MrMazda92's '92 GS - New daily

[MrMazda92]

Damn, I am indeed hoping to save it... Not to sell or anything, but to possibly reinstall later on down the road. Hell, I may end up just leaving it in there at this rate...

A/C is 100% GONE, I'm running a vacuum block to tidy up the sloppy lines, and planning to reloom the wiring harness everywhere that I dare. Not going for a 100% wiretuck, but maybe 75%.

Btw, I pulled my A/C and powersteering junk at 3 AM last night. It was ~28 degrees out, and I was in the driveway taking my time with things. Didn't break a damn thing either haha, all properly disconnected so it's reusable.

[MrMazda92]

This is what $10 bought me today... Oooh shiny. Too bad there wasn't a 2nd passenger side...



I did pick a few other goodies up as well, which will pop most of your eyes out of your skulls when you see them... I stumbled across something that will blow more than a few minds.

I have confirmed that it will work already, Pictures and a full write-up will be posted upon completion of the project... It's going to be EPIC. Expect the full story around the middle of February...

[MrMazda92]

Today was a pretty lazy day.

This is about all I did:
Bought a new strut(replaced a bent Excel-G from my accident last month)
Bought a timing kit for my coming G4 swap
Bought a clutch kit for the G4

Started cleaning up my brake calipers and prepping the car for my 5 lug swap. I'm thinking the suspension/brake update will turn a few heads! I've got a paint/powdercoat theme for the entire car at long last... She's going to be sexy.

[MrMazda92]

I started working to remove the rear subframe as a complete unit today.

It turns out that I bent the left rear spindle, in addition to the strut. After discovering this, I decided to redo everything in the back end... ZX2 trailing arms, degrease, sandblast, and powdercoat the trailing arms, spindles, and pretty much everything else.

My powdercoater knows to mask contact points between spindle/caliper and other key areas before coating anything, so I won't have to go through the frustration of sanding the coating down in key areas afterwards.

I just need to find the proper spindles, front and rear, to get the ball rolling on this... Not to mention a clean, affordable set of FD wheels.

[bogaut]

why are you so dead set on fd wheels? theres TONS of other wheels out there

[MrMazda92]

16x8
5x114
Factory Mazda
Light weight
Affordable

I could have 16x8s in a 5x114 pattern, but I would likely pay more for a heavier wheel. It would also go against my "Factory Mazda look" that I'm going for. Of the two 16" wheels that I KNOW will clear the brake setup I am planning to use, it is the wider option.

[mitmaks]

would 16x8s rub on inside or when turning?

[MrMazda92]

With proper spacing, and the outer diameter pretty close to stock, it shouldn't be a problem.

Spacing it exactly won't be easy, but I'm patient and have another car to drive for the time being... I'm doing this the right way.

I'll be rolling the fenders and am planning to run 225/50r16 all around... I'm pretty close to stock height, so that's not a problem. I don't mind running factory height at all, so long as the gap is fairly even on all corners.

[MrMazda92]

So my little accident bent more than the left rear strut, as I had feared it might.

The left rear spindle bolt(and likely the spindle itself) are bent inward, causing a visible change in the toe angle. I was planning to replace both rear spindles already, but I need to bump my 5 lug swap up to the top of my to-do list in order to get the car road worthy again.

I am going to try and replace the rear suspension bushings with energy poly ones while I have it all apart... powdercoating will have to wait for a while longer unfortunately.

Since I am currently enrolled in college again, free time to work on the car has decreased considerably. I am also working less, but have been selling a few parts here and there to offset the costs of these repairs.

[MrMazda92]

Mini update, nothing major going on.

I have the following ready for my KL swap:
Gates timing kit
Exedy OEM clutch kit
Gaskets from the heads up
Fidanza Flywheel w/ new friction surface
Unorthodox UDP
PnP Stratified MegaSquirt w/ external IAT for VAF delete
eBay SSAutoChrome style headers
Filled motor mounts
SRD Crossmember

I still need:
Exhaust - 2.5" mandrel bends, 2.5" straight pipe, resonator, quiet-ish muffler, high-flow cat.
Low mileage G4 engine - Friends are looking in their local junkyards currently... Fingers crossed.
Wideband O2 sensor for tuning the MS.

[MrMazda92]

Yeeaaahhhhh buddy!

I found a set of FD wheels for sale, with nearly brand new tires. I'm working out a deal with the seller to include a few other items that he has laying around, enough parts to complete the 5 lug swap and get the car roll-worthy again!

After that's taken care of, it's KL time!

[MrMazda92]

This week left little time to work on the car, but I got a little bit done anyways.

The left rear spindle is off, after some serious time spent cutting with a sawzall. The bolt was bent so badly that removing it was otherwise impossible. Oh well, I have new spindles coming for the 5lug swap anyways.

The K8 is pretty much done for, the sparkplug wells are full of oil from both valvecover gaskets; I'm a little surprised the engine ran as well as it did for so long. Much love for the K8, for surviving some of the toughest times of my life, right along side me. *Moment of silence* I may turn it into a Koffee table, honestly... I feel it's the heart and soul of my car, if that makes sense at all? It'd be a shame to just throw it away.

On to reality... I miss driving my baby, so out with the old and in with the new. My search for a usable KLG4 with low-ish miles has been utterly fruitless so far, so I am continuing until the end of January. If a solid engine isn't found by then, I will take whatever sub 80,000 mile KL I can find. If anybody has a line on a KLG4 with under 100,000 miles on it, for a reasonable price, please get in touch with me. I don't mind traveling as much as 300 miles for the right engine...

Literally, the ONLY thing holding me back from this swap is the core engine. I have new plugs, wires, gaskets, product to fill my mounts, clutch kit, timing kit, MegaSquirt, UDP, Fidanza flywheel, and headers.

After I get the engine in, I'll be bolting up the y-pipe and taking measurements for the exhaust system. I still need to pick a resonator/muffler combination to meet my needs, after which I will be welding everything up with slip-joint flanges for ease of removal.

I hope to have the engine swap, exhaust, and street tuning done by the end of February. I plan on finally taking this car out for a little track time this summer... Hopefully those plans won't be derailed this time...

[MrMazda92]

Despite the recent BS going on across this board, a few of my friends convinced me to keep updating my worklog... I am glad that a few members were willing to show support, even if they had to keep it private to avoid being attacked by the angry horde.

Thank you for the love guys. Updates are on the way... 5 lug, brake swap, engine swap, manual steering conversion, and wiretuck are all still in the works.

Currently "on the table": Manual steering conversion.

[MrMazda92]

I'm still working on this, but the majority of my money is still going out for baby stuff. My little man comes into this world in only 10 weeks! Pretty excited, but my wallet is definitely hurting haha.

Back to the car:
I have some money rolling in this month, enough to get the remaining items for my 5 lug conversion, as well as a set of FD wheels, tires, and my front brake setup. I may have to wait until the first week of February to get the rear brakes bolted on and ready to go. I'm getting antsy, this won't even feel like the same car when I get it back on the road!

Still trying to find a suitable KLG4 engine, and picking through every muffler/resonator combination to find something that I actually like the sound of... I need to buy a high-flow cat and some 2.5" piping as well.

[crazycanadian]

I have been told there are 4 complete KLG4 cars up this way in Kelowna, all complete with relatively low miles..