psulja's '99 Twilight Blue Mica

[psulja]

I'm probably going to keep the stripped interior for a bit to see if I get sick of it. If I do I can easily just put everything back in; shouldn't be too much work. It feels great driving a stripped car, but we'll see how I feel in a few weeks.

Comparison

[I<3flippyheadlights]

Well see what happens. And get a new shift boot!

[psulja]

Well see what happens. And get a new shift boot!

I think it's only me and you in this thread lol! I'll probably look for a vendor that sells the shifter rebuild kit in the next little bit and after I get paid again I might order it next week. Have to make back some of that money I spent on the tires and the alignment.

But I'm absolutely loving the Star Specs! There is so much grip readily available now; much more than I'll need on the street. We got sent home from work an hour early tonight so I went for a little late night rip on some on and off ramps and couldn't believe how easily the car took them, even at higher speeds. I really want to get to a lapping day soon just because I don't want to keep trying to push the car on the street. I usually hold back on the street and don't want to start pushing too hard so now with these sticky tires it's getting boring lol.

Although before I do a lapping day I'll need to take care of my brakes; at least the fronts. I'm going to start looking around at all the different options and see what kind of pads/rotors I want to go with that will give me a good bite but will still be good on the street with not too much dusting/noise.

Edit: I also pushed out the dented front fender, will have to get some pics of that tomorrow. It was rubbing badly on the new tires so I needed to get it pushed out to clear the tire during cornering/braking as soon as possible.

[I<3flippyheadlights]

It seems that way with some peoples build threads honestly


But I'm glad you like the star specs. I have never driven on sticky tires so I can't really say much about them. I did see people perform with them and they seem to make one hell of a difference! If you go to my build thread, you can see I just rebuilt my shifter. Cost about 70 bucks with a short shifter, gear oil, and upper boot. It feels a million times better! GET ON IT!

[psulja]

Yea, I was about to order the boots last night but want to check with my local dealership for pricing first.. then I'll do it.

[—Martin—]

I bought a shifter rebuild from Planet Miata for my car a while back. I like dealing with that place.

http://www.planet-miata.com/index.ph...h-item&idn=215

[psulja]

Thanks for the link. I'll probably order the rebuild kit from them..

[Doward]

Get one of these as well:
http://5xracing.com/i-8112553-5x-rac...r-bushing.html
F30650987.jpg
Amazing.

[psulja]

I was thinking of getting one of those but then I read this post by Kung Fu Jesus:

You're on the right track by replacing the boots, but I don't suggest the metal shifter bushing. They can cause more damage than help and depending on the year of your car, they can be a bit tricky to remove. I have had a few scary moments trying to remove metal shift bushing stuck in the bottom of the turret on racecars. Instead, I would replace ALL the bushings on the shifter with the OEM plastic ones. Look at planetmiata.net for their shifter rebuild kits.

(taken from here: http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread....o-do-quot-list)

Does the metal bushing make that big of a difference? Is it pretty well just for a cleaner shifting feel?

[blackchicken]

Metal bushing pro: all "slop" going into gate is eliminated. (I would assume that con is NVH goes up.)

A couple of NC guys who track did it and love it. But other guys say it's a step too far on a street car. Then again, you have a stripped interior, so this might be a good car for it. Lol

[Demon I Am]

If you are going to rock the stripped interior, I highly recommend pulling the dash, and sanding/painting the interior. If you remove the sound dead and a lot of the body caulk, it will look beautiful when you are done. ust make sure to tape/mask the entire outside of the car, and both sides of the a-pillar/windscreen. Overspray is a bish

[psulja]

If you are going to rock the stripped interior, I highly recommend pulling the dash, and sanding/painting the interior. If you remove the sound dead and a lot of the body caulk, it will look beautiful when you are done. ust make sure to tape/mask the entire outside of the car, and both sides of the a-pillar/windscreen. Overspray is a bish

Well I am trying out the stripped interior for now. I'm going to leave it like this for a couple weeks as the temps get hotter outside to see if it is bearable. So far the noise doesn't bother me, the only thing is the added heat. But after I fix the shifter the added heat should be fixed for the most part. If I do keep the stripped interior I will be respraying the inside, but that would have to wait until I have some extra time which could be a while from now with how work is going.

[Doward]

Self adhesive Coolmat or a similar product applied to the underside of the tub above the header is the way to go. Preventing the actual body tub from heating up is your only hope lol. I may not be as tolerant to heat as some but even with carpet my feet use to bake pretty bad in the summer and on track.

[psulja]

Looks like I will be going on the track sooner than expected. July 14th I plan to do a lapping day at Nelson Ledges in Ohio. The nice thing about Nelson Ledges is that even though it is more than 3 hours away from home it is only 20 minutes away from my sister's house in Newton Falls. The plan is to drive up Friday night after work, sleep at my sister's and wake up Saturday and go to the track. This means I need to get some things done to the car before going.

Front pads & Rotors
Rear pads & refinish rotors (this ones a maybe)
Bleed brakes - not sure if I need to but it doesn't hurt to do (need to learn how to do this)
Rebuild Shifter
Oil change
Transmission Fluid change

Can you guys think of anything else that might need to be done before going on the track? My driver's side wheel bearing is starting to tick a bit around some corners, do you guys think it should be okay, or if it's ticking I should definitely replace it before the lapping day?

For pads I am thinking of going with HP+ up front with blank rotors. Then in the back I have extra OEM pads laying around that I'll throw on. Would HPS pads be good enough for spirited driving and the rare track day/autox or should I spend the extra $30 on HP+?

If you guys can think of anything else I need to do beforehand post up so I can order the parts either this week or next week so I have time to install them all.

[Demon I Am]

I like the combo of axxis Ults in the front, and HP+ in the rear(daily/few autoxes). having a stronger rear pad is a cheaper way of adding some brake bias to the car.