This ain't no build thread!

[chiefmg]

After some careful consideration, I figured WTH. Those of you with short attention spans or who are easily bored will want to skip this first post, as I'm going to give some of my background. You may want to skip the whole thing altogether!

I came about my gearhead status a little later than some do. Not quite sure what caused it. I did help my dad work on cars when I was younger, but that was mostly of the routine maintenance variety of repair. While I was in college I became more interested in motorcycles, I was never allowed to have my own but could ride my grandfather's on the back country roads (without a license no less) when I visited them. Then my senior year, Mazda came out with the RX-7. I was familiar with the rotary since my sister had owned an RX-2 (which she used to race and generally humble much bigger cars with), but the styling of the 7 was wow! As it worked out, I was able to buy one the following year, which I still have. That started my journey to where I am today.

I am definitely a Mazda fan. Probably get that in part from my dad, although he was a Buick fan (no accounting for taste). Over the years I have had quite a few, both performance and pedestrian models (Millenia S, 2nd/3rd gen Protege, 1st/2nd gen MPV, etc) but never seemed to be able to get into a Miata. One of my brothers had two, a '94 (IIRC) and a '02 SE in titanium. I drove both and they had what I liked about all Mazdas in general, my RX-7 in particular, and had the cherry on top of being a convertible.

Two years ago I was driving home from Cars & Coffee with my wife when we saw a Miata. After admiring it, she told me if I sold the Protege I could get one. I know she didn't think I would ever sell that car but she underestimated my desire. I immediately began plotting, worked out a deal with my oldest son for the Protege and then began looking for the Miata. I knew I wanted something in the maroon color range, when I first saw a 2000 SE (Mahogany Mica for those who live under a rock) I knew that was the one.

[chiefmg]

After chasing a couple of cars (both found on eBay, one was in northern Ohio and the underside looked way too rusty, the other in Florida and was way overpriced), I happened upon the $9.95 Miata for sale (Miatamart) site. There was a very nice 2000 SE with low miles and a JRSC under the hood. I immediately got in contact the seller. He had just listed the car a day or so before. Did some back and forth with pictures and such, I told him I'd like to look at it and then I got the loan. On 18 September 2010 the wife and I drove three hours to West-by-god-Virginia, crawled around the car, took a test drive and then bought it. Drove the three hours home in the evening dark, top down the whole way, hatless and without ear plugs (left them in the other car), grinning like an idiot. When we were almost home we stopped to get something to eat and my wife started laughing at me because my hair was sticking straight up. I didn't care, I had too much fun.

It appears that I can't post a picture via this site, so I'll have to break down and get some sort of account on one of those new-fangled picture hosting sites. I just heard a lot of thuds from people who know me from elsewhere hitting the deck after reading that!

[treeafodo]

I completely agree about the styling of the RX-7. That car, in my opinion, was so futuristic for its time. One of my all time favourites. Nice read, about how to go into these cars, I actually read the first post ;)

Edit: I probably ruined the post layout of your story. Sorry.

[chiefmg]

In any event, I don't regard what I do as a build. Call me old-fashioned, but to me building a car involves tearing it apart and putting it back together. I will be doing that to my RX-7, but not to this car. What I have done so far, and will continue doing, is to make modifications and improvements to bring it to where I can say it's mine. If I can provide a gem or two of knowledge to someone along the way, all the better. I have done a lot in the past two years and will slowly document all that (pretty much literally as at present I am at work on a merchant ship and our Internet connection is via satellite, which is s-l-o-w). I tend to be more of the get the job done type than the take a picture every stage of the way to preserve it for others type. You'll have to deal with it, I'm not changing because you aren't cute enough.

[chiefmg]

I completely agree about the styling of the RX-7. That car, in my opinion, was so futuristic for its time. One of my all time favourites. Nice read, about how to go into these cars, I actually read the first post ;)

Edit: I probably ruined the post layout of your story. Sorry.

No worries, as you can read in post 4 it is due to my slow connection. Better to have some breaks for people as otherwise they will get tired of reading mine.

[chiefmg]

Ok, time for a little bit about the car when I brought it home. The guy I bought it from had picked it up from some sort of wholesaler in FL. Not sure how many owners there were in between, but he somehow managed to track down the original owner. He had bought the car new and after having it a year had the JRSC installed (possible most or all of the other mods, I'm a little hazy on that). As a result of the previous owner's interest he had all the papers that the original owner had held onto, which was nice. Unfortunately I guess he didn't have the SE extras, more on that down the road.

As mentioned the car had the JRSC (Jackson Racing Supercharger) which was the M45 Eaton. The rest of the supercharger install included a DDM Works cold air intake box, JR timing controller, Walbro 255lph fuel pump with restrictor pill, and finally the piece de resistance, a small black box (I can't remember the correct name right now) which basically fooled the ECU into thinking the air temp was cooler than it was so that extra fuel was added. So yeah, the resistor trick that you can buy on eBay. But hey, it worked just fine. The only other engine-related upgrade was a Brainstorm cat-back dual exhaust. For dress-up there was a stainless panel (sort of an air blocker) bolted on top of the front bumper attachment point, the 'charger outlet manifold was polished, there were a ton of stickers on the radiator frame and cross-over tube, and a very noticeable set of yellow silicone hoses EVERYWHERE (just ask Bryan, I think he saw it).

Suspension was a set of Bilstein PSS coilovers with 15 X 6.5 Alpha wheels wearing General Exclaim UHP tires (they were actually pretty decent). A set of matched JR sways front/rear (adjustable tubular front), braided stainless steel brake lines with some drilled/slotted rotors and unknown pads (calipers were painted yellow) finished that off. Interior was stock except for a Hard Dog Ace rollbar, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a nice cloth boot cover, and a trunk lid storage holder inside the trunk.

As you will be able to see once I get a picture posted, the car was way too low. On certain bumps I would hear a scraping noise, thought it was the tire hitting the fender liner (it was) but mainly it was the right "frame rail" hitting the ground. That wasn't acceptable to me.

[Phatmiata]

It appears that I can't post a picture via this site, so I'll have to break down and get some sort of account on one of those new-fangled picture hosting sites.............

[THUD]

This is the easiest one to use for hosting photos, and its free! ----> http://www.flickr.com/

I want to see this Miata and the RX7 after reading all this!!!

:TTIWWP:

[chiefmg]

[THUD]

This is the easiest one to use for hosting photos, and its free! ----> http://www.flickr.com/

I want to see this Miata and the RX7 after reading all this!!!

:TTIWWP:

Who are you sir? I don't recall you knowing me from elsewhere, so if you think your pretending to fall over gets you past my sensors, think again! Or are you a secret stalker (I am joking, I said elsewhere I don't use emoticons [normally] which does make it a little difficult)?

My main concern with posting pictures, especially on a free site, is what unscrupulous people might do. I'm not a conspiracy type but I do have boundaries. I'm willing to give it a shot, after all I have now moved into the 21st century according to my wife after getting a smart phone my last time home (little does she know how I use it). That said, right now I am on an abysmally slow connection and even small amounts of data take time. Nighttime is worse due to everyone else being on line. Daytime, well I'm not an IT guy who can sit around surfing all day long. I'll see what I can come up with though. You can try searching my screen name as I'm the same everywhere. Sort of insidious, if you will.

Since it's nearly midnight where I am and we will be in port tomorrow to discharge (around 118,000 cubic meters of -158 C liquified natural gas) I need to get to sleep. Stay tuned...

[Phatmiata]

Who am I sir? I'm nobody special, I just love Miatas and try to be friendly to all Miata owners, as I'm very much into the local Miata clubs, ive been into Miatas since my first Miata I got back in 1994.

Anyhow, If you have a smart phone you can download the Flickr app for free and take photos with your camera/phone and upload right from your phone.

What kinda boat are you on? Are you an E-7 or something? Would explain the screen name. Former squid myself.

[Demon I Am]

oh shit... he called it a boat... :popcorn: :boxing:

lol, Chief is good people!

[chiefmg]

Who am I sir? I'm nobody special, I just love Miatas and try to be friendly to all Miata owners, as I'm very much into the local Miata clubs, ive been into Miatas since my first Miata I got back in 1994.

Anyhow, If you have a smart phone you can download the Flickr app for free and take photos with your camera/phone and upload right from your phone.

What kinda boat are you on? Are you an E-7 or something? Would explain the screen name. Former squid myself.

Looks like I got off on the wrong foot. Randy, I know who you are and have the utmost respect. My comment was directed at the fact you mimed hitting the deck based upon what I had said. The couple of places I have been on for years know that I don't post pictures, those guys usually give me a hard time so I was preempting their comments. I meant it in good fun, and I apologize if you took it otherwise.

Tony, put down the big stirring paddle and set aside your popcorn. I will do this just for you though...I'm on a SHIP!!! Carry on. And thanks for making me blush.

Randy, I'm not in the Navy. I'm a merchant mariner (or target as my bubblehead younger brother likes to say). Here's the ship I'm currently on: http://www.helderline.nl/images/large/195_2896_helderline_shell_tanker_lng_lagos_1cl.jpg

My screen name refers to my license and current position as Chief Engineer. Just to confuse you even further, I was in the USNR for a long time. Left as an O-6.

Now, back to what this thread is about. I have to work on the picture thing, but here's a link to the one I took the first day it was home:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8170/8060653624_5aa48a1371_c.jpg

I think you should be able to see it, if not then I'll be sure to load it wherever I end up getting an account. The RX-7 will have to wait. On the plus side I did find an underhood picture of the Miata the PO sent me, I will warn you before posting it as you will want to have sunglasses handy. I apparently deleted it from my computer, you will all understand when you see it.

[Phatmiata]

FIXED your Photos with image tags :imgtag:

And yes, it's still a boat to me Tony, LOL. I was on a warship, and we still call them boats too, LOL you can call them like you see them, your Submariner brother is right, sitting duck. So you are the CHENG then eh, nice? I was a Snipe back in the day, worked on Gas Turbine engines in the USNavy (they use them for main propulsion) However I was an "Enlisted" grease monkey, spending most of my time below decks in the main engineering rooms.


Anyhow. please do carry on with the thread!! that Miata looks great!! such a nice color too!!

[chiefmg]

Thank you kindly sir. Yes, I am a snipe and damn proud of it!

Let me see if I have a handle on this picture posting thing. Remember I said to have sunglasses handy for the engine bay shot? Time to put them on:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8038/8062060322_dcb03063da_c.jpg

[Agent☣Orange]

In the Navy, my boat was a Humvee. Phat, Chief's name threw me off too on a couple other sites. I figured he was a E6 goat with a cup of coffee in his hand, a GM who made Chief but we were thinking in Navy terms.

Chief, I know you're not new and we've talked for a long time but great to have you here. I know sometimes you're dealing with slow satellite Internet on your boat, err ship but thanks for sticking with us.

Don't worry too much about uploading your pictures to Flickr or Photobucket. Nobody is going to clean out your bank account if you have a bunch of Miata pictures stored online. To make things faster, I reduce my photo sizes before uploading them. That technique would serve you well, especially when you're at sea with a slow connection.

[chiefmg]

Dammit, you did a ninja edit before I made it back here. I was gonna comment about how I never knew Humvees were amphibious...

Anyone else notice it's mostly the old guys posting in here?

I've been here for a while but doing my usual woodwork imitation unless I had something to contribute. Not really sure why I decided to make this thread (okay you got me, it was so I can apply for MotM!) but we'll see how it goes.

Before I swing back into what this thread is about, here is my RX-7 in better days (just for you Randy):

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8450/8062820206_1771cf7bb9.jpg

[chiefmg]

The day after I bought the car (that would be 19 September for anyone who suffers from attention-deficit disorder. BTW you are probably not married if you do) I did a few small things. Put the wiper arms on correctly (PO had apparently painted them and didn't put them back on the right side), did a massive stickerectomy under the hood, set the tire pressures and generally just drove her. I only had a couple of days to do that before having to go to Dubai for a work-related conference. Talk about separation anxiety!

Over the next couple of months I did quite a few small things. Replaced the god-awful yellow hose kit with a black one, replaced the chrome gas filler door with a stock painted one (forgot to mention the car had one of those when I bought it, the wife liked it better than the painted one. Guess I need to sign her up for M.net). Put in a cargo net. Changed all the fluids using the magical Motorcraft synthetic in the tranny (I really like it), I found the oil filter was barely on there so it was a good thing I did that. Raised it by 13mm which corrected the majority of the grounding issues. Did my first autocross a few days later and had a blast. Got a performance alignment at a place in Cincinnati run by a guy who has been around for years, he didn't give me my final specs and I didn't think to ask for them, but he told me I had toe out in the rear (which went a long way to explaining the tail-happiness of the car. Besides my heavy right foot around corners that is). Installed some Hella Supertones but wasn't happy with them so switched to my usual Fiamms. I went all out and bought a stock hanger for the driver's side one so it would look stock.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8179/8063982073_9b50e469a1_c.jpg

When I was messing around with the horns, I discovered the driver's side headlight was missing a plastic spacer for the post that located the bottom of the light. Bought one of those to correct that issue. Someone along the owner's road had installed a bra which used snaps and they were still on the car, so those came off (and I found that the two at the front of the hood had been put on with screws that were just a bit too long, so I had two bumps from that). Flipped the passenger seat stopper around to get that precious extra inch of legroom.

One thing I did that merits some attention was install a factory 6 disc changer. Ha, I can hear you say, you couldn't get one of those in 2000 on a Miata. True enough, but you could get one on a 626. I was looking around eBay and noticed the plugs in the rear of that unit were the same as on mine. After some research I found out the bar in between my stock radio and cassette player was just plastic. So I bid on and won a radio. Guaranteed to work, but upon receipt I found that wasn't the case as the CD player wouldn't. There was a CD stuck in it for one thing. I got in touch with the seller, who told me to keep it and reimbursed me my cost (in other words, a stand-up person). I messed around with it and managed to get the CD out, found the eject button was messed up so using some plastic steel and silicone built that up. After that it still didn't function. On to the next step.

In case you didn't know, Mazda uses modular radios. This means you can swap bits around to get where you want (for instance, my wife's RX-8 came with a single CD player. I bought a beat up 6 disc unit, changed over the CD player and voila!). I knew this was the case with vehicles after 2001 but not earlier. I was able to find a 6 disc radio from a 2000 Tribute on eBay (listed for parts as it had a rattle inside). When it showed up, the rattle turned out to be 36 cents in loose change (someone's kid probably got a whipping for that one). Swapped out the changer unit and the faceplate, put it in the dash and it worked like a champ. Sure it doesn't play MP3s or have a slot for a memory stick, but I don't have to juggle CDs all the time either. Plus since it's factory with Mazda all over it, I don't have to worry about someone prying it loose.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8312/8063978491_82b6af8eb9_c.jpg

[Agent☣Orange]

What's a CD player?

[chiefmg]

I'm just going to leave one of my favorite sayings here. It isn't necessarily directed at anyone in particular (coughalexcough) but I feel it might be pertinent.

Everyone likes a little ass, no one likes a smartass.

Just so you know, when I was a kid we had a '65 Mustang (terrible car although it didn't seem it at the time) that had a 4 track player in it. This was when 8 tracks were all the rage. So things do change...

Where was I...installed a Cobalt front shock brace, this is the one that has arms to the firewall. Some say it's useless, I say it helped the cowl shake. Had a moment of excitement after that was in, I was out driving and had hit the brakes lightly. Went to brake harder a few moments later and the pedal was hard as a rock but the car wasn't slowing. Turned out the hard line from the intake manifold to the brake booster had been deflected enough to kink the hose on one side, so there was not a constant source of vacuum to make the booster work. That was an easy fix. Put in a set of IL Motorsports pedals to replace the set that was in the car, they said Miata on them which was fine but they were huge (very wide) which made it difficult for me to operate them, especially to heel and toe. The IL set has nice little rubber nubs on them to help grip.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8031/8063976828_0b2a7c963b_c.jpg

Bought a red Mazdaspeed oil cap (as used on the Speed3) and a Raceland windblocker. Thanks to Bryan for the suggestion, it matched the contour of my Ace rollbar perfectly. All I had to do was fabricate some extensions for the mounting points (a fancy way of saying I cut two pieces of aluminum flat bar to length and drilled two holes in each). I cut a piece of plexiglass to fit the space at the bottom of the windblocker and the wife was happy with no more messy hair.

The final thing done, and only because I have an awesome wife, was sourcing and installing a set of Clearwater speakers. Yes they are expensive (I did save $50 by buying through them on eBay) but they clean up the Bose system a lot and I am more than happy with what I have now. I can't see spending a lot of time or money on a stereo for a convertible, especially with the job-related hearing loss I have. The Clearwaters go right into place, I did put one of the fixing wires for a tweeter in wrong but figured that out the next time I was home.

So after a little more than two months of ownership, it was back to work. There went Thanksgiving and Christmas that year.

[chiefmg]

Spent about an hour tonight copy/pasting stuff from my thread elsewhere (that one is what I did to my Mazdas today) so I could jog the old memory about what I did when.

The wife and I went out to lunch in the Miata the day I left, so I got a little fix to tide me over. Good thing too, as I ended up being gone for four months that time. Over lunch, I told her I would try not to buy anything for the cars until right before I came home (please note I specifically did not promise). She laughed and basically told me, yeah right! I was serious, but I also know (as does she) that I have this tendency to see good deals and go for them.

So four days later (I know, right?!) I managed to score the factory header off an '05. Over the next few months, I bought the following: Mazdaspeed competition diff mounts, IL Motorsports engine mounts (same stiffness as the MS units but cheaper), HID projectors, security bolts and Rennenmetal side plates for the hard top I was planning on, Rennenmetal crank holding tool, KG Works gauge face, Konig Lightspeed wheels in bronze, some Toyo T1-Rs in 205-50/15, Planet Miata shifter rebuild kit and stainless clutch hose, AWD needle caps from RSpeed with their closeout (took me a little while to make up my mind on those, now glad I did), couple of supercharger pieces from Moss (rotomolded crossover tube, 'charger outlet manifold, couple of small things that escape me), Cool Breeze scoop, oil change and coupler for the 'charger, Koyo 37mm radiator and TDR header blanket. Somewhere in there I got a hard top off a local Craigslist ad, thanks to a good friend of mine from HS who not only fronted me the money for it (I had no way to get him the cash) but he even went and picked it up. It was Merlot Mica which was close to mine, and had all latches and the defroster pigtail for an NB. I got home at the end of March, so it was time to install everything. First I had to track it all down. My wife had made piles of boxes all over the place, most everything I found no problem but it took some time to come up with the header (ended up being out of the way in the basement with a towel draped over it. Think she was trying to tell me something?).

[chiefmg]

First up I put on the crossover tube and outlet manifold on the supercharger. That cleaned the engine bay up some more. Had the tires mounted, when I got home from that the Gorilla lugs I bought had arrived so I could put the wheels on the car. Here's how that all looked:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8453/8073173874_24edc5a12d_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8029/8073177221_5c2d531390_c.jpg

[roy obanion]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8170/8060653624_5aa48a1371_c.jpg


I'm late to the party, I know. Did you end up getting rid of those wheels? I forgot about them.

[chiefmg]

No, with my usual flair for procrastination they are still in my hands. Every time home I say I'm going to sell stuff, but then I don't want to deal with the hassle.

[Agent☣Orange]

Wow, that engine bay is superb! I'd post mine here too since we're almost twins but this is your thread.

[chiefmg]

Go for it, my feelings won't be hurt. Of course your car has the yellow all over it that I purged from my engine bay :toomuch:. Mine looks quite a bit different now, but you will all have to stay tuned and see that as it comes along.

[diabeetus]

those are some extremely beautiful cars you have there. so seductive

[chiefmg]

Thanks, it's definitely nice having choices like this. These two are only half of my four wheeled garage, but I'm trying to keep this about the Miata.

[roy obanion]

Let me know when you need another protege in you life. :)

[chiefmg]

A few days later (on 03/31/11) I installed the new shift boots and Beatrush lower bronze bushing. I could see no way to remove/replace the lower nylon (?) ring and wave washer, it is blocked by the two locating pins. My lower boot was torn right around, the upper one looked fairly new when I first pulled it off but then I found a tear in it. I also found the upper wave washer was completely missing which meant the upper nylon (?) ring was moving around and not doing much of anything as far as locating the shifter ball. Out and about, the shifter isn't a huge improvement but it is noticeable. While I was coming out of one store, a slightly modded Civic pulled up close to me. Two guys got out and walked over, then proceeded to display the most gratuitous use of the word "sick" that I have ever heard. Every fifth word was sick, as in, that's the sickest Miata I've ever seen. Nice to get the compliments though.

On 04/01 I installed the Koyo radiator. Nothing too tough, I did have to bend the mounts for the A/C condenser a bit to allow the rad to go where it needed to be. I have read several stories about people having issues getting the air out of the car's system, but I didn't do anything more than I usually do and it seems fine. There was a 1" gap between the radiator and the support bracket across the front so I got some window A/C sealing foam and stuffed that in there. I am going to have to figure out what to use to seal the sides of the fans as well.

On 04/12 during a round of my tireless research, I found out how to remove the lower bushing and wave washer for a 6 speed tranny (Google Miata shifter and click on the links for Mike's Place). So that got done. For any future readers who wonder, you have to drive one of the pins back from the inside, replace the parts then drive it back. I was able to drive the pin out with the piece it is mounted to in place, but had to remove it to put the pin back. With the two front bolts on that piece underneath the chassis it takes some wiggling to get things out, thin fingers help.

No pictures of this work because well, it's already pretty well documented.

[Agent☣Orange]

Jees Chief, you sure did it the hard way. You only need a screwdriver to get the old one out and to get the new one in because they're flexible. Those usually don't need replacing either, just the lower bushing (the tiny one that goes on the lower shifter ball).

Oh, here's mine from before: http://gearheadsmiataclub.net/vB/showthread.php/73-DIY-OEM-short-throw-improved-shifter-project

[Phatmiata]

.........

Before I swing back into what this thread is about, here is my RX-7 in better days (just for you Randy):

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8450/8062820206_1771cf7bb9.jpg

WOW!!!!! This RX7 is so sweet looking!!! Just love it! Thank you for sharing!

[Agent☣Orange]

I remember those new back in the day. That sure is a fine example of the era.

[chiefmg]

WOW!!!!! This RX7 is so sweet looking!!! Just love it! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks. Wait until you see it once I get off my ass and restore it, big things planned.


Jees Chief, you sure did it the hard way. You only need a screwdriver to get the old one out and to get the new one in because they're flexible. Those usually don't need replacing either, just the lower bushing (the tiny one that goes on the lower shifter ball).

Oh, here's mine from before: http://gearheadsmiataclub.net/vB/showthread.php/73-DIY-OEM-short-throw-improved-shifter-project

You forget, I'm a highly trained professional! With tools! It actually wasn't that bad the first time (can't recall right now just why I did it a second time. EDIT: remembered but you will all have to wait as I don't want to put something out of order), just took my time with it. I remember your write-up, it was very well done (and I was jealous of your polish job on the lower bushing). The way I look at things like that, if I have a complete set of replacement parts I might as well take care of it all at once. One less thing for me to worry about while I'm gone, and for my limited time home.

[chiefmg]

So I kind of got out of my rhythm with my last post about what I did, since this happened so long ago no point in my being too specific until I get right up to date. So onward...

I bought a set of taillight surrounds off eBay, had them painted along with the hard top (Merlot Mica is very close to Mahogany Mica, but not close enough for me. Plus it had a couple of nasty gouges in the middle towards the front). I put on a HD lip (that's Home Depot for anyone who lives under a rock) and removed the Zoom-Zoom sticker off the factory lip. Replaced the driver's side foglight, I don't use them much so am not really concerned that the factory units aren't as good as aftermarket. I put some X-Pel film on them for protection against rocks. Cleaned up/painted the '05 header. Ordered some stock parts, a new driver's side inner fender liner (the piece with louvers that is on the very front of the fender), seatbelt attachment cover, and new inside door handle pulls (originals were scarred up). I got the last driver's side in parchment available in North America, I was happy about that. Installed my hard top side plates (I used my Craftsman Nextec multi-tool to cut the plastic, it is awesome), replaced both windows in the passenger door with used (there were small spots that appeared to be etched into the glass, it was annoying looking through them). Replaced both hoses on the brake vacuum assist line, whoever originally put the yellow hoses on didn't move the orifice over so whenever I shut off the engine, my brake assist disappeared immediately. If you don't think this is a big deal try it, makes life interesting if you stop on a hill.

I managed to pick up a set of Atlantic Design trunk bags. These are no longer made, but they are a very nice way to carry more stuff without having to put a luggage rack on. The set is two bags with plastic covered metal hooks that go over the edge of the trunk lid, the straps they are on are adjustable to get them snug. There is also a cushioned pad that you lay down on the trunk lid before putting the bags in place.

Got some goodies for the supercharger, an oil/nose coupler kit and a DDM Wonderbracket. Good thing I got the Wonderbracket as my bypass actuator arm was worn as well as the bellcrank it moves. I ended up buying a new actuator (only way to take care of that). I cleaned/oiled the air filter, it was pretty dirty and very dry. Based on the amount of sand I found in the area around the intake shielding I doubt it had been cleaned since it was in FL.

I had bought an A-pillar with integral gauge pods from Moss, but when I got it didn't like how it looked. I did take the opportunity to redo the wiring on the gauges some, it was a mess with all different types of wire used (including some speaker wire). I was to find out soon just how shoddy the wiring was.

Finally got around to installing the '05 header, one of the EGR pipe nuts put up a fight and I ended up messing it up. I forgot to take my own advice, which is that sometimes it's easier to remove more than you need to. In this case had I taken the coil pack off from the beginning I would have been much better off. Oh well. At the same time I opened up the supercharger, I didn't get much oil out of the gearbox (I had read in several places this was an issue with M45s, but never any thoughts about why) but it looked fine inside. The new coupler was very tight so I was happy about that. While all that was off I replaced the heater and lower radiator hoses. One of the heater hoses had been rubbing on the supercharger inlet, failure of that would have been a lot of fun (NOT!). I also replaced the engine mounts while I was busy. Got everything back on the way it is supposed to be without any extra parts (always a good thing). BTW, I found out it is best to have the radiator drain plug installed before filling it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8469/8091083769_2cefe62b67_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8052/8091217095_8a649907e9_b.jpg

[Agent☣Orange]

BTW, I found out it is best to have the radiator drain plug installed before filling it.

I found out the same thing applies to the oil-drain plug as well.

[chiefmg]

Funny how that works, huh?

[chiefmg]

Next on my list was the rear of the car. I replaced the fuel filter (not horrible but worse than it has to be. Thanks Mazda). Next up were the differential mounts. This is one time I really should have taken pictures, because I found a relatively easy way to do it. I didn't want to remove the diff which I knew would make life more difficult, but I was sure it was doable. I did all the normal removals (rear bracing- actually did that before the filter-, PPF brace, diff mounts). I had read up on all the various ways people have used to do this, and tried just about every method (excepting fire). Those damn mounts would not budge. After several hours of frustration, I sat back and regrouped. Drawing on my years of experience and knowledge with removal of tight, stubborn objects from holes I took stock of my tools to see what could be done. Basically you need to use something that will allow you to press the mounts out of the diff arms. I found one of the spacers for my ball joint kit was just the right size (2.5" OD) to push against the metal that is on the outside of the mount. I used a two arm puller to grab the slight lip that is on the diff arm and just screwed it upwards to push the mount out. It was a little hard getting all the bits in the correct place so the first one took me all of 10 minutes to get out. Second one was easier since I had my method down.

Getting the new mounts in proved to be a right royal PITA. I had the Mazdaspeed mounts, and they are slightly oval before installation. Since the hole they go into is round, there is a wee bit of resistance. What ended up working was putting them in place, jacking the diff up so that the weight of the car was on the mounts, then using a hammer and a piece of wood to hit upwards to get the mounts started. I then used the reverse of my removal method to jack the mounts into place, except instead of the puller I used a BACC. What's that, I hear you ask? A big-ass C-clamp. My local Ace provided it in all its 8" goodness. Once they were seated in place it was a matter of putting it all back together.

I do want to mention here that I posted about doing this on MT.net on someone's thread about this job. I was told at that time that no one would buy a ball joint kit or other special tools to do this job. Maybe six months later someone posted about doing it using this method, and he was a hero. Of course he did provide pictures so that may have made the difference. If you can't figure out what I did from my description head over there and you will see what I am talking about (although he dropped the diff completely out of the car).

[roy obanion]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8469/8091083769_2cefe62b67_b.jpg



That looks great!

[chiefmg]

So, last time around I had gotten quite a lot done since getting home. The reason for this was I had gotten my good wife to agree to take the Miata on our delayed honeymoon. Just to let everyone know what an awesome woman she is, not only did she agree to that but she also agreed that we could have a two-part trip. For the first part we went to Savanah GA and stayed in a B&B for a couple of days. Then we drove to Atlanta for The Mitty, that was the year Mazda was the featured marque and it was attempted to have the longest line of Mazdas around a track (we didn't make it).

Anyway, lest you think it was all work and no play, along the way I did this:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8475/8100640105_0f34745f4c_c.jpg

I got the magnetic numbers from a guy I know on another forum who has a side business. He also hooked me up with the wheel emblems and third brake light Zoom-Zoom sticker (which I have on all our cars). If you look back a few posts and peer closely at the pictures, you can see them. As you can see from the picture, I have a set of RyokuRob tow hooks. I can attest to the fact that they work (the front one does anyway), more on that a lot later.

Before we left on our trip, I went to my local junkyard and picked up a couple of sealed door switches off a '93 929. Pretty much any bigger Mazda you look at has these sealed switches, while for some reason they skimped on the Miata and used open ones. The sealed ones keep crap out of the switch so there is one less thing to worry about. The only thing I had to do to get the switch installed was bend the tab on the switch so it was pointing 180 degrees away from where it was stock. The wiring on the Miata just isn't long enough to allow it to work otherwise.

I also replaced the two nibs (or tits as I call them) on the upper top latches. The one on my passenger side was missing completely, as well as the screw that holds it in place. Off to Ace I went, the screw needed is M4 X 6. Did an oil and filter change, while I was under there I replaced the clutch hose and pigtail with the long stainless braided hose I had. It was only slightly a PITA, mainly in trying to get the old one out of there. For some reason Mazda failed to slot the one bracket the pigtail passes through, so I just got out the sidecutters and cut it into two pieces. I removed the hard top sideplates because the wife said she didn't want to use it on the drive.

Finally did a minor foamectomy on the driver's seat. I bought some hog ring pliers (Ace to the rescue again) although I ended up not using them as everything was accessible enough for needle nose pliers.

[chiefmg]

So off to Savannah we went. I got into hot water when I missed an interstate change that caused us a couple of extra hours driving. She also wasn't pleased with my driving through a mountainous zone, I was playing with an STI and she seemed to think there was no need to drive the speed I was through the turns. Ah well, the bruises healed nicely.

Savannah was nice, if you've never been I can recommend it (although not in late summer). The drive up to Atlanta was good, we met up with a group of people I have known for years on forums but had never seen most of them in person before. My wife isn't a huge race fan so she wasn't at the track a lot, she did take some parade laps with me and shot those with her phone. Here's one I took when we were trying for the record:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8472/8100641395_cb2112c463_c.jpg

While at the track, I was literally parked next to the Flyin' Miata tent. They were having a sale with free shipping, so I managed to sweet-talk my way into a set of V-Maxx and the frame rails with butterfly brace. In my defense, we did buy my wife a purse in Savannah so it's not like I was hogging the money.

The next to last night we were there, we went to a nice restaurant in Atlanta to have an early anniversary celebration. We parked, only to find out that there was valet service. The guy asked for my key, I didn't really see the point but gave it to him anyway. After a very nice meal, we came out and a different guy gave me the key. I saw the car wasn't where I had put it, asked and he said it was around the side. When I walked around the corner, I found that my lowered car had been backed up over about an 8" curb and the front lip was on the ground. I was so mad I was shaking. I tried gently pulling it off the curb but the right exhaust tip scraped as I was doing it. I vented a little by doing a burnout, when I pulled around front the only valet to be seen was the one who had given me the key. When I asked him who the genius was that parked my car like that, he said it wasn't him. So that was nice evening shot to hell. The next day when I looked things over closer, I discovered that they had also damaged my rear mud flaps. Luckily there was a phone number on the ticket which we called and got things taken care of. I ended up with a new set of mud flaps (much to my surprise they were still available), the exhaust I just have to live with.

[chiefmg]

I mentioned about the Atlantic Design trunk bags I bought. I had also picked up a deck bag to use. You might think that would have been enough storage, but not for my wife. I had the car packed tight (I'm very good at using every bit of space) and there was not any room to spare. When we bought her purse a hat box was included (don't ask me why that is) but there was no way I could squeeze it into the car short of her holding it on her lap for the 8 hour drive home. Her solution was to have them mail it to us (no way was she not getting that box!). Even though you can't see the inside, this picture might give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8044/8100651908_89dc9a1be0_c.jpg

I have been told in no uncertain terms that was the last long trip we were doing in the Miata.

[chiefmg]

While in Atlanta I developed a CEL. Borrowed someone's Hypertech to read it but there were no fault codes showing. I disconnected the battery to reset it. It came back on the way home, I noticed that the narrowband gauge stopped working at the same time. I went ahead and ordered a new O2 sensor just in case, but after reading the documentation I had and finding out the narrowband gauge was tied into the O2 sensor wiring, I began to figure out they might be connected (can't put one over on me!). Turned out that was the case, another example of how not to do wiring by whoever installed the supercharger. I soldered the connection back and everything was in business.

I bought a set of hood lifts from RSpeed, got those installed. As it turned out I would have needed them anyway, but it is very nice not having to work around the prop rod. I did notice the sides of the hood appear to be raised a little and no longer line up with the tops of the fenders. I haven't really looked at what I can do to correct that, I suspect it will require bending some sheetmetal.

I actually mentioned the tow hooks a couple of posts up but I installed them after our trip. I showed my wife the tow hooks so she would know not to back up too far. She informed me they were ugly, I should have consulted her beforehand and that they made the car less cute. By my reckoning that's a double win!

I replaced my windshield header interior plastic piece, the original owner had placed the boost retard control there with two screws. I wanted to move that out of the way, as it was an open invitation to anyone to move the knob with possible disastrous consequences. The installer had run the wiring for it behind one of the dash brackets so I had to cut the wires to get the control knob fed back inside the car. Soldered everything back together and used heat shrink tubing for a nice neat seal. I also replaced my faded visors and the tinted interior light lens with a Mitsu clear one sourced from our very own YellowYata (thanks again man).

[chiefmg]

Along about this time my order from Flyin' Miata showed up. I'm glad I got the free shipping, all those bits were heavy. It was all well packaged but I was missing a couple of fasteners for the frame rails. I just ended up going to Ace as I didn't want to wait, I am sure if I had called FM they would have sent me what was missing. The instructions included were very thorough. Probably the hardest part of the whole installation (for me) was drilling holes in my floor boards. I would note that you want to remove the carpet as far back as you can, when I was drilling the first couple of holes one side had draped back down and my drill bit caught the insulation under the carpet. Not a big deal, just a minor annoyance but I should have propped it up better. I measured the frame rail locations on both sides several times, while FM allows for some leeway for the butterfly brace I wanted to have them as even as possible. I did the whole install myself, it does help having long arms to tighten those bolts on the inside of the frame rails. You do have to be a little creative when tightening the butterfly brace bolts as the stiffening on all the pieces combined with the exhaust on the one side makes it hard getting a wrench and socket in there.

Was it worth it? Yes! I have read a lot of stories about how people noticed the increased stiffness leaving their garage, and that is no exaggeration. For me the big revelation came when I was pulling out of my drive. The whole car feels like more of one piece. On that first drive I could actually feel the suspension working as it should, instead of the chassis flexing (I'm used to it now so don't notice). I can't say how well just the frame rails improve things, but I do recommend this to anyone who wants a stiffer car.

[chiefmg]

I replaced a few bits for the supercharger (bypass actuator, restrictor pill in the hose to same, idle bypass check valve), the check valve improved my boost a little since it appeared the old one was the original. Replaced the plugs, one heat range colder set to 0.032 per TDR's recommendations. I finally found out what was controlling the fuel for the supercharger, it was a DFMM (which indicated just how old my kit was). A little black box sold by Jackson Racing, this was basically the eBay resistor trick to tell the ECU that the intake temp was colder than it was, so more fuel was injected. Hey it worked, but I wanted something better.

Got her cornerweighted/aligned at a local place, they didn't normally do cornerweighting but turned out the owner had a set of scales from when he was dirt tracking, so he brought those in and they fixed me up. The tech who did the work is a nice guy who is very thorough. He loved the car. I go back there for any of my tire or alignment needs, it's good having somewhere that I can trust.

I had gotten a chip in the windshield while going out to dinner one night with the wife. SafeLite said they could repair it, but I would be able to see the repair. Since it was in my line of sight and I would just be annoyed, I had it replaced. Got some money off the bill because I removed the interior/exterior trim so they wouldn't have to. It was nice having a clear windshield without the years of little pits in it.

After some research I bought some Raammat to see if I could improve things on the noise side, mainly with the top up. I put it in the sounding chambers that connect the trunk with the cabin (you know, those opening that are on either side of the fuel tank). It was pretty difficult given the tightness back there and how the mat wants to fold over on itself on the sticky side. Got it in and it helped some, after talking to a local guy I bought a couple of nice fluffy pillows and put those in there as well. That helped even more.

I had purchased a Thompson oil filter relocation kit from a local guy. I installed it towards the end of my vacation. Had a slight leak from the fitting on one of the hoses (the PO had made up a set of stainless braided hoses) so I took that apart to try and correct it. Thought I had it done except for a minor weep, but that turned out to be wrong.

[chiefmg]

After some of the summer at home, it was back to work (hey, I have to do something to pay for all this!). While I was out, I bought a used combination switch (mine had the lettering on the cruise stalk worn off which looked bad), an instrument binnacle, Innovate MTX-L, Garage Star wiper cover, and a factory wiring manual. After some agonizing about it, I bought a BRP intercooled MP62 kit from someone on CR. I followed that up with the purchase of a Reverant enhanced MS2. Have I mentioned that I have a very understanding, wonderful wife?

[treeafodo]

I like this thread a lot, I can't wait for more posts to read.

[chiefmg]

I like this thread a lot, I can't wait for more posts to read.

Thanks, glad you like it.

And because I know many of you need visual stimuli, here's a picture of her next to her big sister:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8053/8100649770_96207b8de2_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

So,I got home the second week of October. I removed the leaking oil filter relocation kit, and took my stepdaughter to work. Car was dirty and needed air in the tires, as it was a little squirmy around corners. When I dropped her off she said she had forgotten how crazy I drive. I asked how she could do that! For the record I don't, it just seems like it to her (and of course it is amplified when in a small car sitting close to the road).

The KG Works gauge panel had finally arrived while I was gone, so that went in along with the needle caps. I also replaced the gauge hood and combination switch.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8046/8094535587_a0b2262ec3_c.jpg
I installed the Garage Star wiper cowl, it is a nice quality piece (no picture right now, I'll have one of it later). I had to buy a longer bolt for the one rear corner on the passenger side, and I shimmed under the cover on the same side with two washers so it didn't get pulled down.

I had bought a spare valve cover somewhere along the way and sent if off for powdercoating. After some consideration I decided to get a catch can setup from the same guy. He put an AN fitting in the valve cover and I got some black hose and fittings to complete my connections. That all showed up looking just fine:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8336/8100653802_17a559b163_z.jpg
As you can see, I painted the lettering on the cover Mahogany Mica. I think it gives it a nice understated look which is what I like. My wife asked what was in the big box when the cover showed up, when I showed her she asked where it went. When I told her under the hood, she said, who cares? If you need any evidence of the difference in how men (gearheads) view cars versus (most) women, look no further.

And here is how it all looked installed (valve cover, catch can, wiper cowl):
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8047/8100654144_4d60d1ae66_c.jpg
If you look closely you can see where the catch can was mounted at the rear on the passenger side. It turned out I mounted it too low and it started leaking from the drain valve on the bottom from being vibrated against the body. Even though it was my fault, the guy who I bought it from had me send it back and he replaced the drain valve with a 90 degree fitting. While I was waiting for it to come back, I scored a NoPro washer bottle from eBay for $50. Installing that gave me more room to play with in the back corner, so the catch can mounting was modified accordingly. Note that the new washer bottle was installed as has been noted elsewhere, I extended the wiring harness and reversed the way the discharge hose was routed to the nozzles.

I got some grief over my oil fill cap, it was the one I had purchased earlier. During one of my frequent surfings of eBay, I found one that matched almost perfectly so that went on. In this picture you can see how all of this came together:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8100654416_b8266a2c8b_c.jpg
And I forgot that I had replaced the plug wires when I did the plugs, just went with a plain set of NGK blues.

[chiefmg]

After looking through the parts of my new supercharger kit, I ordered some gaskets and fasteners from Stage One Tuning. This was who had taken over from BRP. Unfortunately about the same time the parent company decided to close up shop. There was one guy who was going through the piles of leftover spares and filling orders but he had to stop. I'm just glad I got what I needed before it all disappeared. I also got a ProSport boost gauge (have one on the Speed6 and it works just fine) and some luscious black vent trim rings from revlimiter (thanks Adam). I replaced the huge folding cupholder the car came with, with a nice thin one sourced from YY. Unfortunately whoever installed the huge one drilled an extra hole in the lower part of the dash which is now in the open, so some day I'll be buying the bottom half of the dash to replace that. I'm just picky that way.

Reverant was having some problems with the MS. They would test just fine, but when put into a car wouldn't work. I'm just glad the man goes the extra steps to check that sort of thing before shipping them out. It kind of put the damper on my getting the MP62 install going though. I did go ahead and order the COP kit that Trackspeed Engineering offers. I could have put one together myself, there is certainly enough info available. However given my short time at home and how I have to cram so much into that time, I decided it would be easier and quicker to buy it all ready to install. I was right about the easier part...

[chiefmg]

I bought a set of projectors off a guy on MT.net (he's here as well, RotorNutFD3S). Again I was going to put things together myself, but after having my brain explode trying to get everything straight with what was needed (type of bulbs, type of harness, etc) I decided it was going to be less painful to buy a whole kit from TRS. So that order was placed.

I pulled my vents to replace the felt as the middle two liked to nod at me. I had read up on it a lot and found the first one was a pain. What I used to release the hooks on the sides was plastic cut out of an extra cone of shame we had from one of the dogs getting snipped. It already had a curve to it which fit nicely into the gap between the vent and the dash, and the thickness is just right (Goldilocks would have loved it). I popped the vents apart as I wanted to remove all the old felt and residue, I know it's been done without doing that but I wanted to be thorough. The first felt pieces I had turned out to be too thick, so I picked up some sheets at a local hobby shop. They only had blue, I figured it wouldn't be noticeable so used it (four strips on each eyeball). As it turned out I was wrong, every time I glanced at the middle vent I could see the blue mocking me. It took a couple of weeks before I could get some black felt, but that got done. Glued rev's rings in place with some silicone and I was set. BTW, if you have considered getting a set of his rings, stop it and send the man your money. They are extremely well made, very heavy and really finish things off.

[chiefmg]

I bought some black braided stainless hose and fittings to redo the hoses for the oil filter relocation kit. Got that put back in and still had a slight leak. After fiddling with it a couple of times, I decided I really didn't need it and removed it for good. My arms can reach the filter in the stock location just fine, and as it turned out I needed the spot where the relocation housing went for my HID ballast on that side.

I bought a set of black cloth NB2 seats locally for cheap ($200). Sure they don't match, but I wanted something that felt better to me than my stock ones. They hold me in place a lot better.

I wanted to try modifying my valve cover with some pot scrubbers to help reduce the amount of oil that made its way out to the catch can. The how-to is here: http://mx5unleashed.com/tech/valve-cover.html
Note for those who have 2000 (and I presume 1999) Miatas, the compartment on the intake side doesn't have a partition as shown in the how-to on MX-5 Unleashed, so nothing to put a notch in. I used pot scrubbers instead of the steel wool used in the how-to, this seems to be what most people are now using. I tried sleeving the first pot scrubber with paper to get it into the lint screen but it didn't work too well. I ended up elongating the scrubber, pushing it into the lint screen for a distance and then shaking it like you do when you are trying to get a sock unrolled. That worked pretty well. As a side note, initially I picked up the lint screens at my local Ace, but they were aluminum. I found some at Home Depot that appear to be stainless and that's what I used. No pictures of that, mine looks pretty much like on the how-to.

[roy obanion]

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8476/8100654416_b8266a2c8b_c.jpg
And I forgot that I had replaced the plug wires when I did the plugs, just went with a plain set of NGK blues.

Tasty!

[chiefmg]

I was having problems with the catch can filling up. As in, running the car for a couple of days would fill it right up. I tried several different things to correct the problem but nothing helped. I ended up just going back to the chrome valve cover with a stock PCV valve, I have to make sure the car is somewhat reliable while I'm gone as I don't want to burden my wife with having to turn wrenches (that lets me sleep easier at night too).

The parts pile for the supercharger swap kept building. I picked up a M-Tuned dual feed fuel rail. There was a hole on the one side that the PO couldn't tell me what it was for (it turned out the stock pressure regulator bolted right up). There are conflicting stories over whether you need the dual feed rail for lower horsepower levels, but this one popped up and I figured since so much else was going to be changed, why not?

Received my HID order so set about getting that done. I got lucky enough to pick up a set of headlights so those went on the car while I worked on the stockers. Did the bake and disassemble thing (with no grief about using the oven). I painted the outer chrome trim pieces body color, I used blue painter's tape to mask off the areas (like the turn signal recess) that I was going to leave chrome. When I removed the tape it pulled some of the chrome off with it, so much for it not sticking to things. I ended up solving that issue with a small brush and some model paint. Removed the orange cup off the turn signal so I could use one of those lights that doesn't look amber until it lights up. With the complete kit, installation of the projectors was very easy. Got the headlights all buttoned back up and then put the ballasts and wiring in. This was pretty basic stuff, I did find a door on the outside of the fuse box (you have to remove the fuse box to get to it) that has a 10mm head bolt underneath holding the power supply cable on. That was where I tied into the power connection for the lights. Ground went in the same area. Got everything all done and tried the lights out. Success! Well, almost. I only had low beams. Back to research, found out the Miata has a ground switched system so I needed to swap two of the wires on the connector plugged into the headlight socket. Did that and promptly blew the fuses for the headlights. Then started a long process of going back and forth, researching and trying different wire connection configurations with no luck. I would have either lows, highs or blow the fuses. Finally called TRS, and they said they had a new harness setup that should take care of the problem. We arranged for them to swap the harness with the one I had (I think I only had to pay shipping and maybe a couple of dollars more for the difference). I got the new harness and put it on, nice bright lights were now mine. If you order one of their kits now you will receive the updated harness so shouldn't have the problem I did. I can recommend TRS, they are another good vendor with great customer service. They have a very good forum too with lots of info on HID upgrades.

Here is a small shot of one headlight as finished: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8189/8100650626_77c5276f0f_c.jpg
I know a lot of people paint the reflector as well, but I wanted something that looked just a little out of the usual. If I change my mind I can always pull them back apart and paint the rest. I really like how it looks from the side now, but I have somehow not taken any pictures from that angle (shocking for me, I know!).

[chiefmg]

During all this time I was buying various factory manuals on eBay, I now have everything (workshop, engine, 6 speed tranny, wiring, service highlights). The workshop manual was the most expensive but I waited until I found one that wasn't too bad. I am old school and prefer working from a paper book (I do have some stuff on computer but books work better for me). Since I keep my cars for a long time I like having the real manuals.

I bought a Canton metal radiator overflow tank from eBay, this looks the same as the one sold by Moroso and I suspect they make it for Moroso. I sent that off for powdercoating to match the valve cover. Also bought a set of Tuckin' 99 front fender braces. These are nicer in my opinion than the Boss Frog arms because you don't have to cut anything under the fenders. You do have to drill one 6mm hole.

I installed the braces on a coldish day, which gave me a couple of problems with fasteners (as in, I broke a couple). Taking the fenders off revealed a small collection of debris on both sides, it wasn't too bad and there were no signs of any rust so I doubt it had been in there too long. Couple of hints for those removing their Miata fenders. There's a nut inside back towards the door that is accessed once you pull the fender liner off. You do not have to remove the nut completely as the tab on the fender has a C shape. If you have the side skirts the rearward bolt on the bottom of the fender has both a metal ferrule and a plastic spacer that goes underneath the front (small) side skirt piece.

Got the braces installed finally and the fenders back on (no pictures, did I mention it was cold?). Even though I only removed a couple of the bolts in the door hinges, the doors sagged enough to throw off their alignment. I ended up going back a day or two later, removed the fenders again and adjusted the doors. I did that by using the car's jack to move the doors up and down and then tightening the bolts. It just took a small movement to get things where they should be.

One of the fasteners I broke was the ball pin for the hood lift on one side. I wrote to RSpeed asking if they had the part and what it cost. I got a nice response back asking my mailing address and that they would send me one out. Couple of days later the envelope showed up, but it was empty with a nice pin sized rip in it. I went back to RSpeed and humbly asked if they might have another one, they did (their last one as it turned out). I got this one ok although the envelope showed signs of similar distress so I suspect it had something to do with the machine it passed through. Even though this was no fault of theirs or the parts they sold, RSpeed took care of this completely out of their pocket. Needless to say they rate highly on my vendor list and I will keep buying from them.

Here is a picture of everything in place including the coolant tank (note this was before I switched back to the other valve cover). You can also see the final position of the catch can: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8047/8100644943_eb6b0b0a3d_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

About this time The Parts Group was parting out a 2000 SE with about 27,000 miles. I ended up buying the carpet (mine had some small burn holes in it), the power window switch, ashtray (original owner had put a pin switch in it for a garage door opener and it looked bad) and the jack. My jack was extremely tight, even after repeated lubrication and working it back and forth. It was so bad that the handle was starting to bend whenever I used it. Didn't want anyone to have to fight it in case of a flat.

Time to head back to work (again), as a going away present I got to drive her to lunch with my wife with the top down. I also won one of the picnic backpacks the car originally came with on eBay (but didn't get to see it until I got home in three months).

[chiefmg]

Just spent some time while surfing eBay looking back at my posts. I corrected some spelling and other errors, if you have been wondering why a lot of my posts have been edited, that's the reason. I personally hate reading anything with mistakes so I try not to subject anyone else to that. Hopefully I caught everything this time around.

Going to put a few small things here that I noticed I didn't touch on. When I put the HIDs in my headlights, I finished up by covering them with XPel film for protection. If you have never put any product like this on, it isn't an easy task. I did it while holding the lights on my lap which was a mistake. You really need to have them mounted on the car so they don't shift on you. A hairdryer doesn't really give you the amount of heat you need either, the lights have a pretty good complex curve to them so you need to be able to flex the vinyl a lot. Mine didn't end up too terribly bad, but I am going to redo them next time home (this time with them mounted and using a Harbor Freight heat gun).

You may recall my mentioning a page or so back about buying a replacement inner fender liner. Just so you are all aware, I actually ended up getting a new one cheaper than what used ones are selling for on eBay. I had bought a used one initially but it was shipped folded up and was not in the pristine condition it was advertised. At least the seller was the stand-up sort and refunded my money. That was when I decided to buy a new factory piece, and was shocked at how inexpensive it was. Lesson here is always check how much the new piece will be first, you might be surprised.

I mentioned about my COP setup from Trackspeed Engineering being easy but not quick. I placed my order on 24 October 2011. At that time I was told it would be 4-6 weeks delivery, understandable since they are all made up per order. I heard from them about a month later saying they would be shipping after Thanksgiving. I didn't hear anything about shipping info so the third week in December I wrote them again. This time I was told they had experienced delays due a lack of time to put the kits together. This seemed a bit odd since I had been previously told they were going to be shipped soon. I was given a new delivery date and asked if I wanted a refund. I went ahead and kept my order, finally got the kit on 06 January. The kit is worth it, very nicely made and it comes with good instructions. I can't say if this is how things normally are with TSE or if they just had one of those times. Bottom line if you order something from them and don't hear within the promised time frame then get in touch with them. I would buy from them again if that means anything.

[chiefmg]

Listen up maggots! I'll bet you thought I was done, didn't ya? Well you were wrong! So 'ten hut!!

Sorry, that was my inner R Lee Ermey making an appearance. I try to keep him under wraps but he occasionally slips out.

Let's see, there were a couple of things that popped into my head since I last made an entry. I had bought a set of Supra light green injectors. I have read the capacity of these is anywhere from 305 to 320cc. At that point it seemed like that would be what I needed with my M45. Then once I bought the MP62 I knew I would need something bigger. Some judicious research showed that 550cc should give me enough headroom to be safe. I decided on a set of EV14s from FiveO Motorsports (bought from them on eBay). I received them in good order and a test sheet was included with them showing the corrected output of each. Since that time I have read a few stories of people having problems with either FiveO or the EV14s. All I can say is that I had no such issues.

Ok, maybe there was just the one thing!

[chiefmg]

So, there I was back to sea with extra time on my hands. What else to do but buy more parts?! Good thing my wife loves me so. I actually didn't buy much compared to my previous sprees (at least going by my notes from elsewhere). I picked up the last remaining new NB CNC'd Lexan fan shroud made by 3/4Cobra (think that was his screenname). I finally bought a MiataRoadster short shifter, and a couple of Spal fans to complete my new cooling arrangement. I did buy some other stuff but it was for other vehicles.

I got home just the night before Mother's Day. After a night at a B&B, got home and promptly installed the short shifter. Well, not really promptly, I spent a little time letting all the two and four legged animals get reacquainted with me. I wasn't able to take a drive then to test it, but I liked how it felt rowing through the gears sitting still.

Picked up a new Walbro 255lph fuel pump. The car already had one in it, but since I was putting so many other new things on I figured why not. One less item for worry. Also bought a EUDM 4-2-1 exhaust mani with a MSM midpipe. I used her as a pickup one day, went to the pick and pull to get a front bumper cover for the wife's mistake (aka '99 VW Cabrio she bought so the remaining kids could learn to drive on an auto. Don't get me started about what all I've had to do to it in my precious short time at home). Got some looks driving home with it sticking out of the passenger seat.

I was trying to find the buzzing noise I mentioned a while back. Every time I thought I had it nailed down because it would stop after I moved something or insulated something, it would start again. This would elude me until I started the supercharger swap.

Before my next autocross I decided to try running with the rear sway disconnected. That helped me a lot with my power oversteer. I managed to win my class straight up against a 240SX with a monster turbo. He was running some 18" wheels that looked like boat anchors which probably didn't help him much. But I won!!

I had bought a set of those Teflon window guides from the Jake the Guideman who is pretty much everywhere. The job is pretty easy, it helped that I had the door cards off before when installing my speakers. That job has been covered well so I won't go into it. I have always had good luck working around the black goo that holds the vapor barrier in place, just peel it back and be extra careful where I put my hands. The muck that was in the window tracks was pretty nasty. If you haven't at least cleaned yours and relubed I recommend it. Even better is to get a set of the window guides (they're cheap) and be done with it all at once.

I raised the car about 1/2" in front, 1/4" in rear. It was sitting too low (11 3/4" front, 12 1/4" rear) and the ride was much improved afterwards. After that I installed the old 949 front/rear subframe braces I bought off one of the forums. The front one is just a flat bar with a thick middle section, the rear is sort of a flattened U shape. They go on easily. I didn't really notice any difference with them in place compared to the butterfly brace, but it's kind of hard to top that.

The last piece that I purchased for the supercharger upgrade was a set of braided stainless fuel lines made specifically for the M-Tuned rail. Given the location of the rail I feel a lot better about having something that is resistant to abrasion. After my ill-fated attempt at making hoses for the oil filter relocation kit I was just going to get some made up, but luckily these came along.

[chiefmg]

Drum roll please...now, what you all (may) have been waiting for, the supercharger swap! Spent about 2 1/2 hours pulling the M45 setup off the car. In the process found out where that damn buzzing was coming from. There was a bracket located underneath the U-bend inlet to the supercharger. Apparently some time when I had been working on things I moved it enough for it to contact the bracket. How did I know this? There was a nice shiny area on top of the bracket staring me in the face when I removed the inlet. Kind of hard to miss.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8185/8145500732_f6cd35b938_c.jpg If you look just above the shock mount you should see a black box around the bracket that was causing the noise. I had already put touch-up paint on it when I took this picture. So for anyone with an NB and a M45 supercharger, if you get an annoying buzzing look there first.

Also removed the DDM Works CAI box, both radiator fans, upper intake manifold and stock fuel rail. Note that I bled the pressure off the fuel system first by pulling the fuel pump relay under the steering column and then running the car until it died (which didn't take very long). The stock fuel rail is pretty dinky compared to the M-Tuned piece. I had some trouble getting the stock fuel supply hose off, the manual showed it having a replaceable locking piece but mine didn't, there was just an orange colored locking piece. I ended up using a couple of jeweler's screwdrivers and some colorful language to get it off.

The next night I dove back into things. Removed the front bumper and both fender liners (I had new ones, they were both scraped from when I first got the car and it was very low). Worked on getting the lower intake manifold off, it was giving me fits until I remembered my own advice about removing things to gain easier access. Alternator came off and that did the trick. The coils came off for what should prove to be the last time.

[chiefmg]

C'mon kids, don't be bashful. It's ok to comment. If anyone has questions ask, if you think I'm off my rocker then let me know that too.

Got back into it a couple of days later, didn't get as much done as I wanted because I got something in my eye that didn't want to come out. In any event, I removed the exhaust back to the muffler (this entailed removing the butterfly brace). I was going to start installing the EUDM 4-2-1 factory manifold and downpipe I bought, but couldn't find the gaskets. I was afraid I had put them back in the box it all came in and then threw it out. I was making one last check, pulled a couple of things out and there was the envelope on the floor. Woohoo!! I finished up by installing the new front inner fender liners, and sprayed some PB Blaster on the rear O2 sensor so I can pull it out. I don't think I will need it with the MegaSquirt, but I had to take a couple of other pieces to a welder so I was going to have them put a bung on the MSM midpipe. As it turned out, with the EUDM manifold and MSM midpipe, I was shy about 2" of having things mate up at the muffler. I decided just to put the '01 manifold back on (in hindsight I should have put the EUDM arrangement on). I figured out where the O2 sensor for the MTX-L would go, marked the pipe and dropped that off at a muffler shop to have them weld in the bung.

I swapped out the fuel pumps, this was fairly easy as it was the same pump so I was able to use the wiring connector that was already in place (for a change, that bit of wiring was done correctly). I made sure to remove the restrictor pill from the fuel line as I wouldn't need it with the rest of my new fuel system. I removed the JR timing controller, boost and AFR gauges along with the auto-dim rear view mirror. I like those, have them in other cars, but this one was aftermarket and the readout was in the mirror itself which annoyed me. Plus I was not entirely sure it was working as I seemed to get blinded a lot more at night in this car than the others. The same idiot wirer installed the mirror, I found speaker wire used (they must have gotten a lot at a fire sale) and to show how much class they had, bread wrapper twist ties were used to hold the wires together running up the A-pillar. Picked up a stocker off eBay to replace it with.

[chiefmg]

I guess it was about this time I figured out I was going to have to pull the dash in order to replace the wiring harness that had been hacked up for the narrowband O2 installation. Out came the steering wheel, combination switch, shift lever and radio (and all the various trim pieces around them) to make life easier. Note that I did not pull the e-brake, which I was to later regret. Actually removing the dash was pretty easy, the bolts are all relatively easy to get to. Once that was out I discovered that the heater core would also have to be removed as the wiring harness passes through the firewall behind it. Had to pull the radiator anyway for the intercooler installation, so drained the coolant. I also removed the HVAC fan, it was dirty inside and the sealing foam around the top was breaking down.

Swapped out the harnesses, just took my time and fed the old one back into the cabin a little bit at a time (moving between the engine bay and the interior), the new one went in the reverse of that. The hole in the firewall is slightly behind the A/C condenser so that is what slows things up. Cleaned up the fan unit using Q-tips (only thing I could find that would fit between the blades) and used some household insulation foam to reseal the top (IIRC it was 3/8", available in any hardware store's insulation section). http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8209/8170130581_3a51d50a0d_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

So the interior at this point was looking like this: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7280/8170158608_3951f02868_c.jpg with everything that was removed sitting on the garage floor off to one side. The wife walked out and freaked. Asked me if I was doing more than just the supercharger install. I said, well yeah! She was not amused as her perception of the work required was way out of proportion to what was actually needed.

[Agent☣Orange]

That scenery looks very familiar to me. Now's the perfect time to do some noise/vibration/heat barriers. Also, there's a screen mesh on the HVAC unit that you should cut out now that you have everything apart. Much better airflow with it gone.

Oh, and thank you much for posting everything! It makes for great reading and wow, what effort you're putting in!

[chiefmg]

Thanks for the compliments, but this is all several months in the past. I did put in some Raammat underneath the carpet before the new stuff went in. Didn't know about the screen so it's still in there.

[roy obanion]

Beat me to it! So how close are we to the current state of things?

[chiefmg]

Close. Still a lot of ups and downs to go (as you may recall). I won't give any hints as I don't want to spoil the ending, such as it is at this point.

[chiefmg]

Ok, so moving ahead I had dropped off the MP62 mounting bracket and intercooler outlet pipe at a local welding shop. The bracket had two standoffs that needed welding back in place, and the outlet pipe required the bung for the IAT sensor welded on (PO had just threaded it into the pipe but I didn't want it blowing off). While I was waiting on that I pulled out the old carpet. Noticed some ringing of the metal so as I mentioned above I put Raammat along the tranny tunnel and beneath both seats for a little sound deadening. While everything was out I also ran the vacuum tubing for the MS from the intake manifold. I was going to use a tap of the top of the manifold and didn't want the tubing running across the firewall, so I located a plug on the passenger's side, put a hole in it and snaked the tubing through. Ran that along the firewall inside the cabin so it was safe and sound out of the way (would suck having a vacuum leak on that and not being able to get to it easily).

Changed the oil filter (easiest one yet!), put the lower intake manifold back on and installed the new 550cc injectors. Found out that it was better to put the injector spacers into the fuel rail before putting the rail on (they were very tight, I lubed the O-rings with a little lithium grease and gently worked them on). I had some problems with the little plastic spacers for the fuel rail hold down bolts falling off so I put a couple of dabs of blue gasket silicone on them to hold them in place.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8172847369_a867b641e3_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

New carpet went in, I only replaced the main section and the vertical section on the bulkhead behind the seats. I'll need to get the part for the package shelf cut and sewn up (so it doesn't unravel) to fit around my roll bar.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/8170131337_6fa67f6c17_c.jpg

Not a very noticeable change from before I know, but it's one of the few pictures I have to share so I'm using it!

Got the dash back in place, scuffed up the e-brake handle some during the attempt. I was able to get the dash out ok with it in place, but really I should have removed it from the start to make everything easier (as I mentioned before). Ended up doing that so I didn't ruin the wood further. Pulled the radiator out of the car. Finally, put the exhaust mani back in. I called it a day at this point as I needed to get in touch with the guy I bought the MP62 from to see if he had any info on the mounting of the intercooler. I had been trying to decipher how the various brackets went but wasn't having much luck.

[chiefmg]

Ran around collecting bits and pieces. Wideband O2 bung was now on the exhaust pipe, IAT bung on the intercooler outlet pipe, and the standoffs on the supercharger bracket. Had to source a female-male reducer in order to connect up the stainless fuel lines, all I could find was brass so that went in for now and I'll see what I can find online. It's easily accessible to change once I get a stainless one. Got a response from the previous owner about installing things, and the intercooler was now in! Turns out I was looking at the bracket completely wrong, because it was shaped like the bottom of the 'cooler I thought the 'cooler rested on it. Turns out the bracket mounts on the back side of the bumper (using the bolts that normally hold on the power steering cooler) and the 'cooler mounts to two ears that hang down. Now I just needed for him to send me pictures of how the relocation brackets for the lower radiator brackets went. I had to make another run to Ace for some more fasteners, got some longer bolts to hold the overlay pulley on but failed to notice that the holes in the pulley aren't big enough for the shoulders on the bolts. Times like that I wish I had a lathe, instead I ended up getting a die nut and threading them all the way to the head. Got the fuel system completely connected up. Alternator was installed, took me a little bit to figure out where the bracket for the wires mounted to the lower intake manifold. EGR valve and pipe were back in, and the COPs in place on the valve cover. Made a gasket for the big throttle body and got that installed on the supercharger. Finally (for now), hung the 'charger in place to see how it was going to look. I was waiting for a power steering tensioner from The Parts Group, as I need to restore that to stock and I don't have all the parts needed due to how the M45 was installed. COPs were wired in, both sets (for cylinders 1/4 and 2/3) share the power and ground wires. I cut off the stock connector plugs, then twisted those two sets of wires together and soldered them. After that they were put into butt splices and crimped, followed by the individual wires for each cylinder set. A little heat shrink tubing went over all the connections. Nice and neat. The instructions provided by Trackspeed were easy to follow. Upper intake manifold went back in place, along with the dummy throttle body. Took some time getting all the wire harness plugs connected, I couldn't find the one for the CAS initially. I also had to properly use the bracket for the plugs on the front of the engine, for some reason it wasn't done right from the M45 install (I don't think it was due to any interference issues). All of that took some time, I mainly wanted to ensure the CAS wires wouldn't snag on anything. Did a few other odds and ends, the passenger side of the engine bay was all done. Just had to wait for the power steering tensioner to arrive so I could finish up with the supercharger itself.

[roy obanion]

New carpet went in, I only replaced the main section and the vertical section on the bulkhead behind the seats. I'll need to get the part for the package shelf cut and sewn up (so it doesn't unravel) to fit around my roll bar.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7114/8170131337_6fa67f6c17_c.jpg


the miata interior looks huge here :P

[chiefmg]

Yeah it does, but somehow I think my wife would object to sitting on the floor while driving.

Our connection has been having problems that past couple of days, and since I actually have some pictures to go along with my next entry I'm going to minimize my frustration level and wait until things improve before I post more.

[chiefmg]

Bwhahahahaha!! I let you all be lulled into a false sense of security that I wasn't coming back. Surprise!!

Actually, we finally got a cargo loaded and are heading northwards. Signal has improved enough that I felt like spending an hour or so uploading some pictures and saving the addresses so I can continue.

I was sure I had some pictures of the intercooler brackets but can't find them. I'll hunt around more so I can post them. Reason for this is that while there are still some BRP kits floating around, trying to find instructions for them is nearly impossible. If I can save someone some searching that is a plus.

In any event I got the intercooler installed and it looked like this: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8341/8213945071_acc6bda930_c.jpg

With this setup (maybe others as well, I don't know) on an NB you have to bend the brackets holding the A/C dryer/receiver away from the condenser in order to have the space for the intercooler. You will also end up slightly bending one of the hard refrigerant lines going to the dryer. This is a case where taking some time and doing it in small steps is the best. Kink that hardline and your A/C isn't going to work too well. Normally the dryer sits right in front of the left side of the condenser, if you look at the picture you can see how it's been moved from that position.

[chiefmg]

My power steering pump complete with tensioner bits came in from TPG. Took off what I needed and put that together. Unfortunately the auto-tensioner was resting on the power steering pump adjuster, and I didn't see any way to move things around. A lot of fiddling around and head scratching later, I came across a picture that showed a modified piece that BRP had included with their kits. Since I didn't have that I had to improvise. So what I did was this:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8209/8215029360_27c580293b_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8481/8213943931_fef22bfed5_c.jpg

What I did was source the Allen head bolt for it, then used a drill bit to provide a recess for the head to fit into. I flattened the bottom of the hole as best I could with my Dremel. Not quite as good as using a milling machine, but I thought it would work. It would have, except for having to move the supercharger around later to try and get things aligned. In this picture you can see just how tight things are around the auto tensioner assembly:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8485/8215020372_b7e608bac3_c.jpg

Note the tool marks on the section of pipe to the PS pump, the only thing I could use to bend it was a set of Channellocks. You could leave it as stock, but then your belt wouldn't last long. In the end I removed the PS pump tensioner and tensioned its belt to old fashioned way.

[The Phen]

So weird seeing you post pictures... ;)

[Demon I Am]

It's a welcome change

[chiefmg]

You two, move along. Nothing to see here.

How nice to see that old friends have posted in your thread, only to open it up and see they are giving you grief. What are old friends for, right? :toomuch:

[The Phen]

Hahaha. You've got it man!

[Demon I Am]

Every time I read this thread I keep singing "this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DblvhECdws0

[roy obanion]

Man, we all think alike. :toomuch:

[chiefmg]

I don't know whether to feel honored or insulted...

[tsingson]

Its always honored...never insulted...

[chiefmg]

You don't know this bunch the way I do...

[The Phen]

You don't know this bunch the way I do...

Come now chief, you make it sound like we're a bunch of wild dingos looking to eat your baby.

[chiefmg]

Nah, more like gypsies looking to steal them!

[roy obanion]

When did Mike's thread become you laugh, you lose? And I lost. Again.

[The Phen]

When we spoke up?

[chiefmg]

Getting home over the weekend. Once I've settled in and gotten used to a lightning-fast connection I'll get this brought up to date. After all I have more work to do installing everything I bought this time out, or that I didn't get done last time home. Stay tuned...

[chiefmg]

Ok, made it home safely (that was an adventure, don't ever travel in Nigeria if you can help it). Have had my two week acclimatization period although it was rougher than usual due to the holidays. All visitors are gone and I have some quiet time, so on with the show!

Spare power steering pump arrived from The Parts Group so supercharger was in! What a PITA, there is truly no extra room for anything. The intake is via flex-hose, the plus for that is I won't have to worry about it vibrating on anything. Unfortunately the auto-tensioner ws resting on the power steering pump adjuster, I didn't see any way to move things around. Back to another e-mail to the previous owner. Did some other small things, including pulling back the wires for the TPS. For some bizarre reason when the harness was made at the factory, several of the wires were twisted around each other. This affected one of three wires on the plug, it looked like I'd have to cut it to pull it back without having any stress on it, then solder it back together and cover it with heat shrink. However, while searching around on the Moss site for instructions I saw where they said you could use something small to release the tab holding individual wires into the connectors. Basically you remove a white plastic lock, then using a small pry tool (jeweler's screwdriver for me) you gently pry up on the locking tab holding each wire plug in place and then pull it out of the connector. The locking tab is located on the side of the connector where the white plastic lock is, if you look inside you can barely see it. The first one was a bit of a fluke, second took a couple of minutes to find the sweet spot, and the third came free in about 30 seconds. Put some wire loom on that from the main harness to the plug, then put the loom on the main harness and taped everything up.

After searching around town and not finding any bolts the right size for the overlay pulley, I bought a M6 die nut. About 5 minutes worth of work, and I had four flanged M6 bolts threaded all the way up...that didn't work. I removed the stock pulley and nested the supercharger pulley on it to see what the problem was. That's when I saw that there was an additional 5mm or so of space between the two pulleys that I hadn't accounted for (I thought the overlay bottomed out on the stocker due to its shape). Back to Ace where I lucked out and found four flanged M6 X 35 bolts that were threaded all the way up. That was what it took to get the overlay pulley in place. Or so I thought at the time.

[chiefmg]

Started putting the gauges in, got the vacuum line for the boost gauge run into the cabin (via an exist hole for a previous installation) and the big line for the wideband. Put that one through the large gray wiring plug on the driver's side, I used some silicone to seal up the slit around the cable. If I were smarter I would have done this before I put the dash back in, would have been a lot easier. Next issue was finding some of the correct size wire to make extensions in order to wire them up to power and lighting, Ace didn't have what I needed and neither did Harbor Freight (although I did get a heat gun for use in the garage as the wife's hairdryer doesn't really cut it).

Without any wire available in my neck of the woods I decided to cut up the stock harness I replaced and use pieces of that. Put some extensions on my gauge wires so they would reach under the dash, twisted/soldered the wires together and put heat shrink over the connections. Painted the bezel of the boost gauge to match the wideband gauge (decided to go with black), once it was dry I had both gauges in just needing the power connections. Got some info from a guy on MT.net night concerning the relocation brackets for the intercooler, had to finally buy WinZip and got tired of waiting for them to send me my registration info so I took a look at the puzzle and put it together. I used the wear and corrosion marks on the brackets (and some common sense) and got it all in. I did have to cut some reliefs in the lower radiator support brackets, after that I was looking at the pictures the guy had sent and there were supposed to be two taper head Allen bolts for the one bracket which would have prevented me from having to do that. BRP truly did make it so you wouldn't have to cut anything up. The hardest part was bending the A/C dryer from in front of the condenser to beside it. I did find out that neither of the intercooler pipes can be in place when putting the radiator in, it's that tight.

[chiefmg]

Got all three new belts, the PS belt was too long (I thought) so I took it back and exchanged it for one that (according to what I read) was the right length. It was too short! I wondered if I just didn't have things set up correctly and the first one was actually the right one.

Cleaned up the bottom of the front subframe and inside the lower splash pan, when I had the oil filter relocation kit installed and it was leaking the oil ended up down there and attracted a lot of grit. Pulled back the IAT wires as the new sensor is located on the intercooler outlet pipe, I tried removing the wires from the supplied connector so I could do a neat job without splicing but I couldn't figure out how to undo the latching pin. Pulled the sparkplugs and gapped them properly, when I had that back in I cleaned the blue marking paint off the tops of the COPs. Mounted both Spal fans on the shroud, when I bought the nylock nuts for that initially Ace only had 7 and I needed 8. When I got it today it turned out the new nut took an 11mm wrench, since I hate having different size fasteners on the same pieces I bought another 7 when I made my second trip. Unfortunately due to the way Mazda made one of the stock fans (with the connector as part of the motor) I can't reuse stock connectors. Nobody local has any automotive connectors so I ended up running to Radio Shack. I did find out I can't install the radiator with the fan shroud on (or at least not easily) so that's a step ahead. It will be a little bit of a PITA getting the weatherstrip foam I have to seal around the edges in, I'll just have to lay on the floor to do the bottom. I did buy the correct flat head Allen screws for the sway bar brackets, at some point I'll source the lower radiator supports and replace the ones I cut up.

[chiefmg]

Got the undertray and front bumper on. Undertray has all the fasteners on it for the first time (some were missing). Zip-tied my boost sensing line in the engine bay. Scouted around town for an air filter but no one had what I needed, so that got ordered. That evening I put the fan back in under the dash (removed it to run the boost sensing line), did the sagging glovebox door fix, and installed new rotors/pads all the way around. I'm happy to report that I had no issues with any of the pins on the calipers, all were clean and had some lube on them. Finally got my gauges hooked up, still needed to figure out where to connect the wires to permit them to dim when the lights are on. I ended up using two of those add-a-circuit pieces for the power, put the one that needed constant power in the hazard slot and the accessory powered wires went into the radio slot. Wideband sensor was calibrated, midpipe put back in (could have actually had the wideband sensor installed a little more to the 12 o-clock position) along with my front subframe brace. Replaced the butterfly brace midsection and then bled the brakes using my Motive unit with the Miata-specific adapter. That wa be the first time for that, it worked pretty well although I didn't have any air in the system (when I push the pistons back into the calipers I open the bleed screw and then close it before it sucks anything back into the system). Wheels were on and car was on the floor. Now if I could only start the damn thing!

[chiefmg]

Fired her up! Unfortunately the supercharger belt kept jumping off, tried some adjustments but nothing was working. Back to research to figure it out. Nice to know that nothing was leaking or falling off after all I changed.

The next day I had no joy with the 'charger adjustments. If I aligned the pulleys the unit was all the way back in its brackets (towards the firewall) and when the engine was run the belt immediately jumped off two ribs towards the front. If the 'charger was pulled back towards the front the belt only jumped off one rib. Seemed like there might be some sort of vertical misalignment but there is no provision to adjust that. I fabbed up a bracket out of some scrap aluminum I had to hold the MS in place where the stock one sits, but made it wrong with the MS oriented 90 degrees off. When I got back underneath and took another look I realized that I couldn't do what I wanted so that got shelved. Trying to figure out what to do next about the 'charger alignment issues.

Next day I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm on track to get this damned supercharger belt aligned. Took the 'charger and assorted brackets off and took a good look at things. The main plate had a slight bend in it which I fixed, otherwise it was all good. The front and rear supercharger brackets that mount to the main plate were on correctly. Put it all back on and ran it with the belt moving off two ribs. Stood back and peered at it this way and that. It looked again to me as though the nose of the 'charger was cocked. Took it back off again and used one washer between the forward bracket and the main plate for the two bolts. Put it all back together, checked the alignment and the pulleys looked good. Started the car and the belt moved off one rib but it was otherwise fine. When I tried revving it the belt jumped off. On the plus side while it was idling it was steady at 1000 rpm (it had been hunting up and down during my previous starts). I loosened the forward bolts for the 'charger bracket and moved it to see about how much more I needed to shim things. After waiting for it to cool down I put in two additional washers under each bolt and tried it again. The three shimming washers helped a lot, I checked pulley alignment and was able to get it spot-on. However when I ran the car the belt still moved off one rib and I was hearing some unusual noises that sounded like they were coming from the nose of the supercharger. I tried making more adjustments but there was no change. Came inside to cool off, took an afternoon nap (I was thinking about things, honest!). Went back out a little later and checked the horizontal plane of both pulleys. The supercharger appeared to be more level than the crank pulley (remember, the engine is slightly higher in the front) so I removed the two rear bolts and pushed down on the rear of the 'charger. This time when I started it the belt immediately jumped completely off. So, I put the bolts back in again and put the belt back on. Started the car to see how it was, and the belt stayed on and in place! I did start using the belt the guy sent me with the kit which shouldn't have an impact because it's the same as the new one I bought (just has some usage on it). I revved the engine and it was making happy noises and the belt stayed where it was. Hooray!!!! There was a part of me that was annoyed because I didn't know specifically what fixed the problem (still don't for that matter).

[chiefmg]

Kept getting a flashing CEL when I drove it. According to the MS builder, that is an indication of overheating. I don't see any increase on the temp gauge, the rad was topped off and there was no leakage from the water pump. Someone else said they had a similar problem and it was their rad, plus they checked their thermostat. My rad is fairly new, and I had the thermo out but didn't test it. I found out my new parts from MS Motorsports weren't due for a few days, so I went to the local dealer to get a thermostat. Unfortunately they didn't have any in stock, so I used the Stant I had bought previously. Initially I thought I was an idiot and put it in backwards, however according to the service manual it was correct and you can only install the stock one in one direction. Couldn't find the gasket I had so made one of those. Put it all together and ran the car, seemed fine until I was pulling out of the drive to go for a run and the CEL started flashing. Back into the garage with her. When I checked the TunerStudio (what I'm using for the MS), the temp was 203. Now I was truly stuck, no idea what might have been causing this.

The next morning I went out and bedded in the new brakes. Took me a couple of tries as I kept getting traffic behind me on the road I use. Didn't they know I needed it clear?!

Another problem reared its head. The wife and I were on our way home from c&c when I noticed an unusual noise. Pulled into a gas station and checked, found the crank overlay pulley had loosened. I shut it off very quickly and called for a tow. Two hours later the truck shows up and took me home. So I then had to try and source an overlay pulley that bottoms on the crank pulley so I wouldn't have it happen again. And I was having so much fun! On the plus side, I can attest that the Ryoku Rob tow hook works as advertised. Good thing I had it too as the PO had removed the baby teeth.

[chiefmg]

So I've been lazy at continuing this, let's work some more on getting caught up as I have been busy installing upgrades lately.

When I pulled things apart on the crank pulley, I found that three of the four bolts holding everything together had broken off in the hub. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8199/8215019970_c718668867_c.jpg Not a pretty sight. I tried drilling them out using a right angle attachment on my drill with no luck. So I ordered a new hub from the local dealer and then pulled the hub off when I got home. Since I had nothing to lose I tried drilling them out from the back side, lo and behold they all came right out. Luckily I was able to cancel my order.

I didn't take a picture but the bolts were slightly protruding from the back of the hub, which means they weren't as tight as they should have been. In the course of my research about the overlay pulley, I found that Mazda used two different crank pulleys from '99 to around '01. One is cast, the other steel. There doesn't seem to be any particular breakdown for which one was used. The cast one has a raised area in the middle while the steel one doesn't. BRP originally included a spacer in their supercharger kits for use with the steel spacer. Apparently the person I bought my kit from had one of the cast pulleys and so didn't have to use the spacer. I called Track Dog Racing to see if they had or knew of a source for the spacers, lucked out again as they had one on hand that I bought.

Here are pictures of the two types of stock crank pulleys.

Cast: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8365/8350366167_6063b213b5.jpg
Steel: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8058/8215026738_93209748d2_c.jpg

The stock steel crank pulley is in the middle.

Here's how the spacer fits on the overlay: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8213944097_f71829473f_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

There is a positioning dowel pin in the hub for the crank pulley, but another one was needed for the spacer to overlay. Off to Ace I went, they didn't have steel rod in the correct size so I bought the next bigger one and then used my angle grinder to reduce the diameter while slowly turning the rod. Worked like a charm. I checked the length of the pulley bolts before putting stuff back to make sure they didn't extend beyond the back of the hub, they were fine. I used the Rennenmetal crank holding tool while torquing the hub nut, you need to either get it or one like it if you are doing anything that requires removal of the hub. Started putting everything back together, when I got to the thermostat cover I heard/felt a snap as I was tightening the bottom nut. I felt around but didn't find anything so thought maybe something had just slipped. That thought went away when I started filling the coolant and it came pouring out of the thermo cover. Took it off to find the hole on the bottom had broken. The thermostat had slipped out of place and I didn't notice it, causing the cover hole to be stressed due to my tightening it over the thermostat. Back to Mazda to order a new cover.

[chiefmg]

Got the thermo cover and got the rest of the car buttoned back up (making doubly sure the thermostat stayed in place this time). I did occasionally get the flashing CEL for coolant temp but otherwise the car ran great. My boost gauge wasn't functioning so I wrote to ProSport, they wrote back saying my connection was bad. Sure enough I hadn't fully seated it even though I thought I had. Now with a functioning boost gauge! My gauge has the peak hold feature so I was able to confirm a max pressure of 10 psi. The car didn't feel as fast as when it had the M45, I think this is because the torque curve is flatter. Took a drive with the laptop hooked up to get some tuning done.

Since I had raised it when I first got home I had the alignment checked, readings weren't too far off so it only cost me $60. Went to the next autocross and had some competition, came in second out of four. Here's a vid of my fastest run:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIqolYf4PFM

Before I went back to work I changed the oil/filter and redid the 3M tape holding my gauge pod on. I just can't bring myself to drill holes in the A-pillar trim.

[chiefmg]

While I was out to sea this last time, I bought a Koyo radiator cap. The stock one I had seemed to fit ok, but they say you have to use theirs for a proper fit and I wanted to remove a variable from the mix of my temperature issue. I also finally scored a MSM rear spoiler, bought it from Treasure Coast Miata. Ended up cheaper than someone I had been negotiating with on another forum. Since I had that I went ahead and bought a new '99-00 front lip from RSpeed to replace my damaged stocker, as well as a set of Cobalt adjustable end links for the front sway. Picked up some nice leather pieces from Redline, shifter/e-brake boots, console lid cover and seatbelt receiver covers. Scored a set of factory original floor mats off eBay purely by chance, seller had listed them as being for an '01 with brown stitching. Found a used FM 2.5" dual exhaust on CL that I bought. Also got a 180 degree thermostat from TDR and a O2 sensor bung for the new exhaust (turned out I wouldn't need it). Once I got confirmation when I was to be headed home, I ordered a FM Happy Meal with the 13.45 pound flywheel as well as a couple of their specialty tools. This was due to some slippage I noticed with the MP62 when accelerating briskly a few times. Finally, I went ahead and bought a pair of the ProjectG vent windows.

While I was gone the wife went to drive it, I got an e-mail asking me where the battery was so she could charge it. After that was done and she drove it, she wanted to put the hard top on because she went to a friend's house with the top down and when she drove home it was too cold for her to put it up. A buddy of mine helped her get that on.

I got home on 15 December, which means we are very close to being up to date. Exciting, isn't it? :toomuch: I'll pause here for today to give you all the chance to digest it.

[roy obanion]

It is a chance for some of us to relive what you did in the past several months, plus I think I have read most of this somewhere else ;)

[mrpham]

Hey mate.

Been hearing a lot of bad stories about those M6 bolts used on the accessory pulley. They're simply under-engineered and prone to snapping.

Check out these:
http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4530&parentid=0&stocknumber=36-10408

[chiefmg]

Thanks for that, but I couldn't use the factory bolts as they aren't long enough for the overlay pulley. I bought some Grade 8.8 at the hardware store and threaded them all the way down. As I mentioned the problem was they had bottomed out on the hub and without the spacer in place, there was likely some movement of the pulleys against one another. All that caused the breakage in my case.

[chiefmg]

It didn't take me long after getting home to start putting parts on. First thing I did was install the e-brake boot to see how it looked. I am a little torn as the color isn't quite a match for the interior but it does look nice. The day after I got home I tried installing the FM exhaust, removed the butterfly brace center section for access and then swapped things out. Had some trouble though with the slip fitting for the rear piece that goes over the axle, it was crimped from the clamp when installed previously and wouldn't go on properly. Not sure how the PO was able to get it off with that problem. I ended up just leaving the FM muffler on and put the stock midpipe back on. I installed the Redline shift boot, cleaned the interior and had a little fun running errands that was slightly curtailed by some rain. New muffler is louder than the Brainstorm that was on the car but I like it. While out I got a huge thumbs up from two guys in an older Civic hatch, complete with ricer ziptie X's on the rear bumper. At least he didn't try racing me. Did some prep work on the MSM rear spoiler so I could drop it off for painting. Removed the old 3M doublesided tape, that was fun.

Dropped the spoiler, front lip and new emblems off at a local place for painting that I've used before. Bought a cowl guard from the dealer as mine was kind of beat (normal breakage they get). Started the search for the ProjectG vent windows as I found all the rest of my parts but those. Took a little while but they finally turned up by the front door underneath some stuff the wife had piled up.

Got both vent windows installed after a day or two, the cowl guard came in so that went on as well. Vent windows work, they don't move as much as air as the old style (for you youngsters, think of the entire triangular vent window pivoting on hinges) but the effect is noticeable and I think will be nice to have in warmer weather.

Picked up the painted items, just to show that the fasteners for the stock NB spoiler are the same as for the MSM (save two):

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8077/8294155913_9251f92cfe_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8222/8294155809_2e67b6ac15_c.jpg

Might answer the question for someone in the future. Note the MSM has two plastic clips that are about halfway between the outermost bolt and the center stud. I removed those. If you look at my trunk lid you will see how the stocker was installed. That strip of double sided tape at the center rear gave me fits, it was still holding tightly. I've seen some sort of tool that aids with removal of the tape, I looked for it the following day. I cleaned up the underside of the MSM spoiler and prepped it with some new tape. I got motivated and went back out to the cold garage and removed the front bumper to put the new lip and emblem on.

[chiefmg]

Got my new front lip installed, there are some small gaps in the same places where the original had them which makes me wonder if my bumper was tweaked at some point. I bought that tool I mentioned for removal of tape residue, it's called an eraser. Round wheel you chuck up in a drill, has about the same consistency as an art gum eraser. It does a good job but the leavings off the wheel go everywhere. Found out whoever installed the factory spoiler was an idiot. They didn't put any sort of tape or other protection down before drilling the holes so the paint got chipped. To top it off they didn't touch up the chips. I'm guessing minimum wage slave who didn't care about cars. I took care of that before putting the MSM spoiler on.

My Happy Meal finally showed up, and I ordered a battery as mine was showing signs of weakness. Best price I found was here: http://www.batteryweb.com/mazda-miata-batteries.cfm Bought the Westco since it has a higher rating. I saw where some folks got one from O'Reilly's but when I searched their site online for the number, it didn't show up. I also considered getting the Marathon from Battery Mart, the ad says it's an AGM type but the specs show it to be sealed lead-acid. I didn't want to chance it.\

Decided that I should just go ahead and do the timing belt/water pump while I'm going to have everything apart, one less thing to worry about while I'm gone. Ordered that off eBay and picked up a tranny jack from Harbor Freight. After a small amount of running I found a local machine shop so dropped off the thermostat spacer to get it machined. I'll be drilling/tapping the holes for the temp sensor and heater connection myself once I get things in place and mocked up. Oh yeah, and I also ordered the female-male adapter in stainless I need to fix up the fuel lines properly.

After some more research and cogitation, I decided to buy the front block off plate for the coolant reroute from BEGi. This is so I can run the two small hoses (from oil heater/throttle body and to the pump) from there. This was after I couldn't find any aluminum in town thick enough to make my own. I figured $20 wasn't too bad, but once shipping was added it came up to $37! Note that they later refunded part of the shipping cost. Received my stainless pipe adapter for the fuel system. Once I get the front plate and a couple of other things (like the hose that will be running from the back of the head to the radiator) I'll be ready to dive in.

[chiefmg]

Received the battery, timing belt kit and BEGi thermo cover. Spent a couple of hours quality time with the Miata, since it was finally warm enough I didn't have to worry about losing the feeling in my fingertips. Removed the supercharger, drained/removed the radiator, pulled the upper intake mani and alternator. Discovered the nut for the bottom of the PS pump that also holds on the bottom support for the 'charger was missing. Not sure what happened there, but I will be sure to use some blue LocTite when I reassemble.

Did some preliminary cleanup on the Kia thermo cover and the square top mani that will be going in. I was thinking about using oven cleaner but it says not to use it on aluminum. Ended up using this degreaser I bought at a local auto parts store along with a brass wire brush. It got the grunge off, I'll disassemble the mani and use a powered wire brush to take off the rest of the crud and make sure it's presentable.

Picked up a flexible rotary brush (not wire) to clean up the manifold. Started on that earlier today, it looks like it will do a good job. Got the lower intake manifold removed along with the fuel rail and injectors. Pulled off the water pump pulley and crank pulleys (all of them). Replaced the brass reducer on the fuel line with the stainless one I bought. Oh yeah, and pulled the COPs.

Decided to become a scofflaw and remove the Miata's EGR. Got a set of blanking plates ordered, now just need to figure out what size cap I need for the exhaust mani.
Picked up the coolant hoses from the dealer today, and just got done painting the radiator panels. Going to look pretty good if I do say so myself. I didn't fill in a couple of small scrapes in the aluminum, I want to see how well it will hold up painted (and if I will like it) before going all out on it.

Woke up early one morning, I've had some questions about the oil cooler lines for the coolant reroute that I haven't been able to find an answer for so figured I'd search one more time. Good thing too as I found this: http://www.boostedmiata.com/gallery2...l_001/reroute/ That should answer anyone's questions about how to do a reroute.

[chiefmg]

Got the tranny out but not without some finger mutilation. I'll spare you all the gory details but while loosening one of the PPF bolts the breaker bar slipped and I split the fingernail on my little finger on the FM frame rails. Old clutch and flywheel were removed, friction surfaces were showing what I think are signs of slipping. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8054/8428839435_9039d0bafb_c.jpg Went to change out the front seal in the tranny only to find I got the wrong gasket for the plate so I had to research and see what I needed. Got the new rear main seal installed (that is a snap with the FM tool), flywheel installed and torqued, strangely enough there are different values for the flywheel bolts given in the factory manual and the factory engine repair manual. Clutch disc and pressure plate are also on, I'm waiting on the rest until I do the coolant reroute as I have better access to the rear of the engine with the tranny out.

I did the conversion of the flywheel bolt torque values from Newton-meters to pounds-feet and discovered the higher value in the engine manual is wrong. So I was faced with taking it back off and doing it correctly. For the record it is 71-75 lbs-ft.

[chiefmg]

My tranny manual paid for itself as it turns out the 6 speed front cover doesn't use a gasket but sealant. The oil seal is different between the 5 and 6 speeds but I did get the correct one. Got the flywheel bolts taken care of and the pressure plate/disc back in place. Then began the coolant reroute saga. Got everything off the back of the head ok, ran around town to pick up the fasteners, tap and drill bit needed to make things work. I thought I could put the temp sensor in the back of the head (there's a blanking bolt just above where the hose to the oil cooler comes off, had to use two washers to keep it from bottoming). Marked/drilled/tapped the side of the spacer for the heater barb and installed that using some Aviation Form-a-Gasket. Went to put it all together only to find that the outlet interferes with the temp sensor when located directly in the head. Pulled that out and tried to see how I could fit it into the spacer, but you have to have some sort of bung to provide clearance between the sensor and the thermostat. After some thought and realizing discretion is the better part etc, I ordered the BEGi spacer. It has everything already done, with what I've spent so far and what I needed to do in order to make the Moss spacer work, I would be above the $93 they charge. Taking a break then back out to button up the tranny and get all the underneath stuff installed. Today's the last warm day for a while so anything that requires lying on the floor will be done by tonight.

Some pictures for all you Gen-Xers who require visual stimulation:

Thermo location back of head- http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8358/8431905533_5084e34806_c.jpg
Temp sensor in head- http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8186/8431905555_45331148bb_c.jpg
Reroute parts- http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8045/8431905575_479163fc2c_c.jpg
Back of engine- http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8517/8431905131_bc29d3745e_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Tranny was buttoned up, getting it aligned with the engine was interesting. Exhaust was put on, underbody bracing installed (except for mid-section of butterfly brace, I will be doing something later with the exhaust and it's too big a pain to deal with it twice). I could basically put the front wheels on and drop it back down but it can wait. I was done for the day.

Next day torqued the tranny drain plug so I didn't forget it. Put a HD lip on the new front lip. Ordered a couple of gaskets for the shifter, one got torn during removal. Most of the day was a rest day, my body was so sore from worming under the car and out over two days that I needed it.

[chiefmg]

I guess a three month hiatus is long enough. I'm back to work with not much to do, now that our Internet is working more reliably I'll dive back in. I'll be posting shorter entries just in case the signal dies (that way I won't get as annoyed).

When I was installing the MSM rear spoiler I had the third brake light out and the gasket looked ratty. I finally thought to check and it is sold as a separate piece, so ordered one of those from Mazda. Finished up the painting I had started a few days before. Decided to tackle the sway bar brackets. Everything I read said you had to drill out the spot welds to get the stockers off. Initial inspection only showed me four bolts, I thought I'm golden. Upon closer inspection I found where they were hidden in between the bolts on either side. Supposedly if you have a larger than stock front bar and drive hard the stock mounts can rip off. I'm not shy about diving into corners and mine didn't show any signs of distress. I can see where they would have flexed though, so in that regard the AWRs are worth it. I was interested to see if I noticed any difference once I get her all back together (also have adjustable endlinks for the front now). As it turns out it's a moot point for me. The AWR brackets angle inward at the bottom, with my relocated radiator brackets there is interference between the two. I know how it could be fixed but I don't have the parts to do it. Back off they came and back on went the stockers. Mostly pissed because now I don't have the spot welds (no welder for me yet). Might have been able to figure this out beforehand if there were any installed pictures of those brackets. Oh well. Here's how they look without the radiator brackets in place:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8371/8453830371_aa7b272325_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8512/8453830499_927a30ede6_c.jpg

Did the timing belt/water pump/front seals and that's all buttoned back up. Reroute stuff showed up from BEGi but I had to call it a day as my driving services were required. Plan was to hit it hard the next day and try to get everything done. We'll see how that goes...

[chiefmg]

That was the main part of the coolant reroute done (spacer/thermostat/cover on back of head installed). Tight access does not even begin to describe trying to do this job (see pictures). I had to use a worm hose clamp instead of the stocker for the heater connection to the spacer as I couldn't get a set of pliers back there. Hardest part of getting things in place is making sure the thermostat stays in place. The longer bolt (needed because the Sephia cover has one raised attachment point) is way too tight, you have to really work on getting it started without it hitting the firewall. If you are thinking of doing this I highly recommend coordinating with a clutch replacement or something else that will give you access, had I had the pieces while the tranny was off it would have been a lot easier. At the very least you will want to remove the intake manifold. I know it will all be worth it.

After a short break I got the intake mani, injectors/fuel rail, valve cover all installed. Alternator was back in and belt tensioned, I had to go to town tomorrow to find some sort of locking nut for the PS pump mounting bolt before I can do it. Sway bar is in place. Tranny is finally filled and shifter back in place so it's all buttoned up.

FYI the square top intake mani has fewer vacuum taps than the US version (at least the one I have, not 100% if it's JDM or EUDM). I had to figure out exactly what I still needed (beyond the boost gauge, MS and cruise) and then get some splitters to make it work.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8453830679_0c9a5acb0c_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8091/8454922528_dd0768831f_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Was cooling my heels (literally as it was cold, plus I had to watch the grandson for a bit) so decided to tackle the third brake light gasket. Got the old one scraped off, cleaned the surfaces, polished the lens with the headlight kit I have (note that Barry's sticker was unharmed) and sealed it. Going to put the gasket on as soon as it all dries and then put it back in. You can see the gasket literally looked like something had chewed on it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8368/8456419857_faeb1245fe_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Had to extend the temp sensor connector due to its relocation with the reroute, the spare wiring harness I have wasn't the one with that connector but I was able to find the same color code wires so it's all the same. Put the wires on, soldered the connections and put heat shrink tubing over it all. Got the PS belt back on and tensioned. Put another washer on the front bracket of the supercharger to shim it out a little more, put the bracket on the 'charger and tightened down the moving pieces then took it back off again. Cleaned up and painted the whole bracket. Went to put the new battery in place and found some corrosion underneath the battery tray (plus it doesn't look stock) so got that all cleaned up and put a couple of coats of gray primer/paint on it. Also cleaned up the battery hold down and painted it.

Once the paint was dry the supercharger was completely back in, radiator in and filled, sway bar torqued down and the new adjustable end links installed. Unfortunately I had a slight weep from the thermo cover on the back of the head, so it had to be pulled back off so I could put me some silicone gasket on things. Here I thought I'd be able to do the little finishing touches (like adjusting the clutch pedal), I know it's going to be a fight getting at it with everything else in place. Might end up pulling the upper intake manifold.

[chiefmg]

Got the thermo unit out without too much hassle. At some point when I put it in the thermostat apparently slipped out of position (based on the impression on the gasket), I did make sure it was in place before bolting it down by reaching through the outlet port but maybe I was wrong. Oh no, whatever will you do? Glad you asked that Skippy. Silicone gasket maker is your friend, a couple of spots on the outside of the thermostat should keep it where it belongs. Had to get two new gaskets, first AutoZone I went to only had one but he told me another store had two. The guy actually said I could buy one there and then buy the other one from the other store. Um, no! I'll make one transaction thank-you-very-much. I gooped it all up and bolted it together to dry for a while before I went to put it back in.

Unfortunately things didn't quite work out the way I wanted. After letting things set up for 5-6 hours I took it back out to install. Got it in place reasonably easy, bolted down and while making the last few turns on one bolts I heard a snap. Broke the damn thermo cover in way of one of the bolt holes. So, took it back off, didn't really see any reason for it unless I had weakened it during my previous attempt. So it was off to the junkyard to get another couple of covers (just in case).

[chiefmg]

New thermo cover sourced from the junkyard (they only had one car with it) along with two new gaskets, turned out the place I normally go had the ones with adhesive on them. Cleaned everything up and put it back on the car. Filled the system and didn't hear any leakage. I had to research what the various solenoids on the passenger fender do to see if I needed to have them connected to vacuum or not, if not then I only need to hook up the line to the cruise and boost gauge. Got everything taken care of. She's alive! Took about a 10 mile shakedown drive. No abnormal noises, nothing fell off, drove normally. Almost anyway, I adjusted the clutch per FM instructions and it took up within an inch off the floor. Can you say abrupt? Dove in to the factory manual to get that figured out (which way to go with the adjustment). 490 miles to go before I could romp on it...

[chiefmg]

Finally got the clutch broken in! First full throttle take-off was great. Forgot earlier but I did get some little plastic pins from Ace and drilled the holes in my gauge pillar to fix it firmly in place (I had tried using 3M double sided tape but the top kept falling away from the A pillar trim). Looked through the garage but never found the pins it came with. Also replaced the radio with one I got off eBay as the CD player sometimes acts up on the first CD, but the new one won't even accept any discs. Time for some mix and match I think (note: for anyone not reading all the way through, I found a double DIN radio/6 CD changer from a 626 that is a direct fit, including the wire connectors. Tributes had them too).

Fiddled with the radio, the new one I put in was having CD problems. The little rubber isolator at the rear got hung up somehow and gave me fits trying to get it out (like, it took over an hour once the locks were released). Swapped the faceplates out and put the old one back in, it now didn't work. Thinking the temperature difference between inside and outside had something to do with it (remembering I was doing this in February) I left it for a few hours and tried again. This time it worked.

[chiefmg]

Did some research on my cold start problem, made a few changes to the MS settings. First attempt was worse but after I changed one setting back to what it was it fired right up. Have to do some more attempts to see if I took care of that particular issue. There are so many things to set/change with a MS it's easy to get lost. If you want to have an idea why it costs so much for ECUs get a MS and play around with the settings. It will give you an appreciation for those who develop any ECU.

Adjusted the supercharger bypass valve, seemed to be a little better. With the lighter flywheel the engine responds so much differently it's hard to compare if I made an improvement. Right now it doesn't feel as fast as it was but I am sure that is due to the engine being able to spin up faster.

Washed her in prep for cars and coffee on a Saturday. Went to that and on the way home picked up a 6" vise from Harbor Freight so I could start bending metal. Pulled the radio and swapped out faceplates again, all is right with the world and the new one is much cleaner (never could get what looked like Georgia clay residue cleaned from around all the buttons etc on the other one). Also bought some fender washers at Ace to put under the anti-theft fasteners on my hard top brackets, the ones I had on there were just a little too small for my liking. Nice day today so got to terrorize the area a little, people apparently put their brains in neutral (not used to the sun?) so I had to do some evasive maneuvers.

It's amazing how much easier jobs are with a workbench and vise to use. Here is what I have finally gotten around to fabbing in the past couple of days:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8097/8508289196_febee525db_c.jpg

This bracket will mount in the same location as the stock ECU. I won't have to worry about interference with my right foot any longer. Going to shoot it with a couple of coats of Rustoleum black before installing. Wish I had a welder, then the arms wouldn't be held on with fasteners.

The visor blanking plates finally showed up. I sent them an e-mail a few days before since it had been over a week and I hadn't heard anything. Turned out they had sent them on that Friday. Not sure what the delay was. They did do a nice job of packing them and included another sticker for my tool cabinet.

[chiefmg]

And the bracket was a no-go. The longer arm didn't allow the plate to mount where it needed to with the MS installed, so I had to work on V2. I did it with the plate in place but the MS removed so nothing would get damaged. I knew where it had to locate so it's was a matter of bending the long arm, putting it in the stud and then seeing how it all lined up. Had to take a break as kneeling on the cold hard garage floor was a little tough on the knees.

A little while later, version 2 of the MS bracket was a winner:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8234/8513662530_536852e904_c.jpg

If you look at the previous one you will see the new longer arm is longer where it comes off the main plate. This just goes to show you can't always use an old mount to fab up a new one. The plate is angled slightly while in place but there is no contact with either the clutch or brake pedal arms. Some more paint and it was installed.

Received my Xpel kit from Amazon. It was wrong, wrong, wrong. The kit I ordered was in it, but it didn't look proper so I did some research. According to Summit Racing, I received the kit for a third gen Miata. I had checked before ordering and the Amazon site said it fit my car. They also put three additional kits for three different cars in the package. I put a return in progress and ordered the correct kit from Summit.

[chiefmg]

MS installed.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8508/8516481080_6d47f5bbd8_c.jpg

Took her out to pick up one of the kids after school and get some gas. There was some slight interference with my left toe so once I got home I pulled the bracket back out and cut off about 3/8" on the bottom edge (making it even with the MS box). Paint to come once everything warms up and then it'll go back in. If that didn't do it I had maybe another 1/4" I could raise the whole thing but I was hopeful it would do the trick.

I liked the extra view out the windshield with the visor delete. It is subtle but very noticeable. Received my new passenger foglight and the fog/cruise switch I bought off CR. Now I just have to compare the two I have with the stock one to see which has the best lettering. I'll wait to put the new fog in for the new X-pel film kit.

It was official, MS bracket version 2.1 is a success. Bolted it back in place and even wearing my slip-ons that I work in (which have a larger toe) I got absolutely no contact. Pretty happy as it is a royal PITA getting that upper nut in place and tightened down with the MS in place. No test drives that day as the weather sucked.

It appears my internal ruler is off a bit. I measured the piece I cut off the main plate when I picked it up from outside, turns out counting the width of the cutoff wheel I removed very close to 3/4". Thought about getting my new glasses checked!

[chiefmg]

Well screw me sideways. Miata developed a miss when I was out doing some tuning, thought it was something to do with the tune. Restored to a previous point and drove it to lunch a few days later. Miss was still there, in fact was terrible leaving the restaurant so I went home. Pulled the plugs and I had coolant in cylinder #3. Just what I wanted to do my last 10 days home, pull the head off. There wasn't enough in the cylinder for the MityVac to suck out, so I turned the engine over with the plug out to purge it then sprayed some WD-40 in (we all remember what the WD stands for, right?).

Got the required gaskets ordered from the local dealer. Did four hours of work, everything was stripped off except for the head. I had to check the service manual to see if I needed to do anything special removing the bolts (the answer was no). I am extremely tempted to do the spacerless reroute, it would mean a little more space to work on the thermostat in the back as well as eliminating a joint for a possible leak. All it will take is drilling/tapping a hole in the head for the heater spigot.

Finally pulled the head off. There was no visible defect with the head gasket. All fasteners were tight. I'm at a loss to explain the problem, unless the head somehow has a crack in it. After some deliberation over several days, I decided that instead of beating myself up trying to get it all done (correctly) in a relatively short period of time, I'm going to leave her sit while I'm gone and dive in once I get back. That will give me some time to find a place that can pressure test the head for me and do a proper job skimming the gasket surface. My wife first accused me of doing it on purpose so she couldn't drive the car while I was gone, and then asked if I couldn't put the "old parts" back on and get it running. She is not a gearhead.

Just before I left home I bought a JR 4-2-1 header (one of the few that will fit underneath a SC). So I'll have a couple of other exhausts to sell when I get back.

And that will be it until I get home sometime in August. I did buy a set of used Corbeau brackets with sliders recently for my planned seat upgrade (I'm not telling which model I'm getting just yet).

[kung fu jesus]

Awesome read. F/I is a love-hate. Love the power, hate the nagging problems. The coolant in the cylinder...maybe the head lifted from the head bolts stretching? If it isn't too late, use ARP head studs in place of the torque to yield OEM head bolts.

[chiefmg]

Thanks for that, I wasn't sure too many people would want to read it through.

I'm finding that out about boost. This is my second boosted car (first is my Speed6) and I've been diving right in. I have my suspicions about the head bolts since nothing else looks amiss, ARP studs are in the cards. Just to be sure I'll have the head tested for leakage and skimmed for a good gasket mating surface (some say it's a must for the type of gasket Mazda uses, others say no). I'll also be replacing the valve seals, have to decide if new aftermarket springs will be worth it or not.

[kung fu jesus]

Springs no, unless you are using hot cams. Since you are taking the head apart, maybe have the springs tested to make sure their rates are within spec?

[chiefmg]

I will at least be checking the springs' free length. I've never heard about having their rate checked, I'll have to look into it with the place I plan on having test/skim it.

[chiefmg]

Just a few notes, I've been buying some small items. A set of RB front sway bar reinforcement blocks (thanks YY), a set of revlimiter's new satin black vent rings (to replace my gloss black ones), and a used TopLoc. I had considered a TopLoc in the past but the Spec Miata plates were cheaper/stronger. However, having my wife put the top on one time while I was gone made me realize that I needed an easy way for her to secure it if she used it in the future.

[Agent☣Orange]

You bet! The blocks are a little bit of a hassle to install but worth it.

[chiefmg]

Bought these the other day: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/9079687120_7e3cfdc52e_c.jpg

Good thing is they are coming from overseas and won't get there until right after I do. One less thing for the wife to have to deal with.

[Massiah]

Haven't seen this listed in your thread but is that a Brainstorm dual muffler? If so you're literally the only other person I've seen with it. Anyway, nice thread! Read through a bunch of it.

[chiefmg]

Haven't seen this listed in your thread but is that a Brainstorm dual muffler? If so you're literally the only other person I've seen with it. Anyway, nice thread! Read through a bunch of it.

Good eye! Yes, it's a Brainstorm dual muffler, it was on the car when I bought it. It's off at the moment, I picked up a FM 2.5" cat back dual setup. Right now I only have that muffler installed due to issues getting the slip joint for the pipe that connects the midpipe to the muffler together enough to mate up. I'll probably play around with the mufflers once I have it all together as I understand the FM system is a bit loud with a supercharger. Of course I have some hearing loss so I might like it (the wife might not, but then again she likes a loud exhaust). I mainly want to avoid any sort of droning as that gets old quickly for me.

[chiefmg]

Had some time tonight (and I was a little bored) so read back through this with an eye towards correcting any grammar/spelling mistakes. Unfortunately it seems there is some sort of time cut-off after which you can't edit a post. So my apologies to all for the errors previous to this. As I will be updating this from now on in real time, the awkward phrasing I sometimes used shouldn't be an issue. As for any spelling failures, I'll do my best and blame any problems on my eyesight!

[chiefmg]

Bought a set of Konig Flatout wheels, 15 X 8 +25. You're going to have to wait to see the color until I mount them and post a picture. I'm about a month away from home so it will be just a wee bit longer than that.

[tsingson]

Where did those seats come from? I have never seen those.

[chiefmg]

According to the seller they came out of a Toyota AE86. They are old school Recaros (by that I mean '80s vintage), model is LX-C. They were all the rage when my RX-7 was new and I always lusted after a set. Got a set for the 7 last year, that was my first time of sitting in them and man are they comfortable. I've been going back and forth with what I wanted to put in the Miata, these were a consideration and when this set came up I decided to try to get them. I'm getting them installed by hook or by crook! If they do fit plan is to get them recovered to match the car.

Here's a nice little bit of info on Recaro designations: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B__cbg-8sr9WOGZhM2UzMDEtNzg1Yi00NDg1LWI0ZDUtYjQ4NmI0MzdkZ WFi/edit?hl=en&pli=1

[chiefmg]

Bought a set of the factory hard top side strikers, that was all I needed in order to use the TopLoc (my hard top came with the side latches). I'm going to be headed home in 10 days or so, there will be some actual work posted in here for a change!

[chiefmg]

Got in town Sunday, but didn't get home home until yesterday. The wife and I usually go to a B&B my first night home for a little us time. :teehee:

Once I got settled in (greeting kids and pets) I started the great hunt. This is where I go through the house looking for where my wife has put all the things I bought while I was gone. Once upon a time she would make big piles which was great, now they just go wherever. So I get to have an Easter egg hunt for my Christmas presents (or so I tell myself). Finally found it all, so the installations can begin.

Up early this morning (thanks jet lag) so I cleaned up the valve cover I bought just before leaving last time to get it ready for powder coating. Pulled the dash vents, removed the gloss black RL rings and put the new satin ones on. Hardest part of that whole job was cleaning the silicone residue off the vents themselves. I have to run some errands today, going to get a set of BFG Rivals ordered along with some parts from the dealer. Also need to swing by Ace to get some socket head cap screws for my new coolant reroute thermostat spacer. I'll be making a gasket for it here shortly, picture to come later as I doubt there are many of you who have seen this one.

[chiefmg]

Here's the thermostat spacer:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5550/9448952687_daba383af2_c.jpg

Mounts to the back of the head, but the thermostat is accessible from the side which will make life a whole lot easier. With this, I can mount it to the head before I bolt that in place and not have to worry if I got things tight enough not to leak. As pretty as it is I am probably going to paint it just to provide some protection.

[chiefmg]

As it turns out, you can only buy the Rivals from Tire Rack. Went to my local dealer and when they called their distributor that is what they were told. Those are ordered for direct delivery to the dealer. Sucks because it is a great place and I wanted to give them the money directly.

[chiefmg]

Put the dash vents back in, I really like the way the satin black looks. They'll be staying in. I used clear silicone on the first set and found a couple that weren't being held at all points. I used black automotive silicone for the new ones, after setting up for a day they all seem firm. Tires should be delivered to the local shop today.

[tsingson]

No pics, chief?

[chiefmg]

Pictures? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (pause for breath) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

I see I still have some training to do here. Just for you I'll post one, as soon as I can find a connection cord. All that stuff disappears whenever I'm gone.

Tires came in yesterday so I dropped the wheels off this morning. Those Rivals look sweet. One of the techs at the shop saw them sitting there and said, let me guess, Mike Green? I laughed.

[chiefmg]

Here's a picture of the rings for you. It's only the two middle ones, I don't want to drop the top to get an overall picture due to four months' worth of dust buildup. Plus I think this will show the finish better than a shot farther out.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7407/9466116979_97afc3a231_c.jpg

Tires didn't get mounted today, the owner wants one specific tech to do it (he has the most experience with the Hunter RoadForce machine) and he was too busy. So drooling has to wait. Balancing that out, I checked on the status of my seats to see if there was any update and they have been processed through the local USPS sorting facility. So I should have those by the weekend.

[chiefmg]

Got the wheels/tires today and they are on the car. I will be posting a picture once I take one (after the 8 is out of the garage). I love how they look.

Edit: picture time! http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5473/9475999586_8286ca6e83_c.jpg

Today was a very good day, my seats also showed up along with the gas lid. My wife got the notice out of the mailbox, she came in and asked, What did you get from Thailand? Of course a lot of witty retorts flashed through my mind, then I considered her possible reaction to same and decided to keep my mouth shut. I'm going to do a test fit of one of the seats later provided the humidity drops.

[chiefmg]

And this is how the seats will look:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/9476623282_f02b5aa66f_c.jpg

Just sitting in there for now. I need to get some flat bar to mount the seats to the Corbeau sliders I have, and get the used factory sliders I bought in order to cut off the seat belt receiver bracket and have it welded in place.

[grueinthebox]

Love the seats. Interested to see how they jive with an NB once reupholstered.

[Hyper]

Bought these the other day: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3670/9079687120_7e3cfdc52e_c.jpg

Good thing is they are coming from overseas and won't get there until right after I do. One less thing for the wife to have to deal with.

those are old skool seats dude. I was thinking about them the other day. I use to see them in the old Camaros, Mazdas and Nissan 300zx a lot.

[Hyper]

First up I put on the crossover tube and outlet manifold on the supercharger. That cleaned the engine bay up some more. Had the tires mounted, when I got home from that the Gorilla lugs I bought had arrived so I could put the wheels on the car. Here's how that all looked:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8453/8073173874_24edc5a12d_c.jpg



yo, do me a favor and send me the crossover tube. Let's work out a deal I need it for a project! thanks chief!!

[chiefmg]

Sorry but I'm selling the supercharger as a complete setup so the tube stays with it.

Didn't really do much today. I did mess with the seats a little, I tried putting the passenger seat on the driver's side to see if I gained any space with the recline knob on the inside. It was actually worse that way, so they will be installed in the normal location. Used my grinder to remove a little tab on the driver's Corbeau bracket, apparently their alignment jigs aren't the best. Replaced the quarter panel trim pieces, I didn't cut the new ones for the side strikers just yet. Oh yeah, and I drooled over the wheels some more.

[chiefmg]

Head is off the car (again) and stripped as far as I can. Valves are still in place, the spring compressor I had for motorcycles just didn't have enough room for me to get the keepers out. I could have possibly finagled a way to remove them, but assembly would be impossible so I'll let the shop do that. Calling them in the morning to find out how soon they can get to it.

[chiefmg]

Dropped the head off this morning. Found out one guy who works at this shop overhauls rotaries so I might be taking the 13B there when I get ready. He did a quick check of the head and found a little gap in between cylinders 2 and 3, so that was probably what caused the leak. It can be taken care of with milling. They said it should be ready in a couple of days.

[chiefmg]

Just got a call from the shop, they said it could use a valve job so that is moving ahead. He asked what I wanted from a performance standpoint, I told him just a basic freshening would be fine. I don't have any cams/springs etc to really maximize a proper port job, and I'm trying to stop spending money on this one.

[Demon I Am]

whatwhatwhaaaat!!

[chiefmg]

If you mean what I think you mean, don't worry. You will love the 7's build.

Head is done so I'll be picking it up in the morning. I'll have to redo my valve lash measurements as I know it will all have changed thanks to the valve job. Got a new battery for my digital calipers so I'll be able to get specific readings on everything.

[Demon I Am]

Nice. I can not wait to see some progress on that Rex.

[chiefmg]

Cylinder head is installed and torqued. Couple of times I thought I was going to break those ARP studs! Did a lot more associated with the head, more info and pictures have to wait as I'm headed out on a date.

Edit: pictures:
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3793/9514927600_24d2655f3e_c.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/9514928768_d904c2de9d_c.jpg

Here's my new reroute spacer, had some trouble getting the upper nut tight due to lack of clearance as machined.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2844/9512139055_e9f44345d0_c.jpg

What I did today (besides the obvious) was to measure the thickness of all valve shims, assemble the cams to the head and check valve clearance. That then allowed me to determine what shims I would need to correct lash. I ended up needing four, unfortunately I made it to the dealer a little too late for their ordering so I won't get the new shims until Monday. I had 10 clearances that were out, a couple were very tight. Cleaned up the block seating surface as well as the pistons. I couldn't find a large sanding block anywhere in town so I bought some belt sander refills and cut a piece of 1 X 4 board to allow me to use that as a sanding block. It worked pretty well.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2870/9512137919_6cc0c86df1_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Got the intake side buttoned up. Modified the M-Tuned fuel rail so that I can get the valve cover on and off easier, this consisted of beveling three areas where the bolts pass through. Used new insulators for the injectors where they go into the head. Ground down the thermostat to fit the new spacer and finished making the gasket needed so that is all closed up. Cleaned up and painted the JR header. I think I got all the peanuts blown out of the inside, I'm going to run my fish tape through it before bolting it up just to make sure.
Fuel rail mod: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/9520595106_077510a06b_c.jpg
Reroute spacer firewall clearance (I know, kind of hard to see but it's more than with the BEGi spacer): http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7324/9517805225_8bf5c47056_c.jpg
Modified thermostat: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2845/9517805995_e1ce4e54b5_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Finally got a small side project finished up, although it looks like I'll have to repaint it once I get some more spray as I've already gotten some chips:

Beginning: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3742/9534031508_5eece895ca_c.jpg
Finish: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7374/9534031960_98e6f5d562_c.jpg

As I've said before I'm not a blingy type, while I liked the Zoom lid I didn't want all the polished metal shining at me. YellowYata said, why not paint it? Why not, indeed.

[chiefmg]

Got the driver's Recaro installed, and it fits just the way I had hoped. All that's left is to attach the seat belt receiver, I have an idea about that.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3684/9538247897_05fd1748c0_c.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5535/9538247135_98ca0da5d0_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Got my center cap stickers put on today:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5505/9548870412_dd79efe966_c.jpg

Dropped my JR header off at the local welding place, they are cropping off the EGR tube completely as well as moving the O2 bung I'll be using for my wideband. Whoever put it on in the first place had it sitting at about the 11 o-clock position and with the MTX-L I'm using, the wire coming out of the unit would be rubbing on the tranny tunnel.

[chiefmg]

Header was picked up yesterday and painted the disturbed areas. Also painted the seat brackets. This morning I got both seats installed, everything fits and works except for the back release levers (due to interference with the seat belt receivers) but I don't need that anyway. Header was installed and torqued down, thank heavens for ratcheting wrenches as two of the bottom nuts are about impossible to tighten due to clearance issues with tubing. Moved valve shims around based on the readings I took previously, however when I measured the clearance after that some of them are still out of whack. I'll have to do those again. The rest of the day was spent removing shingles from the roof for installation of a new roof tomorrow.

[chiefmg]

Ordered the rest of the shims I need. Here's pictures of the header modifications:

EGR removal: http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3790/9565962712_158371ea59_c.jpg
O2 bung shift: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5321/9565962034_01c91d84ba_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Spent most of the day yesterday helping my son with his Protege. Picked up my shims, once we were done with his car I set about finishing up my lash adjustments. Ended up with several that were over spec but it's hard to get them exact with the shims the way they are. I'll be looking into what may be available aftermarket in smaller increments. Kept working on it until I had the timing belt on, covers buttoned up and crank pulley back on. That took me to 0030 so I decided it was time to call it a day.

Edit: Forgot about the most important thing yesterday- paid her off!

[Hyper]

i have two 6an stainless steel lines for your M-Tuned fuel rail. pm me if you want them cheap.

http://mazdaroadster.net/showthread.php?3776-6an-Stainless-Steel-Lines&p=79149#post79149

[chiefmg]

If you go back and look at my pictures, you will see that I already have braided stainless fuel lines. In fact, I bought them from you.

[chiefmg]

Got everything back together today, and she fired right up! Took her out for a shakedown spin (dirtiness and all) and had fun. As I was leaving my driveway I couldn't figure out what the new noise was I was hearing, then figured out it was the Rivals picking up small debris which then got flung off to hit the inside of the wheel wells. Can you say sticky? After making sure everything was fine, I washed her dirty butt when I got home. Ready for a spirited cruise tomorrow, should be a fun time.

I will have to get back under the car to install the butterfly brace, the front 949 brace and the RB sway bar blocks at some point.

[impulse2010]

The seat or seats for sale? The old ones? I need another tall factory seat to match mine, for some reason one of mine is a older factory seat.

[chiefmg]

The seat or seats for sale? The old ones? I need another tall factory seat to match mine, for some reason one of mine is a older factory seat.

I'm keeping my stock seats. The NB2 seats will be sold locally. Sorry. Try one of the breakers, I don't see your location but you can probably find one close so you don't get killed on shipping.

Cruise today was fun, I probably won't do one of those again though as I did about 430 miles total. Lots of sun and my ears are ringing from all the hours top down. The Rivals got better as the day wore on, initially they felt a little odd to me (like they were a little greasy), I didn't have any moments but I wasn't completely confident in them. On the way home, I took an exit ramp off the freeway at 55 that I normally took at 50 with the Toyos, and it felt like they had more in them.

[chiefmg]

Washed the dust and bugs from yesterday off. Adjusted my idle as I had opened the throttle body butterfly in an effort to reduce idle droop and it ended up being too much (as in, 2,000 rpm idle too much). Tightened the A/C/power steering belt as I was getting some squealing from it. Finally installed an inflatable lumber bladder in the driver's seat (picked it up off eBay a while ago) and that made the driver's side almost perfect. The only issue is with using cruise control where I am not actively moving my right leg, it tends to rest on the outer bolster where the support pipe is located and goes numb after a bit. I can move around and it isn't a problem, just something I have to be aware of. These Recaros hold me in place so well I don't have to use the dead pedal to plant my butt in the seat much at all.

[chiefmg]

Did a few small things over the past few days. Finally got the center section of my butterfly brace installed again. I forgot what a right-royal PITA that is. Also adjusted my bypass valve so it's working better, I was getting a kick in the boost like a turbo. Now it's back to being seamless. Replaced the factory sealing washer for the temperature sensor with the O-ring and backing washer the guy I bought the reroute spacer from provided. There was a small leak from the sensor, I have to check it now once it cools to see if the O-ring corrected the leak.

Edit: just checked and no more leakage from around the reroute spacer. Success!

[chiefmg]

Been having some problems with the clutch on the hydraulic side. Bled the system and got a lot of air out, although it didn't seem like it was all out. Action was improved initially but then degraded again (as experienced by difficulty in getting the lever into some gears). I also tried adjusting the actuating rod at the pedal but with no change. I suspect I have some internal leakage past the piston in either the master or slave, I've ordered replacements to install when I get home.

Put on the cover I picked up off eBay before leaving this morning. It was listed as being a dealer's show-off cover, has the Mazda emblem on the front, "Get In, Be Moved" on each side and "No Peeking" on the back. It's yellow which is the one black mark against it (I know someone who might beg to differ on that point). I asked my wife what she thought of it, she said it was cute. I have to restrain myself from killing it with fire after that...

[chiefmg]

Got home, within two hours I was out replacing the clutch master and slave. Unfortunately that didn't fix my problem. It's acting like the clutch isn't disengaging the tranny fully which makes it hard to shift. I tried adjusting the push rod twice without much change. Only other thing I can think it might be is the throwout lever is broken in some fashion. I'm going to try adjusting the push rod again in the morning, if that doesn't work then I may be pulling the transmission.

[Hyper]

Been having some problems with the clutch on the hydraulic side. Bled the system and got a lot of air out, although it didn't seem like it was all out. Action was improved initially but then degraded again (as experienced by difficulty in getting the lever into some gears). I also tried adjusting the actuating rod at the pedal but with no change. I suspect I have some internal leakage past the piston in either the master or slave, I've ordered replacements to install when I get home.

Put on the cover I picked up off eBay before leaving this morning. It was listed as being a dealer's show-off cover, has the Mazda emblem on the front, "Get In, Be Moved" on each side and "No Peeking" on the back. It's yellow which is the one black mark against it (I know someone who might beg to differ on that point). I asked my wife what she thought of it, she said it was cute. I have to restrain myself from killing it with fire after that...

did you replace the clutch line?? just ccurious?? what brand?? Moss??

[chiefmg]

I have the longer clutch line that replaces both the stock pigtail and rubber hose. Can't remember just who I got mine from without digging into receipts but it was probably either 949 Racing or TSE.

Did some research last night on my problem, found one guy with a FM Happy Meal like mine who ended up having to get a new clutch/pressure plate from them. As a last try I adjusted the pedal this morning to increase the overall travel. While this puts it a little higher than I would like (it's topped out on the switch bracket) it appears to have fixed the problem. I may try some minor adjusting to see what I can do with it, I'm just glad I won't have to pull the tranny.

[chiefmg]

Still having some problems with the clutch. Spoke to a tech at FM yesterday and he gave me one other thing to try. If that doesn't do it then I'll have to get another clutch.

Got a fresh alignment this morning. Last time I used the FM specs, this time I went with 949's Dual Duty specs. Main difference between the two is more front camber. In just the short drive home I noticed quicker turn-in with lighter feeling steering. Not sure if my power-on oversteer has been affected much or not, that will be checked on my next drive.

[chiefmg]

Spent about three hours quality time with the Miata this morning. Pulled the 'charger so I could access the O2 sensor plug (I have now moved that so it is accessible at all times), removed the O2 sensor for the wideband and calibrated same. Shimmed the 'charger nose out with an additional two washers to see if that will finally let the belt track straight. Finally, identified my slight coolant leak as coming from the thermostat cover on the reroute spacer, so pulled that off, cleaned it up, made a new gasket and used some silicone on both sides this time. Going to let that dry overnight before refilling the system. Everything else is buttoned back up and ready to go. I'm going to check the last item on the clutch later today, it's a bit muggy out at present.

Oh, and while the new alignment is ace, it doesn't stop power-on oversteer. Things are pretty controllable however.

[chiefmg]

Measured travel at the clutch slave cylinder, it's 16mm which matched what FM measured on one of theirs. Also checked that I could push the slave pushrod back into the cylinder (this is necessary to ensure you don't have the pedal pushrod too tight), I could. So it's looking like I'll be getting another clutch.

[chiefmg]

Rain today so didn't do much of anything. Topped off the coolant after letting the silicone on the reroute spacer set up overnight, pulled the front bumper cover and replaced the passenger side foglight that I broke. FYI, you can't adjust the aim of the light by pulling on the housing. It will break, trust me. Just loosen the bolts and do it the right way.

Also removed the XPel film from the headlights that wasn't quite right. I have a new set to put on but didn't want to mess with it tonight.

[chiefmg]

Out driving today and started getting a stutter again. Just got done pulling the plugs, coolant in #4 cylinder. !@#!#$)$^)*&)#$^^&&)@$*@@!!!!!! I have no idea why this is, car was fine, no overheating or anything else that would cause a problem, now this.

[chiefmg]

Three hours and fifteen minutes to pull the head off the Miata. Looks fine with no apparent warpage. The only thing I can think of is the slightly uneven tightening I did due to that little bit of wiring that got trapped at the rear. If that was it, then it means the MLS gaskets can absolutely not be compressed more than once. I'm going to try cleaning the head up with some aluminum polish I saw at Ace, ordering the gasket in the morning.

Helpful tip, an easy way to remove hard-to-reach washers is to use a magnet. My fingers are somewhat long and slender, but just won't reach into the head very well.

[chiefmg]

Got the head gasket ordered, it will be here on Wednesday. Cleaned up the head and block surfaces, due for a root canal tomorrow so I doubt I'll feel like doing much. Replaced the studs/nuts holding the reroute spacer on with socket head cap screws, I couldn't get the one nut tight enough to make me happy due to the machining which restricted access to it. I had put the bottom nuts for the intake manifold on the head so they wouldn't get lost, as I was cleaned it up I noticed one was missing. Looked all over for the damn thing and couldn't find it, right before I came in I moved the head slightly and heard a clink. There it was! Still have no idea where it was hiding.

[chiefmg]

Pictures of the head before/after cleaning:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7353/9778577322_376c9deb2c_c.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5442/9778837303_dc6c9a5e1f_c.jpg

[chiefmg]

Got the Miata mostly back together, getting the timing belt on and set gave me fits for some reason (last time it only took me twice to get it set right). Still have to put on the belly pan and cowl cover, and get some more coolant to fill things up. Then we'll see how she runs. Didn't get more done because I had to wait on the gasket, and tonight was date night. :)

[Demon I Am]

Sweet! Hopefully this will have you up and running just fine!

[Martin]

...and tonight was date night. :)
Bwow chicka bwow wow

[chiefmg]

Sweet! Hopefully this will have you up and running just fine!

Thanks Tony. I'm hoping the same.


Bwow chicka bwow wow

I don't think I'll be showing that to the wife. :whistle:

Rain cleared so just got back from a test drive. Everything seems fine. Waiting on her to cool so I can check the radiator level.

[chiefmg]

Went out with the wife last night, car was idling high so this morning I checked my rerouting of the throttle cable. I moved it to a slightly different position which seemed like it would improve things. Went to start the car before heading to lunch, crank, crank, crank, start and immediately to redline. Shut her down and checked, the throttle cable had jumped off the bellcrank. Took a look after lunch, I didn't get the holding bracket for the throttle cable oriented correctly which is what caused the problem. FYI, that bracket must be parallel to the ground or slightly higher, otherwise because the throttle body is at an angle the cable will not align properly and will come off the bellcrank. This is a bad thing.

When I got that all back together I noticed there wasn't any slack in the cable, causing the throttle to be held open. A couple of washers on the bolt behind the cable bracket to move it closer to the throttle body fixed that. Took a test drive and all those problems are now solved.

[chiefmg]

After some thought, I decided to pull both the JR header and FM muffler. There's just a little too much obnoxiousness on the noise front for me, plus something is causing the car to vibrate under some loads. There was also a metallic rattling noise that was new, but I found out what it was when I pulled the stuff off a little while ago. I forgot to put the tab for the metal hardline for the heater connection to the mixing manifold under one of the exhaust mani nuts.

It's getting kind of scary how fast I can pull stuff off this car. Granted I've done a lot of things to it, but it only took me a little over an hour to pull the 'charger, exhaust mani and muffler.

Got it all back together, I took the time to clean up the muffler and pipes of the Brainstorm dual, it was looking kind of ratty. Rattle canned it flat black with some high temp paint from Ace, came out well. Took a test drive, no more vibs and it sounds nice and throaty without the edginess that the FM dual had.

[chiefmg]

Was at cars and coffee yesterday morning and finally had the chance to get a good shot with all the latest visual mods:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/9993690036_4b042b5443_c.jpg

[Agent☣Orange]

Hey Chief, I know the feelin'!

[chiefmg]

Never got around to posting these, what you can find on eBay if you have time on your hands:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5499/10125709786_8303ab7c59_c.jpg
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2810/10125634605_016e6b55d7_c.jpg
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5330/10125771903_4e9d6e1e88_c.jpg

[Grip Driver]

my favorite NB color combo, looks great. How much did you score the car cover for?

[chiefmg]

$50 for the cover, $25 for shipping. That was a bit high but I've never come across another like this so decided it was worth it.

[Dandy]

That's a great score for an enthusiast.

[chiefmg]

Thanks, I'm pretty stoked about it.

Did some tuning on her this morning using the VEAnalyze autotune feature. AFRs are a lot better already, I'm back to around 14.3-.5 at idle. I think what happened is when I was burning coolant and did the tuning, it was putting too much fuel in to make up for things. While I still have some fuel smell after getting on it, it is less. It just takes some time getting the upper rev range tuned as you have to have your foot down to keep the boost up.

[chiefmg]

Screw me sideways part II: yesterday while out driving, I started getting the same stutter as I had before when coolant was leaking into the cylinders. Pulled the plugs last night and sure enough, coolant in cylinder 4 (again). Dammit. This is getting frustrating. It really sucks as I planned to go on a cruise today with a local group, and autocrossing tomorrow. Taking a break from car work today (spent three days fixing a friend's Taurus), will pull it all apart tomorrow to see if anything presents.

[chiefmg]

Got the head pulled, there is absolutely nothing apparently wrong that would have caused the coolant leak. I'm taking it to the shop that milled it tomorrow to have them check it out.

[chiefmg]

Shop found some extra clearance in way of the exhaust side of #4 cylinder on the head. So that will get milled again, and I also asked them to adjust the valve lash since I had several with too much clearance (FYI Mazda's shims don't allow fine tuning of clearances, there are a limited number of thickness available).

[chiefmg]

Picked up the head last night. Got started putting everything back together after lunch today. Job completed and a successful test ride done just a little while ago. I may have discovered the source of the gas smell under heavy throttle, it looks like a couple of the injector O-rings have some minor leak-by. I just sent an e-mail to 5-O Motorsports to see if they have replacements available.

When I was putting the timing belt on I had the same problem with some looseness between the cam gears as last time. I ended up slightly modifying the factory procedure for tensioning the belt. I ran it around the 1 5/6 turns as required, then continued to move it until the belt was tight between the cams and on the idler side (in other words, so all the looseness was on the tensioner side). I then tightened the tensioner. Turned the engine over several times and made sure the timing marks lined up the way they are supposed to. Worked like a charm!

[chiefmg]

Been back to work for four weeks now. I've been doing some research (difficult since some of the sites I need to go to are blocked for some inexplicable reason) to try and get a handle on some of my issues. First thing I've found is that I should not have put the MAF back on. The MegaSquirt has an integral MAP sensor that it uses, and with my having the GM IAT sensor that's all it needs for fueling. I'm wondering now if any of the input from the MAF has affected the other inputs. Removing it and reloading my base map will be the first item once I get back home. I just have to see if the air filter will fit directly on the pipe mounted to the supercharger, or if I'll have to get a short extension piece. None of my pictures allow me to see that. I may also be able to use a longer Mazdaspeed air filter I bought off eBay several years ago thinking it would fit on the Speed6 (it didn't).

[chiefmg]

After a lot of thought, I decided to just go ahead and buy a new clutch. Went with the SuperMiata one from 949 Racing this time. There is something going on with the FM one, I don't want to pull things apart and then have to wait for a replacement. This way I can either return it if something is wrong, or if my problem stems from something else then sell it and recoup some of the expense.

For those few souls who look at this (I'm never really sure since I never get any comments, only the amount of views), you may notice that all my pictures have disappeared. I have taken them down for now, as I have had a personal issue with a company using my pictures without permission to advertise items on my car that they sell (which were not purchased from them). Once I figure out how to better protect myself from this then I'll put them back up again. Flickr defaults to a copyright all rights reserved for each picture, but apparently that doesn't hold water with some folks.

Update: Turned out I didn't do something right so my pictures were still visible. For now at least, I've deleted all the exterior shots but everything else will be visible so this thread isn't a total loss.

[chiefmg]

I'm just over two weeks away from heading home, so time to bump this closer to the top where I can find it.

I bought a new top a couple of days ago. Cloth/canvas (pick your term), factory two piece style with a defrost rear window, along with a new rain rail and tension cables. It was actually $5 cheaper on eBay than from the same vendor on their site. That is supposed to be delivered next week so it will be sitting waiting on me when I get there. I won't be able to dive right into it though, the rear brakes on the Speed are squealing and the wife isn't amused. Needless to say replacing those will be the first priority.

[chiefmg]

Finally home! Had a look at the new top, it's pretty sweet (I much prefer the look of the canvas over vinyl). I've already removed the MAF, still have to put the base map back in the MS. Today I took advantage of the free shipping Moss is offering and ordered a RoadsterSport midpipe.

[chiefmg]

Loaded up my base map again, got her fired up and went out to lunch. Took a few miles to get the tires round again, but had fun. Dropped the top for the ride home, set a new personal record as the temp was 30 degrees. I'm still getting the gas smell under boost so I have to look another cause.

[chiefmg]

Spent last week in the UK for a work conference so nothing got done. I received the midpipe right before I left, it's a nicely made piece. Stopped by the dealer this morning and ordered a few pieces to correct some minor issues (like the battery tray, mine has been modified from some other car). I've been doing some more reading on the MS, even though I am sure I already did it I burned the wideband sensor type into the unit. After that I fired her up and went out with the computer connected to let Tuner Studio do some autotuning. When I got that done my AFRs seemed a bit better, but I still have some gas smell under boost.

Researching for my top replacement. It doesn't look like that big of a job, just time consuming. I think I'm going to do it by removing the whole thing, it should be a little easier.

[WASABI]

The top is pretty easy, but plan on 4 or 5 hours to do it right. I found taking the frame out of the car to be the best way to install the new top. It gives you a chance to look at everything, clean everything, and put her back together the right way... having a friend there to help with putting the frame back on the car is nice to have.

[chiefmg]

Pulled the top this morning. Got the old one removed ok, although I removed one of the tension cable guides before I realized I didn't have to. That ended up screwing me up, as I put it back on, discovered I missed putting a tab in a slot so drilled out the pop rivet. For some reason the drill bit walked while I was doing that so the rivet didn't get drilled properly. When I tried cutting the head off the rivet I broke the guide. That's going to mean a trip to the dealer before I can finish the top. The fabric does look pretty nice.

I finally got the rest of the parts I had ordered to get the battery mounting in order, installed those yesterday. The proper battery tray and hold down clamp, as well as a new fiberboard piece that goes over the whole thing (the old one was missing the white plastic location piece). It's nice having it all correct.

[chiefmg]

The dealer couldn't find the guide either (they had the exact same drawing I looked at) so they surmised it is part of the complete frame. So, I stuck the old one on with black silicone. Finished putting the new top on the frame and then put it back in the car. Hardest part was getting the adhesive residue off the weatherstrip channels, tried several different methods but what worked the best was wetting the stuff with acetone and then using my thumb to rub it off. Use double-sided foam tape to replace it. Getting the bolts back in the sides was a little bit of a pain, but the true PITA is getting the rear trim pieces over the rain rail. I put the center piece in (everything I read says that's the best way), so far I've gotten one nut on it. Since I'm not as flexible as I once was I'm taking a break from straining to get those damn nuts on.

[atank]

Yeah those trim pieces can be a real pain!!

[chiefmg]

Tell me about it! Several hours of effort over two days has not gotten me any further. Right now I've put all the nuts on the rain rail across the back. I'm hoping it will take a set so the only thing I have to push on will be the metal piece. Time will tell.

[chiefmg]

Hi. My name is Mike, and I'm a dumbass...

Turns out, those metal retainers fit with no problem, as long as you put them in right-side up! Don't know what I was thinking, in any event they are all in. I'll torque them down after my lunch. After that all that will be left is to cut/fit the two small side straps, and then clean up all the plastic trim pieces that fit back there and put them back in. If you have never had the top off your car, you won't believe how dirty things get.

[chiefmg]

And here it is, all finished and in its glory:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/13544739364_f790c846d5_c.jpg
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7277/13544521663_80bd1c24b0_b.jpg

[Demon I Am]

lovely as always

[JLBMX5]

Did you happen to spray your top with a waterhose and check around the inside seal to make sure you had no leaks before putting carpet back in ? I found out I had a leak after putting on a new top a week later from a rain storm and trunk full of water. After that I removed the carpet and loosend and re torqued the nuts that were leaking and fixed my problem. I did follow the instructions on tightening order so I never found out what the problem was I just figured out a solution lol.

[JamieH]

I always forget NBs came in that dark purple. Looks good, man.

[chiefmg]

Did you happen to spray your top with a waterhose and check around the inside seal to make sure you had no leaks before putting carpet back in ? I found out I had a leak after putting on a new top a week later from a rain storm and trunk full of water. After that I removed the carpet and loosend and re torqued the nuts that were leaking and fixed my problem. I did follow the instructions on tightening order so I never found out what the problem was I just figured out a solution lol.

No, but I'm not worried about it. I made sure the rain rail is sitting where it needs to be, and all the nuts are torqued up. If I have a leak I'll find it and fix it then.


I always forget NBs came in that dark purple. Looks good, man.

It's Mahogany Mica. :slayer:

Just got done pulling the tranny to replace the clutch. No apparent problems with the Happy Meal (what looks like some chatter marks around 1/2 of the circumference, which is weird) besides the crappy engagement. Looks like I had some oil leaking from the tranny input shaft cover, so I'll be redoing that with the max oil resistant silicone. I'ma done for today.

[chiefmg]

lovely as always

Thanks Tony. Did you fall over when you saw I posted pictures?

[Phatmiata]

Looks great!!

[Demon I Am]

I'm happy to see you embrace technology

[chiefmg]

I'm happy to see you embrace technology

I've always embraced technology, I just don't share that often. :whistle:

[Agent☣Orange]

Chief, are you ever around the horn of Africa or near Somalia?

[WASABI]

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3819/13544739364_f790c846d5_c.jpg

She looks great!

[chiefmg]

Chief, are you ever around the horn of Africa or near Somalia?

Not for a few years, but the ship I'm on now loads in Nigeria which is the new hotbed of pirate activity (so far mostly smaller ships, which is why you haven't heard of it on the news). I'm set to go to a new ship (as in, brand spankin' new) in either June or September, I don't know what its trading pattern will be yet.

[chiefmg]

Took yesterday off, got back on it today. Cleaned up the marks on the flywheel with brake cleaner and a ScotchBrite pad. Put everything back together up to the passenger side of the engine. I need a plug for one of the O2 sensor bungs on the exhaust, have to go to my storage to get that so I decided to finish that tomorrow.

For anyone wanting to compare the FM clutch vs the 949 Racing one, here's a picture of the pressure plates:

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2829/13613620013_ef1af09cf7_c.jpg

The clutch disc is pretty much the same between the two (for the style I got anyway).

[chiefmg]

Picked up the O2 bung plug this morning, when I was opening the fastener package for the RoadsterSport midpipe, I found one in there! Anyhow, got the exhaust bolted up. It took a lot of movement between the middle and rear of the car to get the RoadsterSport pieces put in and lined up correctly. I left off the stock front O2 sensor and put the Innovate wideband sensor in that location. The stock rear sensor is in place but not connected (this is mainly to seal the hole into the cabin). Calibrated the new sensor before installing it. I had noticed a coolant leak which turned out to be from the blanking plate on the stock thermo housing, so I stopped by the dealer to get a stock gasket. Put that on and filled the system. Put the supercharger back on, while that was in progress I noticed the blank plate on the thermo housing was leaking again. Drained some coolant again, pulled the plate off and cleaned it up. Made my own gasket (one that covers the complete opening to minimize the chances of a leak), after cleaning everything up I used some blue silicone gasket maker to put it all back together. Going to wait to refill the system until it has set up for 24 hours.

[chiefmg]

Filled up the coolant today and everything was tight, so I finished putting it all back together. Getting the clutch pedal adjusted back to stock specs was more of a PITA than I remember. Started her and she fired up with no problems. For the first time since I installed the MP62, the drive belt stayed in place across both pulleys. Went out for a drive to check things out, the clutch pedal action is back to stock (no more tractor!). Now I just have to moderate the thrust for the 500 mile break-in for the new clutch.

[Ihatecars]

Everything looks so good! Such a great color.
Well done, chiefmg.

[chiefmg]

Thank you kindly.

[chiefmg]

Borrowed my friend's polisher, turns out he has one of those that fits on a drill motor. I did some more researching and found that Meguiar's has a clay bar kit with white bars which is more aggressive than the yellow bar I tried previously. Today while I was deflooding my wife's 8, I clay barred the Miata. It worked like a charm. I haven't had her out in the sun as yet but from looking at it crosswise with a light it appears the overspray is gone. The finish is as smooth as a baby's butt. I used the polisher on the trunk lid and hood as they seemed to have some spots the clay bar didn't take care of. It did a good job, but I think it's time I invested in a Porter-Cable polisher.

[chiefmg]

Cooling my heels doing some training in Singapore, so haven't done anything physical to her. I did just buy a MSM front sway bar off eBay, and a stock rear sway from The Parts Group. I want to try them as they are supposed to be better suited to my current suspension based on my research. The JR setup is just too big (I currently have the rear bar disconnected to better control oversteer). Going to get them installed and do some street testing before the track day I'm going to in May.

[chiefmg]

The MSM front sway was waiting for me when I got home, as well as the Porter-Cable polisher. That is a very nice piece of equipment, I'm looking forward to using it. Just have to decide what sort of polish I want to use.

I ended up getting the stock rear sway (as well as the bulkhead sheet metal piece for the rear) from Midwest Miata. They are located just south of Columbus Ohio, I drove up and got what I needed. Bonus for the trip was finishing up my clutch break-in. Before I left home I loaded up the second save point I had for the MS to see if there was anything done after that which was causing the excess gas. Unfortunately that didn't change a thing. I pulled the plugs this morning and they all looked good, however I'm going to do some research and make sure I have the correct gap on them. Could be that the gap is off and the spark is getting interfered with under boost.

[chiefmg]

Checked the plug gap the other day, they were all different. Not sure how that happened, but they are now all at 0.040 (per TSE COP instructions).

Was up early this morning, finally joined the MeqaSquirt forum. Updated my TunerStudio firmware. About to dive into some wiring diagrams to figure out where I can change the ground connection for the wideband.

Swapped out the disconnected JR rear sway for the stocker. Cut down my extra thermostat housing and dropped it off at the welder to get it capped. I'll then drill a hole for the tubing that the two small hoses go to (I know, most just get rid of that but I am not). That should take care of the minor occasional leakage from that damn block-off plate I keep having. I'll post a picture of how it looks once I get it all done.

[chiefmg]

Had some time to myself tonight so swapped out the front JR sway for the MSM. It started raining before I could take her out for a spin to see how things feel now.

[mini_fd]

What's the difference you feel between stock, msm, and Jackson racing rear sway? I wanted to install my rear JR sway bar but was told not too.

[chiefmg]

I'll start at my beginning. Bought the car with Bilstein PSS coilovers and the matched JR sways. Car handled well with only minor power-on oversteer. Next I replaced the Bilsteins with a set of FM VMaxx and various stiffening pieces. Car handled better, until I installed the MP62. Then power-on oversteer became a problem (as in, too much of a good thing). At that point I disconnected the rear sway by removing one of the end links. This helped quite a bit, although I could still get the back out in transitions (mainly on an autocross course), and if I really spun it up.

After I swapped for the stock rear sway yesterday I drove it a little. She felt a little better, not quite as loose in the rear (although it was never that bad). As I mentioned above I have not yet driven with the MSM front/stock rear, I should be able to do that today and will report back.

Installing the rear sway doesn't take that long, you could try it out and see how it works for you.

[mini_fd]

Thanks for that chief.

[chiefmg]

Here's an initial view of the modified thermostat housing:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5591/14070958301_15532650e6_n.jpg

Sorry for the smaller size, Flickr apparently changed things since I was last in there and I need to figure out how to get the size I want.

[chiefmg]

The change in sway bar sizes is a success. The car feels more supple over the road surface, and while I haven't had a chance to really push things, it does feel better in the corners as well.

I finally ran a dedicated ground wire from the intake manifold ground point for the AFR and boost gauges. I didn't notice any change in the readings on the AFR but that's not saying it isn't an improvement. Looks like rain here shortly so I'll wait until tomorrow to take her out and do some tuning. I also regapped the plugs to 0.035, and relieved the base of the COPS where they were hitting on the valve cover. I did not see this before and were it not for buying another set which had this done, I would not have known of it (it was not mentioned in the instructions from TSE). If you don't do this then you will end up with some indents on either side of the plug valley on your valve cover.

[mini_fd]

Chief which sway bar did you feel the difference?

[chiefmg]

They all made a difference. For what I am currently running for coilovers (FM VMaxx), the MSM front and stock rear are giving the best feel. The JR front/rear combo that were on the car were too stiff for what I have. I would recommend searching around and seeing what is recommended for what you are running. I went with my present combo based on Emilio's (949Racing) recommendations in his Tecna thread. There are differing opinions on whether you should adjust your car's handling with sways or springs, but from my experience I am tending towards the set your spring rate and then chose sways based on that camp.

[chiefmg]

Got the thermo housing modification done, just have to wait for the JB Weld to set up so I can install it tomorrow:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5594/13904364680_c7c83d0dc4_c.jpg

I drilled the hole to about 0.03 mm smaller than the pipe so it's a press-fit. A little JB Weld before I inserted the pipe should help keep it in one piece with no leakage. Should...

Replaced the COPs with some other ones, this is more in the way of removing a variable as regards the excess fuel I'm experiencing than due to failure. Did a little autotuning afterwards, still getting some fuel smell under boost though. My AFRs are better now so some progress is being made.

[chiefmg]

Spent about five hours of quality time this morning and got the thermo housings swapped out. Test drive shows no further leaks. I will have to source a different hose for the one going to the water pump, it's a little close to the PS belt right now.

My laptop died so I have to wait to post any pictures until I get that taken care of (using my wife's Apple POS and it's a pain).

Also printed out the tech form for my track day on Monday. It's at Mid-Ohio which is a fun track, I'm looking forward to getting out there.

[chiefmg]

Drove north this afternoon to Mid-Ohio. I did the early tech so I don't have to fight the crowd in the morning.

[chiefmg]

Track day went well, car ran great the whole day. Handling isn't where I think it should be, but I don't know why. Only had one moment, the back came around a bit on me going through the Carousel. Had another Miata behind me, he said he got it on video.

On the drive home I started seeing occasional low (rich) AFR's while cruising. It got worse the closer I got to home, so now I have to look into that. Just glad it didn't happen at the track.

For what it's worth, mileage on a supercharged Miata running rich in boost at the track is about 10 mpg.

[chiefmg]

Ordered a set of generic 550cc injectors off eBay last week. It took them four days (two business) to get them shipped so I have yet to receive them. Did receive the set of Atlantic Design interior bags I bought though, they are very nice and have a large volume. I didn't know they ever made anything other than the trunk mount bags until I saw these on eBay.

[chiefmg]

Finally got my injectors, and installed them yesterday. Managed to screw up a couple of the O-rings at the top (in the rail), first I knew of it was when I stepped into the pool of gas on the garage floor. So those came out (initially I thought maybe they were too short despite checking them before installation) and the suspect EV14s went back in. However, a couple of the O-rings on the adapters failed so I washed the garage floor again. Remember the saying when it rains, it pours? That was my day yesterday. Luckily I still had the original injectors so after measuring the new ones to ensure they were the right length, I used the original O-rings and made sure I got them in there correctly. Fired her up and she's running really well now with no sign of the AFR wackiness I had. Now I just need to locate a good facility that can rework the EV14s.

Today I picked up a a ported/reworked head from a local guy who decided to go a different route with his car. I won't be installing it until I am sure I have all the other little niggling issues resolved.

[chiefmg]

Gave her a good bath this morning. Back into the garage, up onto jack stands with the wheels off. Cleaned the inside of the wheels. Realigned/tightened the intercooler inlet tube, one of the clamps moved and I was getting a boost leak. Did some touch-up of paint chips, once those were dry gave her a coat of wax. Once my youngest got home from school, I employed his leg and flushed the brakes/clutch. He's getting pretty proficient at that! Adjusted the e-brake. Wheels are back on, vacuumed the interior and trunk. Scrubbed the boot cover, it's drying now. Just waiting on the wax to dry so I can buff it out. Getting things ready for a big Miata run on Saturday.

[chiefmg]

Forgot this earlier but I also finally got around to removing the yellow paint from the rear calipers. Fronts were done a while ago. I'll have to pull everything and likely use some sort of media blasting to get it all, but at least it isn't peeking out from the wheels.

[chiefmg]

Went for a group drive in the Hocking Hills area of Ohio yesterday. Great fun was had by all, except maybe for the guys who had to follow me and smell the excess gas in my exhaust when I boosted. Still can't figure out what's causing that.

[chiefmg]

Installed a Heli-coil for the ground bolt located on the front of the intake manifold. Not sure how it stripped, but when I went on the drive over the weekend my AFR gauge would blank and then reset when I drove over a rough road. Didn't realize what was causing it at first. At least now I'm bolting into a piece of stainless thread.

[chiefmg]

I've been getting a rattling noise when the car was cold. Looked things over underneath and figured out it was the front flange on the RoadsterSport midpipe hitting the butterfly brace. Crawled under her this morning, loosened the two front bolts and gave things a little more room. No more noise during the run to Cars & Coffee.

[chiefmg]

Managed to score a BNIB Mazdaspeed intake cam. Saved about $60 over buying it from a vendor (I love when people change their minds). It will be going on the reworked head whenever I get around to installing it. This will probably be my last purchase for a while, I am going to be buying some things for the new CX-5 to make it a little more fun. :)

[chiefmg]

Got home yesterday. This morning I pulled the injector harness, I didn't realize it but the coils are also part of that harness. This means I have to transfer my COP wiring over to the replacement. Had other things to do so didn't get around to it today, I'll take care of that tomorrow.

[chiefmg]

Transferred the COPs wiring over this morning, as well as extending the wires for the rear temperature sensor. Got it all buttoned back up and went to cars & coffee. Might have been my imagination, but I didn't notice the gas smell as before. I did notice the AFR was lower (richer) than before, so that tells me that something wasn't kosher. Now I just have to do some more tuning. Autocross tomorrow!

[Hyper]

man you love this car, miine is a TRAILER QUEEN, it doesn't go anywhere

[chiefmg]

Then you need to fix that!

Here's one of my runs from yesterday: http://youtu.be/AbJBJFZJun4

Lot had been recently sealed so traction wasn't the best. I spun on one run, the camera didn't shut off between runs so I have to figure out how to cut that clip down from 25 minutes before I can post it.