I'd really appreciate some help with 3 minor BA questions that have been bugging me for months!

First, whats the proper spec for those little hex bolts (if that's the right term) that are all over the BA? They seem to be used all over the place. I ought to replace quite a few, and I'm not sure what to ask for in the shop. They look like they have a washer attached?

Secondly, is there a more visually appealing solution for covering/tidying bundles of wires in the engine bay, other than wrapping them in miles of black electrical tape? I've replaced most of the original factory tape that's come loose over the years, but it doesn't look brilliant.

And speaking of wiring, what [i]are[/i] all the redundant cables for, that are bundled together at the front of the engine bay, on either side? It looks like I have enough spare connectors to plug the space shuttle in there!

Cheers

Serena

What engine you have? As them spare plugs are for the different engines and different spec that come fore these cars.
Sort of a money saving idea by mazda.

Ah, I see - that does make sense now. This one's a 1.5 Z5

Wires hanging at the front on either side are for fog lights. Generally the mazda uses metric bolts and has several different sizes from m6 to m10 or m12. As for the wiring you can buy a plastic sleeving that you put over the cabling off of eBay.

[quote="SerenaJ"]...whats the proper spec for those little hex bolts ...[/quote]

JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) Flange Head Bolts/Nuts.

Should be ok to use hex head bolts/nuts with washers. The flange head just offers more even load spreading.

JIS follows the metric sizing scheme, but doesnt always use the standard coarse pitch (the sizes I've seen all seem to have 1.25mm thread pitch).

Metric Coarse
[list] M 8 x1.25
M10 x1.5
M12 x1.75[/list:u]

JIS
[list] M 8 x1.25
M10 x1.25
M12 x1.25[/list:u]

The most common bolts are M6x1.0 I think (10mm socket) and you can replace them with generic ones if you like

For wrapping the wiring, you can get proper cable sleeving on eBay, its like a mesh. Looks nicer

The wires on either side are for various bits and bobs - air con, maybe an old alarm etc. Get some pics of the connectors and we'll tell ya what they're for

Gold stars all round - thanks! That's helped me find exactly what I need on eBay.

I'll grab a pic of the redundant wiring when I switch the rad (next week hopefully, weather permitting).