Chef's 1992 929 project

[Chefsp0t]

I bought a 1992 Mazda 929 a while back and I figured it's about time to give the "Big Booty Ho", as I affectionately call her, her own build page.

Day 1. God damn those were some horrible wheels. I paid too much money (1500) for the 929 but I wanted her so badly I didn't really care. She had headlight issues, 1 power window worked, the sunroof didn't work, she had vacuum leaks out the ass, and she ran a little rough but she was my baby and I was going to fix her up or go poor trying.













Well pretty much the first thing I did was swap wheels and tires over that are still safe to be driven on. Put her on my BIM Zeit wheels. 17x8.5 +35 with 225/45/17 Continental DWS tires on them.







Then of course I decided she was sitting too high in the air. So I took the suspension apart and cut a little bit of the springs off. I know it's not the best or safest way to go but the whole suspension is shot anyway so it couldn't possibly ride worse. The rear isn't quite where I want it but it's fine for now.













Started running into vacuum leaks that were making the car impossible to drive so she sat like this for a while.



Pulled her out for a test fit of my 18x10 AME Circlar Spec R wheels. They'd look killer if she was lower.





Got the vacuum leaks fixed and drove her a few days to work and back.







Also did a little maintenance in the engine bay. Spark plugs were all old and one plug wire had the plastic boot stuck in the well. Somebody tried to remove it before and didn't know how so that plug was just left in the last time someone changed her plugs. I would say the valve cover gaskets leak a little too. The plugs were covered in more oil than I have seen but not fouled out so I am ignoring it for now. Also changed the plug wires, distributor cap and rotor, and made some modifications to the intake setup.

 

[Chefsp0t]

Then THIS happened! RWD has its benefits!























And she has been slumbering in the garage since the snow got too deep to get her in and out of my driveway. She'll be back out again soon!

 

[Chefsp0t]

Found a few pictures from when we were doing the suspension. I was excited about cutting the springs. Might have also had a half dozen coronas that evening.



My brother helped too. In a really creepy way.



And THIS MOTHERFUCKER was the reason for all the vacuum leak problems. It's an aluminum bracket that bolts to the throttle body but the piece that connects to is is plastic and it rotted out long ago. The previous owner tried to duct tape it and use some rubber sealant to get it to stop leaking. I basically did the same thing but with jbweld, silicone, and electrical tape.

 

[Chefsp0t]

Sitting next to her garage mate. My 1994 mazda mx6. Building a nice race style car from her. .63 trim turbo and all the goodies. Stripping the interior and caging her and maybe I will get her on a track or two eventually.

Next to my 09 mazda3 hatchback. It's got it's own thing going on too.

Picked up some clear lens headlights to do a retrofit project with.

Blew out a tire and had to put one of snow wheels on the back. Kosei k1 in 16x7. They are very lightweight and will go on the mx6 eventually.

 

[Chefsp0t]

And she finally got her own set of wheels. 19x10 +45 Bremmer Kraft BR08 with 235/35/19 Federal 595 tires on them. Nothing top of the line but I paid 89 each for the wheels so I couldn't turn them down.

 

[Chefsp0t]

I forgot an under hood shot.

 

[Chefsp0t]

Also this will go on soon. Picked up a urethane FD Rx7 R1 style lip for pretty cheap and the dimensions are damn near perfect for the 929's front bumper.

 

[Chefsp0t]

 

[6FeetDeep]

And she finally got her own set of wheels. 19x10 +45 Bremmer Kraft BR08 with 235/35/19 Federal 595 tires on them. Nothing top of the line but I paid 89 each for the wheels so I couldn't turn them down.

Nice wheels. Where did you get them from?

 

[Chefsp0t]

Closeout on tirerack for 89 a piece. They might still have some. Had to get creative with what car they were for since tirerack doesn't let you put in what specs you are looking for.

 

[ND28]

I can honestly say, this car gives me butterflies.
Those 19s fill the wheel arch very well, esthetically pleasing too.

Chef, so what's your take on owning a 929, pros & cons ?

-Andy

 

[Chefsp0t]

I absolutely love the way the car looks and sounds. And by sounds I mean because it has more leaks in the exhaust than pipe so it has a deep growl. I do plan on doing some kind of straight pipe exhaust on it as soon as funds allow. Thinking about some sort of blast pipe setup on 2.5" pipe just to be obnoxious.

In all seriousness though there are some major drawbacks to owning a 929. Most of them are parts availability related.

For example the front window regulators and motors are stupid cheap and easy to find but NOBODY sells the rear regulators (cables and track that move the window) so I had to get creative and fix them myself. They are not designed very well and there are little plastic guides that the cable runs in. Long story short the guides pop out of the metal they are clipped into and the wires get twisted around the motor. I took them apart and used bicycle derailleur cable to replace the original cable. Then drilled a few extra holes and zip tied the plastic guides in place very securely. They've been working without issue since I fixed them.

Another drawback is locating suspension components. The front control arms and the upper support arms are cheap and readily available but there is noplace to buy new struts. Simply put, nobody makes them. You have to go to mazda for replacements and god knows what they want for them. I am going to get around this by modifying a set of rx7 lower strut mounts from a set of coilovers and then build my own coilovers from there. There are also some suspension components that are VERY expensive to replace. I'll figure something out when I get to that point. The suspension is pretty complex and unique to the 929 so there are not that many parts around.

Positive things would be my favorite feature which is frameless windows in all 4 doors. It also gets pretty decent mpg. I got about 20mpg out of my last tank with a good amount of highway driving to work and back. That's smack in the middle of what edmunds.com says for fuel economy and the motor has 140k miles on it now. Working on the moror is as easy as working on any other late 80s to mid 90s mazda. The 3.0 v6 reminds me a lot of a kl v6 from an mx6 or 626 with the intake manifold designed similarly to the upper and lower one that the rx7 uses.

Overall I am very happy with the car but it is mostly because it is unique and I happen to be good at fixing things. If you want something reliable that will run well and not give you any hassle I would probably stay away from a 929.

 

[Wopath]

Those rims look suspiciously familiar......:

Where did you buy that 929?

 

[Chefsp0t]

They do look familiar! I got her around the horsham, PA area.

 

[Chefsp0t]

Finally starting to put together the coilovers for my 929. Nobody makes kits for them so I have been getting creative. I bought FD rx7 front and rear strut bottom mounts and strut inserts that are 50mm (2in.) longer than the ones they send with the FD rx7 kit. From what people have said about the FD suspension on a 929 all I need to do is swap the front and rear strut mounts and drill out the front mount holes slightly to fit the 929 bolt through that holds it on the control arm. I put the front parts on the other day with a spare pair of 150mm 8k rate springs I had from my mazda3 suspension upgrades. It rides awesome and everything went together relatively easily. I modified the factory strut tops to work with coilover springs and by modified I mean I cut relief cuts in the and hammered them into a shape that fits a smaller spring. I will get pictures when I have them off again. I will be purchasing some longer, stiffer springs for them very soon and working on getting the rear end on some remporary coilovers with a spare pair of 180mm 7k rate springs from my mazda3. Also I do not have the car at this current height. I just wanted to see what the max drop would be. I'd say it will go to the ground. All the camber is natural from the drop. I'd estimate over 5 degrees since it BURIED my 19x10 +40 wheels in the fender arch.

 

[Rhyno]

Sweet car dude. I had one as a beater until last winter when I sold it to a friend in desperate need of a car. They recently sold it to another friend who was not up for the challenge of this car. I found out just yesterday that she had it scrapped which is what brought me to this sub forum.

 

[Chefsp0t]

Thanks man. The 929 is certainly not a common or problem free car but I like to think it makes up for it with good looks and the fact that nobody knows what they are.

 

[Chefsp0t]

Got the 929 on modified fd rx7 coilovers finally. She's pretty dumped. I have to have a buddy modify the top of my front strut towers because one of the links is hitting on every little bump in the road.

 

[delsp5]

so sweet!! made me search for a 929 locally but no luck :'(

 

[Chefsp0t]

Thanks! They come up for sale occasionally and when this one did I couldn't turn it down. I have added a few new things recently but mostly just interior pieces that I found and were in better shape than what I had.

I did put this on though.