Re: RR's 3.2L '99 coupe 6MT
The saga continues. Spent some time this weekend on the heating end of things, and pulled the glass and wires from the USDM mirrors. After looking long and hard at the folding motor I realized that I would have to take it apart and run the two wires through the motor assembly like the rest of them. This....sucked.
First I removed the motor assembly from the frame. If anyone else attempts this, remove the three screws on the top before removing the four from the bottom. This way you will actually have the motor out of the frame which makes it easier to work with. Then as you loosen the bottom four with one hand, use the other hand to hold the motor housing together at top and bottom (it's sort of "spring loaded"). I didn't...and the little gears fell out of place and the innards rotated breaking a mounting post. Neither of these were detrimental, it just prevented me from slowly separating the parts to see how everything was situated so I would know exactly how to put it back together. Once I studied it enough it was easy to see where the gears went, and the mounting post isn't essential.
Motor can be seen at left of frame (round thing w/harness):
Motor w/lower and upper housing separated:
Wires have to be run through on either side of the 5 wires that are already there (one beside the blue and the other beside the red), it's a very tight space. I ended up prying some of the aluminum bell housing outward to try and open up the space to insert the wires.
One wire run
This is where the mirror adjustment wires go to the motor, the two black wires are the heat wires. This is the top of the motor housing, you can see two of the three screw holes. These are the ones you want to undo first, which I mentioned above.
Two wires ran through. Poor bell housing.
Once you get the wires down through the bell housing, you just push them through the hole in the lower housing (plenty of room). I ran enough of the wire through the bottom so that they were the same length as the others (so they all reach the plug at the same length). This left 3-4" of wire at the other end going to the back of the mirror glass, which is plenty. I was not able to run the wires through the existing heatshrink tube, but I'm thinking the wire insulation itself should be sufficient since the motor won't get that hot. I mean these will only get used when parking, and at shows.
After that I bent the aluminum back and put it all back together. I had trouble gettings things to line up, but part of that was not knowing what was supposed to be flush with what, etc since I messed up taking it apart. The other watch-out is make sure you mark the heat wires so you know which one is which at both ends.
Tonight I will test the motor to make sure it is still working. I think I got it back together correctly, but part of me is afraid I didn't. This was really out of my comfort zone...
I, too, have been looking for more local 6GA guys. There are a few but they're younger and their cars are basic, slammed on cut springs, and their rims are colors like orange or baby blue. Please. Lol. My car is 100% unique. It's only 1 of 2 in North America with EDM tail lights and it's the only one in the states with said lights. Pair that with the Civic wheels, retros, and woodgrain and there isn't anything like it. I want older, more refined enthusiasts. I need to start going to Cars and Coffee, lol. There is quite the grouping of car guys in my town but they're high HP, trucks, bikes, or POS beaters. They do have meets but this is the bible belt and, let's face it, this is "Murica" so they're not exactly my kind of people. A few of the guys are really cool but it makes for awkward situations, lol.
Sounds like the 6GA's around here, I see not very nicely modded ones, or very nice stock ones. I've seen maybe a couple modified coupes and sedans that were nicely done. Definitely check out C&C, I love the one I go to.
And I feel you guys on the whole moving on aspect. I've been wanting something else for some time now. The posts, and lack of updates, in my MRT are indicative of that, lol. I just have a tight budget, again. Before money wasn't really that big of an issue but now that we have the house and more financial burdens; a new car, paid in full or not, just isn't going to happen.
This is always a struggle, even if you do have the money. Cuz you'd still be thinking about "maybe I should put this money toward the mortgage or set it aside for when I need a new furnace or perhaps keep it as an emergency fund, etc etc". I do anyway...I love cars but I know they're a terrible thing to spend money on. Unless you can afford something that actually appreciates.
Oh and, by the way, Chris, the mirrors look good, too.
Thanks, hope they'll look even better on the car lol.
Sell me these things already
They'd look good on your car, I just wouldn't tint them. They're too special.