Thanks to Billy from Import Image and Paul from Mazmart for getting me parts pretty much the same day. I'll be getting the following installed by Jax .. This is still a work in progress since we ran into a few minor hiccups.

Issue 1: Blown shocks
Resolution: Replace everything
- D2 Coilovers
- Hotchkis swaybars with bushings
- Whiteline rear differential bushings
- Greddy front and rear strut bars
- Megan Racing ... everything but the coilovers ..
- Motor mounts
- Lower rear control arms
- Trailing arms
- Rear lateral arms
- Energy suspension bushings**

Issue 2: Overheating
Resolution: Fix it
- Mishimoto Radiator
- Mishimoto Fan Shroud Kit
- Mishimoto silicone hoses
- REmedy Water Pump (Mazmart)
- Thermostat

Issue 3: Oil leaking
- Greddy Oil Pan kit ***

Issue 4: Crankshaft sensor ..
- OEM crankshaft sensor from Tyson's Corner Nissan/Mazda

Other Stuff:
- K&N Intake
- AP Pulley's & belts ****

** These bushings SUCK; they force you to re-use the stock metal sleeves. Read the other threads, once you remove your bushings you might as well melt them away. Anyone looking at bushings should get the Drop Engineering bushings. If I worked with Paul he would've let me know that from the beginning.
*** Took forever to receive; shipping is coming from Japan apparently and sits in a warehouse in California until the shop you purchased it from asks them to send it out.
**** Most useless modification; don't waste your money

 

Forgot what else I got as a feature when I bought this thing ..

Issue 5: Cracked and rusted rotors with brakes down to the shims
- Stoptech Front and Rear slotted rotors
- Hawk HPS brake pads

 

wow

 

Yeah, should've just bought your car bro ..

 

well by fixing it , its only gets better ........ good luck with it and have fun . post more pics!!!!!!

 

Here's some updates .. new REmedy thermostat, bushings in place, REmedy water pump.

 

Rotors ... Megan Racing suspension .. REmedy water pump ..

 

whiteline bushings .. more Megan Racing suspension and D2 coilovers ..

 

Megan Racing with D2 installed .. high-level overview of the entire setup and Brent who's doing the install ..

 

wow it only gets better

 

wow, awsome

 

Damn...your really hooking it up. Keep us updated.

 

That bushing install sucks for sure... Once I got it all figured out it didn't take me long to complete it, I don't know if there is any performance benefit because I installed my coilovers at the same time.

Just as a side note D2 coilovers are about the worst product you can put on your car. You should sell what you can and put the money towards a proper coilover setup.

Also the mishimoto fans do not flow enough air, they flow about half the air needed. Check out 9krpm's thread for a proper fan setup with the mishimoto radiator.

 

9krpm runs FAL now since the Mishimoto fans stopped after a year. From the search at least.

Yeah, the D2 sucks hard. You have to drop the suspension to adjust it. I'm only lowering the car about 1" all around so I don't have to do that ever again. But from the other reviews it looks like they generally last a long time, which is all I need for the price. If I had my Evo X GSR I would get something better. This isn't a Ferrari, it's a nice handling sporty car.

Don't need to spend a lot on it, for rims I'm going to wheeldude.com.

 

Yeap he runs fal now but he should have been doing that form the get go. the CFM's are half of what the stock fans flow. meaning the mishi fans on highspped at 100% pull the same amount of air as one fan on the stock shroud.

I would just install the new ones now while you have everything out.

But thats me....

 

Jax also recommended FAL, but Mishimoto has been pretty good at responding to me from their YouTube channel. If anything goes wrong they said I have them to fall back on .. *sigh* And they're cheaper than FAL. I was surprised since FAL fans look so generic.

 

Its not them going wrong its just the simple fact that they don't flow enough air.

 

D2 suck period. It's not about dropping the car... it's about valving quality, construction and handling in general.
Each shock comes different from the factory, adjustment "clicks" do something different in a non-linear way each time you fiddle with them. The springs are about as crappy as it gets and definitely not adequate for the hydraulics.
The oil inside them is more like **** than a good shock oil.
Oh of course I had the shocks dynoed after noticing that, and dynoed again after blowing them.


This means that the car handles worse than stock and that the shocks don't last that long (4 track hrs in my case, and I nearly killed myself because of them, **** d2).
A set of koni yellows and good springs is a much wiser choice.

 

Here are some more updates; Mishimoto stuff in place, water pump installed, suspension put back in place ..

 

Spoke with Joe again from Jersey Shore, aka JM auto and was told he's used D2 on his rx8 for a long time now. And the roads in Jersey suck. Here's to wishing he's right about the D2.

 

More updates. Almost done ..

 

Jax glass marble beaded the arms; they look white as a pure enamel bone. He's really done above and beyond what any regular shop would do for their customers. And he works with everyone on their car until it's done. I've been to shops where they just cycle your car and start working on it so they can start working on other cars ..

 

Nice!!