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Why retain the stock clutch slave? I'm switching to internal from a T56. http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=6904604&cc=3298417&jsn=456
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Jul 23, 2017 01:11
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I considered this, but I know that using the stock slave will "just work", rather than having to research an alternative. My plan was to try this with the stock unit, if it all ends badly then I can look at alternatives. How do those CSCs mount? Do they just sit in there and rest against the rear of the bellhousing, or do they need to be bolted on? If the latter, is fabrication required?
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Jul 23, 2017 01:19
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The other one is to strip it of all its rubber parts and then do a heat and cool cycle to temper the steel and remove the hardness you've welded into it.
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Jul 23, 2017 01:21
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Just a quick update. I've been working almost non-stop on this car but have taken very few photos - I'm trying to get all of the welding/fabrication work done on this car this week so the engine can sit in place, allowing me to work on all the other aspects of the swap. It will need to come back out so that I can fabricate an exhaust and a flywheel (and paint that awful subframe), but fo rnow the goal is to be in a position where I can start looking at electrics/cooling/fuel. I'm tight on time in general, so this will be a brief update... The engine fits in and out of the car with the transmission attached - I'm getting rather fast at removing and installing this engine now! More cutting of the firewall was needed to allow for plenty of clearance. At least the drat thing is in and I can start looking at mounts.   With a stroke of luck, the huge combine engine/oil cooler/oil filter mount (seriously, Ford?!) fits in the car, and will allow me to fit a filter in the stock location. Great! The Jaguar engien mounts almost fit, but they are an inch or so too tall. The "free"/"I can do it right here, right now" solution is to cut them down, remove the fluid filled section at the bottom, weld on a new end cap, and fill the cavity between.        Next up is to fabricate a seat for these mounts. The simplest version is a round disc with some vertical supports - some bracing will be added later, once I'm comfortable with how I'll be inserting and removing the nuts on the underside (these were changed to bolts, with the original threaded bolts drilled out, as the engine cannot get enough lift within the transmission tunnel to allow a mount with a bolt on the bottom to clear).       Now that the engine is mounted in its final location, it's time to see if the dashboard will still fit. The point of contact would be the air box, so I fitted this and found that the hose connections for the AC evaporator and the heater core would collide with the engine valve cover. The solution was to remove the evaporator, plug the leftover holes, and move/adjust the heater core pipes to clear. This required some re-forming of the ductwork as well.         From there I can fabricate metalwork to fill in the hole in the firewall. I haven't taken many pictures but this is now complete!   Next is time to move onto the other side. I have bent the clutch pedal bracket to clear the hole, and will make a new bolt hole for this. I should have this side done by tomorrow, with everything seam sealed and ready for paint before the engine goes back in. This is great because it means that I can reassemble the interior and will no longer have an RX8 dashboard sitting in my living room.  The clutch pedal bracket will need reinforcing. Also, time for the list! Finish firewall welding/painting Edit 3: Refit dashboard and interior pieces Weld up cut subframe Rust remove/paint subframe Reroute fuel lines Purchase and fit FPR, plumb fuel system Block off hole in fuel rail from old pressure sensor Drill out bleeder in clutch slave Relocate ABS pump Reroute clutch and brake master brake lines Reroute all brake caliper lines to new ABS pump location Find Jaguar water pump fittings and hoses, see if they fit. Purchase/build coolant hoses to the radiator Build new serpentine belt tensioner (I might have written about this before, the stock tensioner wont work) Fabricate exhaust manifolds Investigate turbo potential for this engine (looks like the LEFT side exhaust header will have to face forwards). Try not to allow for scope creep. Learn how to weld aluminium, purchase aluminium welding supplies. Design and fabricate and intake manifold Remove old engine oil coolers (or plumb them inline with the oil>water exchanger for DOUBLE cooling (not sure if this would be a bad thing?) Build engine wiring harness Build transmission/starter harness Work out alternator wiring Mount Speeduino ECU Etch CANbus adapter PCB/ETV control PCB Get the car powered up again Get the CANbus adapter talking to the car Program the rest of the CANbus adapter (not much more to do - just a serial interface to the Speeduino) Program P.I.D. control for the ETV controller - so the throttle valve stops oscillating. Remount brake servo, route vacuum lines, etc. Air filter/air box (stock RX8?) Battery box/tray Coolant overflow (stock RX8?) Washer bottle (gonna use a UZZ32 Soarer's second one, need to find a place for it) Edit: Sort out a loving flywheel (holy poo poo how can I forget this) - needs to take the RX8 pressure plate and clutch, and fit the Jag engine. I'm imagining a stock RX8 flywheel, with the jag bolt pattern machined into it, and a spacer/pilot bearing holder). I need to work out all of this. poo poo. Edit 2: poo poo, oil pickup. Edit 2: Also, oil, gear oil, coolant. Must not forget. Edit 3: Try to see if I can interface with the stock RX8 LCD display through CANbus, if not, consider a small hidden LCD for engine management stuff, in addition to the bluetooth capabilities of the Speeduino. Edit 3: Figure out what component sorts out ABS, takes wheel speed sensor readings, etc. If it was the stock ECU then gently caress, I will need to program this. Errrr, that's it? There's a shitload of stuff happening to this car, I haven't even had time to talk about my new car (next project!) yet 
Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Jul 26, 2017 |
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Jul 26, 2017 01:19
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I still think you're a crazy person for choosing this engine in this chassis, but I still enjoy reading the updates. 
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Jul 27, 2017 18:01
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ET phone home
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Jul 27, 2017 20:53
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Larrymer posted:I still think you're a crazy person for choosing this engine in this chassis, but I still enjoy reading the updates. Well, he doesn't have the luxury of cheap ubiquitous LSx V8s, so it's pretty much a crap shoot after that. OHC V8s won't fit, Rover V8 is ancient and tiny. So, why not a decent V6? It's not like they make a lot less hp any more. Still crazy.
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Jul 27, 2017 21:07
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Darchangel posted:Still crazy.  6 days and counting of fabrication for the loving mounts and firewall and subframe Never do this loving swap. In fact, never try to mate any normal loving engine to the loving RX8 transmission, thats buried a literal foot behind where the firewall starts, and hope to keep the stock dashboard. Yes I now have a loving engine 3/8" from my heater box, with a firewall and sound deadening in between. Yes, it fits. No, it wasn't easy. Oh and I got off the phone earlier with a Soarer owner, I'm trading some work and a small amount of cash for a FD rolling shell next week. This time I'll just be normal and stick an LSx in it, gently caress import taxes. Gotta get this RX8 done first. loving cars. 
Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Jul 27, 2017 |
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Jul 27, 2017 23:42
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Fo3 posted:ET phone home I was "what?" at this picture for a while. Now I see it. Christ now I'll never unsee it.  In other news, this flywheel just won't come off. That's a 10mm (3/8") piece of steel bar that I bent trying to push it off. Propane torch centre didn't help.  
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Jul 27, 2017 23:53
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I hear the LT4 is pretty affordable in crate form for what you get... 
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Jul 27, 2017 23:54
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To be a bit more serious for a second:Darchangel posted:OHC V8s won't fit, Rover V8 is ancient and tiny. So, why not a decent V6? It's not like they make a lot less hp any more. Exactly this. In the UK, I have the choice of: Any I4 motor (Miata BP, S2000 F20C, BEAMS, SR20, etc) - too long, will hit the steering rack and swaybar. Any I6 motor (RBxx, 1JZ, 2JZ, Any BMW motor, etc) - much too long, even worse than an I4. OHC V8 (1UZ, 3UZ, BMW V8's) - much too large, these gently caress the steering column, sometimes te frame rails, will be fully in the firewall (the firewall is deeper in the centre) AND hitting the sway bar at the same time. OHV V8 (Rover V8, LSx) - We only got the LX1/2 in the Monaro, there are likely very few in the UK, all prices are inflated (we're talking £3000 for an LS1). Rover V8s are old, carburated, generally poor at making power. V6 engines. Short enough to fit (3 cylinders deep is the max), but the wide heads mean that the "corners" need to be cut into the firewall. Options include the Ford V6's (Such as the one I'm using), along with many other exciting models (Toyota 2UR, Nissan VG/VQ, gobs of BMW/Audi/Merc motors (these german cars are common and worthless in the UK). 13B - Far too expensive for a known good one. Even questionable ones are overpriced, and would likely need a rebuild. I spent a long time figuring out the best engine to use for this swap. The AJ30 engine won out because of its physical size (i.e. it fit better than the others), its performance (about that of an RX8), its weight (surprisingly not much more than a 13B-REW), and its hilarious price. This car cost me £300, the engine was free after I sold the transmission it came with. I've so far spent on electronics, steel, paint, and welding supplies (oh and £40 for the adapter plate). the goal of this project is to broaden my knowledge of conversions such as this, along with learning to weld, program, work with CAD (both Computer and Cardboard), and end up with a fun unique car at the end of it. Raluek posted:I hear the LT4 is pretty affordable in crate form for what you get... UK customs is hilarious, the formula is: import tax = (purchase price + shipping cost) * 0.1 sales tax = (purchase price + shipping cost + import tax) * 0.2 For example, a £4000 engine that cost £1000 to ship will cost me £500 in import tax, then the £5500 total will mean I have to pay £1100 in sales tax - that £4000 engine has just cost me £6600 to get it here. And with GBP being weak against USD, it's a terrible time to buy. Fuckers. Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 00:13 on Jul 28, 2017 |
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Jul 28, 2017 00:10
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Pomp and Circumcized posted:I was "what?" at this picture for a while. Now I see it. Christ now I'll never unsee it. Engineers hammer and a few solid taps, it will come right off.
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Jul 28, 2017 00:16
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the spyder posted:Engineers hammer and a few solid taps, it will come right off. I beat the poo poo out of the thing earlier with a brass hammer. No good?
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Jul 28, 2017 00:22
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Pomp and Circumcized posted:UK customs is hilarious, the formula is: You pay tax on a tax? Wow, what a pile of government manure. as far as the engine being buried in the firewall - was moving it anfd the transmission forward not an option? I forget. Yes, it would mean custom drive shaft and trans mount (or, I think on these, lengthening the PPF) but I think I'd be able to manage that better than such extensive firewall surgery. Pomp and Circumcized posted:I beat the poo poo out of the thing earlier with a brass hammer. No good? Bigger/more hammer with the puller applying tension. I think I posted the removal procedure earlier in the thread, maybe? You kind of have to get the thing "ringing" to make it come off the taper. I'd alos use a solid chunk of something between the e-shaft and the puller, rather than the off-center bolt. The puller I made looks essentially the same as what you have, but with another 12 mm or so chunk of steel fastened in the center to stand it off. I've successfully pulled a 12A flywheel with it. Some are more difficult than others.
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Aug 1, 2017 22:50
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https://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/flywheelremoval.htm and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erXefDbfrLA
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Aug 1, 2017 22:52
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Pomp and Circumcized posted:I beat the poo poo out of the thing earlier with a brass hammer. No good? Get the hardest preferably kiln-dried timber you can lay your hands on, screw some cheap angle iron onto one side, lay the naked timber side on the flywheel, abuse the re-enforced side with an air chisel. Have the chisel slide off the ablative iron, split the ring-gear and/or amputate your thumb, score or crack the edge of the flywheel and penetrate the water jacket at the back of the block, swear mightily, go to hospital to re-attach your thumb, while doing a post-mortem on why the flywheel wouldn't come off discover that, in fact, it was retained by a circlip*. *: Flywheels are not retained by circlips. Don't go looking for one. IPCRESS fucked around with this message at 15:02 on Aug 2, 2017 |
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Aug 2, 2017 14:55
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Thanks for the info, everyone. I've tried again a few more times and am worried about hitting the face of the flywheel with a steel hammer - there are no raised sections on mine like the ones in the video - I worry about upsetting the balance by denting the poo poo out of it. Anyway, this is all a bit moot, as here's the final update on the Mazda. After another 2 days, I finished welding up the firewall. Welds ground down, seam sealed, primed and painted in a rattlecan blue that will look fine since it's behind the dash. Engine mounts were modified so that the engine could be taken in and out of the car with them installed. I didn't get any pictures of the inside, only of the engine mounted to check clearance, before adding seam sealer.   The next day, I came out to remove the front subframe to weld up the part which I cut to allow clearance for the oil pan, and to finish welding the engine mounts. In doing so, I removed some of the plastics underneath the car, and was greeted with rust. I realised that I hadn't really looked at the car much since about a week after buying it. Going around the car, I found the rear arches full of rust, one door rusting out beneath the paint, the rear subframe rusty as hell (I knew about this, but was putting it off), and one of the jack stands had started to push through the floor panel. Much of the undersealing was lifting from the car, and the metal underneath was rusted.     I thought ahead about how work there was still to do on this swap, to end up with a car with the same or less performance than when I started. I had realised over the past week or so that I'd fallen out of love with this project, and that I was only working on it to get it out of the way. I'm currently not very heavily invested in it financially, and the rime spent was great experience, so why continue? I spent a few hours thinking about it, and then got to work stripping the car. All in all, it took about 6 hours to get to a bare shell. I had a local scrap dealer pick it up the next morning.       I now have a garage, shed, and living room filled with RX8 parts. I hope to shift these fairly quickly. I have a FD arriving soon that was someone else's failed engine swap (it was recently sold with a 1JZ mounted but not plumbed, and has now been sold to me as an engineless shell), and a new UZZ32 to look after, so expect more updates in the future! I'm sure this is a disappointing outcome, but I feel much happier now that the car has gone - I no longer feel pressured to spend my spare time working on a car that I no longer care about! ...and still can't get that drat flywheel off!
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Aug 5, 2017 23:58
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That sucks, but it was the right call. If it's so rotten that it can't even sit on a stand, that's a big problem.
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Aug 6, 2017 00:02
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Bummer about the project, especially after all the work with getting the motor to almost fit in the engine bay, but it is the right decision.
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Aug 6, 2017 02:06
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Sad to see it but I think you made the right call. That chassis seems like a pain in the rear end to work around for almost any swap, let alone the rust.
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Aug 6, 2017 02:21
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How the gently caress does a car that 'new' rust so badly?? Mine's 29 and is nowhere near that bad. :o
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Aug 7, 2017 12:07
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Olympic Mathlete posted:How the gently caress does a car that 'new' rust so badly?? Mine's 29 and is nowhere near that bad. :o I think that approximately all of the British isles are coastal, with all the salt air goodness that entails. Also, companies install fibreglass insulation to improve NVH, and that insulation will be dry for maybe 3 weeks of the year. Comedy option: The PO lived remotely and his morning commute to the salt works involved driving across an exposed beach.
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Aug 7, 2017 12:23
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Olympic Mathlete posted:How the gently caress does a car that 'new' rust so badly?? Mine's 29 and is nowhere near that bad. :o These cars seem to have been poorly rust protected. My 26 year old Soarers (all 6 that I've owned) have a few common spots, but all of them have 0 underbody rust. When I started pulling off the underseal in huge chunks and exposing thick rust, I was certainly surprised... I don't understand how the rust bubbles form under paint in the middle of panels, though.Must be some thin paint!
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Aug 7, 2017 12:51
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Thin metal too. That hood is so light and the fenders are so easy to move the metal on.
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Aug 7, 2017 21:03
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Olympic Mathlete posted:How the gently caress does a car that 'new' rust so badly?? Mine's 29 and is nowhere near that bad. :o Everything rusts here. Everything.
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Aug 7, 2017 21:21
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Holy blue-balls, Batman! Though with that rust, probably the best call. Make the next project so epic we forget about this one!
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Aug 7, 2017 21:40
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Cop Porn Popper posted:Thin metal too. That hood is so light and the fenders are so easy to move the metal on. Aren't the hood and fenders made from aluminium? Seconding the lightness of the hood, that thing is freaking crazy light. Darchangel posted:Holy blue-balls, Batman! Hah, I was originally thinking about doing a YouTube series on it, oh boy am I now glad I decided not to :p. Next project will be either:  or:  +  Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Aug 8, 2017 |
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Aug 8, 2017 02:41
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Olympic Mathlete posted:How the gently caress does a car that 'new' rust so badly?? Mine's 29 and is nowhere near that bad. :o That was a really bad era for Mazdas and rust
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Aug 11, 2017 07:29
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Yeah the first gen Mazda 6 rusted like crazy. Also, try to google "mazda 3 rust" and prepare to scream.
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Aug 17, 2017 08:34
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That's pretty lovely. I have a nice patch of rust on the inside of the boot in my car on one side, arches have been welded in previously and the car's now leak free but the fact it's still there annoys me. I need to pay a man some coin in order to get that sorted, alternatively learn to weld myself as something tells me it'll be useful seeing as I like old cars.
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Aug 17, 2017 09:02
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Olympic Mathlete posted:That's pretty lovely. I have a nice patch of rust on the inside of the boot in my car on one side, arches have been welded in previously and the car's now leak free but the fact it's still there annoys me. I need to pay a man some coin in order to get that sorted, alternatively learn to weld myself as something tells me it'll be useful seeing as I like old cars. It's useful, period. Once you can weld, you can fix all sorts of things properly, that would be awkward, difficult, or just impossible to screw/strap/tape together. I've fixed my mother-in-law's patio gazebo canopy frame, handlebar braces on my lawnmower, modified a bit of my folding contractor's table-saw, made new mounting rings for the gloves on my media blaster (previous plastic ones were melted in a fire, which is why I have the media blaster), etc. Any time something metal needs to be repaired or added on to: welder!
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Aug 17, 2017 19:10
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Darchangel posted:It's useful, period. This is all true!  Since buying a welder, I've welded things that I'd never previously thought needed welding. Weld everything!
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Aug 21, 2017 18:50
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Pomp and Circumcized posted:This is all true! Alternatively, I got my welder operational for a project two years ago. I've used it on one project, two years ago. 
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Aug 21, 2017 20:22
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Larrymer posted:Alternatively, I got my welder operational for a project two years ago. I've used it on one project, two years ago. You are obviously much more gentle on you things than myself and my family. We break poo poo. We also keep old poo poo, which breaks.
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Aug 21, 2017 21:22
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This update is around 3 months late - I ended up getting so busy with work and RX8 shenanigans that I didn't get a chance to post about this car until now. At the end of 2015, a white 1992 UZZ32 appeared on eBay - it has been garaged for years, and later parked under a tree. It looked to be in very poor shape, but the eBay listing promised that it was a genuine low mileage car that had been garaged for most of its life. Unfortunately, it sold for more than I was prepared to pay, and at the time I had nowhere to store it. In May this year, it appeared on the "Toyota Soarer" Facebook group - the current owner had cleaned it up and discovered that the car was in excellent condition, however the active suspension did not work. He was offering it at a very low price to clear space for a RX7 project (which is somewhat poetic, as I currently have a RX7 project car on a trailer scheduled to be delivered tomorrow). I got in touch with the owner within a few minutes of him posting the ad - I'd previously been in contact with him to help with some issues on the car. Turns out, he lives less than 15 miles from me. I went to check out the car, and it was in amazing condition. The odometer read 72,000kms, the car was 100% original, not even converted into UK miles (normally a condition of import, I'm unsure how this one squeezed through). The condition of the bodywork, paint, etc is fantastic. The interior is not in such great shape - with many of the usual panels cracked and some damage to the rear seats - but these can be replaced with ease compared to starting with a car with bad bodywork. The car runs well. The suspension accumulators have no gas left in them and will need attention, it has an issue with the gauge cluster (common issue - a failed transistor and 4 capacitors) and the EMV backlight isn't working. The drivers seat doesnt raise/lower at the back, and the brake booster makes a chirping sound when you press the pedal. The coolant level sensor isn't functioning. All pretty common stuff, and all fixable. This car is a 1992 model, and is within the last 100 UZZ32s ever made. 1992+ '32s gained heated seats as standard, an optional subroof, an outside temperature display (all cars had the sensor, 1991 cars didn't have a readout). The 1992 models saw the "Auto Drive" legends (sadly) changed to "Cruise Control" (likely to prevent lawsuits). This car also has the optional reversing camera (which most '32s had, however my other white car didn't) I bought the car on the spot, and drove it home a month later when I had some time off work. Here it is!                     As usual, no used car is perfect - here's what this car needs before I will be happy with it. Some of these have already been done or started.
The following interior parts need replacing:
The car will also need replacement of the following consumables:
Despite the long list - this isn't a great deal of work, and when it's done I should end up with an excellent example of a later model UZZ32. I pulled a load of parts from my spares boxes, reconditioned the EMV unit, and replaced most of the capacitors in the ECU, then the next day put the car in storage. It's been there for 3 months now and I'm looking forward to when I'll have time to work on it again!   
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Sep 5, 2017 22:03
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Woah! Nice find! What's with the clicky brake booster?
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Sep 5, 2017 23:20
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THat is awesome man
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Sep 5, 2017 23:23
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meltie posted:Woah! Nice find! What's with the clicky brake booster? Do you mean the squeaking sound? I've not investigated it yet. It's rather amusing, whenever the hydroboost pump motor stops (ie, when it's finished recharging the accumulator with brake fluid), the system lets out a loud squeal. My plan is to simply replace the hydroboost assembly (it's bolted onto the bottom of the brake maser cylinder - the two can be separated). The accumulator needs replacing or regassing anyway, I'll prep a complete replacement and drop it in (I'll do the same for the suspension).
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Sep 5, 2017 23:42
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quote:I have many sets of these
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Sep 6, 2017 13:56
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Despite picking up a lovely UZZ32, and this being a Soarer thread, I ended up shelving the Soarers in favour of the RX8 project. When that project fell through (literally), I was without a project. By coincidence, the day after I scrapped the RX8, I found myself on the phone to a gentleman who needed some help in repairing his newly-purchase Soarer. We got talking about cars, I mentioned my failed RX8 project and how I've been on the hunt for a RX7 rolling shell for a while. It turned out that he had a spare RX7 shell in his shed, and with some persuasion and the exchange of information and spare Soarer parts, he was left with a working Soarer and I became the proud owner of an FD. This poor FD has had a trouble life. In July 2016 it was sold to a gentleman who intended to 1JZ swap it. The part-completed swap was sold on in July 2017 (for a very generous price!) to another man who pulled the 1JZ and sold the shell on as a parts car. Fortunately, the buyer didn't end up needing any parts from it (he had sourced parts in the mean time), and sold it to me a week later. Here's the eBay listing: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201977444130  The car came to me in a similar state. In return for my work and donation of Soarer parts, the seller threw in all of the interior parts that he had spare (which amounted to around two thirds of the interior), as well as a better set of wheels, a rear badge, and some other RX7 bits which may turn out to be useful.   After a wash:  The car also came with Parts!       I started out by stripping the rest of the interior and removing all the PO-fuckered wiring (which fortunately seemed to be limited to an alarm/immobiliser, some questionable speaker wiring, and some miscellaneous wires which were spliced in at various points. This was all removed and the wiring repaired to bring it back to factory.          loving PO wiring - the highlight was a thick wire from the ignition switch (likely the START wire) being spliced into a teeny tiny wire.    I'm not sure what these two nuts on the underside of the car were for. They were bent slightly over, causing the floor to ripple. I pulled them straight with a pair of long bolts, and welded them in place.  The only other bodywork needed (other than some dent repair and a respray) is the rust in the spare wheel well. The eBay ad says its from battery acid. It's very localised so I'm inclided to accept that. I'll need to cut and replace this at some point  I feel safe knowing that this car used contain Advanced German Technology. In the bin it goes.  With the dashboard and heater core out, I can replace the missing/cut carpet with a full carpet. It's annoying how the carpet tucks under the HVAC system, requiring hours of work to remove it. If the car had been complete, I imagine that the coolant (and maybe AC) would need to be drained to do this.  I stripped down the dash, cleaned and painted the rusty metalwork, and reassembled it. Much nicer .   I fitted as much of the interior as I could,to help establish what is missing. Not shown is the full day of cleaning, vacuuming, sufrace-rust-removing, primer-ing, painting the floor pan and inside bodywork, cleaning the seats, and cleaning all of the interior panels. I pulled the heater box apart and cleaned inside that as well.      The shifter surround, AC panel surround, and gauge cluster trim had all been covered in a nasty silver carbon wrap. Underneath this I found cracks, bad paint job, and holes in some parts. I used solvent weld to seal the cracks and ABS plastic from 3D printer filament and a soldering iron (I have a chunky iron set aside for welding plastic). Next up is hours of primer > sanding > primer to get the surface perfectly flat and smooth (I'm close to it right now, just a few more hundred hours and it will be ready for paint). I plan to spray these black with a few layers of clearcoat to give a gloss black finish. Many parts of the wiring harness had been covered in a foam tape, I guess to stop them form rattling around inside the car.The foam has started to perish, causing sticky globs of it to flake off. I don't fancy this getting stuck in my freshly powerwashed carpet, or being blown out of the vents, so I covered all of the foam in electrical tape (yes, the whole cars worth). This way, it's still a little springy, but not quite so fluffy.  I pulled apart a jammed headlight motor unit, cleaned up the inside, repacked it with grease, and reassembled. It doesn't move as smoothly as its partner, likely partly due to the cracked gear wheel. It does turn smoothly with the motor, however.  The final job was to reconnect everything electrical, rig a battery on a piece of timber, and checking all the electrical systems. The two front blinker lamp housings have corroded, and the wipers appear to be stiff/jammed. One headlight retractor motor does not operate from the button, but does move back to its home position when distrubed.   Overall, I'm happy with how everything has turned out so far. I'm currently only two days in, and have learnt so much about these cars already. My list of missing parts is huge, but with the help of other owners and the UK FD owners club, I'm hoping to have a complete (minus engine) car within a reasonable budget. So far, I've ordered a headliner, drivers door card, window switch, door seals, replacement headlight, and several trim pieces. I'm keeping my eyes open for people who are breaking their cars, or having "clear outs". I'm in no rush to complete this car - after all, the powertrain will take months to sort out. Oh, and nothing says "Mazda Curse" quite like finding a pair of freaking voodoo dolls handing from the rear view mirror.  Pomp and Circumcized fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Sep 8, 2017 |
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Sep 8, 2017 20:52
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