Well, First thing I wanna say is this is NOT a 100% direct swap, but it's not bad.

What's the point of this ?
- S2 bracket is newer (duh), it's "pre-gap" at the center of the plate to improve cooling (at least I think so). The center of the coils is known for the "white burn spot/mark" and a lot of people thought that means the coils is not good. It's white because that's the hottest part of the coil and rubber is not that great at handling heat. NEWEST version of the coil comes with "clear" filling rubber to prevent that "white spot" problem. Yep, I seen the NEWEST coil and it has clear filling, you can see the stuff inside

Why not 100% direct swap?

- The top mounting location is the problem, the hole is there but due to the way they changed the Front cover, the hole sits much further up. so YOU HAVE TO BEND the metal till the angle is right ------ Either just hammer the **** out of it, or hold it with a Vice Grip and work slowly. takes some time but it CAN be done.

So do I have to bend the top part to make it fit ?
- I just connect the bottom 2 and call it a day. Why? Sun is going out and I need to hurry. the bottom 2 bolts will hold it just fine. not like the coils weight a ton anyway, but next time when I take it back out to replace the coils, I might take the bracket back out to make it "perfect"

Couple things you wanna pay attention to
- use Anti-seize on the 3 screws/bolts b4 reinstall, or replace it with new ones + anti-seize, cuz as our car ages these could be on the edge of breaking. so it's probably a good idea to just replace all 3+ anti-seize. if yours broke during removal ... good luck trying to back it out with engine in car.

- careful when removing the engine harness to coils connector. after years of heat soaking the plastic becomes really brittle.

Some pics.

I think I forgot to take a side by side pic of just the brackets, grr it's getting dark and I wanna get this done ASAP ...

As you can see, the "top" part of the bracket between S2 and S1. so to make it fit, you have to bend the top part of the S2 to the right "angle", u gotta flatten parts of it and stuff.



After installed

 

Did you get it directly from Mazda?

And I can confirm the clear filling. I just replaced my coils and they were the new "style" with the clear filling.

 

Yep, got it directly from Mazda like a year ago (yeah, took me that long to do it)

 

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to cut a slit into the s1 bracket?

 

for me, no :P

Seriously, it's not hard, if u can Change coils you can do this.

 

No doubt

 

Cool. I had one of these and sold it, I think the bead rolled into it is for strength though, not cooling. You could also drill holes in it for cooling but honestly that area gets so heat soaked that I doubt it would matter.

 

I don't think it's for strength, not like the original bracket has any problem with "strength" in the first place.

Either way, it's good to have something new.

 

Was this on rx8demons car? Lol I remember from the meet his coil bracket broke from being rusted.

 

well no, I did this to my car. and I'm going to give rx8demon my S1 bracket. His coils were removed before and installed with a rubber pad thing on the bracket for unknown reasons, he just bought the car so he has no idea why.

Only thing I'm concern right now, is if the 3 bolts holding the bracket down would break on rx8demon's car. if it does, it's gonna be PITA to back it out ... cuz its the smaller type of screws.

like I told him earlier, I have no idea what his car has been thru, it was still using original coils from 2004, not sure about plugs will find out tomorrow, the engine bay looks like it was soak in road salt for a while cuz 1/2 the stuff was rust to **** and the other 1/2 you can see it's "going" to rust (with all the white spot)

Swap the coils the other day and his car starts right away (instead of waiting 3-4 seconds like he used to).

might be a good idea for him to water his engine bay a bit. or he should get a wet towel and wipe everything in there. I'll see him tomorrow morning to fix his stuff so I'm gonna tell him that.

 

silly rabbits, Trix are for kids .... put a washer or two on each stud before installing the coils, which will lift them up off the bracket and provides a complete air blanket underneath

not that any of this matters anyway

 

^ I got the bhr kit anyway. It came with little spacers for the coils, even though I think it was more for clearing the wiring harness than cooling.

It just seems you would get more air flow cutting the s1 than using the s2 bracket.

And why you always hating on me for being cheap? I bought the damn AP!

 

CHEAPASS!

I don't think cooling matters much ... cuz the location is really ... blah. Mazda never learn their lessons. but ... but but ... maybe they did, if u know where the coils are located on the FD ... you will thank Mazda for "relocating" it to the current spot ... LOL

 

No, but I will look that up now.

I can't understand why they would put them anywhere other than where they were on the Fc's...

 

well, fc's engine bay is not as tight as fd/fe.

and fc's coil is so big it might be a problem if they try to mount it on the engine.

 

Yeah I understand that about it being crowded, but it still seems very stupid especially if I saw correct on the FD and the coils are under the UIM... That's just beyond special..

I still think they could have moved the abs module forward or back some and put the coils on the fender wall away from that rotary heat.

By the way I had a awesome time reminiscing at my old post from when I was 17-18 years old on rx7club looking for that pic, man I swore a lot. And then when I saw my sig I nearly cried I sold that car.. Mostly because I know exactly where it is, sitting under a tree rotting.

 

under a tree rotting?who the hell u sold ur car to

Mazda, i don't know, but hey we can call Mazda stupid all we want cuz there always some people who just gonna come out and be like hey Mazda knows best we know nothing!

 

Well, it not as simple as one would think.

I sold the car to my best friend, I was in money trouble and had two cars (86 Rx-7, 94 Eclipse) I had to chose the eclipse, it got 38mpg and I was driving about 120miles a day with school and work. My friend was driving his grandfather's car one night and a Drunk driver killed him. My friends dad will not let the car go, and I will not ask for it back. It's a very shitty situation...


-Edit- Here is my last baby

 

that sucks, well nothing you can do about it

 

My BHR coils are showing white/burn marks around where the coil is bracketed up... It does get heat soaked in the coil area. Im curious if the heat is frying up my BHR coils just like OEM coils... Ill try to post some pics but my BHR coils only have like 15K miles max... Ill test them soon to make sure they are still working properly...

 

if ya look at the BHR coils they have a heat sink on the back... Hmmm I wonder what they are for????

 

Yep, ya know sweet FA..

Nice DIY BTW J, and I am with you the ridge is definitely for cooling, or rather say 'cooling' as we know it but to keep that area of the coil with FREE AIR under it rather than touching BOILING hot metal like S1.....or a few washers will do.

N3R1-18-105 Bracket, S2 Coils