BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

yeah ok
i am going to drive the car without using ac for about a week and see how i like it, then probally cut the belt and see if i like it without ps

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Yup, that's what I meant....oops...

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Simply removing the belt is going to render your steering pretty much worthless, since you’ll now be using the steering rack to push fluid through the valve, pump and lines, as opposed to the other way around. If you truly want to experience manual steering, you will either need to acquire and install a proper manual steering rack, or open and modify your existing rack as in this tutorial: http://www.flyinmiata.com/tech/depower.php

Note that the stock manual steering rack has a slightly longer ratio then the P.S. rack, so doing the FM modification will result in a slightly heavier-feeling wheel than a true manual rack. I've never driven a "de-powered" rack so I can't say how pronounced this effect will be. One thing is for sure however- if you simply remove the belt and leave everything else along, your car will be nearly undriveable.

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

I've done it and it is definitely driveable. Granted I would not want to have a daily driver or do a ton of city driving, but like I mentioned, over 5 mph there is barely a difference in steering effort. There are a few ways to go about switching to manual steering and pulling th belt will give you an idea of what it would be like. If you like it then you can remove the PS and drain the rack of fluid and cap or loop the lines which makes steering effort a little easier, but not by a huge amount. Other option is to take the PS rack apart a "properly" depower it a la FM. Or as mentioned, replace with a manual rack. Just an FYI, the PS and manual rack have different steering ratios so the difference between removing the belt on a PS rack and a true manual rack can be significant so if you were set on going with a manual steering rack, I'd try one out first as it will be different than a depowered rack.

That being said, getting used to a depowered rack is pretty darn easy. You just have to get going a little before turning the wheel. If you do a lot of city driving, parallel parking, or less than 5 mph driving/turning, then I don't think you'll like it, but that doesn't sound like too many miata drivers to me. Like I said, it is just a matter of preference. Just to play devil's advocate for a second, the miata was designed with a PS rack and the manual rack was an afterthought so some people believe that the manual rack is inferior. YMMV.

BrokeEnthusiast

iTrader: (1)

are Stripes' IC pipes 2.5'' just so I can relate what size IC piping i can run with the ac out

Stripes

iTrader: (8)

In most cases it's the size of the intercooler that dictates whether or not you have to remove your ac. I run 2.5 inches on both sides of the intercooler and 2.0 inches from the turbo compressor.