2001 LS - My excuse for drinking
#161
The whole cookie cutter issue is really bizarre. I'm guessing it'll happen to every car eventually, but some cars slice the bushings right away - this was the primary motivation for changing from our original orange bushings to the firmer, much more durable black bushings for our now-discontinued 863 kit. Really don't know why some cars do it immediately, and some take 30k miles.
#162
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 486
Total Cats: 149
Glad everyone likes the XJ! I basically completely rebuilt it with a lot of OEM+ style mods and upgrades, and after 2 years of on the side restoration work it became my do it all daily if the Miata is down or impractical for the day. I've put over 40,000 miles on it since the rebuild! It came to me as a tired RWD example and now it's basically a clone of the factory off road package, with some upgrades. Lots of parts swapped off of other Chrysler/Jeep models to give me big brakes, skid plates, better seats, etc. Here's the build thread if you really wanna dive into it. Captain Jerry - '99 Restoration/Modification - Jeep Cherokee Forum
So far the feedback on the Mercedes spherical is... mixed. Bronson hasn't had an issue but he only has them in the rear. Chris says he's had to replace some bearings, but only Dorman, not Moog. Both have concerns about using only one in the FLCA-F location. I'm thinking delrin will be the move, but I'll let it marinate for a bit. I'll be on vacation next week so I'll have time to ruminate.
I was thinking it was pretty inconsistent to be honest! I kept trying to find more time in the infield complex and most of the time it resulted in mistakes. It's a really fun section, much more complicated than the below map would imply.
So turn 6 apexes at a crest in the road, and turn 7 is in the bottom of a valley. It has a crest on corner exit, so right as you're getting on throttle you're also losing grip. It's a fun but scary combination when the wall is right there. This is shown at time 0:47 - 1:00 in my last PB video linked in June.
Or, watch a professional do it with a better focus on the track
On the slower laps I was outbraking myself into T6 and going too wide on exit, then losing out on T7 and thus lacking confidence in T8. Given that T8 exits onto the main straight, I really need to focus more on positioning myself through T7 than trying to feel like a hero into T6.
So far the feedback on the Mercedes spherical is... mixed. Bronson hasn't had an issue but he only has them in the rear. Chris says he's had to replace some bearings, but only Dorman, not Moog. Both have concerns about using only one in the FLCA-F location. I'm thinking delrin will be the move, but I'll let it marinate for a bit. I'll be on vacation next week so I'll have time to ruminate.
So turn 6 apexes at a crest in the road, and turn 7 is in the bottom of a valley. It has a crest on corner exit, so right as you're getting on throttle you're also losing grip. It's a fun but scary combination when the wall is right there. This is shown at time 0:47 - 1:00 in my last PB video linked in June.
Or, watch a professional do it with a better focus on the track
On the slower laps I was outbraking myself into T6 and going too wide on exit, then losing out on T7 and thus lacking confidence in T8. Given that T8 exits onto the main straight, I really need to focus more on positioning myself through T7 than trying to feel like a hero into T6.
#163
Upon closer inspection, maybe you're right about the consistency part... or maybe my standards are just lower and my initial thought was still that your time spreads looked pretty good
Dang, you're not joking, that infield looks like a ton of fun! So much elevation change for a roval. Our old local roval (rest in peace) had zero elevation change on the infield, and almost no barriers to worry about either. Us SoCal folks are cowardly compared to you guys with our wall-less tracks haha!
That T6-T8 complex seems like a serious challenge. So many factors at play, as you stated.
Dang, you're not joking, that infield looks like a ton of fun! So much elevation change for a roval. Our old local roval (rest in peace) had zero elevation change on the infield, and almost no barriers to worry about either. Us SoCal folks are cowardly compared to you guys with our wall-less tracks haha!
That T6-T8 complex seems like a serious challenge. So many factors at play, as you stated.
#164
"This build is boring"
No kidding. I miss working on my car and wish I could make daily progress posts like some people. Instead I've been working on my house. Houses are bullshit.
The basement flooded earlier this year because the people who sold us their deceased mothers house did a crap job of moving the gutter drains underground, which got broken/clogged and pushed a ton of water into the basement, destroying the carpet and wall paneling.
When I took the water damaged wood paneling off, I found a lot of termite damage. This wall between my garage and basement got torn down and rebuilt.
Then I can move on from house work for a bit!
No kidding. I miss working on my car and wish I could make daily progress posts like some people. Instead I've been working on my house. Houses are bullshit.
The basement flooded earlier this year because the people who sold us their deceased mothers house did a crap job of moving the gutter drains underground, which got broken/clogged and pushed a ton of water into the basement, destroying the carpet and wall paneling.
When I took the water damaged wood paneling off, I found a lot of termite damage. This wall between my garage and basement got torn down and rebuilt.
Then I can move on from house work for a bit!
With that said. I'm a HUGE advocate of getting downspouts away from the house with ugly black 4" corrugated pipe above ground until you can bury 3" (or even better 4") schedule 40 pvc to daylight. The black corrugated crap buried ALWAYS compresses, clogs, and eventually gets blocked up. With the recent storms around here, depending on the roof and amount of water coming off of it, 6" K gutters with larger 3x4" downspouts are the way to go vs the standard 5" K gutters and 2x3" downspouts. They flow much more water and don't clog as easily. One of the first things I tell people when they buy a house is checkout the drainage around the house. It's amazing how many people don't pay any attention to it. Also make sure you have a positive slope/grade of dirt away from the foundation wall away from the house. Sorry didn't mean to rant but I think it's important and worth repeating.
#165
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 486
Total Cats: 149
I wish I had some more pictures of the house without all my crap in it. Unfortunately, it's just an extremely poorly placed house on the lot, and relative to the sewer system.
There's a company car show coming up. I'm sure I'll win with my $3,750 Mazda Miata. Here's my "all about me" show and tell slide.
- The sewer line exits the house halfway up the basement wall, as it is the lowest house on the block. Any water that gets below there has to be pumped out, so the only plumbing downstairs is for the clothes washer. There is no drain in the basement, and the backyard is almost flat, so the natural drainage isn't great.
- The basement walls on the uphill side are cracked, and in fact some walls were cracked before the foundation was poured. Part of the purchase agreement was to have the wall "repaired", which was simply carbon fiber epoxied to the block in order to prevent it from getting worse.
- Said cracked basement walls actually pulled the sewer drain in two. The basement flooded with sewage twice before I figured out it was due to a broken drain and not just a clog. One of my first house repairs was digging this up and repairing it. Thankfully the poo water didn't get into the finished part of the basement. That's right, in total I've had to sweep and push water out of this basement 4 different times, sometimes with poo in it.
There's a company car show coming up. I'm sure I'll win with my $3,750 Mazda Miata. Here's my "all about me" show and tell slide.
#168
I wish I had some more pictures of the house without all my crap in it. Unfortunately, it's just an extremely poorly placed house on the lot, and relative to the sewer system.
- The sewer line exits the house halfway up the basement wall, as it is the lowest house on the block. Any water that gets below there has to be pumped out, so the only plumbing downstairs is for the clothes washer. There is no drain in the basement, and the backyard is almost flat, so the natural drainage isn't great.
- The basement walls on the uphill side are cracked, and in fact some walls were cracked before the foundation was poured. Part of the purchase agreement was to have the wall "repaired", which was simply carbon fiber epoxied to the block in order to prevent it from getting worse.
- Said cracked basement walls actually pulled the sewer drain in two. The basement flooded with sewage twice before I figured out it was due to a broken drain and not just a clog. One of my first house repairs was digging this up and repairing it. Thankfully the poo water didn't get into the finished part of the basement. That's right, in total I've had to sweep and push water out of this basement 4 different times, sometimes with poo in it.
#170
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 486
Total Cats: 149
More spam content. Naturally, the latest TNiA freebie picture came out just prior to me sending in my slide. Sigh...
I can't wait to get a picture with the painted hardtop, spoiler, and spats. I'll probably get latter two painted by a professional shop for quicker turnaround. Just need to decide on if/how I want to toughen up those 3d printed parts and how I want to attach the spoiler - 3M VHB tape, or drilled holes?
I can't wait to get a picture with the painted hardtop, spoiler, and spats. I'll probably get latter two painted by a professional shop for quicker turnaround. Just need to decide on if/how I want to toughen up those 3d printed parts and how I want to attach the spoiler - 3M VHB tape, or drilled holes?
#171
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 486
Total Cats: 149
Alright, time for more ridiculous hand wringing and deliberating over considering the possibility of working on my car.
It's floating now.
I put it on stands to play with underbody aero ideas. I was disappointed with all of them. More hand wringing required.
However, I do have a plan for the spoiler.
It's made out of two pieces, bonded together. Here's the underside.
It's a great fit to the trunk lid, well done Carbonmiata!
Here's my goal - adjustable downforce, without a wing, and without a Blackbird style spoiler (no longer available anyways) that looks like a Home Depot special. Just imagine the four red dots are bolt holes, and the blue thing is a spoiler blade.
The 6 shooter looking nuts from the previous picture are adhesive mount nuts. My plan is to cut a hole in the bottom of the spoiler in order to access the open cavity and feed in the nuts. Then I'll use a length of wire to pull the adhesive covered nuts to each red dot mounting point. A few cross drilled studs run through the nuts (imagine hood pins) will let me wrap the wire around something that can pull through the top side drilled holes and orient the nuts properly. For track use, I'll be able to experiment with different blade lengths. Longer ones could even get support rods to the trunk, like the Blackbird spoiler. For street use, I'll remove the blades and cover the holes to prevent water from getting in. Then I can deal with the third brake light.
Once I've got a solution for rear downforce, I'll start thinking about getting the DCBE spats and a splitter (or at least a flat undertray) on the front end.
More projects coming soon. Just waiting on other people and the mail.
It's floating now.
I put it on stands to play with underbody aero ideas. I was disappointed with all of them. More hand wringing required.
However, I do have a plan for the spoiler.
It's made out of two pieces, bonded together. Here's the underside.
It's a great fit to the trunk lid, well done Carbonmiata!
Here's my goal - adjustable downforce, without a wing, and without a Blackbird style spoiler (no longer available anyways) that looks like a Home Depot special. Just imagine the four red dots are bolt holes, and the blue thing is a spoiler blade.
The 6 shooter looking nuts from the previous picture are adhesive mount nuts. My plan is to cut a hole in the bottom of the spoiler in order to access the open cavity and feed in the nuts. Then I'll use a length of wire to pull the adhesive covered nuts to each red dot mounting point. A few cross drilled studs run through the nuts (imagine hood pins) will let me wrap the wire around something that can pull through the top side drilled holes and orient the nuts properly. For track use, I'll be able to experiment with different blade lengths. Longer ones could even get support rods to the trunk, like the Blackbird spoiler. For street use, I'll remove the blades and cover the holes to prevent water from getting in. Then I can deal with the third brake light.
Once I've got a solution for rear downforce, I'll start thinking about getting the DCBE spats and a splitter (or at least a flat undertray) on the front end.
More projects coming soon. Just waiting on other people and the mail.
#173
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 486
Total Cats: 149
United Parcel Smashers brought me a care package!
So I asked for delrin FLCA-F bushings with a 1" center sleeve and two additional center sleeves for my brakes. My buddy is playing with his new 3d printer and included some extra toys that I wasn't expecting! The red Miata is actually a key hanger with working pop ups. And for some reason he sent me a single fog light brake cooling duct. I'll need another if I'm going to cool my brakes! For now I'm going to use it to feed air to the cold air intake area.
New stuff on the left, original equipment on the right.
The smaller sleeves my buddy made are new stainless bridge bolt spacer tubes for the Afco F88 calipers. The originals are aluminum, and the black blotches on them are galling damage from the brake pads rubbing on them. Stainless is a bit heavier, but should be better able to deal with it. I'm still probably under the factory Sport brake weight.
A few people with Afcos have had the bridge bolt shear in two during brake servicing due to the crappy lock nuts Afco selected. I went ahead and purchased some extra bolts with 1/4-28 fine threads instead of the -20 coarse thread. Fine threads are stronger and less likely to back out, and as a bonus the hex head bolts are zinc plated instead of black oxide for rust resistance.
So I asked for delrin FLCA-F bushings with a 1" center sleeve and two additional center sleeves for my brakes. My buddy is playing with his new 3d printer and included some extra toys that I wasn't expecting! The red Miata is actually a key hanger with working pop ups. And for some reason he sent me a single fog light brake cooling duct. I'll need another if I'm going to cool my brakes! For now I'm going to use it to feed air to the cold air intake area.
New stuff on the left, original equipment on the right.
The smaller sleeves my buddy made are new stainless bridge bolt spacer tubes for the Afco F88 calipers. The originals are aluminum, and the black blotches on them are galling damage from the brake pads rubbing on them. Stainless is a bit heavier, but should be better able to deal with it. I'm still probably under the factory Sport brake weight.
A few people with Afcos have had the bridge bolt shear in two during brake servicing due to the crappy lock nuts Afco selected. I went ahead and purchased some extra bolts with 1/4-28 fine threads instead of the -20 coarse thread. Fine threads are stronger and less likely to back out, and as a bonus the hex head bolts are zinc plated instead of black oxide for rust resistance.
#174
New stuff on the left, original equipment on the right.
The smaller sleeves my buddy made are new stainless bridge bolt spacer tubes for the Afco F88 calipers. The originals are aluminum, and the black blotches on them are galling damage from the brake pads rubbing on them. Stainless is a bit heavier, but should be better able to deal with it. I'm still probably under the factory Sport brake weight.
A few people with Afcos have had the bridge bolt shear in two during brake servicing due to the crappy lock nuts Afco selected. I went ahead and purchased some extra bolts with 1/4-28 fine threads instead of the -20 coarse thread. Fine threads are stronger and less likely to back out, and as a bonus the hex head bolts are zinc plated instead of black oxide for rust resistance.
The smaller sleeves my buddy made are new stainless bridge bolt spacer tubes for the Afco F88 calipers. The originals are aluminum, and the black blotches on them are galling damage from the brake pads rubbing on them. Stainless is a bit heavier, but should be better able to deal with it. I'm still probably under the factory Sport brake weight.
A few people with Afcos have had the bridge bolt shear in two during brake servicing due to the crappy lock nuts Afco selected. I went ahead and purchased some extra bolts with 1/4-28 fine threads instead of the -20 coarse thread. Fine threads are stronger and less likely to back out, and as a bonus the hex head bolts are zinc plated instead of black oxide for rust resistance.
#175
The smaller sleeves my buddy made are new stainless bridge bolt spacer tubes for the Afco F88 calipers. The originals are aluminum, and the black blotches on them are galling damage from the brake pads rubbing on them. Stainless is a bit heavier, but should be better able to deal with it. I'm still probably under the factory Sport brake weight.
A few people with Afcos have had the bridge bolt shear in two during brake servicing due to the crappy lock nuts Afco selected. I went ahead and purchased some extra bolts with 1/4-28 fine threads instead of the -20 coarse thread. Fine threads are stronger and less likely to back out, and as a bonus the hex head bolts are zinc plated instead of black oxide for rust resistance.
A few people with Afcos have had the bridge bolt shear in two during brake servicing due to the crappy lock nuts Afco selected. I went ahead and purchased some extra bolts with 1/4-28 fine threads instead of the -20 coarse thread. Fine threads are stronger and less likely to back out, and as a bonus the hex head bolts are zinc plated instead of black oxide for rust resistance.
Very nice! I ordered some new bolts from mcmaster carr that need to replace the questionable homedepot bolt that's in there now. Question for you on the sleeves. Is it me or is the sleeve maybe a 1/32" or maybe a 1/16" too short? I'm not sure if that's by design and it needs to close a tiny gap in the caliper or it's just a little short. One time I noticed the bolt snugged down but the spacer still spun. You got some cool friends making you some nice stuff!
@SlowTeg Sort of answering for O13 here, but with the original bolt / nut my bridge sleeve would spin too. (Even tightening them as tight as I could, which I'm sure helped screw up the threads.) I thought it might be a defect too, but once I got a new bolt and lock nut, they tightened up the sleeve so it wouldn't spin like they are supposed too.
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