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I spent a good chunk of my morning yesterday cutting up the PS return hoses I got from the FLAPS and getting them installed. While they work, they are far from ideal. The "legs" after the 90 bend aren't long enough so I'm not getting full engagement on the steel tube sections. It'll work for now but I'll eventually order the correct parts from Mazda from whatever vendor has them for cheapest. Power steering system was refilled with Valvoline DEX/MERC ATF (blue bottle) and then the system was purged of air following the instructions in the 1995 Miata FSM. And then I took it out for a test drive.
OMG y'all, I drove it.
I'm not going to lie, with no sway bars and dubious tape measure alignment, this thing is a handful.
Remember, I pumped out the fuel tank some months ago, so first test drive was to the gas station, as is tradition with projects such as this. I was more concerned about playing chicken with the fuel gauge than I was driving the car
I need to get this tire flipped so the letters are out. It's so annoying that they fucked up the one and that I missed it before leaving the tire shop.
The whole lack of nose and fenders, plus the oversized tires and completely ignorant ride height really seems to generate a range of different bystander reactions
After the gas station I went and found a dirt road, and I gotta tell you, this thing is fun as ****. I didn't want to get it too dirty just yet, because it still needs to be aligned and requires some welding, but I got enough of a taste that I really want to keep pushing this project. Something that immediately jumped out at me was the Basic Bitch Bilstein rates of 550/350 are just a biiiit harsh on really rough surfaces (dirt.) I'll look into changing the rates at some point. I finally went and looked up the PNs for these Bilsteins and according to Mazda, these were originally installed on a 99/00 "Sport Suspension" or a 10AE. Rare bear indeed. I can't help but wonder if there are better NB Bilsteins for this application.
So it runs, it's dumb, and I love it.
Front fenders and nose are going to get some clearance cuts today, and I'll bust out the CAD and see if I can build some RallyArmor style mud flaps for this beast. I am excite!
Oh! I should also mention, the drive to the gas station and subsequent on/off road test was also the first drive for the modified and re-mount M45 JRSC. And ... it didn't explode! It also didn't throw the belt! I wouldn't say that I've "driven it in anger" quite yet, but I did get on it and it seems to behave quite well. No boost gauge or wideband at this point, remember I'm running with the JR RFPR and goofy relay and resistor thing wired in the MAF, plus base timing retard, so I have no idea what it's actually doing other than not exploding.
The M45 gives a surprising bit of a shove as it comes on and it makes silly PD blower noises, so that of course makes me happy. Transition into boost is noticeable, in that I can feel when the relay thing kicks over and the engine changes strategies, but it's not harsh or unpredictable. All in all I think the M45 was probably a worthwhile pursuit, but I'd like to get the suspension a bit more sorted before really pushing it. Right now I'm just glad it's not chucking belts.
And really, can one reasonably ask for more from a ~20 year old M45?
Speaking of alignment, I've got a potential appointment on Tuesday, but now that things have settled out a bit I'm going to go ahead and adjust out some of this rear negative camber. Not all of it mind you, but probably a solid chunk.
I'm not sure what alignment specs I'm looking for with something like this, but here's what I'm thinking:
Rear:
Tow - zero, or maybe +1/16" total
Camber - somewhere between -1.0 & -2.0°. It honestly doesn't matter because I can adjust this on the fly thanks to the Paco adjustable RUCAs
Front:
Toe - probably also 0? Maybe +1/16" total? I can also **** with this on the fly by jacking with the OTREs, as long as I keep track of what I'm doing. Caster - ALLOFIT
Camber - probably also somewhere between -1.0° & -2.0° which shouldn't be a problem thanks to the Bauer ELBJs
I literally have no idea what I'm doing here, but once it's baslined and I mark the adjustment bolts I can fiddle with it until it feels right. This is going to be an iterative process because I have no idea what the car's going to do without sway bars and I need to to track straight on asphalt if I'm going to have my wife driving it at all for the Lemons Rally. I've solo driven that event twice and I don't plan on doing it again. Not that she isn't a good driver, but she doesn't exactly have my level of tolerance for... unpredictable vehicle dynamics
Finished clearance cuts on nose and fenders this afternoon. Sure looks like a car again!
The fenders were a surprising pain in the *** to get mounted, and I suspect this has something to do with the general fuckery that is this car.
Panel gaps are a real challenge. Fortunately, I have tricks up my sleeve! Sloted bolt holes to allow for better fore/aft alignment. Just barely snug them up, then shim out the critical edge.
Then tighten up the bolts! Tadaaa! Perfect door edge gap! Paint is already chipped from previous misalignment so I'll need to come back with some of my touch-up paint and a q-tip.
Its really coming together nicely. Added some flair as well.
I have a pair of stock rear mud flap things that came with the car and I think I can get them in there behind the rear tires. I didn't get around to making the RallyArmor style mud flaps I mentioned previously, and really, I'm not sure how I'd even mount them. Not completely discounting them just yet, it'll just take a little more planning than I initially thought.
I took 2 full rotations worth of negative camber out of the Paco RUCAs and it feels a bit better. Driving it around I can tell the alignment is off, but it still feels remarkably... Miata? But very loose. I suspect the lack of sway bars has something to do with that. I'm not entirely sure I want to reinstall them.
Speaking of driving it around, it's on a 5 speed and what I believe is 4.1 torsen. The speedometer reads right around ~10mph slow at 45-65mph, which makes it really hard to maintain legal speeds. Even with the M45 it just doesn't make enough power at low engine speed due to the "huge" tires messing with the gear ratios. Acceleration is just horribly soggy and the 4.778 is going to make a huge difference in the overall feel of the car.
Or contact levRimiter and get a speedo face made up with some different numbers? Or make one with MSpaint?
Is the NA speedo linear like that? to where you can correct it just by moving the numbers around? Considering its just a bunch of gear sets I think it could work.
Is the NA speedo linear like that? to where you can correct it just by moving the numbers around? Considering its just a bunch of gear sets I think it could work.
The markings on the face are certainly linear:
Stands to reason that if you adjust the gearing by X%, you can correct that by adjusting the angle between the markings by that same percentage.
01-17-2021, 01:18 PM
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