The Long Road Back

[— kung fu jesus —]

‘Getting the car done’ for paint?

Non-communicative shops are those I don’t want to share business with. However, with business picking up, I could understand the communication issues. It would make me cautious.

BTW, I believe we will be in Bryson City during MatG weekend. More for whitewater paddling and hiking, but will likely bring the Miata.

[—Bryan—]

‘Getting the car done’ for paint?

Yeah. The only mechanical/maintenance items I can think of right now that have any chance of getting done any time soon would be getting the valve lash adjusted, getting the broken coil pack bolt out, and doing WP/TB (but those are not scheduled for a few thousand miles).

Non-communicative shops are those I don’t want to share business with. However, with business picking up, I could understand the communication issues. It would make me cautious.

I'm suspecting it's a matter of their schedule filling up. I have some other shops to check in with in the meantime. I'll follow back up on Tuesday, though.

BTW, I believe we will be in Bryson City during MatG weekend. More for whitewater paddling and hiking, but will likely bring the Miata.

Cool

[— kung fu jesus —]

I believe the VVT engines have hydraulic lifters, so checking/adjusting lash is something that cannot be done.

[HarryB]

They do not; same lifters as the BP4W ;)

[— kung fu jesus —]

Color me surprised!

[—Bryan—]

Yep. It is something you're supposed to do every 60k, if I recall.

[— kung fu jesus —]

What will you do if they are out of spec? You can’t adjust readily.

[—Bryan—]

What will you do if they are out of spec? You can’t adjust readily.

Take it to a shop, let them measure, then fix. It's beyond me to do it. I just don't want the damn motor exploding on me. I'm already nervous enough as it is.

[— Agent☣Orange —]

I thought you had to shim those to adjust.

[HarryB]

Yeah, basically it is a bit of a pain in the ass job to do. Not very difficult, just tedious.

[— kung fu jesus —]

Shims are back ordered constantly. There was an attempt at a collection/trading pool. The special tool is NLA to do the shims without pulling the cams. Even the aftermarket (Nissan uses similar diameters and thicknesses) are difficult to get.

[HarryB]

It will not explode due to improper lash; no need to worry about it.

[—Bryan—]

It will not explode due to improper lash; no need to worry about it.

I just notice it kind of ticks a little bit on startup. Loses no oil and seems fine otherwise.

[— kung fu jesus —]

It’s doing what it’s named.

[—Bryan—]

lol...Not quite how I'd planned.

It seems to be OK otherwise.