D Prepared Miata Build
- Thread starter aMaff
- Start date
- :
- 92 & 16 Meyatas
doh!
Now that the unpleasantness has been handle, we can get on to upgrades. Hopefully. I'd heard of this trick a while back and have been looking for an opportunity to try it out, and now that I've got like 2 months between events and the car is down (battery) and already up on jack stands, I figured it was worth a shot.
So: On to the brakes. Anyone ever wonder what kind of voodoo and witchcraft, what kind of sophisticated valves and wizardry goes on in inside your brake proportioning valves? I did. And... well, feast your eyes:
Yep, that's it. A spring and a needle valve. No mas. Disappointing right? Regardless, take that out, and the proportioning should be linear and the front/rear balance is a LOT more even. Theoretically. The "new" modded prop valve is in the car, on Thursday I'll go pick up some brake fluid and clear tubing and bleed the brakes. And maybe this weekend I'll test it out some. Shouldn't be hard to notice a difference...
So: On to the brakes. Anyone ever wonder what kind of voodoo and witchcraft, what kind of sophisticated valves and wizardry goes on in inside your brake proportioning valves? I did. And... well, feast your eyes:
Yep, that's it. A spring and a needle valve. No mas. Disappointing right? Regardless, take that out, and the proportioning should be linear and the front/rear balance is a LOT more even. Theoretically. The "new" modded prop valve is in the car, on Thursday I'll go pick up some brake fluid and clear tubing and bleed the brakes. And maybe this weekend I'll test it out some. Shouldn't be hard to notice a difference...
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That's my concern as well, but that's why we test. Fortunately, this was a "free" mod so if it doesn't work, I still have the unmodified stocker. Fortunately adjustable prop valves aren't exactly expensive, so if it comes down to it, I'll just go that route.
Because by the time I do that, I might as well install an adjustable proportioning valve. The whole point of this was "no real work except for bleeding the brakes and it's free so it's worth a shot." If it doesn't work, the stocker goes back un until an adjustable one can be sourced. They're not expensive.
Proportioning valve change = great success, even with the more aggressive pads in the rear. Basically all it did was make the rears work a bit harder. It made the brakes a good deal easier to modulate, and I was even able to give the car a little trail brake, which it never did take kindly to. For a free mod, as far as I'm concerned any noticeable improvement is a big success. This was definitely a significant improvement. Can't beat that for free 
...even if I did forget the camera at home :-(
...even if I did forget the camera at home :-(
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Decided to get busy on the rear decklid while I had an extra pair of hands to help:
<borat>"Is niiice!"
The dremel came out for a couple of detailed cuts, but it was pretty crazy watching how fast that wheel deteriorated, compared to a 3" cutting disk.
It doesn't look like much, but the decklid is noticeably lighter now. It's kinda deceptively heavy, especially when you have the springs in place. But between this and the cable / latch that came out, it should add up to a few pounds:
"Hood" pins will likely go in tomorrow evening.
<borat>"Is niiice!"
The dremel came out for a couple of detailed cuts, but it was pretty crazy watching how fast that wheel deteriorated, compared to a 3" cutting disk.
It doesn't look like much, but the decklid is noticeably lighter now. It's kinda deceptively heavy, especially when you have the springs in place. But between this and the cable / latch that came out, it should add up to a few pounds:
"Hood" pins will likely go in tomorrow evening.
Between the trunk skin, the old latch and cable, and the key-lock, the ol' girl lost a solid 5 pounds. There'll be about a 1/2lb or so to go back in from the trunk-pins, but considering how little is left on the car, being able to find a chunk of weight in the "pounds" category is a solid win. It's not the 12 lbs I've seen quoted elsewhere, but I also didn't remove the hinges or the pickups for the hinges on the trunk, so that probably makes up some of the difference, but I consider that "good" useful weight. IE: I can still get in the trunk without too much fuss and use it to move gear between paddock and grid.
Yep! 5 lbs is a good chunk for sure
The springs have been out for a while now. I use 1 as a trunk prop usually. They hardly weigh anything truth be told. I could, and I could forego hinges entirely and just pin the trunk at 4 corners, but I like having semi-easy access to the trunk.
Ok, last pictures on this now that I'm done.
"Hood" pins installed this evening. Had to break out the 3 lb sledge to flatten out some metal on the inside of the chassis, which was fun
Rear bodywork back together:
There's actually a sheet metal "container" that has the studs the rear tail-light bolts to that was part of what got removed, as it's integral to the "skin" of the trunk. Solution? Epoxy. It's currently got what I had been using as a trunk-prop holding it in place while the epoxy sets overnight.
"Hood" pins installed this evening. Had to break out the 3 lb sledge to flatten out some metal on the inside of the chassis, which was fun
Rear bodywork back together:
There's actually a sheet metal "container" that has the studs the rear tail-light bolts to that was part of what got removed, as it's integral to the "skin" of the trunk. Solution? Epoxy. It's currently got what I had been using as a trunk-prop holding it in place while the epoxy sets overnight.
I've got what may be a SUPER awesome toy coming for the Miata. No, it won't make it go faster, but it is going to be freaking excellent.
Teaser pics that really don't tell anything other than me figuring out how to mount it. I'm going to use a couple of GoPro mounts. The problem is I need a mount on both ends. If you're familiar with GoPro stuff, the mounts are 3-prong while the camera side is 2 prong. Going mount to mount (you never go mount to mount) is 3 > 3, which is problematic. It should be as simple as hacking a prong off of 1 of the mounts, but they sort of design them not to work that way. Regardless, with a little 1337 hax0ring, I got it set. Hopefully I'll have more in the next couple weeks for you's.
Please disregard the *!!!clean!!!* laundry in the background.
Teaser pics that really don't tell anything other than me figuring out how to mount it. I'm going to use a couple of GoPro mounts. The problem is I need a mount on both ends. If you're familiar with GoPro stuff, the mounts are 3-prong while the camera side is 2 prong. Going mount to mount (you never go mount to mount) is 3 > 3, which is problematic. It should be as simple as hacking a prong off of 1 of the mounts, but they sort of design them not to work that way. Regardless, with a little 1337 hax0ring, I got it set. Hopefully I'll have more in the next couple weeks for you's.
Please disregard the *!!!clean!!!* laundry in the background.
- :
- 96 Miata M-Edition, 2015 Mazda 3 Hatch
that isn't the infamous diaper laundry, is it?
HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA no, it's not the diaper laundry
So, this is totally a thing that's happening
21st Century, because race car, suckas!
EFI Analytics, the company that does TunerStudio / MegalogViewer (ie: all the tuning software for the Megasquirt) is currently Beta testing an Android app called Shadow Dash MS that is, as the name implies, a dashboard for the megasquirt. It works over bluetooth and pulls data directly from the MS in real time. It's fully customizeable, but I haven't really gotten around to playing with the config files to do that (full version will be able to do it via the GUI). It will also do logging from the MS, so you don't need a cable to do that anymore and can do it to a tablet / phone in your pocket. IE: No more driving around with a laptop for those of you who may be into that sort of thing.
Some screen shots from my phone:
You may notice that there's an issue with it reading wonky spark advance numbers in 2 of the 3 dashboards. I've reported to them (beta testing yay!), but a new version apparently came out today so that may have a fix already.
21st Century, because race car, suckas!
EFI Analytics, the company that does TunerStudio / MegalogViewer (ie: all the tuning software for the Megasquirt) is currently Beta testing an Android app called Shadow Dash MS that is, as the name implies, a dashboard for the megasquirt. It works over bluetooth and pulls data directly from the MS in real time. It's fully customizeable, but I haven't really gotten around to playing with the config files to do that (full version will be able to do it via the GUI). It will also do logging from the MS, so you don't need a cable to do that anymore and can do it to a tablet / phone in your pocket. IE: No more driving around with a laptop for those of you who may be into that sort of thing.
Some screen shots from my phone:
You may notice that there's an issue with it reading wonky spark advance numbers in 2 of the 3 dashboards. I've reported to them (beta testing yay!), but a new version apparently came out today so that may have a fix already.
