Michaels' NA6

[marty085]

If you end up getting a new key i can definitely recommend getting a new key cut to code at a locksmith rather than just copying the old crappy ones. New keys cut to code = win!

BTW those window rubbers look awesome. I am definitely doing this to mine soon.

[the_darkside]

Yeah I got it cut to the code then got one matched off that, lightwieght bright red key FTW!

[the_darkside]

Well, we had a bit of a storm here yesterday, and going from work to my brothers place there was a bit of water on the road and now I don't really have a front lip.

[initial D]

Lol, atleast it didn't get hail damaged like some people's car.

[the_darkside]

I think I would've been less devastated with hail

[the_darkside]

BOOM! Haha...

[RedMX]

so reminds me of super mario bros.

[the_darkside]

Thats what its based on, edited slightly, but not much.

[the_darkside]

Well not much has happened since my last update, the only new part I have is a tombstone from a fellow forum member, very happy with it and the interior looks heaps neater now, other than that ive just been fixing small things in the limited spare time i've had, I made a new bonnet jet, I broke one when spraying my car and Mazda wanted $48 for a new one so I just made one, mostly held together by tape and glue lol.

Also greased up my windows, they were going up and down really slow so I took them apart and greased up the runner, now twice as fast and i'm content with how they work now. Fixed a few rattles in my door, created by my speaker with a clip and a sanding sponge as well haha, if you thinks that dodgy check this out.



Thats the base plate for my accelerator pedal, now the bit the pedal is attached to isn't against the firewall, which isn't very smart on Mazdas' behalf because over time the metal has grown weak from excessive wear and cracked, as you can see, theres also a smaller crack below the major one which you can't see in that photo. I always wondered why my accelerator was a bit delayed and other than that I just figured the engine wasn't all that powerful, so when looking for the reason for the delay and figuring out the cable was tight I searched harder and found this crack which allowed the metal to bend at the same time it pulled the cable when I put my foot down, so I lost some power aswell as not being able to completly engage the pedal because it would touch the floor before the cable was completly pulled.

So heres my solution, cut a doorstop in half.



And shove it between the firewall and base plate so that the plate cant bend and doesn't have as much stress on the cracks, gain my extra 20HP and enjoy my infinitely better throttle response.



And I currently have a clutch sitting on the floor in my room to put in, i'm also going to order new pads and slotted rotors mid January, so back to the more eventful stuff

[PaulF]

Cheapest extra power and throttle response ever.

[the_darkside]

Definately.

[Binks]

Same thing happened to my pedals too. Changed it to NB pedals now, which was the worst task ever.

[the_darkside]

But are they much better?

[Binks]

Yeah they are. Much thicker metal so it doesnt flex. I got mine for $150 at Allmaz

[the_darkside]

An actual update about something significant!

I ordered my brake rotors today, then figured I didn't have enough money for the pads yet... But hey, all in good time and after they're in its time for rims and tires!

But for today, my mate started on my clutch, I helped but not as much as i'd like but i do think if i needed to do it again I could do it and someone help me.

Everyone like pictures so first thing we did was give it some ground clearance :O



Then we took off the exhaust, so we could undo the tailshaft, so we could undo the brace, so we could undo the gearbox, so we could get to the clutch, so we could undo the clutch...
Now the exhaust has started a rattle, probably because it gets bashed and abused :/ But unfortunately it has to go back on and it will be some time before I get a new one.



So the gearbox out, which actually had oil in it, which is not a good thing what so ever. But thats something that will also have to wait. Now another manufacturing flaw by Mazda is that the hardlines coming out of the brake slave cylinder run right behind the top end of the box making it difficult to get out because you can't simply push the lines aside, why they put it in that spot and made the lines that way makes no sense.
So because of this when we finally got the lines out of the way the box slid out and dropped on my mate, hes okay, but it was still dodgy as all hell.



Underbody, missing something... ah well can't be crucial right?



And the culprit, now for anyone that hasn't seen a clutch before, this is bad, this is really bad, theres very little material left, the small bolts holding it together were actually touching the flywheel and pressure plate, there's no way for air to escape this super smooth flat surface, which is also bad because clutches of course work by friction, which is greatly reduced when its this smooth. My mate was amazed I could drive it at all, but dodgy clutches is something i'm greatly accustomed to having had dríven a range of vehicles.



The pressure plate, which is in very poor condition, with grooves i could feel, various hot spots etc. But that doesn't matter its getting replaced.



The flywheel however, has the same problems, yet has to be re-used, hopefully it can still be machined and the hot spots won't cause any issues... hopefully.



And thats what we did this afternoon, took about 2 and a half hours to get out.
So I have lots of cleaning and running around to do tomorrow so we can put it in tomorrow afternoon, hopefully with less drama than taking it out, but I doubt it.