bluechro's 1995 MX-3 - updated Jun/26

[bluechro]

Well, I've had the car for just over 4 months now, and figured it was about time to start a worklog of everything I've done so far. Bought the car for $2500, just over 200k. Nothing performance related yet, but a BP swap should be happening in the near future. As for now, it's mostly been cheap (but often labor intensive) stuff that I can do myself to improve the look of the car. I'm one of those "if you can't do it yourself, you shouldn't do it all" types.

I've lost count how many bajillions of times this site has helped me, and reading through it was definately a huge reason why I even bought this car in the first place. Thanks everybody

Please post with any comments/questions/suggestions

All of the pictures can be clicked for larger versions.

Completed Projects - most recent first

• Dome Light - June 25th, 2008
  New Rims - June 20th, 2008
  Front Switch Panel - June 18th, 2008
  Interior Trim Reupholstery - Late April 2008
  Ebay Side Mirrors - Late March 2008
  Headliner - Early March 2008
  Carbon Fiber Projects - Early March 2008
  Audio Setup - Late February 2008

(Hopefully) Future Projects - most important first

• Finish painting rims
  Dye/recover sun visors - grey against black headliner looks horrible
  Redo ground wires under the hood
  Civic headlight conversion (waiting to receive in mail)
  Short shifter, new shift knob (waiting to receive in mail)
  Altezza tails (waiting to receive in mail)
  Power locks - universal kit from ebay
  Install glow gauges or speedo rings from Ryan, or both
  Finish wiring switch panel
  Window tint - debating whether to attempt it myself or just pay somebody else
  Tint/replace side marker lights
  Find & install a newer mazda emblem for the hood
  Find & install front lip
  CAI
  Other carbon fiber items - sun visors, door panel inserts, anything else?
  Possibly dye/reupholster back seats to get rid of that horrible rainbow pattern
  Custom fiberglass audio enclosure
  Mold rear speakers into rear side trim, instead of seatbelt enclosure
  BP swap

Pictures

• These are all the pictures that are placed throughout my worklog. For those that don't actually want to read things, click away.

[bluechro]

Audio Setup

One of the first things I did when I got the car.

Pioneer Deck - no idea what model, and too lazy to go look.
JBL 6.5" Fronts
Alpine 5.25" Rear
Rockford Punch P3 15" - 500RMS, 1000Max
Sundown Audio Amp - Insanely overpowering, puts out about 1500RMS legit. Not fake made up numbers. Great amp.
Only 4ga wiring all around. 0ga in the future?

My original plan was to fit 2 15s in the trunk, but then I blew one of them. Oops. One day...



Deck: $220.00
JBL Fronts: Free (gift)
Alpine Rears: Free (gift)
Rockford Punch: $175.00
Amp: $230.00 (regular $750, great deal)
Wiring: $60.00
Mounting kit, wire harness: $30.00
Total Cost: $715.00

[bluechro]

Carbon Fiber Projects

One day, I decided I liked the look of carbon fiber. So I bought some. And taught myself how to carbon fiber things.
As of right now, only one project - the center console lid. Turned out rather decent for my first attempt if you ask me.

I used this tutorial along with just reading through stuff I could find on the internet, if anybody else is interested.



Future ideas for carbon fiber overlays - sun visors, not really sure what else - any suggestions?

Total Cost:Wayyy too much. I bought 2 yards of the fabric at like $30/yard, and now it's just sitting in my basement.

[bluechro]

Headliner Reupholstery & Pillars

Completely changed the look of the car - did the roof and the pillars black. The sun visors are still needing to be done.



The picture looks grey, but its most definately black. Stupid flash. I'll try to get better pictures later.

Fabric: $17.00
1 can Krylon Fusion Black: $7.00
1 can Clear Coat: $7.00
Adhesive: $8.00
Total Cost: $39.00

[bluechro]

Ebay Side Mirrors

Picked these bad boys up for like $30. My stock mirrors were peeling horribly, and I grabbed these and wired in new LEDs for the side lights. Much better in my opinion.



Mirrors: $35.99
6 LEDs: $0.07
Total Cost: $36.06

[bluechro]

Interior Trim Reupholstery



Didn't turn out too great. The old fabric was faded and very, very dirty. The new fabric didn't stick as well as I was hoping, so I may have to redo these one day. I still have to do the front door panels as well.

Fabric: $6.00?
Spray Adhesive: $4.00
Total Cost: $10.00

[bluechro]

Front Switch Panel

I needed something to turn future accessories on and off, and I really like switches.



Holes above each switch are going to be LEDs to indicate whether each switch is on or off.
Hole to the right of all the switches is going to be a AUX jack for the deck.

From left to right:
1. Deck power
2. Remote wire for subs
3. Garage door opener
4. Unused (future switch for angel eyes halos on headlights)
5. Unused (future switch for glow gauges)
6. Unused (future switch for door locks)
7. Master power for the little LED lights on and off above each switch

7 switches: $6.30
7 LEDs: $0.09
Audio Jack: $0.55
Aluminum backplate: Free
Wires/crimp connectors: $1.00
Total Cost: $7.94

[bluechro]

New Rims

Picked these bad boys up for $300, 80% tread on the tires. I had always envisioned gunmetal rims on my car, so I decided to paint them.

Currently halfway through this project - got them decently sanded down and just starting to tape them off.



Rims/Rubber: $300
Paint: $25
Total Cost: $325

[bluechro]

Dome Light Project

Decided to do something with my dome light the other day. Ended up spraying everything black, drilling holes in the lenses for 8 LEDs and wiring them all in with resistors. Looks really clean.



I'll grab some night pics in the car in the future - really lights everything up nice.

16 White LEDs: 18 cents
8 Resistors: 8 cents
Solder: 25 cents
1/8 Can of Krylon Fusion Black Spraypaint: $1.00
Total Cost: $1.51

[Daninski]

How about a further explaination on doing carbon cloth parts? Someone else on here did their shifter knob and a few other things. I have a spare hood I may butcher and do some kind of custom carbon cloth work to.

[bluechro]

This was pretty much all of what I had to go on - viewtopic.php?f=21&t=59419" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Spent a couple of hours reading around on the internet, and that was pretty much it. I don't know if this method actually works for larger pieces - I think you need to make molds and vaccum bag them. This is only for overlaying. What I did was kinda ricey when you think about it... Using material used to decrease weight to actually increase the weight of the car. Meh.

Don't think I can help you out too much with the larger pieces like a hood.

[fowljesse]

Good work, man.
I will learn from you how to do a clear, concise worklog. Very well set up, and informative.

[Daninski]

Thanks, excellent link. How about carbon cloth door inserts. I think covering/replacing the cloth on the doors with carbon cloth would look great. Anyway great work log so far.

[bluechro]

Fowljesse - thanks

Daninski - That was my original plan, actually. The reason I bought the carbon fiber was to eventually work up to doing the door inserts. It might still happen one day, but I'm not entirely sure I'd like the look of it. I grabbed a spare door panel in excellent condition from the junkyard for like 7 bucks so I might see what the carbon fiber looks like on it one day.

[npspears]

Great work log and cool stuff you are doing. I was wondering about the interior trim reupholstery, specifically how it is done. My understanding is that you just got used some spray adhesive and just stuck the new fabric on?