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Thread: The Long Road Back

  1. #481
    Ninja Messiah kung fu jesus's Avatar
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    Love it!

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    Bryan (10-20-2020)

  3. #482
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Took a road trip yesterday because I figured it might be my last chance this year to really go out on a trip. I drove about 2hrs south to the Woodford Reserve Distillery. They weren't offering tours, but I was able to buy for myself and several buddies from the gift shop and also got to see an old friend while I was down there. The trip was mostly about just getting out in the car and forcing myself to trust it (the jack and full tool bag I brought along never left the trunk). That trust was rewarded with a nice drive and beautiful weather.


    Kind of wish I'd have taken more pictures, but such is life.






    DSC_4150 by Bryan Wyatt, on Flickr


    DSC_4155 by Bryan Wyatt, on Flickr


    20201021_124904 by Bryan Wyatt, on Flickr
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

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  5. #483
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Two thoughts:

    1.) That creak from the back is back. I might retorque the bolts at the lowest spec, but I don't know if that'll help. Wonder if I need to grease those bushings.
    2.) I'm noticing that when powering out of turns anywhere near 2-2500rpm that I'm getting either one decent jerk or multiple small jerks from the drivetrain. No noises like a clunk or creak come with it. Never notice this pulling out from a stop. I suspect that it's just the lower rotating mass of the light flywheel and running in too high of a gear (revs too low), but I don't remember this trouble with my old NA (which had 1.6L clutch and an even lighter flywheel). Then again, I also drove that one much harder most of the time.


    Also: noticing that if I sit in stop and go long enough, putting the car in gear gets harder. That doesn't suggest a hydraulic issue to you, does it?
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

  6. #484
    Ninja Messiah kung fu jesus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bryan View Post
    Two thoughts:

    1.) That creak from the back is back. I might retorque the bolts at the lowest spec, but I don't know if that'll help. Wonder if I need to grease those bushings.
    2.) I'm noticing that when powering out of turns anywhere near 2-2500rpm that I'm getting either one decent jerk or multiple small jerks from the drivetrain. No noises like a clunk or creak come with it. Never notice this pulling out from a stop. I suspect that it's just the lower rotating mass of the light flywheel and running in too high of a gear (revs too low), but I don't remember this trouble with my old NA (which had 1.6L clutch and an even lighter flywheel). Then again, I also drove that one much harder most of the time.


    Also: noticing that if I sit in stop and go long enough, putting the car in gear gets harder. That doesn't suggest a hydraulic issue to you, does it?
    If you have P/U bushings in the back, remove wheel, loosen the non-camber controlling bolts, jack up the control arms by the knuckle to where the car is about to lift off the jackstand, then retorque the bolts. Release the jack, reinstall the wheel, do the other side. You want to torque the suspension hardware while it’s loaded, not at droop.

    The jerking could be lugging the engine because of the flywheel. Digging out of a turn could do that. If it starts going down on power,it may be something else.

    That shifting issue *sounds* like hydraulics. Could be s pedal adjustment issue (unlikely).

  7. #485
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kung fu jesus View Post
    If you have P/U bushings in the back, remove wheel, loosen the non-camber controlling bolts, jack up the control arms by the knuckle to where the car is about to lift off the jackstand, then retorque the bolts. Release the jack, reinstall the wheel, do the other side. You want to torque the suspension hardware while it’s loaded, not at droop.
    I've got IL Motorsports bushings.

    What you described is exactly what I did with all the non-alignment bolts (lower spindle, lower shock bolt, upper knuckle, and upper A-arms). I jacked that corner up right inboard of the brake disc (basically where the lower A-arm and spindle bolt together) until the car slightly came off the jackstand, torqued each bolt to the middle of the torque spec range, then released. It was fine for a few days, but then came back.

    Quote Originally Posted by kung fu jesus View Post
    The jerking could be lugging the engine because of the flywheel. Digging out of a turn could do that. If it starts going down on power,it may be something else.
    Power seems to be fine. This just seems to be something that only happens powering out of turns where I downshifted one gear and perhaps I should've downshifted two.
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

  8. #486
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    I’m hesitant to bring this up, but some area 86/BRZ owners encounter similar behavior with the ACT clutches and the shifting behavior. Let me try to ask some of them about it.

    I’ve had 3 ACTs and never had an issue.

  9. #487
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    FWIW, the clutch was an Exedy. Only the flywheel was ACT.

    BTW...I got an (apparently) automated "how are things going?" text from the shop today. I'm guessing it was automated because I got the same message twice within a couple minutes.

    It took everything within me to not call them back just to tell them to f*** off.
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

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  11. #488
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    The Long Road Back

    Sorry if repetitive, but was the clutch pedal adjusted?

    I would have felt the same. They stuck their novice on the repair and he clearly didn’t do it right.

    Unless there is stubborn air bubble in the hydraulics, I’m wondering if the slave or master were bad out of the box.

  12. #489
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    No on freeplay adjustment, unless they changed it at the shop.

    Truth is it did the same thing even with the stock hydraulics after the clutch change, so maybe it's not hydraulics.
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

  13. #490
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Catching up on a little over a week's news:

    Tried to adjust the clutch pedal today. Forgot about the car's recent tendency to become difficult to put into gear. My experiments suggested that for whatever reason, the clutch pedal rod was adjusted too long, constantly pushing the slave, causing the premature ToB wear on my old clutch and what I suspect was a heat issue on my new one. When I had a look, sure enough, the rod had been adjusted almost completely out:







    It's hard to see, but in person, the rod was almost out of thread to be adjusted longer.


    I went ahead and shortened it and reset pedal height. Took the car for a short drive, and everything seems to be better, but it'll matter after I get a longer drive in. That will have to wait until my wife comes back home from out of town. Probably will have the little dude run pedal for me so I can bleed the system again.


    Since the kids were playing happily, leaving me with no immediate responsibilities, I decided to vacuum out the Miata and, while the car was out, its garage spot. That also led me to clean out stuff in our backyard shed and do some minor seeding of the lawn (yes, my son deals with ADHD...what was your first clue?). Before that, though, a couple mods I spent money on.


    First, a Cobalt/Moss radiator panel:





    Simple install but true to form, it took longer than expected because I couldn't get the screws to go in straight, then dropped one onto the undertray...also, now I have to slam the hood to get it to latch.


    Also, I hit up Treasure Coast Miata for Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute windshield sprayers. That turned out to be pretty easy





    Part number in case anyone's curious: EC01-67-50YA


    After that, backed the car out, pulled both seats, and started vacuuming:





    Final product...my clean new office:







    Another (sadly not as good as I'd like) shot of one thing that keeps me in this car:


    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

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  15. #491
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Good news: I took the car out two days ago with my daughter riding shotgun. Rolled about for almost a couple of hours and the car never showed any hesitancy to go into gear.
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

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  17. #492
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    Great news Bryan! Regarding slamming the hood, you may want to install the slam panel under the headlight mounts, as this will place it lower. ;)

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  19. #493
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HarryB View Post
    Great news Bryan! Regarding slamming the hood, you may want to install the slam panel under the headlight mounts, as this will place it lower. ;)
    That's a possibility. There's a spacer under the panel between it and the headlight mount and body (where the four bolts are). I'll investigate.
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

  20. #494
    Super Moderator Bryan's Avatar
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    Didn't get any pictures, but I just installed Paco Motorsport Strong Arms over the weekend. Many shout-outs to Mike (chiefmg) for helping me with the install. Mark really thought these out very well, IMHO. I'd imagine for hard-core track dudes that these are not sufficient, but a 6lb penalty per side is a small price to pay for a car that is MUUUUUUUUUUUCH better behaved over train tracks, expansion joints, and other small imperfections. I can't quantify it, but the car handles more pleasantly (probably due to better chassis behavior over mid-corner bumps). I also adjusted my doors, which now close much better. I'm sad to say that in using my jack to hold up a shim I put under the driver's side door that I took off a swath of paint about the size of my pinky fingernail...my goodness, I'm a freaking idiot

    A humorous anecdote: you will spend about 5x as much time getting the car in the air, getting fenders and fasteners off, and putting the car back together than you will actually putting on the braces or even adjusting the doors. The braces themselves are pretty easy, even if you count spending time to drill holes in the frame to mount the front bolts.

    Issues to be dealt with sooner than later:

    • Slightly saggy bumper (need to buy new clips...need to find a list of all of them, as I know I'm missing several)
    • All new box of fender fasteners (for when stuff gets painted)
    • New lower fender liners (the replacement I bought used was for an NB1 which is different from the NB2 part)
    • Raise hood latch (needed due to radiator panel) so I don't need to slam the hood
    • Recheck the spec on the front shock nut thread (to deal with occasional clunk...similar to the issue found here)


    I am cautious about it but my shifting issues have not returned following the clutch pedal rod adjustment. It appears to be another thing the shop screwed up. I won't let Turn-In Concepts touch my car again unless they're paying me.
    Last edited by Bryan; 03-29-2021 at 08:24 AM.
    Quote Originally Posted by DazedAndConfused
    I dont know a word you just said, but that **** sounded COOL.

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  22. #495
    6,000 rpm - mere mortals would shift HarryB's Avatar
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    Great progress Bryan! Fender braces made a ton of difference in mine as well and were not nearly as sturdy as the Paco ones.

    That's my general approach as well, and I tend to do it with any shop. Being OCD does not help me as well.

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