MrMazda92's '92 GS - New daily

[MrMazda92]

I wish I were a lot closer to your area then!
There is a potential G4 equipped 626 in the Portland area, but I have verify it on Tuesday when I am headed up there...

It would likely cost an arm and a leg to pay someone to pull it, and ship it down here to me. Is there any chance you know of a cheap method of transport?

[MrMazda92]

Woooooh!

Between recent part sales, odd jobs, and patient saving, I finally have the means to complete my 5 lug conversion, engine swap, and brake upgrade in their entirety.

Now that I am no longer waiting for finances to roll in, I am waiting for parts to arrive instead.
I still need the following:
- Muffler/Resonator combination, preferably something a little quieter and drone free. I love dual tip mufflers, but the consensus I have found across PT is that I will have to tolerate some drone if I go that route.
- Rear Probe spindles and hubs
- Spacers for FD wheels, after I complete the 5 lug conversion I'll use washers to determine exactly how thick the spacer will need to be. If it's greater than 10mm, I'll be pressing extended lugs into the hubs.
- Polyeurethane trailing arm bushings

After everything is all bolted back together, I'll take the car out for an alignment for the final trip with K8 power.
I am thinking pretty hard about turning it into a coffee table.

[MrMazda92]

Rear Probe stuff is on the way finally... Now I need to source some ProtegeSpeed rear calipers.

I'm making a little roadtrip later this week to pick up my MazdaSpeed6 front calipers and rotors, as well as the FD wheels.
Trial fitment will probably be this weekend, so I can start fiddling with the offset and finding exactly what size spacers I need to clear the wheels.

At this point, I still need:
- Base model MX6/Probe front spindles
- MSP rear calipers
- MSP rear rotors
- Extended studs for the hubs(very likely for the rear, possibly the fronts as well)

I wish this hadn't taken so long to come together, but I'm glad now that it finally is.

Big update coming, this time with pictures.

[MrMazda92]

I picked up a new box for my sub, slot ported and with a much wider footprint this time, so I don't have to strap it down to avoid ripping my power and ground wires out of the amp anymore. That'll be nice!

Ordered a new strut to replace my bent left rear, and purchased my 94+ LBJs and Probe front spindles. Next week I go to pick up my MS6 front brakes and a sexy set of FD wheels!

That'll leave extended lug studs and spacers for the front, as well as finishing up my power>manual steering conversion, and then the car is roll-worthy again...

Still debating what exactly I want to do for the rear brakes. I may suck it up and go with the Miata Speed rears and Protege hubs to bolt my 5 lug wheels up... The other option in front of me is modifying Probe/MX-6 spindles to fit, and bolting the MSP rears to those.

What do you all think?

MX-3 spindles w/ 5 lug hubs and MiataSpeed brakes, or Probe/MX-6 spindles w/ MSP brakes? Both will fill the FDs reasonably well, so it comes down to availability and cost really.

[Daninski]

I got a SS magnaflow resonator you can have but shipping may be nasty.

[MrMazda92]

Woooooh, my time crunch is over!

I finished the engine swap on my Camry, and have an INCREDIBLY reliable daily driver again!

Managed to do it with enough money left over for a KL swap and my wheel/tire/brake upgrade.

[mitmaks]

Looking forward to see how that brake setup is going to work out for you. I'd like to upgrade mine as well.

[MrMazda92]

Hopefully it'll work out just as planned

I picked up the MazdaSpeed6 calipers today, they have around 3,000 miles on them. Super clean, and I'm trying to pick a color scheme...

My FD wheels are powdercoated bronze, and my paint is flat black. I finally decided 100% on a scheme for "real paint" down the road, which the bronze wheels will tie into quite nicely.
The calipers are another story... I'm leaning towards low gloss black, but would like to avoid powdercoating this time around. I think I'll be painting the fronts, so I don't have to rebuild a brand new set of calipers.

I am scheduled to pick up the FD wheels this Thursday, and my LBJs/rear strut are due to arrive early this week as well.
After those all arrive, I'll be waiting for the arrival of my new spindles to test spacing for the wheels.

I'm back in the '98 Camry as a super reliable daily, after a recent engine swap and brake overhaul. I'll be driving it exclusively until I finish this swap.

[MrMazda92]

Hell yeah!!!

My goal this month:
5 lug swap: 100% complete
MS6 front brakes: Just need rotors

I still need to pick up the FD wheels/tires, which is scheduled to happen this Thursday!!

After that, it's mocking it all up and measuring the spacer requirement to fit the wheels without rubbing. Alignment will top it all off, and I'll have my baby back on the road!

[MrMazda92]

I have had a very productive week so far

MazdaSpeed6 calipers and the Probe front spindles I'm using for the conversion are sitting on my living room floor.
They definitely bolt up 100% perfectly, although I am planning to replace the wheel-bearings before installing the setup. I'm going to head up to Portland this weekend to pick up my FD wheels, and then I'll start reducing the profile of the calipers to clear the wheels.

I replaced my bent strut in the left rear, and am still trying to get ahold of the rear spindles I need... I'm debating exactly what setup I want to run in the rear. I'm torn between Lantis rears and MSP rears... If I can't get something relatively cheap soon, I may suck it up and use the MiataSpeed rears and use Protege 5 lug hubs on MX-3 spindles... I hate how the Probe rears are setup, so I'm considering importing Lantis rears, or making another setup work.

The last thing I did was snag a weighted Mazda 3 shift knob for $1 from the junkyard. PERFECT condition, the car arrived 30 minutes before I pulled it too!

I did take the time to measure and compare 1st gen AND 2nd gen Probe front spindles to MX-3 fronts today. I ended up buying both the 1st and 2nd gen fronts from the junkyard to take measurements and pictures for everybody.

The Probe front spindles are 99% identical between the two generations, the ONLY difference being the rear protruding arm that connects to the tie-rod ends. The 2nd gen spindle is thicker in that area, while the angle and length are perfectly identical.

As the Probe spindle/hub combination sticks out almost 15mm farther than the MX-3 stock configuration, I should be able to maintain a gap between the FD wheels and the strut perch with thin spacers, if any are needed at all.

I'll be documenting this entire process, and making a full write-up for everyone...

[MrMazda92]

I'm currently trying to find an alternative to the extremely heavy stock rotors for the MS6 front brakes...

There appears to be a 2 piece rotor produced for the MS3, that will fit with a super thin spacer underneath the hat. Maybe that will be the solution I am seeking, but again maybe not... I'm hoping to keep the rotors under $250 for the pair...

[MrMazda92]

I forgot to mention that I am currently waiting on a few items in the mail.

The Probe spindles will be receiving brand new wheel-bearings before being bolted onto the car, and the calipers will either be painted or powdercoated before install as well. As my paint is flat black, and my wheels are bronze, trying to decide on a color for the calipers/brackets has been tough.

I'm torn between a matte black(like the rest of my powdercoated suspension), and silver(to highlight the brakes a little bit and draw the eye in a subtle manner).

What do you guys think?

[DeadMaker]

Give us pics and then we will decide..

[kulluminati777]

Id go with black since your not to big into stuff being silver so far. Also are the mazdaspeed 6 brakes like a brembo set up or are they just a little bigger then mazda6 brakes?

[MrMazda92]

Haha, alright well... I'll get some pictures after I finish cleaning up the calipers! They're silver in color to begin with, so I'll include a picture of other items I have powdercoated in the matte black that I chose for the rest of my suspension.

kulluminati, the speed6 brake calipers are identical to the 6i/6s with a few exception:
- The rotors are a larger diameter, adding mechanical leverage(but no clamping force)
- The pads are slightly "taller" if that makes any sense, to accommodate the larger rotors
- The rotors ARE noticeably heavier than the 6i/6s, which is why I am trying to find a 2 piece design...]

The difference in offset between the two calipers(to accommodate the larger rotors) is completely dependent on the caliper bracket. The calipers themselves are 100% identical.

One of the main benefits of this swap, honestly, is the potential for Probe/MX6/Mazda6 brake upgrades in the future... There are off-the-shelf BBKs for all of these cars, and I imagine the Mazda6 will have readily available ones for quite a ways down the road. Aftermarket support FTW!