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#860/1000 diary

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Well, it's been a week, figured I'd start a little build thread. I've been at it pretty hot and heavy the last week; first "goal" is to get the car tagged and titled in TEXAS, and that means passing inspection (no emissions in my county though /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif ).

All it really needed was the horn to work, or so I thought...

Here we are at the first moment of ownership:


And then 5 minutes into my 7 hour return trip to Texas my brake light comes on?? I call my brother who drove me out there, so we go to hop off the highway and NO BRAKES! That was an exciting off ramp... We pop the hood and look at the brake reservoir - empty. We did a few "emergency brakes" on the test drive and it was fine, so maybe it was just low. I fill it up and my bro pumps the brakes and the res drops 1/8th an inch every pump - oh boy...

The culprit - rear pass brake line:


So we gave it the old Waffle House parking lot fixer-er-up and drove on:


We made it to Little Rock and grabbed a brake line at the parts store. Out of all the tools we brought, line wrenches weren't on the list. The car was driving fine, brakes were working when I needed them and The last thing I wanted was to round off line nuts half way through a replacement and be really stuck, so we drove on again, cautiously...


Many hours later, I pulled it into my driveway!


I hugged my wife, ate dinner, and then set out to replace the brake line with proper tools, and wouldn't you know it, the lines came apart super easy, although the replacement line was a tiny bit too short, I won't reach the top mount:


Oh well, it'll pass inspection and drive fine, I'll just have to add SS braided brake lines to the list /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Hmm, not sure why half my pictures are upside-down...

So brakes were "working" for now, but clutch was grabbing right off floor and shifting into 5th and reverse took 90% luck and 10 tries. Clutch MC rod was all the way out (no threads showing) and was sticky to the touch. Shifter was as wobbly in gear as it was in neutral, so shifter bushings and MC / SC need to be done to get it really drivable...

But before parts start arriving, there were a few things I could start addressing in the car. First was a rear tail light lens that wasn't flush / falling off:


Took it all apart and gave it a good clean and got the old failing factory glue out:


Hot glued it back together and was good to go:


I also noticed two cracks in the center tail light / license plate plastic frame:


Cleaned it up and glued the cracks. While I was washing it the "VR4" reflector fell off - d'oh!
Painted the letters with some wife's silver nail polish and colored it all in with some black paint. I cleaned the old glue / tape off the plastic frame with PB blaster and a plastic razor. It took a while, but the factory stick stuff was a pain.
 

iceman69510

Turn Right Racing
Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2001
Messages
10,964
Location
Michigan
Any pics of the emblem restoration? I have mine off for the same thing.
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Parts started arriving! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

First to show up were hood struts:


With free airhead! My little daughter was thrilled, lol.

I know this isn't a necessity, but I made my own struts for my wife's Forester and it was the best mod I had done to it! No more prop Rod! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
I wanted that out of the way if I was going to be working under the hood (timing belt needs to be done soon...)
Plus I get AT LEAST an additional 1 to 2 degrees above stock open hood angle, lol.


Shifter bushings and solid mounts also showed up (plus a few timing belt goodies):


I started taking interior bits apart to get to the shifter, and before I knew it I hit bedrock, lol:


Once I pulled my seats and shifter console, I figured I might as well take the whole interior out to clean it all...

Shifter only had 2 of 6 bushings?? (Just the two around the spring). Greased and installed new bushings and solid mounts. I can now get 5th and R first try every time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I pressure washed the carpets today and I'm wondering if there's anything else I should do while interior is out. Like I mentioned earlier, the clutch pedal feels good, but maybe I should take it out and rebuild / weld it anyway (car has an aftermarket clutch, 2600 I believe).

I've also been reading about ECU cap replacement, I'll probably do that as well.

Any other "while I'm in there" suggestions before interior goes back in?
 
Last edited:

GSX_TC

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 7, 2011
Messages
3,722
Location
Houston, Texas
Air heads!!! =)
 

transparentdsm

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 27, 2011
Messages
3,690
Location
Cherry Hill, NJ
also while everythign is out, put a wrench or screw driver on every screw and bolt you can to make sure its all still tight. i have found loose screws and bolts from years of vibration and after i put it all back together the interior was much quieter over bumps and on sh*t roads.
 

LIV4PSI

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2011
Messages
1,774
Location
O-H-I-O
+1 for dye the carpet. I used 6 bottles of RIT dye, and a couple spray cans of fabric day. It made a huge difference
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Here are a few shots of the marker / reflector "resto"

As I said I colored in the VR4 letters with some silver nail polish. I thought I had it on thick enough, but you could still see light through it:


It's hard to see from this shot, but holding it up to a bright light you could see through it. However when placed on a dark background it looked fine, so don't worry about it if your letters are "thin," after you paint the background it turns out fine.

So after painting in the letters, I scuffed up the back a bit with some scotch bright, not a ton though, it was just a little "foggy" looking:


Taped up and ready for paint:


I used black trim paint - I figured it'd do well in the sunlight:


I sprayed on maybe 6 light coats; 4 quick passes from the top, then 4 from the bottom, repeated every 10 min or so.

Turned out great, almost too great in fact. Looks like I'll have to pry off the other side and give it the same treatment so they match, lol:
 

G

Staff member
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Messages
8,896
Location
zompton
Looks good ma, i'm trying to figure out that two tone paint job. Did the PO paint all the side skirts and bumpers? What's the paint code on your firewall?
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Quick electrical question...

What's the normal "resting draw" on the battery?

I'm pulling 76 mA:


The previous owner said there was a battery drain. When I made it home I measured it at 500 mA. The stock antenna was also broke, and between the two issues, replacing the antenna was much easier than tracking down an electrical problem. Well lucky for me the stock antenna looks like it was the problem. After the replacement I measured the battery again and it was much lower. I plugged the old antenna back in just to be sure, and that was definitely the main source of power draw.

So is 70 ~ 80 mA is a normal resting draw on these cars?
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Here's plac from firewall:


PO said owners before him (original owners) had it painted silver along the bottom.

The car will definitely need a paint job, but I can't decide if I'll change it or not, I kind of like it...
 

FlyingEagle

Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
1,635
Location
THE Ottawa
Quoting 383mazda:
Quick electrical question...

What's the normal "resting draw" on the battery?

I'm pulling 76 mA:


The previous owner said there was a battery drain. When I made it home I measured it at 500 mA. The stock antenna was also broke, and between the two issues, replacing the antenna was much easier than tracking down an electrical problem. Well lucky for me the stock antenna looks like it was the problem. After the replacement I measured the battery again and it was much lower. I plugged the old antenna back in just to be sure, and that was definitely the main source of power draw.

So is 70 ~ 80 mA is a normal resting draw on these cars?



That's high, especially for a car with no multitude of modules that stay on or require decent current for backup power.

Would be nice to know what a stock, untouched and properly functioning electrical system was drawing; for comparisons sake.
 

15psi88

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
101
Location
State College, PA
To me, 10-15ma is normal, anything over 30ma I'd start searching for a problem. These numbers aren't set in stone, but at 70ma, something needs done.
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Hmm, I'll have to track down my draw then. I checked all the fuses and the only one pulling power was the clock, and it wasn't near 70mA...

So today I tackled the clutch pedal assembly - man, what a pain, and I even had the interior out of my way! LOL


Of corse like everything, if I had to do it again it'd be quicker. Half the dash having to come apart seems nuts though.

But the monstrosity is out and ready to be welded up with brass bushing so that I don't have to do this job evvveeeerrrrr again.


/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I hit one snag though. While taking the gauge cluster trim off I broke my odometer peg. The sun had gone down and my flash light had just fallen under the dash and I didn't even notice it catching when I yanked on the trim. There must be a technique I haven't figured out. I'm guessing no simple way to replace that huh?
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Welded the clutch pedal assy today. I've read a lot about failed welding attempts, and I've seen some ugly welds...

Mine was in great shape. After disassembly and cleaning there was hardly any slack in the shaft/arm assy, but you could see the edges of the cutout on the arm starting to deform and round when it mated with the shaft. Anyway, here was my solution; I differed in two ways from what I've seen others do:

1). Forget about trying to weld the nut and threads - hack it off:


2). Use a TIG welder. Of course you'll need a brass bushing. I bet that's where most other attempts go wrong - cold welds from a wire mig trying not to meld the plastic. We'll see how long it lasts...


(I think the real solution would be a splined shaft and arm that can still bolt together - if only I had a machine shop...)

I "tossed" the pedal assy back in the car. It feels good to be reassembling now.
 

383mazda

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 10, 2015
Messages
61
Location
Gainesville, TEXAS
Well, today I put the whole car back together.

What I changed so far:

Shifter bushings and solid mounts

New shifter cables

New clutch master and slave cylinders plus braided SS clutch line

New tires

And a few other little parts (fuel filler hose, silicone vacuum lines, oil cap gasket, etc)

Issues:
while I was under the dash, I also unplugged what I thought was the theft alarm wire:
The yellow with blue stripe wire with the shrink tube on the end. I pulled it from the plug so if I need to I can just clip it back in.


It came from the plug furthest away on the theft alarm "box"


When I first got the car it would start without the clutch needing to be pressed, now when I try the Anti-Theft light comes on and it doesn't crank? With clutch in it starts fine though.

Second issue: the clutch still grabs RIGHT off the floor, and crunches going into first or revers if you've move at all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif M/C rod is adjusted to only two threads left showing... It's bled right, but clutch pedal still feels very weak. My 97 Miata with over 200k feels twice as firm.

I know the car has a fairly new ATC2600 clutch in it, is there anything that could have gone wrong during the install that would cause this clutch issue? What would be next to check after the hydrolics have been verified?

Other than that, horns still don't work and still pulling 100mA when off - I'll have to track that down next. I have till Nov 10 to get this thing registered before paying a penalty - with the dent ceiling raising I guess the govt needs more of my money /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 

FlyingEagle

Staff member
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
1,635
Location
THE Ottawa
Your clutch pedal should feel incredibly firm with the feedback effect of operating an ACT 2600 PP.

You need OEM clutch master, OEM slave (search for the proper piston color for internals - turbowop recently posted his combo), and a braided clutch line.

After that, you need to confirm proper bleeding including the part where you fully compress the rod into the slave, with the bleeder open, close bleeder and allow it to draw in nothing but fluid as the return spring operates.

With a partner, you can confirm how far the clutch fork is moving with the pedal travelling.

Your clutch pedal should be well off the floor to get the clutch disc disengaged/fork to max travel in the inspection port.
 
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