Thanks Z! This car really has run well and seems to like me, because it always waits until I'm close to home to throw a fit. Point and case I went out to look at a house today and noticed that the car smelled more exhausty than usual. On the drive home I noted a clicky noise only when accelerating and mostly on right handers. Hmm... it's been a little while since I pulled off the turbo's heat shield and did a bolt check.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...cbf8e860a1.jpg


For those who appreciate the finer references in life (Fair warning, the audio's pretty loud)

I guess some stage 8 or safety wire nuts will be in my future.

I opened my email now and just saw a YouTube link that said "Kung Pow: Ente-"

Never expected to see a Kung Pow reference on MT.net. Cat for you. A true man of culture.

What do you get when you cross an owl with a bungee cord :naughty:?

That is one of the dumbest and greatest movies of all time. I'll make references to it randomly and someone almost always gets the reference and shares in the nostalgia.

After some comments from friends, as well as being embarrassed at stop lights due to my car smelling like garbage, I finally got a cat installed on the car last Friday. We were going to do a cruise for a friends bachelor party so I figured I'd get it thrown on before then. I ended up grabbing a Flowmaster 2000130 for $89. 3" and high flow, 200 cell I believe. I should've just optioned the Kraken exhaust with their cat. I wanted to try the catless life and now I know it's not for me.

The local muffler shop quoted me $80-100 to install it, but ended up only charging me $40. I've never actually gone to a muffler shop to have any work done, so this was a new experience for me. They were quicker and easier to work with than I expected. They noted that my flex pipe was leaking, which I knew/suspected, but I opted to not fix it since I plan to go to the Kraken kit fairly soon.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...071f31931a.jpg

I haven't noticed any major performance impact, but the car smells much better. We did a different drive the bachelor party this weekend and my roommate said the car still smells a bit, but its way better than before. I haven't noticed any stink at this point, and the exhaust tone is a bit quieter, so I'm considering it a win all around.

Not sure if I mentioned this one before, but a friend of mine found a subframe at a local junkyard and pulled it for me. Apparently there were only a couple bolts/nuts holding it in when he got to the car. Trans and engine were already gone, so it was a pretty easy pull. He ended up getting it from the yard for $60 so I threw him $100 for it for pulling it and lugging it around for me. He grabbed me a new power steering dipstick while he was at it. Bonus Jesus bolts and alignment bolts as well as some other miscellaneous hardware.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2ce0fa7a22.jpg

So now, I guess I actually need to replace this subframe :ugh2: It doesn't seem like it'll be too bad of a job, but with the bushings and coilovers recently I'm kinda tired of pulling control arms. I think the alignment slipped a couple weeks back though, so I need to get this swapped in and realign the car sooner rather than later.

I've also developed a pretty loud clunk from the front passenger suspension, most notably when the car jerks at low speed. I was able to replicate it today by stabbing the throttle in 2nd gear. The bucking of the car lurching forward will cause it. It sounds like something hitting a hollow pipe. Not sure if it's the sway bar contacting something, or maybe the exhaust hitting something and I just hear it from the passenger side. It was happening before the cat install. I looked this weekend and couldn't figure out what it was. Pretty sure it started around the time I installed the Tecnas. Doesn't seem to be causing any issues right now, but I don't want to push my luck.

Also, I had an offer accepted on a house, so my focus is probably going to be project houses instead of project cars for a little bit (but not too long :D). If everything goes according to plan I should be moving in in about a month. The garage isn't huge, but sealing it up and figuring out how to heat it this winter will be pretty high on the list of priorities.

Damn dude, congrats on the bargains you got ahold of this last week! That subframe job isn't going to be super fun but at least you're real familiar with everything in that area after the recent suspension jobs.

Oh and congrats on the house as well. Please keep the thread updated with garage progress if you can't work on the car :bigtu:

I f*cking hate clunks. Luckily my NA only ever developed one (aside from the infamous alignment eccentric slip clunk). I drove myself nuts trying to find it as I couldn't duplicate it with the car off the ground. I ended up shotgunning a set of inner tie rods into the car and it fixed the noise. Doesn't sound like the same deal with your clunk, though. Stop driving the car so hard dude, you know it's not meant for that!

Thanks man. You'll see plenty of the garage soon I'm sure. I am realizing that I won't even be able to jack up my car when I move in. I've only got a single jack and 2 stands and my car is too low. I think I still have the OG ramps I made way back when. I'll probably end up grabbing a second jack and some stands ASAP once I'm there. If I don't get the subframe in before that, it's probably the first project I'll do there.

Clunks = race car
Does that mean I'm doing it right?

idk man clunks are racecar cats definitely aren't. Which way are we moving? just kidding of course, and congrats on the house purchase! As far as the clunks I had clunks in my rear end that were solved when I put in poly bushings. Are your motor mounts and front suspension bushings good? if not might be time for poly as that will cause clunks.

Thanks! I replaced the motor mounts about a year ago with the IL mounts. Still rubber, but stiffer than stock. All the suspension bushings were replaced with Whiteline poly a couple thousand miles ago.

Always towing the line of race car and daily. I've heard a couple people say adding a cat helped them with boost creep when using the full Kraken 3" DP + Exhaust. So maybe it counts as a bit of future proofing and quality of life too.

No cat stinks? Since when? :p I've gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me a bit. Personal preference for sure. Hmm.. Hopefully my kraken doesn't creep much or at all. Is that with a certain turbo people have reported it?

Congrats on the house! The good thing about house projects vs car projects is you will *usually* get most of your money back (or I should say it will increase the equity or value) on house projects vs car projects (which is like burning money). :D

IDK man, my car smelled pretty bad in traffic or when I got on the throttle too much. My friend followed me down a mountain road a couple weeks back and said follow my car was what he imagined a gas chamber would be like :eek5:

@Jables was having boost creep with his GBC22-350, which seems to be pretty common with those turbos if you don't port the wastegate. Not a ton of data on those GBC units though.
https://www.miataturbo.net/ecus-tuni...l-dyno-108593/

FWIW, my Kraken/2560r combo would creep from 8 to 9PSI on the stock engine while approaching redline. Just bonus horsepower! That was with the Kraken 200 cell cat. I went with the cat on my car just to keep it from smelling. If you get pulled over with an emissions violation in California, they tar and feather you in the town square...

LOL it's not that bad, but yes no cat has a certain smell to it. I used to go drag racing ages ago and you get used to the smell pretty quick. Hmm, sounds like maybe that turbo is problematic.

8-9psi I'd barely call creep. :p Nothing but a straight through 3" dp -> 3" single exhaust, so nothing to impede flow for me. Here in VA, once your car is 25+ yrs old, you no longer have emissions or safety inspection if you register the car as an antique vehicle. That was part of the appeal of getting a 99. This thing won't see any appreciable street time so I don't feel too bad. Ya you guys in CA got it bad with smogs. I've heard plenty of stories.

Ahh that's really nice about your guys' smog regulations, I'm jealous haha. We have a similar rule but the cutoff is 1975 and earlier models. And that year hasn't moved for a while. I've "got a guy" for smog luckily. His services are not cheap however...

Interested in how much creep your setup nets. My stock motor creeped about 1psi and my built motor would creep about 1.5-2psi depending on the ambient temperature. Both of these figures were with the 200-cell cat installed. Never did get around to swapping in the test pipe.

//threadjack, sorry

Eh, it's on topic. I've never had to pass smog in my car, and it was removed from the entire state recently, so I don't think I'm ever going to need to.

I've put over 6000 miles on my car this year, most of which were street miles. I might not have opted for the cat if I wasn't driving it as much. My exhaust is leaking at the flex pipe in the downpipe, and likely at the 2 bolt flange as well. I don't imagine those are helping the smell. The cat has definitely made a huge difference for the better.

Still working on the details of buying that house, but in the meantime I needed something to keep myself busy. I figured since the subframe was in hand I might as well bang that job out. Once I move I'm going to lose access to a ton of my roommates tools, so might as well get this done while I have 4 floor jacks, 8+ jack stands, infinite sockets, ratcheting wrenches, impacts, etc... at my disposal.

Did a real half-assed job of cleaning/refreshing the new subframe. I scrubbed it down with simple green, threw some rust converter paint at a few spots and called it good. Overall the new piece looks pretty good. No dents, and the alignment bolt holes aren't drilled out (I'm still amazed that someone decided that was an OK thing to do...).
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...3ae29a4644.jpg
Wow, have you ever seen a stock subframe before!

Got an engine support bar from a friend. I realized this probably wasn't necessary later, but my buddy said I could borrow it, so I figured it was worth it. Once you get the engine mounts loosened, a jack on the oil pan will support the engine fine. Maybe add some stands for safety. I only really tied off to the front engine hook. This was all pretty hacky.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...307f6b8eb1.jpg


A mega zip-tie from harbor freight works well enough to hold the steering rack during the rest of the job. I just ran this around the front sway bar.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5d8b10b671.jpg


Some cardboard boxes held the calipers and control arms during the procedure. I only disconnected the control arms from the subframe but left the spindles connected. This seems to be the quick and dirty approach. Felt a bit janky throughout the job, but having serviced this part of the car 3 times or more in the last 6 months I wasn't eager to pull everything back apart.

Thankfully my friend who pulled the new subframe pulled the associated hardware as well. I noted a bent "Jesus Bolt" and replaced it with one from the junkyard. The washers for those bolts also seem to be getting eaten by the bushings that I installed recently. Could be an install issue on my part.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...ea2b93c6a9.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...e16fc49af1.jpg

I thought I found that clunking noise when I saw the paint chipping on the top of the sway bar, but after driving the car later I realized it wasn't the source. While I was in there I pulled the front sway bar end links apart and regreased them. They haven't been serviced since I got the car and it was pretty satisfying to pull them apart and get them cleaned up. Also, I realized after the fact that I might have the sway bar end links on the wrong side of that mounting tab. That was where they seemed to fit the best, although I might need to go back and change that around.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...52ab215b6a.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a418304c04.jpg

As far as that job goes, I'd put it on my list of jobs I don't need to do again. Really not too bad, but it took a lot longer than expected. I ran it solo and spent about 8 hours Saturday and 4 hours Sunday. Part of that was me figuring out how best to use the engine support, struggling to get motor mounts lined up (ended up unbolting the drivers side from the block), rebuilding/servicing the sway bar and getting distracted by Gears and Gasoline playing on the garage TV.

We'll get in for an alignment this week hopefully. That clunking seems to be happening more often/consistently since getting the exhaust worked on, so I'm wondering if it's the exhaust contacting something under the car. Next time the cars in the air I'll poke around more.

Happy to have this job done. Once I move I'm going to have a much more limited set of tools at my disposal and the garage isn't very well insulated (or really insulated at all). Hopefully I'll finally have a properly aligned steering wheel and an alignment that doesn't slip now. Final autocross for the season is in 2 weekends and I believe I'll win my class for the season if I win both days, so fingers crossed on that.

Poco a poco

Nice dude! Good to see you got the job done before the cold hit.

You referred to your method of keeping the knuckles assembled and resting on boxes as being quick and dirty, but honestly I think that's probably one of the best ways of doing it.

Gears and Gasoline is top notch garage TV. Been geeking out on Vice Grip Garage too recently.

I haven't watched much Vice Grip, but I'll have to add them to my list. I've exhausted most of Gears and Gasoline and MCM's catalogs a couple times over at this point. I also just got Youtube Premium so no more ads in the garage is a game change. I swear that I lose my mind when YouTube decides to play a 5 minute ad for some BS tactical hoodie and my hands are covered in some type of fluid so I can't skip it. Garage TV is on the list of upgrades when I get into the new place.

Poscat for cat activities.

Glad to see you're getting that subframe dealt with. Wish I had commented sooner, but if you're having alignment slip issues I'd recommend installing the Supermiata uprated alignment bolts. An eccentric bolt location that hasn't been attacked with power tools will probably fix most of your issues though!

Vice grip is great, if we all talked like him normies would understand our gibberish more often. Good work on the subframe, and good luck at your upcoming event :)

Thanks guys!

@OptionXIII I actually installed the SuperMiata camber bolts up front when I was doing the bushings. The old bolts looked like someone had ground them down, possibly trying to get more camber. At this point there isn't much left on the car that can surprise me.