Dexterzx2's ZX2 Build

[DexterZX2]

I bought my ZX2 back in the spring of 2001. It had one previous owner and 9,007 miles when I purchased it. Up until that point I only drove automatic cars, and never knew how to drive a manual. My father brought it home and taught me how to drive it that day. Since then my ZX2 has been through a lot. I was in three accidents with it, which ultimately led me down the modifying path, (not to mention a little persuasion from my friends). I've taking it to many shows over the years, and won various awards. I've learned a lot about working on cars through my Escort. I used to street race back when I was younger, but that's all in the past and I don't support street racing these days. I've built my car the way I want and with my own hands and money. My build is to my liking, incorporating performance and my own sense of style. I'm proud of what I've accomplished with it.

Here are some pictures of the various changed my ZX2 has gone through over the years.

Back in 2001 at my first "TeamZX2" meet at a Dave and Busters in MD.


After the Wings West front lip was installed.


In 2003 after my run in with a deer and a snowy accident that put my ZX2 through a wall.


2004 added graphics and a new set of rims.


2006 when I changed the front bumper and added lambo doors and a new spoiler.


2007 when the first electrical problems started.


2008 - Present.


This build started off as being a repair that turned into another overhaul of my ZX2. In 2007 I had some electrical issues with the car. After talking to members of TeamZX2, I've decided that I should replace the wiring harness in the engine bay. I got a complete harness from a parts car that GotMILF (TeamZX2 member) had. After removing the engine wiring, I decided to install some other parts I had lying around the garage.

I ran into an oppertunity I couldn't pass up while I was removing parts from my car. A local tuner that had a ZX2 was looking for a header and he had a big brake upgrade that he couldn't use. I worked out a deal with him for the brake kit. I traded him a $300 header for a $1,200 brake kit. I think I made out on that deal. With the upgrade to the front brakes figured out, I thought it was a good time to install my Rear Disc Brake set-up. I found a set-up at a local junkyard and had the whole cross member pulled. A little cleaning up and a caliper repair kit, and my RDB swap would be complete.


I was going to have some problems getting the car to run wihtout a header. It was at this point that I made the ultimate decision, Trubo! I've put a lot of thought into turbocharging my ZX2 over the years. I was debating if I wanted to spend a lot of money on a full kit, or part one together myself. Then GotMILF made me an offer on an incomplete Gude kit that I couldn't pass up. It came with an intercooler, piping, injectors, MAF sensor, couplers, oil lines, an oil cooler, oil filter relocation kit and he threw in an 8-point roll cage just for the hell of it. I spent roughly $700 for everything listed above.


Since the car was half torn apart, I decided to pull the motor and do some clean up and detail work. I wanted to paint the motor and trans to make everything stand out. A wire tuck and shaved engine bay will be the finishing touches to draw all the attention to the turbo'd motor.





It was time to send my intake manifold to JohnP (TeamZX2 member) for a port job. JohnP port matched my manifold to my Gude throttle body. Being a show car he also did me the favor of removing all unnecessary tabs on the manifod and painted it to give it a nice finish.



With the motor out I noticed some other things that needed my attention. This would be a good time to install my Energy Suspension urethane motor mount insterts and the Hyperflex master set to replace all the rubber bushings.


One night while browsing through the TeamZX2 forums, I came across a new post in the for sale section. CJW (TeamZX2 member) was selling a Roush / Turbonetics turbo and mainfold. This set-up was origionally a part of a kit for the Ford Focus that's been discontinued. The best thing about the manifold is that it bolts right up to the ZX2 head. I quickly responded and we set up a time and day to make the exchange. I've also accquired a greddy Type RS blow off valve from a member of the Tri-state Tuners forum. While at a ZX2 meet in Ohio, I acquired a piece of piping that had the BOV flange cast into it. Then I found a turbonetics Deltagate Wastegate that fits perfectly to my manifold. My turbo kit is finally coming together.




December 2009

The next step is to get the engine bay stripped and ready for a new coat of paint. To do this everything has to come out. I've also decided to delete my a/c system and switch out my power steering for a manual steering rack. This will free up some pulleys as well as some space in the bay. Doing this also removes a lot of weight from my car. The next item to remove was the k-member and the front suspension. Other items that were removed include the wiper cowel and wiper motor, brake lines, evap canister and the lower cross member. Now I have an almost empty engine bay.





I'll take some time to discuss some of the work being done to the interior. While I was out at the Ohio meet this past summer, I accuired a new gauge cluster from the rare ZX2 S/R. The main difference in the cluster is the 150 mph speedo (standard only reads up to 120 mph), silver colored bezel and the red colored needles. The main reason I got this cluster was because it came with a carbon fiber bezel overlay that has been out of production for a few years now. Instead of going the easy route and buying gauge face overlays, I've decided to swap out the bulbs for blue LED's. This will change the color of the gauge while keeping them stock looking with the black faces.



This is what my gauges will look like after I install the blue LED's, thanks to 1981gMachine's (TeamZX2 member) write-up and picture.


Since I've removed the a/c system from my car, I figured that I should at least cut the a/c lines that come in from the the engine bay behind my dash. To do so, the dash would have to be removed. This was an easy task, with the removal of just 11 nuts. With the dash out of the way, I can fix some of the wiring mess inside the car. A while back I had a Spal door poppers kit installed so I could have the door handles shaved. The guy that wired everything up didn't do a very good job hiding the wires. Since then I've relocated the control box and ran the wires correctly. I also removed the antenna wire from the car since it's no longer needed.



Here's my dash out of the car.


Since my car is set-up for showing, everything has to be clean and have a nice finish. That being the case, I've decided to go the extra step and repaint the under carrage of my car. I settled on a gloss black finish for under the car. I plan on added at least two coats, applied by hand brush. So far I have one coat on the passenger side, and it already makes a big difference. I'll also be adding the gloss black to the wheel wells to finish them off right. I'm going to keep the engine bay the factory red for now.

Before:


After:

[DexterZX2]

1/9/10

Just a quick update. I was in the garage this past weekend to do some more cleaning work to the engine bay. I've been using Brakleen to remove any damage caused by the battery acid. I've been able to remove a lot of the damage. I also removed the wheel knuckles and started cleaning them off. Once done, they will get a fresh coat of paint. The header panel has been removed from the front of the car for easier access.





Header panel removed.


Steering knuckle removed.


2/13/10

Well my buddy and I made a trip over to Cyberman's (TeamZX2 member) Sat. morning to get my rear disc brakes back. I only have a little bit of cleaning up to do on the one caliper and get a rebuild kit for them. After that the parts go to get powdercoated along with the sway bars, tie bars and valve cover. While at the garage, we finished removing everything else in the engine bay which included the brake booster, clutch valve, the headlight wiring and the plastic boot that covers where the steering rack goes through the fire wall. Now all that's left to do in the bay is wipe everything down with laquer thinner and paint.

I'll be in the garage tonight and tomorrow night hitting some misc. parts with a wire wheel to get them ready for paint as well. The plan of attack now is to get the suspension parts cleaned up and painted so I can get that part of the project done. Then I'll be able to get the car back down off the jack stands. The engine and the engine bay will get painted so I can put the motor back in the car. The LSD needs to get installed next and the solid mounts done. After all of that's done, I'll start parting the turbo kit together and running all the piping.

2/21/10

Well I didn't get to do too much to the car today. I did however start making the cubby pod for my gauges. I cut two pieces of PVC pipe and cut away the part of the cubby that wasn't needed. Then I hot glued the pieces of PVC into the cubby. My buddy is gonna take the pod back to his garage so he can start the fiberglassing. Here are a few pictures of the process so far.







2/23/10

I started working on cleaning up some of my suspension parts tonight. I want to get everything clean and down to metal so I can put a fresh coat of paint on everything. The first item that needed attention was my K member. It was a f'd up from the battery exploding. The paint was pealed up and there was rust on the one end of it. I took a wire wheel attached to a power drill and went to work on it. The wire wheel did a very nice job in removing all the imperfections. Control arms are next up for th wire wheel. Here are some pictures of what I've accomplished before I burnt up the motor in the drill.

Before:


After:





Since I believe the drill I was using is now dead, I decided to finish relocating the shaved door handles control box. When the kit was first installed, the guy that did the wiring didn't located the control box the right way. He just had it hanging up behind the dash. I wanted to mount it correctly and tuck the wires behind everything the right way. This install is 98% complete. All I have to do to finish is run the ground wire and mount the antenna for the door popper fob.




2/26/10

This was a good day for me. It was Friday, so that helped. I returned home from a long day at work to find packages lying on my living room floor. My new exhaust, LSD and slim fan were delivered right to my doorstep.








2/28/10

Finally I have a day off from work, so I can spend time in the garage getting some things done to the car. I brought the g/f along to help out too. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty, which is a plus. I put her to work cleaning off the motor. We already had most of it clean before, but I wanted to go over the entire thing again with laquor thinner. Once done the motor will be covered until the day we paint it. While she was doing that, I went back to work on the rest of the suspension parts that needed cleaned up. The K-Member is finished and ready to paint so I moved on to the control arms. They didn't need too much to get them cleaned up. Next up were the calipers to my RDB swap. Cyberman only got around to blasting the one caliper, so I had some work to do. About a hour and a half of hitting the calipers with the wire wheel, and they are ready for the powdercoater.







Before shot of part of the caliper.


After shot of caliper.




I'm gonna call up the powdercoater this week. His shop is just down the road from the garage. I've gonna take the parts over so he can give me a price to do everything. I have both calipers from the RDB conversion, both sway bars, both tie bars and a 98 valve cover that all need coated. The calipers with be a gloss black, and all the rest will be done in red. I might ask about pricing for a candy or anodized look for the VC. The next thing to be done will be the installation of the LSD.

[DexterZX2]

3/6/10

The first thing that needed to be done this day was the removal of my old exhaust. Two reasons why it had to go. 1. The piping was too small for my turbo install. 2. The driver's side muffler got f*cked up way back in 2007 when I had to put the car on a roll back to bring it home with the electrical issue, (see first post for details). I went about removing the exhaust the easiest way I could...with my Dad's sawzall. (SP). I made my cut right before the rear axles, (afterwards I realized that I should've cut after the axles). I eventually was able to pull the whole thing out in three pieces.





The rest of the night was spent cleaning up more suspension pieces and braces. I have just about every piece cleaned up now. I just need to finish the tranny mount brackets, the one rear caliper, a control arm and the tranny housing. Then it's time to start painting everything.

3/8/10

More parts showed up today. I got my OEM Front Tie Bar, (See the tie bar post for my review), my SVTF Fuel Pump and tapped oil pan from ZX2guy19 (TeamZX2 member), my speedo gear so I can finish the LSD install and my caliper repair kits for the rear calipers.








Sunday I'll be taking my tranny down to my buddy's garage so we can install the LSD. He has air tools which will help make this install go a lot faster. After it's in we can paint the bell housing. Then my tranny work will be done and it can sit and wait to be reinstalled next month. I'll also be contacting the powdercoating guy this weekend to get a price quote on everything that needs coated.
Things are really starting to come together now. Stay tuned for the latest info on this build. I'll keep everyone updated as I progress.

3/9/10

Well the main focus of this night was to get my tranny all cleaned up so I can install the LSD on Sunday and paint the housing next week. I took the wire wheel to it just like everything else so far. The end results were great. I'd say it's 98% done with just a couple spots behind mount brackets that I still need to hit. Here are some before and after shots of the tranny housing.







3/10/10

More parts showed up at my front door this day. The big box contained my manual rack form an Escort. For anyone that's done the manual rack swap from a 91-95 Escort, can someone confirm that this rack is correct? The guy at the used parts yard I got it from said it was, but I'd like to make sure.




I also got most of my order from ZXTuner. Now I know there's been some posts recently saying how Rob doesn't do a good job, but I'm still going to disagree. I ordered the copper exhaust manifold gasket, valve cover seal gasket and the cam gear & TDC peg tool from him. I also had an issue with a past order, that he's taking care of for me. Back in 2008 I ordered the Energy Suspension Master Kit, and it came with everything but one bushing for the rear trailing arm set. I text messaged Rob and explained the situation. He has been more than helpful with getting a replacement bushing, (Directly from ES) in the color I requested, (Since he didn't have my color in stock). He also made sure to let me know that the TDC peg would be on it's way this comming Monday since it was on back order. All I'm saying is that if you take the time to contact him the most direct way, I believe that an issue can be solved. I still stand behind ZXTuner for some parts needed for my ZX2.



3/15/10

I was all set to install my LSD into my tranny tonight. I loaded it up into the Mazda and went to my buddy garage, (equipped with air tools). The only problem was he didn't have a big enough socket to remove the nuts that are on the gear shafts. So that means his brother-in-law will have to bring his set home from work. Now the LSD install will be this Thursday. Well instead of installing the LSD, I decided to polish up my turbo. I used an all purpose polish from Eastwood, and it did one hell of a good job. I can now see myself in the surface of my turbo. Here are a few pics.



I just started with a little section and you can already tell a difference. Look how dirty my turbo was.



Took a buffing wheel to it at first. It seemed to do a good job. Then I realized that I could just use the polish and a rag and get the same results.





The Deltagate Wastegate still needs some work, but all in all it looks 100% better.

3/17/10

My Prosport gauges from Street Unit finally showed up after being on back order from the company. Gauges included are: Boost, Oil Pressure, Volts, Exhaust Tempature, Wideband Air/Fuel w/ O2 sensor and an oil filter adaptor plate.



3/18/10

Finally got a chance to install my MFactory LSD. I took my tranny to my buddy's house earlier in the week. We needed to get a 32mm impact socket to remove the gear shaft nuts. We got the bell housing apart and took the stock diff out. The spider gears were really worn down from about 6 solid years of mild to agressive driving. It's good I'm replacing the diff now. I pulled out the magnet that's inside the housing, and found the rest of the spider gears, lol. Then I ran into a problem, removing the ring gear from the stock diff. That's where the install stopped for the night. Through information from zx2wou2 and Mellow, I now know what to do to get the ring gear off. Tomorrow will be a very productive day. I plan on removing the ring gear and installing it on the LSD. We're also gonna start painting the suspension parts since the weather is gonna be great. Sunday I'll take the LSD back down to my friend's garage and we'll finish the install. Then the tranny will be closed up and ready for paint.





3/20/10

The weather was great, so that meant I could start painting the parts I have been cleaning up. I used professional grade Rustoleum primer and paint for my suspension parts. It's the same paint I used to paint the under side of my car. Everythign turned out great. I applied two coats of primer and paint to everything. Here are the results.






I used the same process to paint my sway and tie bars. I decided to use red for my bars instead of black. They also turned out amazing. The tie bars were from OEM and Corby (TeamZX2 member) if anyone is interested in purchasing one.

[DexterZX2]

7/5/10 Updates

So I had an oppertunity to work on the car today since I had a day off work. It's been a while since I last did anything to the Z. The garage was turning into a pile of parts and there wasn't much room to get around anything. I decided to free up some space by working on my interior. I also wanted to see if I could make my new e-brake handle fit the Z.
When I found out that my Mazda 3 was totalled by the insurance company, I had to get my plate off the car and sign some papers. While I was there removing my plate I decided to remove some other items from the car. I took the 3's shift knob, leather boot and e-brake handle. I kinda have this thing were I take the shift knob from my previous cars for a little keepsake. I've always dislikes the ZX2's e-brake handle, so I was hoping that the 3's would work.
After a few minutes of pulling, I got the stock rubber handle off. I slid the Mazda 3 piece onto the Z's e-brake handle, and it fits perfectly. Now all I need is a leather e-brake boot, and this will look 100x's better.




While working on the interior I decided to put my dash back into the car. I already finished the relocation of the door poppers control box, and I already re-installed the heater air box. You can see the control box just behind the corner of the dash by the radio opening. A couple quick bolts and the dash is back in the car. Before everyone comments on the painted vents, I will be replacing them in the near future. That was one of my beginner ricer mods that everyone does when they are young and new to modifying



Two more items to re-install for the day. I put the rear side panels back in place, and re-installed my back seats. I had to remove some rust that had formed on the seat brackets, but that only took a few minutes. I love my leather seats, still clean and in great condition.



I got a good bit of work done for being so hot out yesterday. The inside of the car is starting to look a lot better again. Now I just need to get my rear deck back in, finish my gauge pod, install my gauges and A-pillar, and get a few dash trim pieces back in.

8/2/10

Well I had a day of work so I spent the time in the garage working on the Z. I wanted to get the rear cross member down so I could clean it up and add a fresh coat of paint to it. Well I had the member unbolted from the car, but didn't unbolt the brake lines. I got the cross member back into position and with some work and PB Blaster, I got the brake lines removed. Then the cross member came back down. I went over it with acetone and then again with lacquer thinner just to get all the dirt off of it. I moved it outside so I could primer and paint it gloss black like I did to the front K member already.

Here are before and after pictures of the cross member during the cleaning process.

Before:


After:


This is the cross member in primer and then with 2 coats of gloss black.


IMG]http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g292/dexterzx2/ZX2%20Project%20Log/99.jpg[/IMG]

In between paint coats, I decided to continue working on the front bumper and c/f splitter relocation. I decided to remove the stabilizer bars and move the splitter back so it wouldn't be sticking out so far. The end results are awesome. I move the splitter back 2 3/4" from it's first position.

Here are the finalized pictures.

I also have some other pictures of how the intercooler fits with the front bumper.






Intercooler fitment mock-up.





9/30/10 Update

I was in the process of cleaning the garage up a bit, and I found something I had stashed away in my tool box. It seemed to be the mounting plate for the optional arm rest I purchased years ago. I guess I never installed the plate when I got the armrest. A few drilled holes later and I had the armrest properly installed. I also test fitted a leather e-brake boot from a Cougar to my Mazda 3 handle. I removed that rubber Va-j-j looking thing from my center console and cut the mounting taps out. The Cougar boot has a mounting plate around it that I can attach to the inside of the center console. It looks a lot better with the taps cut out and no rubber Va-j-j there. The only problem is the hole in the boot is bigger than my e-brake handle. I'll have to custom order some new boots and have them fit it right.






I also took the time to test mount my oil cooler to my radiator. My buddy gave me some radiator ties that act like a zip tie. My only question is should it be mounted so the ends where the lines connect to it are downward, or should they be up? I mounted it so they would run under the front frame. Any thoughts?




Since I'm relocating the radiator to the front side of the frame rail, I decided to remove the radiator mount brackets. They won't be needed, and it'll help clean up the engine bay more.

Before:



After:



Next thing I'm going to do is prep and paint the engine bay. I've gone over every inch of the bay with cleaner. I'll be picking up a can of primer to go over the areas that are down to bare metal. Then I'll put 2 coats of base on and 2 coats of clear to finish it off.

On another note, I'm meeting up with a local guy to get my new wastegate. I'm getting a slightly used Turbonetics Evolution 38mm wastegate for my build. It comes with a 7-8 psi spring, which is all I need for this build at this point in time. I feel that the deltagate I have now is too big for the location of my turbo and manifold. The Turbonetics Deltagate is up for sale if anyone is interested or needs an external wastegate.

9/23/10

Like stated above, I got my Turbonetics Evolution 38mm wastegate last Friday night. It's a really nice unit, and a lot smaller than the Deltagate I was going to use before. The only thing I need to do to it is polish it up and paint in the lettering again. The previous owner took the red lettering off for and went for the polished look. It has a 7-8psi spring in it, so that'll be perfect for my basic turbo build.




In this picture you can see the size difference between the Evolution and the Deltagate wastegates.



I also recently purchased a PCV delete from CFM Performance. I received it a few days after I placed the order. Just from the look of it, their PCV delete plate is a lot better quality item than the other options out there for the ZX2. I picked up the gasket from FCM to go with the plate.

[DexterZX2]

9/27/10 Update.

Tonight was spent in the garage prepping the car to have the engine bay painted this coming Friday. I got a roll of painter’s paper to cover the car with, and I already had a roll of blue painter’s tape. I started inside the bay covering anything I didn’t want painted with the tape. To protect the exterior of the car, I had to cover the windshield, fenders, mirrors and roof with the paper I purchased. I made sure to tape over any seams between the paper sheets. I still have a few things left that need taped, but I finished my roll of tape when I was covering the rest of the car with the paper. I also placed a plastic sheet on the floor and will attach it to the underside of the bay by the wheel wells. The wheel wells will be a gloss black to match the underside of the car. Tuesday night I’ll finish covering the car up, and then I’ll be spraying Friday.






10/1/10 Update

Well today is the day. Today started out at the paint store where I picked up my two cans of acrylic enamel vermillion paint and one can of etching primer. Spent around $54 for everything. Then I headed to the garage to get started. I used some scotchbrite pads m dad had in his shop to scuff the surface. Then I taped up the plastic drop cloth under the engine bay.




I started spraying the primer in the bay. I finished off the can and had two coats in the bay. I made sure the really bad areas that were down to bare metal were fully covered.




After I let the primer dry for a while, it was time to start with the red paint. Initially I started off inside the bay at the bottom and worked my way up the bay. The first can covered the first coat in the bay. I let that dry for a while, then decided it was time to spray the second coat on. I got started with the second can and about half way through the second coat the nozzle got clogged. With this happening, and due to the fact that the second coat wasn't done, I had to get another can.
Lunch Break!!! That double whopper was delicious.

I returned to the garage to finish the second coat after lunch. I finished off the second can and even hit some hard to reach/see places. All in all the bay turned out great. I have two or three minor runs in the paint, but for this being the first time spraying, I think it turned out good.






In between paint coats I decided to clean up the wastegate I purchased the other week. I had some leftover polish, so I started cleaning it up. It only took a few minutes to do. It's so clean that you can see yourself in the surface.




10/15/10

The only thing I have to update right now is the selling and purchasing of my coilover set-up. The other day a member of TeamZX2 made an offer on my Ford Racing coilovers, and I'm gonna take it. That way I can get a brand new killer set-up for my car, (which will be made known as soon as the deal goes through).

I need to find time to get back in the garage and start installing the support rails and suspension parts that I have painted.

I have a teaser picture of my cubby gauge pod. It's almost finished, just need to finish the wet sanding and buffing. Enjoy.



On a side note, a lot of parts from the SVTF can be swapped into the Escort. I know some ZX2 guys that have swapped, (with slight modification), intake manifolds, heads, fuel components, etc... I haven't decided if I'm going to run the SVTF fuel pump or go with the Warlboro pump yet. When I talked to the guys at McNew's, (shop I'm getting the car dyno tuned at), they said I should upgrade to the SVTF pump. It's really simple to swap in and someone did a DIY write-up on the job. I guess I just have to source a pump from a JY or get one online.

12/23/10 Update

Since the company I work for was nice enough to give their employees two days off for the Christmas holiday, I spent today in the garage reinstalling some parts back onto the car. I started with some simple things to get them out of the way. I reinstalled the wiper motor, wiper cowl and the vented covers underneath the vowel. I also put the rubber seal back on that seals the rear of the hood.




After that I decided to reinstall the brake master cylinder, fuel pump, the upper transmission mount, the front K-member and clutch master cylinder. It wasn't the easiest task trying to bolt the K-member up while holding it, but I got it done. The pictures below show the brake master cylinder, K-member and the upper trans mount.





Next time I'm in the garage, more parts will be installed. Slowly I will get this car back together and running again. Today's progress was good, it made me want to get back to work and finish this project. The faster I get everything back in the car, the sooner I can start fitting this turbo up and finishing so I can drive it again. Stay tuned, some new suspension parts are on the way.

1/18/11

I’ve been debating on if I want to paint my motor while it’s out of the car or just let it go as is and get it back into the car. I’m planning on doing a wire tuck once everything is back in, so that also plays a factor in my decision. I really want to get this finished, but at the same time I want it to look good when it’s done. I’m leaning more towards painting it, which leads to the question of the week. What color/colors do I paint my motor and transmission housing? Right now the car is red, but sometime in the near future it won’t be. That narrows down my color choices to neutral colors. The valve cover is going to be color matched to the car so I think the rest would look better in neutral colors. My current choices are:

1.Gunmetal
2.Aluminum
3.Black
4.Combo of two mentioned above.
5.Other

Please, let me know what you think because I’m stuck on this right now and need some opinions. I’m kinda leaning more towards gunmetal because it’ll match my rims. In the show car world it’s always good to have a theme or matching color schemes. If you have any ideas or if you think of another color option, let me know. This is now open to discussion.

I'm planning on being back in the garage mid-Feb. to get some more stuff knocked out on this project. I want to get my spare wheel well cut out and a new floor welded in place. After that's done I can finish painting the under carrage of the car, and get my rear cross member re-installed. I also have to get my new urethane bushings pressed into the control arms so they can be re-installed as well. I have a few more parts that need painted or powdercoated like my rear brake calipers, and the other trans/motor mounts.
I'm working on getting all my suspension parts back on the car so I can get it back on the ground. Once that's accomplished, I can work on painting the motor and re-installing it. I'll update with more pictures after I get these goals completed.

2/2/11 Update

So my cubby gauge pod is finished and ready to install in the car. As some ofyou may know my buddy was making me a c/f gauge pod to fit in the cubby hole. Well he put the finishing touches on it the other night, and finished it off with two coats of wax. Here is the finished product, let me know what you guys think.





In other news, I'll be ordering my new set of coilovers either at the end of next week or the beginning of the following week. With that being said, hopefully I'll soon be able to install all my suspension parts back onto the car and get it off the jack stands. It's been a long time since my ZX2 has seen the garage floor.

2/9/11

I ordered my new coilovers yesterday after work. I should see them in 2 weeks.

[DexterZX2]

2/19/11 Update

Lots of good things were accomplished today. The day started with me waking up at 7am so I could remove my rear trailing arms. I had to meet my friend over at his house at 9am so we could press my ES bushings in the trailing arms and front control arms. About a hour of that and all the bushings and sleeves were in. I got back to the garage and installed the front control arms. Now I'm just waiting for my coilovers to show up on my door step, so I can get my front suspension finished.






I can't finish my rear suspension yet though, I have another side project to complete first. That brings me to my next task, removing the spare wheel well from my trunk. I used my dad's sawsall to cut it out of the trunk. I'm not finished with the removal yet, I need to finish the cutting with a smaller saw to avoid cutting into the lines that run down the driver's side of the wheel well. After I finish up the cutting, I'm gonna weld a thin plate in the trunk to make a flat floor. I'll also be adding some angle under the new floor to increase stability to the new floor. The whole reason for removing the wheel well is to make room for my new exhaust system. That'll be revealed at a later date.




I moved back inside the car for my next thing to do on my list. I'm working on finishing up my interior so it's one less thing I have to do at the end of this build. I also wanted to test fit the new carbon fiber cubby gauge pod. Let me tell you this, it's fits like a glove. I snapped the gauge pod into place and the upper curve fits right up to the radio section of the dash. I still need to find a new center console in dark charcoal since the one I have was modified and won't work anymore. While I was inside the car I decided to also install my S/R cluster w/ c/f bezel. All the c/f pieces look great together. Now I just have a few more parts I want to do in c/f to make my interior complete. Onto the pics.









Before anyone comments, I do plan on changing out the red vents for the factory colored vents. That was done a long time ago when I was a lot younger and thought it was the cool thing to do. At least I didn't paint random panels red like other people have done in the past. One last thing before I end this. I'm currently finishing up painting the rear trailing arms. I'm about to go put one more coat of paint on them before letting them dry overnight. After they are nice and dry I'll reinstall them as well. That's it for today.

3/2/11 Update

Well the wait is finally over. After 3 weeks of waiting, my new coilovers came in the mail yesterday. I would've had them Monday, but I missed the UPS guy by a half hour. Well they're here now and that's all that matters.

I ordered a set of BC Racing Type BR coilovers for the Mazda 323 GTX. Once again the nice thing about Ford and Mazda cars, most of the suspension parts are interchangable. I got them with the stock spring rates because that rating is plenty for my ZX2. I can't wait to install these and get my car back on the ground. Onto the pictures.





Fronts:


Rears:


Front Camber Plate:


Rear Mount Plate:


3.5.11 - Slight Update

After work my buddy and I got together at the garage. He brought up his air compressor and cutting tools so we could cut the rest of the spare wheel well out of the trunk. I also had another friend stop over to give me a quick quote on how much it would cost for him to weld in a new floor, fabricate my downpipe and weld my exhaust together. We settled at $300 for everything, which I felt was a fair offer. After he left, we got to work on the trunk. After getting it half done, the cheap air saw broke. A trip to Lowes and back with a pair of air shears and the trunk was completed.

[BondiBlue]

Ho....ly......crap. That is a ton of work, I envy you for doing all that. I have very little wrench turning experience so I'm hoping once I get my Vette I'll get to have a build up like this. Very nice work, I look forward to the finished product.

[Faulkster]

This really makes me miss my ZX2

[Audrey]

Reminds me of my dad's shop. Love + Time + More $ Than You'd Expected = CAR (: but it's worth it, usually.

[DexterZX2]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. If you like what you see, there's plenty more coming starting this weekend up until the beginning of June. I'm trying to get this done before the All Ford car show in Carlisle, PA from June 3rd-5th.