What'd you do to your car this week/weekend?

Discussion about MX5s, Roadsters & Miatas, not directly fitting into one of the categories below. Please keep it on topic.

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Furai
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Post by Furai » Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:49 pm

Mr. Shine wrote:
SkilletKid wrote:
Mr. Shine wrote: Hardest bit to remove I found was the long bolts for the upper wishbone, I'd definitely give them a good pre-soaking!
Didn't think I'd need to remove the upper wishbone? Thought I could get away with just unbolting the swaybar link and levering the whole lower wishbone down.

Do need to get some spring compressors for this I think
You don't need spring compressors using the long bolt removal method, and you only need to remove the long bolt for getting the front shocks out; rears pop out nice and easy without!
Furai wrote:Nah thats way hard, I can swap mine out super fast.

There is a hole in the bottom arm, slide a big bar(1M is enough) or rod/tube into that and get one to stand on it while you remove the shock. I usually find standing on it first with all your weight and then bouncing a little.
Does that not require spring compressors? I know I certainly find them a pain in the ass to use!
Your changing entire shock assembly's, no need. When I did want the tophats off I used compressors out of the car. So much easier.

Furai
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Post by Furai » Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:52 pm

Got the Ducktail Painted and on.

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Enough Photos for ya? Can you tell Im happy with it? :lol:

MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Thu Jan 24, 2013 3:59 pm

lookin' swish!
The ducktail gives her a really nice flow :)

I have spent the morning giving my ride a wash and polish after replacing the headrest speakers.... not exactly photogenically exciting stuff but its no biggie as I cannot post links or images yet (new member here)

siren676
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Post by siren676 » Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:17 pm

Painted and installed rollbar :D
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1990 NA6C MX5

Mr. Shine
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Post by Mr. Shine » Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:30 pm

Furai wrote:Your changing entire shock assembly's, no need. When I did want the tophats off I used compressors out of the car. So much easier.
Yeah, I thought that you'd use spring compressors to shorten the shock length to get it out, I wasn't aware you could get the suspension arms to drop enough to wiggle the shock out without removing the long bolt.

Furai
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Post by Furai » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:02 pm

Thanks MRgrey!
Mr. Shine wrote:
Furai wrote:Your changing entire shock assembly's, no need. When I did want the tophats off I used compressors out of the car. So much easier.
Yeah, I thought that you'd use spring compressors to shorten the shock length to get it out, I wasn't aware you could get the suspension arms to drop enough to wiggle the shock out without removing the long bolt.
From memory its, remove swaybar nut and bolt, then bottom shock nut and bolt. Then put bar in and lever down and it slips out.

Havent done it in a few months but Im pretty sure thats it.

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Post by Mr. Shine » Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:57 pm

Furai wrote:From memory its, remove swaybar nut and bolt, then bottom shock nut and bolt. Then put bar in and lever down and it slips out.

Havent done it in a few months but Im pretty sure thats it.
When I did my car this method was fine for the rears, but the shock/spring assembly was too long in the front and there wasn't enough room to lever it out through the upper suspension arm without getting stuck inside the front fender.

Useful video including the long bolt method is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9iE_76ZMT0

Video shows for an NB I believe, but the method is exactly the same. As Furai says you may not need to use this method, in which case removal for the front is much the same as shown for the rear :)

Furai
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Post by Furai » Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:04 pm

Mr. Shine wrote:
Furai wrote:From memory its, remove swaybar nut and bolt, then bottom shock nut and bolt. Then put bar in and lever down and it slips out.

Havent done it in a few months but Im pretty sure thats it.
When I did my car this method was fine for the rears, but the shock/spring assembly was too long in the front and there wasn't enough room to lever it out through the upper suspension arm without getting stuck inside the front fender.

Useful video including the long bolt method is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9iE_76ZMT0

Video shows for an NB I believe, but the method is exactly the same. As Furai says you may not need to use this method, in which case removal for the front is much the same as shown for the rear :)
I didnt for mine but I did use a 1m long powerbar and 110Kgs of Dad :lol:

The Bilsteins I put in are overall shorter so I can do them by myself.

Mr. Shine
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Post by Mr. Shine » Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:14 pm

Furai wrote:The Bilsteins I put in are overall shorter so I can do them by myself.
Yeah, once I had the coilovers in I think it was doable to get them out without dropping the upper arm!

SkilletKid
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Post by SkilletKid » Thu Jan 24, 2013 10:34 pm

Yea, the HSDs are a shorter unit to begin with so once they're in they should be easy to take out. The factory ones are really the only issue.

Not sure if I should try find some spring compressors just in case removal goes tits up and I need to try shorten the factory shock.

Not gonna be getting the HSDs for another 2 weeks anyway (unless my resolve to wait it out breaks down =P)

Also wondering if I should bother with getting those adjustable endlinks for the swaybars.
"Yes, you got that, 16 years of [MX5] ownership and you too can become the Obi-wan Kenobi of not giving a s**t." - Moti

SkilletKid
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Post by SkilletKid » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:30 pm

siren676 wrote:Painted and installed rollbar :D
Where'd you get the rollbar from if I may ask?
"Yes, you got that, 16 years of [MX5] ownership and you too can become the Obi-wan Kenobi of not giving a s**t." - Moti

Mr. Shine
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Post by Mr. Shine » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:38 pm

Started up my Roadster just before and took it for a little spin to get some air in the tyres and charge the battery some.

If I had a bit of money to spare this week I'd have put some gas in it, taken it to the car wash and driven it to work tomorrow!

siren676
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Post by siren676 » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:39 pm

SkilletKid wrote:
siren676 wrote:Painted and installed rollbar :D
Where'd you get the rollbar from if I may ask?
Its a rollbar thats been through a few members, i bought it off puddles and i think she got it off born_disturbed.
1990 NA6C MX5

Euen
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Post by Euen » Mon Jan 28, 2013 6:14 pm

Now that I have received the correct PPF brace (thanks Furai), I finally got it installed today along with the new sway bar end links and exhaust mounts.
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ppf_brace.jpg
TG Sports, classic roadster - modern technology. NA1800, 99 head, 11:1 +2mm Wiseco pistons, Link LEM, Alloy f/wheel, JR headers.

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Post by MrGrey » Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:37 pm

I put on my fibreglass hardtop spoiler today. The spoiler was a pretty good fit but had paint bubbling and dripping marks so I had to first give the top face a sand and repaint. I am no expert but I'm happy with how it came out.

I affixed it using the supplied 3M tape but, (as its a permanent fixture) I used black silicone windscreen sealant on the top edge to seal it off.

I would NOT recommend these spoilers at all.
I strongly urge no one to buy these!

Unfortunately, these spoilers have the nasty side effect of making your car look a hell of a lot cooler and we all know that if usage of these awesome spoilers became more widespread, then the gross median value of 'cool' would devalue based on over saturation of the "mx5's are cool" market.
and that would not be cool.


besides, I wouldn't feel like such a special snowflake if everyone else had one :P
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hardtop_spoiler1.jpg

CordedBowl
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Post by CordedBowl » Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:43 pm

MrGrey wrote: I would NOT recommend these spoilers at all.
I strongly urge no one to buy these!
For a moment there I thought you were serious!

MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Tue Jan 29, 2013 4:54 pm

:twisted:

In all seriousness, these are great and they have broken up the lines enough to take away the fat red sausage look my car was rockin'.
(it was worse, the inner mag rims were lipstick red when I got her before I gave them a repaint)

the best advice I can give with them, is if possible drop into your local bunnings and get some of the same sort of tape but wider so you get better coverage. I used the supplied tape and there were enough gaps for me to warrant using an adhesive sealant to aid the spoiler staying in place.
(you only want to seal the top and leave the bottom open for drainage)

you can get away with a sealant if you are cheap like me and go fibreglass instead of carbonfibre but I think sealant would look crap with CF. so in that instance I would buy more of the weatherproof tape.

REDBEN
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Post by REDBEN » Tue Jan 29, 2013 6:43 pm

Clutch Pack diff I fitted is fucked, so Mazspares will be getting a call in the morning :evil: So will be on the Hunt to a Torsen 4.1 or 3.9 :x

Euen
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Post by Euen » Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:31 pm

How bad is it? Is it the LSD or the gears? Maybe get Kayne Barrie to have a look at it. He may be able to find some way of resurrecting it.
TG Sports, classic roadster - modern technology. NA1800, 99 head, 11:1 +2mm Wiseco pistons, Link LEM, Alloy f/wheel, JR headers.

malcster
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Post by malcster » Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:50 pm

Euen wrote:How bad is it? Is it the LSD or the gears? Maybe get Kayne Barrie to have a look at it. He may be able to find some way of resurrecting it.
Sounds like he is talking about a clutch type lsd to me..i had a cusco one...they wear out way quicker than a std torsen type..especially if raced and drifted etc.
1998 NB MX5 RS TURBO.

REDBEN
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Post by REDBEN » Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:46 pm

Euen wrote:How bad is it? Is it the LSD or the gears? Maybe get Kayne Barrie to have a look at it. He may be able to find some way of resurrecting it.
It's a Clutch type diff once the car is on the move its awesome, but just the starting transition or turning tight corners can get super violent.

REDBEN
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Post by REDBEN » Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:48 pm

malcster wrote:
Euen wrote:How bad is it? Is it the LSD or the gears? Maybe get Kayne Barrie to have a look at it. He may be able to find some way of resurrecting it.
Sounds like he is talking about a clutch type lsd to me..i had a cusco one...they wear out way quicker than a std torsen type..especially if raced and drifted etc.
Bang on the money, its a Clutch Type. I purchased a whole NA8 rear subframe when I opened the diff Thought it odd to have a Clutch type :?

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Post by malcster » Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:01 pm

REDBEN wrote:
malcster wrote:
Euen wrote:How bad is it? Is it the LSD or the gears? Maybe get Kayne Barrie to have a look at it. He may be able to find some way of resurrecting it.
Sounds like he is talking about a clutch type lsd to me..i had a cusco one...they wear out way quicker than a std torsen type..especially if raced and drifted etc.
Bang on the money, its a Clutch Type. I purchased a whole NA8 rear subframe when I opened the diff Thought it odd to have a Clutch type :?
they are very clonky when doing slow turning..its just the way they are.
1998 NB MX5 RS TURBO.

Euen
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Post by Euen » Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:05 pm

Have a talk to Kayne. He may be able to adjust the clutch set-up on it (assuming you want to keep it) to make it a bit smoother. He set up my OSG and it is great.
TG Sports, classic roadster - modern technology. NA1800, 99 head, 11:1 +2mm Wiseco pistons, Link LEM, Alloy f/wheel, JR headers.

REDBEN
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Post by REDBEN » Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:11 pm

Euen wrote:Have a talk to Kayne. He may be able to adjust the clutch set-up on it (assuming you want to keep it) to make it a bit smoother. He set up my OSG and it is great.
Ok sweet, I do want to keep it, as I like the way it drives but just a bit aggressive on take off, How do I get in contact with Kayne? Thanks Euen are you on Facebook at all I have a couple of question to your motor setup as well? :)

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