What have you done to your Miata today?

[WillD]

I might take you up on that, I was going to do it over the winter as I don't want to spend the money on the Xidas this very second.

I have 375/250 f/r spring rates. Not sure what you're looking for. As long as I'm hawking stuff, I also have FCM top hats and 36mm bump stops that I would be getting rid of as well. Haha.

 

[reut1]

I might take you up on that, I was going to do it over the winter as I don't want to spend the money on the Xidas this very second.

I have 375/250 f/r spring rates. Not sure what you're looking for. As long as I'm hawking stuff, I also have FCM top hats and 36mm bump stops that I would be getting rid of as well. Haha.

well i did get FCM bumpstops when i put the yellows on, but i may look into your rear top hats then . im not sure exactly what im looking for in terms of spring rates though

 

[eyeballs]

Picked up an NB on the cheap a few weeks ago. Since then I've installed a HDHCDD rollbar, konig lightspeeds with sport-comp 2's, new radiator and hoses, thermostat, new plugs and wires, stoptech pads, valvoline synthetic brake fluid (on sale), removed/replaced some rusted parts, new clutch slave cyl, new clutch fluid, new diff (mobil1), tranny and turret fluid (motorcraft), new outer and inner shift boots. New rubber/insulation over the parcel shelf. I think that may be it. A foamectomy and intalling a new door card are on the to do list. Have a track day coming up this month and wanted the car to be reliable.

Last night I put the top back on.

 

[WillD]

That is a perfect list of mods/maintenance stuff! Congrats on the new purchase. I love the Konig Lightspeeds, I've been tempted to pick up a set on numerous occasions.

 

[aMaff]

That's what I thought at first but that didn't sound like an adult activity.

It's not... unless you've had enough to drink
It's become a bit of an Atlanta Region nationals paddock tradition. Tends to bring in folks from all over to play, it's a good time

My contribution to the thread:

 

[eyeballs]

Thanks. I wanted to do the timing belt but time is the issue here. I'd like to do the seals and bp5a (IIRC) cam at the same time as the belt so hopefully it can wait and be a winter project. I went ahead and got the wheel/tire setup since discount tire was having a sale and I took full advantage (I have $260 in rebate cards coming my way). The stock susp felt surprisingly fresh, so I'm gonna wait until I can find a deal on a coilover setup. I had a konis with 450/325 and the big RB FSB on my last NB and LOVED that setup.

 

[aMaff]

My and my co-driver's fastest runs from the SCCA Solo Nationals (or at least, the least-sucky run, as far as my East-course time is concerned... ugh).

 

[chiefmg]

Looks like it was fun Maff.

Got home, within two hours I was out replacing the clutch master and slave. Unfortunately that didn't fix my problem. It's acting like the clutch isn't disengaging the tranny fully which makes it hard to shift. I tried adjusting the push rod twice without much change. Only other thing I can think it might be is the throwout lever is broken in some fashion. I'm going to try adjusting the push rod again in the morning, if that doesn't work then I may be pulling the transmission.

 

[chiefmg]

Did some research last night on my problem, found one guy with a FM Happy Meal like mine who ended up having to get a new clutch/pressure plate from them. As a last try I adjusted the pedal this morning to increase the overall travel. While this puts it a little higher than I would like (it's topped out on the switch bracket) it appears to have fixed the problem. I may try some minor adjusting to see what I can do with it, I'm just glad I won't have to pull the tranny.

 

[THE Phen]

So this is the 2nd Happy Meal that has had adjustment issues that I know of. Kinda skeptical about getting one now.

 

[princess peach]

What a pain in the ass... we finally got the bar on, turns out I was missing a couple of plates for the back section... so we had to improvise, again. It's on, and I think it turned out pretty good. Cut the carpet to fit around the bar and left the wind deflector off, only have to trim the plastic panels.

 

[chiefmg]

Looks good Pablo.

 

[aMaff]

Ordered motor mounts and pulled the diff. Busted the end-caps off of the half-shafts, so had to pull those to re-pack them. Blargh. Also had to order new axle nuts. The diff had 1 of the spacers jammed into the PPF so I had to pull the entire PPF off to get the diff off. Pain in the @$$.

I also figured out why on my last run at Nationals I kept getting fuel starve...

Oops.

 

[aMaff]

In no particular order:
I managed to get the worst of the OPR (Other People's Rubber) off the tires from Nationals. I'm thinking I may mold them into a set of Kart tires to sell to some schmuck lol
Got the "new" 4.1 rear end and the PPF back in.
Re-packed the axles with a good amount of new Moly CV axle grease, and put a couple dabs of RTV on the end-caps to help prevent them popping off prematurely in the future.
Te-did the anti-seize on the wheel studs because it was time.
Hit a couple of spots of surface rust that were under the diff that needed it with rust converter.

Left to do:
Still awaiting the motor mounts from Miata Roadster and axle nuts from Mazdaspeed.
The axles and prop shaft still need to go in. The RTV hadn't even begun to set so I figured I'd leave them at least over night, though I probably wont' be able to mess with the car until next week.
Since I had to pull the exhaust to remove the diff, I'm going to try running the exhaust without the big-heavy muffler. I know it's down low and the car isn't exactly under-weight, but I've got a turn-down that I've just never messed with that I want to play with at our next event since it's at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and not downtown Atlanta. Might as well give it a shot.

Aaaand I think that'll pretty much do it. Gotta love a big national event wrecking up your sh*t. Though it could have been far, far worse.

 

[JamesCH]

Great success!

Ran my first auto-x in something like 2 years today. The EBC setup worked wonderfully, the car was immensely more controllable at part-throttle. My 10 year old RA1 tires were total dogs*** (well, not dogs***, but certainly not slicks) but they managed let me beat 4 other cars (my previous best was 2!) in modified class. Now I need to start beating all the WRXs and STIs in modified class...

A local guy with a V8 Miata, who has always been one step ahead of me: he had a turbo Miata when I got my first NA NA Miata, then he got a V8 Miata about the same time I got my turbo... basically every race he was 10-12s faster than me. Well, I figured I'd have an okay shot at closing that gap this time with my mediocre slicks... turns out he got brand new slicks this year! However, either I got to be a better driver, or the mods to my car worked out (or both) but I finally beat him, both in raw time and PAX adjusted time. Goddamn did that feel good. All of the time, energy, and money I've put in over the last two or three years and resulted in a hell of a better car in a very measurable way.

Here is a video of my fastest (and last) run.

 

[THE Phen]

Nice! I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of V8 Miatas. They're impressive as all hell, but I have to imagine they're difficult to keep under control in an auto-x. I could be wrong tho.

 

[JamesCH]

Thanks!

It got a fairly basic Ford 5.0L V8, something like 250hp, but gobs and gobs of torque down low. So not much more power than a turbo 1.8L, but a much wider and flatter torque curve, so it should be pretty awesome on 225/45-15 slicks.

I don't know how those with 300-500hp LSx motors do much (if anything) useful in an auto-x... definitely great on a road course though.

 

[WillD]

Nice! I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of V8 Miatas. They're impressive as all hell, but I have to imagine they're difficult to keep under control in an auto-x. I could be wrong tho.

I'm not impressed either. They're cool and different but I'd personally take a regular Miata any day.

 

[princess peach]

Yeah, Jess told me she can't go more than half throttle... even though the car is not fully tuned. I love the sound, and the torque, but I wouldn't do it. I'd like to have some more torque in mine, but that can be solved with a Hydra and injectors.

 

[THE Phen]

I'm not impressed either. They're cool and different but I'd personally take a regular Miata any day.

I'm one of those guys who thinks that more power isn't always the answer. Not every car needs 300+ hp.

Great example is your 1.6L N/A car beating both Pablo and I at the auto-x in Toledo.