1994 JankIP 929 build

jihro7

Member
:
2005 Mazdaspeed6, 1994 929, 1991 NA Rx-7
Hello all, been trawling this forum for wisdom nuggets some time now. I picked up a 70k mile original owner '94 929 and have been rocking it as my parts getter beater the past year or so.

The transmission and water pump went kaput almost simultaneously recently. Addressed that and figure now's as good a time as any to start doing other stuff. I'll be going for a streetstyle/VIP look while keeping the powertrain as reliable as these cars can be (might be a moonshot lol). Looking forward to basking in your collective knowledge on these cars :)

Some pics:

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The interior is shot (pics to come), but man the outside curves on these cars are gorgeous...
 

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I believe my idle air control (IAC) motor went out this past weekend. Revs in park and neutral are up to 2,200 RPM even after the engine has warmed up. When in drive or reverse, it's as if she wants to drive herself (she thinks she's a Tesla) - even with throttle fully closed and foot off the brake, she'll go up to 15-20 mph easy. Prices for replacement IACs are straight ridiculous...new parts are anywhere from $599 to $799 USD(!!!)...fortunately I found a tested junkyard part from Idaho for $50, so just waiting for that to ship to CA.

'Tis a pity because having just had the tranny rebuilt and timing belt/water pump done, I was excited to daily this for awhile. Both those were fiascoes unto themselves. I actually had the tranny rebuilt back in November last year (2018), but upon getting it back from the shop, there was a faint clicking sound coming from the torque converter/flexplate area (sounded like a coasting bicycle). After a while, the "hold" light started coming on and I had to shift it like a manual. Long story short, I took it back to the guys at the shop, who were gracious enough to honor the warranty and put in new tranny sensors and solenoids, which resolved the "hold" light issues and wacky shifting. A few more back and forths later, we discovered the TC put in during the rebuild was defective and had that swapped out. So now the tranny is gucci (fingers crossed).

For the timing belt/water pump, the main challenge was finding a belt kit and replacement radiator for a reasonable price (my OE unit was seeping a bit). As my garage space is occupied by an FC project, I had Mr. Mazda do the work (they're one of the og Mazda specialists in the Bay Area and they know their stuff). Apparently the last 929 they worked on was SIXTEEN years ago back in 2003. Through their normal channels, parts were coming out to be exorbitantly expensive (most places don't stock 929 parts anymore, so in addition to paying for the part itself, there are restocking fees to take into account). I ended up scrounging up a kit and a good radiator and they squared me away.


-- Some more pics/history --

This 929 was originally grandma-owned and later passed on to the grandson (so I guess technically one-family owned, not one owner). Anyways, the kid apparently did a fair bit of smoking inside...when I purchased the car, there were cigarette butts everywhere, and if you ran your hand on the headliner, your palm would be black from the soot. Here is the interior cleaned up as best I could:

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Steering wheel is worn two layers down, and dash trim is falling apart (90s Mazda plastics ftw)


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Front seats are very dead


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Rear seats still are very flagship-like


These stock rims are probably my favorite aspect of the 929. IMO they're just perfect for the 929's lines and scream JDM 90s. I'll be going to aftermarket rims soon for the VIP look, but part of me wants to keep it all stock just so I can rock these rims. It also seems Mazda and Enkei had some sort of partnership going on in the 90s - if anyone would like to drop knowledge on this, I'm all ears (bowdown)

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Very cool project! Nice find that the factory rims were made by Enkei.

Love the 929 and I agree, it's a gorgeous car...Please do keep us updated...:D

Ps...Embedded your attachment pics...For future pics, simply copy the image / attachment link and then embed as a hosted pic using the "Insert Image" tree icon...You might need to delete a duplicate image each time.
 
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