JCH13 - Turbo Miata Rehab Thread

[exdeath]

I swear you should get a sponsorship from Lego :awe:

 

[JCH13]

I swear you should get a sponsorship from Lego :awe:

I think I'm going to try for Duplo first... :hmm:

 

[manimal]

I swear you should get a sponsorship from Lego :awe:

I think I'm going to try for Duplo first... :hmm:

lmao I thought a little more upscale. Like 80s Benetton


slick work JC wish geography and real life didnt get in the way and I could be there on the weekends with you guys.

 

[JCH13]

Thanks man, I appreciate it. It is unfortunate that car guys are so few and far between.

However, I'm starting to see triple:

 

[deadken]

... Definitely worth it, a set of new control arms runs close to $2k, used is around $700-1k.

Can I ask for which control arms? My buddy still has that Miata at his junkyard and when I told him that the control arms are expensive he looked it up and found used lower front control arms are selling from $75-$125 from NY auto wreckers. He said that if anyone needs some, to give him a call. I can only assume that you when you say $700 - $1k, that means for all 8. But, I'm still wondering...

BTW: Thanks you and this thread, him and that car, and the fact that I added my 1988 VW Jetta onto my collectors insurance policy for $120 a year 2 years ago, now I find myself searching Craigslist for a 1990-1991 Miata (which I'm thinking should be eligible for collectors insurance). The only thing holding me back is that I really don't need another project car. Which is vastly different from not wanting another project car!

 

[JCH13]

The prices I was finding were around $100-$150 for front and rear LCAs, $50-75 from the rear UCAs and $80-100 for the front UCAs. MiataPlanet.com, FM salvage, and a few FS posts as pricing guides.

You should get an NA. I pay around $220/year for full coverage on it including some extra $$ in 'mods' added to the value. No special insurance required.

Anyway, I got a lot done this weekend.

Mounted rotors, calipers, pads, and flex-lines on the rear subframe assembly. Adjusted the e-brake throw so it was all happy. Mounted rotors, calipers, pads, and stainless steel flex-lines to both front corners. I installed the new front struts with FM bump stops, FM springs, and complete NB upper mounts. Hooray!

Ground off and drilled out a front sway bar bracket bolt that had been snapped off and welded over. Ran a tap through the old threads and they cleaned up pretty well. Drained coolant and moved the hot-pipe and cold-pipe hoses to get the front sway out and install a new and shiny FM front sway bar, brackets, and bushings. Re-installed racing-beat adjustable endlinks to connect it all.

Front suspension is completely back together!

I also assembled the rear struts. Equivalent parts as the front struts. Waiting on a few friends to come over to man-handle the rear subframe and install everything at once.

Also TIG'd a catalytic converter into a Berk stainless b-pipe for an MR2 guy (and it wasn't JLee or Black2NA!) Not my prettiest work by a long shot, the fit between the cat and the piping was not great, but it's glued together and won't fall apart right away. :sneaky:

Fixturing:

Fitting the cat in after cutting out some of the downpipe:

Finished part:

I also installed a dishwasher and installed trim around two doorways and the floor in the second floor hallway in my house. Crazy weekend...

 

[JCH13]

Ordered some AMSoil transmission oil. Been reviewed by many Miata owners as better than Redline, which is saying something. We'll see how it does!

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...-transmission-and-transaxle-gear-lube-75w-90/

 

[jlee]

Ordered some AMSoil transmission oil. Been reviewed by many Miata owners as better than Redline, which is saying something. We'll see how it does!

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produ...-transmission-and-transaxle-gear-lube-75w-90/

If anybody else wants to try it, let me know. :ninja:

 

[JCH13]

Friends came over to help install the rear subframe. One of them had recently had a hernia so we used an engine hoist instead. After some great drama cleaning up threads and getting bolts/nuts in place the subframe is installed and torqued up! Also refilled the coolant.

What's remaining to drive:

-driveshaft (4 bolts)
-power plant frame (5 bolts)
-connect brake lines (1 flare nut)
-bleed brakes
-adjust clutch pedal (1 nut)
-attach e-brake cables (4 nuts)
-fill transmission (2 plugs)
-fill differential (2 plugs)
-change engine oil (1 plug + 1 cap)
-reinstall shifter (7 bolts)
-reinstall center console (4 screws)

So close... 2-3 more nights of work I think...

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

then what?

 

[JCH13]

Some this:

Hopefully some of this:

And maybe a little bit of this:

 

[JCH13]

Big update, no pics because work was going fast and furious. Had a bunch of friends over and we divided and conquered.

-Bled brakes, which sucked, rear calipers had to be unbolted and inverted because the bleeder location is dumb.
-Connected and adjusted all of the e-brake cables. Works like a charm now.
-Installed the drive shaft.
-Installed the power plat frame and re-attached the wiring harness.
-Cut a broken connector off of a grounding strap (still need a new lug though... no 6awg lugs on-hand).
-Installed/torqued nuts onto the tops of the rear coilovers. Rear suspension is set now.
-Reconnected fuel fill/vent lines. Fuel system is done now.
-Filled differential with 75W90 Redline oil.
-Installed shifter, both shifter boots, and the center console. Interior is back together now.
-Installed the downpipe, test-pipe, wideband O2, and cat-back. Exhaust is all back together now.

Driveline is done, minus transmission oil.

Probably something else... brain is quite fuzzy at the moment...

So very close to driving...

 

[JCH13]

Installed a driver's side window regulator. Figured out an alignment issue was causing the window to suck and fixed that, works very well now.

I finally figured out how to install the window seals properly on both sides, makes the car look much cleaner now.

 

[JCH13]

Snapped some pics of the running gear this morning. Difficult to get a good angle though.

 

[exdeath]

So when you driving it to AZ?

 

[JCH13]

So when you driving it to AZ?

Hrm... 5,200 mile round trip in a convertible with no AC, no cruise, and little cargo space?






Be there on Monday. :awe:

 

[Black2na]

So when you driving it to AZ?

better question is when you and Jlee comming up here! and his motor is a 240k beat box that very tired. so trip after the new engine goes in and is broken in!

 

[JCH13]

With the prospect of having to get two alignments done (one on my Miata, and one on my MS3) I have been looking into alternative solutions.

Flyin' Miata comes to the rescue again:

http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?stocknumber=35-70050 4 LUG 12MM

Getting two of these and a digital angle gauge should allow me to do precision alignments on both cars without a lot of futzing, rolling, bouncing the suspension, etc. At $435 for a pair with angle gauge it looks like it will be the most cost-effective solution too.

I'm running out of budget though...

 

[jlee]

That'd be fun, but I have two 5 stud and two 6 stud vehicles. That'd be expensive (not to mention they don't make 6 stud ones).

 

[alevasseur14]

Basically I can change my oil and swap my summer and winter wheel sets. I'd have a blast just watching you completely take a car apart and put it back together like this!

Excellent job!!

 

[XavierMace]

better question is when you and Jlee comming up here! and his motor is a 240k beat box that very tired. so trip after the new engine goes in and is broken in!

Where as the MR2 is a lowly what, 212k?

Besides he left there for a reason and driving there and back would probably be a whole set of tires for exdeath.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Where as the MR2 is a lowly what, 212k?

Besides he left there for a reason and driving there and back would probably be a whole set of tires for exdeath.

hahaha! A zinger from the new guy. I like him.

 

[Black2na]

hahaha! A zinger from the new guy. I like him.

he was Jlee roomate in phoenix so he knows exdeath and his cobra!

 

[JCH13]

Filled up the transmission, connected the loose ground wire, and she fired up on the second crank! :awe:

Let her run up to temp, drained the oil, changed the filter, and refilled with more synthetic oil. Dropped her on the ground, tightened up the lower shock mount bolts, attempted to take the insane amount of toe out of the front wheels. I can't fix the front toe though, the new steering rod-ends are a little longer than the old ones. I'm going to look into some thinner jam-nuts.

Took her for a quick spin, the toe-out made it quite horrifying to drive, so I only went about 1/4 mile on pavement. Brakes appear to have air bubbles in them... they build pressure on the second pump, but the pressure holds. Going to try a gravity bleed as suggested in the spec miata community.

In good news the engine is running quite nicely, transmission works (will have to give it time to evaluate the new trans fluid), and the new suspension is smoooooth. I feel like I could rally-race it compared to my old setup.

Nice to have her running again, now to sort out the remaining small issues...

Basically I can change my oil and swap my summer and winter wheel sets. I'd have a blast just watching you completely take a car apart and put it back together like this!

Excellent job!!

Thanks! I appreciate it.

 

[JCH13]

The exisiting color plan:

Right Fender Dark Blue (painted 3/20/12)
Left Fender Maroon (painted 3/20/12)
Right Door Orange(painted 4/6/12)
Left Door Bronze(painted 4/6/12)
Right Quarter panel Gunmetal
Left Quarter panel Bright Green
Rear Bumper Dark Green (painted 4/6/12)
Front bumper Yellow (painted 4/6/12)
License Surround Dark Purple (painted 3/20/12) mix of two front fender colors
Window Frame Gloss Black
Hardtop Satin Black (painted 3/20/12)
HLC LH Gold(painted 4/6/12)
HLC RH Beige (Light Gold)(painted 4/6/12)
LH MIRROR Light Blue
RH MIRROR Brown (Josh’s Bike)
Filler Door Silver
Hood Pearl White (painted 4/6/12)
Trunk Bright Blue (painted 4/6/12)