Plunger!! That was the word I was searching for but just couldn't grasp! I retreat for now. :\

 

Are you saying you had your rest of the bin setup under the plywood in yours? Mine is just carpet, then plywood, the the fiberglass bulkhead, then painted metal. Nothing under or inside at all.

 

hmm.... now that you mention it I can't remember, I think it had like a plastic trim around the "holes" the wood covered and the wood mounted to, and then chassis painted metal underneath. Definitely not the carpeted actual bins that are typically found.

 

The way mine is set up, there are four of the (however many) holes that the bins would have used for mounting drilled (the rest are locating dimples). The fiberglass part has an indentation for the bins, and the plywood just sits in the indentation with the four screws holding it directly to the fiberglass. The only other associated component is the carpet over the top.

 

If I could find a black rear carpet without the bin holes already cut, you could have my bins...I don't like 'em and don't really need 'em.

 

There is such a thing as carpet dye... That combined with plastic/vinyl dye is more or less my plan for the interior once I get the plastic parts that go around the pillars and such.

Honestly though, my goal for the bin area is to track down a set of rear seats. As short as my wife and I are, they would actually be usable for nominally sized human beings.

 

Any chance anyone could be bothered to take a photo of the clips that go here?





That's the carpet that covers the spare/spare area. Mine is just hanging loose, and there were no clips when I got it. I just got back from the Mazda dealership (it's within walking distance, and I was running other errands), and he didn't have anything that showed what they were/looked like. It seems like it should be the sort of thing you could get at any FLAPS, but without actually knowing what it was exactly, anything is a shot in the dark. Seems like it would be interior colored, but I can't even verify that.

 

Jeebus, this car is putting you through the Death By A Thousand Cuts, isn't it?

I'd be very surprised if that was a generic enough part for Dorman to make and I can't say I've ever seen it in another application save ours.
I've not fiddled much with mine (because, no need!) but they are intact and maybe suitable for molds/3D printing templates.

 

What does it look like exactly? I looked through a few Doorman racks today, and checked out the dealership. If it's the same on the S5s, I might be able to get it through the dealer. He said they're better supported toward the end of the FCs, just not at the very beginning like mine.

 

I have a set of red rear seats I may be willing to let go of for the right price!

 

If your right price is low enough, I might be able to relieve you of them. PM me. What's the deal with the associated carpet, seat belts, etc.? Open to trades of any sort?

 

the red was FB01-68-893-10, and its NLA (No Longer Available), black is available FB01-68-893-02, but they have zero in the US, with an ETA for more of 4/22/15

list price is $7.09 EACH.

 

I forgot to mention a few points of note regarding my errand running this morning. I went through my first tank of gas finally, and got 21.71 mpg. Good, not great. It's exceedingly low on the to-do list at the moment, but I'd like to see what I can do to make that better. It's something I've always been really good at (with pistons and carburetors), and it'll be interesting to see what I can swing here.

Secondly, what I think is the remnants of my security system is really behaving strangely. I mentioned previously that it started actually beeping when I open the doors (with no other obvious stimuli), but this morning it started beeping the second I turned the key off... And then just kept beeping. It seems to be coming from the speaker (that I wasn't previously aware of) by my left knee as I'm sitting in the driver's seat; it could be coming from the passenger's equivalent as well, but I didn't notice due to proximity. I was genuinely concerned for my battery. Then after one of my errands, it magically stopped. No change in my behavior that I'm aware of, no change in anything related to the car that I'm aware of, it just didn't beep when I turned off the key one time and hasn't beeped again. I was planning to replace the fuel injectors this weekend, but depending on how that progresses, it might jump up the priority list a few notches.

This is one of the instances wherein an owners manual would come in handy. The '88 owners manual talks about the workings of the security system, but it has features I know my '86 does not have (some sort of switch related to the hatch lock, for instance). It could be aftermarket for all I know, but I simply have nothing to go on save the beeping.

 

Now I see what it looks like on the one side. I just cleaned up and installed a set of blue door vents. Color is not high on the priority list right now. Eventually I'll just dye everything black if/when I get all the parts assembled.

That looks like it might be a good junkyard part. Any interchange? It's coming up as a Mazda 6 part. That seems like something that might be found in a pick and pull.

 

FBxx is an FC, the 6's are all GKxx

 

Does that mean there's no interchange?

 

That looks nothing like I remember.

 

Probably cause the picture is bigger than the actual piece

 

its possible, but briefly the first 4 digits of a Mazda part number tell you the application it was designed for.

our little gubbin is an FB01 part number, which is an early FC part (for some reason the 1st gen has an FB vin, but FA parts, and the S4 FC is FB parts with an FC vin, the S5 FC has FC parts)

the Mazda 6 part numbers are all GKxx and GSxx. so while it is totally possible that the 6 has FC parts in it, this one, an FB01-68-893-02, number doesn't cross to anything

trivia!

the flywheel nut, 0810-11-711C was designed for the 110 cosmo, so it is unchanged from 1968-2012.

and the 6 trivia; Mazda sold the Mazdaspeed 6 in the show room right next to the regular 6's and despite them looking similar, they are almost completely different cars. the Mazdaspeed 6 is built from the japanese 6, which is slightly smaller than the american version.

 

That bit about the 6/mazdaspeed6 is genuinely interesting. Smaller how? It seems odd that Mazda would drop that sort of cash developing what sounds like entirely different platforms given their budgetary woes following Ford's withdrawal. They've got all these fwd cars that one assumes share varying and assorted bits for manufacturing purposes, and then the relatively low volume unique platform Miata. You'd think they'd try to push the Miata platform out into something with a wider appeal instead of making a slightly smaller "sporty" version of a fwd sedan to be sold as nothing more than a trim line...

 

Catching up from yesterday:

Clokker came by and helped me with injectors and vacuum lines. I marked all the vacuum lines, coolant lines, etc, and pulled the manifold off about the time he showed up. We dug into it and replaced all the vacuum lines, broke a vacuum check valve, replaced the fuel lines, replaced the injectors, greased electrical connections (including the main engine ground connection at Clokker's wise suggestion)... Matt came by at some point as well to chip in and alleviate boredom (I think I mentioned him in a prior post). Pretty much everything you'd want to do if you were down in there.

I discovered my EGR was missing. Had no idea. Honestly not 100% sure what it does, when, and how. Part of it is in the name, but it's not doing anything in whatever dump it's in... I have half a mind to put it back on given that everything else is actually present and functional. No idea what a functional one costs...

For anyone counting, you need about 14' of 5/32" vacuum line to do one of these guys (I remember that number off the top of my head).

Once we were done, it fired right up. It idled a little rough for a few minutes, stumbled a few times after that, then I guess all the air was out of the system and it was happy. It's idling rough and hunting now, which I seem to recall reading somewhere was a matter of tune. About to look into that and see what I can do to make it happier. Hopefully it's not a vacuum leak... Shouldn't be with all those new vacuum lines (I'm pretty sure I got each and every one of them)!

 

Mazdatrix lists 13 FT of 3.5mm silicone and 6 FT of 6mm hose required to do a full engine.

 

That must be for an S5. There was nowhere near that much of the 6mm hose required as I remember. I'm dead tired though, and memory is a funny thing...

 

Yes, if one defines "help" as providing smoke, snark and shade, that's exactly what I did.

Besides acting as an Uber vehicle for the multiple parts store runs, my only real substantive contribution was knowing that the vac line to the pressure sensor has a restrictor pill in it...a fact not mentioned anywhere in the Haynes manual spectre is using (nor in the FSM for that matter but to their credit, Mazda DOES show which way check valves are installed and Haynes does not...).

My "expertise", such as it is, is limited to things I've actually done to my own specific car and I was surprised how different the S4 intake is from the S5. Ignoring the major design difference in manifolds, some of the detailing in the S5 is much nicer and easier to deal with. For example, the purge control valve is moved on the S5 just enough to make hose access possible...poor spectre spent a lot of time fooling with the crankier S4 install. I have no EGR or mechanical OMP linkage.

I actually learned (or figured out) something.
I could never grasp the logic of the convoluted thermowax water lines on the S5, specifically, the routing from the BAC to the thermo unit. The nipple on the wax unit is 180° from where it should be.

Then I see the location of the S4 BAC and it all makes sense.
Mazda relocated the BAC on the S5 but kept the old thermowax part, so a stupidly complex hose run was required to meet the (now wrong) nipple.

Anyway, the weather was quite nice and despite my pessimism, the job was completed by nightfall. Given the "first time" nature of this job- not a comment on Jason's experience, rather the probability that this would be the first time the intake had been removed in a long while- I predicted two days of work to allow for the unforeseen (like breakage) but he powered right through and she runs.

I've only ridden as a passenger so far but the rat does seem to run quite well...if "quite well" is defined as "just like mine (mostly)". I vroom-vroomed a bit in the driveway in the driver seat and his stock ergonomics are much different (not better/worse, just different) than what I'm accustomed to.
His dash has fewer creaks/rattles than mine.
Damn it.

Anyways, spectre has brought the car a long way in a few short weeks...so kudos.

 

Speaking of, Clokker had me drive his car for comparison against mine. His is only the second RX7 I've driven, but for 270K miles, it's really not bad. Either his engine is better than he lets on or mine is worse than I thought...

His brakes are WAY better than mine in the "feel" department. I'm pretty thoroughly used to unassisted braking systems and generally prefer the feel. I wouldn't say for a second that his feels unassisted, but it has a much more positive actuation. It takes a bit more force, but it's much firmer... I say this knowing full well that it's the sort of "feel" thing that doesn't convey well in words. Suffice it to say, I'll probably be emulating his brake setup at some point to some degree.

Additionally, his short shifter, though it takes some getting used to, has a much nicer/more ergonomic feel to it as well. It took some getting used to in terms of finding the gears as they are (I actually made some nasty noises at one point... Sorry, again, Clokker), but I think it is a substantial improvement over stock.

His seats, steering wheel, and dash (all can be referenced in his build thread) make the car feel (there's that word again) far more modern than it is. It certainly has its issues being as old as it is, but all in all it's a very well executed and thoroughly thought out car. He should be proud.

Meanwhile, this was a seriously long weekend and I was beat hard... I did a good amount of driving with the new injectors yesterday and noticed my idle is now FUBAR. I have some more driving to do this week, and I'm hoping I can do a quick little tune up ASAP to avoid doing any damage (however minor). I'm just hoping I don't have a freaking vacuum leak after all of that work... On the "To Do" list for a quickie tune up is the following:

- clutch flush (I still have some brake fluid that I should probably do something with, and it looks like it'd probably be enough to freshen the clutch up a bit).
- clutch adjust
- brake adjust (Clokker mentioned he thought it had a bit more play than it probably should, I hadn't noticed but it's a quickie)
- clutch safety switch check (takes 0 seconds, and it's in the Haynes tune up check list for what it's worth)
- timing
- idle speed
-TPS setting/adjustment (need to find a how to thread before I attempt this one)

Point of note for those bored/interested, the Haynes manual is entirely mum on adjusting/setting the TPS.