Nine81's Silver Wiener Build

[Nineeightyone]

Got any more pics of this lip and where you picked it up from? I've been looking for something subtle like this.

Sure thing! The lip is from SRS-TEC, they have two versions. One for the 7.5 and one for the 7, at least I believe that's how the split works. Ultimately, it's based on if you have the side "supports"(?) for the hatch spoiler. Fitment was good, I'm the slightest bit annoyed that it doesn't go 100% to the side, but I can't complain. It really wasn't an awful pricetag, and about the only one I could find that fit the bill for exactly what I wanted.

 

[Nineeightyone]

Nice build! And great to see another Mazda 3 owner. I’ve had a gen1 and a gen3 (both hatchback, both manual) over the years. Loved them!!

Thanks! I bought my gen2 because of my buddy's Gen 1 that was an absolute blast, then shortly after we learned the 2.3 was tempermental at best and it was 2.5 swapped over a weekend. It's amazing how nicely that went all things considered (no tune, just a drop-in replacement and it ran well). If my wife didn't already have a gen3 I'd be buying one at the dealer a couple towns over, but it's IDENTICAL to her car -- same year, same color, same drivetrain, and even similar mileage.

 

[mrmatto]

Thanks! I bought my gen2 because of my buddy's Gen 1 that was an absolute blast, then shortly after we learned the 2.3 was tempermental at best and it was 2.5 swapped over a weekend. It's amazing how nicely that went all things considered (no tune, just a drop-in replacement and it ran well). If my wife didn't already have a gen3 I'd be buying one at the dealer a couple towns over, but it's IDENTICAL to her car -- same year, same color, same drivetrain, and even similar mileage.

Gen 3 is the sweet spot IMO. 4th gen got too soft. Gen 1-2 weren’t refined enough yet. Gen 3 got some of that newer Mazda luxury (mine had zero rattles, delicious interior, composed ride) mixed with the older zoom-zoom Mazda (amazing to toss around, even stock).

Amazing about that swap though! So cool.

 

[19birel]

Man, I love the look of that A4! And the Golf takes me back, my Golf was dark blue so the grill didn't stand out quite so nicely but it looks so good on the silver. I have a ton of photos of my wagon, I'll see if I can get down to just a couple.

She looks good! Is that Galactic Blue? Love those Santa Monica wheels too!

The MKIV wagons are a rare site anymore especially in such clean condition, hopefully the new owner appreciates what they have, such fun cars even with the 8valve motor!

 

[Nineeightyone]

She looks good! Is that Galactic Blue? Love those Santa Monica wheels too!

The MKIV wagons are a rare site anymore especially in such clean condition, hopefully the new owner appreciates what they have, such fun cars even with the 8valve motor!

Thanks! I believe it is, I know it's a slightly different blue than my '01 which IIRC was Indigo Blue. The owner before me kept up with the maintenance very well on it, and then I was also good about keeping things reasonably maintained, though it did regularly see 7200rpm shifts. The new owner seemed like he knew what he was looking for and asked all the questions I'd ask about buying a mk4, so that was reassuring and leads me to believe it was headed to a good home.

 

[Nineeightyone]

April 2023 - Got a bunch of goodies from @StorableComa and began setting up. The Corbeau sliders/brackets are alright, but not my favorite. The sliding release mechanism sits far too close to the seat in default configuration, and is easily removed from the bracket where it is intended to sit, which is pretty annoying. I'm going to see if I can make some changes to stop this from happening, but for the moment I just want the seats in. My seatbelt receiver was damaged in the process and I'm expecting that to arrive today, many thanks to Jim Ellis VW Parts. Then it'll be in and out with the seat in order to figure out how many washers I need to make an ideal seat height, but I may just throw everything in because I miss the car.

Holly judging me stacking washers between the seat and the bracket/slider like some kind of monster, and stuffing the occupancy/heating pad inbetween the seat bottom and springs was a little iffy, but I think it'll be alright as it is. I took a picture of the stock seats next to the new ones, and I'm very excited to get them in. I might make a bracket for the stock seats so that I can use one as a computer chair, mine sucks a bunch. I should probably take this opportunity to clean the interior as well, as I'm never going to have this good of access with the vacuum (at least, I hope not).

Pro tip, you don't have to disconnect a whole lot under the seat to get them out. If you just pop out the little plastic retaining clip in the carpet and lift it up, you can disconnect the two plugs there and unbolt the seats and it comes out nice and easy. I disconnected a bunch of shit under the seat like a meth head degenerate cutting out cats, so I'll reconnect that stuff and leave it hanging as a reminder of my idiocy.


edit: I'm also hoping that maybe somewhere in the drivers' side I'll find the trim tool I lost when doing the mirror caps. It wasn't huge but I don't think it was small enough to hide in the mirror cap, I really think I stuck it in my pocket and maybe it fell out in the seat area. We'll find out on tonight's episode of DRAGON BALL Z

 

[Nineeightyone]

Got the seats in. 8 washers stacked under the Corbeau brackets at all four corners, five small washers between the seats and the brackets. The seats still feel VERY low, but I like the fitment. Currently, I still have a light -- I need to find a ground point for the module under the passenger's side seat (I forget what it's called, but it's a little black box that's got a ground wire terminated on it, and I haven't found a small enough bolt to ground to (yet).

Also, I still haven't found that trim tool. But this being the first time I've driven the car since last year, I forgot how much I love it overall. Like, I know this is kind of a low bar compared to some of the wilder builds here, but damn if this car isn't just a riot every time you put your foot in the floor. I still need to disable straight ahead brake stabilization, an aggressive stop had things a little wiggly. Oh and the stock seatbelts aren't wonderful, their design kind of forces the belt to sit over your thighs rather than at your pelvis. I'm going to continue to work on this, but I'm very happy thusfar. Oh, and remember when I bitched about the Corbeau brackets slide levers being loose? I'm stupid. There's a hole in the back. The handle doesn't just slide back to what seems like a stopper, it slips OVER those 'stopper' things and they go into the holes on each side of the handle. Corbeau 1, me 0.

 

[19birel]

Please post the wiring when you get it figured out! The Corbeau looks great in there!

 

[Nineeightyone]

Please post the wiring when you get it figured out! The Corbeau looks great in there!

Thanks! Yeah, 99% of it is suuuuuper straightforward if you get the harness and plugs that @StorableComa makes. I think I'm going to try using a 3/16 bolt and nut to make a ground that can be terminated to a larger ring terminal, so I can run a different sized bolt. Otherwise, I stuck the rail sensor to the bracket (it seems to be magnetic). OH and pay attention when you're removing the seatbelt on the passengers' side, there are two plugs that look very similar on the harness and it'll save you some headache if you remember that. Also, the clips that hold the connector for the seatbelt are an anomaly, they push UP rather than down like 99% of the connectors on the car. The clue there is a little notch in the ear, you'll see it.

I'm so amped. I can't stop being excited, and of course we're supposed to get rain the next several days so I don't really want to take the car out again (because the back hatch gets suuuuuuper dirty and it needs better tires). Which reminds me, I need to get better tires. Don't judge me, I'm 18x8 et45 and 225/45 Riken Raptor ZR because they were cheap and allowed the wheels to happen. Breaking traction at highway speeds is cool, but it'd be a lot cooler if I had some real grip, so I'm considering either DWS06+, or maybe ECS, or possibly as far deep as V730s or even RT660/615s. I dunno, I'm all over the place with what I want as far as tires. But those and a downpipe/new tune are definitely on my mind next.

 

[Nineeightyone]

Quick update, I got the ground situation figured out. I drilled a hole in my Corbeau bracket, removed the plastic protective doodad from the ring terminal, and ran a nut and bolt through to keep it fastened. A #10 bolt worked fine. Still had a seatbelt light on, and I began to wonder if I did something incorrectly, or if maybe I hadn't seated the canceller the whole way somewhere. Little more detective work, and determined it was because I had the seatbelt plugged in. Certified jackass over here, ladies and gentlemen. I unplugged it and now no light -- I also no longer have the 'passenger air bag' light on by the hazards, all the time -- which for an unintended consequence, is pretty rad. I guess because of where I put the seat pad/sensor, it seems to think that there is always someone there. Not a problem in my book. No error lights or anything with the kit that (I'm gonna stop @-ing him) StorableComa put together for me, and his insight was suuuuuper helpful through the process.

Steering wheel should be arriving tomorrow, I'll swing by the dealer after work to get a new bolt as they are TTY. I'm not going to bother re-posting pictures but someone scraped along my front bumper Thursday night when we went out for the SCCA meeting, not one of ours but definitely a white vehicle because the transfer was white. I'm going to get in touch with a couple of body shops in the area and see what my options are like, I refuse to let it stay bitched up as it is in the present state. I'm pissed, but it could've been a lot worse.

 

[Nineeightyone]

After months of waiting (and waiting and waiting and waiting, and pestering the seller via IG), my steering wheel arrived yesterday. I forget when I first saw it, but in late December 2022 I placed the order, and it finally arrived. I grabbed a new bolt from the dealer and went home to try my luck with the trim. Ambient temperature was something like 50-60 degrees.

The steering wheel was actually pretty cooperative, considering what I expected to go through. Battery disconnected, key in, 90* turn, unclip one side, crank wheel 180*, unclip the other side. Maybe 10 minutes including looking for a small screwdriver. Disconnect the airbag electronics, no detonation, good start. Then onto the trim, which was surprisingly compliant. The ShopDAP video made it sound like the pegs for these would be liable to break, but I only broke one, and it was in haste. I used a couple trim tools, the pegs sit in a malleable leather(?) area of the wheel and they seem to be alright with flexing, though I'm glad I didn't get the wheel until we were starting to get warmer weather. I broke a peg near the right side buttons, purely because I thought everything was free and pulled. No noticable impact on fit or finish, though I did see what appeared to be wiring plugs for backlighting on the buttons? Not sure, but there were what appeared to be extra 3-pin connectors on the rear of both wheels. Worth looking into, and if I decide to do it I'll just buy a new trim piece to replace the damaged one. 30nm + 90* is the spec for the new center bolt, after making sure the notch on the splined part of the wheel matches the notch at the top of the steering shaft. Then the airbag goes in, which honestly took more force than removal, and then time to reconnect the battery.

The anxiety of dealing with a semi-domesticated claymore is real at this point, so a couple tense moments reconnecting the battery and everything is as it should be again. Then time for a test drive, and all I can think is 'if the airbag goes off, which side of my face am I less fond of?'. Luckily, no airbag deployment. I took it out for a short drive around the block to clear the lights, and it feels great. After getting an aftermarket wheel in my Mazda, the GTI wheel always felt a little skinny. I didn't want something excessive (though I have hands suitable for a first gen Xbox controller), and this feels great. Substantial, but not extreme. The forged carbon looks great, the noon marker and red stitching tie in with the rest of the little red bits in the car, and I continue to love this car.

 

[19birel]

The wheel looks great!

Definitely something on my list as well as the GTI wheel is definitely thin. I just wish it was possible to get one with a slightly smaller diameter too

 

[Nineeightyone]

The wheel looks great!

Definitely something on my list as well as the GTI wheel is definitely thin. I just wish it was possible to get one with a slightly smaller diameter too

Yeah, I think that's going to be something that has to be 100% aftermarket, as most of the ones you see around here are stock cores re-covered.

 

[Nineeightyone]

No pictures but the day I got the seats installed, someone swiped the front end of the GTI. It was a white car, so now it looks like there's bird shit on my bumper. Pretty pissed about it, but there's not a whole lot I can do at the moment. There's a cars & coffee on the 16th I plan to go to at a detailing place, I figure while we're there I'll talk to them and see what they feel my options are.

Next goal, I believe, is to get the downpipe and stage 2 tune. With the options I want it won't be cheap, but this isn't the car I'm cheaping out on. Gonna get myself a snazzy Baun Performance downpipe and 93 octane EQT Stage 2 tune, and then possibly the Aerofabb front splitter. Debating about the side skirt extension things and the rear diffuser, but for now I think the downpipe is the next answer. Time to start watching install videos, I don't have access to a lift so there's definitely limitations on how high I can get the GTI to fish out the downpipe. The other thing is tires, I so severely need to get stickier rubber on this car it's not funny. 3rd gear is spin city, which is entertaining but not fast.

 

[Nineeightyone]

Today's a red letter day: I made the final payment on the GTI, and my wife paid off her car. We had sort of a 'race' going, and then in the last month or so agreed that we should pay them off on the same day, so here we are. Autocross season starts up this weekend and things are mostly in order on my Mazda, so now I can start putting money aside for the GTI downpipe. I've already got my options picked out, Baun Performance with the Vibrant resonator, and I'll get the Stage 2 EQT tune to compliment it. No photos at the moment though, there's not a whole lot new to show.