Thanks, 'glass, if you don't feel like posting it all from scratch, links would certainly suffice.

 

I'll check out my color code and get back to you. Thanks Jethro.

 

If you could post pics that would be awesome.

 

Here's a fine example in sunlight silver.

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^^ Looks great.

 

I mentioned it to Chun and he asked that I tell you that he is not in a position to purchase at this time........too many expenses right now.

 

I was one the "early adopters" of the VR eyelids from JT. Got them last week and installed them on Saturday. So here's a blow by blow.

Here are the eyelids as they arrived from JT. Well packed and lookin' great!



Here's a view in the bright sunlight that we had on Saturday, as well as a look at the backside.





This is the body molding tape for mounting that JT recommended. I got it at Autozone. It was a little more expensive there, but Autozone was closer than Walmart.



Determine the length of pieces to place on the back of the eyelids and cut them in half.



Then place the sticky side of the tape on the backside of the eyelids. Clean the area where the tape will be attached with alcohol to assure any residual oils are removed that may interfere with good adhesion of the tape. This pic shows my initial trial placement of the tape. The back of the eyelids have a plateau around the edge that then drops off to a slight cavity in the interior of the eyelid. I first placed the tape close to the edge of the eyelid on the plateau. However, when I positioned the eyelid for a trial fitment, the thickness of the tape seemed to raise the eyelid up too far from the rest of the bodywork. The end of the eyelid closest to the fender seemed to be exceptionally high. I also have the added problem of a VentureShield protective coating on by headlights that raises the eyelids even more, perhaps another 1/16". So, I repositioned the tape just inside the cavity at the edge of the plateau. That way the eyelid was raised minimally while still getting enough surface area to attach. This pic is of the original placement of the tape. I moved the tape as I described but forgot to take a pic after the repositioning. I also gave the tape a shot of hot air from a hair dryer and pressed the tape down again to maybe enhance the adhesion.



Next, be sure the headlight covers are clean. I did a three step process, as JT and 7andan8 suggested. Here is a pic of the headlight before I did any work on it. It was a very bright sunny day, so every blem shows up.



Step one was to clean the headlight with Meguiar's plastic cleaner.



Next I gave it a claybar treatment with Mequiar's claybar and Quick Detailer.



Finally, I cleaned the area with alcohol to be sure any residual oils were removed.



If you remove all of the protective plastic coating on the backside of the mounting tape, you will have to position the eyelid perfectly the first time. There would be no room for error. However, I remembered a technique from when I installed the rear aero flares which called for just pulling up a small tab, about 1 inch, of the protective tape from the backside of the end of each segment of the tape. Thus, when you position the eyelid, there is only a small segment of the tape that is sticky, which will attach the eyelid, but allow you to reposition the eyelid if necessary because only a small area will be sticking. This pic shows the eyelid in position with the tabs of the molding tape sticking out, hi-lighted by the arrows.



Once you are sure the eyelid is positioned perfectly, hold the eyelid in position and slowly pull the tape tabs out to the side to uncover the rest of the tape and press the eyelid down all around the edges. As I said, we had a bright sunny day, so the eyelids got a chance to "bake" in the sun to hopefully improve the adhesion of the tape to the eyelid and the headlight cover. I guess only time will tell if it worked. Anyway, here are a couple pics of the finished product.











All of you VR's out there, get an order in to JT ASAP. You'll love them!!!!!!:

 

I will say those look good. I saw them in Vegas.
I'm sitting at the Salt Lake airport waiting to get back to Phoenix. Where's the welcome wagon. JK

 

Thanks for the write-up glass. They look awesome.

 

Oh shoot, guess we forgot. Jk.

 

here are the eyelids i order from Jt. i have the KEI ones as well and these do not sit nearly as high or as noticeable off the headlight. i prefer JT's for that and they are 1/3rd the cost.

i painted mine myself though =)

 

HEY JT i got 2 guys wanting WWP eyelids here in MO how much would it be per set painted?

 

Hey Jethro, my paint code is 32C

 

OK, I'll check on that paint this week. If it's single-stage, it's like $16/pint. If it's 2-stage, it's about $150/pint.

Keep your fingers crossed.

 

Get me the paint code for WWP, from the door sticker. Sometimes the paint names in the book at the paint store aren't the same as the RX-8 names, so I have to go by the paint code number.

See my post above. I think WWP is 2-stage but I'm not sure. Painted 2-stage eyelids are $200 set from me. Single stage are $150, unpainted are $80.

 

WWP i believe is 2 stage same as WB and VR

 

It's a Base Coat/Clear Coat. Hence 2 stage.

 

JCool....fingers crossed.

 

Technically, 2-stage paints are termed "ground coat" and "mid coat", with the clear being a top coat and not part of the 2-stage color itself. If you count the clear, it's a 3-stage, but most paint sellers don't include the clear when talking about the color itself.

With my mom in the hospital still, I haven't had a chance to do any paint research or eyelid work, sorry folks. I'll get to it when I can.

 

No worries Jethro. Hope your mom gets better.

 

Hey everyone, new member here. I don't actually own the RX-8, it's for a friend of mine, I'm just doing some research.

He has been having issues with his '04 pretty much since he bought it. Long story short, the car had been through a lot more than the previous owner had led on and it's starting to come apart.

Transmission has been rebuilt twice in the last 9 months and has been having a lot of loss of power/no start or run issues the past month. This last week after dying on I-15 South in Farmington, he had it towed to Bountiful Mazda where the service guys determined that the motor was blown after they found it had no compression.

Selling or parting it out isn't an option because of the amount still owed on the loan, so I thought I would start looking around to see how difficult and feasible it would be to either rebuild the motor or find a used takeout replacement to get it running again.

Does anyone know any resources locally to find help with replacing the engine or finding replacement parts?

 

Is your friends RX8 over 100,000 miles? These engines have 8yr/100,000 mile warranty on them.

Why was the trans rebuilt originally, or the second time? Rebuilding should only be done by someone who is skilled in the area, not generally a good first project.

Just doing a swap would be much easier and is doable, finding it is the more difficult part. Start calling junkyards around the state and maybe even boardering state as some will ship the engine.

Another option, budget depending, is Mazmart. They sell rebuilt engines for 2700 ish.

 

I believe it is still under 60k miles BUT... and this is where the long story comes in... after the first time the transmission failed he took it to Freeway Mazda in Riverdale and tried to have it repaired under warranty. The dealer researched the VIN and discovered that the car had been totaled and repaired by one of the previous 4 owners so it had a branded title. No warranty coverage what-so-ever.

If I remember correctly, the first was something internally that wouldn't allow the transmission to go into gear. The second was something with the input shaft within weeks of the first repair. Freeway Mazda did the repairs both times.

I have been looking around online for used engines with low miles to swap out. There are a few on EBay and other sites, I just have to fill my friend in on what i'm finding and see what he wants to do. Bountiful Mazda advised that other components were toast and needed to be replaced as well, I just don't remember which ones.

 

Salvaged vehicles can be rough, I've have one or two. And sometimes you end up chasing little gremlins. It sounds like the dealer isn't the best at doing tranny work. I would keep looking around at ebay, and the junkyards too. That's the cheapest you'll find, hell maybe find one with the trans as well.

 

I have a few leads on some replacement short blocks and takeout motors, I just have to talk to him to see what he is planning to do with it. Looking through some of the How-To's by RotaryResurrection on removing the engine and tearing it down to a short block doesn't look too complicated and I think between me and some friends we can get it done.