Got both cars home and each did great the whole way, another soldier drove the R3 while I drove the SA. The day after getting back home I started taking parts from the swapped car (Spirit R seats and mazdaspeed front strut bar). Had a hell of a time figuring out the wiring between both sets of USDM and JDM recaros and ended up just swapping uppers and lowers for the passenger (RHD driver) seat, I did something to the weight sensor because it thinks someone is always sitting in that seat, so I'll have to fix that, but for now I just leave a buckle I cut out from the swapped car.
All was fine and dandy til that night when I went for a late night drive with a friend. I was getting onto the highway and I guess they redid the roads and added another road off to the right (I thought the road to the right was the on ramp). I accelerated as though I was getting on the freeway and got to roughly 40-50 mph. There were no street lights so I had no idea what was ahead of me, at this point I'm still thinking I'm on the on ramp, then I see the round about. I slammed on the brakes and tried to maneuver through, but the tires just couldn't handle it. The rear wheel hit the curb first and that sent the front passenger wheel into the curb. The car rode the curb for about 10-15 ft. before stopping just before the guard rail. The car was still running and had absolutely 0 issues and lost no fluids.
The only things damaged were the front passenger upper & lower A arms, the junkyard S1 hub and knuckle, the tie rod for that side, the S2 18" wheel, the wheel well liner was torn out, some minor dents on the subframe (nothing bad), two of the rear control arms bent and rear R3 wheel had a big chunk taken out of it and is likely bent, but it still holds air. I called my insurance and some things weren't in line for a tow so they had me call 911 and they sent a tow truck out which is a good thing because had my insurance towed it this car would be totaled as it only blue books for $5,700. I had the car towed to my house and pulled the parts I needed off of the swapped car and had the car back on the road by Tuesday working great and also took the opportunity to throw on the mazdaspeed coilovers, mazdaspeed sway bars, mazdaspeed rear strut bar, AEM intake and LRB speed aluminum under tray. I'm also really loving the Stock Evo X wheels, they suit the car really well and it rides wonderfully with the MS stuff on it.
And yes I know I fucked up and I don't expect any sympathy for this, it's my fuck up that I had to deal with on my own. I fixed it and all is well, no one was hurt and I learned my lesson and I'll be much more careful in the future because I might not be as lucky next time.
The SA is unfortunately limping on a bad rear hub bearing so I won't be driving it much if at all until that's fixed, so it looks like the R3 will be my primary daily for now (which is fine anyway because the SA's heater core leaks and is blocked off - no heat)
And for anyone wondering what will happen with the swapped car's shell once I swap everything over, my plans are to have the car crushed. The body is perfect and would make a great track car or swap candidate for something else and I could make some decent money selling it as a roller, but that's exactly why I want to crush it. The car's title is in my name, this car I built from the ground up and learned just about everything I know about cars in general, it got me into rotaries and I don't regret anything about taking this swap on, not a single moment, penny or turn of a wrench was wasted on this build because what I learned from it was well worth it. It is definitely very possible to finish it, but there is just too much doubt, too much maybes of what can go wrong and I simply just don't have the time or money to do it anymore. All I wanted from the very beginning was a car that functioned as a stock series 2 (with all of the awesome parts I've acquired too of course) and now I have that. It's not the same car and doesn't hold the same sentimental value, but it's what I wanted and I'm content with it. The decision to crush the swapped car comes from my sentimental value, the last thing I was is for someone to buy it and see it be swapped with a piston engine, it will just be better off dead than degraded in that way. I will, however, be cutting off 1/4 panels and other various parts off the car to sell, but the chassis itself will never see a road under its own power again.
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