Hey ssspeedfreak -

I'm interested in a FI system as well, my thoughts were to set up the rest of the car for the power increase from FI before putting the additional stress on the car. What needs to be done generally and what needs to be "shored up" before adding a TC, SC or NI system?

My full warranty is up next November, also do you have to do anything with Mazda to get the 100K engine powertrain warranty or is it a given.

 

Do you have all the oil changes done on your car recorded somewhere? Receipts, documentations, etc? It's only for the engine btw, not the powertrain (which I believe is 60k?).

 

there's a lot of things to consider before going FI... and yeah the 100k is for the engine block only, and I doubt you have to do anything, but I'll double check

 

Lots! I would say start with small things first cat back, ignition, oil pan.... don't do an intake as if you go turbo you won't need it. Those are small upgrades that you will enjoy even if you don't go FI but you really need to decide which FI you want. Its very different taking a NA car and making it FI so do your research. Read a lot here and pass all the BS and ask the makers of the kits questions. Stop by the shops, rotorheads always love to answer questions as we all could learn things. When you do that you will feel that you've made the right choice.

 

Good advice above.

My advice for cars and other things: overengineer EVERYTHING. Research and find a system and components that are good for X amount of power/torque/heat/flow/cooling/etc and then aim for somewhat below those levels.
Confidence is key...

 

what ever kit you choose ... just remember tuning is the most important part

 

So back to me, what do I need/where do I get the materials for a diy transmission and coolant flush?

 

ratchet set ... 4 jack stands and a level ... the can has to be exactly level to do it right
some redline fluids

 

Jackstands and jack

You need BOTH a 23mm and 24mm sockets, which are unusually large and probably not in your standard set. Order them online for ~$4 each or pay a billion dollars at a local store. Or I can leave them in my mailbox and you can borrow them.

Breaker bar just in case the nuts are on there good but is probably not necessary. A 3" extension is helpful as well, I think I remember, due to the diff placement and an annoying crossbeam.

fluids: My tranny got 50/50 mix of redline MTL and redline MT-90 Differential gets Redline 75W90 gear oil. (NOT 75W90NS, to to be clear) you can find these all on their website.

Also- you need an OIL/FLUIDS PUMP with plastic tubing. They are about $10 at any auto parts store. I'll be honest the first time I did this it didn't occur to me that it just MIGHT be difficult to get oil from a bottle into a vertical opening in a confined space where you dont even have room to tip the bottle sideways.


Jarred - aren't you lucky you have us?

 

Ive seen some tranny coolers recently ... been thinking about it .. my tranny gets way too hot!

 

You guys are the best. Ill order everything asap and the next time you guys meet up and do work I'd like to join if that's cool. I need to get my fumoto valve on too so I was thinking about doing it all at my next oil change. Let me know.

 

So yeah... we need an install meet to clean my (others) SSV valves! I figure the first car would take 2 hours... the other cars much faster!

 

Hey Andrew, do I need anything else for the coolant flush, or was that covered by the redline? I haven't had a chance to go online and order anything yet. I use my berry to post here.

 

LOL NOO!!!!!! don't put tranny oil in your radiator!!!!

at least in new york, coolant = 50/50 mix of water and antifreeze. You can buy it premixed like that in auto parts stores, it's cheap.


Jarred - do you have a garage at home? I'm looking for a place to do a little work on my car this weekend and it's cold out. If you (or anyone else) has a warm garage we could work in, I'd be very willing to help out with other stuff for the afternoon, bring tools over etc....
I need to change ignition coils and spark plugs, and replace my front sway bar bushings.

 

Wait hold on a sec..... Jim you have a garage right?
Can I work in there for an hour or two? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Edit: honestly, my sway bar brackets cracked and my car is making horrible horrible noises when I make left turns. It needs to get fixed this weekend....

 

the new sway bars? dam ... i don't have a garage but some one else offered one!

 

No? Jarred you holdin out on me? :-)

Not new sway bars...same bars. The bracket cracked clean off. So not only is it non-functional, the drivers side the bar just keep clanging into the chassis, and i'm sure the right side will go anytime due to the additional weird strain.

(I guess this wasn't 'entirely' unexpected with the really thick bars and stiff endlink settings....) O well. Good way to learn about one's suspension?

 

wow ... scary!

 

What sway bars are you running, andrew? Progress tech?

 

(I'll probably just head back to my parent's house / garage to work on the car. Bit of a trip but it's warm and I know it's available.

Yeah progress tech bars. Their supplied brackets held up about a year, but that was with the bars on quite stiff, on some realllllly shitty roads, and stiffer-than-stock springs and shocks. I'm still surprised it broke, but not THAt surprised. I have Energy Suspension brackets/bushings as replacements, we'll see how those work....
Also- now running with AWR endlinks in front, oem in rear, after having loooooots of endlink issues.

 

Yeah, I saw a lot of people complain about the Progress Tech bushing brackets snapping off. The ES ones need to be properly centered. I really want to take a look at the Progress Tech brackets vs ES ones.

 

My parents have a garage, but I don't live with them. I'm also in Orlando until Friday on business.

I have the 50/50 premix already. I bought it a while ago just in case.

 

Well I can give you a pretty good description. They both have to be centered properly, as they both use a slot instead of a round hole. They both look about the same as far as thickness and strength, but the ES ones are a bronzy-looking metal while the PT ones are a dull gray. I have no idea which is stronger.

If anything, I think it's just due to the fact that the PT bars are seriously WAY heavier/thicker/stiffer than the OEM, combined with the fact that I drive it every day over really shitty roads with lots of ruts and potholes, which causes a lot of very nasty forces on these things.

 

You just described about 75% of the roads on LI during/after the winter... oye, no wonder they broke! Good luck with the new ones!

On an off note - anyone know who's got the yellow 8 with the black hood and wing? Saw whoever it was driving on 112 the other day when I went to get my rotors cut (ouchy quick fix for now).

 

Sorry for the late reply - I don't have a service record for the car but I had a Dealership run it and nothing came up, it had 13K on it when I got home, not bad for an '07

I'm just setting up to do service on it in my garage. I got a heater, decent Jack and 2 Stands, I have a decent tool collection but I'm mostly set up for electrical work.

The Plan is to Run a 40 or 60 amp 220V service to the garage this Spring to power just about anything.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCurves View Post
Hey ssspeedfreak -

I'm interested in a FI system as well, my thoughts were to set up the rest of the car for the power increase from FI before putting the additional stress on the car. What needs to be done generally and what needs to be "shored up" before adding a TC, SC or NI system?

My full warranty is up next November, also do you have to do anything with Mazda to get the 100K engine powertrain warranty or is it a given.
Do you have all the oil changes done on your car recorded somewhere? Receipts, documentations, etc? It's only for the engine btw, not the powertrain (which I believe is 60k?).