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Phil's Phantom Purple buildup

105K views 607 replies 40 participants last post by  philrab 
#1 · (Edited)
Phil Rab, owner/installer for Rab Designs Car Audio in Mandeville, LA

Current Mods:

JBR Stage 3 (RMM, shifter plate, shifter bushings)
ROCA OEM style (solid rubber) Passenger Motor Mount
Koni STR.T struts/shocks, speed3 RSB, Michelin Pilot AS3 tires 205/50/17 (stock size.)
MotorCraft XT-M5-QS in the trans(here for where I got mine)
Eonon D5151 w/ ebay backup camera Kenwood KDC-X997 + Infinity 6.5" components and coaxials + JL 320.4 + Sundown SA12/Rab Designs ported enclosure
Stubby Antenna
Spin on filter conversion
Aluminum AC knobs (ebay)
Ebay Flip Key with OEM blank installed (break out the hacksaw and file) starts at post#50 - de-modded cause the dealership cut my key some jacked up way, would start the car, but wouldn't unlock the door. Kinda became an issue when my remote battery died.
Door edge guards and badges removed (the easy ones at least)
Lamin-X yellow fog overlays and independent fog mod how-to
DIY SRI/converted stock air box and resonator delete
Painted shifter trim (looks classy, not ricey)1 2 3
JDM Axela badge
Redline Leather Goods shift boot, e-brake boot, console lid cover
TRS 5000K HID retrofit

Phil's AC Hell Thread http://www.mazda3forums.com/showthread.php?t=475618&highlight=

Phil's Shop thread/Rab Designs Car Audio builds and work in progress http://www.mazda3forums.com/showthread.php?t=647202&highlight=

Old Miata videos, I still miss this car.
http://www.mazda3forums.com/showthread.php?p=9096490#post9096490

I was mainly a lurker in the dark days of owning my 2005 hatch with the automatic. Now, with my 2007 hatch with a proper stick shift, the mod bug has bit once again

This build is going to be a balancing act for me. I commute a hundred miles a day for work, so comfort is priority one. I also bus my daughter around, so add safety to that. I'm also paying down a mortgage(translated as dirt poor most of the time). So, must be quiet, comfortable, and cheap; I know, I like a challenge.

My mods to date are pretty sedate. An Eonon D5151 sits in the dash. I did some work making custom wallpapers for it, and changed the GPS software to iGo Primo 2.4. Down the road, I may look into a backup camera and a small sub, but nothing crazy.

Under the hood, its all factory other than a spin on oil filter conversion and a James Barone Racing stage 3 kit (rear motor mount, shifter plate, and shifter bushings). The gear box is loaded with Redline MT90 and 5w-30 Mobil 1 in the engine. When time allows, I'll start looking into a fiberglass duct to channel cool air from the grill into the factory airbox, a DIY ram air.

Suspension is pretty open. Priority one is ditching the junk tires for something stickier but good for a daily driver. I'm thinking something from BFGoodrich, but I'm open to suggestions. I'm not sold on lowering the car since I drive some awful roads to work, but a rear away bar is probably in my future along with some paintwork on the factory wheels.

It's been a long intro, and I'll try to keep motivated in the face of keeping up with my family and work life. I'm also hoping some of my DIY work will benefit others here to repay the help I've received over the years.



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#3 ·
Right now I'm battling the boss(wife) over painting wheels. I want to paint the factory snowflakes bronze or white. She disagrees. Apparently bronze looks ghetto, and white on a purple car doesn't look good.

If anyone responds to the above by saying her opinion doesn't matter, you're either single or a glutton for punishment.


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#43 ·
Right now I'm battling the boss(wife) over painting wheels. I want to paint the factory snowflakes bronze or white. She disagrees. Apparently bronze looks ghetto, and white on a purple car doesn't look good.

If anyone responds to the above by saying her opinion doesn't matter, you're either single or a glutton for punishment.


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White is a pain to clean that is for sure. They eventually get dirt in the paint and starts to become a weekly or more cleaning operation. I always like black rims for with a nice shiny lip (polished aluminum or chrome). Bronze is an idea..but it's very Subaru don't you think? Do you intend to clear coat the paint with a clear, or with a resin?
 
#6 ·
That's what I keep saying. I agree with her that gold wouldn't look great, but a dark bronze would look good.


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#7 ·
Work's been slow lately. Money is all tied up getting everything together to replace my A/C compressor (when UPS finds the damned one they lost in shipping:angry:), and my daughter's birthday is coming up this weekend.

I did spend last weekend doing a spin-on oil filter conversion (hate the cartridge filters!!!) since the PO apparently cross threaded AND siliconed the cap in place last oil change, and changed out the thermostat to get rid of my CEL (0126, 0128). Now the engine is back to singing.

Next on the list is to adjust the shifter cable per JBR's directions so that I can get my shifter plate working a little more smoothly. Anyone have any advice here other than trial and error? My shifter is a bit notchy going into 5th, and tends to hang up downshifting from 5th to 4th. It's nothing bad, but it'd be nice to make it a bit smoother.
 
#9 ·
Yes and no. Adjusting the shifter per JBR's directions is helping, just gotta keep playing with it till I'm happy. What's STILL pissing me off is the second gear synchro playing dead. Gonna have to drop the coin on Ford unicorn blood to put in the trans, cause MT90 ain't doing it.

Btw, had the same experience in my old Miata. Redline ain't bad, but FoMoCo synthetic trans fluid always seams to do the trick.


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#10 · (Edited)
Update

Well, this weekend I'll be working on the car, but nothing glamorous. After UPS' debacle losing the A/C compressor XCNuse was selling me, I found one locally (used, but far more money than XCNuse was selling his for), so that's on the to do list before the temperature here in Louisiana goes from hot to 'You're f'ing nuts not having A/C'. Hopefully, by the time I make my Monday morning commute, I'll be in a cool and dehumidified car for a change.

On the horizon, I've got a few Father's Day presents coming my way:
1. Backup Camera - ebay special. cheap, from China, but it replaces one of the license plate light housings so it'll be nice and low key. Integrates right into my Eonon D5151.

2. Ebay special 'Hyper Yellow' fog light bulbs - I don't see the point in HID fog lights since their reflector isn't designed to throw light a long distance, and the dark amber light will look nice with the HID upgrade I have planned for the future for my low beams.

3. Ebay special flip key shell - found the directions here just recently, so I'm going to gut a spare key from my old car (totalled 2004) for the RF chip to communicate with the transponder in the steering column, have the key cut (or alternatively have a factory key cut and cold weld the factory blank onto the pivot of the ebay key's blank, have heard the blanks are pretty low quality and very soft metal), and I'll have a nice little flip key for my 2007 3 since I haven't seen any OEM solution to making this happen for our cars.

Looking forward to adding a few small toys to my car. In the future, when a little money frees up, I'm looking at a TRS Morimoto Elite HID retrofit into my low beams with clear lenses and modified reflector bowls.

I'd also love to put a badgeless front grill in. Any recommendations that fit worth a damn? I've seen Nextmod and Speedline (can't figure out if their grill actually fits MY 2007 S hatch for sure). Anyone care to offer a recomendation? Most of what I've found in search just says the aftermarket grills fit horribly, and the AutoEXE costs WAY too much for my taste.
 
#11 ·
And scratch my plans working on the car this weekend. Came down with a stomach bug Friday night Saturday morning. Spent the last two days in bed or praying to St. Ralph. Maybe during the week......


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#13 ·
Think I'm going to skip the grill honestly. The more I look at them, the less happy I am with the options that are out there.


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#16 · (Edited)
Back to topic, after a weekend of being sick as Hell, I'm replacing my A/C compressor. It'll be a few weekend before some boxes start showing up from China (eBay) with some budget toys for my car.

Next up is eBay flip keys and a backup camera. Much later will be HID's from TRS.


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#17 ·
Final verdict 32 degree temperature drop in balmy 70% humidity (love SE Louisiana) and not a peep from the compressor. The old one used to make an incredibly antisocial clattering noise while it ran.

For anyone likewise doing this job yourself, get a copy of the FSM, follow it, and take your time. It's definitely a DIY job, albeit more difficult than changing a headlight bulb.


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#19 ·
Yeah, I spent a month without A/C, partially while XCNuse and I screamed at UPS about the compressor he sold me that they lost. Then, the weekend I have lined up to fix it, I come down with THE WORST stomach flu I have ever had, and spend a day and a half in bed hating life. At least it got done, and I'm finally looking forward to driving my car to work again.


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#20 ·
Update: USPS showed up with boxes of goodies for me. Yellow fog lights already installed, night pics to follow when it gets dark tonight.

Flip key will be a little bit before its done. I've gotta see if I want to get the blank that came with it cut, or cut a spare I have lying around and JB Weld thank blank to the rotating mechanism in this key. I'll ponder and take pics either way.

I've also got a backup camera that'll probably go in this weekend. I'm figuring tap the power off the reverse lights (pick up the wires in the headliner where they come in from the hatch) and run signal all the way up to the HU.

A happy Father's Day is one I spend with my family with some time out to work on my car.


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#21 ·
DIY "JDM" Yellow Fogs attempt

Well, here's what I got in the mail from Ebay.
Auto part Tire Automotive wheel system Automotive tire Suspension part


After you light these things up, its apparent the coating is too light to output in the 3000K range like I wanted. They honestly look just like my Halogen low beams. Fortunately, my artist wife dropped this little bit if knowledge on me.

Apparently Sharpie brand permanent ink adheres permanently to glass if you bake it. I figure an hour drive to work will heat them up hot enough, so here's what I just finished doing.

Cosmetics Material property Writing implement


I'm concerned they'll be more orange than I want, but after the light washes out some of the color it'll probably be close to amber. Pics to follow.

Anybody care to offer an opinion. Nokya a wants $25 for a pair of bulbs. I figure I may be able to produce something close for the cost of a Sharpie.


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#22 ·
No pics in the dark, but that didn't work. The light is coming out pumpkin orange. Time for some acetone or hairspray to strip that ink off the glass in the morning, and try again with yellow Sharpie. From there, I'll add a stripe or so of orange if I need to darken it up.

I'll post final result when I'm done in case anyone else actually reads this thread.


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#23 ·
Redid my fog bulbs this morning. Some nail polish remover stripped the paint right off, and yellow Sharpie looks like it'll do the trick. Night pics this evening.

I also installed my backup camera this morning. Later this evening I'll throw some pics and tips here. Took a couple of hours just for the shear amount of disassembly needed to run the wires front to back.


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#24 ·
As promised, here's some pics from the backup camera. You can find these cheap in eBay: search for "mazda3 backup camera" and make sure it'll fit your car. Mine specified 2004-2009.
Technology Cameras & optics Electronic device Camera

Electronics Technology Electronic device


This one replaces one of the lenses of your license plate light housings. Just pop it out, and this one pops in its place. Mine (Chinese build quality) was a touch too narrow to fit securely) so I siliconed it in place. I also drilled a hole in the corner to let the wires pass through the housing. In hind sight, drill the hole through the back.
Vehicle registration plate Automotive exterior Auto part Motor vehicle Bumper

That's all you see installed, which was my whole motivation. This thing tucks in so well, its invisible unless you're almost under the car. I did have to notch the bumper cover for clearance right where the camera is, but its all out of the way and invisible. A pair of diagonal cutters can do it, though I had a hobby saw (tiny hacksaw) that made really nice work of it.

Cable Technology Electronic device Wire Electronics accessory

I'm including this to point out something I picked up from another thread. The included harness had power and ground on the end nearest the camera, and another power wire where it connects to the radio. Since my Eonon D5151 doesn't need a signal to tell it the car is in reverse (Can Bus) and there's no switched power in the back of the car, I tapped the cigarette lighter for power on the upstream end of the harness, and cut the downstream end off. I tapped the ground from the hatch light in the rear, and ran everything down the passenger side of the car under the carpets and panels.
Vehicle Electronics Car Multimedia Technology

That's my end result. Pic is good despite how low the camera is mounted. All in all, well worth $20 and a couple hours work.


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#25 ·
Just a note for anyone who follows behind this thread, DO NOT piggyback the ground for the hatch light. This will result in the door ajar warning being permanently on, as well as the lock button on your remote not working.


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#26 ·
Any pictures of the yellow fogs?
 
#27 · (Edited)
I'll post some up when I'm happy with them. With the glass Sharpie'd yellow, they look yellow when the fogs are illuminated, but when it's dark they just wash out. I'm thinking I'll pull them and apply a stripe on each side of the bulb with orange to darken them up a little.

Once I'm happy with the color, I'll post a final pic of what exactly I did, as well as starting a thread in the exterior lighting section. Like I said, for the cost of a pack of colored Sharpie permanent, if you can replicate the $25.00 Nokya Hyper Yellow fogs I see no reason not to share the information. I can say that for now, orange is way too orange and Yellow isn't quite enough color. Going to take some experimentation.

Of course, on my way to work my AC mysteriously stopped working after a week of working fine, so it's time to get the gauges back on there. Hopefully I'll see a working compressor (used, but with a warranty) and low refrigerant. I have a suspicion my service ports are leaking, which is about the cheapest thing to replace in the whole system.

Regarding the backup camera, I bought a cheap one so I didn't expect the night time performance to be great, but you literally can't see a thing in the dark. If anyone follows my lead, they make a very similar camera to mine with a CCD camera rather than my CMOS. CCD takes more power to run, but supposedly has much clearer picture and better low light performance. If you feel like spending the extra money, you may want to try that one. Conversely, none of these claim to be night capable (no IR lights to help illuminate) so it may just be a limitation of the cheap camera they're using. All in all, it works well during anything other than pitch black so I'm happy.

Edit: I discovered by trial and error that a lot of the problem with the backup camera at night was being caused by the actual bulb that installs in the housing throwing a glare on the lens of the camera. Since I have a hatch, I just pulled the bulb that installs in the housing the camera attaches to, and left the other one. The picture is dark, but viewable. For those with a sedan only having one light, I'm not sure how you'd correct this. This may have been caused by the gap between the camera housing the the light housing, and a line of silicone may have fixed the whole thing. Too late now, just wanted to post my experience.
 
#28 ·
Last attempt at DIY yellow fog bulbs before I cave and buy Lamin-X overlays.
Automotive lighting Yellow Light Amber Lighting


The heat from the bulbs vaporized the ink on first attempt. I think there may have been some acetone residue as well. This time, they're clean, two coats dry in between, and I added a thin stripe of orange top and bottom to darken them up just a little.

If the color lasts a little bit, I'll call it a success. If its gone in a few days, I'm not to proud to admit I tried and failed.


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#30 ·
Great to know about the ground / latch issue... That would drive me bonkers

Have u tried laker ( god i know i spelt that wrong! )... On the fogs yet?

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Laquer you mean? No, and honestly if this Sharpie doesn't work I'm just going to eat it and get Lamin-X yellow overlays and call it a day.

There is a Krylon product (stained glass aersol paint) that works supposedly, but it looks like Krylon discontinued it and I can't find any for a reasonable price. Likewise, most 'stained glass paints' available aren't truly stained glass paint but something to imitate it. They're too opaque.

Apparently the issue with what I was trying to do is the heat these 55W bulbs produce. On a lower wattage bulb with less use, like an interior light bulb, this would probably work just fine.
 
#33 ·
That's neat about Sharpie. Never knew that baking on glass makes it really permanent.

Did you ever settle on a color for the wheels? You know what might look neat? A metallic tan. It'd be different, at least.
The jury is still out on Sharpie bulbs. I'll know in a week if it sticks around, or if the heat just burns the ink off. It works on lower powered bulbs, but the 55W fog bulbs (stock wattage to my knowledge) makes a ton of heat.

Wheels are up in the air. I still want a dark bronze, wife thinks they look good silver. We'll see. Phantom purple cars are so few and far between, especially modded, it stands out already and I think bronze on the purple would look amazing.
 
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