Project 10AE Miata

[ViPER1313]

+1 with DJ & Blair. Its a Miata, not a collectors car.

Now, if you have / want a car that is a garage queen (like my next door neighbor's C6) go ahead and paint the Miata. Maybe it is your thing :dunno: . Here are a few tips if this is really what you want:

-Make sure you only drive it on sunny days, and only on back roads to avoid rock chips.
-Parking lots, rain, city traffic and AutoX / race events are out of the question - they might damage your car's appearance.
-You must wax and wash the car more than you drive it. Preferably every 2 or 3 days, even if it you only drove it one mile.
-Post more photos online of your car than your car has miles on it.

[JustinG]

Lulz

[Goodspeed]

Maybe it is your thing :dunno:

It is

Make sure you only drive it on sunny days, and only on back roads to avoid rock chips.

Already do.

Parking lots, rain, city traffic

I plan on having a beater truck for that shit.

AutoX / race events are out of the question - they might damage your car's appearance.

+ clear shielding.

You must wax and wash the car more than you drive it. Preferably every 2 or 3 days, even if it you only drove it one mile.

Already do.

Post more photos online of your car than your car has miles on it.

Plan to.

:thumbup:

[fiveoh2go]

PS that clear bra stuff sucks and looks like total shit anyways. Never do that.

Because rock chips look better?

sure. I had that choice with a few freshly painted cars and alway went with rock chips instead of clear bra junk.

To each their own.

[balactm]

Goodspeed,
Do what you want to your car. If you want a killer paint job, do it. It's your car, your mods, your money, and only you have to deal with it when it's all said and done. Personally, I think your car has a beautiful paint job, but then again, everyone knows how i feel about how good a car looks (que the crx i bought). Oh well, it all works out in the end.

[Goodspeed]

Just cause I feel like updating....

Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance. Do it once, do it right...in the last month or so the car's had

- Amsoil 10w30/Amsoil Ea filter
- Redline MT90 in trans
- Amsoil Severe Gear in the rear end
- Fresh brake fluid
- Alignment/rotation
- New timing belt, water pump, coolant flush, thermostat + gasket, cam angle sensor o-ring, VC gasket, belts and pulleys, etc. etc.

To do/laying around:
- PCV valve
- Wix fuel filter
- new shift boots
- Diagnose/fix trans bearing noise (probably input shaft bearing....making noise clutch engaged/driving in gear before 1:1)

I'm badly wanting a set of nice seats and need to save for suspension, brakes, tires, etc. I also have Maeng's old set of ATS Comp Lites waiting to go to the coaters for a refinish....direction I'm going teaser:



I'm heavily leaning towards keeping this thing around for a good bit and slowly progressing to 11 with it :thumbup:

[Goodspeed]

Small but oh so worthwhile update. You gotta love the little things that make a huge difference.

Number 1: My shit-ass driver side window. It was so pathetic how slowly it went up and down, except for the odd occurrence when it was blistering hot out, all other accessories off, when it would actually function properly. I had the last straw a while back during the first and only time I got pulled over in this car, when the window jammed and I had to ask the officer if I could open the door :lol:

So, off came the door panel, in went the CRC White Lithium grease. Now the window goes up and down like a well oiled guillotine.





Number 2: The could-be-much-improved shift feel. Now everybody knows the 6 speed isn't as crisp as the 5, but I really wanted to improve overall feel as it previously wasn't at all befitting of a proper sports car.

Only way to get the broken OE Nardi knob off...



Progress



I was a bit skeptical about how much a new knob and upper lower/boots could improve things, but wow. Absolute night and day difference. Shifts are much, much more smoother and chunk-ier.

Shifter out...the upper boot was torn here and there, but the lower boot was completely shredded in half (!). Probably never changed, many do them every 3-5 yrs to keep things crisp



All done....new Voodoo knob, new blue 10AE shift boot, new e-brake cover and handle (probably the hardest thing ever to install :evileye: )

[Jake]

Looks great! I really need to do the window lube job (on both windows) and the shift boots. I can tell mine are torn. Good to hear it's a marked difference.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Nice little updates.. Looks like it was well worth it!

[Goodspeed]

Small update, the car has gotten the last few mods I wanted to do to get the right "feel" out of everything.

I had Faul's Garage install some Mazda Comp engine mounts (40% stiffer) and some Energy poly diff bushings, as well as a new clutch master/slave and a 949 Racing stainless clutch line, and while they were in there I had them pour in some Motorcraft Full Synthetic Manual Trans fluid, the much lauded fluid of 6sp guys.

Impressions: the brand new fluid instantly felt better than the 2-3k mile broken in Redline MT90 that I put in prior. Reduced a lot of the crunchiness and general irritability of engaging 2nd gear. From what I've read this will only get better with another 3k or so. The front and rear mounts feel very solid and tight, but thankfully they transmit a lot less NVH than I was expecting; just a little harsher than stock but shifts are much more positive all around.

After that was done I took it upon myself to do the brakes. 949 rotors, Porterfield R4S pads, 949 stainless lines and ATE SuperBlue fluid. This was sort of an adventure...the fronts went fine, but the rears were a real pain. I broke the caliper adjustment gear in the pass. rear caliper (common problem), so I got a hold of some Cardone re-mans, and I was sweating bullets trying to get those little gears to function and not strip. I finally had enough and had the same shop finish the job for me with it ~90% done, it just wasn't worth the aggravation. Turns out (and this I did not know, from the internets nor my Miata performance guidebook), that the shop had no troubles with them once they simultaneously bled the brakes.

BIG thanks to Mark (Natalie's bf) for the help in the garage and Matt Cobr├® (fiveoh2go) for the hookup at JL Fabrication to machine the stock parking cable bracket a bit to fit one of the calipers better :thumbup:

Gross stock setup



Baller new setup



I've also got one of those G2 caliper paint kits (black) that i'll get around to doing at some point. Beyond that, I'll probably leave it alone for a good while, save for some decent tires when I'm able to afford them 8)

[balactm]

Looks awesome goodspeed. I'll bet those rotors feel really good.

[Maengelito]

I never did find a MTF that I liked the feel of for that car so I really wanted to try that Motorcraft stuff. At like $24/bottle or whatever it is though I stuck with the cheaper Redline since I knew it was atleast doing its job even if it felt like crap. I hope you like it though.

Same thing also happened to my right rear caliper. The allen key adjuster would just pop out if it stuck to the allen key just right. It was wet inside that bolt hole that you had to crack open but I never did see any weeping coming from it though. I ended up just replacing it with a spare from Planet Miata though.

[.RJ]

I ended up just replacing it with a spare from Planet Miata though.

Replacing it with an S2000 was even better :thumbup:

[D_Eclipse9916]

Maeng, when you going to make it out with the s2k? Its been lonely at the track with no one from MM driving.

[Maengelito]

ha, I know the feeling from the previous couple of years.

Its been a slow process getting the car ready. I have been pretty busy with other stuff and I've run into some issues with retaining the stock seat belts and using harnesses but I'm gonna have some custom brackets made to make it work. As of right now, I'm shooting for the Oct event but I'm not sure yet if its gonna happen.

[D_Eclipse9916]

I know youll probably pwn me because of skill but I really want to see how fast an s2k is to the m3 as they were my two choices.

[Jake]

I never did find a MTF that I liked the feel of for that car so I really wanted to try that Motorcraft stuff. At like $24/bottle or whatever it is though I stuck with the cheaper Redline since I knew it was atleast doing its job even if it felt like crap. I hope you like it though.

I put Motorcraft in my 5-speed and I dunno, it's good I guess. Shifting is still notchy (it's been in there a year now) so I may try another drain and fill. With the age of the car, I don't know if it's the fluid, synchros, clutch hydraulics (that has fresh fluid) or what. It generally shifts fine, just not as smooth as I'd prefer.

[Goodspeed]

Did you get the "Full Synthetic" MTF or their regular GL4 MTF? I've never seen it recommended for 5's but it made a world of difference in my 6, actually the only thing I've seen recommended for the 6. That and GM Syncromesh (plus maybe a bit of Lucas added), but to me it seems that all the Redline's, RP and Lucas stuff for the 5 speed is turrble for the 6 speed.

[.RJ]

lol, lucas...

If its not shifting right, pull the damn thing out and fix it. I always thought miatas shifted a little notchy at best, didnt think there was ever a way to fix it. Maybe if you REM'd all the hub/synchro assemblies and ran some really expensive fluid? Probably not worth it.

[Goodspeed]

I always thought miatas shifted a little notchy at best, didnt think there was ever a way to fix it.

+1. They were never perfect, but a higher mile, torn-boots, mystery fluid car can be downright terrible. I'm extremely happy with the steps I took to make mine shift as well as it can/ever could without getting into a rebuild. Mounts, boots, and fluid...yeah it was stupid expensive fluid but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Actually, since doing the above, I haven't yet experienced a better shifting car.