OK... It's the beginning of August and I have been traveling so much for work that I haven't touched the car since it came back from the cage builder's.
The broken finish panel (the panel between the tail lights and behind the license plate has been replaced. It's "eggplant" in color which looks odd with the white paint & green stripes but what the heck, it was cheap and the car is going to get repainted anyway. One of the local car parter-outers on the DFW Miata forums needed a computer fixed - it was loaded with viruses, worms, and spyware - and I needed a finish panel. That nice trade saved me $150 and saved him having to wipe and reload the computer then reload all his software and data back.
The kill switch is now wired! It took a few trips to the auto parts store to get all the cables and connectors to make it happen. It tested out just fine - once I got a new battery. Turns out the AutoZone special AGM battery died after less than 2 years. On the good side - it had a 3 year FREE replacement warranty and they replaced it with no questions asked. Gotta love that!
9/16/07 - The PO (Previous Owner) put a Wet type Lead Acid (a.k.a. "normal") battery in the car. WRONG battery for the Miata. They should NEVER be used as the trunk is an enclosed space and you do NOT want a buildup of hydrogen gas in there. The worst part was the battery leaking in the trunk and rusting things up VERY badly.
I put the AutoZone brand AGM type battery in the car a couple of years ago but haven't gotten around to cleaning up the mess until today. First everything was taken out of the trunk and the battery cables fed up to the passenger compartment. Next was vacuuming then degreasing. The 409 Orange cleaner wouldn't touch the oil/grease in the trunk so out came the Castrol brand degreaser. One part degreaser to 3 parts water and with a paint brush to apply it all the gunk was soon gone. WOW that stuff works wonders! Once that was done it was time to let it dry. After that came the wire brushing and scraping of the rust. Whew. Finally it came time to do the first coat of Krylon anti-rust primer. I painted up to the back sides of the welded roll cage mounts. A second coat will come after this dries for 24 hours then it'll get a coating of Rattle Can Gloss White.
I already have the replacment battery tray, mounts, and bolts to put back in once all that's done. The fine folks at the Town North Mazda parts counter even threw in the battery vent tubes for free! I had to get a new set of them since the new replacement battery from AutoZone had the CORRECT type of rectangular vents. The first one had round ones and I had to cut the old vent tubes to make 'em fit.
While that primer was drying I decided to yank out the airbox and mount in the SP Induction Systems SPX2 Intake. This one is supposed to be THE BEST for Spec Miata racing. I hope it is, it was expensive enough! It's made from bent & welded aluminum that has been ceramic coated to help minimize the temperature of the air going in. It wasn't too bad to install but I did have to slightly bend a brake line to keep it from rubbing on the filter and I had to cut and bend the mounting bracket for the diagnostic connector to relocate it 180 degrees for clearance.
Now came the time to paint the trunk. Four coats of Krylon gloss white rust killing enamel paint later the trunk is gleaming! Next came installing the new battery tray and mounting hardware as the old stuff was rusted horribly.
10/20/07 - Johnwags from the local DFWMiata.com had a '93 he was parting out and I picked up a VLSD rear differential, half shafts, and drive shaft for a whopping $220. Another member, AJ came over today and helped me install it. The hardest part was getting the Power Plant Frame off of the old differential and onto the new one. (In the Miata the PPF ties the rear end and the front end together. This makes the chassis MUCH stiffer.)
The next hardest part was getting the half-shaft nuts (axle nuts) off to remove the shafts. I had to use a long 1/2" pry bar and a 29mm 1/2" drive air impact socket and even then I had to stand up and hop on the pry bar to break them loose!
We got everything mounted up into place but not torqued. That will come tomorrow. Thanks AJ! Since AJ has already trashed two rear differentials in his car (power launches) I gave him the old open differential to keep as a spare for when he does that again. ;)
10/21/07 - Today HudsonHawk from the local DFWMiata board stopped by to help. The first thing was to torque down everything in the driveline from the VLSD installation. Once that was done we decided to work on the brakes - install speed bleeders, new pads, and lube up the slider pins.
I should've known better. It started off too easy. The rear passenger caliper came right off, received its maintenance, and went right back on.
It went downhill from there.
The front passenger side assembly was put on by a gorilla. I had to use the 2 1/2 foot long 1/2" breaker bar and a 6 point socket to remove the caliper and mounts. We replaced the pads with some better ones I picked up from NealB (another DFWMiata forum member) and noticed why the slider pins weren't too good on this one. The PO (Previous Owner) that did maintenance on the car used ANTI-SIEZE compound instead of high temperature grease on the slider pins! &#$(*^#@&*#!???? We installed the speed bleeder, cleaned/lubed the slider pins, and reassembled.
Front driver side was worse. HudsonHawk got it all apart and discovered the anti-sieze compound here first before the front passenger side was removed. (I'm just going in order from easiest to hardest on these calipers - not the order in which they were done) The gorilla was here too. The bleeder valve was stuck. STUCK HARD. The caliper had to be removed, bolted in a vise, and vise grips used to finally get the ^&%# thing out so a speed bleeder could be installed. Cleaned/lubed the slider pins and reassembled. There was moisture in the system and the fluid was NASTY coming out this corner.
Rear driver's side wouldn't budge. The slider pin bolt head rounded off so we tried pliers and vise grips. No go. Took a torch and heated up the caliper. No go. Finally took an easy-out bolt remover and got it removed. Between the heat and the extra grip of the easy-out it came right out. Now the other pin was stuck. Tried a dead blow hammer. Tried a 5lb sledge. Tried the air hammer. Nothing would budge it. Smacked it sideways and it would turn but not slide off. Ended up taking a sawz-all to it and cut the pin in two. Took the other part out with a pair of pliers and bought a new caliper at O'Reillys. Installed it with a speed bleeder too.
Next we flushed new fluid through the system starting with the rear passenger side. Next was rear driver, then front passenger, and finished off with the front driver's side caliper. I have NO idea when (or IF) the last time the brake fluid was changed. It seems this poor car was neglected in just about every way imaginable.
After that the differential was filled with Royal Purple 75w-90 Gear Oil and the exhaust system was bolted back in. Whew.
The car is back together now but still up on the jack stands. The racing seat is out so I can clean and paint the interior. Once that is done, the harness will be put in so I can drive the car over to get the Spec Miata cat-back exhaust system installed. That was picked up from NealB off the local DFWMiata board for $100.
WOW. The guys off the local Miata board have been VERY helpful in getting this car ready - both in labor and in buying parts from at very good prices.
