Buy name brands on craigslist and have it calibrated for measuring stuff. Like mitatoyo or starrett.

For cutting tools, drills, taps, etc I like Enco tools.

Ever bought anything off Shars.com? There prices seem extremely cheap, almost to good to be true. Just wondering about quality (how "true" they really are), and reliability.
I'm making things that are pretty costly pieces, i can't be off half a thousandth just because my square is off. I'm not trying to offend you or anything, i am just questioning their prices.


I've searched around in CL a little bit, it seems pretty dry for my area. I'm not a machinist, but i want to get quality stuff. (mitutoyo Starrett)

Shars is the same chinese crap as Harbor Freight and others, just without the mark-up. I've bought from him several times. Also, check out Discount Machine (eBay), which is another one man operation that sells cheap. I've used both, with no regrets.

If you want to get Starrett, you're gonna pay. No way around that, not even used.

No third damper, do care.

Someone has been watching a bit too much Koenigsegg porn

msc is gonna be your best bet to get something and know what your getting. i have bought tools off ebay, but they are name brand tools. Fowler is pretty cheap and good quality.

Thanks for all the great replies. Looks like i can spend most my money at amazon, and ebay. Then probably get a couple non essential things off shars or harbor freight.

I need quality squares that's for sure, and it looks like i'm going to pay. Dang fabrication.

I'm wondering why no one has tried to do a bell crank/ cantilever rear suspension on a Miata. Its a fantastic solution to the issue of not having enough travel at low ride heights. Not to mention the serious amount of adjustment.

I'm sure people have done it in prepared and mod class cars in auto-x. But once you start to get to serious levels like that, serious people dont post. I'm not sure what classes in road racing that would be allowed in.

Time attack ?

Modifying the suspension pick up points for most sanctioning bodies will put you in unlimited if it is even allowed. For road courses, guys with that kind of budget will buy a GT3 and give the miata to his wife.

I'm just looking at it from a fabrication standpoint, if you have the skills and equipment . The dampers would probably be cheaper than what's available for a Miata, they wouldn't be vehicle specific. Some QA1's would work

Some people are set on maxing out a specific car. Look at "Under Suzuki"

If you're going though that kind of work, you're going to use a better damper than a QA1.

I hope they make better dampers than their springs.

FYI for the people interested in low cost measuring high quality stuff I just got this email from Enco.

Save Up To 25% on Mitutoyo + Free Shipping!

I think that link should work. You see that they have waterproof digital calipers. Why would you need that? I've killed a couple harbor freight digital calipers by getting 1 drop of coolant (from the mill or lathe) on the slide and then moving the caliper over the drop. Either get the water proof ones, or only use analog calipers where there is even the slights chance of wetness.

Disclaimer: I'm not a suspension guru.

Question: The function of the third damper being what? To go between the two sides of the suspension? Would said damper also have a spring? Wouldn't this act as the opposite of an anti-sway bar?

The only frame of reference I have for anything resembling this is the so-called "zero roll" suspensions that seem to be popular amongst the Formula Super-Vee crowd, wherein a single, centrally-mounted coilover is used to suspend and dampen both the left and right sides, using a swing-axle design.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1360253632

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1360253632


It sort of makes sense in that application because... well... because swing-axle. (Which is like saying that swan-diving into a pool of boron makes sense, presupposing that you have already deliberately set yourself on fire.)

What I can't even begin to rationalize is this:

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1360253632

Joe, a 3rd damper/spring is for pitch control. How it works is, the 3rd damper does nothing in roll, nothing at all. The unit moves side to side without compressing. Now if both wheels move up at once the normal springs dont compress but the 3rd damper does. This lets you run good single wheel rates to keep the best tire contact you can and good roll rates (with help of a swaybar) while having very high pitch rates to minimize dive in braking and squatting during acceleration. Have you read the optimum G articles on springs and dampers? I think you'll enjoy it.

So it's similar to the FSV setup, then. In that design, the spring and damper serve to translate upward force from the outside wheel to downward force on the inside wheel during a turn.

In roll, this configuration provides no resistance whatsoever. 100% front roll couple.

I can't quite grasp how you'd configure a suspension such that both outer dampers absorbed 100% of equal compression load, leaving the center damper static except when one wheel is subjected to more compression load than the other. I can see the outers and inners sharing the load in such a situation...

Wasn't even aware of the Optimum G articles. Reading now.

Joe you have it backwards. The center damper only does something when both wheels are compressed.