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my mazda


swynx

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lewiston idaho
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1994
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Mazda
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
so i wanted more lift so i ordered some 2 inch skyjacker rbv coils for the pickup, some time later i went to the pull and save i spotted a few rangers with lift kits installed, so i pulled the lift brackets off of one of the rangers, and modified them.

this turned into buying 3.5 eb coils, extending the radius arms, and installing f250 shock towers.





had to cut the shock tower off the coil tower, for the f250's, i mounted them seperatly from one another so i could move them up/down to compensate for whatever.





the f250 shock towers are about 6 inches taller than the stock configuration.



f250 shock towers...



stock towers...



from left to right, stock coils, 2 inch rbv coils, and 3.5 eb coils.

 


swynx

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ill be putting this thing back together some more tonight after i pulled the transmission out, ill upload more in the next few days.
 

swynx

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i extended the radius arms with 2 pieces of 15" 1/4 wall dom, for a total of 12" per arm, it came out perfect to where the holes for the transmission crossmember and the radius arm cross member use 1 of the same holes, on the same side, and yes i did reuse the stock radius arm crossmember.

here you can see how maxing out the stock radius arms was chewing up the rubber bushings, in fact these have less that 2000 miles on them.



had to figure out a way to seat the coils, and then retain them. visited home depot, grabbed some 4 inch piping ends (im not sure what its really called). they fit the 3.5 eb coils perfectly.



took some scrap i had laying around and folded it over.



(yes i know the tie rod is on backwards, ive since flipped it.)



picked up a 12k lbs winch.



decided that i wanted it between the frame rails, so i started trimming these ends caps.





picked up some angle iron, each side uses 4 bolts through the frame, past the crumple section.





and then as it turns out, the 2 inch body lift left the perfect gap for the bumper, it sits right behind/ on top of the fairlead, and it looks alright.

 

swynx

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1994
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4.0
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Manual
this is one of the first pictures i took after installing the 3.5 eb coils, and some 10 inch travel shocks, with the lift brackets on. i decided it was too tall for the 33's, and i would need taller shocks, for full droop. at the time i was also experiencing some problems with the brackets, so i took them off, and raised the coil buckets 1 inch. i was able to get it aligned and only gained 2 inches of lift.



this is the rear end with 2 inch body lift, 2 inch block, and the belltech 6400 shackles.



i have trimmed my front fenders a lot, and my rears not at all, so it appears that the front is taller in the first pic, when in reality it is not. once i trim my rear fenders for larger tires, i will probably have to remove the block in the rear to get rid of the rake. the 2 inch body lift and 2 inch suspension lift is the max i am going as of this moment.

here is how the truck sits now.

 

swynx

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Manual
got tired of tools, and gear getting muddy and tossed around every where, so i picked up this tool box and painted it flat black.



 

swynx

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Manual
the engine swap

the dead cylinder on the old engine.



dropped in this 1996 4.0, unknown miles, but 180 compression.



pulled the intake and obd2 wiring harness off.



obd2 harness out



1994 accessories, starting to be added, drivers side manifold installed, 1996 upper intake pulled off



all of the 1994 stuff put onto the 1996 engine.



at this point i fired up the engine and STILL had a air leak some where... i knew the only part of the old engine was the intake, so i pulled it back off and coated the gasket with gasket maker, deleted all the egr stuff and all the extra vacuum lines that went all around the engine. fired it up and had an idle of about 600

unless im forgetting one then im only running the brake booster line, fuel pressure regulator line, and the heat/ac/fan blower line.

the only part of the egr that im running is the tube from the manifold to the intake, and only because it was easier to just install it, then bother trying to delete it.

as far as idle; fuel/air, type sensors go, i run the tps, iac, o2, crankshaft position sensor, but no camshaft position sensor.

ive read quite a few posts saying that there will be a loss of power or the engine wont run right without the camshaft position sensor, i honestly am not buying into this. this engine is definitely more powerful than the old engine, and runs fine all day, rev limiter or not.

one of the biggest issues i had was finding the upper radiator hose for this engine, it turns out that the 94 and 96 upper hose spigot have a different diameter, so a 94 hose wont fit on the 96 end. after swapping the 96 out for the 94, it finally worked.
 
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swynx

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Manual
took a wheeling trip, i dropped into the hole that started my engine problems last time. it was way deeper this year so i backed out, and then i couldnt shift... turns out i neglected to change the pilot bearing. after i got it home i dropped the transmission...

as you can see there is a bearing missing





also on the same trip, this happened... the shifter came off... macgyvere'd it home, with out a clutch and a redneck short throw...

 

swynx

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Manual
about a year ago, i destroyed the oem turn signals, and had to figure out something else for the front blinkers, so i turned the front marker lights into blinkers, i did so by putting a power wire onto each end of the bulb, ive read that its suppose to ground out with the filament... well i bought some l.e.d lights for them because i thought they would be brighter and easier to see.

then after some time, the voltage guage started going haywire, when i used the left blinker, then it started popping fuses, i messed with it and only made it worse (grounded out a power on accident) so then i couldnt even probe it to see what was going on. i tore apart the wiring harness to look for a short, in the process i cleaned up the mess i had under the dash.





i put all of the relays and fuses in the under hood fuse box, so the majority of it would be hidden.



as it turns out there was a big round thing in the in-cab fuse panel... it smelled like smoke. went to the auto parts store to get a replacement, it was a blinker module... and there are 2 types, 1 for incandescent bulbs and 1 for l.e.d/ incandescent bulbs. so if you plan on running l.e.d blinkers you have to buy the new module, or it will over time short out the original unit. my blinkers work fine now.

 

swynx

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oh yeah... and this happened..



went to the pull and save, i always search every rig that i know might have a turbo/supercharger on it. i was going to leave and then we found this on a 1998 grand prix. 17$$$.

ive noticed lately that the 4.0 sohc super charger kit has dropped in price, as well has the timing chain kit. so hopefully that and the hybrid m50d will happen soon/at the same time.
 

swynx

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in 3 years ive gone from

this...



to this...

 
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vicp21

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oh yeah... and this happened..



went to the pull and save, i always search every rig that i know might have a turbo/supercharger on it. i was going to leave and then we found this on a 1998 grand prix. 17$$$.

ive noticed lately that the 4.0 sohc super charger kit has dropped in price, as well has the timing chain kit. so hopefully that and the hybrid m50d will happen soon/at the same time.
What's the plan for mounting that?
 

swynx

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lewiston idaho
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1994
Make / Model
Mazda
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
What's the plan for mounting that?
the original plan was to mount it off to the side of the engine, like a turbo setup. but there is not enough room for that, unless i trim the heater core, but i still might look into this more.

ive talked to ron at rpcaster and got some info about making a mounting plate for it. seeing as its from a 1998 pontiac, it has the longer snout, and all ranger supercharger kits use a short snout; the snouts are interchangeable but its not cost effective.

more than likely ill just sell this one to a jeep guy, and buy the thunderbird model... if i dont go v8.

kind of having a battle in my head between swapping a explorer 5.0 or doing a supercharged sohc. ive been having a lot of problems with my 5 speed lately and am getting real tired of messing with it. so i am leaning more towards building a 5.0 and an 4r70, and getting some b5000 badges =]
 

swynx

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Age
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lewiston idaho
Vehicle Year
1994
Make / Model
Mazda
Engine Size
4.0
Transmission
Manual
spent a day trying to bleed my transmission, with no luck.

tryed gravity bleeding it, then using the gun on it to suck the air out. still couldnt get any pressure, pulled the master cylinder from the firewall; still a no go. so i bought a 60 ml syringe, filled it with fluid and hooked it up to the bleeder screw, and put the gun on the master cylinder hose, finally got some pressure. probably would have been enough to drive, but i got picky...

then i accidentally pumped the gun up too much and im assuming i blew out the seal on the master, because it will just pull air all day long with no pressure on the pedal. the damn thing was the original any ways.

as soon as i get a new clutch master cylinder, ill install and bleed the pickup again. hopefully get out on the trail and flex it, as i have not been able to stretch out the suspension since ive installed it; excited to see what the 3.5 eb springs will do.
 

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