A Kiwis Series 3

[ian65]

looking good with that glass roof
I might have to invest in some door seals while they are still available, rubber trim items usually seem to be among the first things to go offline at main dealers as the years pass.
What's the plan with the ignition then?

[myatt1972]

Looking good Jesse but I have a question.................Moved house, new welder and rock auto order ! Have you found your 33million lottery ticket ?

[biznatch]

Looks like you'll be making some great progress over the next few weeks bro. I'm keen to see the ignition mods, are those FC coils i see?

[Hobbawobba]

Looking good Jesse but I have a question.................Moved house, new welder and rock auto order ! Have you found your 33million lottery ticket ?

I bloody wish! I had an urge to buy a few tickets then also. Completely forgot until it was announced hahah.

Thanks guys. Can't wait to get it apart aye!

What's the plan with the ignition then?

I'm keen to see the ignition mods, are those FC coils i see?

They are FC coils. I don't have any plans on using them at the moment though. They were about to go in the tip but I was lucky enough to grab them beforehand! I believe some people upgrade to FC coils so they may come handy in the future for whatever reasons. Also long term future I'd like to Megasquirt the car which explains the CAS

Here is a thread i quickly googled about 2nd gen coils into a 1st gen. I haven't actually read it yet though
http://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-s ... es-243350/

[KiwiDave]

Changing track rods is a fairly straightforward thing to do. Bang the old ones out with a hammer, try to get the new ones looking similar length, put new ones on with the supplied hardware. Got an alignment done a few days later with that flashy Hunter system.

I was gonna get my local tire dude to change mine ... think I'll do it myself now, thanks to your tutorial there. Is it all the weight off the front first and then just whack them off? I've got the same as you, inners and outers plus the joiner thingy bit. I've got lower balljoints as well although I have no idea where they go - somewhere lower as opposed to upper I guess

Loving your work

[DB RX63]

Make sure you put plenty of copperslip on the threads, stops em seizing later...

[ian65]

lower balljoints take some pressing in and out..... you'll need a big big press for them.

[KiwiDave]

lower balljoints take some pressing in and out..... you'll need a big big press for them.

Ahh I see now. Balljoint in the lower control arm. Helluva big press

[Hobbawobba]

think I'll do it myself now, thanks to your tutorial there. Is it all the weight off the front first and then just whack them off? I've got the same as you, inners and outers plus the joiner thingy bit. I've got lower balljoints as well although I have no idea where they go - somewhere lower as opposed to upper I guess

Loving your work

Thanks Dave! Not sure I'd call that much of a tutorial though! . I just jacked the front and and put axle stands under, got the cotter pins out and took the nuts off, threaded the nuts back on a couple of turns, whacked them out with a hammer! Easy as to do aye. Just try to measure the new ones to match the old then alignment asap! Haha

I was going to get balljoints also but they weren't needed at the time. I won't be taking the front end apart for a while anyway. I think I've heard to tack weld them after pressing as they can fall out?

Make sure you put plenty of copperslip on the threads, stops em seizing later...

Whoops! . Oh well the 30 year old nuts came off fairly easy! Haha.

Just realised I never posted up about my upgraded windscreen wipers I'll try write somethin

[ian65]

I was going to get balljoints also but they weren't needed at the time. I won't be taking the front end apart for a while anyway. I think I've heard to tack weld them after pressing as they can fall out?

Mazda only sell the complete control arms with the balljoints ready fitted...... the balljoints for sale on ebay, Rockauto etc are aftermarket and are an interference fit.... ie, they just press into place......BUT, these things are coming from various sources all over the world and tolerances / quality can vary quite a bit so some may not be quite as tight a fit as others hence the advice to tack weld them to the control arms.... not ideal as they are greased and sealed for life and heat off the welding torch could damage them but I suppose that's preferable to a balljoint popping out of the control arm when cornering at speed.
When I did mine, I took them to a local engineering shop and the guy had the biggest manual press I'd ever seen, it was a monster.... people from all over the midlands used to go there to get things pressed in and out that smaller presses wouldn't touch and even so, I couldn't believe the amount of pressure needed to press the old ones out and the new ones in....... mine didn't need welding but that was just down to luck.
Another issue is that the end of the control arm and the hole where the balljoint sits is very thin and it's easy to bend and twist it if the balljoint isn't pressed out in a straight line and the new one pressed in likewise.
Unless you can feel play in the balljoints I personally wouldn't bother changing them...... poly bushes and new steering joints will transform the car and put it back to how it should be.