Dealing with crushed "Frame Rails" on your Miata

[BoBo]

^ It shouldn't be the case with the miata. The real frame rails for the miata is located at the side of the car where by the rocker panel. I don't know why a crushed floor pan rail would matter with state inspection. I doubt people could tell the difference once you replace it with a new rail like the one on youtube and just spray it with undercoat. But yeah some states have weird car laws, I heard you can't even lower your car in some states.

[Pyr0monk3y]

^ It shouldn't be the case with the miata. The real frame rails for the miata is located at the side of the car where by the rocker panel. I don't know why a crushed floor pan rail would matter with state inspection. I doubt people could tell the difference once you replace it with a new rail like the one on youtube and just spray it with undercoat. But yeah some states have weird car laws, I heard you can't even lower your car in some states.

Good point but unless they're an engineer or a miata enthusiast it's unlikely that the inspctor will know that it's just a floor pan component. To someone who doesn't work on miatas it looks like a poorly designed frame rail.

[BoBo]

Good point but unless they're an engineer or a miata enthusiast it's unlikely that the inspctor will know that it's just a floor pan component. To someone who doesn't work on miatas it looks like a poorly designed frame rail.

Whoever does the inspection should know what their doing.I'm lucky I'm in California, places with the snow belt like the Midwest where people use salt, it can take out an under body in 5 years. I just got a quote today, and my local shop is only asking for only $150 if I really want it done. The bodyshop might charge more. But my frame is not even that bad.That is like the main thing I hate about miatas. If it weren't for the weak floor rail, things would be much easier. I will post a picture later.

[CDPHOTO]

Here in Oregon we dont have a state inspection. Just has to pass emissions. The motor and trans will be coming out sometime after this heat wave passes the NW. I figure that will be a good time to mess with the frame rails since there will be no weight in the nose of the car. I will be taking pictures every step and I will post a follow-up when I'm done.

[BoBo]

Here in Oregon we dont have a state inspection. Just has to pass emissions. The motor and trans will be coming out sometime after this heat wave passes the NW. I figure that will be a good time to mess with the frame rails since there will be no weight in the nose of the car. I will be taking pictures every step and I will post a follow-up when I'm done.

It's weird in Norcal, it just started getting hot a week ago, and summer is almost over.Maybe global warming. Are you getting a 1.8 swap? shoot for the early 1.8 with a 99 head. That should give you a tiny bit more power, but in general 1.6 & 1.8 is the same slow motor. I was gonna buy fm rails, but I'm waiting for the heat to die as well. Keep me posted on your pics of the rails.

[—Martin—]

[temporary thread jack] Just curious - what's the high temperature during a heat wave in Oregon? [/temporary thread jack]

[— kung fu jesus —]

73 degrees

[—Martin—]

lol

[CDPHOTO]

[temporary thread jack] Just curious - what's the high temperature during a heat wave in Oregon? [/temporary thread jack]

Well today it was around 80... last week though we hit 100 two days in a row. With 70% humidity... it was kinda miserable.

[charchri4]

Here in Oregon we dont have a state inspection. Just has to pass emissions. The motor and trans will be coming out sometime after this heat wave passes the NW. I figure that will be a good time to mess with the frame rails since there will be no weight in the nose of the car. I will be taking pictures every step and I will post a follow-up when I'm done.

This is what I did with mine and it worked pretty well. It's cheap and you could use smaller box or rectangle material to be lower.
http://jimsmiata.blogspot.com/2013/0...e-down-on.html


I did end up welding them in from the top later on.


A couple more shots of them at the bottom of this post
http://jimsmiata.blogspot.com/2013/0...on-mounts.html

[BoBo]

^ wow that looks clean.

[Cap]

What type of fasteners hold the frame rails in place? Are they simply a thread cutting hex head screw?

[Pyr0monk3y]

no, it is a nut and a bolt through the floor board. You have to pull the carpet to install.

[Zoomazoomzoom]

Hey sorry to resurrect this old thread . I had flattened frame rails on my 92na and I ended up using pry bars and a air hammer using the chisel attachment the longest time of straightening was waiting for my 2gallon air compressor to refill the tank so the air hammer had full scfm.

[Stealth97]

looks worse now..