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Thread: The Slow Pursuit of Vintage.

  1. #181
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Golden Stallion's Avatar
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    I will never forget my horrible attempt at trying to fix my main seal at your shop a while ago

  2. #182
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Golden Stallion View Post
    I will never forget my horrible attempt at trying to fix my main seal at your shop a while ago
    Oh my god, dude, you gave my lift a work out that day. You had it lifting more than a narcissistic 'roided out powerlifter.

  3. #183
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! Golden Stallion's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JamieH View Post
    Oh my god, dude, you gave my lift a work out that day. You had it lifting more than a narcissistic 'roided out powerlifter.
    Now add in I had no idea what I was doing and only had 2 hours of sleep that night before. I don't think I ever said anything but i probably shouldn't have been on the that night haha. It is crazy on how much I have learned since my Miata days lol

  4. #184
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    And we're back.

    Once I had the shop's compressor fixed... or fixed well enough to use it again... I zipped off the main crank bolt and got to replacing some seals.



    So, crank and cam seals. I'd also get around to the CAS later, but there's no pics of that.



    And the reassembly began. And ya might've notice a far cleaern, newer water pump above.



    So that was in/on too.

    During the reassembly I ended up cleaning and painting some bits and taking all the bolts over to the bench grinder to clean/polish them up a bit with the wire wheel. Simple tasks, which beyond the crank reluctor wheel weren't did need to be done... but were totally needed to be done because they were bothering me.

    Like this bracket that holds the connector for the crank position sensor.

    Before:



    After:



    Also, new lower timing cover came in.



    I'd've gotten new middle and upper covers too, but the old ones were in good enough reusable shape... and a new OEM upper costs $100 from just about anywhere. Which I feel is a bit ridiculous for a piece of molded plastic.

    With the new lower timing cover I could slap those all back on.



    With a careful eye you can see the semi-polished timing cover bolts.

    Changing gears, I removed the original steering rack (yeah, I also had gotten the crank pulley back on).



    And sat it next to the new to me NB rack.



    The front sway came off for increased working room. Anyways, this is when I discovered, and learned, something. I thought I had done all the research needed and knew everything I needed to know about doing an NB steering rack swap in to an NA. Nope. I quickly found out that the pressure lines for the two are different, at both ends of the line. Which means I needed a NB steering pump and pressure line. Which I still haven't acquired. But will in due time.

    The other neat thing I learned, and this works to my favor, is that the NB power steering cooler line is part of the NB rack on the high side. Which meant I didn't have to install an early NA power steering cooler line... but I already had knocked that out before pulling the old rack. So, I shouldn't have to worry about ever boiling over the power steering fluid again.

    Which, if you're ever installing an early NA ps cooler line into a later NA, remove the air guide from the bumper. It's the only way you're getting it in without removing the bumper completely. And here's another hing I didn't get pics of. I had the joy of finding mine had one of the tabs broken off. My guess is it happened when I nearly ran over an idiot on a pocket bike in the parking lot of the Motorcycle Resort at Deal's Gap. Anyways, some clever ziptying later and I had that "fixed".

    I'd like to replace it sometime in the future, as well as my old worn out undertray. Preferably with new OEM pieces, but again, kind of pricey for pieces of molded plastic.

    Well, regardless, I still had an NB subframe that needed another round of cleaning before painting. So, I tossed it in a plastic storage bin and ran it down to the nearest selfwash car wash. Which yeah, parts cleaning is frowned upon at such places, but ain't no one got time to care about that at the one by my house. A little bit of grease and grime is nothing compared to what the local rednecks knock off their trucks when there.

    Once back at the shop I dried it off, sprayed the hell out of it with some CRC brakleen, wiped it down, and hung it to be painted. I think it came out pretty good for a quick and dirty cleanup. VHT Epoxy Gloss was used.







    The cross brace required a bit more attention. Lots of bare metal showing from paint flaking off. So I quickly knocked everything off in the sandblaster.

    Now, while that was drying, I decided to struggle with the bypass hoses. Well, of course I didn't decide to struggle with them, but hard to reach hoses that have never been removed in 20 years don't give ya much choice. I'm speaking of the quasi oil cooler hoses of course, the ones that run to the oil filter boss. There's no pics of this, but it's not something ya really want to see. Just know that both of those had to by cut off at both ends. This is also when I replaced the heater hoses and CAS O-ring. Which maybe the CAS O-ring had been replaced before my ownership, or I was just lucky it had never leak. It was still quite flat and probably begging to start leaking. And even though it hadn't, the heater hose below it was still a bit swelled and was another PITA to remove. Even with the spring clamp fully compressed I was having a time getting it off. Still, it got done and crossed off the list.

    So much boring stuff that needed to be done. It was time to do something I wanted to do. Paint the cam cover.

    There's no progress pics for this as I got it done pretty quickly. My thought process was to polish the letters then paint for less chance of harming the paint during the polishing process. Ya might be wondering what I did about masking the letters, I'll get to that. I used a DA sander to quickly and easily do the lower grit work done. I masked the area around the letters to protect it. Starting with 80 grit I worked my way up quickly, spending no more than a 30 seconds to a minute sanding with grit, 80-> 180 -> 220 -> 320 -> 400 -> 600 -> 800. I think I spent more time applying the sandpaper to the DA and replacing the paper backing once done with each piece than actual sanding. Quick note here, be careful if ya try this method, it's easy to take too much off with a DA. It is just aluminum, and 80 grit on a DA can do some serious damage if ya ain't paying attention. Once I was done with the available grits I had for my DA I moved on to hand sanding, again, didn't take much time here, 1,000 -> 1,500 -> 2,000 -> 2,500 -> 3,000. I could have been done there, but nah, still needed some Mother's Mag + Aluminum polish.

    The lettering was done and looking baller. But the rest was a wee bit dirty and needed some quick cleaning. More Brakleen! A rub down and blowjob later (Phrasing!) and it was ready for masking. I left the old gasket on as masking for most of the bottom. A bit of tape here and there with the help of a razor blade took care of the plug wells, bolt holes and oil cap opening. As for the lettering? Ah, well, here is a an old, and clever method to masking raised lettering, grease. Kind of doesn't matter what kind, but I used axle grease. With a glove on I carefully tapped on a little bit of grease at a time until all of the lettering was cover in a layer of grease, I'd say it was a little more than thin layer.

    It was time for paint.

    So, VHT's Wrinkle BLack calls for 3 coats sprayed on in 3 directions, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. But I noticed I had enough for a 4th, so I did the opposite diagonal as well. And everything I've read about it said it required heat to wrinkle. So I left it to dry for an hour or so and grabbed a beverage and snack in the house, fully intending to go over it with a heat gun.

    Well, I came back out to the shop and found it like this.



    I still used a heat gun on it just to be safe and help it cure a little.

    After giving it a little time to dry, I got to removing the masking and cleaning off the lettering. The paint on the lettering came off like a fresh booger. I used a razor blade to scrap it off, sort of like a wiper blade, except I made sure to run it along the edges of the letters at an angle to keep any paint tearing from happening. I also used a shop towel to wipe the letters down as I went along. A bit tedious, but I think it was worth it.

    No flash:



    Flash:



    And sitting on the other side of the cardboard for a contrast.

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    And finally, for this post, a preview of the cam cover with the acorn bolts.



    And from that you can begin to see how things start tying together.

    Ah hell, might as well toss this in this post too. I bought a Retro Modern oil cap some time ago and have had it sitting waiting for me to paint the cam cover. But it needed a little polishing. Again, Mother's Mag & Aluminum.

    Before:



    After:



    Acceptable as is, but even finer after a little TLC polishing.

    More to come tomorrow.

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  6. #185
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Hell yeahhhh looking fresh!! Subframe and cross brace looks schmick!

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  8. #186
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    More cam cover pics!

    No flash:



    Flash:



    Before actually installing it back on the engine, I wanted to give it a bit more time to dry/cure before handling it too much. So, I got to cracking on removing the rear control arms to remove the old bushings and install the new ones. They came out without much fuss thankfully.





    Once out, I got to pressing all the old bushings out. I used a 3 jaw puller and an impact to press them out quickly and easily. And here's all 14 of the old rear control arm bushings.



    They ah... didn't really look all that bad or worn out. Obviously 20 years old, but no immediate signs of excessive wear. Either way, there they are, no longer a part of Betty.

    Now, I was just going to install the new bushings and be done with it. But, the more I looked at the control arms, the more I realized they could do with a fresh coat of paint. I didn't go bonkers and fully strip them. Just a good cleaning and scuffing with a red scotch-bright pad and then wiped down with some Brakleen.





    Once a couple coats of VHT Epoxy Gloss paint was on the control arms, and it was dry of course, time to install the new I.L. Motorsport bushings. And here's the boxes they come in.



    And actually, while the paint was drying, I went ahead and installed the 2 that go into the rear knuckle.





    The wire coat hanger is there to support things while the arms are out

    I had planned to use my press to press the bushings in. But I thought I'd try the thread rod, aka allthread, method first. And after seeing how simple and easy it was, that's what I ended up doing. You can find allthread at Lowes (or Home Depot most likely), and besides that you'll need 3 nuts and various washers. All I need to buy was the allthread, I have plenty of random nuts, bolts and washer laying around. Still, it's a cheap DIY tool and you can find a few write-ups on it around the web.

    Anyways, it didn't take too long before they were all in.



    The only thing I'd say about the process is that after getting them in, I'd turn the DIY tool around and even the location of the bushings in the arms. I had to go a bit further than flush to get the lips on the ends of the new bushings to poke out the other end.

    With the bushings pressed in, I re-installed the control arms. I had also cleaned up and painted all the hardware with the same VHT Epoxy Gloss (except the alignment bolts of course). I used a Testers red paint pen to mark the alignment bolts before removing them by the way, so the rear alignment will at least be pretty close for driving to the alignment shop.





    All back together, torqued with Betty's weight on the suspension thanks to my trans-jack.

    It was finally time to install the the cam cover. And it looks great to me, looking forward to seeing it with everything completely back together.

    No flash:



    Flash:


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  10. #187
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    Tonight I didn't get much done. But I did get the front control arms out.









    I should be able to get around to pressing the old bushings out come Thursday. At least, that's the plan. And as you can see, I simply removed the calipers and hung them by the springs. Pull the knuckle and rotors off as one unit. Used some masking tape to keep the pads from falling out.





    Gotta say, a proper ball joint tool makes popping them a breeze.

    Now, the only concerning thing I found was that the nuts on the lower shock bolts had come loose. And I know I torqued them when I installed the Xidas. I'll just keep my eye on them once it's all back together and be mindful to check them after a few hundred miles here and there.

    I also thought to take a few pictures here and there of things as well.

    1st off, here's a little documentation of how a MIata OEM power steering cooler line is routed.

    Here, we can see it goes through the sway bar bracket and uses 2 M6x1.0 bolts to attach it to the frame.



    Next, here's what it looks like viewed from the front. This is looking up and into the mouth of the bumper.



    You can see what is called the air guide as well. A separate piece of plastic that bolts to the front bumper

    Noe, lets see how it's bolted in place. This is looking in through an opening on the driver's side inside the wheel well.



    Again, 2 M6x1.0 bolts attach it to the front crash bar.

    It blew my mind that I couldn't find any good pictures of how this was installed in a Miata. I guess for most owners with power steering, it doesn't matter. But if you own a '96 or '97, you won't know about this as those years don't have it. And if you plan to driver your car aggressively, you're gonna need it to combat overheating the power steering system if you want to keep power steering. Or you could just use any aftermarket oil/steering cooler, and likely have an easier intsall as well. But I wanted to have a clean OEM appearance.

    Again, you'll need to remove the air guide to remove and/or install a factory oil cooler line. and even then you'll need to twist and finangle it into place.

    Moving on.

    Here's my zip tie "fix" for my air guide.





    It's actually pretty sturdy, but doesn't need to much structural integrity really. There's 5 clips and 4 bolts on the top and bottom that hold it to the bumper. I just want to do what I could to use all the attachment points available. I think there's another tab missing on that side as well since the other side has that one and another above it. Seems like the other tab on that side that is busted is long gone if it was ever there.

    Here's 3 of the clips that hold the air guide to the bumper.



    Mazda Part# NA0150101A

    I'm guessing they're a proprietary clip used on just the air guide. They come out easily enough, but after 20 years the plastic gets brittle and the the tabs on the break. So I order 3 new ones from Miatamecca off ebay.

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/370400993708

    I also ordered the PCV vent hose from them as well. Mazda Part# BPE813895

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/391225891236

    And yes, I know I could have just got a cheap length of vacuum hose from Vatozone. But I'll use OEM preformed hoses if they're available. The prices for those parts are around the same price from most sources, Miatamecca just happened to have them both at reasonable prices and that helped to cut down on the shipping too.

    Oh, and here's that 20 year old, 184K mile PCV valve I broke yesterday.



    Man, that was so annoying.

    But, that's it, that's where I'm currently at.

    Cam cover pic to end on a high note tonight.


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  12. #188
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    So freakin' jealous right now! All the updates look amazing!

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  14. #189
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    Haven't got much done, but the one thing I needed help with is done. The NB front subframe is in.

    Front control arms are cleaned up and painted. Just need to press in the new bushings.



    Here's the old, stock, 184K mile subframe. It served Betty and I well.



    And the "new" subframe installed.







    Was just a bit tricky to get the engine mount studs to let go of the subframe. Had to get the engine at just the right height. Once ya have it at the right spot and angle, it'll slip out.

    Gonna need to order the plastic nipple that clips into the subframe for the charcoal canister. NB subframe didn't have it and the one on the original subframe broke when attempting to remove it. Which I figured would happen since there's no way to access the inside of the subframe where it's at.

    Mazda part # JE16-13-298 for anyone wondering.

    I thought I would reinstall the steering reservoir and connect the hose to the steering cooler. But it ended up a no go. Mazda made a tiny change to the '96-'97 steering reservoir since they didn't equip those years with the cooler line. They rotated the return barb clockwise which points it towards the rack 8nstead of down towards the cooler line. And it's enough that the OEM formed hose will not work. At least not in a fashion that is right.

    I'll get a pic of the difference tomorrow. A friend of mine has a '94 parts car that I was able to get the reservoir needed from today. A quick scuff & cleanup and a fresh couple of coats of paint will have it looking like new.

    I plan to also write up a detailed how-to/differences of the NA to NB subframe/steering swap. I now know all the little differences and everything required to make it work and look as factory as possible. I don't think it's really ever been properly documented. So everyone that ends up doing it just relies on the few threads on various forums that have most of the general information about it but still lacking detailed info and pics.

    Oh, and here's the setup to using a 3 jaw puller and impact to remove bushings.





    Quickly and easily pop bushings for days.

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  16. #190
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    On the flip side, here's what it looks like installing the control arm bushings using the DIY allthread/thread rod method.



    That's 3/8 allthread, I might've been able to use something larger, but I already had some nuts that size. The washer between the two nuts on the right is only there to help position a wrench or ratchet. I pressed them all in a little further than flush so the lip on the other end would poke out. I then pressed them back the other way to center them.

    The one tip I'd give for this is to grease the threads. It'll help the allthread last longer. Which yeah, it'd be wise to grab a couple of 1 foot pieces or a single 2 foot piece just in case the threads strip.

    Here's the pic of the difference between a '90-'95 (left) and '96-'97 (right) power steering reservoir.



    The return line is at a different angle. That's it, everything else is the same. I've seen a few different places list them as fitting all years. That won't be the case unless you use a universal piece of hose. So, if you plan to add an OEM cooler line to your '96-'97 Miata and want to use the factory formed hoses, get the earlier reservoir too.

    Installed:



    I used the same VHT Epoxy on the reservoir. Looks a bit too glossy, I'm thinking I might knock the shine down with some 3,000 grit sandpaper.

    While I was at it, I cleaned the dipstick from my old reservoir and painted the lettering with a Testers paint pen.



    Just dabbed it on and wiped away the excess. Did two coats.

    I also installed the extra bushings that ship with Xidas. They go on the fronts in case you need a bit of extra ride height. They basically raise the top hats about 1/2". I'm going to be running a taller tire (195/55/15 instead of 195/50/15) and having seen some rubbing on the inner wheel well and fender liner I'm going to need the extra height. Plus, since I'm running the softest 550/350 springs on what I think is probably the heaviest an NA gets from the factory, never mind the additions that add a few pounds, I probably should have installed them from the beginning.

    I'll now be able to run less preload on the helper springs which I think will allow for more droop and allow them to work better. As for the rear, I ordered a couple of shock/tophat spacers from FM today. They're asically just a flat piece of 3/8" steel cut to size to fit between the tophat and car. Hoping that'll allow me to run less preload on the helpers in the rear. Or, at least keep the same preload that's on them now. Otherwise, without them I'd probably end up bottoming out the helpers and they'd be bound at full droop.

    Kind of wish I had thought to get some pictures of the front Xidas taken apart. Mostly just because, since you can find pics of them disassembled online. But also, to show that it's better to just run the thrust bearings dry, as 949 recommends. I tried to use a low dust/dirt attracting lube on the thrust bearings, thinking I'd get more life out of them. In the end it still accumulated a ton of dirt and grit and probably did the opposite.

    Oh, one thing to note about adding the extra bushing on the Xidas. It looks like once you have the extra bushing in you won't be able to get the 2nd nut on to lock the 1st nut in place. Once ya have the first nut on finger tight, 5-6 turns is all that's needed to be both tight enough to keep the coilover together and allow enough room to get full thread engagement on the 2nd nut.

    Anyways, with all the new bushings in the front control arms and the extra bushings add to the front Xidas I reinstalled the front suspension.





    It all went back together rather easily. Went ahead and regreased the caliper slider bolts and added a touch of anti-seize to the threads. As well as a fresh coat of brake quiet to the backs of the pads.

    For now it's all just tightened to snug. I'm waiting til I have the rack in to torque it all down.

    Which, I should have done next week. I ordered the parts I need from The Parts Group today. They have a 66K mile NB pump I'm getting as well as the bracket, pressure line, and rack bolts.

    I just need to stop into the local Mazda dealer to see if they can get the plastic nipple that goes in the subframe for the charcoal canister and the two piece bracket/clamp that holds the pressure line to the subframe. I'm hoping they can because everywhere else I've found them the shipping is more than the parts.

    And somewhere during all that last night I changed the oil. I did the filter while I had the subframe out on Friday. Drained the oil last night. Almost forgot to refill it before calling it a night. Was able to get a little clean up and ordering action done around the shop while doing the refill.

    I always try to work in an organized fashion. And I noticed that it had started to get a bit messy. So straightening things out while waiting for each bottle to drop nearly the last drop was as good a time as any. Which I usually let a bottle of oil sit for a minute or so after it appears empty. There was a study/report I remember seeing some years ago done by some school kids that showed how much oil gets wasted from "empty" oil bottles. They went around and collected empty bottles and left them to drain for an extended period of time. I forget how much they collected, but it was enough that the local news ran a story on it (I think) and that I remember being surprised by how much they gathered.

    So yeah, I try to use as much as what's in the bottle as I can and to help cut down on waste to some degree.

    Plan to clean the wheels thoroughly tomorrow so they'll be ready to take them to get the new tires road force balanced Wednesday.

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  18. #191
    3,000 rpm - starting to feel the power BRGNA8's Avatar
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    Loving the updates Jamie!

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  20. #192
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    Parts arrived!



    Bo had to inspect the packages. I'm guessing he was checking for any impurrfections.



    66K mile power steering pump from The Parts Group. Was nice of'em to assemble the parts. I'm guessing to insure they were all there. Not shown are the rack bolts.

    The small USPS box is from FM and contains tophat spacers.

    As for the large flat package? Radiator and cowl panels in wrinkle black from Garage Star. I like the piece of wood used to keep things from getting bent. Plus, bonus free building material for whatever.

    Now I'm waiting on a call from the local Mazda dealership to pick up that subframe nipple. Just hope the accident that happened there hasn't had an affect on the parts department. Some crazy woman that was running from a hit & run crashed into a new ND, a used GMC truck and a used Mercedes reportedly causing $100k in damage. I was at the dealership the day it happened, just glad I wasn't there when it happened.

    I also need to grab a couple of banjo washers, but those can be picked up from likely any parts store.

    I'll get back to it this Sunday.

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  22. #193
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    Will wait to install these once everything is back together.



    This little part came in Saturday.



    Part # JE16-13-298 Same for NAs and NBs.







    Got the rack, pump, and pressure line in.



    As well as the rad, hoses, and front sway bar.



    Well, the pressure line is mostly in. No one locally carries banjo/crush washers for the pump connection. Will order an NA pump return hose today/tomorrow. Still need to torque everything down too.

    I had a good suspicion that the battery was probably dead, and after trying to roll the windows down, found out it was. So, pulled it out, put it on the charger. Also disassembled the trunk panels in prep to remove the rear Xidas to install the tophat spacers. Will clean up things while I'm in there too. So much dust/dirt has collected since I last had the battery out... which was when I installed it a few years back.

    I'm gonna be able to get the little two piece bracket that secures the pressure line to the small hardline cooler on the rack from a friend. Pic of where it goes:



    So close to being done with all of this swapping and maintenance work.

  23. The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to JamieH For This Useful Post:

    BRGNA8 (04-10-2017),Greasemonkey2000 (04-10-2017),HarryB (04-10-2017),Paul B (04-10-2017),Roadster7 (04-14-2017)

  24. #194
    2,000 rpm - light wheelspin, no bog here! DarylSibcy's Avatar
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    Red 1990 Miata w/ITBs ;)
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    Isle of Man - Middle of... Somewhere...
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    Oct 2015
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    Just LOOK at the underneath!! Jeeezus. This is the kind of restoration spec I aspire to. I wish I had access a lift of some sort. The level of detail and commitment to this project is unreal....
    You want a good car. I want a good miata.

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    BRGNA8 (04-12-2017),JamieH (04-10-2017)

  26. #195
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift JamieH's Avatar
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    Black & Tan '97 - Betty
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    Kinston, NC
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarylSibcy View Post
    Just LOOK at the underneath!! Jeeezus. This is the kind of restoration spec I aspire to. I wish I had access a lift of some sort. The level of detail and commitment to this project is unreal....
    Thanks.

    Granted, it's less of a resto and more me just wanting to improve things. I've been pretty fortunte that Betty is a pretty good condition car. And at this point anything that breaks or gives up is from age and mileage. Well, mostly. I don't know how many owners my car has had, but I'd guess I've been the hardest on her.

    I know her engine is getting tired. Compression and power is still good, but she uses a quart between oil changes (3k miles). And really burns through it if I drive her hard for extended periods. I went trhough 2 quarts during MATG last year. She really doesn't like 10W30 either, I was getting hot lifter tick on a few runs on 129. This latest bit of work included a swap to 10w40 in an atempt to quell that and oil useage.

    Even though I've already done so much to this car, I still feel like there's a long way to go to get her just right in my eyes. And considering I view this as a forever car, I believe I'll get there one day.

  27. The Following User Says Thank You to JamieH For This Useful Post:

    Roadster7 (04-14-2017)

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