One of the best days of wrenching in my life

"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion) 03/10/2018 at 23:13 • Filed to: Miatafications

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Today I took a step back and realized that the me of three years ago would never have believed himself capable of doing all the projects I’ve tucked under my belt. Somehow, my little roadster has become a *cool* ride that gets compliments from practically everybody. The feels, man.

Tackled a lot of small projects on the first day above sixty degrees this year. To be sure I had plenty of motivation and wouldn’t pack up my gear and head inside, I drove from my perpetually-shady condominium parking lot to a sun-drenched elementary school. That school is now my absolute favorite wrenching spot. The parking lot is flat, there’s sun all day long, blackberry and wine grape bushes provide some free substance, and the locals are all nice and thought it was “downright responsible” to be doing work on my car out there. Bitchin.

First item on the list! Try to squeeze out a few extra millimeters of ride height! Unfortunately, despite my clear memory of picking up my hex keys, they were nowhere to be found. No hex keys, no undoing the set screw on the lower spring collar. I wasn’t about to head back home for them, so I just moved on. Probably for the best, since I didn’t have anything to clean my coilovers with and the absolute worst thing I could do would be to screw up the threads...

So no change in ride height, but I did take off the fender liners in the front. Won’t make a difference with my current winter setup, but it should help a lot with clearance issues once switch to summer rubber.

TThis is why I need a bit more ride height! One front fender is fairly chewed up.

Next on the list... Check out the underbody damage sustained on the last snowy offroad adventure. I’d put this off for weeks because I hate laying out in cold...

That plastic engine undertray above? It’s supposed to be one big piece. I managed to take out an anvil shaped chunk, with the long side measuring in at almost two feet. Yikes. It’s no wonder I couldn’t make it out of the snow, with the broken off piece acting as a scoop, funneling heavy packed snow unto my engine bay up to the top of the radiator!

Removing the whole thing would have been easiest, but this tray not only protects the underbody, it also comes up about eighteen inches to protect either side of the engine and smooth airflow. It may be awhile before I can replace this, so I decided to salvage what I could. But my luck had ran out...

I broke my favorite pair of left-handed scissors. Nooooooo! (this wouldn’t have happened if they were full tang blades, but whatever Fiskars, you do you).

Here it is. About 70% of the underbody protection is no more, but at least I don’t have plastic hanging down half an inch from the ground anymore. Oh and... In this and all the other pictures, FEEL FREE to mention anything that looks dangerous/in need of replacement/wonky/etc. Your eye is probably better than mine for this kind of thing!

Next up, giving the underbody a good look over. My car still squeals like crazy on startup, and I think these belts might be the culprit. Maybe. I don’t know. But uh... Also, that’s a lot of oil all over... Shit.

And more oil on the bottom of the oil pan... Yikes.

Opening up the hood.... Okay, well here’s one of the many places oil is leaking from. So... Would Changing the valve cover gasket fix this? There’s oil leaking from so many places, but it’s very slow. Losing less than half a quart every oil change.

Oh right. I forgot my brake fluid has a slow leak. Huh. I’ll top that off when I get home and hopefully not forget about again.

Downpipe: much rust. Very small diameter. Okay guys, what is the plug? Is that... An O2 sensor???

Okay... Lets look further down the exhaust. Well shit! My rear most resonater is smashed! Offroad casualty of war :/ so much for having a good condition super rare exhaust to sell to help fund my turbo back exhaust. This doesn’t actually bother me too much though. Doesn’t leak, still sounds amazing, and... More clearance for the next time I go offroading!

After that I got the car back on the ground and and decided to finally wire up my voltage meter. T-taps, an edumacated guess on which wire was the ground and which the power (50-50 shot!), absolutely zero trim removal, and about twenty minutes gave me a readout of my battery’s output. Super Bitchin. Some super strong industrial double-sided tape and BLAM. directly in my line of sight, right where I want it.

So... How is this supposed to work? I want to see 12 all the time? And... Uh... We’re talking “volts” here, right? Okay, I’m just going to use volts from here on out and hope for the best.

When the engine is on, the readout displays 14, or 14.1 volts. Turning on too many accessories might lower it by .1 or .2 volts. When the engine is off but the key is in the accessory position, the display shows 12 volts. Is that... Good? Is that ideal? I wired it up to my cigarette lighter if that matters.

Oh, second question. With this wired to the cigarette lighter, can I still use the cigarette lighter normally?

So yeah. This was a great day. Some things went perfectly, some things, not so much. All-in-all though, fantastic wrenching. And I celebrated with a six pack of Rhubarb cider, which will be my first drink in 60 days. Yum

Oh and I got zero pictures, but one last thing. I tried to remove my stock front tow hook. It’s attached via 4 big bolts, and three came off without issue. The 4th bolt would spin either direction, but after a point wouldn’t loosen or tighten. So... The tow hook is super loose, but can’t come free because for some reason the bolt won’t come loose. Any thoughts? It’s in a tricky place so there’s zero chance of getting a cutting wheel in there without removing my entire front clip AND radiator. No one thanks. I don’t think I could even get Dremel tool in there, although I’ll probably be trying that next. There’s no way to see what the bolt threads into. I assumed it was a captive nut or something, but that wouldn’t let the bolt spin right? I’m stumped.

MM54 > AestheticsInMotion 03/10/2018 at 23:22

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Yes, that’s an O2 sensor.

12-12.6 is normal with the car off, around 14 is good when running. No reason you can’t use the lighter now, though a heavy draw will make the gauge read a little lower than it really is.

That 4th bolt sounds like it’s in something which is either cross-threaded or has broken loose. When you say it “wouldn’t loosen” does it get tight again, or just spin indefinitely?

AestheticsInMotion > MM54 03/10/2018 at 23:29

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Okay, sounds like it’s in the right spot, that’s good.

The bolt spins indefinitely, in either direction

ToyotaFamily > AestheticsInMotion 03/10/2018 at 23:31

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Where the hell do you live where people are cool with you wrenching in an school’s lot?

I get crap for just washing my car in my neighborhood.

AestheticsInMotion > ToyotaFamily 03/10/2018 at 23:37

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I was a bit surprised. Literally every neighborhood for miles around has an HOA, and at least the ones I’ve dealt with around here are pretty universally awful. But yeah, no issues at the school. A lot of kids came over on bikes to watch for awhile, and the occasional dad would give a thumbs up or something.

I was half expecting someone to call the cops. I feel your pain though. I get fined for backing into a parking spot at my condo. They’d probably call a tow truck if they saw me washing my car

lone_liberal > AestheticsInMotion 03/10/2018 at 23:46

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I’m jealous. We’re trying to get the house ready to sell so I spent this beautiful day replacing an exhaust fan and a toilet. You win.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > AestheticsInMotion 03/10/2018 at 23:48

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Your spinning bolt: probably threads into a nut that was originally spot welded in place. The spot welds probably broke free. If that’s the case you will need to access the back side somehow. Either to weld it back together or counterhold with a tool.

AestheticsInMotion > lone_liberal 03/10/2018 at 23:50

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Oh right. I should probably replace my exhaust fan at some point. It’s only been... *counts months*... two years since it worked?

Well hopefully the sale is quick and painless! Looks like we should be getting more good weather this week

AestheticsInMotion > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 03/10/2018 at 23:57

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I was afraid of that. Hopefully I can reach it with a dremel tool, if not.... I guess it will wait until I do my big cooling system revamp and have the radiator out

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 03/10/2018 at 23:59

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Is that one of those stretchy belts? Those things are beyond a royal pain to replace...

AestheticsInMotion > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/11/2018 at 00:06

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I have no clue. I’ve heard that as far as timing belt jobs go, the Miata is pretty simple, but... I’ll find out eventually

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 00:08

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Good luck. These situations always suck.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 00:29

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The timing belt would be inside. I saw two belts on the engine, which on my wife’s car was a serpentine that hit a few things and a stretch belt that went to the air conditioner compressor. That latter one kept you from easily swapping the serpentine belt and was a real pain to both remove and install.

Chariotoflove > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 00:30

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That’s so cool. Just make double sure (as I’m sure you know) to clean up and not leave any fluid spills. Maybe you can eventually spark some kind of auto club meet.

AestheticsInMotion > Chariotoflove 03/11/2018 at 00:47

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Oh, definitely! I forgot to mention, this was the elementary I went, to long ago. Good people mi definitely don’t want any kids swallowing a lug nut they found on the ground

AestheticsInMotion > Eric @ opposite-lock.com 03/11/2018 at 00:49

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Hmm. I wonder what those two belts drive. I don’t have AC or many options... Fingers crossed they’re not too much of a pain to mess with. I’m still hopeful that all I need is to adjust them

lone_liberal > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 00:58

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Its been a similar amount of time since that one worked too. Tomorrow the painting starts!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 03:14

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On oil leaks, start from the top down. Valve cover gaskets are super easy on a miata (and remember to put a small dab of rtv grey silicon at the 90 degree corners at the cam end caps). Also, there is an oring on the cam angle sensor on the back of the head that is a super common NA oil leak.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 04:19

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I’ve also learned a ton from wrenching on my Miata. Most recently I had replaced my wheel bearings without following a picture heavy step by step guide. I just used my basic retained knowledge from other similar jobs but never having done a wheel bearing before. It took me just a couple of hours and I quickly made it through struggles and roadblocks. Issue was 100% solved afterwards and I didn’t have to redo the work 3 times. After my two day long coilover install being my first real work done years ago, this was a big step up. I now feel reasonably confident that if I have the right tool and the time, I can pretty much do anything.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 06:58

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The voltage meter reading higher than 12 when the car is running is fine as it means the alternator is putting out enough of a charge to charge everything that is USING 12v while the car is on. (AFAIK) I.E. it has to put out higher than 12v to overcome the 12v draw that items are using while the car is on, as I understand it.

You definitely want to get that brake leak fixed ASAP.....if it suddenly opened up and got worse for some reason, you are suddenly out your brakes!

That pic of the sensor in the exhaust does definitely look an O2 sensor to me. Often cars have two - one in the downpipe before the catalytic converter, and one after.

diplodicus forgot his password > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 08:30

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You can drill the head off the bolt if you have enough space to pull it out from behind.

MM54 > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 10:50

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Without access to the back of it, it’s hard to say what it’ll take to get it out. It’s probably a captive nut which broke free, so options without rear access are very limited, and pretty much equals out to “grind the head off”

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 16:08

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Hey. To add to what ita97 said about the valve cover gasket: get oem only. Also proper torque is super important. As for the cas o ring (which would be leaking on your back heater hose if that’s an issue). Get a vitton o ring only. Also it’s been a job I haven’t gotten to when I didn’t see a way to get back to it when I was working on my valve cover gasket. Also you can affect your timing if not done correctly (the cas o ring job that is).

Also did you install your hids? Which did you get? Easy job?

AestheticsInMotion > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 03/11/2018 at 16:39

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Looks like valve cover gasket will be my next job. OEM only, got it!

They are GM LED units. Absolutely phenomenal upgrades, completely plug n play. Solid aluminum, these things feel like they’re built to last for decades. But spendy (for Miata lights, at least).

Here’s the link (Amazon normally has the best price, but it fluctuates +- $50)

Http://GE-Lighting-69821-Nighthawk-Replacement/dp/B00BQX2BT8

Here’s a good review

Http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/ge-nighthawk-headlights/77318/page1/

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 17:18

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Awesome man! I was under the impression that we had to replace a bunch of things to run leds. I will look at and most likely buy those as soon as I get a break from work.

AestheticsInMotion > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 03/11/2018 at 18:43

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I’ve heard that too, but it couldn’t be simpler with these ones! There are two bumpstops for each headlight that are probably in need of replacing while you’re in there. Should fix the shaking lights issue if you have it, took me awhile to consider I even had bumpstops in a headlight housing... Let me know what you think

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 22:16

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Hey what do mean about shaking? Not sure I’ve noticed any shaking. Also how did you get these for around $50?? Or do you just mean that price varies that much?

AestheticsInMotion > mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ 03/11/2018 at 22:28

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Yeah, the price varies that much. I got them for $190 each, the lowest I’ve seen is $180 and they seem to normally hover around $210-240

A lot of NA Miata headlights will “flicker” over rough roads or just normal driving because the old rubber bumpstops that reduce movement of the pop-up housing are rock hard. I’ve seen a lot of people who thought they had headlight wiring issues, only to need new bumpstops! But if yours don’t seem to shake at all, no worries!

AestheticsInMotion > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/11/2018 at 22:58

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One of the few things the previous owner did was replace all the wheel bearings. Hopefully I won’t have to worry about that for awhile. We really do have such a great little platform for working on... I can’t stand working on my buddies American cars. Standard, metric, random torx and security bolts... 100 different types of fasteners for carpet and plastics... Drives me crazy.

I like the 1omm, 14mm, Hammer, screwdriver approach much more.

mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/ > AestheticsInMotion 03/11/2018 at 23:05

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Hmm good to know if that becomes an issue. And yeah the leds will have to wait for now haha. They look sick tho. Have some other priorities on the roadster as of now. So much I want to upgrade on her... on top of a coolant leak that I thought I had fixed, but nope.

Rufant > AestheticsInMotion 03/18/2018 at 00:29

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Firstly, congratulations on getting your hands dirty. It’s a skill that will grow and be useful your whole life.

Oil leaks - always with many (any) oil leaks I suggest checking the condition of the engine, before throwing new seals and gaskets at it. If the piston ring to cylinder wall sealing is past its best, combustion gasses will force past and slightly pressurise the crank case. Often forcing oil out through various old and tired seals.

A cylinder pressure test will tell you a lot. Running the car on a dyno while measuring crank case pressure will be better.

If the crank case breathes back into the inlet (which most cars do if not modified) then pulling off the inlet piping and looking for oil residue in the inlet system/throttle body/inlet manifold is a good place to start before going to the expense of the above checks.

Of course the engine might be fine and you just have tired seals, but better to check first I think.

I have a friend recently pull an engine out to replace all the seals including the rear main. It does not leak any more, but now drinks oil like it’s going out of fashion. I gave him the same advice...

Any questions just ask.

Cheers