Progress! Wheels down tomorrow & brake update!

Kinja'd!!! "Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
07/03/2017 at 00:26 • Filed to: $950MiataProject

Kinja'd!!!3 Kinja'd!!! 1

Things are getting checked off the whiteboard. Tomorrow, wheels will go on and the car will come down for the first time since 5/20. It’s going to be an alignment nightmare (lower control arms will be off, ride height will be wrong, tie rods are off since I had to cut both originals out, and the adjustable sway bar will need adjusting). First the whiteboard... and then the brakes...

Kinja'd!!!

The brakes were an interesting saga. I accidentally bought the 94-02 calipers from Moss Miata. They’re nice because they’re new. The not nice because they technically aren’t for a 91. I also bought a brake kit (rotors, pads, and lines) for the 90-93. Something had to give. If I wanted remanufactured (no new ones available) calipers this weekend, I would have had to go to 3 different local parts stores. Instead, I hit one store for 94-02 pads/rotors. The only modification required to the car was to uh... mutilate the backing plate.

Voila -bigger tiny brakes. Compared the NA6 setup, the fronts are a more significant difference than the rears in terms of pad width. However, the NA8 rear pad design offers a pretty decent amount more surface area in the rears than the NA6 rear without changing the packaging much,

If anyone is in the bay area with an NA6 and wants some EBC Green, slotted rotors, and replacement hardware at a good price, let me know.

Rear (no doubt that backing plate has given up form to function):

Kinja'd!!!

Front:

Kinja'd!!!

I should also mention that in the process of torquing the banjo bolts for the stainless lines, I broke not one but two of then. The first time, I thought: “I am an idiot”. The second time, I used a torque wrench. The provided instructions said to torque to 12-14 ft-lb. I set the wrench to about 12 and they kept leaking. I set to 14 and SNAP. $@*&# manufacturer. If you buy Techna-Fit braided lines, just re-use the old OEM banjo bolts. Save yourself the frustration.

Anways, after a good bleed and fill up with DOT4, I can already tell that brake feel is delicious. Bye bye mushy brakes.


DISCUSSION (1)


Kinja'd!!! TheRealBicycleBuck > Nick Has an Exocet
07/03/2017 at 05:48

Kinja'd!!!1

You have to love those banjo bolts. I helped a friend with the brakes on his son’s Durango and broke two of them myself. That was embarrassing. He had called me in for my expertise. I don’t think he will call me when the next problem comes up.