Big Blue's saga continues westward......

Starting life in Virginia, she got sold after 4k and stayed in Mississippi until I picked her up last 12/27/2015. I drove her across 6 States for about 28 hours and enjoyed her beastly power. While driving over 900 miles of Texas Interstate Hwy we have encountered several challengers but under boost this NB can hang. I just got scared with speeds over 110 as her shocks and tires needed replacement. In fact the best part of the travel was when the driver of a 911 came over while I was putting gas and ask what was under the hood.

So her she is in borrowed shoes as we are waiting for her own and a set of capable coilovers.......

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psa8utmqlo.jpg


http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psey5gizxk.jpg


Yes she drives like a motorcycle lol..........FFS + Upgraded Pulley + RB Header + Borla Catback with Methanol Spray

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0yzwkjat.jpg

Glad to see you finally got around to starting a build thread, Ed, super jealous of the great starting point you got in this 10AE! :drinkto:

wow so nice!!!

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Originally Posted by Greasemonkey2000

Glad to see you finally got around to starting a build thread, Ed, super jealous of the great starting point you got in this 10AE! :drinkto:

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Originally Posted by Phatmiata

wow so nice!!!

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Thanks boys!!! She still need to be sorted out. I am debating if I will go retro or not. The order of the day is shocks and tires. Sadly it requires some serious $$$$ so the other aspect of the build will have to wait.

Sorry for the inactivity but yes she is alive. Back in April I got lucky with a set of AFCO coilovers had them rebuild by the AFCO and let me tell you these guys back there product. My set is one of the first generation so they used a shaft made of blackened steel. They replaced them with their upgraded stainless steel version for free. The rebuild cost me $65 a corner. The former owner had a custom top hat for these babies. Here they are when I purchased them.http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psttc5bib4.jpg


I debated of getting a set of helper springs but because of the 8" length of the springs it was unnecessary to to have a set so I just updated them with some Ohlins boots to lessen exposure to dust hence prolonging the life of the shocks.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psgjf7ssmg.jpg
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7wsqxlau.jpg

So here she is at 4" pinch weld or approximately 12.25" hub-to-fender height.
http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psdrr40ihf.jpg


http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psx1q1jktf.jpg
Now the ride is awesome. I say if you guys can get your hands in one of these AFCO and have them rebuild you won't regret it.

Great news! Where did you get the Ohlins boots from? From their looks, they might work with my Bilsteins, which would be awesome, cause OEM ones do not fit with 2.5" springs.

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Originally Posted by HarryB

Great news! Where did you get the Ohlins boots from? From their looks, they might work with my Bilsteins, which would be awesome, cause OEM ones do not fit with 2.5" springs.

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Order straight from Ohlins, part number is 10216-01.

So after several attempts of finding the useable ride height it has been agreed that 12" hub-to-fender height is acceptable in my area. Plus the AFCO's seems to be much more efficient anywhere for 12" or higher on the FM's recommended settings. Here we after the rain. BTW these Maxxis 245's are awesome in wet conditions.

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psanak77yg.jpg

The 15x9 6UL's w/245's look great, Ed! :drinkto: Glad to hear they do well in the rain, they are definitely the most likely choice when I get another set of tires. :)

Lovely car. Height looks just right


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Originally Posted by Greasemonkey2000

The 15x9 6UL's w/245's look great, Ed! :drinkto: Glad to hear they do well in the rain, they are definitely the most likely choice when I get another set of tires. :)

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You should Chad. They made my car become sure footed. We'll see later after I get the alignment.

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Originally Posted by CitizenSteve

Lovely car. Height looks just right

Thanks man. I have spent over a week of tinkering with the ride height as the AFCO's does not want to be slammed. 12" hub-fender height is the lowest I can go to keep Flyin' Miata's recommended settings. At this height the car feels smooth and supple even in the rough pavement or when I ran over those lane dividers.


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I've been bitten by the mod bug lately so I kinda feel like pursuing my interior upgrade or downgrade depending on how it will come out LOL. Let's start with Big Blue's seating arrangement. Since I am not as lucky and loaded as Hammerhead (finding and getting that special edition Recaro seats), the most I can afford to have some sort of special seat is to fuse the 95 M-Edition top and the older NA bottom (AKA waterfalls) seats. They still need to be reupholstered and I am still debating if I go black or deep maroon interior. Not quite certain if the 10AE blue will blend well with real maroon like the ones in M3's I've seen. I am also planning to trim the size of the headrest a bit. It looks a little outdated in proportion. I have to do some drawings as I have no computer skills :fp: We shall see. Anyhow this is how the seat configures....

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...psldlpfiyv.jpg

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...pse7stohv0.jpg

For those who have an AFCO coilovers the front springs leaves a gap when you lower the car below 13". Since I am lowered 12.5" I have about 1" of a gap that has been bothering me at the back of my mind lol. So the answer is to update the set up with helper springs. Luckily AFCO carries some helper springs and retainers.............

http://i1284.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3hbrbbhk.jpg

Thank god, someone who actually cares! Do you know the rates of those? Mind you that you will need to wind down the perches more now, as you have the block height of the helper as well as the adapter thickness to account for.

The rates of these helper springs are about 15 lbs IIRC. They are very easy to install and does not affect the main spring rate and basically they fill the gap when the suspension is not loaded. The way I drive the car currently, I doubt that I would really need these. Eventually when I hit the tracks hard cornering won't be a issue no longer. The only issue would be my poor driving skills LOL.

Thanks Harry, yes I did account for the height of the spring and retainer which is 0.75" thus the perches were winded down accordingly.