Without too many spoilers about what is happening right now, and believe me it a lot more than just the frame, I wanted to share with all of you the full extent of my frame rot.
In the photo the welds (red) for the rack mounting point were also broken halfway across I pulled that side of the sway bar off without even unbolting it!
Oh wow!! It makes me kinda glad that my car leaks oil lol. I was joking with a friend of mine Sunday night about how much oil is under the car but no rust. I said that I'm going to start calling it my "Chassis lubrication mod" for rust prevention lol. I'm glad that you found it before anything drastic happened. That's a great save!! Definitely a point earned for the saved a 1st gen badge!!!
Got really lucky and found a replacement frame, it’s solid all the way around it’s a huge relief I was afraid I was going to have to try and patch mine. This is a much better option especially for only $73
The thing that got me about this (other than being very pretty) was the bushing collars that were used.
Since I am always in search for things that improve rigidity this was a natural eyebrow raiser for me.
With your location, powder coating may not be a bad idea.
The day is finally here!! It has been a painstaking four weeks between work and rusted bolts and tight spaces but the result is absolutely amazing. I did take some pics along the way as well as a bit of a photo shoot today, unfortunately most of the work isn’t visible as it all took place under the car but here’s the list and pics
Front:
wheel bearings (both sides, passenger side twice...)
Passenger control arms (Detroit Axle)
Outer tie rod ends (both sides- Detroit Axle)
Struts (KYB Excel G)
Front lowering springs (Eibach)
Subframe (scrapyard ‘06)
Rear engine mount (Anchor)
Sway bar/polyurethane bushings (Steeda)
Rear:
Wheel bearings (TRQ)
Lower rear control arms/spring seats (both- Duralast)
Camber Bolts (OEM Mazda)
Outer bolts, rear control arm (OEM Mazda)
Toe control arms (Ultra-Power)
Lowering springs (Eibach)
Basically in the end I replaced everything under the car that was more than two years old, more pics below.
Did another ATF flush today to swap out the cheap Valvoline ATF with some RP Max. I’ve only put about 6 miles on it but it does seem happier than before especially once it gets hot 175+
Soooo, I've been a little absent from here lately, mostly due to that crazy thing called life, but anyhow time for an update! Let me start with saying this is the first time I've logged on here on a computer in months and I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm more than a little pissed to see that my badges have disappeared with this god awful so called "update" which leads to my next complaint, who the f**k designed this its terrible maybe its partly because I haven't used it much yet but so far even after a few hours I still HATE it...moving on!
The hood just kept getting worse and worse as it was sanded so I ended up having to buy a replacement, then long story short I got f****d over for 6 and 1/2 weeks straight on getting the car painted in the end the ONLY things that got painted were the hood and bumper.
Moving on to this past weekend, it was time for the annual Midwest Mazda Club meet in Louisville KY the meet starts at the meeting point just off the interstate, then becomes a "spirited" drive along Taylorsville Lake with a couple of well timed "cool-down" stops along the way ending at a restaurant. It was and awesome time, the Blue Devil handled great for the 5 hour drive down and he stood up to everything I put him through during my "spirited" driving, and by spirited I mean I beat the hell out of the poor thing for about 3 1/2 hours of awesome windy back roads high rpms, tires screeching and pushing it as close to the limit as possible through every single corner...unfortunately I do not have a GoPro to really do all this justice, I think we broke more than a few laws if you know what I mean
in related news I had no problem keeping up with the rx-7s, miatas, rx-8s, 3rd gen 6's, and even the speed 3s through all of it
Here's a few pics the rest will be in an album linked HERE
Cool Update. Glad to hear the 6 handled the spirited driving well. Car looks good with the new hood and painted bumper
FYI I read somewhere they are trying to fix it so we get our badges back. The site is a bit more aesthetically appealing IMO but you're right it takes a bit of getting used to the new format when navigating it.
I was looking back at some of the things I've done and decided to write an update on the car because a lot has been done since I created this thread and recently an entirely new set of issues has surfaced.
Mileage when I got the car on 11/2/17 149,001
Current Mileage 1/11/19 162,059
Total accumulated so far 13,058
All of the leaks as of now have finally been remedied and maintenance is all currently up to date. Now the car needs the subframe patched, the left rear wheel bearing is wining, the A/C compressor is slowly dying and everywhere I look I see rust, rust and more rust.
Mods that have been done:
EGR tube has been deleted
Pre CATS have been gutted
Third CAT has been removed
Magnaflow muffler has been installed in place of third CAT along with a new "Y" pipe and flex pipe https://www.magnaflow.com/products?partNumber=10415
Completely eliminated throttle body coolant lines
Installed a CAI
Painted engine cover
Swapped the factory head-unit with the Pioneer 312-BT Digital Media Receiver
Swapped the rear two of my four Boss 6.5" three way speakers with Pioneer 6x8 two way speakers, still not sure if I like the Pioneers better or not
Installed a factory Bose subwoofer
Installed sound deadener in the trunk/hatch (Kilmat from Amazon) [ame]https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CBK48XN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/ame]
Replaced my oil pressure gauge with a digital one after my mechanical one stopped working
Swapped the original instrument cluster with the electroluminescent one
Installed OEM fog lights
Swapped every single bulb on the car for LED's
All of the windows have been tinted
Evil "M" emblems
Compustar remote starter
Pretty sure that just about sums it up.
Huge thanks to all those that follow my thread!:smile2:
Well here we are again another year since I bought the Blue Devil and I feel like its time for another update as we begin to close out 2019. It's been one hell of a year, my parents split, I got a new job (nothing special I just work at Lowe's), finally did the major overhaul to the 6's suspension that I wanted from the beginning, went to my first Mazda owners club meet, performed my first solo engine swap (I murdered the $200 Liberty already),moved into my new place as of a week ago, and met someone really great!
Anyhow, the 6 is now officially over 170k miles, I still haven't replaced the A/C compressor and now the alternator is dying. I also have a mystery oil leak from somewhere towards the top of the front of the engine that I cant for the life of me figure out! The only real add ons to the last update would be the suspension overhaul where I literally replaced everything under the car that could be replaced including about 50% of the bolts, I did add the steeda front sway bar w/polyurethane bushings and Eibach lowering springs, I also managed to get the "tilt-o-lights" installed, and I managed to get the hood and bumper painted which after the trip to Louisville KY managed to get covered in stone chips AGAIN, my factory 18in wheels are still sitting there and haven't been painted yet. So far all the suspension upgrades are working VERY well together and have not had a single issue, the car also rides and handles really great! Unfortunately I don't really have any recent pics or videos of the car...
I managed to kill the poor Liberty at 206k the video will explain everything...so that led to my very first solo engine swap, which went perfectly I might add! Now I just have to fix the rusty rockers, and the pinion and left axle seals on the rear end to make it 100%
Thanks to everyone that still follows this thread even thought its much slower these days!
As many of you know, I have a thing for the wagons! I know there's a number of you out there but I don't see many photos of them on here so I thought I'd start a wagon photo thread. All gen's are welcome. Post updates and random shots as you update your ride.
SHOW ME YOUR WAGON!
As of May 18th, I'm now the proud owner of a 2018 GT Reserve. Deep Crystal Blue with Black interior. :)
It turns out that it's currently the only 6 in upstate NY with the model/color combo, it had to be transplanted to me from Buffalo. 3 days and over 200 miles later, the smile has gone...
I figured since it's getting colder and I can have the wagon in the garage, I'd start in with the stuff I have planned. First up was painting the plastic grille pieces. I started with the main one since it's the most challenging, and to make sure I have enough paint at least for that one. I had...
Post up a couple pics of your Mazda’s journey! Mine are how I found her, getting her road ready again and then as she sits currently. Here’s old Betty and her metamorphosis:
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waughoo · updated 
Mz6GreyGhost · updated 
MazdaMetalhead · updated 
DrBoom · updated 
