D Prepared Miata Build
- Thread starter aMaff
- Start date
No s***!
I am jealous of Fastenal and Summit Racing access though...
Brackets look great to me! They are almost exactly what my team made for our two Lemon's cars.
Thanks. The only thing left that it needs is a couple of supports for the front of the seat and a little bit of weight reduction on the bottom straps and then it'll be ready to go. Check out my wicked CAD skillz
I'm genuinely proud of how these turned out:
It's basically my first fabrication project that's more than "here's a piece of bar stock, drill a couple holes, run a bolt through it."
In the grand scheme of things, it's not MUCH more than that, but you know, gotta start somewhere.
It's basically my first fabrication project that's more than "here's a piece of bar stock, drill a couple holes, run a bolt through it."
In the grand scheme of things, it's not MUCH more than that, but you know, gotta start somewhere.
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The latter. Even though I'm pretty sure we're going to just ditch the passenger seat for most events now, so this exercise has been pretty moot, but I did get to practice some fab, which was fun HAHAHA
lol fact 
I forgot to update here. At last weekend's test and tune, a slipping clutch came to the fore after we learned some things about what the tires do and don't like. Considering it's a stock, 1.6L Miata clutch that's had nothing but Autocross duty for the last 6 or so years, I'd say it's lived a useful life.
Since with this car I tend not to replace, but upgrade, so this is finally happening:
...along with a new slave cylinder and a braided clutch line to replace the retarded @$$ Crazy Straw that Mazda uses stock. I hate that thing.
Also my 7" Spin Werkes sold, so I've got a set of Real Racing 13x10s in a better offset (6" vs 5") that also weigh about 6lbs less than the Bassets we're running now. 14 lb clutch & flywheel package + 6lbs lighter per corner + 2" narrower car = win win freaking win.
except for my wallet. It's been in protective custody since Monday (rlaugh)
I forgot to update here. At last weekend's test and tune, a slipping clutch came to the fore after we learned some things about what the tires do and don't like. Considering it's a stock, 1.6L Miata clutch that's had nothing but Autocross duty for the last 6 or so years, I'd say it's lived a useful life.
Since with this car I tend not to replace, but upgrade, so this is finally happening:
...along with a new slave cylinder and a braided clutch line to replace the retarded @$$ Crazy Straw that Mazda uses stock. I hate that thing.
Also my 7" Spin Werkes sold, so I've got a set of Real Racing 13x10s in a better offset (6" vs 5") that also weigh about 6lbs less than the Bassets we're running now. 14 lb clutch & flywheel package + 6lbs lighter per corner + 2" narrower car = win win freaking win.
except for my wallet. It's been in protective custody since Monday (rlaugh)
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Oh nice! I didn't know the Spin Werkes sold. That will be awesome! Maybe I need to plan another trip down...lol.
Yep, just a couple days ago to an old friend.
Replaced the CAS O-ring (what a pain in the @$$, even after pulling the valve cover and engine hoist ring off).
Figured out why the clutch was such a pain to bleed (I'll now be on my 4th slave cyl.). The slave cyl piston boot was full of fluid, so that's dead.
Disconnected the slave cyl from the clutch line, to replace it with a braided steel line.
Put a 2nd coat of paint / rust inhibitor on the frame rails.
The transmission comes out Thursday.
Figured out why the clutch was such a pain to bleed (I'll now be on my 4th slave cyl.). The slave cyl piston boot was full of fluid, so that's dead.
Disconnected the slave cyl from the clutch line, to replace it with a braided steel line.
Put a 2nd coat of paint / rust inhibitor on the frame rails.
The transmission comes out Thursday.
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With a little help from some friends we pulled the transmission off last night.
Having 1 guy running tool-gopher, 1 un-doing the drive-shaft and PPF, and 2 tag-teaming the transmission got it out in record time
Stock clutch package: 27.6 lbs. The replacement will be ~14, and what rotating mass there is will be closer in, which is mo' betta.
Stock flywheel weight (fully 4+ lbs heavier than the full replacement package)
Since there's a few different sized bolts, I like keeping things in order:
As she sits:
Having 1 guy running tool-gopher, 1 un-doing the drive-shaft and PPF, and 2 tag-teaming the transmission got it out in record time
Stock clutch package: 27.6 lbs. The replacement will be ~14, and what rotating mass there is will be closer in, which is mo' betta.
Stock flywheel weight (fully 4+ lbs heavier than the full replacement package
)
Since there's a few different sized bolts, I like keeping things in order:
As she sits:
Found out why the clutch started slipping & why the bell housing has so much crud caked on, and where the fluid we couldn't track down last night came from. I pulled the input shaft cover / release bearing fork pivot and fluid poured out. Guess I need a couple more seals.
^^^ Yeah that's a common leak point on RX-7's as well and all my transmissions had a leak there of some degree. Assuming the Miata bearing cover is similar to the RX-7 there's just a (very) thin paper gasket between it and the bell housing. Be sure to keep track of those shims! Also, let me know if you need any Miata transmission stuff. I still have the bell, intermediate, and tail housings and some misc. front end stuff (shims, bearing cover, etc.) from when I swapped Miata gears into my RX-7 transmission.
It's actually pretty modulate-able (I just made that up...), it's just got a much shorter throw than stock, so it's also really easy to stall the damn thing. The solution, obviously, is more revs. Now that it's bedded in some (took it for a short drive on my dead-end street) it's gotten a little more manageable as well. Getting it onto the trailer will take some work, I imagine.
