Slightly Svended

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97) 01/07/2019 at 23:08 • Filed to: None

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My dad’s car is now done (which is good, because I go back to work tomorrow). It just has to go back to Albuquerque next weekend.

Today it got a light Svending. Besides being dirty from the trip down on the trailer behind the truck in the snow for 100 miles, it wasn’t too terrible. Svending isn’t something he’ll ever do, but he does wash his cars nearly once a week and over the years I’ve gotten him in the habit of always using a wash soap instead of rinsing them off with just water and drying and giving them a coat of cleaner wax once a every couple of months (I took over the car cleaning and waxing when I was about 12 until I moved down South).

My apologies for the pictures from a potato that struggles in anything less than full sunlight.

First up was the interior clean and detail.

Then it got a two bucket wash, wheel detail, claybar, headlight polish and a coat of wax. I had planned on the possibility of giving the paint a mild polish, but it turned out to not really need it. Things proceeded straight to wax.

I wrapped up the timing belt and tune up service over the weekend. I even got my dose of gasoline on the arm via the fuel filter replacement. It got the full deal timing belt job with new belts, valve cover gasket (even the seal plug on the back of head) water pump, cam and crank seals, thermostat and all cooling system hoses replaced. Even the deeply unpleasant to change with the engine in the car hose that runs from the oil cooler to the back of the engine block.

It was also ready for new air and fuel filters, new plug wires and some fresh spark plugs. It got a set of magnecor plug wires, which should last longer than the car.

What I think of changing that hose, especially when someone at the factory left the spring clamp with the tabs on the oil cooler fitting facing the engine block (which tells me that hose was installed before the intake manifold at the engine plant):

All told, I’m glad to be done with this project. The car looks and runs nice. With 61k on it, in many ways it feels like a brand-new old miata.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/07/2019 at 23:18

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Sure your dad doesn’t want one of those Fancy ND miatas instead? It’s faster and lighter. Then he could sell this one to me when he doesn’t want it anymore =). Jealous, I really want to find a clean one like this that has actually been maintained and cared for appropriately. Seems like people who care don't seem to sell ever. 

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 01/07/2019 at 23:25

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The only flaw with this car is that it is an open diff. He likes this car, and I have a feeling he’s going to have it for some years to come. However, he only puts 4-6k a year on it, so when he does finally sell it someday in the future it most likely still won’t have very many miles on it for you .

AestheticsInMotion > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/07/2019 at 23:40

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I'd like to put my Miata next in line for your services plz

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion 01/07/2019 at 23:52

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If you get it to Las Cruces.

RacinBob > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/07/2019 at 23:54

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Ah ITA 97, what is your rear spring rate....?

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > RacinBob 01/08/2019 at 00:21

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I want to say 325lbs on the rear coilovers but I’d have to double check. Torsion bars are 27mm up front. Stock front swaybar, with an Addco 3/4" rear bar (that I tend to keep disconnected for all but much tighter, lower speed tracks). Tokico 5-way adjustibles, usually maxed out at the back and bit softer up front.  T he rest is the usual poly bushings and camber plates up front.

RacinBob > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2019 at 00:33

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Ugh. Out of my element. I thought that was a wishbone car. Soft front and stiff rear helps, don’t have a clue on your rates though. 

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > RacinBob 01/08/2019 at 00:46

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This is an old beam axle rear and torsion bar front end car.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2019 at 00:49

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Ehhh the LSD is only useful on the track anyways. I can’t picture this car laying down smokey burnouts often otherwise lol. I’m happy to find one with an open diff since I have a useless car attached to a perfectly working LSD at the moment. I plan on selling the diff since it’s easy money but the deconstruction will wait until I get another car first. Would be easy to just put it in along with the parts I’m keeping. Granted it has over 200k on it but I those are pretty bulletproof if you change the gear oil! Just work in 2019 Miata in every other sentence, I swear it will work. 

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 01/08/2019 at 01:07

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You might be surprised how much the handling balance of a miata changes with an open diff. The understeer bias of the car makes it not nearly as entertaining at 10/10ths at it would otherwise be. Swapping in a Torsen would be the very first thing I would do to this car if I owned it. Driving my former NB1 with a Torsen back-to-back with this car was night to day difference in handling. It gave up a bit of surefootedness on turn in with more chassis flex, and it didn’t have as much rubber, but the Torsen more than made up for it in corner exit speed.

It would then make a great candidate for a flying miata turbo kit with the very small, very fast spooling turbo option selected since it already came with the bigger rubber, bigger brakes and all the extra NB2 chassis bracing.

Svend > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2019 at 02:22

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Looking good.

Red can be a tricky colour to get right, do you want a warm hue, do you want gloss, do you want more durable protection, urgh . But that looks great. 

Interiors never used to be my thing but I’m coming across to it now.

I do make a point of buying OEM velour or rubber car mats for friends when they get new cars, as it helps me in the long run to clean the car faster.

daender > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2019 at 06:45

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Wow, your dad has good Miata tastes! I spy Mazdaspeed pedals (NLA) and polished door sills, very tasteful options!

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > daender 01/08/2019 at 10:18

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Those are the pieces we left on the car from the original owner, who had much more suspect taste overall. In addition to those, it had on e of those chrome style bars to decapitate you in a roll over, a blingtastic chrome fuel filler lid, momo billet shift k nob, a mazda speed aluminium oil cap and an el cheapo hot air intake . The style bar, chrome fuel filler and hot air intake were thrown away , and I traded the shift knob and oil cap to the miata shop for OEM parts. The metal shift knobs aren’t a good thing after they’ve been sitting in the high desert sun for a few hours, and the billet oil filler cap was untouchable unless the car was cold or you had a gloves or a thick rag on hand .

I’m am biv a lent a bout the pedals, as they feel and look nice, but are slippery when your shoes are wet. Fortunately that doesn’t happen too often around here. I do very much like the polished door sills.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2019 at 11:31

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Interesting! Yeah I have never driven an open diff Miata I guess. I probably have just gotten used to always having the LSD. Fortunately, the LSD in the later NBs is also garbage so it is not much of a shame to be missing it here. Idk why Mazda went with the not mechanical torsen (Fuji something)  for the ‘03+, must have just been cheaper. But its also why the Torsen from my car is highly desireable nowadays.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 01/08/2019 at 11:42

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https://www.flyinmiata.com/na-nb-os-giken-limited-slip-differential.html

I’ve also heard very good things about the giken diff from folks at the miata shop.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re still fun to drive with an open diff, but the handling differences would be noticeable even on something like your commute. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 01/08/2019 at 12:12

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Ughhh I miss my commute. I really do, which is a funny statement I guess. But just driving my Subaru on the freeway everyday right now is depressing to some degree. The canyons off of the PCH being burned and not having my Miata anyways are such a miserable first world problem. Plus side is that I dont have roads to ruin my snow tires on. But yeah track setup Miata is fun on that commute haha.