I replaced my cabin filter as well this spring. I don;t think it had ever been replaced. I work for Toyota and we replace the cabin filters every 30k miles. I find dirty filters often. I had a customer complaining of poor heat in a Prius and the first thing I check was the cabin filter. It was completely plugged with a mouse nest that stretched into the air inlet and into some of the ducting. I removed the nest and the debris and what a difference!!!

I have 5 kids, three girls and two boys and they all seem to enjoy the cars. my oldest is 9 and the youngest is 8 months. They're all good kids. I post pics in my threads of them with the cars as well. They really seem to enjoy being part of what I'm doing, much as your daughter does with you :)

Wow! Yeah I have had a mouse/chipmunk nest in one of my cars, and I had to pull the blower motor itself because that's where they nestled in for the winter (my car was parked that winter).. I too think the 8's had likely never been done, or at least not for quite a few years.

It's wonderful getting the kids into a hobby like this, I truly hope she enjoys it when she gets older. There are much worse things to spend money on, as a teenager especially, lol.. I would LOVE to get her a "project" car when she turns 14/15 ish and spend a couple years working on it and fixing it up so when shes ready to start driving on her own... she has a car that she will take care of and appreciate because she had to put some effort into it. That's my goal/dream tho, as long as it's something she would enjoy.

Doesn't look like much, but I was missing both tow hook covers. Finally got around to ordering those from Mazdatrix... I Need the rear one too but no interest in spending 40$ on such a little piece atm. Front was priority as I didn't want the threads to rust out as they are more exposed to rain/water, etc.. also looked weird as some angles you can see the white foam when they are open like that.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...19cc58316c.jpg


Had her first (gentle) bath since the body work was done, and as usual, my little helper was glad to assist. She kept saying "There you go Rexy" as she rinsed her down


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5afee11d01.jpg

I got a 3rd break light overlay to help blend the 3rd brake light in. Eventually may get one of the LED lights but for now, it works. I didn't want to tint it, and lose the brightness that it provides, so at least it still lights up where the letters are, when I brake.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...55968f312c.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4f90bd69cc.jpg

A friend came over yesterday to do a brief tune on the 8 (Lowered fan temp for engagement/increased oil injection by 10%, etc) as well as running a compression test check up. While I have zero concerns over this engine's current health (6kish miles on it's rebuild done by Rotary Resurrection and perfect performance in the real world).. he had a tester and I was curious :)


Top photo- front rotor : 107 * 104 * 105
Normalized calculating sea level/250 RPM crank speed:
103.4 * 100.5 * 101.4
(7.4 * 7.3 * 7.3 )
Bottom photo- rear rotor : 102 * 106 * 102
Normalized calculating sea level/250 RPM crank speed:
98.5 * 102.4 * 98.5
(7.1 * 7.4 * 7.1)

These are improved over the readings I was given when I purchased the car. A variation of 5.9-6.3 per rotor face (other photo attached) which was within 2k miles after rebuild. Now, after 6k miles the engine components had a bit more time to "set". These numbers are excellent considering it is a rebuild that utilized it's used housings.

I had been curious to see if the numbers had improved over a longer period of time, or if they were still around the same level. Many people told me to avoid this car like the plague when I was given the original numbers and was contemplating buying it (The only people that didn't were 2 different rotary builders who explained compression numbers/rebuilds to me).. so it really must be reminded this was a rebuild that utilized "B" graded housings. Those numbers need to be considered differently.. Real world behavior is most important.. so with that said, it clearly takes longer than 2k miles for a rebuild to build optimum compression as the seals seat, etc.

Glad to have a solid baseline now that it is in my ownership. This baby is going to be around for a long time.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...8efda5ffaf.jpg

Yesterdays readings (Again top is front rotor, bottom is rear rotor).

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...755fd2e90f.jpg

The only numbers I had given to me prior to purchase, from the PO. He said the other rotor had basically the same readings.

Also a few pics from the other day as well. Went back to the same spot that I've posted pictures from before, and just did a few more updated pictures now that the damage has been repaired, etc.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3b19405e23.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...76775aa44f.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...dec34cd96c.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...fd0dbb4696.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ea62ca0537.jpg


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e51cdea351.jpg

The car is looking as great as ever!! Glad to hear your engine is very healthy! That beauty should give you many years of amazing service!

Thank you so much! I am really happy how everything is coming together. I absolutely love this car, haha! I got the major changes done that I had planned to do initially, now I have a few things coming up that were more "unexpected" that I want to take care of next. I was told my ignition was all new when I bought it, and while the plugs looked fine they did look older than a few thousand miles. While it all performs as it should, I am probably going to replace it all so I KNOW exactly where it stands in terms of maintenance records, etc. I am looking into the upgraded coils/wires.

I have the BHR ignition coil kit and MSD spark plug wires on my 8 and they perform flawlessly. I'm a fan. I have the stock setup on a spare engine I have so I can use those if the BHR set were to fail. So far so good though!

I would replace the plugs with new NGK units asap. Consider it preventative maintenance and proper upkeep. The plugs will run you around $20 per plug.

Yeah I am looking at various options. I will do all 3 components at the same time.

wow haven't followed this in a bit, been really busy since i got my 8 back etc. This was a really productive summer for you!! All i can say is, I'm jealous of your BB! Looks really really good, and your doing a great job fixing all the negatives! Can't wait for more!! Question, do you have a AP yet??

Thank you so much! I've been following your thread as well :)

I purchased this car with the intention of fixing it up. I really enjoy watching progress unfold.. honestly whether it is my own or following others builds, lol.

No, I don't have AP. I use my ultraguage to monitor various parameters, and then when a local friend of mine did the tune on it, I believe he used Mazda Edit.

Just read through your thread. Congrats on the beauty! Glad to see another owner restoring the 8. Great job. I'm late,but welcome to the club!

Chris

Grabbed this off a friend recently. This was only a test fit, and is purely for road trips (I have a 9+ hour drive coming up soon as we are moving out of state for my husbands work temporarily)... so this will only be installed after wash/wax and removed after reaching destination. Took a few pics after test fitting it tho.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...80fb72ee6e.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...372884e918.jpg

Looking forward to it. Same with me i love watching builds unfold and love restoration projects. All i can say is... Dont look under your car :( these cars are soooo poorly preped on their underside, so much rust everywhere and makes me wanna take it apart and blast it and properly seal it and protect it. The reason i asked about the AP is because it would be beneficial to turn on fans sooner, increase MOP rates etc, for better engine saftey! Overall i love it, can't wait to see more!! Also im
Not a fan of the bra on the car, i feel as it could do more damage than not having one. Make sure you wash and seal it well :). Let us know how it does on the long drive!!

Thank you!! Appreciate the kind words :)

Car is looking excellent, congrats Jazer. :cool:

I had all that done when my friend tuned it :) Omp is set at 10% increase, fans are kicking on sooner, rev limits set based on engine temp, more gradual/less forgiving than stock in case of valet or something, etc... If I need him to make any additional changes he includes a few "updates" with each purchased tune, free of charge (so when I go catless again permanently, and need the code deleted, etc).

The bra is purely to help against additional rock chips on road trips. I would never leave it on there. Also it's sort of a test as well. My front bumper/lip is pretty beat (once you're looking up close) while it's "passable" and what you might expect for a front bumper on a 12+ year old car.. it does need to be addressed (IMO) at some point. Also the bra is a very nice tight fit, so it's not going to be blowing/moving around AT ALL on there and causing scratches. It wont be on there long enough to collect debris either. If I do find it causes any rub damage, I will know and certainly not use it after I do have the front bumper/lip repainted. It's sort of a test, and it was very cheap from a friend. I figure if I wash it good & put a nice wax on there, it will be perfect for when I have to travel between AL/NC which will happen a few times.

As for the undercarriage, with you being from New England, I totally get that (im from NH initially). My 8 is perfectly fine underneath, no rust. It's only been registered in NC/SC/VA.. so never seen any northern weather.. also only 86k miles on it as well. My Subaru (the family/DD car) is also from NH, and I have dealt with some nightmarish maintenance due to rust on various components underneath. SOOO glad my 8 is free of that. That's another reason we sold our Evo (my husband bought it in NY) he was sick of jobs being harder than they should be purely due to rust.

Why thank you! Nice name btw, Im a huge Star Wars nerd :D: Tho I'm partial to Boba Fett hehe

Mine looks like a nightmare, but i look forward to fixing her up. Maybe when i get a job and move south( i plan on moving somewhere south but depends on where i land a job after graduation) i will either tear down and restore it. OR find a good shell and restore that. Not sure yet, first i have to enjoy her :D

What kind of wax/sealant do you use?

I think I have Meguires out there now?? I forget, I do need to get some new stuff as it's like out. I wax my cars a lot so I go through it pretty fast, lol.

Try looking into collinite :) its a marine wax, i use collinite 885 and its unbelievable!

you should really check out Zaino. It's the only polish I've ever used on the 8 and I'm always pleased with the results. :)

I am going to be moving here soon, and it's out of state so I get 1 trip in my car with everything that's currently left in the house, lol. This called for some more space!

My girl has a big rack ;)


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...94d6ad9936.jpg