If anybody wants to stop by this week in the evenings, I'm having a self imposed "Tech Week." I'm working exclusively on the Miata though. Here's what Im doing...

Not so cool
1. Changing timing belt.
2. Changing all other belts
3. Replacing crankshaft seal

Cool Stuff
1. Installing new 8-way adjustable KYB shocks all around! Step one in making the Miata the autocross beast she is destined to be.

New front and rear sways should be coming soon.

I would do this on a weekend, but the wife is out of town at the moment so the Miata can be undrivable for as long as it need to be.

If you are in N. Las Vegas and bored, stop by!

 

Hmmm. I may drop by to help out. I am fresh out of stuff to do to my car until my roll bar gets powdercoated. My girlfriend is out of town so I have all the time in the world.

 

What time? I haven't really met anyone else except ensmuns (and watched Ty race). I'm not working this week and so far I'm playing the "Wheels" waiting game. Man....when are those damn things goin to get here?!

 

I'll come by.

 

Well, I've got the Miata in many pieces at the moment. Radiator is pulled, valve cover is off, all accessory belts are removed, and the timing belt shrouds are off. Next is the hard part. I need to remove the crankshaft pulley to get at the crankshaft seal. Doesn't look fun. Anybody have a gear puller?

The shocks won't be here until Wednesday at the earliest, but I've got to get the engine back together before I start on the shocks.

If you are really interested in stopping by, let me know and I'll send you a PM with directions to my place. I'll be working on this thing every night, so you can stop by whenever. I usually start around 6:30 and keep working until I get to a good stopping point.

Damn, I gotta get me some of those nifty mechanics gloves. My hands are pretty torn up...when flesh meets metal...flesh loses...ouch!

 

Brian, sorry I didn't show! My aunt from LA called at the last minute telling me that she's here in Vegas. Bloody hell. Now that I started work again this week, there's no way I can come by and help. Bloody hell again.

 

Well, it took a week but I got everything done but the differential fluid changed (I did not have a big enough metric socket for it.) So I changed the seals on the crankshaft and cams, new timing belt, accessory belts, valve cover gasket, new tanny fluid, oil, coolant, rear brake pads, and KYB adjustable shocks. Man, am I tired of working on cars! But I have learned a ton of new stuff in the past week.

The Miata is now running awesome and feels as good as new. The shocks are awesome. I'm going to get a new front sway bar and run it in the next autocross in the stock class. The street rubber will hold me back, but I'm hoping to be competative.

Oh BTW...as you can see from my sig, I just picked up a brand new Mazdaspeed Miata. Yeah, it is a 2004, but it was new on the dealer's lo with <20 miles on it. I got it for $7k less than sticker and $4500 below Kelly Blue Book. The turbo is sweet. I need to start doing some research on how to get more boost from it It's going to be a tough decision on which Miata to autox. Can I run two cars? They would be separate classes...

 

Congratulations on your new purchase!