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Thread: Sharka

  1. #721
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    I'm one of the last people in the world to have a Miata without fender braces according to instagram. But that's okay. The wait was worth it.

    I've got the Garage Star braces for Sharka. It’s a very nice kit as you can see from the photo above. The brace is properly triangulated. Everything is powdercoated. The hardware is complete. There’s two remote tabs with captive nuts welded onto them. Garage Star supplies a great install PDF. The braces are very light (the big box they shipped in felt empty at first lift) at about 2.5 lbs each if I remember right. Really, this is a great kit.

    Now to install it.



    Fenders off!


    wtf? This is no good.

    I chose to jack the car up and take off the fenders and nose. Many folks choose to just remove the fenders and use some black magic to sneak those past the edges of the nose. It’s really not that much more work to also remove the bumper cover, and I had some other projects to do at the time anyway. Off came the front body panels!

    When I removed the fenders, the amount of yuck and crap that poured out of the bottom edge was astounding. It was so surprising to me that I managed to not take a photo of the dirt pile by the jack stand. Just a ton of stuff. And it was slightly moist. No good. I’ll address that later.


    Fuse box unbolted and nudged out of the way.


    Relays and other stuff on the driver's side also moved.

    There’s a couple of holes to drill in order to get the fender braces installed. As I recall, there’s literally two holes to drill. Not very difficult at all, but you’ve gotta move some stuff away from the work zones so as to not drill through it.

    The passenger side is pretty much the same on most cars. You unbolt the fuse box and then move it out of the way a bit. Not much room needs to be made, but you don’t wanna accidentally hit the wires or fuse box with your drill.

    On the driver’s side, there’s usually just the relay box to unbolt. But on Sharka, I have some Link ECU sensors and my cruise control to make things more cozy. Unbolting all of this stuff took longer than actually installing the brace itself.


    The 5 bolts of interest.


    Hmmm. There's some body on top of my bolts.


    The body goop robot was really angry that day.

    This is what was going on with the lower bolts on Sharka’s fenders. Some sort of… stuff? was sealing up the bolts. On the driver’s side there was very little bolt actually visible.


    Fortunately, this “stuff” was pretty soft. I could cut it with a knife and chip it off the bolts pretty easily. Once the bolts were unsealed, the unscrewed very easily. But with the goo covering them? No way.


    Hardware!


    All hardware is included with the Garage Star kit. The little black plates that go on the other side of the fenders have captive nuts welded on. This really makes it easy to bolt the fender brace in place even though you can’t really see what you’re doing.

    Once the fender brace is bolted up with the five bolts, you can drill the hole needed to mount the front corner.



    She actually did all the work. I just took pix and typed blog posts.


    Drill time.


    Back plate.


    All done!

    There’s really nothing to it. This is a very straightforward part to install. If it wasn’t for the fender removal and installation, this would be a 15 minute mod.

    Maybe 20 minutes.

    The only thing to be very careful of is drilling that hole. The large drill bit required will want to walk into the engine bay and possibly dig into something it shouldn’t like wires. When you’re about to break through the metal, drill slow.

    The Review


    Positives: I’ve covered about 500 miles since installing these. The fender braces work and they work well. They’re most noticeable during mid-corner bumps. Before the braces, there was a bit of… something. A dis-settling feel? I’m really reaching for the right words because my XIDA suspension does such an amazing job with bumps and road imperfections mid-corner. But there used to be more of it there, whatever it was. A bit of an unsettled feeling.

    With the fender braces installed, there’s much less of that unsettled feeling when encountering a mid-corner bump. The chassis is flexing less and allowing the suspension to do it’s job more efficiently.

    Corner entry feels more controlled and precise as well. Like I can put the wheels exactly where I want more easily.

    You can google and find more reviews on Miata fender braces. My thoughts echo all of those. It’s a great upgrade that helps brace the floppy Miata chassis in a nice way.

    Negatives: You probably have to re-align your doors after installing these. It’s not hard. With the fenders off, you can do this in about 30 seconds with a floor jack and wrench. But if you forget, like I did, well… it’s a bit more difficult to slide the wrench between the door and fender to get the bolts loose and then tight again. Having fenders in place turns a 30 second job into a 5 minute job.

    This a very small negative. I feel silly posting it.

    Overall: The fender braces are a great modification and I’m extremely happy with the Garage Star ones. How did I wait this long to install fender braces on Sharka? I have no idea. But I’m very happy that I didn’t miss out. I’d give these an A+. I can’t think of a type of Miata that would not benefit from a set of these. Even a fully caged Miata would likely still benefit from stiffening up the fenders.

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  3. #722
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    And now for the fenders.


    The tiny POR-15 kit from amazon.


    Am I Walter or Jesse?

    When the pile of crap fell out of Sharka’s fender, I immediately ran to the computer and ordered the small POR-15 starter kit from amazon. 2 days later, it was waiting on my doorstep to be applied to the fenders.

    Living in New Mexico, we don’t have much rust. But I’m not about to ignore a problem area when 30 minutes of work can fix it permanently.


    No problems down there.


    Some rust under the dirt. Not much, but some.


    Oxidation on both sides.


    The degreaser step.

    You spray the rusty areas with the POR-15 degreaser for 10-15 minutes and wipe once in a while. It's supposed to stay soaked during that time and get clean.


    Way nicer! I'm always amazed by their degreaser.


    Then the metal prep gets applied for 15 minutes. Same deal, but you brush it on instead of spraying it. The rusty areas get dark thanks to a zinc coating the metal prep applies.


    And then the POR-15 itself. I used 2 coats on the panels. That left around 80% of the tiny can unused, but that's okay. I'm happy to have the panels fixed. I'm sure other parts will get rusty someday, but these are good for now.

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  5. #723
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift NCGreasemonkey's Avatar
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    Thanks Adam! And a caged Miata did. I called those front-end movements the warbles. The floor pan and the strut towers were not 'together' on the RR crossings and turn-in bumps.

    I used the Boss Frog version ( little heavier ) but same results.

    Thanks for all you do and another nice write-up!
    ... Rick

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  6. #724
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power Flyin 92's Avatar
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    My buddy drove my car a week or so ago and raved about the precise turn-in. I told him that the GS fender braces were to thank. He was sold on them immediately.
    Quote Originally Posted by zacatac View Post
    If I said the things in my head I would make a lot of enemies. All I wanted to say was "Isn't the fact that your double chin is resting on your tits enough motivation?"
    Link to the most lack-luster build in MR history

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  8. #725
    5,000 rpm - there be torque here! Greasemonkey2000's Avatar
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    Great review/writeup as usual Adam!

    I see no mention of cowl shake improvement? Sharka not suffer from it? The GarageStar fender braces eliminated the last bit of cowl shake for me.

    That little girl is getting big!!
    '01 NB2 aka MisF1re: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....218#post207218
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  9. #726
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Awesome writeup Adam!

    Hmmm Im just wondering...would this be more beneficial or the FM chassis bracing with butterfly brace? Ideally I'd want both but I want to get something which is more bang for buck?

  10. #727
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    They stiffen up different areas, so I am not sure if you can compare them...

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  12. #728
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power Flyin 92's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BRGNA8 View Post
    Awesome writeup Adam!

    Hmmm Im just wondering...would this be more beneficial or the FM chassis bracing with butterfly brace? Ideally I'd want both but I want to get something which is more bang for buck?
    Quote Originally Posted by HarryB View Post
    They stiffen up different areas, so I am not sure if you can compare them...
    That ^

    Just buy both and be done with it. The stiffer the chassis the better.
    Quote Originally Posted by zacatac View Post
    If I said the things in my head I would make a lot of enemies. All I wanted to say was "Isn't the fact that your double chin is resting on your tits enough motivation?"
    Link to the most lack-luster build in MR history

  13. #729
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Fishbulb's Avatar
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    As always, great write up and pics.

    It's so cute what you southwest guys call 'rust'!

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  15. #730
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    HA! It's surprising to find any at all on a car here. It really takes a lot of work (or neglect) to get rusty to form out here.

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  17. #731
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BRGNA8 View Post
    Awesome writeup Adam!

    Hmmm Im just wondering...would this be more beneficial or the FM chassis bracing with butterfly brace? Ideally I'd want both but I want to get something which is more bang for buck?
    The FM butterfly brace hangs down too low for me to consider it. I've got the frame rail armor and enjoy that, but I can't give an opinion on the butterfly.

    The fender brace and butterfly stiffen up different parts anyway.

    The fender brace is also one of those no-down side mods IMO. The only possible negative is the time it takes to remove the fenders for an install. You don't lose anything (comfort, NVH, ride height, etc) by having fender braces installed.

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  19. #732
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift NCGreasemonkey's Avatar
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    Adam I think what we that have done the bracing forget what it was we felt before.

    BRGNA8 If you can find a patch of asphalt that has delaminated ( lost its top layer ) and hit it with your front wheel and not the back as you have your foot on the floor pan and not the dead-pedal you will feel the floor-pan flexing. That flex is in the linkage between the rack and steering wheel as well since they are on two different structures in our Miatas. Rail-road tracks work, too. But sometimes that is harder to get just the front to hit.

    The frame rails and butterfly work to join the rear and the front of the car. You can go top down and feel like the hardtop is on if you go as nutz as I did with a full cage. I have no wiggles. But the frame rails are part of that stiffing. It really takes the flex you feel when braking and going over even bumps out.

    The butterfly brace just adds side stability and can be a hang-up over carcasses in the road and other obstacles. You will pucker the fabric on your seat if you ever turn down you favorite road to find raised manhole covers.

    Frame rails, arms and front and rear strut braces are a better option. IMHO.

    Unless they want to go plum nutz, like me, then I'll watch as you get blisters on you hand drilling slip-tubes, also!!!

    Delete if you think this is an intrusion, Adam! Thanks for all you do!
    Last edited by NCGreasemonkey; 08-14-2016 at 07:05 PM. Reason: Beter defined butterfly
    ... Rick

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  21. #733
    Admin / Pit Boss / Miataholic Phatmiata's Avatar
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    great install with pics as per usual Adam!!

  22. #734
    Super Moderator atank's Avatar
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    Nice Adam, as always!

  23. #735
    Forum Sponsor revlimiter's Avatar
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    The Return of the Bikini.

    I had to search my own blog to figure out when Sharka last wore the bikini top. I believe it was 2014, but it might have been 2013. Certainly never with the Blackbird rollbar installed. That was sort of a worry because I had no idea if it would even fit. I never tried it last summer.

    Yeah, I'm a bad Miata owner. I blame my work schedule. 80 hour work weeks (usually around 90 though) don't leave much time for things like... anything else in life.



    This is a rarely seen part. I’m not sure if this one ever even went to production and might actually qualify as Rare. It’s the Project-G EZ Install Center Brace (I think I got that right). They did a short run of these back in 2014 for a group buy. The EZ brace eliminates the owner having to cut the center brace tube to fit their car. The threaded section lets the brace telescope to fit different rollbars.

    I've had this for 2 years. I've never even installed it...



    Sharka’s requires no extension to fit the Blackbird GT3 bar. It’s a perfect fit at the shortest length.

    It’s almost a shame that most of the center bar is covered by vinyl when the top is installed. The EZ brace is so pretty.


    Bikini buckles. I love this detail.


    It fits!!! Sigh of relief.







    I forgot how awesome this top is. It's got such spirit. It's staying on for a while.

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