Hi all,

Has anyone experienced alignment issues when running the Hinson subframe? I can't get enough caster on the left side of the car (maxes out at like 3 degrees). Right side seems fine.

I keep going back to see if the subframe is square and it "appears" to be (haven't exactly laser measured it though). As far as I know the car has never been hit, but I know that is always a possibility too.

So just wondering if this is something anyone else has experienced before? My plan is to notch the rear slot to get the rear of the LCA to move further outboard. Other idea would be to get more aggressive LCA bushings with caster correction built in.

Thanks in advance for any help!

wicked! 

I guess it could be set up like this?

Thanks for taking the time to explain that Lane. Much appreciated! I think I'm (slowly) starting to understand. Still not 100% clear but I will re-read what you wrote a few more times.


I will talk to the PO (we are friends but we live about 70 miles away) about whether or not the stock Fan#1 relay is in use. Hopefully he remembers!

My suspicion is that it's wired independently of any of the Mazda wiring. I think the way it is right now it does not use the thermal switch, but I will verify.


Right now the compressor can definitely be turned on without the blower being on, but I am very cognizant of the A/C when I'm in the car. I think the risk of me leaving A/C on without the blower is quite low, so I am willing to forego at least that portion of the protection.



I also believe the aftermarket rocker switch is going through a relay already, not direct to the compressor.  Either way, adding a relay to control that circuit wouldn't be a problem.


One of my primary concerns is with losing blower motor functionality if I intercept the switch.

Is the blower motor switch reliant on the 1G - 1I circuit?  If I were to intercept the wires at 1G and 1I, and let's say just cut them off, would I lose blower motor control?


Many thanks for all your hard work and help - not just in this thread but in all things A/C!!

Quick question regarding A/C... in particular about the way the button functions in the hvac console.


My car has working A/C and it serves the purpose well, but there are two issues with it that keep it from being ideal.

1) the button to engage a/c is a rocker switch on the console

2) there is no RPM window switch to protect the compressor



So I am wondering if the A/C button on the hvac simply connects two pins on the hvac connector together, or if there is more to it than that?

I have seen diagrams suggesting the a/c button is also routed through the fan speed switch, which to me adds a level of complexity that I may not want to deal with.


If, on the other hand, the a/c button simply bridges two pins..  could I simply transfer the wires from my current (console mounted) switch into those two pins? And then be able to use the factory a/c button?



Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Here is my experience trying out one Japanese company that helps you obtain Yahoo Auctions Japan items.


BACKGROUND
This all started because, like countless others, I the odometer was out on my FD. I tried new caps but this did not end up working for me. Time for a new cluster.

My car is a JDM built in 92 and with around 80,000 km on the clock. I wanted a JDM cluster and the ideal replacement would have similar mileage, to save from having to transfer the 93c56en chip.

These do come up for sale on eBay and various forums, but most I found were on the order of $150 to $250, plus another $50 to $100 in shipping. I wanted to see if I could get something decent for less.

I knew Yahoo Auctions Japan would have tons of goodies, including the cluster I wanted. The problem of course is that I don't read Japanese and I found out most sellers in YAJ will not ship outside of Japan.


I was pretty weary of giving money to a third party service, for a part halfway around the world, that might not even work. But I figured if I could limit my risk to about $100, I would go for it.


THE PROCESS
There are many other sites like this. Most of them work the same way and I have no idea which is the best. I am not affiliated with Jauce in any way whatsoever. Just a happy customer sharing this one single experience with this one provider.


The whole process went very smoothly and surprisingly quickly too. From winning the auction to having the part in my hands, took less than 2 weeks.


Basic process goes like this:
Sign up for account, pay deposit, place bid (and hopefully win), pay the balance owing, wait for part.

You bid on the item through the company, the seller ships to a warehouse in Japan, then the company forwards the package to your North American address.


COSTS
Quite a few costs associated with this, plus the cost of double shipping whatever the item is. You have to really do your homework to see if using this makes sense.

Here is a breakdown of the costs:



Deposit fee: 3.9% + 40JPY of the deposit amount (I deposited 6000 JPY up front, and then the remaining balance in a second deposit)
Service fee:  8% + 800JPY of the winning auction price (I won my cluster for 3100JPY)
Bank fee: 300 JPY

Domestic shipping: varies (my cluster was 1700JPY)
Int'l shipping: varies (my cluster was 3600JPY)



The exchange rate was about 90JPY to the (CAD) dollar.




All in, the whole thing cost me $110. About 70% of that was fees and shipping. Obviously as the item goes up in price, the relative price of fees goes down.



My cluster was cheap because it didn't have a tach. I removed the speedometer from the new cluster and swapped it into my old one. Tested it yesterday and it worked!

Needless to say, I've been very happy with the whole deal. (Until the odo goes out again.....)


PICS









New speedometer on the right:

it was 2977 on its own..  so not quite c5 z06 territory, but close i guess

it's a Type R, so it has no sunroof or bose system,  but it has the factory fog lights

aluminum flywheel
no sub, but it has speakers and an external amp (negligible? i dunno)
headers
stainless 3.5" exhaust
alum DS
yes to spare tire, tools, full carpeting throughout

18x8.5 / 18x9.5 RPF-1s (2-piece Type RCs) with RS-3s all around

extra sound/heat deadening underneath
full shine body kit probably adds a few pounds too
oil cooler

i have a pair of sparco buckets to replace the factory seats, so that will hopefully help


and this was with ~17 gallons of go-go juice


im more happy with the distribution on the thing than the acutal weight. but considering it's a "full" car, i'm not really complaining

and yes it has coilovers so it can be fine tuned to be even closer, but this is not a priority just yet

i just wanted a ball park


and yes, the ammo for use with the rotary guys is great too =)