I guess a three month hiatus is long enough. I'm back to work with not much to do, now that our Internet is working more reliably I'll dive back in. I'll be posting shorter entries just in case the signal dies (that way I won't get as annoyed).
When I was installing the MSM rear spoiler I had the third brake light out and the gasket looked ratty. I finally thought to check and it is sold as a separate piece, so ordered one of those from Mazda. Finished up the painting I had started a few days before. Decided to tackle the sway bar brackets. Everything I read said you had to drill out the spot welds to get the stockers off. Initial inspection only showed me four bolts, I thought I'm golden. Upon closer inspection I found where they were hidden in between the bolts on either side. Supposedly if you have a larger than stock front bar and drive hard the stock mounts can rip off. I'm not shy about diving into corners and mine didn't show any signs of distress. I can see where they would have flexed though, so in that regard the AWRs are worth it. I was interested to see if I noticed any difference once I get her all back together (also have adjustable endlinks for the front now). As it turns out it's a moot point for me. The AWR brackets angle inward at the bottom, with my relocated radiator brackets there is interference between the two. I know how it could be fixed but I don't have the parts to do it. Back off they came and back on went the stockers. Mostly pissed because now I don't have the spot welds (no welder for me yet). Might have been able to figure this out beforehand if there were any installed pictures of those brackets. Oh well. Here's how they look without the radiator brackets in place:
Did the timing belt/water pump/front seals and that's all buttoned back up. Reroute stuff showed up from BEGi but I had to call it a day as my driving services were required. Plan was to hit it hard the next day and try to get everything done. We'll see how that goes...