What have you done to your Miata today?
- Thread starter Antoine
- Start date
Not mine, but I detailed it for him.
Man it looks SO much better. Heck just knocking all that ash off of it helped immensely, but now the paint actually looks good. SERIOUSLY appreciate it dude! I love doing a lot of things cars. Turning wrenchs? Absolutely. Competitive driving? Oh yeah. Washing & Detailing? Er... uh... about that...
So, after blowing some IC piping apart I started looking into options for putting a bead on all of the pipes. A friend had sent me an link on how to make a tube crimper out of some vise grips, a washer, and an exhaust clamp several months ago. So, I went ahead and made one.
What I started with after grinding down the vise grips a bit.
Cheep HF 90deg clamp for fixturing.
I braze-welded everything together to avoid burning off the zinc plating on stuff and inhaling those toxic fumes.
Instead of what most of the articles suggested, welding the washer directly to the vise grips, I brazed two nuts onto the vise grips, so I can use different size washer for different tubes, or make adjustments if I need to.
To use the crimper I put the vise grips in a bench vise so I could focus on manipulating the tube with one hand and operating the crimper with my other hand. I could do a bead in <1min after a practice run or two. I always kept the outside edge of the tube even with the exhaust clamp, this ensured that the start and end of a bead lined up.
The particular exhaust clamp I used didn't allow me to make very tall beads, but it still worked pretty well. The beads are nice and smooth and very uniform if you take small steps around the tube.
I uninstalled, crimped, and then reinstalled the 3 cold-side pipes in 20 minutes or so, very useful tool to make. Hopefully no more blown apart IC piping.
What I started with after grinding down the vise grips a bit.
Cheep HF 90deg clamp for fixturing.
I braze-welded everything together to avoid burning off the zinc plating on stuff and inhaling those toxic fumes.
Instead of what most of the articles suggested, welding the washer directly to the vise grips, I brazed two nuts onto the vise grips, so I can use different size washer for different tubes, or make adjustments if I need to.
To use the crimper I put the vise grips in a bench vise so I could focus on manipulating the tube with one hand and operating the crimper with my other hand. I could do a bead in <1min after a practice run or two. I always kept the outside edge of the tube even with the exhaust clamp, this ensured that the start and end of a bead lined up.
The particular exhaust clamp I used didn't allow me to make very tall beads, but it still worked pretty well. The beads are nice and smooth and very uniform if you take small steps around the tube.
I uninstalled, crimped, and then reinstalled the 3 cold-side pipes in 20 minutes or so, very useful tool to make. Hopefully no more blown apart IC piping.
Nik that looks great!
This weekend I had some fun at Mid-Ohio:
I improved my best time by over a second over the course of the weekend with the help of some great coaching by instructors from the Mid-Ohio School.
This weekend I had some fun at Mid-Ohio:
I improved my best time by over a second over the course of the weekend with the help of some great coaching by instructors from the Mid-Ohio School.
Last edited:
I would try: rubbing alcohol, GooGone, and then mineral spirits if it's really stubborn.
Other people say WD40 and 3M's adhesive remover work well.
I use 3M adhesive remover, works great.
princess peach
Member
- :
- '92 Miata, '06 MS6
gonna have to try that on the MSP
Agreed. I used that on the adhesive when I removed the door mouldings from my Protege. Just eats the stuff away and doesn't harm the paint. A little elbow grease may be required, but it does indeed work.
My cheapie catch tank arrived today, so I installed it. It replaces the breather tank that loved to spew oily vapors everywhere, especially under boost. This is mostly a comfort/health mod, I'm sure breathing in aerosolized engine oil is bad for you.
Disclaimer: this is a somewhat temporary install until I figure out a cleaner way to mount it.
Itty-bitty, I mean light-weight racecar catch tank strapped onto the bar of the old breather tank.
The only negative pressure intake I have is the air filter... so I figured out a way to attach a hose to it. I modified the barbed-to-AN fitting from the breather tank to fit into a hole I drilled into the air filter. A rubber grommet goes into the hole, and a barbed fitting expands the grommet to hold it in place nicely. Nothing can get sucked into the intake and it's sealed up really well.
Current engine bay pic:
Disclaimer: this is a somewhat temporary install until I figure out a cleaner way to mount it.
Itty-bitty, I mean light-weight racecar catch tank strapped onto the bar of the old breather tank.
The only negative pressure intake I have is the air filter... so I figured out a way to attach a hose to it. I modified the barbed-to-AN fitting from the breather tank to fit into a hole I drilled into the air filter. A rubber grommet goes into the hole, and a barbed fitting expands the grommet to hold it in place nicely. Nothing can get sucked into the intake and it's sealed up really well.
Current engine bay pic:
Finally got all the goo off the top roof panel. Ended up using Acetone which worked very well.
Wow. I forgot what it looked like without the vinyl! Haha. Gonna keep it red or redo it?
Whitewolf1829
Member
- :
- 2005 miata nb
My mistress
Under the hood cosmetics and detailing
Under the hood cosmetics and detailing
princess peach
Member
- :
- '92 Miata, '06 MS6
I'm just driving mine, considering a Magnaflow catback. Cheaper than the enthuza and available right away.
