So I bought an E30.

[Jeff]

Dammit Jeff, get your head out of your ass.

How charming. Upon further review I can see what you are saying, I should have done the research.



I hope that link stays alive. Anyway. From looking here I don't see any reason to leave any fluid in it at all. I think it was Evan who said above that most Miata guys just run them empty, which makes sense to me. No reason to vent the damn thing either from what I see. The actual rack and pinion will work fine, I am assuming from the picture there that the p/s fluid in no way interacts with the actual steering gear. So all leaving fluid in it would do would be lubricate the piston as it passes though the tube and keep the now useless (as you point out) seals moist. Would the tolerances be close enough in there to compress air in each side of the piston? I would think it would be minimal if at all.


EDIT- But I digress...it seems to not matter because we have at least one person on here saying each method has "worked great for years!!" I'm gonna stop shitting up Rex's thread now...Sorry buddy!

[Dave]

actually Jeff, you're not really shitting it up, just going off topic briefly, just like Blair's signature says to expect.
Honestly, I've learned a bit from this discussion, so it really has been informative. I like that you guys have gone into the actual reasons why people leave fluid and the different methods of bypassing the power system. Since I want to do it to the 240, it has been helpful to me.

[Evan]

FWIW,

Ive driven miatas with manual racks, power racks, and power converted to manual (empty). The manual rack and converted rack felt exactly the same (no loss in feel or extra effort for the converted)
and the power steering on my daily blows ass. vauge and disconnected by comparison.

[Andy]

actually Jeff, you're not really shitting it up, just going off topic briefly, just like Blair's signature says to expect.
Honestly, I've learned a bit from this discussion, so it really has been informative. I like that you guys have gone into the actual reasons why people leave fluid and the different methods of bypassing the power system. Since I want to do it to the 240, it has been helpful to me.

I'm actually surprised that you haven't disconnected the PS in the 240. I find the 240's PS pretty overboosted and vague. I guess that helps with drifting :roll:

[Dave]

meh, just never really got around to it. Mine leaks, so I should, just have more stuff I'd rather do to it before that..

[CaptainHenreh]

Actually, that makes alot of sense. Nobody's shitting up my thread. We should have dealt with this a long time ago, but it's good to get a definitive answer to the question.

Now, I think I'm going to do what channing did, drain it completely and seal them off with a set of bolts in the same thread pitch.

[PDenbigh]

Do you have P/S Pete?

Yep!

[CaptainHenreh]

Ok, so let's say you got some RX-7 Aluminum Four Piston calipers? What do you do with them?



Well, first, you start here. Grody, dirty, stuck piston calipers.



Then you wash 'em.



Don't be a dumbass like me, wear gloves while you clean 'em.



Look! It's bubbling all evil-like. My hands peeled for 4 days straight. It was embarrassing. Wear gloves.



Think they're clean? Na. Sandblast the livin daylights out of 'em! (leave the pistons and seals in so sand doesn't get in the bore.



Then they should be clean like this:



Break 'em down, blow out the pistons, and gives those a little polish. There'll be crud on 'em.

Then bake them, 375 degrees (F) for about 20 minutes. (it's a porous metal, this helps with the next step)



POWDERCOAT! YAY!



Red is so pretty!



See how the powder was electro-statically attracted to the grounded caliper? Pretty sweet, no?



Finished Product, after second coat, and baked. (I had to get the bottom) Looks pretty good, way more durable than paint, doesn't chip or fade. So sweet.



So then grab a rebuild kit, and pop some new seals and boots in there.



So what am I gonna do with RX-7 Calipers? *maniacal laugh*

[Beej]

So what am I gonna do with RX-7 Calipers? *maniacal laugh*

Use Corrado rotors?

[CaptainHenreh]

So what am I gonna do with RX-7 Calipers? *maniacal laugh*

Use Corrado rotors?

Shush you sharing all my secrets.

I should have said "E30 nerds don't answer that question, it's rhetorical."

[Mike]

i got my corrado rotors for $30ish/ea thanks to carbotech. just an fyi in case you wanted to do that or something how big is your m/c? my stock 13/16 felt like doodoo. upgrading to 15/16 was way awesome.

[Chris]

So what am I gonna do with RX-7 Calipers? *maniacal laugh*

Use Corrado rotors?

Shush you sharing all my secrets.

I should have said "E30 nerds don't answer that question, it's rhetorical."

I guess I need to work on my E30 nerdiness, but however these are supposed to fit, I'm sure they will be awesome. Oh yeah, they look great!

[Nick325is]

What caliper spacer are you using with the Rx7 calipers?




Nick

[CaptainHenreh]

Ha, you guys.

Really, there's some issues I'll need to work through with fitment, master cylinder size, and the mounting bracket. I'm also not 100% sold on using a Corrado rotor, I might see if I can find a hat and use a two piece rotor.

But I couldn't argue with the price, so I got 'em. I figure, if I can work out a bracket to mount it, it'll probably be cheaper than going over the brake system I have. Or at least, not much more expensive. Maybe lighter too.

[CaptainHenreh]

Hokay, So I finally got my engine on a stand, so I can to the examination and reseal. I also realized that I don't have an idle control valve.

[CaptainHenreh]

Hokay, So I finally got my engine on a stand, so I can to the examination and reseal. I also realized that I don't have an idle control valve.


What do you think, guys? Check out that wicked pinch at Cyl #1. Do I need headers? I can get SSAutochrome ones for like, 180 shipped.


Traction control throttle body. Can I just take the traction control unit off? Or do I have to get like, a whole non traction control throttle body thing? Maybe just remove the tc butterfly?

VIN of the Donor:

[Beej]

Is it pinched that bad? I wouldn't think you could pinch those things without cracking them somewhere. If you're looking at full headers, make sure someone has used them on a swapped car before - they're gonna be close to the control arm bushing bracket. I think I'm just gonna go with OBD2 manifolds when I redo my exhuast.

I have an ICV that I replaced with new, hoping it would do something. I promised another guy he could have it if he doesn't have one...once I hear back from him (he just has to look through his pile of parts), I'll let you know.

There's an awful lot I don't know about these swaps, but that TB looks nothing like mine.

Is that a plastic thermostat housing?

[CaptainHenreh]

Is it pinched that bad? I wouldn't think you could pinch those things without cracking them somewhere.

The pinch is the way they're cast. It's uuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly.

If you're looking at full headers, make sure someone has used them on a swapped car before - they're gonna be close to the control arm bushing bracket.

Well, I don't have any downpipes, so I'm looking at either fabbing up new ones to get to the rest of the exhaust, or buy a set of pretty Stainless Steel headers with downpipes already there.

Anyway, here are the two headers I'm looking at:
I'd prefer these if they'll fit -- Nice long primaries, mandrel bent and TIG welded. $250 shipped.



Or these, which look pretty close to stock size, just nice tube primaries, with no goofy pinches or weird shapes.



They're 200 shipped, and obviously I'll pay the extra 50 bucks for those pretty long tube headers above...if they'll fit. I will, of course, ask the fine folks on R3V if they've tried either, but I guess I don't mind persuading the pipes a little if I have to, but of course, I'd rather not.

I have an ICV that I replaced with new, hoping it would do something. I promised another guy he could have it if he doesn't have one...once I hear back from him (he just has to look through his pile of parts), I'll let you know.

Thanks BJ, I really appreciate it. I guess I didn't realize that BMW would still be using a damned valve to control the idle instead of, like, I dunno, something that didn't fail so much. I wonder if I can ghetto rig it somehow?

There's an awful lot I don't know about these swaps, but that TB looks nothing like mine.

I'm 99% sure it's a traction control throttle body, and the first throttle butterfly closes when the ABS detects you've lost traction. Toyota had a similar system, and it sucked nads too. I may just take it off, and slip a connector over the other throttle body.

Is that a plastic thermostat housing?

Yeah, stock plastic water pump, too. But I have new metal replacements for both.

[Beej]

If you're looking at full headers, make sure someone has used them on a swapped car before - they're gonna be close to the control arm bushing bracket.

Well, I don't have any downpipes, so I'm looking at either fabbing up new ones to get to the rest of the exhaust, or buy a set of pretty Stainless Steel headers with downpipes already there.

Anyway, here are the two headers I'm looking at:
I'd prefer these if they'll fit -- Nice long primaries, mandrel bent and TIG welded. $250 shipped.

Did some searching on r3v and got mixed results. One guy said he had to stack 4 washers on his passenger side motor mount to get them to not hit the subframe, and even after that, they hung low. I'm going to seriously consider them though. I think they're too low for my car, but it might be worth cutting the ends off them and welding on new, higher downpipes. Stole this pic:

[CaptainHenreh]

BJ,

I'm assuming you're talking about this thread? I don't really think it's *that* low and what I'd be tempted to do if they hit the subframe is maybe clearance them a little bit with a pursuader.

But 215 from this guy or $150 (!!!) from this guy is almost too good to pass up. I dunno, I'm torn. On one hand, custom downpipes would be cheap, and would be guaranteed to fit. on the other hand, it's ugly, the flow can't be that great, and if I'm going to put headers on this car, NOWNOWNOW is the time for me to do it, while the damn thing is OUT.

I mean, seriously, 150 dollar headers? Who cares if they scrape? And like you said, while I'm down there (since I need to weld the rest anyway) I could certainly angle the pipe a little and have it come out higher.