scsi's 99 Sport STR Build

[scsi]

order from mazda motorsports



after a race early on in the season i noticed some light blue plastic bits on my carpet. on the way home i noticed that the clutch pedal was making a clicking noise when released all the way and it would come up a little higher. after some searching i found a thread at mnet (http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=284379)

turns out this clutch stopper is a common failure (part no. B001-43-029, "RUBBER STOPPER"). the new part is black. a white "button" pushes up against this when the clutch is released. i believe i read that it deactivates cruise control, which i don't even have, but the sound and feel of the clutch pedal just didn't feel right without it. really easy install, it just pops right in



wtf is that?


oh, it's just the main fuse. wait.. wut?


that definitely doesn't look right...


2 nuts holding the box to the chassis on the fender side, 1 bolt on each side of the fuse, one accessible from inside the box and the other on the opposite side of the box there's a plastic flap you need to get behind

turret fluid was low so i sucked as much of it as i could out with a syringe (it was a very dark grey/green color) and put in some Amsoil Manual Transmission & Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90 same as what i later put into the trans itself.

changed out the nylon shifter bushing for the aluminum Mazdaspeed part (part no. 0000-02-9402, "BUSHING, SHIFTER (1/2")")



and changed the small shift boot as well since mine was torn off basically. learned that there are 2 small boots, the newer one is part no. M513-17-480(A) and the older one is part no. M514-17-480(A). For some reason, it looks like my car came with the older version o_O however, i triple checked the part no. on mazda motorsports since the part i got looked different from what i had, and after a little more digging i found that the newer version can be used on the older NA6 cars all the way up, but you can't use the older part on the newer cars (94+) wonder why mine had the older part...



you can also see some of the short shifter that my car came with. don't know what kind it is, after looking around a bit i think it is cobalt but no confirmation

my large boot was torn apart as well but i opted not to change it. as i understand it, the large boot is just to basically keep noise and fumes out of the car


some good reading to get the jobs done:
Miata Maintenance - http://www.miata.net/garage/trans/everything.html
Replacing Miata Shift Boots - http://www.camsmx5.com/Resources/tec...techshift.html
Short Shifter Installation - http://www.miata.net/garage/shortshifter/index.html
Changing Gearlever Seals - http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/forums/t/201.aspx

did the trans fluid and diff fluid as well. use a 16mm 12-point socket for the transmission fill plug. didn't change any of the crush washers this time around. Amsoil MTGQT Manual Transmission & Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90 in the trans and Amsoil SVGQT Severe Gear 75W-90 in the diff

[scsi]

On November 10th, Flyin' Miata held a surprise birthday sale celebrating their 29th year in business by offering up to $25 off shipping, so i finally pulled the trigger on their "Little Big Brake Kit"



started on the Flyin' Miata LBBK, just bolting things together. did it a little differently from the included instructions.

unbolted the stock caliper and bracket and set it to the side, stock line still connected to the car. nice anodized purple caliper bracket bolted to the car. had to bend the heat shield back for it (and subsequently the caliper) to fit.


new caliper and stainless line ready to go in. a little concerned about how much thread is left showing going into the caliper, but FM warns that it is NTP and not to over tighten and strip it. just tighten till it's snug.


rotors and calipers on, pads in place, looks great. it blows my mind how easy it is to change pads


test fit of a very dirty 15x9 6UL, gets within about 3-5mm right at the mounting pad, but at the face of the caliper i can fit my finger between it and the spokes.


tried connecting the new ss lines to the hard lines, but it kept leaking. i plugged the stock stuff back in to address later.

well after a lot of frustration and learning, finished the brake install. the new lines were scored which is where the leak came from and Keith at FM had new lines to me right away despite the holiday season. Thanks Keith!!

thank goodness i called them because they said absolutely do not use teflon tape at any of the junctions. now i know a little bit about flare and NPT fittings.

flushed out the entire system with superblue, broke in the new rotors with 50 miles of easy driving and braking per FM's instructions (never heard of doing this before), and bedded in the pads was pretty much my first activity on New Year's morning before i even went to sleep for the night the rotors turned a really nice blue/bronze color, unfortunately it was a bit difficult to capture in pics.

[scsi]

some header research...

Header Comparison Test
http://www.racingbeat.com/mazda/perf...ison-test.html

4:1 Header Development (4 into 1)
http://www.racingbeat.com/mazda/perf...velopment.html

ended up with a maxim works unit based on review by Quinn over at CR

http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/342788-post63.html
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/343805-post75.html
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/343807-post76.html
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/889354-post278.html

11lbs on my scale. many many thanks to Rod at tetsuyagarage! the issue i face is keeping EGR for class and this header has no provision for it.



stock manifold, heat shields, and front pipe weigh in at 26.5lbs on my scale. pretty excited for over 15lbs off the front end and some added power.

so the header and new EGR were "installed" to make sure there would be no fitment issues and to give myself a preview of the EGR addition. i was able to slip the header in easily by myself and it doesn't appear to come close to contacting anything.

the bracket that holds the stock front pipe to the bell housing needs to be removed. the bracket welded on to the maxim header does not reach the same mounting location like i thought it would. i don't think there will be any issues caused by not being able to bolt it down here. for my own future reference, i found the torque specs of the bell housing bolts to be 48-65 ft-lbs. if you need, more torque specs can be found here

the O2 sensor is a little further down stream between the collector and the flex pipe compared to the OE sensor location, but there is plenty of slack in the wiring harness and plenty of room for the O2 sensor to fit where it ends up right next to the transmission fill hole

The new EGR pipe doesn't end up perpendicular to the header like the 99-00 pipe did. it is angled toward the center of the car and also perhaps even slightly downward. i'm going to want at least a 2" fitting so that i can cut and angle it properly. i'd really prefer if the welder (whoever i find to do it) could see it all in person









was not able to find a bung in time and get that sorted so the stock manifold and front pipe are back in the car. this saga is to be continued...

[scsi]

picked up an AEM intake to replace my racingbeat. main reason for the change is there is a plastic baffle which is potentially not removable per ST* rules (inconclusive) so i'd rather err on the safe side. RB intake doesn't allow use of this piece. the AEM also has less bends and is a bit lighter

RB Tube, Filter, bracket, OEM connecting tube, and hose clamps: 5.5lbs
AEM tubes, filter, couplers, and hose clamps: 2.5lbs

i wanted the polished version, but found this one used locally for a good deal so i got it anyway. looks pretty nice.





the tube closest to the filter is supposed to bolt to the power steering bracket, but i don't have power steering...



need to fab up my own mounting point so the RB went back into the car for now

[scsi]

i think the eyeball vents look pretty cool and unique



but they do tend to droop over time and it is a bit troubling that they'll blow air at the passenger area even if you don't have a passenger. it never bothered me enough to do something about it, but then i happened upon an interesting thread here

Eyeball vent alternatives?

which eventually led me to this excellent writeup about using 3rd gen mitsubishi eclipse (00-05) louver style air vents by member MJohnny

NB Eyeball Vent Alternative - Louver Type

additional thanks to 01BRGSE for his post HERE

and RotorNutFD3S for his post as well HERE

the install was really easy. honestly, the hardest part was removing the eyeball vents. to add some of my own notes:
- the 2 holes in the eclipse vent are different sizes from each other
- i used the larger of the 2 holes as a reference for where to cut, and cut them out completely to avoid having an additional edge to potentially get caught on something
- i used painters tape to mark off where i wanted to cut
- placed on top of a block of wood so that i could keep the vent flat and have the trim ring hang over the edge



vent installed, closed



open and still able to rotate



all 4 vents are installed now. the right most vent shown above works great. the other 3 don't rotate as easily and may pop out if i attempt to rotate them. i may fiddle with them a little more later, but i have them set where i want them and can still open and close them just fine.

[scsi]

Removing Eyeball Vents from an NB

As I mentioned above in the louver vent post, the hardest part was actually figuring out how to get the eyeball vents out without breaking anything.

Many people found success simply using brute force to pull them out, some using string/rope or ziptie(s) threaded into the vent to provide better grip, or using pliers or vice grip to grab the vent (but risk marring them up). I didn't want to take any chance of breaking the tabs holding the vents in so the idea of simply pulling them was out.

Some have been able to pry them out using a very small screwdriver. I found this ineffective and also left a small indentation in my dash. Great.

I've also read about using credit cards or other thinner cards and sliding them between the dash and the vent. I made several attempts with different cards I had around the house and was also unsuccessful.

Below is what I believe is the best/safest way to remove the vents.


Introduction

Tools:
Flat head screwdriver ~6"
Some sort of hook.. thing.. (you'll see in the pics below)

Beginning with the end in mind, here is what you hope to see when you successfully remove your vents. All 4 in the NB look the same in there with 2 tabs, one on either side of the vent. Hopefully a previous owner hasn't already broken those tabs. I hear NAs have different sizes for the side vents and the 2 in the tombstone.



Here is what the vent looks like. You can see the notch where the plastic tabs on the dash clip in to. There is also one on each side of the vent.




Side Vent Removal

Begin by removing the vent on top of the dashboard right above the eyeball vents, simply pry up with your hands, it's pretty easy.



Here is what that vent looks like once removed.



Use the flathead screwdriver to gently pry the tab away from the vent. I chose the 6" screwdriver because there's limited space due to the windshield.



Here is another view of what you're aiming to accomplish above.



That takes care of the tab on the out-board side of the car. The vent still won't come out at this point, but it is now free of that tab. For the in-board tab, this is where I used the hook. I went into the eyeball vent from the outermost opening and hooked it around the backside of the vent body itself. Pull gently toward you and toward the center of the vent and it was enough to unclip the tab.



The vent slid right out. Here you can see how the vent was hooked.




Center Console Vents

I removed the radio and din pocket to allow easy access to the bottom side of the vents. Use the flathead to pry the tabs one at a time on each vent and pull the vents out. Here is another reason I selected the 6" screwdriver, it easily fits inside of where the radio and din pocket go. In the pic you can see what you're working with.



Hope that helps someone some day!

[scsi]

now we are all caught up. this weekend is 3 full days of evo schooling. next week i will be visiting a fabricator to talk about options for adding EGR to the header. also want to get that AEM intake bolted down properly. still lots more to do!

[scsi]

a couple pics from the dec 2012 event

[jux]

That's pretty comprehensive! Dang.

Thanks for the bit about that pedal stopper thingy. Had blue chunks fall on my feet like five years ago and never knew. This is a huge help, even for such a small part.

For the intake, my monsterflow has an "arm" that runs across to a cam cover bolt. It still shakes plenty, but I have no fear of it falling off. Maybe that might be a good mounting point for the AEM unit. Can get a pic tomorrow if ya like.

[scsi]

glad i could help!

and i would certainly like to see how your monsterflow is mounted. i believe the K&N typhoon system also mounts up there somewhere. pretty much anywhere that I can find some free bolts. hopefully it won't be too difficult

thanks!

[Johnnie]

Nice!

[scsi]

thanks!

[jux]

Oop... I'll get a pic for ya during lunch tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

[scsi]

no problem at all!

[jux]

uploadfromtaptalk1358968063574.jpguploadfromtaptalk1358968086213.jpg
Hope those help.