Got some JDM fogs for pretty cheap. Bought them off somebody who was parting out a front clip. They were pretty scratched up. I followed an online guide for restoration. I wet sanded with 400, 800, 1000, and 2000 grit. Then polished with some Plastix. The guide actually called for 1500 grit mixed in there. I thought I had some but didn't and didn't want to go back out to the store. The guide called for doing one pass horizontal and another vertical for each grit.

The results are a good start but not good enough. From a distance they look pretty alright. But up close you can see light scratches from the sanding. I'm gonna do them over. Any advice would be appreciated.

I wish I had taken a before shot or two, but all I have are the afters.
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...49737949_n.jpg

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...05150258_n.jpg

One deep scratch that was missed. I may go back and start with 320 grit. You can also see the sanding marks.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...93494723_n.jpg

Sanding marks really show with them lit up
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...04339177_n.jpg

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...79282887_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...29963737_n.jpg

Anyone have advice on how to do this better? My plan next time around is to start with 320 for the deep scratchs and make sure I have some 1500 grit. Probably use more pressure. Also, I wasn't using a sanding pad or block, just hands. I'll use something next time.

Are you doing this by hand?
Power buffers would help a LOT.

I'm not a pro at this, but we used to mess around with plastics and rubbing compounds and *Brasso*.
I'm sure the dedicated plastic polishes work, but Brasso was something that was always around, and we had to take care of a lot of brass when I used to do the ROTC thing back in high school.


-Ted

Yeah doing it by hand. I don't own a mounted wheel. If it doesn't turn out well enough by hand I may look into a buffing bit for a drill or my dremel. My concern with the dremel is how fast that spins.

I own a foam/sponge pad for sanding bodywork. As of yet I can't find it. Hopefully tonight after work I have time to get to the body supply shop. I need a sheet of 1500 grit.

Dremel is way too fast and too small - you're going to gouge the plastic. :(
Even if you manage to slow it down, it's going to take a long time to do the whole lens.

What I did was get a buffer attachment for a drill.
Most of the buffer covers - usually wool or equivalent - are too course for your application.
I used a discarded T-shirt and covered the whole thing - cut & tied to fit snugly - to give you a more finer (smoother?) buffing surface.
Work slowly until you get a feel for the buffing action.


-Ted

Agreed, but save yourself some time & guesswork and just buy the Meguire's or an equivalent headlight restoration kit. The Meguires kit comes with a buffer attachment for your drill that is just the right size for headlight work, and has a washable pad that has just the right level of abrasiveness for the job - it's on the fine/soft side. I found that if you follow the directions, run the drill at 1/2 to 3/4 of max speed and bear down with moderate pressure, you'll get good results. Multiple passes from opposite/overlapping directions works best. For the FTP lenses, removing them from the car & securing them in a vise makes life easier.

My thing with the kit is that I already own alot of wetsand paper. I'm also prepping body panels for paint so I already own a variety paper.

I do own a orbital buffer and all kinds of bonnets (microfiber, terry cloth, wool), I think 12in. II've got one of the lenses out of the mount. I could hit it with that but I"m concerned with how large that is and that I'd end up hitting the metal frame the lense is in.

I'm thinking if I use a buffing wheel I'll have to do it with a drill bit. BUT will just using the Meguire's Plastx buffer/polishing clean up those "swirl marks"? I'm thinking I have to work those down with wetsanding, then hit with a buffer.

Sweet Baby Jesus!!!

The engine has life again. I had broken off the stud at the LIM for the coolant feed to the turbo. Had to take the intakes and turbo off to get it out. That being done, the engine turned over and idles.

Issues that still need worked out:

1. Exhaust leak, it's a small one but it's dinner time and cold out.
2. Efan blew the fuse. I manually turned it on to check the wiring and it ran till I turned it off. Then would not turn back on.
3. Gauges STILL aren't working right. Well the aftermarket ones, OEM gauges work fine.

Congrats!

On #2, when you "manually turned it on", how did you do that - shunt/short circuit the fuse terminals to get it to run? With a new fuse in there, does it tend to blow out the fuse as soon as the fan kicks on? If the answer to both is yes, then it sounds like your fuse may be undersized for the inrush current load. Whenever you start an electric motor, the instananeous current draw is many times higher than its steady state current draw. If the fuse can't handle the inrush current, it will blow out every time.

I wired in a manual switch and mounted it on the dash panel below the steering wheel. I flipped the switch and it came right on. Flipped the switch again and it turned off. Then never came on again. I'm using a 40amp fuse on an inline holder.
I'm going to go over the wiring again. I believe the ground wire going from the relay to the ground is undersized. I'm going to go all 10ga wiring for the fan. Right now some of the wiring is below that.

As for the gauges I'm suspicious of my ground for both the boost and pressure warning gauge. The water temp gauge is grounded in the engine compartment. The boost and pressure gauge are grounded in the cockpit. Last I checked the temp gauge worked fine, but I did not check it last night. I was kind of rushed trying to get to a family dinner. Starting up the car and idling it was the last thing I did before leaving kinda hastily.

One thing I forgot to add last night. I've got soft brakes. I thought that I had bled all 4 brake lines well enough. I didn't see any air in the lines at all. But still soft brakes. Last time I took it down the street and back I had to use the ebrake.

I'm guessing the master cylinder is bad. I don't know if it's related or not, but when I first filled the reservoir I came back the next day and the whole thing had drained from a leak in the seal/s at the bottom. I filled it up and put some screw clamps around it. It hasn't leaked since. But the brakes haven't worked right since then either.

Definitely replace that master cylinder, any leaks there result in no brakes.

On the fan wiring, is it still per the schematic diagram on post #112? Is it blowing those 40A fuses when turned on with the switch, or is it just not running repeatably when you flip the switch on/off? If it's the latter, first thing to check is the wiring & grounds - may have a loose intermittent connection somewhere, or its also possible the relay contacts may be going bad (carbon arcing). If it is blowing that 40A fuse, you've got a short circuit to find.

I haven't worked on the car since. I'm trying not to let a sniffly nose and raw throat turn into a full blown cold...what with family coming into town for the holiday and all. Last night I opted not to lay around on cold concrete.

For the brakes I'm trying to get some speed bleeders to make sure I've got them bled properly. Problem is, my small town doesn't carry much in the way of metric parts. For anyone reading, four piston calipers on our cars are m8x1.0. I'm assuming the rears are the same.

I'm trying to avoid replacing the master cylinder if I can. Obviously for the work involved, but also for one other reason. I've got a southern vert shell that I very well may be keeping. For now it's been my parts car. I'm giving thought to taking my time with that shell. Giving it a proper paint job and swapping my turbo drivetrain BACK into it. I"ve already taken the clutch hyrdaulics off the shell, less work I create for myself down the road the better.

For the blown fuse. It turned on fine with a flip of the manual override. It stayed running till I turned it off. When the temps started to rise I checked to make sure the fan would turn on with the thermoswitch. I flipped the manual override to make sure it was operational....and got nothing. Temps weren't high enough yet for it to have turned on with the thermoswitch, I was just testing it. That was my cutoff point for cleaning up and heading to dinner. The only thing I did from that point was check the fuse and saw it was blown and bleed some of the air out of the cooling system.

I believe my ground wire for the fan is smallish and that might be causing my problems. The gauge on it is smaller than 10, maybe 12. I'm going to go through the wiring and make sure it's all 10 gauge. Well I probably won't do the thermoswitch wire that big. My understanding is that thermoswitch doesn't need that large.

Instead of speed bleeders, look up the Motive Power Bleeder and get one of those instead. It's basically a pressure bleeding system. Best under $50 tool that I ever purchased - makes brake bleeding & fluid flushing so easy you'll want to do it just for fun.

With that fuse blowing you have a short. Going back to your schematic, I assume that 40A fuse is between the battery + and the fan + terminals as shown. Somewhere, that current flow is being shunted to ground. Is that wire that says "optiional idle up" currently connected to anything? Maybe it's shorting somewhere in the harness? I don't have the FSM handy at the moment, so I don't know what that ECU pin 1O is supposed to be doing.

http://www.rotarycarclub.com/rotary_...1&d=1322020125

I don't have the idle up wired into the ECU yet. I'll eventually do it, but it's not very high on my priority list ATM. The relay is just about new and I believe 40amp. I've got ignition power tapped from one of the green harnesses by the battery. It's either a 4 or 6 pin harness, IIRC.

hehe I guess I need some basic instructions on how to quote in forums....

:hurray:nice work

I worked out the fan issue. It was too small of a fuse I put in there. I had a 30 amp fuse. I put in a 40 amp fuse and haven't had any issues.

Thanks, it'll be nice if I could get the car out of the garage. It idling with an exhaust leak just isn't very rewarding....

I had family in town for the holiday so I haven't done anything with the car.

Good deal, I assumed you had a 40A fuse in there. 30A sounds about right for a fan circuit. Normally you'll want your fuse rated about 10~15% higher than the worst-case current draw your circuit will see in normal operations.

I thought I had put a 40 amp in, guess I grabbed the wrong one and hadn't noticed.

Took the time to work on my car this weekend. I have a persistent oil leak. It's somewhere around the oil cooler and hoses. It's either residual oil from when I blew an oil cooler hose. I still have oil on the efan blades and who knows how much on the inside of the fan shroud. It could simply be gravitating down.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...30696059_n.jpg

Or it could be residual oil from the hose giving out and "sponging" out from some foam along the radiator bracket. I've removed the foam so we'll see if that accomplishes anything.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...66731561_n.jpg

Or it could be a pin hole in one of my used cooler hoses about to give out. But there isn't any signs of oil pooling in any of the foam protecting the hoses. There isn't any sign or trail of oil telling me where the drips on the bottom of the radiator are originating from.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...50840697_n.jpg

Any suggestions would be grealy appreciated

I need advice on vacuum routing. I suspect that I have made a mistake routing my vacuum lines. What I've done is kept my vacuum spider but capped off unused hoses.

I haven't been able to get my electric boost gauge wired correctly. Rather than fighting my subpar wiring I bought a cheap mechanical boost gauge as a temp fix and laid it on the windshield so I can see it's readings. What I found is that I have zero vacuum. I've got my MBC set for zero boost. If I raise my RPMs up to 3k I can see a small nudge in the boost. BUT I never see any vacuum at all.

I took the UIM off to investigate. What I'm wondering is what happens if I put the plastic gasket between the throttle body and UIM on backwards? I believe I put it in correctly, but what if? Also, I find it strange that there isn't any gasket or o-ring to seal this. Should I put a thin coat of RTV on it to help seal?

I have it off now, but I had it mounted with this end toward the TB. The port matches the ports on the TB.
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...61528554_n.jpg

The other end facing the UIM. The ports match the 3 on each side of the UIM.
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...95707287_n.jpg

I had the intakes powdercoated. To make sure none of the vacuum niples got clogged I took a hose and put it on each nipple and blew through it. They were all free and open. BUT I found this when I blew through the middle front nipple.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...24514656_n.jpg

Oil...so I"m guessing my vacuum routing is wrong. But it also seems like it could have been wrong for some time now. Maybe I'm wrong but should my TB be this coated in oil?

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...95674969_n.jpg

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...41179030_n.jpg

Middle nipple on the UIM corresponds with the middle steel hose on the spider.
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...99041914_n.jpg

That steel hose eventually ends up at the purge control valve
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...18144604_n.jpg

One of the two hoses coming off the purge control valve goes to the middle iron
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...60213524_n.jpg

The other I have feeding back into the spider here
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...67165485_n.jpg

And then comes back to the bottom steel hose and I have that feeding back into the bottom nipple on the UIM
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...71239821_n.jpg

What have I done wrong?

If you're talking about the MIDDLE fitting on the front of the throttle body...
*This is normal.*
That fitting leads to PRE throttle body, so it will never see vacuum.
It will see boost when the turbo kicks in.

You will only see vacuum if you find a fitting POST throttle body.
The fittings either above or below both go to POST throttle body.


Mazda doesn't do this from the factory.
Although there is a *slight* vacuum leak from this area, I think trying to seal everything with a liquid sealer (i.e. silicone RTV) is more headaches that this is worth.
Specifically, you might end up plugging those little holes for the fittings with RTV...
(Don't ask me how I know this...)

If you have this black phenolic spacer on backwards, NONE of the fittings would work.


See above - you did nothing wrong.
That middle fitting is for the emissions system which leads to the purge valve.
It looks like you have everything routed right.
Mazda designed some complicated vacuum control system to suck out vapors from the "crankcase" to be pulled from two different areas of the oil filler pipe depending if the engine was in vacuum or under load with the turbo spooling.
I think it's kinda stupid, but Mazda spent a lot of money figuring all of this out.

As for the gunk on the backside of the throttle plates...
I think yours is a Kouki 13BT?
If so, this is more so...
This is due to reversion of the intake ports.
It's exhaust gases (and other junk) being blown up from the intake ports from inside the engine and emissions.
On Kouki 13BT engines, the secondary ports open up first prior to the primary ports.
This fact allows stuff to blow back up the intact tract and tends to coat the insides of the intake manifolds and backside of the throttle plates.
Again, it's normal.


-Ted

I'll have to get more detailed info about how I have my vacuum hoses routed. Tomorrow night if I get out of work with enough time to make progress I'll go work on my car. At that time I'll get more detailed info and pics.

What I remember by memory is this:

Front 3 nipples on the UIM

1. Top = capped off and not used
2. Middle = goes to the purge control valve
3. Bottom = comes from the purge control valve

Rear 3 nipples on the UIM

1. Top = Boost gauge (right now it's connected directly to the mechanical gauge. Normally I have it routed to the electric sender for the Greddy boost gauge.
2. Middle = IIRC is the larger and goes to the OMP injectors via the splitter. One of my nipples on that splitter broke. I have it plugged and get vacuum/pressure (not sure which) from a different source on either the UIM or LIM. But only for that one OMP injector.
3. Bottom = Not sure I'd have to see it to know, it is definitely not capped.

For the OEM BOV and pressure sensor I route that from the nipple on the UIM near the BAC...with a splitter of course.

I'll get more detailed info in the next day or so.

I do have Kouki 13BT. But just to be clear Zenki is 86-88, Kouki is 89-91?

Yes, sorry I tend to use the Japan nomenclature more consistently.

"Zenki" = "before" = S4
"Kouki" = "after" = S5



-Ted

On that larger middle nipple, you're correct that it is supposed to go to the 1-4 splitter, and from there to each OMP injector. If memory serves, that nipple is not vacuum, it's just an air bleed (pre-throttle plates). If the splitter is broke, just get yourself 3 "Y" or "T" style vacuum line fittings and use them to make a functional 1-4 splitter, and connect to each OMP injector. If that one OMP injector you have plumbed solo is getting vacuum instead of pre-throttle air, it may not work properly.

Good to know. I wondered about that and I've kept an eye on the OMP hoses. I rebuilt them with clear teflon hoses and they all have oil traveling through them. When assembling the engine I thought about getting a splitter like you suggested, but I assumed all the nipples on the intakes saw the same pressure and/or vacuum. Apparently I assumed incorrectly and need to do some more reading about emmissions removal and such.

What the OCD person in me wanted to do was to remove the spiders nest entirely and get some metal hoses to connect what I was keeping. I really didn't like the idea of having to track each hose from it's source and risk mistakes on routing them. I may go back to that idea. Get some metal hoses and bend them to route underneath the UIM and TB.

The top rear nipple on the UIM is what I used to route to my boost gauge. The mechanical sees no vacuum. As a side note this might be related. My brakes have been "mushy" since the rebuild. Before it they were good. I've assumed this whole time that either I didn't get all the air out of the lines or that my master cylinder coincedentally went out. Is it possible that I've got a vacuum/pressure issue that is also causing problems with my brake booster? I have the brake booster routed as it normally is. The metal fitting on the LIM to the metal hose on the firewall.

Something I just thought of. I had my secondary fuel rail powder coated...and there is a pulsation dampener in that rail. Should I be replacing that? Are there any rubber or plastic parts in that dampener?

If you're still running the stock Kouki / S5 fuel rails, then the pulsation damper is integrated into the rail.
I don't think you can buy just the PD from the Mazda dealer.

There is a rubber diaphragm inside the PD itself.


-Ted

^That's correct, the S5 fuel rail & PD comes as a single piece, can't take them apart or purchase separately.

I'd be worried about the powder coating process buggering the PD up and making it prone to leak - I believe the powder coat process cooks the parts in an oven at like 400*F? You can reinstall the PD/rails, and before putting the UIM and everything else back on, pressurize the fuel system (jumper the yellow connector by the passenger side strut tower per the FSM) and check for leaks before ordering a new parts.

I've had the car running, but haven't taken it above 3k RPMs. The only leak I've ever seen was simply the front secondary injector not being seated correctly in the o-ring/grommet on the intake. But, I'm guessing that the real test on the dampener is when the secondaries are firing under normal driving conditions.

I was reading last night about banjo bolts and differences between S4 and S5 rails. Also spent a little bit of time reading about difference between rotary dampeners compared to piston engine dampeners. I've got a friend with a S4 TII with a blown engine. I may buy his secondary rail to have as a backup. I was pricing Aeromotive and AEM FPRs last night. You can see where this is leading....but I still need to read more before I can talk intelligently about it.

Can someone explain the PRC (Pressure Regulator Control)? I've seen some emissions removal that use it and some that do not use it. I have been trying to keep it.

I understand that it sits inline between the LIM and the dampener on the secondary rail. But what exactly does it do? I've seen in the FSM "shuts vacuum between dynamic chamber and pressure regulator"

Orange one?
I have a brief description here:
http://fc3spro.com/TECH/PROBLEMS/EM/solenoids.htm

It's basically for emissions and starting, although IMO it contributes more toward a flooding headache upon hot-start cranking.
Basically what it does is vent the FPR to atmosphere on cranking (hot only?).
This causes the FPR / fuel rails to run at a slightly elevated pressure ~40psi.
(Otherwise, cold-start cranking pressure is around 36 - 38psi.)
Mazda claims this is to combat vapor lock on hot-start.
It causes more fuel to be injected into the engine upon cranking on hot-start.

I will tend to pull all of that emissions crap on most of my customer's cars.
I've personally done it to my FC, and I've never had a problem cranking - hot or cold - as long as the engine has good compression.


-Ted

Thanks again Ted

I've got the UIM back on, but next time I take it off I'll look into removing. What I may do is remove the rats nest, but get some brake hose and bend it for the vacuum and fuel lines that I am using.

Overall I believe I have my vacuum issues worked out. One of the problems I found was that I couldn't find an accurate S5 TII diagram for removal of solenoids. I found plenty of S4 stuff and I even found one claiming to be S5 but it was using the S4 diagram. The most notable difference between the two is the nipple/port on the back of the UIM for the splitter to the OMP/MOP injectors. On S4 it's on the bottom, on S5 it's in the middle. IIRC the S4 also has 4 nipples on the back and the S5 has 3.

I made the mistake of thinking all the nipples on the intakes showed the same pressure/vacuum. This whole time I thought I had the wiring on my electronic boost gauge incorrect because it pegged to zero. It never moved at all. Well I do have my MBC set to go straight to the wastegate. Last night I put another splitter on the nipple under the BAC...WAAA LAAA mechanical boost gauge showed vacuum. Plugged in the electronic boost gauge..WAAA LAAA it's been wired correctly this whole time!!

Still need to work out the warning gauge for oil pressure, but I've got a good idea what I did wrong with that.

Today I'm swapping my Tokico Blues for a friends Tokico Illuminas. Both our sets are practically brand new so I'm swapping him and some cash to have adjustables. They will be paired up with some Tein springs. I'm not as happy as I expected with the Teins. I was driving on them for a month or two before I detonated my engine. The front tires rub on the lowest coil of the springs. Down the road I'll get some RB vert springs, but for now I'd be happy simply driving my car again.

After the springs are done I'm going to be doing the dreaded coolant seal tests. I've already drained the oil to check for coolant in my oil.

Also on the slate for today, testing TPS and CAS, making sure timing is correct, etc.

All I got done yesterday was swapping the Illuminas onto my Tein springs and getting them back on the car. Well that and getting a cold. By the time night time came I was feeling pretty miserable. On the plus side, at least I'm getting sick right now and not over Xmas and New Years Eve.

After a monster flu bug and Christmas craziness I've finally gotten back to work on my car.

Got the car back to where it was a long time ago. Car starts up fine, idles nice and even. BUT it still has an exhaust leak. Or what I assume is an exhaust leak because I can't find anything else. IT also has an annoying high pitch noise on the passenger side. I suspect it's the BAC valve. I'll put in some time testing the BAC...maybe even get a video of the sound to get some opinions.

I may take it to an exhaust shop and let them put it on lifts, give my exhaust a clean bill of health and while at it have them bend my hangers on my RB exhaust. I have the typical driver side uneven hang on my mufflers.

I've still got a couple little issues that may or may not be exhaust leak related. I get a nice loud backfire on deceleration. I did remove the dashpot and put it back on. So it may need adjusting. I've also got a dead spot on my TPS when testing resistance while going closed to WOT. I'm going by memory on the FSM Ohms for TPS. For narrow range I have a nice solid reading from .8 to about somewhere around 2.0-3.0 then it hits a dead spot and pics back up for 4.0-6.0 for WOT. Full range seems fine.

Got some video, is the ticking the BAC?

I'm proud to say that almost all the car's bugs have apparently been addressed!!??!!

I have apparently found my exhaust leak. The exhaust still sounds a little pooty, but I'm wanting to take it to a shop and have them hang the exhaust properly. I have the typical RB driver side tailpipe hanging lower than passenger side. While bending the hangers hopefully than can tighten things back up better than I could.

I have also apparently found why my engine was not idling properly. Part of it was the TPS needing adjusting. The other part was apparently a noob timing issue. I was not stabbing the CAS with the yellow(leading?) mark set on the front cover pin.

I do have some small issues to address still. Brakes are still squishy. I'm going to pull the master cylinder off my other vert tonight and tomorrow.

Also my speedometer cable pulled out from the instrument panel while I was connecting it to the transmission. What happened was the actual cable pulled out from within sleeve. I'm hoping I can simply pull the instrument cluster and simply reattach it. I had to swap mine years ago and remember it being a PITA to snake the thing up through dash.

Prosport oil pressure gauge still reads nothing. I've removed it and don't know what to do with it other than beat it with a hammer.

Hopefully I don't get any surprises tomorrow, but so far I couldn't be happier:icon_tup: