My 04 BB GT Progress
 

Hey all! I just picked up this 04 GT 6MT a few days ago. It's on a pretty fresh rebuild and has 83k miles. I was looking for something to work on, so she has some flaws. Looking forward to bringing her back to her former glory!

I am already madly in love with this car. It's my first 8, my first rotary, and driving her home (4 hours) was my first time every driving either as well! I can already tell it's the beginning of a new addiction (not new to working on cars, had numerous projects over the years) but this is all new territory.

Despite having a primary family vehicle, and this just being a toy, I am thrilled at what it offers. I can still be a mom & be me :P The rear doors really help for my toddler & her car seat.

I can be a bit of a photo whore (I am super visual myself) so enjoy the photos and let me know what you think! :P


The following were after I got her home and detailed the interior/exterior.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...7b8f8ca4c9.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...282920973c.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...2463966f02.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b9226d645b.jpg


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...a57d5d3d7a.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b0008fd6d5.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3cb0265fdc.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3635e610c7.jpg

Came with an unknown exhaust on it... if anyone has any ideas on what it could be let me know. It actually sounds really good, isn't too loud and has a nice rumble too it.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b343773bf8.jpg


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f11e58ad6c.jpg


Clearly has an interesting weld job for the tips........
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...1b5688e11f.jpg

Car looks great Jazer! Superrrrr clean! Can't wait to see what you're gonna do to it

Thanks a lot! She cleans up nicely. The paint is quite flawed In a few areas, and I need to have a couple spots of damage repaired. Fortunately the black helps disguise it.

I am impressed though with how nicely this black shines. Despite still having swirl marks, fine scratches and being 12 years old, etc, and needing a true paint correction, it still shines more than my last black car when it was brand new! I'm impressed with this paint code, lol.

Fantastic looking GT!! Brilliant Black with brown/black interior is a great color combo! Your car has every option other than auto trans which is fantastic! Nav was a nice option when new but the mapping may be out of date. If you go to the Mazda dealer and give them your VIN then can print you out a sheet that tells when the car was made and when and where it was sold and what accessories it came with. That sheet will also tell you what recalls have been performed. Looking forward to seeing more pics of the car!

Thanks a lot! I have a lot of plans, but I'm going to take my time with it. As a second car, there's no rush. I'm only impatient to get the fluids all changed out so I can drive her :D

One change I want to do relatively soon, is wheel refinishing, tho I'm not sure how I want to do it yet. Lots of curb rash and peeling on these. I want to fill it and smooth them out. I like the stock color, might have them coated the same or a gun metal.. Not sure.

I called Mazda yesterday and they said the only recall open for it was the driver's side airbag inflator. So they ordered the part and I'm going to get it fixed when it comes in, in 2 weeks or so. Otherwise I'm assuming any other previous recalls have been performed.

Are there any map updates for the Nav? That system is pretty bad. I mean it worked, most of the time, but I had issues with it thinking I was way out in a field as opposed to on the road at one point, lol.

Today I need to get some grease, to grease the arm on the slave that I believe is what causing some noise with the clutch pedal out. It's just squeaking and the second you touch the pedal, even just a hair of pressure, it's gone entirely, so pretty sure that's all the noise is.

Yesterday I fixed the traction control light. Turns out it just needed the relearn done after having battery reconnected. I also adjusted the clutch pedal engagement point. It was catching at the floor, and was pretty unnatural. Brought it up a bit, and it's a lot better.

Also verified that the pedal bracket had already been addressed. Lol. Nice welding job right? :p


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e6f16c86cf.jpg

Mazda had trouble with the clutch pedal bracket. They were replacing them often and someone at some point should have had this done. That's not to say that the replacement pedal bracket didn't snap as well. Even as rough as those welds are, I'm pretty sure that it won't break on you. My pedal bracket has been replaced at least once per the warranty sheet that I have for my car. I even got the recall notice in the mail to get it done. So far so good.

Yeah.. Im not worried about it. I just had to laugh at the (likely flux core) weld job, lol.

I thought I had the TC light fixed but it ended up coming back, time to do some more digging on that.

Yesterday I went to Mazda & got a handful of crush washers for the next few oil changes, and a set for the trans & diff. Did the oil change yesterday. About to order the RedLine fluids for the trans/diff to do those next.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...8f63684763.jpg

Follower! :suspect: LOL

Welcome to the club. Good to see you here too. Now I hope you're working on turning that little girl of yours into a gearhead just like mommy. :icon_tup:

Hey hey! Yeah I saw yours on FB :) Took me a second to link your username though :P

Oh yes, she is totally into "sports cars"... she tells me how the RX8 is better to ride in than my Subaru, she gets excited & tells me she likes it all the time... and she also always says its "so fast like daddy's car!". Always has something positive to say about it. She's hooked!

Decided to work on some small changes today. I dislike badges & I also hated how there were "flaws" surrounding the emblems since you can't buff it good there. Totally shaved her to get her good and clean (waiting on a friend to come use his electric buffer to finish it off, since I don't have one)... and then I will reinstall the emblems to cover the holes. I modded the Mazda M to the "evil M" and am painting all the badges black.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f6f66c85aa.jpg

The "I hate my life" portion of the process. My finger tips are a bit sore now :P


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f9a98a1fe7.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...694bccbe98.jpg


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5c091dbda0.jpg

Temporary end result.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ccf8ceb15c.jpg

After I cut the M emblem.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...2145bcf9d4.jpg

Same process for the front bumper emblem. Looks so good shaved, damn those holes!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ff79285a68.jpg

Emblems done! Ready to go back on. Primed, painted in gloss black and finished with a satin clear. I lm pretty happy with the result! Once I get the emblem spots buffed with the electric buffer, they'll go back on.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...130eda5f4a.jpg

Nice work.

M on the left looks off a bit.

I'm partial to BB as I have one :). Welcome to the addiction.

Soon you'll need boost or nitrous.

Travis

Thanks! No boost plans. It will stay pretty stock engine wise. As for the Ms, they are actually pretty dang close. Remember they're propped up on those little alignment posts they have. One of them broke off and I had to superglue it back on, and it's not perfectly straight. Might be angling the M a lil bit and why it looks off. They aren't PERFECT but they are still pretty close. I spent a bit of time sanding down the edges on the parts I cut, so they'd be even.

Looks like a low side on the top left.

You only say no boost or nitrous because you've never felt it ;)

Travis

I think it's just the angle. Either way, we also have a relatively heavily modded Evo. I know what power feels like. She moves nicely. I just want my 8 to last :P

Differential drain plug before/after (transmission drain plug looked identical). I'd say it needed to be changed. That's a magnetic plug with dirty oil/metal bits/sludge attracted to it. The fluid itself was pretty dark & grungy looking. Car seems to be happy with the new fluids. Shifts don't feel much different, but a bit smoother.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...96387a986f.jpg

Exhaust tip before/after. I need to get some #0000 steel wool and do a more thorough job.. but they still cleaned up pretty good with a cloth and some metal polish.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...0b55bc514b.jpg

First "real mod" for the 8, done by me. Picked up a catless midpipe today. Got the stock cat pipe almost out, all bolts either removed or broken loose, just needs a few more minutes of work tomorrow to drop it. I plan to get some new bolts tomorrow to finish install. Ill feel a lot better about my premixing not having a cat to risk clogging anymore. I have a year until I need to worry about passing inspection. Worst case scenario, I will have the stocker to reinstall temporarily .

Hopefully it will sound nice paired with the cat back that is already installed on the car.



Also had my friend over today and he used his buffer on the areas where the emblems sat. You can't even tell there were emblems there anymore, he did a great job. Can reinstall the few that are needed to cover up those holes now.

I think you'll really like the sound with the new midpipe installed. Usually brings a deeper tone without increasing the noise significantly. Will look forward to the pics with the new emblems installed!

Just installed the emblems they look great, need to clean all the pollen off the car and I will post some pictures soon.

As for the catless mid pipe, I am about to put the stock cat pipe back on. The resonator isn't doing it's job. It's way too raspy for my taste. It sounds great at idle.. but once you get to about 4k RPMs it is way too tin canny.

I will put the catless mid pipe back on once I get a new high quality resonator for it, not in a big rush for that though. Especially since at least with this process I was able to inspect my cat, and it actually looks really good.