JCH13 - Turbo Miata Rehab Thread

[JCH13]

My turbo Miata is quite frankly a 21 year old New England car, and as such is suffering from all of the typical issues as such. There is rust in a bunch of places, all of the rubber suspension bushings are about shot, the frame rail has been smashed in, I could go on... so I will, here is my working list of fixes/services/repairs that I'm going to work towards completing:

Completed

Fenders/Front Body
repair holes around window frame
remove fenders
remove doors
repair rust on and underneath fenders
repaint fenders (?)
remove bumper cover, fenders, hood for rust-proofing
repair hood bolts

Rockers/rear fenders
repair/anti-rust seam welds
repair and seal holes in the back of the rockers
repair rear fenders
repair/replace frankenstein bolts

Under the car
repair frame rails
install FM frame rails
replace brake lines
stainless flex lines
hardlines with copper/nickle/iron lines
replace fuel bits
redo fuel hardlines with aluminum, stainless, or copper/nickle/iron
replace fuel filter, bracket, soft lines, and clamps
clean the exhaust off of suspension components

Trunk
remove rust
repair battery bracket (?)
repair holes in bottom
re-seal tail lights
bedline/seal trunk

Engine&Bay
replace timing belt and pulleys
replace front crank seal
replace water pump
replace valve cover seal
paint valve cover (?)
repaint engine bay black (?)
Redo Exhaust
install catback from FM
make 2.5” DP and TP from stainless
heat-shield transmission tunnel

Roll bar
remove roll bar
repair/repaint mounting points
anti-rust mounting points
repaint top of roll bar

Suspension
remove all suspension bits
derust and repaint suspension links
replace all of the suspension bushings
clean and repaint/derust front and rear suspension subframes
fix welded ARB mounts on front and rear bar

I've got quite a bit of work ahead of me... I hope to keep a pretty good pace of work and have an update at least once a week.

 

[JCH13]

1.

 

[jlee]

You're going to be busy.

 

[slugg]

Check your swaybar mounting brackets. They can get beat up pretty bad, especially if they're rusting and you're using a stiffer front bar. It's one of those "well, while you're in there" kind of things

I'm doing the bedliner mod to my trunk, too. Not sure when, but it's happening. On the NB, we have a spare tire well with mounting brackets tack-welded in. Those will be cut/ground off and the well will be hammered down, giving me a little more space in the trunk. I'm not familiar enough with the NA, but maybe that'll give you a nifty idea.

 

[HarryLui]

Souldn't it be cheaper and easier to look for a good body from the west coast?

 

[manimal]

Damn gina thats a load!


Wish I was close I would come lend a hand.

 

[Black2na]

Souldn't it be cheaper and easier to look for a good body from the west coast?

Have the car and its solid as this point its just getting to the point you let it continue to roll down hill towards the end of it life or you tear it apart and fix it to give it many many more years of life. not to mention once done will be better then a West Coast car and basicly need almost nothing.

 

[JCH13]

You're going to be busy.

Quite

Check your swaybar mounting brackets. They can get beat up pretty bad, especially if they're rusting and you're using a stiffer front bar. It's one of those "well, while you're in there" kind of things

I'm doing the bedliner mod to my trunk, too. Not sure when, but it's happening. On the NB, we have a spare tire well with mounting brackets tack-welded in. Those will be cut/ground off and the well will be hammered down, giving me a little more space in the trunk. I'm not familiar enough with the NA, but maybe that'll give you a nifty idea.

Sway bar brackets are getting a full treatment, PO snapped off two studs, one front and one rear, so I need to weld in two new ones. He just plug-welded them in place.

The spare tire stuff is all gone from my trunk, so no need to worry!

Souldn't it be cheaper and easier to look for a good body from the west coast?

Easier on body work and anti-rusting... yes... but completely re-doing a Megasquirt turbo install... not very easy.

Cheaper? Might break even or even save a little, but finding one across the country, buying it (probably sight unseen), and shipping or driving back would be a big deal and some serious $$.

Besides, every time I touch the car it gets to be a little more mine. It's a hobby, a labor of love, I derive a lot of enjoyment from working on it.

 

[JCH13]

Plenty of good write-ups on the long-bolt method I used, so I'll skip re-writing it again. I replaced bad eBay springs with good FM springs. Always a recipe for awesomesauce, especially when the eBay spring perches are busted.

Much better ride and great handling characteristics.

 

[JCH13]

For this endeavor I've setup a small room in the basement of my apartment building. It's in theory my storage unit, but add in some peg board, real lights, a real floor, compressor, and work bench and suddenly I've got a micro workshop.

I bought an extra set of running gear: engine, transmission, ppf, differential, half-shafts, axle, rear sub frame, rear suspension links, and uprights, for $400. I'll be able to rehab the rear suspension links and subframe off of my car, then simply bolt the whole assembly in when its ready.

After taking everything apart with a propane torch, WD40, and a cheater bar, I popped out all of the suspension bushings using a few bucks worth of threaded rod, nuts, and big washers. Judicial application of the propane torch helped here too.

Then I started de-rusting the a-arms in an electrolysis bath. Working smart, not hard.

Still cooking right now, cranked the current up to 50A to really get the job done, will update when they're clean!

 

[alkemyst]

I am sure you know, but others may not know that you have to pick that threaded rod and nuts properly or you could easily be impaled or someone else ala cheap spring compressors.

 

[MotF Bane]

I bought an extra set of running gear: engine, transmission, ppf, differential, half-shafts, axle, rear sub frame, rear suspension links, and uprights, for $400. I'll be able to rehab the rear suspension links and subframe off of my car, then simply bolt the whole assembly in when its ready.

How do you do this? HOW?

 

[JCH13]

I am sure you know, but others may not know that you have to pick that threaded rod and nuts properly or you could easily be impaled or someone else ala cheap spring compressors.

I can see that happening. The mode of failure I experienced was simply the threads shearing, no fuss no muss.

Disclaimer: pick the largest size threaded rod you can fit if you try this at home. Also, if you something bad happens, its your own damn fault for not taking it to a shop.

 

[JCH13]

How do you do this? HOW?

Daily stalking of CL...

Black2NA was kind enough to stop by the guy's shop that night and front the cash for me too, so big props to him!

 

[alkemyst]

its your own damn fault for not taking it to a shop.

I can agree, but in an open forum like this most don't know and are hoping for GOOD advice.

I don't think ATG plays that game though, more hard love I think.

 

[SabaII]

I can agree, but in an open forum like this most don't know and are hoping for GOOD advice.

I don't think ATG plays that game though, more hard love I think.

If you don't know how to do it, ask. If your still unsure have someone show you. If still unable to process task at hand, pay someone else to do it. Hows that?

BTW I am subscribing to this one. Looks like you have a fun, albeit a difficult project ahead of you. Good luck.

 

[slugg]

Subscribing. Even though I have an NB, I'm sure I'll be able to learn quite a bit from this thread.

 

[alfa147x]

Awesome!

 

[satyajitmenon]

Do it. And then sell it to me...

Pretty please?

 

[manimal]

Do it. And then sell it to me...

Pretty please?

Buy his leftover parts and do your own!

 

[satyajitmenon]

Buy his leftover parts and do your own!

If I was going to do my own, I'd do an LS Miata. :sneaky:

 

[MotF Bane]

If I was going to do my own, I'd do an LS Miata. :sneaky:

Now you're talking.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

wow nice work!

Do you mind doing a write up on electrolosis... or at least providing a link. Im really curious to see how well it works. I will also have a tonne of parts like those to de-rust and paint.

 

[Howard]

wow nice work!

Do you mind doing a write up on electrolosis... or at least providing a link. Im really curious to see how well it works. I will also have a tonne of parts like those to de-rust and paint.

It's a fairly well-understood science.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

It's a fairly well-understood science.

I took physics and biology courses. Never took a higher level of chemistry than 8th grade. TEACH ME!