wallyman

Upper Left Corner
Cooling Overflow - Going with the Canton aluminum unit.

Top Center
Washer Fluid Bottle - Going with the Cappuccino unit.

Below Washer bottle
Headlight On chime - Not previously mentioned, I snagged a couple of chime modules from late 90's/early 00's Saturn S series at the junkyard ($5 with the RX7 fuseblock). I rigged these up on the 94, was very happy. Gives a pleasantly tolerable chime for when headlights/parking lights are left on with the key off. I tend to run with the parking lights at dusk and the dash isn't bright enough always to remind me they are on. Perhaps overkill, but I don't care.

Middle Left button & wiring connector
S2000 Start Button - Received the Nissan Altima version (same style and connection, just not red) with a pigtail to begin playing. Will be coupled to a proper keyless push button ignition (retaining the key), which one is TBD.

Dead Center Box
Power Windows - Was going with a DEI module (535T) to eliminate motor load in the switches (shown). After discussion with Adam @ Hot Rod Thereapy, may attempt control via GTO BCM.

Lower Right Corner in bag
Power Locks - Was going with a DEI module (451M) to eliminate need for two large relays (shown). After discussion with Adam @ Hot Rod Thereapy, may attempt control via GTO BCM.[/QUOTE]

Left of the DEI Power Lock unit
Fuse Block Pins - Got the DelCity (gold pins) and TE/AMP units (three bags with white labels), work great to add wires to the existing Miata cabin fuse block with simple mods (more info here: Complete rewire of a 92? - MX-5 Miata Forum). Will allow me to utilize the stock 6 fuse positions currently unoccupied. Very happy.

Bottom Left Corner bag & coil
HVAC Box Gasket - Not previously mentioned, I ordered up various sizes and thicknesses of adhesive backed neoprene to rebuild the HVAC and fan boxes. The 25 year old stock foam is all shot, and having seen how nice a rebuilt box can be in the Mustang I'm hoping to rebuild these the same.

portabull

gates power clamps... excellent choice.

wallyman

Hope So! I'm debating adding them to the push on AN oil line fittings as added insurance.. at $1.50ish a piece seems like cheap piece of mind.

wallyman

So after a lot of mental debate, I decided to go a slightly less traveled route for the battery.

Battery - Duralast 35-AGM.

Here is my attempt at a table of the battery choices I was looking at. Mockup I am using the Optima 75/25 as I had one handy for reference. I know it fits with the fuse block I going to use. Every battery considered is AGM.


BRAND...................MODEL...CCA.....L.......+/-.....W.......+/-.....H.......+/-.....WRNTY...SOLD.WHERE
Stock.(Westco)..........Miata...n/a.....7.80............5.10............7.20........ ....n/a.....n/a
Odyssey.................PC925...330.....6.64.....1 .16...7.05....(1.95)..5.83.....1.37...36......Onli ne
Odyssey.................PC1200..540.....7.87....(0 .07)..6.66....(1.56)..7.60....(0.40)..36......Onli ne
Optima.Red..............75-25...720.....9.38....(1.58)..6.81....(1.71)..7.75. ...(0.55)..36......Autozone,.Advance,.Amazon
Optima.Red..............35......720.....9.38....(1 .58)..6.81....(1.71)..7.75....(0.55)..36......Auto zone,.Advance,.Amazon
Exide.Edge..............35......650.....9.06....(1 .26)..6.63....(1.53)..8.83....(1.63)..48......Onli ne
Deka....................9A35/85 680.....9.75....(1.95)..6.83....(1.73)..7.75....(0 .55)..30......Online
O'reilly.Super.Start....35PLT...680.....9.56....(1 .76)..6.75....(1.65)..7.75....(0.55)..36......O'Re illy
Duralast................35-AGM..680.....9.50....(1.70)..6.68....(1.58)..7.75. ...(0.55)..36......Autozone

+/- as compared to stock replacement Westco. (x.xx) is increase in dimension.

So my thought process:

Stock - not enough for the V8 and my stereo crap.
Odyssey - lots of love for these, but concern over warranty support due to online purchase. Smaller footprint was a plus.
Optima - just garbage anymore and not worth it for the 40 CCA you gain over the 3 second place ones.
Exide - liked this on paper (4 year warranty) but online sale means warranty concerns.
Deka/O'Reilly/Duralast - pretty sure these are the same guts with different labels.
Deka - online sale means warranty concerns.
O'Reilly - price was $199.xx out the door.. but...
Duralast - $176.xx out the door with 20% coupon in email today for autozone, so bought it.

Dimensionally it is almost identical to the Optima 75-25 I am using for mock up, so I believe fit won't be a problem. 0.12 longer and 0.13 shallower.. might as well call it identical.

CCA is tied for the second highest and losing 40 CCA to the crap Optima is no loss.

Price at Autozone with the 20% off coupon in my email today I was out the door at $176.xx including the $18 core charge. Turn in a crapper battery and you are $158.xx.

Warranty - 3 years is not bad, if I am going to have trouble it'll be in the first 2 years. Local support, just drive 5 minutes and swap if I do have problems.

Going to test fit tonight and see how it looks. I'm excited to get this solved as it is holding up the wiring. Plan to start at the battery and work forward so it's all laid out correctly. Photos forthcoming!!

darkblue

cool car. I'm partial to yellow cars. I like your pictures of parts. Are you going to run the power through the cabin? Are you moving the main fuse box to the trunk?

I have the same intake what is the part number for the maf?

wallyman

Thanks! The pictures are for me too, helps sometimes to go back and look at the pile when I try to remember if I bought something.

Main power is run through the cabin (2 AWG). Runs from the battery mounted fuse block to the engine bay fuse block, along the passenger side using the factory almond color plastic tubing things under the carpet. Will exit right side above kick panel into fender, then back into engine bay from fender space. I'm not moving the main fuse block as such, I'm adding a new fuse block at the battery and swapping out the engine to a smaller unit. There will be three fuse blocks total (going off memory, may not be deadly accurate):

Trunk
FD RX7 unit
Mounted to positive terminal of battery
Main fuse for entire car
Fuse for fuel pump feed
Fuse for trunk mounted stereo amps (two)
Fuse for trunk power (lights, aux. power outlet)

Engine
FC RX7 unit
Mounted under passenger fender overhang near old location
Main fuse for engine and front lights
2 AWG from battery (fused at rear)
Alternator output connects here
Starter connects here
Fuse for engine battery feed
Fuse for headlight bulbs
Fuse for headlight motors
Fuse for fog lights
Fuse for Cooling fans (2 fans - one or two fuses)

Body
Stock Miata unit with additional cuircuits added
Stock location, no change
All the stock crap
Additional circuits for stereo, lights, GPS, USB, whatever

The MAF I bought is 15865791, ebay for $53 shipped. Description read as "Updated Genuine GM 05-15 C6 Corvette Air Mass Sensor Meter LS2 LS7 LS9" Link Here

darkblue

What size wheels and tires are you planning on running? 15x8 seems to be popular, but when i spoke with the tire shop they think i should go to 17" to get a better selection of wider tires. I dont really want to flare the fenders (at this point).

wallyman

Funny you should ask... I got a wild hair up my *** to go to 17's, and I love the SSR Type C's I have right now in a 15x7 but they aren't made any more. After some searching I manged to scored a set of used SSR Type C in a 17x7.5 (but the refinishing is bad and they are all a little bent).

17 doesn't give you any more selection of tires, in reality. Looking at Tire Rack for Extreme performance category right now:

205/50/15 - 7 options
225/50/15 - 0 (1 in next category down, Max Performance)
225/45/15 - 5 options

215/40/17 - 3 options
235/40/17 - 5 options
245/35/17 - 1 option

So, really no better plus you pay a fair bit more... (R1R 205/50/15 is $114, 245/35/17 is $174 each)

I did a bunch of number crunching and the 205/50/15 vs the 215/40/17 gives you nothing more for contact patch, just less sidewall. Kuhmo Azenis RT615K as an example:

205/50/15 is 7.3" tread on 6.5" rim.
215/40/17 is 7.3" tread on 7.5" rim. But diameter is increased from 23.2 to 23.9

The problem with 17's is they are made for bigger cars so the diameter gets bigger. I went with the only 245/35, the R1R, which is 8.9" tread on a 8.5" rim... same diameter basically as the 215/40 of 23.8... but an inch and a half more contact patch.

I found locally a fluke set of new-mounted-once-never-run pair of the Toyo R1Rs in 245/35/17. I have them mocked up on the 94 Turbo Miata and they look impressive, but will be very close for rubbing so I need to test them on the road to know for sure if they will work. Fenders have to be rolled using the 42mm offset rims I have, might even have to tug the fenders. Shouldn't need flares, I hope. Photos to follow.

Wallyman

darkblue

did you already buy your battery. I ran across this it's a couple of years old,
Group 48 Duralast Platinum AGM car batteries fall short in Consumer Reports' life test - Consumer Reports

wallyman

I tell ya, dropping a project for 5 years is a **** to try and restart.. ugh. I’ve been doing some stuff this summer/fall/early winter but it is slow going.

Build Update:

Parts Arrived

CAI - FM cut-in piece and deflector are here, look fine and should be the last of the intake crap. Made some basic cuts before they arrived.









Stand Alone Harness & Cruise Control - Hot Rod Therapy.. not overly pleased with this one. Base harness is a PSI HAR-1095, with some ‘tweaks’ by HRT… except I don’t know exactly what the tweaks are and at least one contradicts the HPSI instructions which has me concerned. Can’t trouble shoot something if I don’t know how it works. Also got hit with a ‘custom’ fee later on that was never discussed... and it took months because the tool that he has to sync the BCM, ECM and PIM was busted. Except it never got fixed, so those were never synced and the wiring harness was never tested in complete form with all the pieces I am using. Just did not go the way I hoped, especially when paying $1400 for it. Yet another way the LS2 boned me. Gawd I hate this motor and all the misery it causes.

Fuel Rail Covers (engine covers, coil covers) – These arrived from down under, look very good (one small chipped piece). Color scheme still not decided but a mix of silver, black, carbon fiber and black is still the plan.



Power Stuff - SPDT Relays – These came, yay. Relays. The fuse block pins are in too.

wallyman

Parts Bought & Arrived

Interior – Went on a buying spree.. bought almost two complete tan interiors. Going to convert the car over using a combo of 91 BRG, 94 Black-n-Tan and some other years. More to follow when I get around to that part of the car (or when I get time and ambition to detail it out for y’all). Yeah, I know.. you say: “Tan, in a yellow car? Name one car where they did it and it looks good”. I say” “Ferrari F355 Spyder”. Whaaaaaaaa? Yeah. :P





(Left half of the photo)
Wiring Connectors – Planned out new connectors on a lot of the body wiring. These will allow me to make some more elegant connections as I plan to modify a few things and change how things are routed (to accommodate the planned wire tuck).

(orange boxes on right side of photo)
Headlight Relays – Picked this idea up from Revlimiter. Dual output relays, allows you to drive both headlights from a single relay without having to daisychain wires. More elegant,

(Bottom right of photo)
Wiring Grommets – FINALLY found a good grommet for routing the wiring in and out of the fender, Beautiful pieces.. and made in the USA baby! Daystar KU20041BK Universal Firewall Boot, (Pack of 5) for $48 from Amazon. These are worthy of some detail shots:

wallyman

Parts Ordered

Clutch Kit – Originally planned to reuse my “13k mile” clutch and related, but the pullout was not 13K miles.. probably not even the 30ish-k miles I think it is. The clutch is worn tapered, the pressure plate is discolored and has burn marks, flywheel has burns spots and (now) is covered in surface rust to boot. So went on the prowl to solve that little issue. Monster is having a year-end sale, and coupled with the “Wanna buy now? I’ll give ya a discount” guy at Maryland Speed, I ordered the Monster Stage 2 with 18 lb flywheel, ARP Flywheel and PP bolts, GM pilot bearing and GTO slave and alignment tool.. free shipping plus $125 off sale plus $50 “buy it now” gets me to my door for $788.94. Unplanned and painful but doing it right and one time only and feel good about the price.

Headers – Ordered V8R Long Tubes. Will discuss coatings with Shandelle after the 3rd. Swain replied to an inquiry and basically said “If you want max heat, White Lightning (their coating) is great. You want it to look nice, that ain’t it and you probably won’t be happy.” Honesty is very appreciated.

Gauges – Ordered up a full set from Speedhut during their pre-Christmas sale. Freedom OBD connected except for the fuel level, all with programmable warning lights. Some custom touches that will be sweet. 6 week wait to get them built means mid-late February.

Starter – Ordered up a Duralast DL9949S (see narrative below) to get a little more clearance around the exhaust.

wallyman

Starter – Question but also an answer.. Installed the passenger header and starter and it’s tight. Did a bunch of reading and a trip to some stores, and confirmed some stuff. Yes, I now others have done similar but I added in the GTO and was able to photo with the ’10 Camaro. All Part numbers are Duralast at Autozone, and sorted from shortest to longest:


VEHICLE.................PART NO....PRICE+CORE..LENGTH...WIDTH...GM PART NO
‘07 SUBURBAN LC9 5.3....DL9949S....$151+11.....6........2-1/2...89018123
‘10 VETTE BASE/Z06......DL9717S....$112+33.....6-3/8....2-7/8...89017847 FM’S UNIT OF CHOICE (Aug 2014)
‘04-06 GTO..............DL5175.....$184+32.....6-3/4....2-7/8...92169668
‘10 CAMARO LS3..........DL5381S....$160+35.....6-3/4....2-3/4...12617229
‘08 SILVERADO LY6 6.0...DL9947S....$167+24.....6-7/8....3.......89017844
‘16/17 CAMARO SS 6.2....DL5381S....$160+35.....?........?.......126 52772 (no measurements because special order – looks very similar to ‘10 Camaro though)


Length was measured from same point on all units (inboard mount bolt machined face, at flywheel edge) to farthest protruding item (bolt or case) to give comparative (not absolute!) measurements. Diameter is just the motor housing itself for comparative (not absolute!) purposes. The Suburban starter is the clear winner and I just ordered one while there is a sale going on for $141 OTD shipped including the $11 core. Rockauto is half that but you have to deal with shipping and down time if it fails so the price is worth it for local support at a national chain. I’ve had good luck with their starters so should be fine.

Left to Right:
’10 Vette, ’08 Suburban, 07 Silverado, GTO.




Left to Right:
’10 Camaro, GTO

wallyman

Work Performed
Wheels and Tires – Test drove the 245/35/17 Toyo R1Rs on the 17x9 SSR Type C’s on the 94 turbo car, no rubbing with rolled fenders. Still deciding if I love the look but it’s growing on me for sure. It definitely changes the overall impression. Also it puts a lot of rubber to the road, they are wicked looking from behind the car. Will need to order two more tires and get the rims straightened and refinished. Going to look at powdercoating as the current ‘fresh’ refinished paint is not holding up at all, I scratched it with a lug nut. Need some centering rings and lugnuts to finish it up.

Some samples, better to follow.





Driveline – So, I’ve had this engine/tranny for 6 years plus now and have never heard it fire. Makes me nervous. Nervous enough to pull everything out and build a test setup on my shop floor to hear it run. So before I work my **** off dressing it all in and doing finish type work, I want to make sure this pig will fire, and run for more than the VATS cutoff . Problem I have right now is there is a new cam in there and I can’t (as currently planned) do a full break in period because I don’t have a cooling system hooked up. Was going to just fire it with oil for 10-15 seconds just to make sure it runs and doesn’t sound like death. May have to add radiator and fans to the mix.. need to decide what I am doing but pretty sure that’s where it is going.

Engine – Put parts back on for test fire: Fuel rail, injectors, headers, starter, bolted down intake and TB, crank pulley.

Engine Wiring – Went over the whole motor, found all the connectors and labeled so I know what’s-what. Everything matched up, so that’s something. Hooked up the new harness, only things not connected are AC pump (need to change connector) and AC pressure switch (don’t have this piece yet) and the O2’s (which are on order). Power and ground to the engine is wired temporary as is a starter trigger lead.

Body Wiring – Battery is in place, as is the rear fuse block and feed forward to the firewall.

Fuel system – built it out of the car for the test fire, went smooth. Fuel pump install was no more than 5 minutes. I scored a 95 gas tank which bumps me from 11.9 to 12.7 gallons, so that’s cool too.

T56 Right Angle Backup Switch – Swapped this puppy in, so low profile it is more shallow than the tranny casing. Sweet.









Seam Welding – Started cooking and scraping off seam sealer in the engine bay to start seam welding.

New Questions
Clutch Bleeder – I have the V8R kit with the remote bleed line, but don’t see any bleeder at the end, is that normal? You still crack it open at the slave and the line just gives you a remote drain? Tick has the same setup but with a bleeder at the end of the line which makes a ton more sense.

So, close to being able to test fire. Will need to pull gas pedal and rig up a couple more wires. Gauges I guess I am going to use an ipad/pod with a Bluetooth OBD reader. May try this weekend to run it, however I need to deal with the new cam break in.

darkblue

Glad to see you're back in the game. Can you take a picture of the CAI bracket/deflector? What do those wheels look like from the side?

ToySnakePMC

Making progress! Good info on the variety of starters - had no idea the Suburban one would be the overall winner. Keep it going. And you'll really like the Speedhuts when you get them installed and woken up!

wallyman

Well, it's not the winner for me. I need to go back to Autozone and look at them again. I ordered the DL9949S but it won't fit. I was starting at asses and not faces (never a good idea!), and the protrusion for the starter gear is too low on the new one. Photos to follow when I get it documented.

Dammit. So, yeah, GTO LS2 strikes again. But first…

[Off to AZ to confirm options – and back]

Build Update:

Parts Arrived




Fuel Injector O-Rings –Upper (Fel-Pro ES70599 – top row, left boxes) and lower (Fel-Pro ES71190 – top row center boxes) fuel injector o-rings arrived. Maintenance.

O2 Sensors – Pair of Denso 234-4668 (top row right boxes) arrived. Maintenance (and missing from my pullout).

Spark Plugs –AC Delco 41-110 Iridium’s (middle row, right boxes) for $3.68 each after $2/ea rebate, not bad. Maintenance.

Fuel Tank pump lid gasket – Gasket on the top of the tank was all shrunk, so ordered the Spectra LO157 Lock Ring gasket (middle row center). Maintenance.

Fuel Tank pump lid screws/bolts – Having rounded off the little Philips heads screws before due to rust, I decided to upgrade these to prevent future issues. They are a 4mm x 0.7mm pitch x 8mm long stainless socket caps, $3.84 for a 10 pack (you only need 8, bottom left) so cheap insurance.

Crank holder tool – Need to install the harmonic balancer bolt, so bought the “Speed Unlimited 2800 Flywheel/Flexplate Holding Tool, Steel, Silver Nickel Plated, Chevy/GM, LS1, LS2, LS3, LS6” (middle row left) off eBay for $30. Looks like it should work fine.

Open lug nuts – Went cheap ($17.68 for a set of 20 with tool from LugNutGuys on eBay – bottom row right) just so I have some since my old McGards won’t work. M12x1.5 ‘tuner spline drive’ in chrome so we should be good for now till they rust and look like hell.

Parts Bought & Arrived

Power Stuff - Relays – So, change of plan (again). Made a tally of all the relays and fuses I want (but many would say not necessarily need!) to put in the engine bay, and it’s more than I can find an elegant way to do with the parts I have. After a lot of hours on google and ebay looking at factory boxes, I went to my local LKQ and grabbed a couple of Nissan Altima/Maxima factory engine bay relay setups. Didn’t get the relays there since LKQ apparently thinks they are made of gold at over $8 EACH, and since I need 8 for my setup that’s insane. More on this setup to follow in a separate post.



Parts Arrived

Starter – The DL9949S arrived, no joy. See ‘work performed’ below.

Parts Ordered

Interior - Seats – Need some for the car, and with the hybrid interior plans I figured let’s make it even more challenging! Bought a pair of 95M edition seats in need of new skins. They come with all the tan plastics needed for seats so that’s cool. I plan to do some ‘custom’ stuff too (95M upper, pre-95 lowers, MSSS transducers, headrest speakers, 5 point crotch slots, seat heaters).

Interior - Stereo – And what do your ratty ole’ 95M seats need? Why a set of factory MSSS bass transducers. They are part of the seat plans, I have them in the 94 and I love what they add to it so stumbled on a set and bought them. Includes the frames and all that jazz too.

Wheels and Tires – Had a heck of a time finding what I needed, but eventually did in Rēzekne, Latvia (I love eBay!). 72.2mm outer to 54.1mm inner hubcentric (or spigot) rings for the SSR wheels. Not a fan of lugcentric so this helps.

Fender Roller – Bought one to make it easier to roll the 92s fenders. $39 on eBay for the china-basic model, should be fine.

Power Stuff - Relays – Ordered two more Nissan relay box setups with relays off eBay. Gives me 19 relays plus an additional 2 frames, 20 pigtails, 1 lid and 1 base to work with for $32.

wallyman

Work Performed

Engine Wiring – Unloomed most of the PSI harness in prep for reworking routing/wire tuck.

Engine – Test fit the starter, or rather tried. No dice!!! The GTO T56 bellhousing apparently is not the same as every other fuggin’ LSx setup. Stupid car, stupid car, stupid car.

Here is the stock GTO vs. DL9949S (Suburban)



Here is the stock GTO vs. DL9717S (Vette)



Here is the stock GTO vs. DL9947S (Silverado)



Now, looking at the side shot of the ‘10 Camaro, I think it might work (I had to go to the dealer for those shots, not open today):



And the more I look at it, it looks like the Camaro might even be using the GTO casting?? Looks damn near identical. It doesn’t look to afford me any additional clearance, so no point in chasing that.

Bottom line, the DL9949S won’t fit a ’06 GTO LS2 with the GTO T56. And that means the FM inspection cover won’t fit either:



I’ll have to use it as a template to make my own, I guess. Bah.

For reference here is the clearance I have with the stock GTO starter vs. FM shorty headers (which I am not using, waiting on the V8R LT’s to arrive).











New Answers
Clutch Bleeder – Shandelle confirmed you leave it open at the slave and the line gives you a remote drain with a cap at the remote end you open/close. Also they backbleed to start then do it the normal way.

Test Fire – Confirmed with HotRodTherapy that he didn’t do any programming on the ECM, so I’m boned to test fire it as planned until I get it shipped to Vengeance to do it. I’m not sure where it all went to crap, but I thought he was going to pull out VATS for me so I could test fire crap. Just another delay. Talked with Vengeance and they only do a “limp it to the tuner” tune setup, which seems.. well.. lame, stupid and a ripoff. I’m guessing I could limp it to a tuner on the factory tune, why did I pay $225 exactly? I thought it was to get me 95% of the way to tuned, since I bought their custom cam. Guess not. WTF.

New Questions

ECM Tuning – So I’m trying to find a tuner locally to deal with it, and the only people mentioned so far is Baker (who I feel wronged me and another guy on a tuning day the last time we were there. Qupted one price but forced to pay more at end of day). ZZP who is known for 3800 stuff shows LSx on their website but when they called me back they declined to take the work saying they aren’t ready for custom tuning on a cam. Uhhhh… then what exactly CAN you do for the LSx platform if you can’t do that?? Whatever. If anyone knows a good company or individual in the west Michigan/Grand Rapids area, PM me.

wallyman

So a little more detail on the relay stuff above. I grabbed them out of late 90's Altima/Maxima shells. The wiring sockets are color coded to the relays, and all the relays are marked clearly with part numbers and functions. I took pictures of the ones in the cars I pulled from, here are some stock photos for them. There are a couple others (a skinny blue [79971] that I think is a 15A version of the larger one, a square green [C9965] that looks like the same as a large blue but the underside is slightly different) but these are the ones I am probably using:

Nissan Relay types

NISSAN 25230 C9971 (Black)
This is your normal single input NO/NC style (a 'bosch' relay)



NISSAN 25230 C9962 (Gray)
Dual input, one is NO other is NC. Bridge your inputs and you are the same as the black above.



NISSAN 25230 C9963 (Brown)
This is dual input, dual output with each NO. Perfect for headlights & fog lights and fans (if you want to wire two individually but run them off a single control)



NISSAN 25230 9B900 (Dark Blue)
Single input, single output that is NO. Good for running fans, or other "normally off" type devices.



NISSAN 25230 79981 (Lighter Blue)
Same as the Dark Blue above near as I can tell.



NISSAN 25630 79960 (Skinny Black)
Single input, single output that is NO and uses the load as the other half of the coil. This is the "horn" relay in the Nissan. Note it is only rated at 15A, everything else is reported to be 30A.



Some additional info (one of the resources I used, also)

wallyman

So I am trying to rework the fuses/relays for the PSI engine harness and the engine bay/front body. I want to not add a 4th fuse/relay block to the car for the engine and I'm concerned about finding convenient space for it in the interior anyhow so I am looking to put it in the engine bay and combine with the body stuff. I like the Nissan (and Infinity) factory modular relay box. It comes in various sizes (8, 10 and 12 rectangles plus some smaller inline options) and has a clean, factory look with the black lid.

I test fit the larger 12 relay box in a couple of spots, I think I can make one of these locations work nicely.







Will get a custom label for the lid (or no label, not sure yet) and probably need to do custom legs to get it mounted but I think it will work fine. Modular design means I can mix/match whatever I need. Currently I think these are the relays:

1. Fog/driving light bulb (dual output brown)
2. Headlights, high beam bulb (dual output brown)
3. Headlights, low beam bulb (dual output brown)
4. Headlights, motors (NO/NC black)
5. AC compressor (NO big blue)
6. Fan #1 (NO big blue)
7. Fan #2 (NO big blue)
8. Ignition power feed (NO big blue)
9. Horn (NO skinny black horn)

Probably forgetting something but it's a start.

wallyman

So, as promised, 15x7 vs. 17x8 in the SSR Type-C.





And who doesn't love an animated GIF file?:

wallyman

I’ve seen it described both ways.. YUP you can use old and new belt parts (receiver/belt) together, and I’ve seen others say NOPE. Well, BOTH are right it turns out.

Receiver Identification:
Early is tunnel mounted receiver, longer neck. 12” from insertion hole to center of mount bolt hole. Plastic neck.
Later is seat mounted receiver, shorter neck. 5 3/8” or so from insertion hole to center of mount bolt hole. Cable neck.



Belt Identification:
Early belt has flat tab with the cuts at right angles and a bigger hole. (left side of photos)
Later belt has angled tab with the cuts tapered and a smaller hole. (right side of photos)





Interchangeability:
Early belt + Early (tunnel mounted) receiver = good (factory match, duh!)
Early belt + Later (seat mounted) receiver = bad
Later belt + Early (tunnel mounted) receiver = good
Later belt + Later (seat mounted) receiver = good (factory match, duh!)

So you can put an early seat in a later car along with the tunnel mounted receiver and be good, but you can’t just put a newer seat with seat mounted receiver in the older car, you have to keep the tunnel mounted receiver.

Now, in my case, I am looking at using a the 95M seats which can be seat mounted but I haven’t figured out which seat belt I am using. My early stock belts are black and I want tan webbing to match the interior change, so I either need to find a good condition early set in tan, or have them re-webbed. I also have two sets of later belts I can use that are in tan, but I would need to clean them and see if they are in good shape. I have an email into a company (SeatBeltPlanet) that looks to offer replacement Miata belts (I Think) and may also be able to reweb my originals. Will report back my findings.

So there ya go.

wallyman

Parts Ordered & Arrived



Fuse Block – Really happy with this guy, the Littlefuse HWB60 (middle left). Tiny, can hold 30 fuses, and pretty unobtrusive. Metri-pack 280 format and it came with a bunch of connectors and seals (left bottom). I think it will fit nicely here with the Nissan relay box above it.

Box is Littlefuse HWB60
16-18awg female (with tang) is Delphi 12077411, Green seals are Delphi 15324982
12-14awg female (with tang) is Delphi 12129493, Gray seals are Delphi 15324980
10-12awg female (with tang) is Delphi 12077413, Blue seals are Delphi 15324981
Dummy plugs are Delphi 12010300

Fuse Box Buss Clips – From cycleterminal (great shop for factory connectors!) I grabbed these little 6 position bridge clips (bottom row center) to try and make a rear feed buss bar setup for the littlefuse box. Ordered some extra terminals too just in case.

Spare hole plugs for littlefuse – wanted to make sure I had enough, got a 100 of the Delphi #12010300 off eBay cheap (middle center).

Parts Arrived

Relay Boxes with Relays – The two off eBay arrived (top row). Big one is off a '98 Infinity QX4 and the smaller is off an early 90's Nissan Maxima. The bonus is the mounting on the QX4 box, looks like it will make it pretty simple to install with a little bracket.

Spigot Rings – Fresh from Latvia! (right bottom) Just a hair big on the outer and small on the inner.. perfect so I can sand them to fit.



MSSS Transducers– Look good, and made me laugh with “10 watts max.” labeled on them, I think I am pushing 30-45 watts to them in the black car and will likely do the same here.



China-bay Fender Roller - looks good for $39, should be able to clearance for the big R1R’s.

Seats– Found a fairly cheap set of 95 M editions that need new skins, a perfect starting point for my custom-and-yet-looks-factory seat plans. How do you ship a pair of seats from Jersey to Michigan you wonder? In a box like this:



I pity my FedEx guy. Shipping was $73 from NJ to Mi, not terrible. Once un-boxed, you get actual seats:



So, I dug out almost all my seats (not pictured are the original custom black leather 92 seats the Sub came with) to do a little comparison.



Left to right:

Stock 90 cloth Passenger (waterfall style front, no seat belt receiver - got in trade for loaning the timing belt tools)
Stock 90 cloth Driver (waterfall style front, no seat belt receiver - got in trade for loaning the timing belt tools)
Severe foamectomied (by me) 97 cloth Passenger (bullnose style front, seat belt receiver removed - from my crashed '97 Montego, was the DD seat in the Sub)
Severe foamectomied (by me) 97 cloth Driver (bullnose style front, seat belt receiver removed - from my crashed '97 Montego, was the DD seat in the Sub)
Stock 95 M edition leather Passenger (bullnose style front, seat belt receiver removed - Miata.net forum purchase)
Stock 95 M edition leather Driver (bullnose style front, seat belt receiver removed - Miata.net forum purchase)
Stock 94 cloth Passenger (bullnose style front, seat belt receiver attached - pulled from a gutted 94 shell I bought and scrapped)





I suspected the M seats were a little taller, and it looks like about a thumb-width.

Interesting also is the upper back cushion, the cloth seats have a removable piece that goes in the center part, the leather it’s basically just the material and the cushion appears to be part of the larger back piece. I’ll know more when I strip them down.

Going to work on more wiring stuff this weekend, probably try to get the boxes mounted and start laying out wires after that.

wallyman

A long overdue update with some progress. I’m not making the headway as fast as I hoped but I am making headway so that’s something.

Build Update:

Parts Ordered & Arrived
(top left)
Brake Proportioning Valve - Originally bought for the Mustang, the unit I got was crappy. Sent a note to Baer and they promised a free replacement after solving their quality issues. Sure enough, one arrived! BEAUTIFUL piece.

(top right)
ARP Harmonic Pulley Bolt - Needed to replace the bolt so I upgraded to an ARP unit. 235 ft/lb spec, makes me laugh! I stood on the 2’ cheater bar until the motor started to lift from it. Best I can do should be good enough.

(bottom)
Stereo Equalizer - I love old school stereo gear. I’ve been using the Kenwood KGC-6042A in most of my cars for the last 5-7 years, but the last 3 I have bought all had issues. I’m trying a different unit this time, a Pioneer EQ-6500. Same features, but a bit more rare to locate. Patience paid off and I landed a unit off eBay.



(top left)
Fuses - Needed some for the new fuse box.

(top right)
Headlight bump stops - The factory ones don’t seem to be able to be ordered anymore, so I managed to find some suitable replacements. More info later.

(bottom left)
Male spade terminals - Need these for the Nissan relay sockets. Worked well enough.

(bottom center)
AC Firewall Grommets - Can’t get the NA units new anymore, but found a set of nice used ‘00s that look to be able to work.

(bottom right)
Wiring Studs - I needed a way to marry the 2AWG from the rear to the front fuse/relay stuff as well as a common ground point. Ordered up 2 red (one for Battery and one for Ignition) and 1 black. Stainless hardware, 5/16” stud…Look good. Swapped out the 1-1/4” bolts for 1-1/2” to give me a little more stud to work with.

wallyman

Powder coating Samples - I’ve decided that if I am doing the car, I am doing every bloody thing I want. I’m ditching the HDHCHTDDwHB rollbar and moving to a Blackbird Fabworks NA GT3 bar. It’s different, it’s cool.. I want one. Custom Powder coating is an option (and I’m taking it!) so I spoke with Moti and ordered some samples. Blackbird’s powder coater uses Cardinal Powder coating for the basic colors, and Prismatic for every possible color under the sun. I want something gunmetal and it will be the anchor color for a lot of other things. For the moment I’m staring at (what seems like) 50 shades of gray. More details later.

NA6 Tan Glovebox - The last piece I needed for the tan dash. The color on the first one I found was a lot darker on the lid. The latch was a pretty good match for the dash. So, bought another one and it showed up busted. Third one came in, same color issue. Rolled the dice on one last unit (which has a cracked bucket) but the color looks better. Will know once I get them cleaned up which is the best match.

NA6 Tan Seatbelts - Need to change belts out to tan as part of the interior work, these are one option, need to clean them up to see how nice they are.

NA8 Tan Seatbelts - Another option, have two sets of these. I cleaned up a set and they look good but need to clean up the other options to see how nice each set is.

Chrome factory door handles - So, my friend Steve is a wonderfully terrible influence! He is a true car guy, dyed in the wool. He has a great eye for detail and for creating a harmonious vision of the whole car. Once I opened Pandora’s box with the Blackbird rollbar being gunmetal, he started tossing other ideas into my head. He suggested powder coating all the bright work to match (Door handles, fuel door, Frankenstein plates, hood latches)… evil he is! So, I got a set of handles ‘just in case’ I listen to him.

Aerocatch Latches - Necessary to run the Z06 Intake, got them in flat black with the option to paint/powder coat to match the rollbar. They look good in black, and may stay that way.. we shall see.

Chrome Flush Fuel Door - Another ‘Evil Steve just in case’ spare to powdercoat. If not, it goes on the 94.

Trunk Felt Pieces (all 3) - The mice trashed my old pieces, so needed to replace them. Black. Felt. Boring.