Mazda CX-7 Project

[NinjaCustoms]

PART 4
BATTERY RELOCATION

today I'm almost done, i preped mounting points and protected drilled area from rust with 3 layers.
Let's begin
First you want to mark holes and drill adequate sizes (in my case torx 12,9 8mmx25mm screws) for 8mm use 6,7mm drill and thread tap 8mm 1, 2 and 3'rd . Best if threaded with copper spray for smooth threading.
then prep the surface.
Give the area a good wioe with rust removing solvent and let it dry.

Then tape the surroundings with blue tape.
Apply epoxy primer.

And for better prep apply cavity wax to be sure no rust will ever come in tight spots.

Always remember to tape surroundings not to damage plastics. (don't forget to paint it in chassis colour)
Always use good ventilated area combined with mask.
Let everything a good day to dry. If it dries I'll make part 5.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

PART 5 (Last)
BATTERY RELOCATION

I hope that my work will work and car will start everything will have normal temperature and will run smoothly.
Despite that take some of the last photos of how to end it and connect everything

Tighten the base to the trunk

Clean ,remove rust and paint accessories for battery mounting
Connect wires to 2x ANL fuse, each cabble separately for safety, then connect terminals and technically you are ready to connect &run

connect terminal but before so turn off rally kill switch for power . After checking the ignition nothing should happen and car should be ,,dead,, . Then wait some time checking if wires are jot getting hot. If not turn on the power switch and wait for wires , basically check in about 30min if they are not getting hot or warm - they should stay at least cold. After 30 min start your car . Wait 2min , shut off and do it at least 3 times checking wires after every shutdown. Then if possible drive a little around (as fast to the speed limit of course as you can get) to test if charging is working and if wires are not hot.
And that's it, stay tuned for next mods

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Today's Mod (VERY USEFUL FOR TRACKDAYS)
PART I
RPM adjustable Shift light

Job is simple for this part and requires from you only an esthetic trimming abilities.
Firstly read all manuals as always
So firstly we are going to simply CUT Brown and Orange Loop.
THIS IS ONLY ESSENTIAL FOR INLINE 4 AND 6 ENGINES AS MY 2.2 INLINE 4 MAZDA ENGINE
IF YOU HAVE ANY ODER SKIP THIS OR YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE DAMAGES.
After cutting isolate cabbles. In this case any tape will do but remember to isolate each cabble separately.
Manufacturer does not recommended hiding cabbles inside but we can do this because we insolated them from shorting out on metal surroundings.
Then find good spot and position your gauge in position that suits best for you. For me it will be top left near vent because even when focused i will still see the red light informing me to change gears. Then mark spots with marke. Make these 3 holes (as shown- 2 for thread and one slightly bigger for cabbles). Reassemble everything.

DON'T FORGET TO ISOLATED OR SMOTHEN SCREWS TO PREVENT ANY SHORTOUTS
And that's everything for installation part. Next I'm going to show wiring because it may not be that easy for everyone.
As always photos and stay tuned

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Part II
RPM Shift Light and wiring (Addco Gauges and rest)

I managed to lay down wires.
I mean i prepared installation for future electronics so made additional ground, positive and negative terminal wires and on + and - i wired this light so it will work but i don't need to strip everything apart in interior to connect fe nitrous, just find one of 4 additional+ wires and solder it . This will improve future mods.
Here i made my harness diagram that includes gauges (i diagnosed only pulled out pin on +12v ign acc, that caused these gauges not to respond after wiring mod)
So here is an shorted example of wiring which might be helpful for anybody building same or similar car . Turbo timer is not included here because i made a post about it earlier. Same for f1 brake light and other.
And these are additional wires for future mods i talked about that will be directly tightened with nuts to battery terminals.
As always stay tuned for upcoming mods.
Soon I'll solder missing signal wire on rpm Shift light which ill describe i part 3

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Interior Mods Update.
I Still need to find time for this rpm light cabble to connect.
Now i installed proper rally gauge cover.
And i installed sneaky switch for my previously posted f1 brake light.
The reason for this mods are .... Yearly Inspections (In Poland they are as strict as in Germany fex.)
I Failed it two times this year.
First time for damaged rocker arm pin on passenger side (due to my rally driving style)- I changed both wishbones because in my Mazda they are linked together and non dismantable (Common problem for CX-7 owners)
And secondy because of ,, illegal 4'th stop light ,, . This light itself doesn't make problem but it's flashing does.
As always photos

 

[NinjaCustoms]

New Update
I tried to locate the tacho signal wire or rpm signal wire running to instrument cluster on dash but i failed , I measured the voltage of every pin on the socket with multimeter and taht gave me only 3 candidates. White-violet wire which usually contains rpm signal but it only triggered my rpm light constantly every 10 seconds so i assume this is some kind of diagnostic signal. Next were black-orange and this red wires marked on my socket. Only these 3 cabbles showed any changes in voltage while pressing gas. As you can think they also failed. Conclusion: Instrument cluster wiring does not contain any clear tacho signal that this particular accessories can use as rpm readings.
Next step is to diagnose ECU directly.
Below i showed how I checked it using some wires and multimeter. Black to ground and red using ,, extension,, i checked every pin

 

[Mazdasloww3]

New Update
I tried to locate the tacho signal wire or rpm signal wire running to instrument cluster on dash but i failed , I measured the voltage of every pin on the socket with multimeter and taht gave me only 3 candidates. White-violet wire which usually contains rpm signal but it only triggered my rpm light constantly every 10 seconds so i assume this is some kind of diagnostic signal. Next were black-orange and this red wires marked on my socket. Only these 3 cabbles showed any changes in voltage while pressing gas. As you can think they also failed. Conclusion: Instrument cluster wiring does not contain any clear tacho signal that this particular accessories can use as rpm readings.
Next step is to diagnose ECU directly.
Below i showed how I checked it using some wires and multimeter. Black to ground and red using ,, extension,, i checked every pin
View attachment 33013 View attachment 33014

I just happened to see this post, so not sure what exactly you're doing this for. But most signals are usually transmitted to the cluster via CANBUS. Making a canbus sniffer with an Arduino or something similar is probably your best option. You can then output your signal however you desire for your application by having a custom Arduino sniffer.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Maybe you're right. I'll still try the clear ECU signal and if it fails I'll try your idea with Arduino but to be honest i have no idea in programming area because i only mastered clear mechanics and if sth requires programming i try to browse it or i give it to my trusted friend who's specjalist at decoding keys , ecu chip tuning and more.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

RPM Shift light update:
There is no possible option to catch this 5v square signal from instrument cluster and ecu as i thought. One last option which I'll need to buy/build some kind of CAN-BUS signal or RPM signal converter from OBD port.
Maybe I'll be useful for someone but In 2.2 diesel engine on the CX-7, ECU is located not behind strut tower on the right side but under the carpet on passenger side inside.

Mazda CX-7 2.2 2010 ECU Location
It is covered by steel plate mounted with M12 13mm socket screws holding this steel plate that prevents anyone from doing damage by simply keeping legs on it.
It is needed to pry 2 clips holding carpet.
Firt one is under the glovebox on the left (easy to see). Second one is under the conduit located in threshold compartment.

 

[Easter Bunny]

Don't rpm lights typically get tapped into one of the spark plugs for signal?

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Ofc, i can try that

 

[Easter Bunny]

what do the directions to the shift light say?

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Red to battery positive terminal
Black to the negative battery terminal
Green to RPM signal
Both Orange and brown cut if Inline 4 or 6 eng.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

Despite having non functional shift light I decided to make my interior more rally like.

I dismantled whooole epper part of the interior which was salmon like colour.
This was needed to be changed sooo... I ordered a huge 150cm x 10m roll of alcantara and bought a adhesive spray glue.
Today i painted most elements that are normally non material in matt black matching matt black colour of alcantara.
In the meantime of waiting for paint to dry i decided to do some maintenance and cleared my hiper flow air filter with K&N set.
Here are all of following effects.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

New Update on Interior mods
Today i reassembled the hardest to disassemble and to paint parts which are these door hangers
These are made out of this sleek plastic so painting them in a good finish and without the paint to come off from any scratch or even simply grabbing them as you should was hard.
Best way to do is to sand them with P400 P600 and P800 sand papers , then apply 1 or 2 costs of acrylic base coat or epoxy base (but it will dry longer ) and after drying apply at least 4 coats with first being as i call grip coat (only light mist for grip) .
Leave it for at least 24h and your done.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

New Interior Update

Today i took care of those seat belts tensioners

Those are not removable so the only way is to paint them.
Firlsty you want to extend them and close the doors to have a better access, tape belt itself so you don't paint anything unwanted (cover car too not create hard to remove dust)

And at the end you'll end up with this

I'm doing it so everything will be nice and even and I'm still waiting for my alcantara roll to deliver so I'm trying to put every detail to perfection.
At the end I'll show you guys comparison before and after, Stock interior which is not bad , with a rally like one.
This will show everything that was done to make it so good.
Only mods I'll be wanting to add next will be bucket seats and 4 point harness+ required bars so it won't be visible on our comparison.
Stay tuned

 

[NinjaCustoms]

New Update
Finally the rpm signal cabble was put through the engine bay

i layed it nicely where the hood latch runs and it ended up behind the coolant reservoir.
I only need to wire it onto fhe alternator and that should work.
I removed the engine cover for better access and soon I'm going to adjust valves .
Stay tuned , tomorrow is alcantara delivery date so probably I'll be done making whole interior (without including drying time of special adhesive)

 

[NinjaCustoms]

New Interior Update.
Finally, i took some time and prepped the surface for alcantara.
If you want to do it here's what you need to do:
tear apart the old fabric

remove those yello leftovers
temporarily lay down alcantara
now what you want to do is massage the material to help it to fit all the spots.
Now prep the adhesive (DO NOT DO IT AT ONCE BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO LAY MATERIAL PROPERLY)
pull away only 1/5 of the material
then spray some medium coat on headliner and light mist onto the back of the alcantara.
Lay it again massaging the fabric onto every spot .
Now repeat, pull away unglued material , medium coat on headliner, mist onto material, lay and massage.
As mentioned do it in parts to have enough time.
At the end it should look like this

Soon I'll upload the comparison with stock interior.

EDIT:

Keep in mind that laying down material before glueing is necessary because it eliminates risk of any errors especially because you have around 20 seconds to position material after contact with glue. After that you're cooked.

Also you may be able to do everything alone as i did but additional help is recommended due to size of the headliner. If alone keep in mind you need to be flash quick.

EDIT II:

Also be prepared better. I only purchased one can of adhesive glue thinking it'll cover whole interior.
Seeing the usage i recommend buying at least 2 cans for headliner and another 2 for decorative elements near headliner. So have at least 4 cans when starting this interior mod.

 

[NinjaCustoms]

NEW UPDATE ON INTERIOR
PART II

I'm mostly done with everything, the whole headliner is glued, just need to trim it and prep holes

Also while making i took my time making all of the trimming elements and boy they take a lot of time .
Firlsty you need to spray the element with adhesive, then slightly lighter layer of adhesive on material. Give it about a minute to get sticky, quickly but precisely lay down the material and work your way around every inch and down to the last mm firmly massaging every spot. Leave it for a while (?1hr.) and lastly cut excess material leaving about 2cm of material to stick it on the back and model it a little to receive beautiful finish.
Trick is to use adhesive on material itself and superglue IN GEL on the plastic trim. before that cut a little making material in sections in every even slight corners-

this will help to achieve good look even on the back where no one's looking, but i like to make everything as perfect as possible.
If you did everything properly you'll end up with beautiful looking sporty and soft panels


Now i need to try again to make the hardest Y shaped A pillars plastics. Then The hardest element in this job - Sunvisors - They need to be sewed by hand.
Lastly the most satisfying part wich is putting everything back together.
But for now stay tuned....

 

[NinjaCustoms]

NEW INTERIOR UPDATE
PART III

I'm mostly done , even with the hardest Y shaped pillars which were pain to shape
This will be quick update so no large descriptions , just photos...