Allow me to introduce my affordable Japanese roadster...Alotta. Alotta Miata.

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Modifying the ISC Top Hats

I bought these before the car so I would have something to mess around with while I was looking for Alotta. I didn't like that the center hole was not big enough for a bushing and that the studs were SAE (lord knows I would cross thread them). And, there was nothing to locate the spring. So, I bored the center hole out to accept the NB lower bushing and ground off the welds on the studs (Not shown in these pics).

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Here is one bored, studs removed and paint removed vs. stock NB and ISC as-delivered



Both finished (except studs and spring retainers) with both stock NB hats.

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Bored with the NB bushings

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This finished product. Replaced the SAE bolts with proper metric hardware.

I used some 1/8" x 1/2" steel welded around the outside of the bottom part to provide something to locate the stock springs.

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Order of assembly minus the bumpstop. The upper bushing is a slice out of a microcellular bump stop (not the ones that I used, some other ones I had). This is taken directly from Fat Cat.



The stock lower 'cup' washer (shown to the left in the pic above) was too wide to fit inside the ISC top hat, so I cut some new ones out of a piece of steel I had.



New DIY lowers and the OEM Uppers:

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Suspension Wrap Up

So, my OEM shocks still had the labels on them from June '89. I am pretty sure that here in 2016 and 118K miles of use, they were toast.

I picked up a set of NB Hard-S Bilsteins and springs from a guy of the 'big forum' who had upgraded to something else and was tripping over them in his garage. Claimed to have about 25K miles on them, they are in great condition and I believe the him on the age.

I strongly considered the Budget Bilstein Coilover route, even bought the threaded sleeves. I had Konis and Ground Controls back in the day, and I decided that I really did not want the hassle of the adjustability for a street cruiser. I am too old for MOAR LOWZ, new oil pans or any of that crap.

Using my very fuzzy memory, I think I REALLY liked how my buddy's 10AE drove. When he bought it new. In 1999... So, I decided to keep it stock, but upgrade the bumpstops and add extended rear top hats for more travel.

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Bumpstops

For the bumpstops I followed the lead of someone here and went with these. They fit the requirements, and were significantly cheaper than other, more well known options. Only snag that I see is that the center hole is a little large for the shock shaft. Not a big deal, the bumpstop rests down on the shock body. Still doing the same job when they connect.

http://store.resuspension.com/produc...cat=331&page=1
OHLINS BUMP RUBBER 16/47/36 PUR 650. 1.42" h x 1.85" w

http://store.resuspension.com/produc...cat=331&page=1
OHLINS BUMP RUBBER 16/49/50 PUR 650. 1.968" h x 1.93" w

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Rear Top Hats

Write up and pics above.

Short Story: Don't bother doing what I did. There is a reason FM, Goodwin and 949 all sell finished, extended rear top hats. Just get those and be done with it.

I only did what I did because I got the parts before the car for something to mess around with. I have a drill press, grinder, sand blaster, crappy welder, etc. so it worked out.

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Ride Height

I was not there when the bolts were torqued, and they were torqued with the suspension at full droop. So, she is riding a little high right now. I don't have before and after numbers, the car was up on jack stands before I remembered to measure, and not sure how reliable my numbers would be on my worn out stock gear.

That being said, I plan to pop the wheels, jack the A-arms on each corner and retorque with the suspension closer to it's resting state. Not going too crazy about it, I need to tear it all apart to replace the worn out bushings as well.

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Ride and Handling

(For reference, this is a stock '89 with an FM shock tower brace added. Everything else is how she came from Japan in regard to suspension/bracing)

As you can imagine, the fresher springs and shocks ride so much better than the originals. I suspect this is due to the newer gear, the extended rear top hats and better bushings. The car really soaks up bumps and potholes now, as opposed to just bouncing back out of them. It is a much smoother ride, makes the car easier to live with. It is also not scraping the frame, it has LOTS of suspension travel to help with this...

For handling, hard to say. She is riding high, and still needs to be aligned. She rolls a bit (I think some roll is a good thing - car is telling you what is going on). I have not really had an opportunity to beat the snot out of it, but the current report is positive. Like most stock suspensions, I think she would do well with a front sway bar and some improved bracing. I will update on this at a later date.

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Short story

It is not a racecar, it won't impress your instagram followers, and I don't want to meet the person who drops their panties for this Old and Busted Miata.

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Working on side markers. These are new reproductions of the old Fiat 500 lights. Bought these for about $35 off of eBay, slightly better deal than the ZOOM ones!

Lights did not come with bulbs. Picked up a standard set of 168 Bulbs (they looked to fit better than a 194). They plugged right in, lit right up.

However, I want to wire these 'wrong', so they are on all the time, and then blink off for the turn signals. Anything to help other cars see me!

To avoid the heat (they are plastic) I decided to get a pair of LED 194's from SuperBrightLEDs.com. They fit perfect and are significantly brighter than the 168s. They do have a more noticeable hot spots (4 to the sides, one pointing out) but I don't think you will notice that past 5 feet away. (Pic is LED on top, did the best I could to fairly represent the difference while holding both lights and the wires in one hand and the phone in my other!)

Hopefully I'll get chance to drill some holes in my beat-to-crap fenders this weekend!

[NCGreasemonkey]

Hey Fish,
Slum into a Wally-world and check out the smooth white LED 194s they have on shelf. No multi-LED 'hot-spots' with those. Been running the in Noir for a few months and they are bright in my markers. HTH

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Hot tip, thank you! I'll give them a try.

These guys?

Sylvania 194 ZEVO LED Bulb
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sylvania-...-Bulb/47056246

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Picked up these at lunch, we will see how they do. $10 each.

Hey Fish,
Slum into a Wally-world and check out the smooth white LED 194s they have on shelf. No multi-LED 'hot-spots' with those. Been running the in Noir for a few months and they are bright in my markers. HTH

[NCGreasemonkey]

Those are the ones!

A dab of Dielectric grease on the base before install will help with socket/bulb life and durability. M2C.

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Ok, wow, these work well! I picked them up at WalMart for $10 each. (I think that the SuperBrightLED.com ones were $6 each).

The picture is not a spot on comparison of brightness...they are both really, freaking bright. I think the second one is a little more straight on, making it appear brighter.

However, the Sylvania 194 ZEVO LED Bulbs are even all the way across, they produce light like regular bulbs, just really, freaking bright! I'll try the others in the front lower side parkers or something.

Hot tip NCGreasemonkey, thank you very much!