Efini~FC3S

iTrader: (4)

Dude...

BROTECTION

Get it through your head

ofspunk7

Note to self... This is not your tranny fluid level plug. If you happen to make the same mistake that I did, the following will happen.

F*ck this plug and the extra hours it caused me. (Funny note, I feel less stupid after seeing the Mazda tech bulletins about this. Knowing that enough trained techs have made the same mistake made me feel a little bit better. Also I got to learn some new stuff about transmissions.)



Reading materials are helpful.


Back out of the car. This time we dropped it from the bottom.




Cracked her open.








Putting that stupid peice back into place then getting the shaft back into the center of it was a PITA. It took a few attempts before we figured out a good method. I really wish I would have taken a picture of how it is engineered. It seems like such a stupid design. However, it got fixed and all is well.

Making sure it worked and I now have 5th and Reverse back.






I am hoping to get it put back into the car soon and then wait for a day with dry roads and drive her home to rest for the winter.

ofspunk7

Well it almost took a month to get 2 snap rings for that transmission, but we got them! So last night I tossed them on the 6speed and we mounted her back up.

And then.....




SHE IS ALIVE!!!! And N/A until spring. :(


Tonight we are going to button up a few things, make her road worthy... Then I will drive her home sometime in Janurary when the roads are free of snow, ice and water. The Star Specs don't like negative temps and frozen slippery surfaces. I have some wheel dollies and plan to do a few small jobs while I have her in storage. I am guessing it will be April before I get to drive her again.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

:P

I dont even have a 6-sp but know not to touch that plug.

sucks.

ofspunk7

Lesson learned the hard way I guess

Ryephile

iTrader: (1)

If [or more likely when] I get a 6 speed, I'll be sure to remember this thread before I go unbolting random fasteners. Glad you got it back together though.

ofspunk7

To be fair. This is common enough that Mazda has a few Tech Bulletins about Techs doing this too. So I feel less stupid that a trained tech has done the same thing. The bolt looks similar to the plugs on my past subies. Either way, lesson learned.


Headlights and hood went back on last night. Interior snapped back together. Timing adjusted. Mini-burnouts in my cousins garage to test the new clutch. Waiting for a dry day to drive it home.

I am looking forward to spring and hooking the turbo back up.

Ryephile

iTrader: (1)

I hear ya, I just personally don't have the breadth of Miata-specific wisdom like I do with other marques, so nevertheless your experience is helpful for me and likely others.

Congrats on getting the car running!

curly

iTrader: (25)

I feel like taking a piece of cardboard with a circle cut in it and spraying that plug in a very "DO NOT ******* TOUCH" color of red.

ofspunk7

Yeah something like that would have been very useful. When i drove it home something didn't sound right in 4th gear at high RPMs. So I will be cracking the transmission again first thing come spring. This time I will have a lift, air tools and a transmission jack for the job.



Got the car in full winter mode. Added some lights to the garage and put the car up on wheel casters. Now I can move it out to the middle of the garage and move it back when I am done working for the day.

ofspunk7

Well the first part of my brake upgrade showed up today. I am looking forward to putting it all together soon. However, I have to make some adjustments to my transmission and clutch this spring before I swap brakes... so this part will go in the closet for a month or two.

ofspunk7

"A large heavy box arrived for you from FedEX" - This is the best text my wife can send me while I am at work! So the good news is that I have more of my brake overhaul today. The bad news is that after taking some pictures they are going into my closet to collect dust. I need to make sure my transmission is wrapped up before I redo my whole brake system. Since I had some time I figured I would use the Wife's light box and take some pics of my new goodies. I left out the rear rotors (1.8 9.9" upgraded blanks) because they were bagged and had shipping oil on them.

ofspunk7

More parts arrived from Planet Miata today. A new to me Brake Booster. It is -11* outside + a windchill today so quick cell phone snaps in the sunlight (in shorts) and then back inside.

ofspunk7

New Parts Tuesday! Got my harnesses and pads in today. I am going to help my cousin finish up his garage upgrade this week... But maybe this weekend or early next week I can pull my seats and swap in the new belts.

ofspunk7

Well this week I finally got all the required parts to start some projects on the Miata. First order of business, remove the Airbag of Death!

1. Personal Limited Edition Kingston Wheel 330mm
2. Daikai Hub
3. NRG 2.0 CF Quick Release
4. NRG Locking Hub
















The TODO list / Parts I own and need to install

1. Steering Wheel Swap
2. Harness Swap
3. Check Transmission Noise
4. Brake Swap (MC, Booster and BBK)
5. Gauges
6. Turbo, ECU, Fuel, Axels, Diff... ect
7. Dyno
8. Tierods (still need to source)
9. Rear End Bushings

ofspunk7

Let the projects begin!

So tonight I got some time in the garage and made the most out of it. First order of business was to get rid of the Airbag of Death. I only say that because I don't trust 24/25 year old Airbag technology. Also, I am running a 6pt harness. So I am running an Airbag with a non-airbag seat and seatbelt. To each their own but I don't trust it.

Out with the old!


The removal of the explosive device. Don't worry my battery is sitting in my basement.






I went with the DaiKei Hub. I was sold on the plug and play (no cutting) mounting system. As well it was nice to get the Airbag Light delete and horn wires.





Next I installed the NRG QR Hub. I went with the 2.0 Carbon / Black QR. I am very happy with the quality.

ofspunk7

Old Vs New




I am very happy with the Wheel I ended up with.







I also picked up a hub lock for the QR setup. This was one of the reasons I went with the QR setup. I really wanted to add another level of security to the car.

ofspunk7

So, I wasn't really tired... maybe due to the fact that I got paged in the middle of my wheel install and had to work. Don't they know I am working on my Miata. I don't have time for my real job. Jerks.... no one wants OT on a Friday Night.

Anyways, after I cleaned up the mess at work. I decided to get back to the garage and make some progress on swapping in the new harnesses.

Current Setup





Driver's seat out





Passenger's seat out

ofspunk7

Last night I started to take my roll bar off. Then I decided that I should limit my projects to steering wheel and harnesses this weekend. However, it turns out that to remove my passenger side 3pt harness I have to remove the roll bar anyways. So I am going to touch up the paint on the roll bar this weekend before I install the harnesses.

I couldn't get this part of the 3pt around the roll bar



Removed this plate and the trunk mounts for the roll bar. After repeating this step on the other side, I realized there was mounts for the roll bar under the carpet. So I had to jack up both sides again.



To get the roll bar out I had to remove some metal and carpet





Removed the bolts, this is the driver's side bar mount in the trunk



Passenger side trunk mounts



Roll Bar is out!

ofspunk7

The car looks weird without a Roll Bar.



I was not too happy with the surface rust on these plates. In the process of cleaning them up. I didn't get them 100% clean for paint (my daughter woke up from her nap) but it is getting there. I hope to have it ready for paint or start paint tonight.

Out of the car



A bit of prep



I was also not happy with the state of some of the hardware for my roll bar. So NEW HARDWARE!



Oh... and to top it off, dropped my phone when I came inside.