Suspension Update

The suspension on all four corners is now removed. I spent today cleaning and brushing various parts. I started painting those parts. At the moment, I have the front lower arms painted. The rear upper arms painted. I still need to paint the lower rear, upper front arms, front knuckles, and rear uprights.

Today was yet another new experience, using a spray gun. The results actually turned out pretty nice. The paint was fairly cold so I had to thin additionally which unfortunately will also probably extend the drying time.

Passenger side rear, disassembled

Driver side front disassembled, here you can see the arm still attached to the knuckle.

Driver side rear, partially disassembled

Front lowers, rear uppers and lowers. ready for paint.

The right tools make all the difference

Wow. Like I mentioned previously, getting good tools is the way to go. Well, I should add to that, having the right, appropriately sized tool is also the way to go. In my previous post I mentioned how the axle nuts were causing me some serious grief. I ordered a 29 mm socket and arranged to borrow a 3/4 inch impact wrench. My socket came in today and I arranged to pick up the impact wrench yesterday. As soon as I got done eating dinner, I ran out to the shop and hooked everything up. About 2 seconds on each side and they both were free.

I will pick up some kerosene and get some work done during the evenings this week.

I will probably hold onto the impact wrench for a couple days as I can see it coming in handy for the long lower bolt on the driver side.

No photos, busted tools, and some progress

Over the weekend, a friend and I were able to rip apart the front suspension. Outside of a few stubborn bolts, it came apart pretty simply. The bushings appeared to be in good shape. However, the items I knew would need replacing definitely need replacing.

- Upper ball joint dust boots
- Tie rod ends
- Lower Ball joints
- Caliper Rebuild
- New rotors, actually the ones that are on there are awesome, but they do not meet the rules for Spec Miata.


There are forces of alchemy and mysticism holding the rear suspension to the car. The axle nuts seem to have been driven on by the hands of Zeus. In reality, I guess this is not uncommon for these nuts. After exploding a rather large and expensive socket. I have placed an order for a socket that should hold up to the force and have made arrangements to borrow a truck servicing 3/4 inch drive impact wrench.

The nuts will come off. Perhaps with a mangled stub of axle still in them, but they will come off.

In addition to the axle nuts being fused to the car. Through oxidization, the lower long bolt seemed to have become the same part as the rear upright. After a little while with a pipe, a nice impact wrench, liquid wrench, and a magical chant of four letter words, the passenger side one is free.


Unfortunately the axle nuts are the hold up on actually disassembling any of the rear suspension.

More to come...

A few resources

A great website on starting racing:
www.goaheadandtakethewheel.com

A great website with road racing video and coverage:
www.goracingtv.com/

Another great website with racing video and coverage:
www.speedcasttv.com

Parts suppliers that I have found to be responsive, good products, and excellent service.
www.miatacage.com
www.advanced-autosports.com

No progress

I have made no progress this week. I have been heavily involved in a project at work and have not had a chance any evening this week. In fact, the first chance I have had to work on it I am using right now to write this post. On a positive note, having made a decent amount of progress and pending a successful meeting tomorrow, I should have some time this weekend to work on the car.

The plans for this weekend are replacing slave cylinder and fuel filter. Also the most fun portion of the weekend will be dismantling and inspecting the suspension. I already have a list ready for Mazda Motorsports. However, I would like to make sure there is nothing to add to the list before placing the order.

Despite the weather

Despite the weather, I got several of the items on my list done.

The trunk now has a pull to open the trunk from the outside. Previously, you had to use the key to get into the trunk. From what I read this leads to problems for several reasons. Keys get locked in trunks, occasionally safety workers may need access to the trunk, etc.

The trunk release also has additional utility now that the fuel door release has been mounted in the trunk.

Inside door releases. These were pretty simple to fix up. Basically there is a now a cable in each door that releases the door from the inside. This is a necessary adjustment now that the door is gutted. The gutting of the door removed the OEM latches from the car.

I also mounted the lower mounting of the window net I am not sure if I am happy with this. I think I am going to shop around for another method of mounting. The way it is, should be very strong, but it is just not a very clean solution.

Sorry, I do not have any pictures today. If I have time this week, I will get some photos up.

What I did not get done was some of the mechanical items, I did not get the fuel filter, slave cylinder, or suspension work done.

The weather sucks

I had big plans for this weekend. However, its incredibly cold outside. So, the fact that I will need to go get fuel, fill it up and wait for the garage to warm up, means that I am not all that motivated to get out there.

Here were the plans for the weekend.

Saturday

- Modify the trunk release
- Relocate fuel door release
- Inside door releases
- Mounting the lower portion of the net - I have a couple ideas for this, I will have to do a little planning to see which will work best.
- Fuel filter - started to go through changing this when I discovered the rust in the rear of the car, that stopped me from going any further.
- Clutch Slave Cylinder (excuse to buy vacuum bleeder) I have had this part for some time, I am tired of cleaning up the mess and the clutch master cylinder was almost empty, so it is time.

Sunday

-Start disassembling front suspension. I already know I need tie rod ends, new boots on the upper ball joints. For due dilligence, I will replace the lowers. Other things to check will be suspension bushings, alignment bolt condition, etc. Once I am aware what i need, I will place one order.

Well I am off to get fuel for the furnace, since it will take a little while to get everything warmed up.