Strict budget, slow restoration. *Now with moar budget*

[Cronopoulos]

Fill your CSB with silicone. It reduces flex dramatically.

[Wishno87]

Why is the clearence worse for early models?

[lambo]

I. Love. This. Thread.

[Wh33lhop]

Fill your CSB with silicone. It reduces flex dramatically.

That's an idea. Thanks.

Why is the clearence worse for early models?

Gas tank is different.

Anyway here's the clearance for the adjusters with no washers installed. Luckily it looks like I'll be able to adjust from just the inside bolt


Today I did more shit.



Just picked up this jack from Harbor Freight, $130. It's great except the release valving sucks.


Got the ebrakes back on


It helps if you peer through these gaps when you're lining up the little spring loaded pins in the ebrake.


Driveshaft is finally back in--way more of a bitch than I thought it would be. Lots of pbblaster in the expansion joint and leveraging. Note the bent fuel line between the two tanks... that's what happens when you get too aggressive lowering the subframe before you pull the driveshaft out of it.


Oh yeah, I got brake stuff. Fucking finally--I have had shitty brakes for too damn long.


Caliper spreaders are $10 well spent.


HP+ are squealy motherfuckers, so use this shit liberally.


No bottle openers


Here's my front passenger's side caliper. Note the uneven pad wear--the inside pad is much more worn than the outside. This indicates frozen caliper pins. The caliper is rebuilt with new sliding pins, but the holes in the bracket are rusted out.


So, I got another rebuilt caliper, this time with a new bracket as well.


Buttoned up....


About to bleed brakes


Turns out, the rebuilt caliper I bought was shit. The bleeder doesn't work at all. Kragen won't have another one until Tuesday. I've got plans, so I clean up and snap one last pic


More tomorrow if it's not raining. Should still be able to use the old caliper with the new bracket.

[dnick]

FACK i just reread this whole thread. i love it lol. keep it up man

[rares]

wow, this is how it's done... very nice...

[TimKninja]

Nice Miata.

[Wh33lhop]

Finally put it on the ground after about five more fuckups from Kragen in a row. Unfortunately no pics this time, but a few notes for anyone who cares:

1. HP+ fucking rock. I was throwing sparks at other cars bedding them in on the expressway. I think I burnt away the anti-squeal already haha.
2. I took out the spring pads, but I think the rear was actually raised due to the geometry changes.
3. My noisy diff just became about 10x more apparent. I need a quiet diff.
4. I think the driveshaft is rubbing under hard acceleration, but it's fine otherwise. Not sure what to do about that yet. Maybe space the diff down a tad.

[george graves]

This car is going to be awesome!

[Wh33lhop]

Someday. :)

[88SuperETABD]

great thread, mad props to how you do all your work at your parking lot garage haha. I've been looking at that harbor freight jack. what do you mean about the release valving sucking? I'm about to buy it, would you recommend it? I'm too low for alot of lowpro jacks, I'm tired of having to find 2x4's to jack my car up. The one you got is cheap and low and stays low.

[Wh33lhop]

Honestly, I don't think it's low enough to get at my subframe from the front of my car. I am not super low but I do have an E34 oil pan which is a bit lower than an M20 one.

The release valving is really inconsistent and not smooth at all. If you try and lower the car slowly, it will usually start lowering abruptly without any progressive breakaway. Then, it will vary its lowering speed and usually it will stop, making you open the valve a little more if you want to continue lowering. Overall it's an okay deal at $130--the pedal pump is nice. But if I had to do it again I would pick up something nicer, and I am still considering returning it if I can get away with it.

[Cabriolet]

nate maybe i missed it. but where did you get your subframe bushings from? i need to do the same job asap and id like raise the frame up a tad.

[Wh33lhop]

AKG Motorsport :)

Keep in mind these are only available in 75D and will dramatically increase NVH. My diff was noisy before but now it's conversation level on the highway. Also, my driveshaft is rubbing under hard accel even after reusing the washers to space it down a little.

[Wh33lhop]

Hellooooo man tires :D



205/50 R888s in GG compound, which obviously stands for George Graves.



Yeeeaaa buddy!



:D (they pick up anything on the road, and that is 3 days worth of brake dust from the HP+s on the wheels)



My suspension feels soft now.