"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
06/17/2019 at 12:02 • Filed to: None
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"Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)" (rduncan5678)
06/17/2019 at 12:02 • Filed to: None | 6
| 8 |
Didn’t take any photos this weekend because there wasnt any time for that while on the clock to get things done. But here were both Miatas in the shop another time. This time they were both on jack stands the majority of the time with so many tools strewn about everywhere.
I’ve made some major progress on the Miata! The shop I use for working on my cars is located at work though, so it was as if I spent the last three days commuting to work for my entire weekend. It made for a long and tiring weekend so this week is definitely going be a sleepy one. Thursday night I had an ultimate frisbee league game followed by a 3 hour surfing lesson on Friday morning. Then I went straight to the shop in order to get started on my coilover project. Unfortunately, I forgot my keys to the old miata so the steering wheel locked almost immediately. I worked on some minor stuff on the new Miata instead for an hour and then just went home, having basically wasted a drive out there. Saturday, I went back with a vengeance and spent 7 hours getting some quality progress on the coilover job.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Then on Sunday, I spent another 4 hours in the shop to finally finish the coilover install. I had to remove the rear OEM shock assemblies, fit the FM coils in place, and then painstakingly adjust everything to the right height. I should have followed the instructions and bench adjusted the coil perches to approximately the right height before installation. Especially the rears, as adjusting those on the car was a painful and grueling process. At least 2 hours of that block of time was spent solely on adjusting coilover perches. But at last, they are finally complete with all four corners showing about 12 inches from the hub to the wheel arches. I might still adjust the fronts down another half inch to give a bit of rake (recommended by FM) but we shall see if I have time before getting to the alignment shop. The coilovers ride beautifully in this car, even better than when I had them in the old car. I think replacing the bump stops and reassembling the whole assemblies made a significant difference because I am at a lower height now but I don’t scrape on the speed bumps in my apartment building nor do pot holes cause any crashing/banging about. It feels significantly better than the OEM shocks with 245k miles on them as well, but that is not surprising at all.
The other car is still sitting on jack stands since there are no suspension bits attached to it. But that should be easy work to bolt it back up with the OEM assemblies from the new Miata. I was too tired and my hands hurt from all of the other work, so I figured it could wait a couple of days to complete. In total, I spent 7 hours paying for a spot for the old Miata and 6 hours paying for a spot for the new Miata. Plus it will take another 1-2 hours to finalize the old one before I can roll it back to storage again. Thankfully at only $2 per hour and only one overnight charge of $10, that is a grand total of $40 for a massive weekend of work.
Now I just need to get a proper racing alignment from a good shop and then order brake pads. I have new rotors waiting to go in when the pads do in order to properly bed them. Then I will be ready for my track day at Laguna Seca next Friday! If I can get the alignment this week, I might do an extra track day on this Friday at Buttonwillow, but that might be asking too much to accomplish.
Soon, this shall be the silver car in full racing guise
Pictures of the lowered car to come soon!
Cash Rewards
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/17/2019 at 12:43 |
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Whose alignment numbers do you use? My shop talked me into Flyin Miatas numbers, as they said they have a lot of returns from people using supermiatas dual duty numbers and being unhappy. I like the FM alignment well enough.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Cash Rewards
06/17/2019 at 13:00 |
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I havent really thought about what numbers to use yet. The shop I planned on calling builds all sorts of crazy turbo miatas and race track monsters so I am hoping they can suggest proper numbers for my setup. Otherwise I will just grab the “icehawk” specs or whatever they were called on miata.net. I really dont care at all about tire life and just want the most aggressive alignment I can get ideally.
I want at least -2 camber if I can get it. Maybe more if its possible.
CaptDale - is secretly British
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/17/2019 at 14:27 |
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Woo Hoo
mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/17/2019 at 17:15 |
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Well done! I am not confident in trying to mess with suspension components on my miata. I know I would run into at least 3 bolts that I could not get off and then I’d be stuck without a car. I did replace my injectors today though . Was easy enough, except I lost a 12mm socket in my engine bay. I am a bit concerned. No idea where it landed.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
06/17/2019 at 17:51 |
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Thankfully with the long bolt method, there isnt a whole lot that can go wrong. Getting the damn sway bar on and off is the most difficult part usually since those are crappy little bolts. But for the coils, it was just the top two shock mounts in 14mm , the 21mm long bolt , and then the 17mm bottom shock mount. Mainly it was just time consuming doing the restoration of the old coilover set and then adjusting the damn things to get the heights in the right ballpark on the car. Actually putting in and taking out the bits was pretty easy in comparison. If I wasnt taking apart the old set, spring compressors wouldn’t have even been needed.
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mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/17/2019 at 19:21 |
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H mm. Really? Well maybe It’ll be worth giving it a try. I will be doing sways and coilovers as soon as I can! But I have been looking at cars for a new daily recently. I swear though Subarus in this area go fast. I saw one that the dealer didn’t even bother to clean before listing it and its already sold. 2012 wrx wagon limited.
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Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
06/17/2019 at 19:42 |
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subaru pricing is stupid usually. but its a good thing for my resale value at least. not that im probably gonna sell it any time soon anyways...
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mXxxxXm24 /O/ /O/
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
06/17/2019 at 19:51 |
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Yeah it’s irritating lol, but it’s turning me on to barely used focus/ fiesta st’s in the same price range.