Who say miataturbo is the worst forum on the internet?

What a bunch of lovely people are on here!

Getting my car back on tuesday, weather forecast is sunny for the next 12 days! Im going to work as much as possible on my car! Getting up at 6am, working till my shift starts!

Sometimes i have rational thoughts, like "fuck, i spend all my money on a stupid car" but then I realise, "I am not a rational person. I am silly, stupid, emotional, and I have this obsessive love of cars."

Im ok with that.

See, then it is perfectly fine.
At least you are able to recognize these human qualities you possess.
Most people can't.
MT.net is the best and only real forum!

It's no more or less rational than spending money on a vacation, except that you get to enjoy the car every day.

Plus the LS costs way more to replace when it pops on the track.

True. and this round of mods should eliminate all of the negative aspects of my car, so it will hopefully all be positive now!

I just use the corvette z06 as a benchmark in both performance and cost, since I rode in a mild track prepped one, driven by a professional race car driver. I was quite speechless.

Two sets of heat cycled RE-71R tires COMIN IN YO

Got a set of silver 6ULs cumin too.

Also, if any of you were interested in the exact method of breaking in your O.S. Giken Diff, here it is, straight from Ben at PuddyModRacing

Use 75-140 motul for break in, as this is sacrificial oil. Drive 10 minutes of figure 8s in one direction 10minutes in the other at 10 miles an hour. Lazy figure 8. NO DRIFTING. NO TIRES OFF THE GROUND…

Drive for 500 miles. change the oil, put in the expensive O.S. Giken oil.

I feel like breaking it in with OSG oil would be more your style.

^lol you can read me like a book. That's exactly what I'm doing.

Sounds like BS to me.
:rofl:
What the hell is the difference doing figure 8's in the opposite direction.

Slips the other clutch pack?

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:

:BSmeter:

Sorry, but that shit had me cracking up.

you're supposed to drive lazy 69's, not figure 8's, noobs

How so?
Because you are going right, then left, then right, then left, instead of left, then right, then left, then right?

Oww shit
:rofl:

its so that you don't get too dizzy

I thought that was a good laugh.

Glad you guys thought so.

Yeah, just lots of figure 8's. or 69s, which I will attempt in the miata.

Just to help our your sale, these XIDAS are of a higher quality construction than the new generations. 949 obviously denies this, but the fit and finish, and internals cant be argued with. Simple case of profit>quality as the xida got more popular.

BUY THESE XIDAS WITH CONFIDENCE!

Incorrect. Marcello, I am truly sorry you are perhaps the only person to ever be deeply dissatisfied with your Xidas, 1st or 2nd gen. I also regret that you feel compelled to continue your campaign to smear the name after never really communicating to us what the exact issue was to us. You instead chose to complain in several threads on this forum. I had to bug the heck out of you to even get an email then leverage more to get your kit back for us to inspect. With the exception of yourself, the online testimonials for the gen 1 and gen 2 Xidas is unanimously and overwhelmingly positive. At some point you may ask yourself if the travails you perceive with your Miata project are user centric.

The Gen 2 Tractive made Xida damper has enjoyed a much lower warranty rate, with a broader performance envelope, longer service life all while being offered for a lower price than the Gen 1. None of that is an accident. We are very passionate about the Miata community and what are able to offer to it. These are not expensive cars so getting truly world class parts into the hands of customers at reasonable prices is what we bust our asses to make happen.

You have been a great customer Marcelo. We appreciate your business and support otherwise. We hope we can continue to be a partner in your project as long as you mess around with Miatas like the rest of us.

Cheers,

Moved the above 2 posts form the FS xida gen1 fs thread cause neither of them belongs there.

for what it's worth, yes his shocks were super noisy, both squeaking and clicking/ticking. yes it was (is) the shocks, not any other part of the car, I checked this personally. yes he sent them out for rebuild and tophat upgrade, and while I think the ticking/clicking went away, the squeaking did not. they are super loud

on another note, Marcello beats his car and parts like they owe him money. even though it's a street car that hasn't seen track. it's entirely possible that he keeps breaking parts that people usually never have issues with.

I dunno. All I know is none of the above belongs in some random guy's For Sale ad

I'm sorry, I will stop talking about the xidas.

Yes, I think you are correct about me having issues, I just perceive things to be a certain way, and also make causations where there most likely aren't any.


The funny thing is, I dont even think I drive hard :D

Spent 12 hours so far detailing the miat. Full interior detail (suuuuuuper dirty) completed. All the body work has a cut, polish, sealant, and wax. Headlights were pretty faded on the top half, but they turned out clear with just the cutting compound. The paint is in terrible condition, as almost every body panel had been repaired (yeah right) and repainted by the previous owner. Deep scratches in the color and beneath the clearcoat, for example. Other panels were repainted so poorly that they turned out almost matte finish even with a wax over them. The car really needs to be stripped and repainted properly. Some day I will do this, but for now, it looks pretty good.

I don't have adequate lighting in the garage, so I couldn't really take better pictures, and once I start something I get really consumed, and always forget to take pictures. Anyways, here is a pic.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f777820621.jpg

I still have to clean, seal and wax the rims, "restore" the soft top, and minor cut, polish, seal, wax the hardtop.

Can I just, leave my car at your house? :giggle:

Looking sharp sir. :bigtu:

I don't think that car has ever been cleaner. Ever. Not with you, not with previous owner, never.

Good job

Thanks, that is definitely true. The prev owner was even more of a slob!

Thanks, and yes!

I'm not leaving the keys though :p

My clear coat is starting to come up in 3-4 places on the hood, and one part of the windshield frame and I've got no idea what to do about it. Sad times :sad2:

Mine is peeling on the trunk, I saw one on CL but the guy wants $200. I might try some ebay 18j paint with the clear mixed in already.

If any of you Bay Area guys see an NB hood in serviceable condition for less than elevelbilliondollars, please let me know. Color does not matter and it at least needs to not be beat to absolute hell. I pay finders fees in beer. :party:

yeah if the paint is peeling, there is only one solution. You have to strip, prep, and repaint. or replace the part, depending on where it is.

Depending on the sealant you have, you can prevent further peeling if you really put it on thick and let it bond and cure overnight, then buff out.

Oh, and I'm in Southern Utah now, just fyi!

Do you have the aluminum hood EO2k?

Have said this before, but your car looks awesome. Best looking NB I've seen. The wheels match the car perfect.

Wow! I don't believe you! But thanks so much!

I was just comparing pictures with and without the tupperware, and with a hardtop on, and in person, i like the car the way it is. In photos, however, the tupperware looks really bad to me, especially with the tired soft top.

I can find a hood for you. But I'm not old enough to drink beer. At least not legally.

Welcome back, sir.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f5d88b8b88.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...9e5e771c9d.jpg
Never sealing these rims again. They took 2 hours each.

I also discovered that the cutting pads I bought from Chemical Guys (like much of the products they sell) are crap. They left almost all the scratches without any cut. I purchased proper microfiber cutting pads from Maguires, and some 1500 and 3000 grit wet dry discs to do a proper job. I am also suspecting the cutting compounds from chem guys to be of poor quality.

I am still learning, but the correct process for all the painted surfaces is wash with a sealant cleansing soap, dry immediately, light clay bar, 1500 damp sand, 3000 damp sand with thin foam backing pad, microfiber cut, polish with soft foam pad (similar to the "cutting" pads chem guys sells) seal and cure, wax.

Should take a few days, but i should get a mirror finish everywhere with zero orange peel (every single car leaves the factory with a textured paint finish. This is called orange peel, and distorts reflections) except for the areas where the clear coat has peeled off. I may decide to do a minor repair of these areas (before detail) by sanding the areas down and using a 2K Clear coat spray can. The issue is my dusty garage (unavoidable due to strong winds) will likely cause dust particles to adhere to the clear coat before it completely cures (over 2 days without lamps or a drying booth) AND I may have to just respray the entire panels just to look better, and thats a lot of work. We'll see what I do!

aint nobody got time fo dat

I would never have the patience for that.

So I'm day two in "the great miata steering depower bonanza!" and I finally found a welder that would handle the pinion.

All yesterday I was struggling with the P/S hard lines, not having a bench or a vice... so that was not very fun.

Today my only goal was to get the pinion welded.

I started with the steering rack, and was having difficulty removing the large passenger side shaft seal. Turns out it was crossthreaded from the factory, or the aluminum threads corroded onto the steel housing. FUN.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f3ef4d217.jpeg


When I got to the pinion, I was having trouble figuring out how to remove the seal and bearing safely. My pinion is not serviceable. It has a machined crimp on one side of the bearing, and a steel post on the other.

I realized the seal was not necessary, as its job was to partition the bearing from the valvebody (which is not structural and isn't needed anymore)

I ground down the pin to take the seal off.

Then off to get the pinion welded...

Went to 3 different welders, the first one said.... "nope, try mike" ... mike said "thats hardened steel, it'll break, and its illegal to weld any steering components." literally said that and walked away.

Third guy had a packard on airbags outside, and I knew, that was the shop that would do it!

Got a decent amount of warp, then he welded some more, runout is much less, still a tiny bit. I'm going to try and center the high point of the part at the center for the most even feel, and a "firm on center feel" if that's even possible.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f299a2b790.jpg


I have been talking to a lot of people about depowering the steering, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it. Outside of a parking lot, or my driveway ramp.

I ended up putting the washer and seal on the top of the bearing, maybe that is good :)

Greased up the binch reaaal good. Like a quarter tube of grease good.

I will spend long time setting the tension. I want this baby to be perfect. Its supposed to be set three times at 43 in/lb, then backed off 25 degrees, but I'm doing it by feel once it's in the car and attached to the steering wheel.

Um. Your wheels are probably cleaner than the plate I just ate dinner off-of... and it just came out of the dishwasher.

Finished the depower. So far I hate it. Anyone here that daily drives a miata with a depowered rack doesnt turn fast enough.

My castor is at 5 iirc, so ill hopefully be able to lower it to around 3. Steering is tough at a standstill, lightens up until around 30mph, then progressively heavier as speed increases and road radius decreases.

I can feel what each tire is doing during a hard turn, which is nice, but that doesnt make up for the INSANE difficulty driving slowly up really steep curbs.

Also dont have A/C yet, since no standard belt fits between the crank and ac pulley with proper tension.

There is a "power steering idler pulley" and bracket that Ill need to find used, and the belt is the standard one for a manual steering miata.

I will also say that the car is noticeably faster in 3rd gear onwards. Im guessing there is 2 more whp since no P/S pump drag.

Anyhooo... i also completed a project that I "started" 1 year ago. (Had the parts this whole time)

HD racing dual catch can (husky air compessor filters) with a vented exhaust side.
​​​​​
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e8ff2a1716.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...56ac5b845f.jpg

​

Sounds like you need stronger arms.

Depowered racks suck, power steering reduces driver fatigue and that makes the car faster. :)

--Ian

I depowered mine in 2013 and threw every bit of the old system in the trash. Drove it around about 700 miles, then bought every part I threw away back and put power steering back in the car. Hated it without power steering, same remarks you have. For daily driving it sucked.

Put it back, you're not a 19 year old YouTuber.

I got to drive a de-powered Miata at the track today. Other than coveting the space in the engine bay and saving the weight, I found no advantage to it. I'll be keeping my power steering, thanks.

^agreed. I wish i was patient, and tried a friends looped rack miata first. I most likely would have avoided years of future tendon and wrist pain.

Ya goofball. I told you to come drive mine first and see if you like it haha.

Since you said you were going to depower anyway, I went ahead and started my project.

I'll drive your car tomorrow and see if it's normal or something's amiss. I'm not a huge fan of DDing a depowered Miata, but with my caster around 5* I could daily mine no problem.

Just....get a new rack from a car being parted out. They aren't that expensive.

I'm sure he can probably trade someone.

Or start pumping those muscles :D

Just put it back ya goof. You're going to need those tendons and wrists for all those times you're going to see a speck of dust on your car or wheels!

its not that simple. His pinion is welded. He needs a new rack.

Upon further research, it seems that my steering wheel being so close to me helps with steering effort. So that might also be a reason for it not bothering me much.

I'll likely have an extra rack in the near future, if the MSM engine's donor car ever goes up for auction...

Me knows. I.e. get one and put it back!

https://www.miataturbo.net/useful-sa...-pulley-78584/

I have driven mine with a crap ton of caster and no PS and it wasn't that bad. That was on 205/50-15 RE71s. Ibhad to cut the belt at a track day to put the alterbator belt back on (lock bolt for the PS stripped when I tried to loosen it...)

That said, I still have PS, I like cruising with one hand on the wheel.

You guys make PS sound amazing. I've been DD'ing my car for 3 years with no PS (bought it that way, have no basis for comparison) and it's never bothered me.

BEHOLD

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...fcbf201cb0.jpg

So wait, you got it aligned right? or no cuz ball joints?

Nope cuz ball joints.

this is what 5100 lumens looks like.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...f4ce38b7a3.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d6de7ae131.jpg

Ho ree shiiit. Much brightness, very quality.

Sweet jesus those are bright.