Tunes67 - 92 MX-3 GS

[Tunes67]

Its actually pretty simple.. just take off the seat rails.. drill new holes in the seat rails & seat frame to move the seat further back on the rails. Then bolt them back in place. If you want to get real fancy you could get some steel from a welding shop and weld extra length onto the seat frame so you can move it back further. It will change the location of your seat belt buckle though.. so dont get too carried away with it This small mod will only seem like 1.5-2 inches at most on the bottom of the seat.. but will give 3-4 inches at the feet

Tunes67

[verzutiko]

Nice progress here. My baby sure could need some cleaning inside too.

[Tunes67]

Ok.. just a brief update.. I have added a few more pics that I had intended to originally include and hadnt gotten around to.. there are still more pics to come on varying subjects.. but its a start. And now you can see what the GS looked like to start with too. Also.. one of my projects (the Millenia Alternator swap) ended up in the FAQ section.. but here is a link to it for those that would like to see how I did things. Also.. on that project it says I located the IG wire to the +12V Cigarette lighter and I have since moved that to a source in the engine bay. Just an FYI.

http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=54887

Tunes67

[Bumpysbro]

what kind of material did you use on your headliner tunes? im planning on doing this just in a black.

[Tunes67]

Its silver microsuede. I got it at a local fabric store.. $20 got enough material for both the sunroof insert and the ceiling liner. They did have it in black at the fabric store as well.

Tunes67

[Tunes67]

Ok.. not many new pics at the moment.. but, I have finished a few more projects that I figured I would list here before I forget them all.

I painted the rear seat.. the ugly colored fabric part of the seat.. it didnt turn out too bad. I think re-upholstering the seat would be a better option, and I might get around to that eventually. But for the moment this looks ok. Here are a couple of pics of the paint I used and the seat. I used a broken rear panel to test the paint on before I hit the seat. The painted fabric is a bit rough to the touch.. but after using a hair brush on it.. its not so bad really. You will need 2 coats of paint.. the method I used was "Clean, paint, brush, paint, brush" This kept the seat flexible and got the paint into the little grooves of the fabric. Its completely flexible and doesnt seem to come off on your hands or clothes. Not my first choice.. but it worked ok. I got the paint at my local Napa store. Eventually I will be doing this to my door panels as well. But those are easy to get to. I wanted to do the rear seat before I reinstalled it.

Here is the test panel:



Here is the paint I used:



And here is the back seat:





I replaced the interior fuseblock, Thanks again for finding one for me Mark

Finally finished working on the clutch safety interlock switch. The pedal assembly was missing a part.. a stud of some sort that would push down on the plunger of the switch when the clutch pedal was depressed. Had to make one out of a bolt and a couple of nylock nuts. No big deal but was a pain to work on under the dash (yeah I know I should have done it while the dash was out but I had other issues on my mind then).

Got my new SS Brakelines in.. I'll install them right after I get the brake system flushed of all the crappy old fluid that is in it right now. Going to be using DOT 4 fluid. Hard lines are in good shape so this shouldnt be a big issue.

Dash is completely buttoned back up now, finished wiring in my autometer gauges so that all the lights are working properly. Also finished wiring in my Shifter knob so it lights up when the head lights are turned on as well. I'll edit this post and add some pics early next week. I also finished reinstalling the center column as well.

Projects left to finish phase 1..

Sunroof alignment.
Ceiling liner install, along with all the accessories (rear view mirror, visors, sunroof switch/dome light unit, etc..)
A pillar & door trim.
Upper B-pillar panels.
Rear Seats, Front seats.
Konig Helium rim install.
Alignment
Brake system flush & brake line install.
Front strut bar installation
Exaust system upgrade


Phase 2 projects...

Ignition System Upgrade
Window tinting
Alarm system
Stereo & entertainment electronics This should be fun

Phase 3 projects...

Body work and Paint - nuff said.. this will take a bit of time - Front Lip, Euro Side Skirts, Wraparound spoiler, and rear mud guards


Phase 4 projects.

By this time.. the suspension will be needing some work I have no doubt. I'll spend a bit of time researching what I want to do here.


As you guys can see.. this car will be something of an on going project for me.. keeps me busy and out of trouble for the most part

Tunes67

[Tunes67]

Phase 1 projects left to go as of this Saturday morning..

Front seats.
Konig Helium rim install.
Alignment
Brake system flush & brake line install.
Front strut bar installation
Exaust system upgrade

With a bit of luck.. only the strut bar and exaust system will be left here shortly. It seems that somehow.. threw luck or sheer perseverance I managed to get rid of the short that was plaguing me. The power door lock is working again and the clock is no longer resetting itself when I turn the key off. I suspect it was indeed my gauge cluster that had gone south on me. I will need to get one from Patdiesel soon

I was kinda looking back on this project last night and it really sort of hit me how much has been done to this car since I bought it. And how much of it WOULDNT be done if not for the help of a LOT of people. So I wanted to take a couple of minutes and post up the names of the folks that have helped me with this project. Some of them have busted knuckles with me, some of them have inspired me with the way their car looks, and some have sent me parts that I was in desperate need of. Still others listened to me b----, whine, moan and complain as I did this job. I see a lot of folks harping on each other, so this is my time & place to give a shout out to the good ones that help. Cheers & thanks guys.

Patdiesel, Mnemonic, Custommx-3, Verzutiko, Josh, JWMX3, Mike L., Mike Q., Rich E., lowridah, Yoda, Mooneggs, ccreech, atlantaMX3, GregoryChristian, and last but by no means least.. my Machinist Herb Matthews.

Tunes67

[Tunes67]

Guess I will do another short update here.. I got the Pioneer head unit installed and 4 Memphis Audio 15-MC6 speakers





Not the best stuff out there.. but sounds good and total cost under $500. There are more future plans for the entertainment electronics.. but I at least wanted music ready to go when the car hits the road

I also did a mount point for my Ipod in my center column.. I used a IP Bus cable to adapt my Ipod to my Head unit.. might even allow me to control the Ipod from the head unit (Might need other components.. I cant find good documentation on this) Here is a small pic of the actual cable I bought. It has a 3.5 input and RCA inputs as well as a charger for my Ipod.



Here is another pic that is similar to mine.. a bit bigger image for those that are interested in this little technogem. Its not the same as mine but I couldnt find a decent sized image of the actual cable I have... just that rinkydink little one.



I'll take some pics of the center column mount and edit this post later to show what I did to get the cable inside the center column box

Now.. as you guys know.. I have been trying to find someone to recover my seats for me. And I finally found someone to do so I will be getting the seats back from the upholstery shop wednesday afternoon. The price was very reasonable at $400 for both seats and that included repair & replacement of the drivers side foam as well as new seat covers. Here is a teaser pic to show whats in store for these seats




Tunes67

[Tunes67]

Got my seats back from the upholsterer last night.. and I am very pleased with the workmanship. I paid $434.18 after tax for these seats. The price included replacing the drivers side bottom foam cause it was hammered bad and repairing the drivers side foam back rest in a couple of areas too. My logo on the headrests was done by the company I work for so it was a freebie Some of you might not like my fabric choice and honestly I could have gotten a softer, nicer looking fabric. But I wanted something durable and stain resistant. I am very hard on car seats and want these too look decent 5 years from now. Anyway.. here are a couple of pics.. sorry about the pic quality.. my digicam is dying I think..





Tunes67

[Mnemonic]

good quality it looks like. And i fully understand the reason behind the fabric choice as we discussed awhile back i plan on using material that will take a bit more abuse. leather is such a pain to deal with

[shameem]

Nice work on the seat covers......

Will the shop ship the covers? - they probably have the measurements for the seats anyway..... I am sure they will get tons of business from people here since they are good and cheap (rare combination)....

[Tunes67]

They will ship them.. I asked the guy about pricing on them. The 94+ seats are fairly cheap to do since they have the seperate headrests. I will PM you with his contact information. The 92-93 style seats will be more to cover since the head rest is built in and there is that funky hole there with the zipper. And he cant do the 92-93 seats until someone takes in at least one seat (or sends him the removed cover) so he can make a pattern from it. The 92-93 seats start out around $600 for the pair and can get up to $1200 if you want leather. The fabric I chose for my seats is the lesser cost material.. this was fine with me since it was still the more durable choice.

Tunes67

[Tunes67]

Ok.. time for another update.. pics will be coming later.. but for now.. I have finished the stereo install, cleaned & vacuumed the carpet, finished buttoning up all the center column trim, and reinstalled my seats. I vacuumed my new OEM MX-3 floor mats and cleaned the rubber stuff off the back side.. they look awesome and fit perfect. I can actually sit in the car now and play with all the gadgets

Anyway.. I didnt get to start it cause company arrived and I had to stop dinking with it. Tonight I will fire her up and take her for a little spin and see how things are working. Another couple of weeks and she will be put into service as my daily driver

Tunes67

[Tunes67]

Well some of you already know that I have her back on the road now.. and man is she great I got the Heliums installed yesterday. And we took a few pics. I also picked up my new brushed stainless steel door sills from my mazda dealer as well as my new replacement cargo flap. I solved the intermittent starter issue where the starter would sometimes just decide not to spin the engine. I bought a $30 solid block of copper from http://www.onlinemetals.com in a 1x1x4 inch bar. My buddy and I then milled it down to be similar in shape to the aluminum one I had before.. you can see pics of the original earlier in this worklog. We milled it to the same shape so that the plastic cover still fits the same and access to the set screw heads is still there. We improved on the design by adding a second set screw to the main power input side.. holds the main cable from the battery much tighter giving a much better connection. Starter spins like a windmill in a hurricane now with no hesitation when you turn the key I have some pics of the Power connector, but we took them on my friends camera and he hasnt e-mailed them yet. So I will update those later on this coming week. For now.. here are some pics of my GS as of Yesterday at my brothers house. You'll see his 92 RS and his 07 Mazda 3s GT in the back ground of one of these pics









I will update a bit further in the next few days. There are definitely a few bugs that need to be worked out.. including a suspicious little sound when I put her into 3rd gear.. I was told this tranny came out of a wrecked 92 GS with 57k miles on it.. but if that sound is a sychro.. that junkyard better have a gooood way to solve this issue for me. I have also noticed that this car seems to have a lot more road noise than my 94 RS. I didnt think much of putting in Dynamat before cause my RS is so quiet.. but I think its probably going to be a must for my GS at some point. The engine sounds awesome.. even with 2" exaust still.. it just growls and when she hits 4k rpm she just screams forward.. I really didnt expect this much power from a K8. I know a lot of you are probably thinking K8's suck.. but you need to realize I am comparing my GS to my RS for power. My RS is a gutless dog and the GS is a road rapist by comparison. Makes me think a turbo DE is likely on the horizon a year or two from now More updates later.. I'm done ramblin for the time being

Tunes67

[Mooneggs]

holy smokes tunes I didn't realize how clean your car is! wow