roy obanion
Member
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- 02 p5, 95 miata
Paint them flat black please! ...or maybe even a grey 
Lewis7789 2002 Protege5 build thread (tons of pics)
- Thread starter Lewis7789
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Ryan, I painted my stockers flat black a while ago, I just didn't like the way they looked on my car. Some cars can pull it off really well. They just look dirty on mine. I know gloss black is sorta "played out" but i think it will match the car well, especially with the CF hood.
In other news, my friend Pablo and I installed my StopTech front and rear SS brake lines, replaced the front rotors with Brembo OEM's and flushed the brake fluid with Wilwood racing fluid. My arms are still freaking sore... heh-heh.
We couldn't get the front rotors off. I pounded on them with a BFH from the inside and sprayed PB blaster all over them. It took forever of rotating a little and hitting them with the hammer for the passenger side to finally come loose. Then on the drivers side I got the bright idea to just whack the front face of the rotor with the hammer to break them loose. I took about 7 whacks and Pablo 2 whacks, and the top hat cracked and the rotor came right off. Haha! Good thing I had replacements. But I usually take care when removing things juuuuust in case a parts supplier gave me the wrong part and I have to put it back together.
The brake lines were pretty straight forward in the front. There is a small 10mm nut for brake hardline that you'll need to remove. I strongly suggest buying a flare nut wrench for this job. Pablo and I ran out to Sears to buy one, they didn't have any 10mm but I still ended up buying $40 in wrenches, they were having a sale... But Autozone had the wrench for $7. Doh! This is a pic of the wrench.
3/4 of the nuts came off with some PB Blaster and the flare nut wrench. The other one I had to use Visegrips on.
I replaced my drivers side rear caliper since the bleeder valve was bent. I tried to bleed it last fall and it wouldn't budge. And the piston adjustment allen wrench was stripped so I just bought a replacement caliper. I installed all 4 Speedbleeders on the calipers and they work great.
The rear SS brakelines however are a bit baffling. They don't have any clips or mounting points. I bought them from a forum member and double checked the part numbers (as I always do before installing anything) with StopTech and it's the right part number on thier site. Everything bolted up just fine, but there wasn't a way to mount the retaining clip to the chasis. So the passenger side is rattling. I have to email StopTech and find out what the deal is with them. Other than that issue, they mounted up fine without any problems. I was expecting a night/day difference like a lot of people say when using SS lines. Nope. I barely notice a difference. I'm sure on track I will though, but on the drive home from the shop last night I didn't really notice much. The pedal doesn't travel as far and they are a bit firmer, but it's not a crazy difference a lot of people report.
Here's a pic of the front lines. (I'll snap a pic of the rear line when I go to the shop later today to secure it better. I can't live with that bloody rattle. haha)
And here's what happens when rusted rotors don't want to come off. They get the s*** beaten out of them until they do come off. heh-heh
So I'm going back to the shop later today to temporarily secure the rear brakelines and do some more sanding on the CF hood. Pablo (who has painting experience) said I should sand the whole thing down. I didn't really sand the edges since they looked okay. But he's right. I also picked up some Summit Racing brand clear coat and hardener for the hood. I was hoping to do some work on it yesterday but the brakes took a lot longer than expected, mostly just the front rotors fault. But it's still a bit too cold to spray the clearcoat anyway. I got hardener for 60-70 degrees but it's still about 57 degrees in the shop.
In other news, my friend Pablo and I installed my StopTech front and rear SS brake lines, replaced the front rotors with Brembo OEM's and flushed the brake fluid with Wilwood racing fluid. My arms are still freaking sore... heh-heh.
We couldn't get the front rotors off. I pounded on them with a BFH from the inside and sprayed PB blaster all over them. It took forever of rotating a little and hitting them with the hammer for the passenger side to finally come loose. Then on the drivers side I got the bright idea to just whack the front face of the rotor with the hammer to break them loose. I took about 7 whacks and Pablo 2 whacks, and the top hat cracked and the rotor came right off. Haha! Good thing I had replacements. But I usually take care when removing things juuuuust in case a parts supplier gave me the wrong part and I have to put it back together.
The brake lines were pretty straight forward in the front. There is a small 10mm nut for brake hardline that you'll need to remove. I strongly suggest buying a flare nut wrench for this job. Pablo and I ran out to Sears to buy one, they didn't have any 10mm but I still ended up buying $40 in wrenches, they were having a sale... But Autozone had the wrench for $7. Doh! This is a pic of the wrench.
3/4 of the nuts came off with some PB Blaster and the flare nut wrench. The other one I had to use Visegrips on.
I replaced my drivers side rear caliper since the bleeder valve was bent. I tried to bleed it last fall and it wouldn't budge. And the piston adjustment allen wrench was stripped so I just bought a replacement caliper. I installed all 4 Speedbleeders on the calipers and they work great.
The rear SS brakelines however are a bit baffling. They don't have any clips or mounting points. I bought them from a forum member and double checked the part numbers (as I always do before installing anything) with StopTech and it's the right part number on thier site. Everything bolted up just fine, but there wasn't a way to mount the retaining clip to the chasis. So the passenger side is rattling. I have to email StopTech and find out what the deal is with them. Other than that issue, they mounted up fine without any problems. I was expecting a night/day difference like a lot of people say when using SS lines. Nope. I barely notice a difference. I'm sure on track I will though, but on the drive home from the shop last night I didn't really notice much. The pedal doesn't travel as far and they are a bit firmer, but it's not a crazy difference a lot of people report.
Here's a pic of the front lines. (I'll snap a pic of the rear line when I go to the shop later today to secure it better. I can't live with that bloody rattle. haha)
And here's what happens when rusted rotors don't want to come off. They get the s*** beaten out of them until they do come off. heh-heh
So I'm going back to the shop later today to temporarily secure the rear brakelines and do some more sanding on the CF hood. Pablo (who has painting experience) said I should sand the whole thing down. I didn't really sand the edges since they looked okay. But he's right. I also picked up some Summit Racing brand clear coat and hardener for the hood. I was hoping to do some work on it yesterday but the brakes took a lot longer than expected, mostly just the front rotors fault. But it's still a bit too cold to spray the clearcoat anyway. I got hardener for 60-70 degrees but it's still about 57 degrees in the shop.
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CheeseHelmet
Member
Good work man!
I ran into the same problem with rusty rotors on my mom's volvo, I spent a good hour beating the s*** out of them with various hammers but they wouldn't budge. After temporarily giving up (lunchtime!), I called a mechanic-friend who's first question was "You're hitting the face of the rotor, right?". *facepalm* So I got my BFH and got to work, 4-5 whacks later and they're off ... needless to say I felt pretty dumb.
BTW, harbor freight has a set of flare nut wrenches for $10 iirc. They're not bad for such a low price.
I ran into the same problem with rusty rotors on my mom's volvo, I spent a good hour beating the s*** out of them with various hammers but they wouldn't budge. After temporarily giving up (lunchtime!), I called a mechanic-friend who's first question was "You're hitting the face of the rotor, right?". *facepalm* So I got my BFH and got to work, 4-5 whacks later and they're off ... needless to say I felt pretty dumb.
BTW, harbor freight has a set of flare nut wrenches for $10 iirc. They're not bad for such a low price.
Wow that reminds me of when I did the front rotors on my old Mazda 6. The one rotor was warped so it wouldn't budge. I ended up using a BFH and it worked. The other side was way worse!! For some reason, Mazda decided to put tiny brass screws to hold the rotors in place. (I believe they did this so the rotors didn't come off on the assembly line before the wheels went on?). Well, those screws ended up getting stuck. When I used a phillips screwdriver to take them off, the heads of the screws bent because the brass was soo soft. Ended up using a drill and dremel. Took about 2 hours but damn. Rotors/brakes can be a total b**** sometimes!
That's pretty crazy you had to crack the rotor though!! HAHA
That's pretty crazy you had to crack the rotor though!! HAHA
NocturnalSpeed
Member
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- 2003 Mazdaspeed Protege
Keep up the good work man
Thanks, guys.
Jeff- yeah man, as soon as I saw that for sale on my lunch break I immediatly PayPal'ed Scratch the money for it. I know those things are rare and have a very clean look. I'll put the oil pressure gauge in there and the A/F gauge in the steering colomn pod. Should look pretty clean. My overall goal for my KL is to make it look and function like it's an OEM V6 option.
Jeff- yeah man, as soon as I saw that for sale on my lunch break I immediatly PayPal'ed Scratch the money for it. I know those things are rare and have a very clean look. I'll put the oil pressure gauge in there and the A/F gauge in the steering colomn pod. Should look pretty clean. My overall goal for my KL is to make it look and function like it's an OEM V6 option.
Hmmm... SO my friend kindly dropped off two of my Enkeis at MotoMotion for repair. One has a good sized dent in the lip from a gnarly pothole that actually knocked a fuse block out of it's slot near the shock tower. And the other has a small dent in the lip from me being stoopid and hitting a curb. MotoMotion quoted me $200 per wheel for repair and to powdercoat them "hypersilver" so they will look stock again. Or $140 per wheel for any other colour. The one wheel I defenitely want to repair since they will be my track wheels now, the other wheels dent is very minor and I don't think would be a problem.
So I'm trying to figure if I just get the one repaired at $200 in hypersilver and call it a day. OR get both of them repaired and powder coated red at $140 a wheel x4.
Here's a PS my friend Chipmunk did for me last fall in red;
What do you guys think I should do?
So I'm trying to figure if I just get the one repaired at $200 in hypersilver and call it a day. OR get both of them repaired and powder coated red at $140 a wheel x4.
Here's a PS my friend Chipmunk did for me last fall in red;
What do you guys think I should do?
bullshark524
Member
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- 2000 mazda protege es soon to be 2000 mazda protege klze
the red looks good
I keep forgetting they will be track wheels. I do like the red for track use only! Honestly, $560 for all four repaired and powdercoated doesn't seem half bad...although I still wish they would just fix the bends and then give them back for you to finish them. Anyways, let me know what I'm doing, and like I said, I will talk to them tomorrow about it.
And let me find you another, better quality Photoshopped picture where the Enkei's are red...
track_shopped_red by JRI Photography, on Flickr
And let me find you another, better quality Photoshopped picture where the Enkei's are red...
track_shopped_red by JRI Photography, on Flickr
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roy obanion
Member
- :
- 02 p5, 95 miata
I agree with red for tracking...
Just a thought.
If these are going to be track only wheels, chances are they're going to see a lot more abuse than any other set you have. Personally, I'd try to get the bends fixed and not worry too much about finish. Some of the really expensive wheels I see coming off of the Grand-Am cars have seen much better days...
If these are going to be track only wheels, chances are they're going to see a lot more abuse than any other set you have. Personally, I'd try to get the bends fixed and not worry too much about finish. Some of the really expensive wheels I see coming off of the Grand-Am cars have seen much better days...
roy obanion
Member
- :
- 02 p5, 95 miata
rattle can.
Well I don't think they will fix them without the powder coat finish since that's where their money comes from. But I'm going to go to MotoMotion tomorrow after work and talk to them in person. As of now I'm going to bring my other 2 wheels with me and my track tires and see how much everything will be to have them powder coated red and the track tires mounted/balanced.
And not to start an argument but why would my track wheels see more abuse than my daily driver wheels? My DD's will be on there all day everyday on the streets with potholes, rain, rocks and ricers. But the Enkeis will only be on for 30mins once a month while on a perfectly flat and smooth track. Even when I start doing HPDE I still don't see how they would get beat up. Perhaps the GrandAm cars' wheels are so banged up because they are changing tires so often, transported on racks, on and off the car so much, etc.
And not to start an argument but why would my track wheels see more abuse than my daily driver wheels? My DD's will be on there all day everyday on the streets with potholes, rain, rocks and ricers. But the Enkeis will only be on for 30mins once a month while on a perfectly flat and smooth track. Even when I start doing HPDE I still don't see how they would get beat up. Perhaps the GrandAm cars' wheels are so banged up because they are changing tires so often, transported on racks, on and off the car so much, etc.
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