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Thread: Garage Star Delrin Door Bushings

  1. #16
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    I've driven around 75 miles with these door blocks over a lot of different surfaces. I have some feedback.

    Car: base 2001 NB with a rollbar. There's like no bracing on Bucky at all. No diagonals on the rollbar either. The windshield shakes CONSTANTLY. Or at least it did.

    I installed the blocks with one of my beloved JIS screwdrivers (shameless advertising) and went for a drive. The whole car felt immediately transformed. The windshield hardly shook and I could actually feel the front and rear suspensions being independent of each other. I only got cowl shake on one bump on this test drive. I was hugely impressed.

    I then drove around 50 miles the next day. The car started out nice and firm, but by the end of the day, I was seeing some windshield shake and the car was feeling more like a normal Miata. I was a bit disappointed. I figured that the first day was just new-part-excitement and maybe things weren't as magical as I was imagining. I don't have any NVH meters after all. It's all subjective. But it definitely felt shakey.

    When I got home, I installed Sharka's door blocks. I did this with a ratchet since no JIS screwdrivers were handy at the time. I was amazed at how much the bolts kept tightening down after I felt like I'd gotten them tight. The delrin smooshes down a pretty good amount. On a whim, I opened up Bucky's driver door and tightened down the door blocks there. The driver door? TOTALLY LOOSE. The screws had worked their way loose and were barely finger tight. I zipped all 4 down with the ratchet (passenger side was decently tight still).

    On the next Bucky drive (today), the feeling of strength and rigidity returned. Bucky felt like a real car again, and that feeling lasted all day. I covered about 35 miles today over a bunch of surfaces. The "Miata feel" of a wet noodle with a shaky windshield never came back.

    I effectively gave myself a blind test. I had no idea that the door blocks had loosened and I could definitely feel something had changed when driving around with them loose. I'm rather amazed this happened. It was an awesome blind test to take.

    So. These things WORK. I imagine Ken will be extremely busy making these since 100% of all Miatas on the planet require them. It needs to be one of the early mods every novice Miata driver does: rollbar, shift knob, vent rings, door blocks. Not necessarily in that order.

    I'll have a ton of photos posted as soon as I get some driving impressions with Sharka. That car has a ton of bracing and doesn't shake much at all. I'm guessing the blocks won't be as noticeable, but we'll see.

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  3. #17
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone etikoner's Avatar
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    I was not exaggerating when I installed my Ken auto ones how well they work. Love knowing The GarageStar ones do the job as well.

  4. #18
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Just to clarify, these come in a set of 2, one for each side? It's late and I'm exhausted.

    Just placed my order. Sounds like these things are worth the money. Hoping they get here quick!

  5. #19
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    Yup. Sets of 2. One set per car.

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  7. #20
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Pfew! Thanks Adam. working midnight shift this week has me delusional.

  8. #21
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    I posted a full review on my blog. Warning, there are lots of robot pix.


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  10. #22
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Installed mine a couple hours ago. Haven't driven the car with them installed yet, but damn it is much fun closing and opening the doors now.

  11. #23
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power Tkblazer's Avatar
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    Sounds like using some blue loc tite on the bolt threads wouldn't hurt when installing these

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  13. #24
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone Paul B's Avatar
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    Drove the car for the first time today since installing the door bushings. Wow what a difference these make. Small price to pay for such major improvements. This is my review even though its redundant and a repeat of what others have said already. If you haven't bought these yet, order them immediately. Every NA Miata needs these.

    My Car: 1990 w/ 95,000 miles. Race Land coils that are at least 6 years old (25 yr old stock suspension would be better than these). No chassis bracing other than HDHCHTDD rollbar. All OEM 25 yr old bushings. Drove car with soft top down and hardtop off. It's an old car and it feels like it. Rattles, shaking and noises everywhere in the interior.

    Way to work I took the expressway that has horrible bumps crossing the overpasses and huge potholes. All the major bumps that I usually dread going over on my way to work are smooth and taken with no issue. It actually feels like my shitty RaceLands are working! Lol Bumps that usually make me white-knuckle, slow down and close my eyes are taken with confidence. All while cruising at 55+ on the freeway. Just a simple "thump" as the car takes the irregularity with ease. My old weak floppy glovebox doesn't make a sound anymore. The interior no longer feels like it wants to disintegrate with normal bumps.

    My way home I took roads through the city; it was the same thing. "Thump thump" over railroad tracks, potholes and anything else I would usually swerve to avoid. Even the small angle up my driveway felt better. Car feels together now, if that makes any sense. These bushings make the Miata better. Well worth the money.

    I still plan on doing frame rails, shock tower brace and other small chassis bracing but these will hold me over for a while.

    Again if you own an NA Miata these should already be on your car.

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  15. #25
    Idling - Listen to it purr...
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    Thumbs up GarageStar for making these!

    I installed these yesterday on my low mileage NA with rollbar/doorbars/framerails/coilovers/turbo etc.
    To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed, the difference between the stock bushings and the Delrins are quite small in my case.
    The doors pop and close like they normally did and I still get windshield shake at normal/high speed when hitting potholes. They do help with the vibrations on low speeds.
    For some reason when installing the Delrin bushings they were not tighter than the OEMs on the door cups?

  16. #26
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul B View Post
    . All the major bumps that I usually dread going over on my way to work are smooth and taken with no issue. It actually feels like my shitty RaceLands are working! Lol Bumps that usually make me white-knuckle, slow down and close my eyes are taken with confidence.
    Bucky's TEIN Basics are the same way. They're not the best suspension and are quite a few years old. Now, it suddenly feels like the supension is working.

    I hope Ken sells a million of these. They're magic.

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  18. #27
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vuti View Post
    Thumbs up GarageStar for making these!

    I installed these yesterday on my low mileage NA with rollbar/doorbars/framerails/coilovers/turbo etc.
    To be totally honest I was a bit disappointed, the difference between the stock bushings and the Delrins are quite small in my case.
    The doors pop and close like they normally did and I still get windshield shake at normal/high speed when hitting potholes. They do help with the vibrations on low speeds.
    For some reason when installing the Delrin bushings they were not tighter than the OEMs on the door cups?
    Are you sure you torqued them down enough? A thin, deep well socket will be able to get in there and tighten the 10mm screw/bolts. I initially installed mine just with a screwdriver and it was not enough. They came loose and needed tightening with a ratchet.

  19. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by revlimiter View Post
    Are you sure you torqued them down enough? A thin, deep well socket will be able to get in there and tighten the 10mm screw/bolts. I initially installed mine just with a screwdriver and it was not enough. They came loose and needed tightening with a ratchet.
    10mm deep socket + Loctite. They are not coming loose ;)

  20. #29
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone wannafbody's Avatar
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    I would think the improvement would be minimal on a car with doorbars. You don't have that much flex to try to tune out.

  21. #30
    4,000 rpm - entering the fun zone wannafbody's Avatar
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    OK, I got my GS delrin door bushings. The passenger side went on in 5 minutes. I positioned it loosely and shut the door for the door cup to slide it into perfect position. Tightened it down and done. The drivers side was a bit more work. I couldn't get the door to close the whole way. I ground the outer edge down slightly and I elongated the inner holes slightly. I also readjusted the door latch slightly. Finally I got it positioned. It does require a firm slam shut. On the drivers side I couldn't get my socket in on the top bolt. On the passenger side I had no issue.

    Ride quality was improved. The car felt firmer and didn't have as much flex over rough pavement. Overall, it is a quality product.

    Disclaimer...at one point my car was in a wreck, so my fitment issue most likely is the cars fault and not an issue with the bushings.

    Ken, one thing to improve is to enlarge the ovals so a socket can easily fit.

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