Raider's Neverending love/hate with Christine

1000 miles and 50 ml in catch can. Nice.

Also got early access to the just released corksport coolant and power steering reservoirs. Much better than oem.
https://corksport.com/power-steering-tank-2007-2009-mazdaspeed-3.html
https://corksport.com/coolant-expansion-tank-2007-2009-mazdaspeed-3.html

 

Home stretch. Tuning is completed. Now odds and ends like new side mirrors (passenger side stopped moving), insulation on the hood, new door handles due to mechanisms failing, fixing a foglight, and the roof painted jet black mica, horns reconnected, and a probably 10 year old cabin filter. Then hopefully finished.

One more piece arrived today for Christine. IYKYK

 

Emotional day yesterday. I drove the speed 3 nearly 2 months since I had my L4 and L5 spinal fusion. This thing moves! Spins 3rd and 4th gear went 40 to 85 so quick! Rides so smooth! And the manifolds make it sound like a jet engine! So happy. Dropped off replacement door handles for paint and onto the speed as original ones are cracking and about to fail. Also 1 of 2 side mirrors as the passenger one failed. My MajinSpeed Customs PI block off plate was test fitted and I realized the mounting bolts are are home. Christine will be coming home soon. 1500 of 2000 miles my builder wants to put on it before returning. Made him a Corksport fan with the manifolds.

The 2 17x9 Enkei RFP01s with drag radials were on my friend's turbo NC club Miata when he was beating all the #miatabait. He passed away on my birthday in March 2020 from cancer. @VIP is watching over me. Fuck cancer. Prior to his diagnosis, he sold these to a friend. And that friend reached out to me recently and asked if I was interested in them. So a hell yes and now the 2 wheels are home. My plan is to get 2 more, some Wildpeaks and put them on my CX-50. I need to research fitment of course.

TL DR drove my speed3, dropped off parts and got wheels from a friend.

 

Scared me with emotional day. Was waiting for you to say it was back together and perfect then you got tboned

 

Also gloss black mirror caps might look good

 

FUCK YES!!!! MUCH EXCITE!

 

So for many months, I was told I could get the roof painted for x amount and the guy said it would be like new. Yesterday, the "not picky" term was used. So he is out, and I chose to go to a body shop with the door handles, and I feel better.

Now to consider the best options for the roof. Some shops told me the wrap has eaten the paint, but not even seen the car. I called my local tint/wrap guru who has tinted a number of my cars, even redid Christine. He mentioned PPF in gloss black. I looked into it, reviews are good, and a 10 year life.

I plan to quote the roof to be repainted by the body shop doing the door handles, then go see my guy. Will do the roof, and the lower part of the front bumper, as the 10 year old wrap has seen it's share of road debris. Take a look at the Xpel product. Anyone used it?

https://www.xpel.com/ultimate-plus-black-paint-protection-film?

 

who cares if the wrap has eaten the paint, hit any bare spots with sandpaper and self etching primer then put a wrap over it. you cant see it so as long as it is protected from rusting move on.

 

Yeah sounds like a bullshit excuse to me; aren't you prepping the surface if you're painting it anyways?

 

The body shop would sand off the wrap and prep/paint the roof. But I am leaning toward the PPF as I think a true paint job will be out of my price range. Plus he can also re-skin the doors, as that vinyl is peeling too.

 

Wrap needs a smooth clean surface to bond to, like glass or paint. Primer is porous and vinyl wont adhere as well.
I have never heard of wrap eating the paint. I have seen many vinyl decals and wraps removed and the paint is in better condition under the wrap/vinyl decal.
In order to re wrap, a through cleaning followed by a good claybar or possibly compounding if really rough would be all it needs.
I also wouldnt sand off a wrap, that would be messy and require a lot of sanding pads. Wraps will release with heat. Follow with adhesive remover.

 

Yea sanding the wrap is a bad idea it should peel off

 

Im assuming the body shops are not interested in putting in the time to remove the wrap as it is an arduous task. They therefore claim damage to the paint or prefer to use a mode that reduces the amount of time, but gets them to the point where they can paint the car and charge you for the work they know how to do.
A wrap shop should be able to deal with the old wrap, and also re apply for a fraction of the cost of paint.
Also, If you put in the time yourself, you can remove and even rewrap it. Heat with a heat gun, slowly and peel back at a 25-40-deg angle. It is true the age of the wrap will dictate how easy or hard the job will be.
I wrapped my hood myself and it turned out great considering the MS6 hood isnt a good canvas for a rookie, but the roof is flat and would be much easier. And with a wrap, if it gets damaged or rashed, you just peel and replace. Use only good quality film, 3M, AveryDennison and Vvivid are my goto and easily available on Amazon. (**Vvivid has had imposters, check their website what to look for).

 

Yeah my guy has a magic eraser tool and he says it will be OK underneath. But he needs to see it too. I'm leaning towards the ppf because I trust the guy. The body shop did my friends car for 1300 bucks for same thing only his car is bigger. Will see.

That was simply to get it repainted, not to get it rewrapped or PPF.

 

Drive more and motivation to correct the perceived flaws will be easier to accept and do!

 

Yup. I plan to. It's gone from a mechanical repair/update to a modern era restoration and modernization. It's amazing how much smoother it idles. And the sound is not too bad either. Looking forward to it's completionxm more now. Next big job is regaining it's space in the garage.

 

Door handles are back from the body shop, and they look amazing! Shout out to Tom Bush Collison Center in Jacksonville Florida for knocking then out for me.

 

Front door handles are in, new side mirrors are on, @MajinSpeed 2.3 plate is on. Almost ready to come home.

https://youtube.com/shorts/UgXXOxxeGZg?si=UmFSax60Nm6fzL9A

https://youtube.com/shorts/iMpYMj0dwLw?si=7-8QNo7G-Qr43QSi

 

The damn new handle broke on the passenger door. While sitting. Same crap oem design. He reworked it but it's a disappointing result after a week.

Videos showing the fail of oem and Dorman. Then his fixes.

It's almost finished. I'll be picking it up next weekend if all goes well with the basic stuff left

 

Christine has made it home finally. Built motor, a fresh etune, and a whole lot of goodies installed while also going through the suspension and such to make sure all is good. No more leaks of oil, coolant, power steering. @timjs did the work and now it's time to enjoy my speed again.

Next stop is roof redo as the vinyl is wasted.

Oh, replace your cabin filter.