Rear subframe photos

Diff has lots of rust all over the housing

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386174496

Drained oil, bolts for fill/drain were completely rusted over, need to replace or wire wheel

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386174496

One good hub one bad

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386174496


control arms and bushings, lots of rust around the welds

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386174496

Group photo

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386174496

That's.... not terribly rusty at all. Your OCD is showing. :)

You don't know what rust is. That's only surface scale.

I swear it looks much worse in person. I blame you for my already bad OCD being turned up to 11. You just HAD to mention zinc plating! ;)

I apparently don't. But the orange color drives me insane! Which is ironic because I live in the fucking desert!



My OCD shows like a hooker in Vegas, very very obvious and dangerous to ones health and bank account.

I can't help it!

So, seriously... is that amount of rust actually even significant? I mean, I look at it and say "that looks normal or better than normal to me." Even that "bad" hub looks fine and normal to me. I mean, no it's not pretty or new but I would expect it to look like that and can't imagine it significantly affects the structural integrity of the hub.

I'm are it would run just fine with no issues. I just get stuck in a "I'm restoring a car with new paint wheels etc etc so I might as well do it while the car is in pieces". I do this with everything. My store, mountain biking, computer, cleaning....it honestly doesn't bug me though. After owning a business for 5 years I can't just sit around and do nothing, I go stir crazy. Plus I only sleep 4-6 hours a days(if that) so lots of free time.

Plus the car is in paint until the end of this week/next week so why not? I'm waiting to fix the wiring harness after I can put it in the car so I can see where everything goes.

I'm going to take my sweet time assembling the car. I know I will run into many road blocks of confusion.

Sorry, I segue'd there....

Quite frankly, I'm jealous. If my car was that clean, I'd be less inclined to blow off working on it. As it is, I'd kill to have your fully restored car, or the patience to do it to my own.

7 posts with no more pictures...disappointed.

Look at my last 4 posts on page 8, that'll satiate yah!:dealwithit:

Seriously, that's one of the cleanest rear subframes I've ever seen. Throw some paint at it and move on.

Yup, just gonna spot treat the welds.

So I did something I may regret at a later date. I washed all the bolts to send them out later today to Northern Utah for a Zinc coating.

Soaked them in 100% degreaser followed by a dangerous concoction, followed by a diluted phosphoric acid to neutralize the rust. Then I put everything in a big storage tupperware container and got my power washer out and hit them with the turbo nozzle until no more flecks of paint/grease/dirt/grime came off the bolts and the water was running clear.

After that I got a big ass fine mesh strainer from my bakery and put all the bolts into it and attached my shop vac to the bottom to pull all the water off the bolts while using my air compressor to blow the water down to the shop vac. Then quickly laid them out on some towels and gave them a shot of wd-40 just in case.

Only took about 3 hours to do all that if you don't count letting them soak overnight.

At the beginning I felt like this...

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

Then after I had cleaned everything and the shear cluster fuck sized pile of bolts appeared I had this reaction.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

Then I realized that that is about 2 cars worth of bolts, and I relaxed big time after that. Strangely I can mostly recall where everything goes, or at least the general area it belongs. It'll suck major donkey balls, but worth it in the end.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

While I had my power washer out I quickly cleaned the gunk off of the outside.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

Still waiting for a little of the dampness to leave the seat covers then they will get some black magic.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386195443

:party:

I can identify 99% of those brackets and bigger bolts, the hardest part is getting the correct length for all those M6x1 bolts. They're absolutely everywhere.

Just keep in mind that the Miata is one of the few cars that was designed with lightness as a major priority. Do the work to make sure you only use a bolt who's tip sits flush with the end of the threads, or barely protrudes and you'll be fine.

The variance of M6 was always pretty redamn-diculous in my head until you said the bit about lightness. That makes complete and utter sense now.

Granted my bolts were from about 2 cars and had a lot of brackets shipped as well, I barely was able to ship them before UPS closed and I figured give or take 30-40 lbs...50lbs. 50! That weight adds up really fast now that I've actually carried them all.

The lower control arm bolts have to be 3 lbs each. And the washers bout 1/2 lb.

It is crazy how much I have whittled away in this past week; I only have a couple cosmetic projects left.

The advertising company called and said my ABS plastic came in for my door panels. So I'll get those made this weekend. Decided I needed some padding for the roll bar and spontaneously bought some Aero Catch hood latches(locking) as well. I hear they are a bitch to install but it can't be worse than anything I've done so far.

Just need to bolt on my downpipe and figure out my wiring harness, once I get the shell back. Also, I reserved the hardtop someone had for sale here. Just waiting for an open weekend to drive to Sacramento, CA to pick it up.

Oof apologies about the book. I'm a little gossipy bitch right now.
*edited for hopeless grammatical errors*

If I took my car apart and had that many bolts, I 100% guarentee there would be at least a dozen left over. :rofl:

Props.

see you SAID props but the 1 at the bottom of his last post with photos is from ME.

Oh shit! Lets not turn this into a Vlad thread!:giggle:

I will take verbal and forumatically given props.:makeout:

Hmm forum at my last post. Basically duplicolor won't fully (giggity) penetrate the fibers of the Buddy Club seats, it looks really terrible. Used 3 cans and it still wouldn't hide the red.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386216201

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...c/IMG_0860.jpg

Peoples thoughts on going to an upholstery shop and just getting some black cloth/vinyl matches made to fit the foam on the Buddy Club? I have no idea what the price would be for 2 seats.

Or put them in a bath of dye for a while? Like tie-dye.

I can't believe how clean all the nuts and bolts are... My project car had rusted bolts everywhere, so rusty that I broke at least 1/3rd of them...

Everytime I go to this thread and see your wonderful and soooo clean progress it makes me cringe about my own project - (I might have to redo all of it after I saw your work...)

yes. go to a fabric store and get real black fabric dye...

Yep, you both get the smart guy award. I didn't even consider that.

YES. Way to go on the bolts.

Hmm I think I may have ruined the seats. The fabric is rock hard from the fabric spray, even after trying to soften it up its still not very pliable. After inspecting the seat covers, a lot of stitching is torn and pretty wrecked.

Talked to an auto upholstery guy I'm friends with and he said it would be about 275 a seat to replace the fabric.

At that price wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy a whole new seat from the classifieds? If I did refinish the fabric would be high quality at least.

Decisions....

Honestly, unless this is a race car, i'd just throw in a nice set of stock seats with a foamectomy.

More of a race/weekend car.

Do them in leather

Ultrashield SM seats . . . about $280 each brand new. Local TX company. Quality seats. Getting a set for my dedicated track car after a friend let me test-sit his.

How comfortable are they? Thanks hornet!

I'm really glad I don't have your disease, because my car has rust everywhere.

If at all possible, i'd HIGHLY recommend lotus elise seats. Super comfortable, super low to the ground, lightweight, and classy as fuck. I picked up my set for $350, and they certainly have their flaws - but for the price I LOVE them.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386348742

Good luck finding another set anywhere near that price. Usually more like $800-1000 for a pair.

If those wishbones and that suspension is rusty, consider yourself lucky!

This is what we have to deal with and call rust overseas, in Scandinavia/Europe:


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386350012

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386350012


I'm enjoying the progress so far, keep up the good work!

Ouch. That's major structural damage there.

I was going to paint that.

Regarding the Ultrashield SM and Rally seats, they felt really good to me. They are a RACE seat though.

If you really want a comfortable seat for cheap, stockers with a foamectomy are hard to beat. Have those on the silver car. I'm able to (barely) get low enough for the broomstick and can drive for hours.

They're hard at first after you put a bunch of paint in. Give them seat time, they soften up.

Wait, yes I said WAIT, until you get them into a functional car first. OCD is not synonymous with self-control. Ask me how I know.

I do like those Lotus seats...

Finish up the painting and try em.

$275/seat is rediculous. May as well get Ultrashields for that price, they're so dope.

Ah, come on, that'll buff right out...

We'll see on seats, not sure what to do yet. Called Buddy Club and they offered me wholesale pricing at $300 a seat for replacement. So I could replace them with the black/grey variation rather than Black/grey/red.

Stopped by the body shop today to look at the car. They are done sanding the outside and just need to sand the engine bay/interior. Found a couple dents they had to fix in the fender an door but otherwise they were shaking my hand in thanks for stripping the car as far as I did.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386357976

The sign company ordered too much abs plastic for my door cards. 96x48. Maybe I'll make an extra set of cards if anyone wants them.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386384172

Started "spot" grinding the rust off the rear subframe control arms and next thing I know I ended up doing this.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386501662

Started cleaning up the aluminum and old flaking paint off the differential.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386501662

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386501662

Uhm...should I be worried about this? PPF Bolt holes are cracked on the differential mount.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386501662

New shiny hotness. My grinder zipped one of the zerk fittings off the control arms and I can't find that bastard anywhere. So I need to pick up a new one and then put some locktite on it so it doesn't happen again.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386501662

I noticed the upper control arms don't have zerk fittings in them. Is this because you can't get it to work without rubbing?

I haven't read your whole thread (sorry, but I'm on a painfully slow connection) so I don't know if you have tried this or not. If you have light rust, instead of cleaning it with power tools try Naval Jelly. Brush it on and it works wonders.

That spacer on the diff bolts on and off. You can easily replace it, but I probably wouldn't bother.

Awesome work! Really.

Jeff, have you considered covering the seats yourself with the fabric of your choice?
I mean, you do have the old seat covers. All you need to do is take them apart at the seams, duplicate the shapes, and stitch them together.
Yes, figuring out how to use a sewing machine is actually pretty easy.
Or, you could just staple them together at a couple spots and hand them over to the nearest tailor/alteration shop. That option should cost you no more than 20 bucks...

I mean, that's what I would do.

Considering that. I do have access to a $10k long arm sewing machine and a mother who has been sewing for 40 years, mostly I just don't know where to start fabric wise.

Thanks for the compliment, helps numb the pain of doing this stuff.

I've got the covers sitting in black dye right now but due to the fabric being synthetic I don't have much hope of it absorbing much of the dye.

Any advice on repacking the rear axles? Found plenty on repacking the hubs but not so much on this. Grease was pretty gnarly looking when I pulled the covers off it.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386526460

Jeff - There are a couple of threads, one very recent, on seats. I would not look at Ultrashields for something that is not a dedicated track car.

Elise seats are great in theory, but as Mark said, no way you will find a set for tree-fiddy.

I would look for some entry level (or used) Sparcos/Corbeaus/Cobras/Momos or recover some stock seats.

I tried 3 or 4 different seats in my current miata.
Ended up wasting a ton of time and money, and went right back to the 01 seats.
For a daily driver, I don't think anything sub 800-1000 bux is going to cut it. Period.
Some would disagree, but those tend to be the guys that have no power steering, ac, or any other creature comforts and drive gutted uncomfortable and loud semi-race cars and make themselves feel good by calling everyone else a pussy.

You pussy!

On the diff spacer, agree with Curly. It's just a spacer. But you could easily find a used one if it bugs you. The critical hole is the other one -- it takes a bushing to hold PPF alignment.

On the CV joints, at this point you'll probably need to buy boot kits for the inners. Bit of a messy job, but not hard. Try to leave the outers alone if you can. You can get boot kits for them, but they can't be dissassembled. I wouldn't tackle it unless you have a parts cleaner and compressed air.

Just remember to work from the inside out, meaning, you'll be doing all the stitching on the inside, and then flip the whole cover inside out when you're done.
I wouldn't go into any fancy piping for those seats.
You could just get some neoprene, that's an idea. Or, any large fabric store will have a ton of choices for you.
Two tone, with black and charcoal would look cool.

You have already spray painted the existing synthetic seat covers. No matter what you do to them, you'll end up with paint flakes and dust coming off the synthetic fabric forever. That will be annoying.

On a related note, I should have done what you did with my bolts. I wirebrushed them (the kind that is attached on a bench grinder), and I regretted that later. It takes forever, and they rust afterwards.

I couldn't agree more with this. Personally I found the 01+ surfboard seats to be pretty comfy, but I probably sat a touch higher in them vs NB1 & NA seats.

My preference, stay away from leather, most are probably dried out at this age and not very pliable/comfortable.

The seats from my 97 NA are cloth and pretty comfortable all things considered. I don't care much for the earlier NA seats with the floppy thigh bolsters.

Just stay away from 99-00 seats. Easily the least comfortable (at least mine were, they were PRISTINE leather, still terrible).

I am mostly looking to recover at this point, I already have the seats, and I fit in them so why not just work on them and not let a good set of seats go to waste. I have a 31/32 waist so the Buddy Club seats fit me perfectly. No seats will ever fit my lats and shoulders though. I have damn wings for lats and very wide shoulders(no collared shirts fit me off the rack without a parachute waist).

I imagine the seats are very comfortable for 2-4 hour drives, but the 28 hour drive in 32 hours broke my soul a little bit when I drove it back to Utah from Alabama.

I don't call anyone a pussy but all the creature comforts are...gone from this car.:giggle:

Considering this is a weekend car I'd rather have the race seats and keep the benches in my Jetta...very very comfortable benches though, god I love the VW seats. No car maker adds enough lumbar support and VW adds gobs of it.

Yeah the spacer will stay, not too worried about it in the least, I just wasn't sure if it was an integral part or not.

So on the CV Joints part, can I just shoot a shit load of grease into it and put the covers back on? I haven't removed the bearing pack yet, I just wiped out the nasty old grease.


Rear differential is done, the aluminum being dirty is kind of a "fuck it" type of deal for me. It is aluminum, it doesn't rust and oxidization just protects it slightly. The cooling fins are a bitch to clean and I just don't care about it anymore.

Phosphoric acid=best purchase ever

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386545615

Paint turned out AMAZING on the diff. It is still wet in the photo.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386545615

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1386545615

Does everything just have to be new then?

No, but why not repaint stuff while it is out of the car. Its not like I'm actually buying stuff, just labor invested, no cost besides paint. I just like to think about it like this. Once this is done, I won't have to worry about it till a part breaks and/or maintenance needed. Its not like I'm going to remove the transmission or subframe just to paint it. That is ludicrous even by my standards.

Haha you have a point. It's just unbelievable how far you're taking this. I am blown away. I've read so may build threads on here but have never seen anything even close to this.

It's amazing.

See that's what I've been laughing about Turbofan. I, for the most part, have no fucking clue what I'm doing. I've never done anything like this before.

I've never pulled an engine let alone done a clutch, or wiring, the bolt cleaning, repainting subframes, redoing the undercoating...that is probably why I have gone so overboard....I'm just making it up as I go. If it wasn't for you guys, Google, and the Haynes manual I could have never gotten this far. Its a first for me every time I do something.

It just helps that I have OCD, insomnia, and no life to help drive the project so fast.

On the CV joint grease:

1. This isn't a ball joint. You're supposed to have a pre-measured amount of grease in it (the amount that comes in the CV boot kit packet).

2. Greases are not all compatible. You would have to be 100% positive that you are adding the right grease.

3. Doing a CV joint refurbishment is a basic skill that you need to acquire anyway. Not so much for the Miata, but for your VW. ;) It's not hard at all, certainly far less than everything else you've done. At your pace, 5 minute job tops.

4. BTW, you're not supposed to remove those end caps. They do commonly pop out when you take the axle off the stub, but you should try to keep them together and not let any dirt in.

Now that you've popped off those caps and wiped out a lot of the grease, It's time to do the rest of the job.

Hahaha... this isn't the same as the old VW's sir! lol my 150k mile '04 Jetta TDI is still on the original CV's and axles since new and the boots are still in great shape (knock on wood... I shouldn't say things like this).

Jeff, You keep saying you have no idea what you're doing. I hope this thing goes together properly. However you seem to have the determination and enthusiasm (and insomnia) to keep on truckin' so I'm sure you'll have it thrown together... no, strike that... meticulously-but-rapidly pieced together soon.

Good to know, I'll research it a little more before I move further with it. I'll have to check if Amsoil 2000 Dominator isn't the right grease choice, but if they sell it as a rebuild "kit" then it looks like that problem will be taken care of.

VW's do not like CV Joints that is for sure. I'm waiting for mine to go any day now on my Jetta. 60k Miles with 40% more torque than stock. Most people have blown their axles way before then.

They both popped off when I removed the axles so it was one of those, " oh god that grease doesn't look healthy....lets clean that shit!" jerk reactions.

You better go do something nice to your VW after saying something like that Turbo....;) We both know better than to anger the german gods by flaunting your "good luck" with the VW, that is when they slap your ass with a wheel bearing failure!

Sorry I should just stop saying I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a pretty humble guy and so I never try to come off as cocky or acting like I know all the right answers. Buying a business at age 21 made me learn that I don't know shit, and someone out there has already done the ground work and is much more intelligent than I am.

I never know what I am doing until I need to do it and then I research the ever-loving shit out of the problem at hand. I will go to the ends of the internet, calling businesses, looking at part diagrams to find out how to do something. If there is one thing I'll be cocky about it is my ability to find the information to find the solution. I LOVE learning new things. Comes hand-in-hand with insomnia. You are up so late all the time and so you just start reading things or learning little snippets of information. I'm a bottomless well of desire to learn how to do something new or tear something apart and put it back together again. Which is why I am going so crazy with this because I am having a ball of a time doing it. :loser:

I do something nice to my VW every day. I give it the enjoyable privilege of hauling my wife's beautiful arse around :)

Knowing how to do something isn't really what matters IMO. Having a determination to find out how to do something is far more important. someone who knows how to do things but doesn't know how to find more information is limited. No one person can be experienced at everything. You might not know as much right off the bat, but you know where to find the info and you keep going till you do. That's more valuable.