Summer Sunnies :P

visage left overseas and i dont know where to ask.... i've learn alot from him, but not enough... he leave me few of his magic book that open my eyes and give me more understanding rather than myth...

and then was wondering about what i can do while he is away....
i ended up doing simple rice mods for the coming summer... lol i call it 'summer bug' project :P ok its lame.

steps:
1. bought this head light cover from mazda dealer
2. bought 'night shade' special black transparent tinting spray can from supersheap auto.
3. spray the headlight cover.... 3 layers....
4. after i realise its too dark, then i use car's 'cut and polish' to thin it out

[MERAH] update

[MERAH] update...

stage one nearly finish as my saving running low :P got a new job, but hav to start saving for house... well, i started [MERAH] feb2004, with stock condition: mz3 sp23 Velo Red, 5spd MTX, Sunroof, Cruise, tint, matt, hatch... and then a brief list of stage one: AEM cold air intake, Magnaflow 2.25, delete 2nd cat, Oil Catch Tank, AUTOEXE full bracing (front/rear sturt and sway), tein coilover SS, TWM short shifter, pivot shiftlight, RAZO pedal, 18" Racing Hart C4, Carbon fiber hood, 04 WRX bucket seats, slimline visor, LED mirror... yup that's it so far....

currently doing only 15.9 @ 114mph (cai + 2.25 xhaust) - with 105.7kw atw... i'm planning to switch back to 17' to shed 0.5 sec off... with semi slicks maybe

currently waitting on the xhaust Header to be redesign from Draxas, then lip and rear flip from garage vary... i'm not abig fan of bodykit, so i'm happy with lips... ordered autoexe grille, soon to be copied in carbon fiber... depending on the cost... otherwise i'll paint it black... then after all that, the stage 1 is completed... so its another 15-20% left....

oh, i'm going to Calder park on the 7th october to do another run in 17 and semi slicks... wish me luck... hopefully goes well... no rain please!!!

Bracing and Handling upgrade ^_^

AUTOEXE handling and brace kit.
3 mount point - Front sturt bar / dual braces
4 mount pint rear sturt bar
2 pin adjustable rear sway bar 24mm
2 pin adjustable front sway bar 22mm

ordered it from japan thru RMS. thx to visage for the help installing front sturt bar. i somehow, by luck, managed to install the rear sturt bar and rear sway bar myself. and for the front sturt bar, i gave it to Nelson to install, coz i gotta take the cross member out and i got no hoist...

painted engine cover

and then after few weeks of nothing to do with the car, i really want to add more red bits to my car.... then the engine cover and the interior strip in the next victim...

this mini project took me and visage almost 2 days to finish coz we stuffed up so many times... its our first time doing fine spray paint and we want it to be smooth and perfect...

preparation: took us few hours just to find the right red. finally got this "regency red" from autobodypaint spraycan. cost me $14.95. also plastic prime and grey prime (grey prime is needed when you want to paint color on a black base)



tips based on our mistake... lol:
1. do one thin layer at the time
2. for new layer using spray can, you have to layer it within the first 3 hours or leave it over night.... dont do it between 3hr to 24hr after the first application.
the reason is the chemical in the paint will start working after 3 hour, and if that working chemical reacting with the new chemical on the new layer after 3hr, then it will make the surface wrinkle, bubble, and peeling off...
3. be patient!

thx again to visage for the help

Painted Caliper + EBC Green Stuff pads

after months trying to find performance parts for mazda3 ended up with no luck, i begin to rice my ride...

the easiest think to add your brake performance is to paint it red... (huehehehe just kidding)

i use VHT hi-temp caliper paint, around $10-15 from normal auto shop like autobarn, supercheap, etc...

steps:
1. take off the caliper
2. clean it with methylated spirit and brush (carefull not to damage any rubber parts...)
3. let it dry
4. mask any moving parts and flex pipe. (rubber seal, caliper piston)
5. start spraying the caliper with thin layer... do it bit by bit.... and leave it for half an hours before you start installing it back
6. voila!



oh also i install EBC green-stuff brake pads to balanced out the between rice and performance mod... :


anyway, thx again to visage to help me doing this and teach me alot of stuff...

i was bored... then i made this in photoshop...

second 0-400m drag time

so i went to calder park again to try out my new mods:
AEM CAI, Magnaflow catback, take off the rear seats

i did 15.6sec @ 89mph on that day...

very disappointing for me but i guess i need vtec also need to use 17inch.... coz i think the 18 inch also affect the time... (its a common excuse for a slow poke )

AEM CAI

well... nothing wrong with my current modified airbox setup. but after tossing between upgrading my stock panel filter to K&N panel filter or just go for CAI system (cold air intake) i decided to go with a little bit more bling... lol

then i ordered my AEM CAI... took me and pehul27 3-4 hours to install it. (it meant to be 1 hr job) hueahahah... coz both of us dont know what we're doing.... and made lots of mistake...

anyway... here we go... finally installed...


and then me and visage did extra mod to complete it... we cut a hole on the wheel well and put an old speaker cover on it... we do this because the AEM CAI is directly above it....

Cat Back Setup

i need some more grunt . so here it is... my first performance mods...

de-restricted stock Intake (thx to visage):
- take off the resonator chambers on the intake... and leaving the stock airbox with stock filter on.
- put a flex pipe from the airbox to the front bumper grille to feed fresh air

benefit: higher air flow, more throttle response, nicer intake sound (esp on higher rev)


Exhaust:

this is stock mazda3 system (2inch):
- 4-1 header coupled with 1st cat
- then a second cat
- a pre-muffler
- a muffler


i use 2.5inch inlet and outlet magnaflow hi-flow SS muffler

then for the piping, i tried few different setups:
1. 2.25inch system with no second cat, with 2.25 resonator, and just 2.25 press bent pipe. still very restrictive.

2. no second cat and no resonator. replaced with 2.25inch mandrel bent pipe. higher flow but still very restrictive.

3. this is the last and the best setup so far. it is 2.5inch mandrel bent one piece straight pipe after the header and the first cat. all the way to the muffler, then press bent 2.25inch tail pipe after the muffler outlet for a bit of back pressure that was lost by opting 2.5inch pipe....

First Drag 0-400m time

went to calder park with all the exe boys, trying out 400m rush for the 1st time...

i got the best run 15.9sec @ 87mph on that day.... car was stock, and with 18inch bling2 rims