Are you sitting comfortably? build

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

...then we'll begin. I'm playing catchup seeing as I have been working on this car since 2012.

ME 1st: Im a '74 model, so that puts me well into Dad-hood but not close enough for retirement. I have no special qualification other than cars have affected me since birth. As a 5 year old I would sit on my bed at night looking out my tiny apartment window watching cars go by long after I was to be sleeping. Drove my first car without assistance at 7 years old ('76 Honda wagon with 2 spd Hondamatic). Cut my teeth on Fox body Mustangs in High School, and at 20 was awestruck by turbonium and bought an '88 Thunderbird Turbocoupe. Fast forward years, cars, tickets and too much money I bought a 99 Protege brand new. Making the move from Ford guy to Mazda guy was never a far stretch. That car was the most reliable car I have ever owned. The relationship lasted 17 years and 357oookms/220ooomi...It owed me nothing more. All this culminates to here, Me and my Speed6. This was the first car that I specifically went on a quest for. This was the first car that I bought because I wanted it, not because I was generally shopping or found a great steal.

THE CAR: Its an 09/05 car, so its among the oldest. Its originally from the US (Im in Canada). I was in the market for a minty TiGray GT with no chance of body cancer. Along came this one, I never thought Id find a WWP car, but it was in such nice shape compared to what I was finding in 2011 I bought it sight unseen. I had the seller send me biblical proportions of photos, Im surprised he didnt tell me to go shag my hat. In the end I paid going rate for a car of this condition and he drove the 6.5 hours to deliver the car.
The car as purchased in 2012...

THE PLAN: I have stripped cars down to only dash, seats and door cards in search of speed. I have jammed 15" sub woofers into sub compact cars. I cleaned and refurbished a few turds with many trips to pick-n-pulls and swap meets, but those avenues seem to have evaporated as time marches on. So, I stand with a nice condition car that dosent need much more than a loving father to take care of it. I dont have to explain the history of the Speed 3/6 line, we all know the car had Bang for Buck and X-factor etc. This is the first car that I feel didnt need much changed. For street use out of the box it handles, stops and goes. My previous car was a 91 Lincoln MkVII that I was about to slap a supercharger on when I realized the cost of premium fuel at a best of 17mpg wasnt feasible. With the fuel economy in check, Im free to push the limits much further. With my adulting of years I have come to realize that we auto performance folk generally trade off emissions for performance. I can remember all kinds of nasty we would endure in the carb days just to go fast. With eyes watering from unburnt hydrocarbons and assassinated nasal passages we thought it didnt matter. Thank you science and technology you have vastly cleaned up my dirty hobby, but Im not so tree hugger as to hop on electric cars they have their own hurdles to overcome for mother nature. This car also has to be functional & practical. I want to be able to take it to weddings and funerals, on family trips and drive it every day to work and back. If that means engine and suspension rebuilds thought life, so be it, thats what winters in the heated shop are for.
In closing...
a) I want to keep this car visually clean and stock. A time capsule for the future. My Uncle had a '72 Olds 442 that he sold in '86. He loved that car and babied it, it was in showroom condition when he sold it. He had a lot of pride in that car...I want to feel that. I have always enjoyed washing, waxing, wrenching almost as much as driving.
b) I want to keep this car capable of 30mpg regardless of how much performance it gives while Im not driving like "Old lady going to church".
c) I want to do my due diligence in trying to keep the hobby clean for my 2 youngins and theirs and so on. I dont want to sacrifice cleanliness to easily reach my goals. The car will retain a main Cat, functioning EGR etc. Im not here to preach, you do you, Im not St. Peter. I am also doing this just to say I can. Im environmentally enlightened, not enraged. I would like to be able to pass a sniff exam, or come very close atleast.
d) Now for the numbers...
I want to be in the 13s. Among my friends we mutually agree that if you arent in the 13s your are only playing around the sandbox. That is our benchmark.
I would like to make 350-450hp in the end. I have no desire to street daily a 500hp monster....so KISS.
e) I want to continue to do all my own work as much as possible. I do about 90% of it, short of tire busting and alignments or machine work...but only for lack of equipment. I took all my auto classes in High School, worked at small town gas station garages and even put a few years in at a Ford dealer parts department. In all, Im largely self-learn-ed. From Briggs engines and Massey tractors to carbs, OBD 1 and OBD2 today I continue to keep at least 1 foot in the pool. If Star Trek transporter science comes true, Ill probably check out then.

This is where the mad scientist makes his plans to take over the world...


Till next time...

PS, if you are still reading this Ill assume you have a lot of idle time on your hands, Thanks for watching!

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Getting up to Speed...
The car was originally from the US and was legally imported to Canada through the RIV (Registry of Import Vehicles) by the previous owner. He commonly travelled to the US for business and purchased his vehicles there. At the time he also had a CTS and a 'busa...pretty respectable for a guy who had kids in post secondary ed. His wife ran a horse business and they owned 2 farms that she would travel to and from daily. They purchased the Speed6 for its AWD and fitted it with 17" steelies and Hakkapeliitta snows. Due to the requirements of her business, she regularly drove their F-series and the car sat. I have deducted that over the year and a half they owned the car they put about 6k on it at which point they decided to post an add on kijiji.ca.
2012
In the beginning I started with the usual assault plan. Oil change, converting to Rotella T6. I changed all of the major fluids such as the PTO, diff etc. Swapping the trans fluid out for Ford XT-M5-QS. New stock temp NGKs, the list goes on. After cruising the forums, my first mods were a home brew OCC with PCV replacement and a CS stageII SRI & TIP. The car was a blast and I enjoyed every moment. The car started to receive proper washing techniques, it got a full claybar treatment and a solid sealer coating of Collinite Insulator Wax.

2013
Early in the season, I began to have issues in the rear with a clicking noise upon acceleration that eventually worked up to vibration when the rear end was loaded with kids and luggage. In the beginning I was attempting to diagnose what I though was an issue with the prop shaft. I pulled the shaft and replaced the u-joints, oddly enough the u-joints are old Mazda parts bin pieces, <<I will dig up more info later>>. After replacing the joints, I had issues with getting them decently balanced and was looking at possibly sending it to a local truck chassis shop to balance it. Dropped that idea and picked up a used one from a wrecker and the original one hangs on my shop wall to this day. But for a couple weeks I drove around in FWD mode...The car was diabolical and on one occasion I almost walked the curb when the car side-stepped from a launch. I now understand a Speed3 guy's pain.
I painted a euro black area behind the rear license plate where the plate had worn through the paint and rust was bleeding through.

2014
Started the new season with the same issue as last year. This year I would come to the realization that at some point in the cars past someone had fitted Eibach Pro coils, which had sagged in the rear causing the CV shafts much distress. After installing OEM rear coils I thought I had solved the issue, that was till the left inner rear CV developed a high speed vibration. I had that shaft rebuilt over the 2014-2015 winter.

2015 - Vdyno, 218whp, w/CS stgII SRI&TIP no tune.
Over the winter, while in storage I periodically will move the car out side to pull something else in for repair (I am the chief mechanic for a quite a few family & friends). At one point a slug of ice formed in a sagged line to my OCC. I left the car outside my garage to idle up to operating temp for a while. In horror I stepped out of the garage and droplets of oil swirled in the winter wind slowly coating my white car. Turbo seals had left the building and the engine had a serious drinking problem. Oil level had dropped off the dipstick and percolated in the exhaust like coffee on a 70s kitchen table. This was my chance to go for an upgrade, but I hadnt completed all the other mods I needed first. After a quick search I purchased a Rotomaster CHRA for $350 and hoped for the best.

Purchased a used Accessport V2 and began playing in the wizardry. I applied pretty much the full gambit from Abilor's Fantastic writeup. I owe Abilor a beer, perhaps a night of free drinks for all the light shed on the art, wrapped in easy to digest terminology. Honor and Notability to Abilor! 2015 Also saw disposal of the steelies and snows. I refinished the OEM snowflakes in a dark grey and mounted BS RE760s. I loved those tires. The addition of proper rubber really changed the cars handling obviously, and I began to see how nicely mannered this car is.

In the interest of suspense, I will cover up to 2020 in the next post. Till next time...

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Welcome back...
2016 - Vdyno, 240whp, COBB OTS modified w/ Abilor guide & Bucker's Cheat Sheet, Testpipe.
This year saw the replacement of the upstream o2 sensor. Thankfully I had purchased the Accessport and through my logging and tuning I had eventually noticed that my AFRs were remaining static at 14.7. I assume the o2 had suffered a serious bath when the turbo seals shit the bed and started failing shortly after. Throughout the 2016 year I spent a lot of time doing MAF cal revisions, logging and re- flashing. I found an excellent freshly rebuilt road where I could see for about a mile possibly more along a swampy area about 10 min from my house. I would swing by on my drive home from work, or on a Sunday afternoon. I took some pix up by where they had cleared a rock cut and crushed tons of rock to build the road and took one of my favorite pictures...

I made 7 different revisions that year, calibrating for the CS intake, pushing the boost up mildly etc. I applied some adjustments in line with Bucker's cheat sheet for throttle and WGDC. Otherwise uneventful, some smaller maintenance was completed such as battery cable replacement and failure of the canister purge valve. I replaced the rear keyless antenna and repaired the drivers door request button wiring which brought the door request switches back on line. My first foray into valve cleaning was completed. I purchased a small blaster and a big bag of crushed shells and made a huge mess, but I was impressed with the outcome.


2017 - Autotech HPFP internals, Cp-e RMM.
While getting the car ready for the summer season I decided to replace the front wheel bearings. The steering had started to feel a bit numb and sloppy. I also noticed the car would pull while braking depending on which side of center you had the steering wheel. Over the summer I dove into a couple projects including replacing the headlight lenses with new ones acquired from Amazon. The task was a bit more cumbersome than I had anticipated due to the shear length and size of the 6 headlights.
They barely fit into the kitchen oven. And boy was my wife ecstatic when she found me attempting fusion baking with her kitchen stove. (Note from current day: I wouldnt dare try this today with the new Samsung convection oven we recently bought for her, she would have none of that!)

The old lenses had yellowed and were filthy on the inside. Especially the driver side, there was no cover on the back of the HID opening when I took possession of the car. However, the fresh lenses really bring the car back to glory.

Later in the season I grew tired of looking at the small area of under paint corrosion that had been forming over the drivers headlight. I decided I would open up the seam and clean it up best i could and hopefully remedy the situation or buy myself some time. I wasnt ready to dish out the quid for redoing the 3 stages of paint that it would take to respray the car. On top of the paint, the car will receive a new hood and front bumper when the time comes.

Although the hood structure wasnt compromised, you can see that the damage was done. I sandblasted the area clean, primed and laid a bead of seam sealer down and refolded the bevel. I then seal coated in a basic appliance white. A while later I sanded the white hood and applied NAPA metal pro Hydro grey with catalyst via foam roller and wet sanding. Seeing as I plan to someday replace the hood, all I was looking to do is lay a good base for a vinyl wrap. This was the texture with considerable thinning before wet sanding...

And this was after about 4-5 layers, which took me about a week & a half to complete. The final sand before buffing...

And the completed hood installed...


This year I added 2 parts to prepare the car for future upgrading. Cp-e's RMM.

I also purchased Autotechs from CTS turbo in BC (for the Canadian folk who dont want to be saddled with duty fees and exchange).

2018 - Vdyno, 257whp, adj. WGDC & Fuel tables, Fidanza FW/Luk clutch.
The end of 2017 I parked the car a month early. I was having issues getting the car into 3rd if the revs went above 4000rpm. Initially I suspected the slave cylinder. In replacing the slave, I was unable to get a good bleed on the system. I then switched my focus to the master. Purchased a rebuild kit from the dealer but still ended with the same results. I eventually mustered the energy to dive in and see what I could find after cracking the engine and trans apart. In order to facilitate this I needed to build myself a transmission jack that would allow me to do the job on the shop floor. Come to find out through all this that the Speed6 trans is one heavy MoFo. Glad I didnt decide to wing it and use my chest as a jack like I would in the old RWD days.

Although I didnt find anything particularly suspect, as I went through the system I found some spotting on the clutch disc most likely from some spirited driving and possibly poor clutch disengagement. I ran the DM flywheel through the checks found in the service manuals, it was right on the acceptable limit. The only thing that I found that relieved my apprehension for taking on the job was the release bearing was probably really close to becoming an audible annoyance. One last avenue that I should have checked earlier was our good friend, the clutch pedal bracket. I had looked while upside down and contorted under the dash and was unable to see anything, so I removed the bracket from the car...

Well, time to break out the MIG. Once I snapped that all back together I promptly ordered a Fidenza flywheel and OEM Luk clutch. I am glad I did the switch even though I could have put the whole thing back together with a new release bearing. I would have been saddled with the same old car with possibly an ailing clutch. Afterwards the car drove much nicer, the clutch action was never as smooth and linear as it is now. From a stand still, there was no more rubber band feeling from the DM flyweel springs. It was worth every penny to make the switch. I also replaced the clutch fork, the anti rattle spring was a bit corroded, other than that it was not required.
In June we traded in the dumpster fire/train wreck that was my wife's 2008 Hyundai SantaFe. Although I was never keen on the purchase from the start, by the end I had had enough of it. It was like an abusive girlfriend...sucking me dry for 7 hub changes among other issues. The worst job of all was the rear upper ball joints that required control arm removal, therefore subframe drop. I presented to my wife all of the small SUV without CVT transmissions. In the end she chose a brand new CX5. I still think its a great appliance to this day and she is still enjoying it as well.

2019 - Cp-e RDM.
Now the car has become a permanent fixture. My wife never questions what Im doing or what the cost will be. Now I just get "I see" and a head nod. Perfect! 2019 was a pretty quiet year. I did some serious paint correction after purchasing a Porter Cable DA buffer. I have developed quite a regiment of glaze/sealer/top coat carnauba to try and make the paint pop. White is a hard colour to get a good wet look, but when the WWP on the Speed6 is done right it looks like candy! After any clay or polish needs are remedied, I give the car an application of Poor Boys White Diamond glaze. This helps to hide any minor imperfections and smooth the finish. I could buff the whole car, but the factory paint is thin and Id like to leave as much there as I can. Following the glaze I apply Collinite's 845 Insulator Wax. This stuff is great to work with and gives a good seal for the whole summer season. Finally I top coat periodically with Poor Boys Natty's Paste wax, the coconut white version. This is a bargain priced carnuba, not only does it help add a layer of protection when you get a sap glob or a bird bomb, it also helps create a real candy shell coating look on the white. Almost giving the car halo effect.



I did however add a Cp-e RDM. I never really drove my car hard for fear of destroying the stock mount. It was by this point time to make the switch. Excellent addition for sure.

I have also been dealing with this issue for a couple years now. This issue has water under the passenger side carpet when the AC is used...
https://mazdaspeeds.org/index.php?threads/more-water-on-floor-from-another-source.9043/#post-88914
2020
Well we have finally made it through the time warp. I wont quantify the amount of beer I have consumed preparing this up to now. Over the winter of 19-20, I chose to wrap the hood in a white carbon fiber. I had attempted to find a pearl that would match the OEM paint, but most of what I was able to find was brown tone, like the pearl effect on an Escalade. I chose the white fiber look thinking that it would look better than miss-matched whites and possibly like it was on purpose. Truly, I chose to wrap because I felt the grey hood looked too much like I had picked it up from a local u-pull yard. All it needed was yellow grease pencil numbers! I have never wrapped a hood before, and the Speed6 hood really isnt a hood for beginners. I wouldnt charge someone for what I attempted, but I was impressed by the outcome.
I chose to leave the car parked over the summer in 2020. The city had completely replaced the sub terrain infrastructure under the street where I work. I had thoughts of dodging moon sized craters and plowing like a farm implement through fresh laid gravel. So I passed for the season. Late in the year after the city had completed operation no-mans-land, I pulled it out for about a month so I could empty the fuel tank and refill with fresh.

This is the end, from this point on everything will be updated with current information as it happens. As I write, I wait for the last 2 pieces for my WMI and Failsafe install. I will be updating that shortly. Till then...Cheers!

 

[DubC]

holy shit, man. either you have a REAL good memory, take good notes, or so many pictures you'd never forget. good on you for rescuing the car and taking care of it. good luck to you in your continued journey and updates.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

More plausible explanation would be undiagnosed OCD, no memory superhero abilities here. I do take pictures but I also like to make lists. All of my cars are inputted into Excel spreads for all maintenance & repairs costs. I hedge the cost vs time to come up with a monthly average cost.
Here are a few more pix I have grabbed over almost a decade now...
How 'bout the old school hot rod rake of the OEM coils, lolz...

I even bust out the PS2 occasionally and have created my car and equivalent performance levels. I have made numerous runs around "the Ring" and bested a time of 8'25.225. I do wish the Speed6 was in later versions, I would have a few of them in my garage in GTSport now.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

2021 - Vdyno, 267whp, WMI 1x D07 nozzle, Stratified OTS 91 stg2 tune & revisions
Now moving into the future...
I have successfully upgraded the most important potential weak points in the car. I am considering a PCV plate and intercooler boost tubes, pretty sure the OEM units have paid their dues. I have decided to install a WMI system and failsafe. In the beginning of course, just some charge cooling and hopefully valve maintenance. Before starting on the WMI install, I wanted to build a cold air box that would integrate the WMI tank fill keeping the engine bay tidy. It also covers some of the plumbing as I also have the flow meter and a solenoid in the system.

The car also has an aux fuse panel located below the steering column to run any of my added circuits through. Ive included a relay hooked into the main post in the engine bay fuse box to facilitate adding circuits with minimal cutting into the factory wiring. Ive chosen the AEM controller, pump and failsafe for ease of installation and integration. The controller is tucked behind the drivers knee panel. The Speed6 dosent actually have a lot of available space on the dash to add components, but putting it where I did maintains the desired sleeper look.

I decided to mount the pump and tank in the left front of the car helping to keeping plumbing and wiring short and compact. The tank is from a Hyundai SantaFe that my neighbour was disposing of (I also scavenged and fabbed up a stainless exhaust replacement for my winter Subaru, lol). I fabricated a bracket that uses 3 existing weld studs on the outside of the front frame rail. One aspect that I was
adamant about was to hardline the system. I sourced 90% stainless components, most of which I found through home beer brewing sites. Any part that has WM running through it is stainless except for the flex line to the intake (ptfe) and the two 1/4npt-3an anodized aluminum fittings on each end of that line. I incorporated a shutoff valve to facilitate easy filter maintenance or tank draining.

Parts list for complete system...

Engine bay plumbing and aluminum bung welded into intercooler pipe pointing at TB. The solenoid is normally used for chemical or natural gas/propane. It has a stainless core and has a 2.4mm orifice. I dont think it will be an issue as the nozzle is a pin hole, if it causes me issues I will need to upgrade it. It does have a much higher flow rating over the nozzle, and as a bottle neck, its 9" from the end of the line.

Finally, One last check to make sure everything fits comfortably behind the fog light bezel. Things are actually pretty tight under there. I already had to modify the bracket to lower the pump and move it inboard. The issue I had initially, I would have to remove the bumper to replace the driver fog lamp bulb. Now there is enough room, but the extra components will still make it tight, but not impossible. The toughest part was finding space for the filter, I wanted it below the tank outlet but above the pump inlet. All my lines flow down to the pump naturally. The steering cooler unit is in close proximity, I will still need to build a heat shield or apply heat insulation to the tank bottom. I have built a small bracket to move the steering cooler away, but there isnt enough room for more than 3" clearance around it.
\
All I have now is to have the 3 lines flared. My low rent flare tool is best suited to steel/aluminum/nickel copper lines. I will drop them off at a local hydraulic shop Monday. I cant wait to get this thing tested and buttoned back up. Included with the install I have added the AEM failsafe. Next is to pickup a Guardian Angel, I have already completed all the interior wiring to include one in this setup. I didnt really want a gauge, I figured a few leds and the GA would cover my needs. My son will get a kick out of watching the gauge tho. I mounted the gauge in the left-center vent. There was quite a bit of kicking this around, I was also considering a vent pod but would have had a tough time incorporating the leds. In the end I chose this location for the headphone jack to connect to my phone to the media input with a 9" cord, my previous cord came up through the dash top storage compartment and Ive grown tired of driving around with it open all the time. The gauge and LEDs are located behind a slide of clear acrylic as an integrated unit.

Once I get all the loose ends finished up, A quick testing session and set up the Failsafe. Next step will be to start setting up a tune for the car. Originally I was going to get a tuner to do it...a set it and forget it way of thinking, but I would still like to do it myself. I guess a few more sleepless nights figuring that question out wont hurt. Time to go pop a top, Later.

 

[Awafrican]

nice stretcher jockey plate, <3 your friendly overpaid taxidriver. #ivegotyourback911

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

nice stretcher jockey plate, <3 your friendly overpaid taxidriver. #ivegotyourback911

Never did any base jumps or dangling crazy rescues, lol...just a small town VFD. Mostly highway collisions, we covered a considerable section of the TransCan. Lots of wildlife encounters. We also saved a few basements periodically, haha. I resigned a couple years back and will be getting new plates this year. But in my time I saw my share of amazing events, some you would never believe.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

This weekend in anticipation of the WMI, I decided to clean the valves. With the advantages of the WMI, I might as well start with a fresh clean set. It had been about 30k since I had done them last. I was surprised, I had expected them to be in much worse condition with the lack of proper use my car has had over the last year. My spark plugs were black, but I expect that is from the idling and lack of driving. Before the car comes out its due for plugs and a serp belt.
This is the blaster I bought just for walnut shell use my first time around. I purchased a big ass bag at the time too, way more that I will ever need. Perhaps I should start a lucrative valve cleaning business! This year I chose to remove the hopper and enlarge the 5/32 feed hole, I drilled it out to 3/16 and what an improvement. It takes half the time now. I tore the intake off last night so this am I was ready to jump in and took me less than 3 hours this time.

Last time I did a valve clean I attempted to make a tube for the vacuum from a piece of 1" vinyl tubing. I quickly ditched the tube and chose to plug the hole with a rag. This time I just chose to mask and wrap everything and deal with the aftermath. Surprisingly, there was very little mess. I electrical taped a piece of 3/8" fuel hose to my vacuum tube to suck the shells out of the ports. I also rigged up a perfect light to see in the ports while scraping or inspecting from an old mini mag I had kicking around and a 5mm SuperBright.
And now for the headliners, give it up for the valves...

YUK!

and now, Applause!!

I will pull the intake off after another 30k, It will be interesting to see what I will find.

 

[Awafrican]

Never did any base jumps or dangling crazy rescues, lol...just a small town VFD. Mostly highway collisions, we covered a considerable section of the TransCan. Lots of wildlife encounters. We also saved a few basements periodically, haha. I resigned a couple years back and will be getting new plates this year. But in my time I saw my share of amazing events, some you would never believe.

Oh I'm sure I would believe them, started my paramedic career 11 years ago, I was at one of the busiest stations in the GTA, before joining the mil as a medic. Some glorious stories.

Edit: nice that the valve cleaning was that quick this time I have to open the feed hole on my blaster too.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

So far leak testing on the inlet side of the pump looks good, re-bent a new line from tank to filter keeping bends as tight as possible to maximize space around the plumbing. I also installed a polyethylene pickup tube. I did some filling and measuring to see the physical amounts of mix in the tank. Come to assume that under acceleration at low level the tank bulkhead could possibly draw in air with the mix if it was well aerated. I was unable to mount the tank with the out port at the rear. Now as the mix gets pressed back in the tank while I get pressed back in the seat I will have the piece of mind to keep sending.

Tomorrow I will visit my local dealer for some gaskets to put it all back together after valve cleaning. Going to do a compression check for interest sake, then Tuner Time!

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Finally got everything put back together after the valve cleaning. Also tossed in a new PCV valve and serpentine belt.
I was able to test the meth system finally. A very pointless vid of the first shot...

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I decided to put together my own nozzle holder of sorts with a 1/8npt to 1/4npt bushing & coupler to a 3an fitting to attach to the ptfe flexible line.

I had a brain fart and couldnt get the controller to open the solenoid at first. Come to realize the controller grounds out the circuit. I had wired the system thinking the controller provided the 12V @ 1.5A. Tomorrow I will make that change, hopefully fire the car up and get it out of the garage and up to temp. Probably going to do a compression test, for kicks.
With the car outside, This will give me a chance to clean up the garage for another thread I am planning on starting, hopefully something a little more interesting and informative, lol.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

This year I need a new set of tires. Started cleaning the rims up for a fresh coat. I originally had a dark metallic grey, but over time the colour faded out pretty bad and the rims occasionally in certain lighting looked purple.

I am assembling a dryer for my air compressor to up my painting game. For a desiccant unit I plan to run WIX AquaChek unit after the copper condensers.

Back at the wheel refinishing...with the 15 spokes, these rims are a bit annoying to work on, let alone all the times I had to clean them. This will be the last time I redo these rims, I will at least upgrade to a set of RX8 rims eventually if nothing else. I was looking to speed up the process of prepping the wheels, but sandblasting is no bueno for cast aluminum. Back when I pulled out my 50lb bag of walnut shells to clean my valves, I thought to myself Id never reach the bottom of the bag. Well, I figured the walnut shells could be just the ticket and what do you know, It took about 45min per wheel to clean off the old paint in the intricate areas greatly reducing sanding by hand. The biggest drawback was the toy gun sized hopper on my small blaster. If I could put shells in a unit like my sand blaster I would probably shave 15min per wheel. Sanding the flat part on the spokes will be easy...pneumatic power tools ftw!

I was originally looking at gloss black, but I am leaning towards Komatsu Grey. I want a solid premixed colour I can touch up when the wheels get a rock chip. Its a bit of a crunch time to get the dryer built and the wheels painted before end of May, but still doable.

 

[DualSpeed]

I can get you lots of Komatsu grey, I work at a dealer. Lol

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Over the last couple weeks, I tossed around various ideas about repainting the rims. I made a few calls to see about powder coating. In retrospect, I should have gone that route, the long term performance is there. In the end I decided to paint them myself. Not a hater of the OEM snowflakes, but they are not on my list of faves, especially in the OEM silver.
Before starting I built my air dryer/cleaner system for only $300. If I need more drying ability I can expand the copper loops, the system is kinda modular in design. My air tools will thank me with many more years of performance.

Although the humidity right now has been steady at a comfortable 60-70 in the garage, when I dump the valves at the bottom I get a fog of moisture after an hour of compressor cycling and heavy use (walnut shell blasting). The Wix can filter probably does most of the work right now. In the future I will convert the system to operate between the compressor pump and tank so the reserve air is also kept dry.

On to the wheels...
Originally I painted the rims with etch primer, stock silver with a rattle can and painted over that with a darkening clear. The outcome was decent looking, but didnt have any lasting power and the rims would chip easy. After walnut blasting each rim I spent 2 hours a night sanding each rim with 220 grit and moderate steel wool. I sanded the spokes, but the rest of the rim I was just cleaning and leveling where I had walnut blasted. I chose to leave the grey factory coating as much as possible, it didnt play well with etch primer I used the first time around.

After all the rims were initially prepped, I went all science-bitch and stirred up a 5-8% solution of HCL to etch the rims. I hit each wheel with scotchbright, cleaned up the lug & stem slots so that the bare aluminum would spend as little time before being submerged in the weak acid solution. Because aluminum begins to build an oxidized outer layer affecting paint adhesion, I attempted to minimize the time between the scotchbright/dip/dry stages. Each rim had a 15 min dip face down in the etch solution before a thorough rinsing with clean rain water. In the 3rd photo below, the bare aluminum has turned a nice frosty grey.

Once through the acid dip, the rims were laid out in the garage, dried and wiped down with some prepsol. I also soaked them down with a 99% Isopropyl spray to wash off any dust before applying 3 light coats of 2k epoxy primer at 10 min flash intervals.

After a 30 min rest, I followed the prime with 3 light coats and a 4th wet coat of the base colour. The colour is metal flake dark grey with a touch of bronze. Same interval 10min flash with a 45 min rest due to the heavy wet coat at the end. I then applied a medium and heavy wet coat of 2k clear to give a serious gloss to the rims. I think the gloss in the end changed my outlook on these wheels and really converted the rims from the lackluster OEM look and now they really pop. The pics dont show the wet gloss well. I cant wait to get the tires mounted and back on the car. By the time I pull the car out the paint will have cured and I can wax them up. Now to find center caps.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Just threw down the quid for new shoes to wrap the redone snowflakes in. Went with Yokohama Advan Apex v601s 225/45/18 (95Y).
These tires were well received at SEMA2019. With a 280 AA A UTQG rating, I should get a few years out if them. My last set, the BS RE760s were a 340 rating, they lasted 5 summers. Should be in about a week.

These tires were very hard to find stock on, most of the summer rubber stock seems to be depleted.
Between the upselling by tire dealers or trying to sell me on performance all seasons instead, Ive about had my tire shopping fun for a while.

 

[Easter Bunny]

That's the worst when your calling around and in my case I was looking for all seasons. Well we don't have that but how about ultra high performance summers sure buddy that's exactly what I fucking need

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Detailing weekend. Bringing her out of hibernation for the summer.

Here are some teasers...


Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Car is officially out. I have only driven the car for 2 weeks since the fall of 2019. It was nice to go for a cruise albeit like an old lady. Gotta give the car time to stretch. Besides, I still need to contact Stratified for a tune in a couple weeks. Put about 30kms on and grabbed a few pics. Not a cloud in the sky, so the car appears white like snow...but she looks hella clean!!

I still need to put some sand bags in the trunk or get some lowz in the rear. The stock coils in the back aren't helping the look. Also looking at 5mm spacers to flush it up a bit. The wheels aren't as dark as I thought they would be...in the bright sun, lots of reflection in the metal flake I guess. Still looks better than OEM argent!
Hell do I miss this car. And the new Yokos are awesome. They feel tight and direct, not just because they are new, the car is point and shoot at 50 mph on leisurely bends. No numbness on center...you have 3 choices, straight, right or left. I cant wait to hit up an off ramp and see what these are like.

 

[Easter Bunny]

Just cut a coil off the rear springs