1990 4WD Project

[redheddude222]

After a decade away from BGs, I finally found a 4WD! I picked it up in New Mexico and brought it back to Indiana.

It had a damaged roof and had been clearly neglected for a long time, but it ran and drove itself onto and off of the trailer. Let the maintenance begin!

[redheddude222]

First order of business was a good cleaning. I shampooed the carpet but I wasn't too thrilled with the stains that were still there. More to come on that later.

[redheddude222]

Google wiped my pictures, but I did a timing belt, water pump, cam seals, distributor cap/rotor, NGK plugs and wires, PCV valve, silicone vacuum lines, fuel filter, all new engine mounts (except the rear, which is NLA, so I urethane filled it), all new coolant hoses, ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, battery, and fuel pump. The Auto Zone shocks on the car were blown, so I installed KYB shocks with Megan Racing lowering springs for a ZX2.

I also have a full set of urethane bushings that I will install over the winter.

The A/C stopped blowing cold, which turned out to be a bad compressor, so I bought a component kit and got to work. New compressor, dryer, and evaporator.

[redheddude222]

I had the roof repaired by the shop that painted my RX7.

I found a set of NB wheels for sale locally, so I snagged them. I've always liked how these wheels look on BGs.

I had the stock steering wheel lying around from my RX7, and the BG wheel was the typical wiggly POS, so I swapped that in. The air bag does NOT work.

I also redid the headliner since the stock one was all but gone when I bought the car. It's foam-backed vinyl fabric from Amazon.

I got tired of not having cupholders, and a new OEM console popped up on ebay, so I snagged it. It took some finessing to make it fit the 4WD floorpan.
I also threw in a Boss bluetooth head unit to bring the car into the 21st century.

[pauls323]

Love the updates
great work keep it up

[redheddude222]

I got the door panels, door harnesses, body connector harness, and all hardware for power windows/locks/mirrors installed, only to find out that the 4WD wasn't wired for them like the LX/DX cars were. I have a 94 LX forward body harness on its way to me from Colorado, and I have my car prepped to install it.

[pauls323]

That's a pain but ya got most it done and will have full power goodies!
hope you find the harness

[redheddude222]

I found a harness! The car is back together and feels great. I threw in a set of Kicker 6.5" speakers and a Sound Ordinance powered subwoofer from Crutchfield while I had everything apart.

[redheddude222]

I was able to snag a brand new, in the box, fog light grill kit and glass headlights from Piotr. I got it all wired in while I had access to everything. and converted it all to LED bulbs. This car is slowly starting to come together the way I want it to.

[redheddude222]

I finally got my front bumper back from paint! It changed the whole look of the car, and now I'm anxious to find a matching rear bumper. I didn't have any of the stock mounting hardware so I made my own by laser welding bolts to washers, then turning the head of the bolt off in a lathe and grinding a side off of the washer for clearance. It worked perfectly!

[minijosh]

Love that grill, super rare and looks great. I'd hate to ask.the cost though.

[redheddude222]

It wasn't expensive at all, I think around $150 shipped. Piotr Gromek on Facebook is the guy to get BG parts from. He's in all of the Protege/Familia groups.

[redheddude222]

I picked up a 56,xxx mile BP from a junkyard last weekend. I've been slowly going through it while I wait on parts and gaskets to arrive for it. It was pretty nasty from sitting on the ground under trees for years, but it's cleaning up nicely. Now I need to find a downpipe for this tubular manifold since the flange is different. I was able to straighten out the crushed exhaust heat shield to be reusable, but I'm not sure if I'll use it yet.

[pauls323]

Looks great with the bumper
and that's a killer find on the bp

[redheddude222]

I finally finished my BP swap. So many minor differences that make for headaches along the way when trying to source the parts. Piotr was a great help as always. I just need to get the exhaust connected and it's 100% ready for daily duty again. It turns out that the 4WD exhaust is slightly rotated in relation to the FWD exhaust, so the downpipe doesn't match up to the cat.