o'rly?

 

I'll try my best!

Fully loaded it is!!! 2445 pounds without the hardtop, or rollbar, or supercharger/piping, or driver Although, I have been talking with carbon miata...

I'm so jealous of the 2000 pound miatas out there

 

These will be going in with 10kg front and 6kg rear MCA XR with dampers set pretty stiff. And I use a bucket seat. So comfort isn't a huge concern for me, mind you I think the sparco sprint series is actually better than the factory seat for comfort 😕.
Besides, second car on the way for daily duties. Any one got comments on wear? Not that I'm worried. More curious what to budget for for replacement.

 

Yeah.

Vibration/Harshness is pretty bad but it's not anywhere near as loud and obnoxious as most Miata track cars.

 

My wife has said that I can have xidas once the car is running. The car is still running the OEM bushings from 1997. Should I upgrade to these fancy bushings at the same time since I'll have the car up on jackstands anyway? Also, how DIYable is this? I have hand tools, air tools but that's about it.

This is mostly a street car with occasional track.

 

You should upgrade bushings at the same time, there are a variety of good choices out on the market that will perform significantly better than your OEM rubbers.

A press is a godsend with delrin bushings, not sure I would try it without one.

Otherwise all you need is a 1/2 chuck corded drill, the right size drill bit for boring out the bushings, and a 1/4-28 tap.

I would not hesitate to run delrin bushings on a street car.

 

1/4-28

And you will need a press

 

Well the wife handed me a pile of harbor freight coupons this morning, it must be a sign from god to buy a press.

 

www.hfqdb.com

 

I did my SADFAB ones with a vice, easy peasy. YMMV.

 

I have a pretty big vice which looks like it could function in place of a press.

Does the sadfab Full Enchilada kit include everything one one would need to go from OEM to completely optimal?

Cut and paste from sadfab:
Full Enchilada
Delrin + LCA bronze + Spherical + LCA poly Kit
$610

 

Yes. A few tools will also be needed.

1/4-28 tap and matching drill bit.
1/2" chuck corded drill
7/8" drill bit.

 

I found my vice (6" wide jaws) to be faster and easier to install the Delrins, even though I have this guy to use:



Big pic, but the press won't fit in fewer pixels.

 

Quick question for you guys. How tight should the rear knuckle be against the lower delrin bushings? The bushings are pressed in all the way but the knuckle would not go on.

*This is after I realized that I had pressed one side in wrong by installing the bushings from the outside in instead of inside out. I was pressing in the other side and started thinking, "what the hell is retaining the bushing with this arrangement?" Yes, I went full retard*

After taking care of that little mishap I went to get the knuckle in and it was filing off the delrin from the face of the bushings. I took a block sander and shaved off some material from both sides. It went in without too much grief but it is still rather tight. You have to really manipulate the knuckle in order for it to move. How much stiction should this thing have? I stopped sanding it thinking it would wear in and of course since I can still take more material off but not put it back on. Duh!

BTW, I bought this to replace my Prothane kit. Which after three years, no maintenance, but only 12k miles or so, it did not bind or squeak or deteriorate. Maybe sub-tropical weather conditions are kind to polyurethane.

And thanks for taking the time to put this kit together. While my experience with poly was not negative, I can definitely see the new bushings being superior. And of course, having a thousand zerk fittings for maintenance will make them superior for longer.

 

Having recently done my third install, Im noticing there is variation of up to a mm, in spacing between the bushing bores of the RLCA-O. I have recently relaxed the flange size a little because a few people, including me on 1 car, have had the issue you describe. The fix is to do exactly what you did, I used an 80 grit block on the last car i installed these in. They should be tight in any case, and they will wear in, so I wouldnt be to worried about the current level of stiction.

Edit- did you check for burs and weld blobs on the edge of the bushing bore where the flange seats? Every other rlca I've done needed some file work there.

 

Yes the bushing bore edges were flat. Something tells me I took care of this when I swapped in poly many moons ago.

 

We are now a supporting vendor of Miataturbo! Contact us for any information about the bushing kits. We can help you figure out how to make your own, or build something for you if you don't have the means yourself.

 

How tight should the inner steel bushings in the Energy urethanes be? I went to re-lube for the first time and had to drive the inner sleeve out with a sledge and steel pin. Cleaned out all the old lube, polished the steel sleeve to a mirror finish, lubed it and reinstalled. It still required a hammer and drift, but not quite as bad as removing. This normal, or can you guys finger press the sleeves in after re-lubing?

 

Yes its normal, but not desirable. That issue is the basis of this thread, did you read it at all?

 

Ummm, I have now, and thanks for answering. The bronze over steel conversion kits -- did you ever start doing the exchange thing for the front bushings that needed drilling? Also, do you only sell the entire package, or can we buy piecemeal?