. In fact, damn my car sounds good now! It's just that strange interior-only buzz that's got me puzzled.

Alrighty lads, that's it for now. I'm about to head to my college's car club's first fall semester car meet (so many words...) and catch up with one another.

Lotta folks might be surprised to learn about all the mods I've put on it since I first had my car! Last time they saw me and my car, it was bone stock.
 
So you're keeping the car then right !!
lol...

Riot_Polizei said:
.

... I might ******* sell this car and buy something else. It was a mistake to think I would just start modifying an old car with no problems.

Goddamn I'm so angry at this s***. Maybe, just maybe when I calm down I'll change my mind.
Click to expand...
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

sm1ke
  • Locked
  • Sticky
Mazda CX-90 Resources
Replies
0
Views
456
sm1ke
sm1ke
sm1ke
  • Locked
  • Sticky
Mazda CX-80 Resources
Replies
0
Views
797
sm1ke
sm1ke
sm1ke
    • Like
  • Locked
  • Sticky
Mazda CX-70 Resources
Replies
0
Views
424
sm1ke
sm1ke

Latest posts

Back