Chris' Mazda 6 GJ Wagon
Discussion
Although the MX5 NB has been alot of fun, there's been a number of scenerios in the past few months where I needed a more 'practical' car.
The wife still has the soul red Mazda 6 GJ saloon, and it's been trouble free for the past 5.5 years. So this car was an obvious choice.
I did originally find a GH saloon for sale, but after studying the photos, I wasn't happy with the conditon. That's when I found an advert for a GJ estate for not much more money. Granted it had more miles but I much prefer the GJ.
A few late night messages exchanged with the seller and we arranged a viewing a couple of days later.
Everything checked out, the only thing I could fault was the mirror switch didn't work. He accepted my offer and the 2hr drive home was flawless.
2012
Sport Nav
118k
It's got the usual mod cons including heated leather seats, dual climate control, air con, sat nav, bose audio, parking sensors, reverse camera and xenon headlights.
Fresh MOT and service which was a bonus
Of course this won't stay stock for long lol
The wife still has the soul red Mazda 6 GJ saloon, and it's been trouble free for the past 5.5 years. So this car was an obvious choice.
I did originally find a GH saloon for sale, but after studying the photos, I wasn't happy with the conditon. That's when I found an advert for a GJ estate for not much more money. Granted it had more miles but I much prefer the GJ.
A few late night messages exchanged with the seller and we arranged a viewing a couple of days later.
Everything checked out, the only thing I could fault was the mirror switch didn't work. He accepted my offer and the 2hr drive home was flawless.
2012
Sport Nav
118k
It's got the usual mod cons including heated leather seats, dual climate control, air con, sat nav, bose audio, parking sensors, reverse camera and xenon headlights.
Fresh MOT and service which was a bonus
Of course this won't stay stock for long lol
The first job was to investigate a rattling speaker. The bose speakers seem to be a common issue for this model and luckily it's an easy fix.
With the door card removed, the speaker(s) are held on by 4 screws and the plug at the top. Using some clamps/locking grips and some epoxy glue the cone can be re-bonded to the metal frame of the speaker.
I go more in depth in the video, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1WuwZuUqxg
With the door card removed, the speaker(s) are held on by 4 screws and the plug at the top. Using some clamps/locking grips and some epoxy glue the cone can be re-bonded to the metal frame of the speaker.
I go more in depth in the video, which can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1WuwZuUqxg
The first change/modification was a debadged grille. This is abit of a marmite thing, but I'm a little bias as I fitted the same one to the wife's saloon.
Ordered direct with MV Tuning, dispatch took about a week and a further 2 weeks for the shipping/delivery.
I didn't want to be left without a car while I did this, so I purchased a spare grille from eBay. This also gave me a spare chrome trim for vinyl wrapping at a later date.
I used a sharp knife to cut the centre out, the bars were the trickiest part due to the moulding/shape.
The lower edge needs trimming down to 7.5mm wide, luckily this gets rid of the redundant plastic on the sides where the bars originally were. For this I used some metal vernier gauges, allowing me to leave a score mark ready to cut.
The new grille laid out including the optional bar covers which can be painted seperately
MV Tuning include an alchohol wipe to prep the surface, the grille is attached with 3M tape
The next part was the most difficult bit, getting the original removed.
I go through this in more detail in the video, but I was mainly battling with corrosion (surprise surprise!)
A side by side comparison
Grille fitted and bumper reinstalled
Import size number plate fitted too, just need to plug those holes up
The youtube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdRaJwJ4V3o
Ordered direct with MV Tuning, dispatch took about a week and a further 2 weeks for the shipping/delivery.
I didn't want to be left without a car while I did this, so I purchased a spare grille from eBay. This also gave me a spare chrome trim for vinyl wrapping at a later date.
I used a sharp knife to cut the centre out, the bars were the trickiest part due to the moulding/shape.
The lower edge needs trimming down to 7.5mm wide, luckily this gets rid of the redundant plastic on the sides where the bars originally were. For this I used some metal vernier gauges, allowing me to leave a score mark ready to cut.
The new grille laid out including the optional bar covers which can be painted seperately
MV Tuning include an alchohol wipe to prep the surface, the grille is attached with 3M tape
The next part was the most difficult bit, getting the original removed.
I go through this in more detail in the video, but I was mainly battling with corrosion (surprise surprise!)
A side by side comparison
Grille fitted and bumper reinstalled
Import size number plate fitted too, just need to plug those holes up
The youtube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdRaJwJ4V3o
Edited by hoodedreeper on Monday 14th April 22:52
t with that import plate, brah...It's a more cohesive look with the original Uk size plate.Lowering the car was always on the to do list, but I was unsure which route to take. Lowering springs or coilovers. The wife's saloon is on Direnza 30mm lowering springs and sits quite nice with the factory 19" wheels. Firm, but still retained some daily driving comfort.
I had a brief read up on lowering springs (Eibach) with Bilstein B8 shock absorbers, but for a little bit more money I could get coilovers.
At the top of the list of coilovers were BC Racing, which I've had on the Accord and 323F. Very comfortable and the added benefit of adjustable dampening and ride height is a bonus.
Another option is air suspension, but Airlift Performance kits start from around £3800, quite a jump from coilovers.
One evening while scrolling through social media I came across a for sale post on the owner's club Facebook group. The item in question was an 18 month old air ride set up.
A few messages back and forth with the seller and a collection date was agreed. Having never owned, driven or experienced a car with air suspension, this would be an interesting experience. It can't be that difficult, surely?
The kit is an older V2 set up, so it doesn't have the modern height sensors. Nor does it have the Bluetooth function to control it from you phone. One advantage to using V2 is the additional presets, I can have 8 whereas the newer kits are limited to only 3.
The struts are 18 months old, the strut mount bearings were starting to get a little loose, but a pair of new bearings were supplied. A visit to a friend's garage to use his press, and the bearings are swapped over in no time.
The bundle came with two pairs of rear shock absorbers, it was an obvious decision to use the new ones. The rear air bag has a couple of brackets to help mount them to the car.
The most daunting bit was the wiring and air lines. Once it was laid out and a flick through the instruction booklets, it wasn't as bad I first thought. Infact it's quite a simple install (on paper).
The kit came with a pair of Viair V444 compressors, the wiring had been chopped so that needed attention when installing.
Top right of the photo is the manifold with 1/4" PTC (push to connect) ports along with a water trap.
That leaves the air tank and 1/4" hose. The hose is a rigid plastic so routing this on the car avoiding any sharp bends will be a task in itself, but I'm sure I'll be fine. I bought 20m of new hose, despite the bundle including some (piece of mind).
I started off by routing the wiring, just like installing a subwoofer the wiring was tucked down the passenger side of the car underneath the kick panels. I had to trim some of the plastic to make sure the loom would fit snug against the rubber seal. On this particular model there's a large rubber wiring grommet behind the heater box, space is abit of an issue but with perseverance I got it through. The end of loom is a live and earth for each compressor which connect to the battery.
A little further back on the loom is a loose pink wire. This connects to the interior fuse box with a piggy back fuse holder for the ignition feed.
The last cable loose from the main plug is the controller wire. This was routed along side the main loom but tee'd off near the glove box. For the time being I used a magnetic phone holder to mount the controller on the passenger air vent.
The next part of the installation was routing the air hose front to back. Starting at the front, I rivetted some P clips to the inner arch and tried to make sure it was as far away as possible. The underside of the car is mostly under trays uses x3 6mm bolts near the sills which I used for more P clips. A couple more rivetted either end to finish the sill length. Looking back I guess I should have put the hose behind the covers, which I may do later on if any issues arise.
From here the hose went through a plastic trim, up an over the subframe to the back of the rear wheel arch. I drilled two holes each side with a wiring grommet and the hoses will come through to where the storage pockets are in the boot area. I made sure to cover the hose with some conduit for added protection.
I had a brief read up on lowering springs (Eibach) with Bilstein B8 shock absorbers, but for a little bit more money I could get coilovers.
At the top of the list of coilovers were BC Racing, which I've had on the Accord and 323F. Very comfortable and the added benefit of adjustable dampening and ride height is a bonus.
Another option is air suspension, but Airlift Performance kits start from around £3800, quite a jump from coilovers.
One evening while scrolling through social media I came across a for sale post on the owner's club Facebook group. The item in question was an 18 month old air ride set up.
A few messages back and forth with the seller and a collection date was agreed. Having never owned, driven or experienced a car with air suspension, this would be an interesting experience. It can't be that difficult, surely?
The kit is an older V2 set up, so it doesn't have the modern height sensors. Nor does it have the Bluetooth function to control it from you phone. One advantage to using V2 is the additional presets, I can have 8 whereas the newer kits are limited to only 3.
The struts are 18 months old, the strut mount bearings were starting to get a little loose, but a pair of new bearings were supplied. A visit to a friend's garage to use his press, and the bearings are swapped over in no time.
The bundle came with two pairs of rear shock absorbers, it was an obvious decision to use the new ones. The rear air bag has a couple of brackets to help mount them to the car.
The most daunting bit was the wiring and air lines. Once it was laid out and a flick through the instruction booklets, it wasn't as bad I first thought. Infact it's quite a simple install (on paper).
The kit came with a pair of Viair V444 compressors, the wiring had been chopped so that needed attention when installing.
Top right of the photo is the manifold with 1/4" PTC (push to connect) ports along with a water trap.
That leaves the air tank and 1/4" hose. The hose is a rigid plastic so routing this on the car avoiding any sharp bends will be a task in itself, but I'm sure I'll be fine. I bought 20m of new hose, despite the bundle including some (piece of mind).
I started off by routing the wiring, just like installing a subwoofer the wiring was tucked down the passenger side of the car underneath the kick panels. I had to trim some of the plastic to make sure the loom would fit snug against the rubber seal. On this particular model there's a large rubber wiring grommet behind the heater box, space is abit of an issue but with perseverance I got it through. The end of loom is a live and earth for each compressor which connect to the battery.
A little further back on the loom is a loose pink wire. This connects to the interior fuse box with a piggy back fuse holder for the ignition feed.
The last cable loose from the main plug is the controller wire. This was routed along side the main loom but tee'd off near the glove box. For the time being I used a magnetic phone holder to mount the controller on the passenger air vent.
The next part of the installation was routing the air hose front to back. Starting at the front, I rivetted some P clips to the inner arch and tried to make sure it was as far away as possible. The underside of the car is mostly under trays uses x3 6mm bolts near the sills which I used for more P clips. A couple more rivetted either end to finish the sill length. Looking back I guess I should have put the hose behind the covers, which I may do later on if any issues arise.
From here the hose went through a plastic trim, up an over the subframe to the back of the rear wheel arch. I drilled two holes each side with a wiring grommet and the hoses will come through to where the storage pockets are in the boot area. I made sure to cover the hose with some conduit for added protection.
It's time to swap the struts. Starting off with the rears because I knew the rear air spring brackets could be a nightmare. Just like the MX5, the lower arm uses a long bolt with a captive nut. One side was fine, but the other kept spinning, which caused some grief but I eventually gone it removed. The shock absorber is secured at the bottom with a single bolt and two nuts at the top.
Luckily I was doing this job, because one mounting lug wasn't attached
Wit the shock absorber removed the lower arm could be pushed down to remove the spring. The lower spring cups had corroded themselves to the suspension arms which added time to the job.
Plenty of rust
Fitting the air springs were a little fiddly. The oblong bracket goes up inside the chassis followed by the upper bracket secured by a single bolt in the centre. The air spring is then secured to the upper bracket by a bolt either side. To make things a little easier I used a trolley jack and lifted the lower arm up to support the weight of the air spring, while I aligned the two bolts.
With the trolley jack still supporting the suspension arm, the lower bracket and bolt can be fitted. I say bracket, it's just a large round washer that fits in the bottom of the suspension arm.
The rear shock absorbers are the same fitment as stock and require no additional work. These have dampening adjustment, I set them to half way for the time being.
The hose is a short route from the air spring to the rear of the arch, I drilled a hole and cable tied the hose on the inner edge of the wheel arch.
Moving onto the front shock absorbers, disconnect the drop link at the top and removed the 2 clips holding the wheel speed sensor to the shock along with a rubber dampening block and brake hose horse shoe retaining clip. There's 2 lower bolts followed by the 3 strut top nuts.
The new struts are a direct replacement, the only thing extra is the braided leader hose which needs securing to the inner wheel arch. Making sure it has clearance of the wheel and tyre along with enough slack/movement for steering angle.
The next step is the connect the hoses to the manifold. The Manifold ports are labelled for each corner along with T for tank and E for exhaust.
The compressors connect to a T joiner and go to one port on the tank.
The hose from the T port on the manifold goes to the side underneath the trim to the water trap, then to the tank.
This is an early photo showing a rough lay out. I did end up cutting away a lot of the upper polystyrene to make some extra room for the hoses. I ended up mounting the manifold and compressors to some wood and used some heavy duty Velcro to secure it to the polystyrene insert. With the compressors running it is a little noisy with vibration, but this will get re-done later on. For now I just wanted to make sure it all worked.
With all of the hoses connected, the wiring connected to the battery and fuse box it was time for the first start up. The initial calibration took approx. 15-20mins followed by roughly the same amount of time to adjust each preset. One feature I like is the car will rise on start up to what ever the first preset is. In this case, it's the recommended pressures from Airlift Performance.
In total it took 2 days to fit with no clue what I was doing. The kit cost me £1600 followed by another £100 for new hose, fuse holders, wiring etc. For an extra £700 over the cost of BC coilovers, I feel it was a good decision. Although I'm sure there will be a few that will think it's a waste of money (who cares, it's not their money haha)
The ride is still very comfortable, a little firmer and totally adjustable. I still have 3/4 of my boot space too along with the storage compartments either side.
The Youtube video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqICEtTJ5KE
Luckily I was doing this job, because one mounting lug wasn't attached
Wit the shock absorber removed the lower arm could be pushed down to remove the spring. The lower spring cups had corroded themselves to the suspension arms which added time to the job.
Plenty of rust
Fitting the air springs were a little fiddly. The oblong bracket goes up inside the chassis followed by the upper bracket secured by a single bolt in the centre. The air spring is then secured to the upper bracket by a bolt either side. To make things a little easier I used a trolley jack and lifted the lower arm up to support the weight of the air spring, while I aligned the two bolts.
With the trolley jack still supporting the suspension arm, the lower bracket and bolt can be fitted. I say bracket, it's just a large round washer that fits in the bottom of the suspension arm.
The rear shock absorbers are the same fitment as stock and require no additional work. These have dampening adjustment, I set them to half way for the time being.
The hose is a short route from the air spring to the rear of the arch, I drilled a hole and cable tied the hose on the inner edge of the wheel arch.
Moving onto the front shock absorbers, disconnect the drop link at the top and removed the 2 clips holding the wheel speed sensor to the shock along with a rubber dampening block and brake hose horse shoe retaining clip. There's 2 lower bolts followed by the 3 strut top nuts.
The new struts are a direct replacement, the only thing extra is the braided leader hose which needs securing to the inner wheel arch. Making sure it has clearance of the wheel and tyre along with enough slack/movement for steering angle.
The next step is the connect the hoses to the manifold. The Manifold ports are labelled for each corner along with T for tank and E for exhaust.
The compressors connect to a T joiner and go to one port on the tank.
The hose from the T port on the manifold goes to the side underneath the trim to the water trap, then to the tank.
This is an early photo showing a rough lay out. I did end up cutting away a lot of the upper polystyrene to make some extra room for the hoses. I ended up mounting the manifold and compressors to some wood and used some heavy duty Velcro to secure it to the polystyrene insert. With the compressors running it is a little noisy with vibration, but this will get re-done later on. For now I just wanted to make sure it all worked.
With all of the hoses connected, the wiring connected to the battery and fuse box it was time for the first start up. The initial calibration took approx. 15-20mins followed by roughly the same amount of time to adjust each preset. One feature I like is the car will rise on start up to what ever the first preset is. In this case, it's the recommended pressures from Airlift Performance.
In total it took 2 days to fit with no clue what I was doing. The kit cost me £1600 followed by another £100 for new hose, fuse holders, wiring etc. For an extra £700 over the cost of BC coilovers, I feel it was a good decision. Although I'm sure there will be a few that will think it's a waste of money (who cares, it's not their money haha)
The ride is still very comfortable, a little firmer and totally adjustable. I still have 3/4 of my boot space too along with the storage compartments either side.
The Youtube video can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqICEtTJ5KE
When I initially installed the air suspension, the controller was attached to an air vent phone holder and that was it. Despite it looking a little out of place, it was easy to read and adjust.
I wanted a cleaner install, that's when I had the idea to relocate it to the sunglasses holder where the front interior lights are.
I purchased a replacement unit from eBay so I didn't destroy the original, at that time I wasn't 100% sure how I was going to mount it. That's when I came across another magnetic phone holder at work, but this time the magnet mount was self adhesive.
I measured the internal space of the sunglasses holder, placed the magnet in the centre and cut a square around it. With the material and glue removed, the surface was cleaned with white spirit ready for the magnet to be stuck on.
Just above, inbetween the two mounting holes I drilled a 10mm hole to feed the wiring through.
A test fit and it's looking good
The wiring had to be extended, not the neatest soldering but it didn't pull apart. Before I insulated and wrapped it in tesa tape, I tested it on the car and luckily it worked fine.
The unit was ready to be installed on the car. The original trim piece is held on by two screws, with a gentle pull downwards it'll unclip. I removed the passenger side sun visor to allow the head lining to move better. With the wiring tucked away, it was time to do a final test.
I was concerned the controller would rock about while in use but it's quite solid
I love it when a plan comes together
The Youtube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yjko8GGkuI
The new wheels and tyres have been purchased and will hopefully arrive within the next week. Not a crazy wheel design, but it's a well known wheel brand I've never owned before.
Will update this as soon as they're on
I wanted a cleaner install, that's when I had the idea to relocate it to the sunglasses holder where the front interior lights are.
I purchased a replacement unit from eBay so I didn't destroy the original, at that time I wasn't 100% sure how I was going to mount it. That's when I came across another magnetic phone holder at work, but this time the magnet mount was self adhesive.
I measured the internal space of the sunglasses holder, placed the magnet in the centre and cut a square around it. With the material and glue removed, the surface was cleaned with white spirit ready for the magnet to be stuck on.
Just above, inbetween the two mounting holes I drilled a 10mm hole to feed the wiring through.
A test fit and it's looking good
The wiring had to be extended, not the neatest soldering but it didn't pull apart. Before I insulated and wrapped it in tesa tape, I tested it on the car and luckily it worked fine.
The unit was ready to be installed on the car. The original trim piece is held on by two screws, with a gentle pull downwards it'll unclip. I removed the passenger side sun visor to allow the head lining to move better. With the wiring tucked away, it was time to do a final test.
I was concerned the controller would rock about while in use but it's quite solid
I love it when a plan comes together
The Youtube video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yjko8GGkuI
The new wheels and tyres have been purchased and will hopefully arrive within the next week. Not a crazy wheel design, but it's a well known wheel brand I've never owned before.
Will update this as soon as they're on
Wheels wheels wheels
So much choice, so many things to factor in the decision making
I wouldn't have said it was a hurdle, but the wheel diameter didn't help with the search. I wanted to keep with 19" because I think it suits the proportions of the car, 18" can look too small and 20" can be too big. Not saying either of those sizes are wrong, just personal preference.
From what I had read via forum posts, FB/IG posts etc anything wider than 9" wide and the rear arches need rolling, depending on offset and tyre size. I have an arch roller so that shouldn't be an issue.
Do I stay within those arch parameters and go with a maximum width of 8.5" width or go wider. I didn't mind the wheel tuck, but I wanted to fill the arches so that answered that.
Spoke design.... these cars suit dished wheels, but after owning the white and polished Work Meister S1 on the purple MX5, the days of maintaining polished lips are long gone. Multi spokes don't really look good IMO, five spokes expose the brakes/suspension too much and I'm not in the position to be fitting larger brakes at the moment (which will also complicate the wheel decision)
I looked at the cheaper range of wheels, but they all look a bit…naff? The price was also surprising, nearly £1000 for a set of 19" JR/Rota....I'll pass. I looked at Work wheels but they're either dished or the spoke design wouldn't suit the car. Prices were around £1400, I'd rather pay £400 more and get some Works to be honest.
That's when I looked at the Rotiform range. A brand I've never owned before, and one I typically associate with German cars.
Their RSE design had always been a favourite, and it was an option. That's when I came across the TUF-R
I like the centre cap covering the wheel nuts
I took a gamble and ordered them in 19x9.5 ET38
For the tyres I went with Yokohama AE51 235/40R19
I had to do discs and pads all round, while I was there I painted the calipers red too.
With the wheels mounted and the car on the ground, it was time for the un-nerving task of adjusting the air suspension...hoping no disasters happen.
The front bags went to zero, no issues there
The rears are veeeery close to making contact with the arch at 22psi left in the bags. With the arches rolled I could air out fully and have no issues with catching. At this pressure the arch gap is pretty close to matching to the fronts so I'm happy for now.
I think these suit the car and I couldn't have guessed the fitment any better, especially with no extra camber needed.
It's weird not seeing the R34 in the background for this update, the MX5 should hopefully be gone by the end of May too.
So much choice, so many things to factor in the decision making
I wouldn't have said it was a hurdle, but the wheel diameter didn't help with the search. I wanted to keep with 19" because I think it suits the proportions of the car, 18" can look too small and 20" can be too big. Not saying either of those sizes are wrong, just personal preference.
From what I had read via forum posts, FB/IG posts etc anything wider than 9" wide and the rear arches need rolling, depending on offset and tyre size. I have an arch roller so that shouldn't be an issue.
Do I stay within those arch parameters and go with a maximum width of 8.5" width or go wider. I didn't mind the wheel tuck, but I wanted to fill the arches so that answered that.
Spoke design.... these cars suit dished wheels, but after owning the white and polished Work Meister S1 on the purple MX5, the days of maintaining polished lips are long gone. Multi spokes don't really look good IMO, five spokes expose the brakes/suspension too much and I'm not in the position to be fitting larger brakes at the moment (which will also complicate the wheel decision)
I looked at the cheaper range of wheels, but they all look a bit…naff? The price was also surprising, nearly £1000 for a set of 19" JR/Rota....I'll pass. I looked at Work wheels but they're either dished or the spoke design wouldn't suit the car. Prices were around £1400, I'd rather pay £400 more and get some Works to be honest.
That's when I looked at the Rotiform range. A brand I've never owned before, and one I typically associate with German cars.
Their RSE design had always been a favourite, and it was an option. That's when I came across the TUF-R
I like the centre cap covering the wheel nuts
I took a gamble and ordered them in 19x9.5 ET38
For the tyres I went with Yokohama AE51 235/40R19
I had to do discs and pads all round, while I was there I painted the calipers red too.
With the wheels mounted and the car on the ground, it was time for the un-nerving task of adjusting the air suspension...hoping no disasters happen.
The front bags went to zero, no issues there
The rears are veeeery close to making contact with the arch at 22psi left in the bags. With the arches rolled I could air out fully and have no issues with catching. At this pressure the arch gap is pretty close to matching to the fronts so I'm happy for now.
I think these suit the car and I couldn't have guessed the fitment any better, especially with no extra camber needed.
It's weird not seeing the R34 in the background for this update, the MX5 should hopefully be gone by the end of May too.
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