I tried pressing the new bushings in with my wheel bearing set, but it turned out that a dead blow hammer was the right tool for getting them in. TIL I guess.
This also arrived
It probably won't go in for a while, but it was a good deal and is unused. The seller actually shipped it in the same box that it arrived in from DIYAutotune in February.
Last thing I need for the Torsen swap is a set of driveshaft bolts, so I bought those from Facebook and they should be here this weekend sometime.
Today I lowered the rear ride height from 13" to 12.5", since the front is at 12. I also put a stock rear sway bar back on - I think the combination of the more rake than normal and the new racing beat front bar was making it pretty oversteer-ey. Since I drive it on the street a lot more than autocross, a slightly more neutral balance is probably better.
No pictures, because it's boring and also because I only had like an hour. This is mostly to keep track of when I did this stuff in case I'm trying to figure it out later anyway.
Torsen went in. Took this picture mostly to play with night sight. 
1.8 diffs are quite a bit bigger (and therefore heavier) than 1.6 diffs - getting it up and in there by myself, with a floor jack and a few chunks of 2x4, was precarious to say the least.
I thought this was funny - I didn't have a pump top or a funnel that would work, so random piece of plastic to the rescue!
I also finally managed to track down a Jackson racing header, so I can get rid of the rattling heat shields on the stock exhaust and remain smog legal. No pictures of that, since this was all done in my driveway after the kids were in bed and the house was (somewhat) cleaned up, so like 11pm. That went pretty well, except for the O2 sensor placement. Snaking a hand up between the subframe and the transmission is not easy for me. Oh, and I dropped the rest of the exhaust on my face trying to get it on the hangers.
So far so good - drove it to work and nothing fell off, so I might actually get out and autocross it this weekend. My only concern is that I gouged the diff housing changing the axle seal on one side, so I'd like to put a few more miles on before I'm confident that it's not leaking. Fingers crossed, I really don't want to pull it again anytime soon.
I sold the Megasquirt, since I have no immediate plans that it will be useful for. Someday though.
In the meantime, I bought everything for a total cooling system overhaul. This is probably gross overkill for a stock 1.6.
Crank pulley was also not doing so great.
I got the reroute installed tonight. I really didn't find it as bad as it's made out to be. I didn't take off the hood, or jack up the engine and transmission. One thing that supermiata doesn't tell you to do but was super helpful was taking off the heater hoses. My arm needed to occupy exactly that same space to get the bottom nut back on.
That sender is for my shiny new VDO coolant temp gauge, but whether or not I get it wired up before Miatas at Laguna Seca in a few weeks remains to be seen. I'm more worried about getting the rest of this back together.
The Miata Reunion, as it's now being called, will be my first track day. Slightly intimidating, but also super exciting - I've been driving Laguna Seca virtually since Gran Turismo 3.
I got a few minutes this afternoon while the kiddos were napping, so I went through and replaced all the heater hoses. They were a hodgepodge of original hoses, hoses that had been replaced at some point judging by the random hose clamps, and things that made reasonably good substitutes for hoses in a pinch at some point and were never replaced.
I met up with BoxheadTim at Laguna Seca last year, right after his day was ruined by one of these failing. One more thing off the list.
Side note - does anyone know what this wire is for?
It's blue with a yellow stripe, and it's not the one for the thermoswitch. The car seems to run fine, so it can't be that important...
Still plugging away at this. The radiator is in, and the lower radiator hose from Flyin Miata is in after some minor trimming, probably due to the thicker radiator. I was really glad I bought a 25 pack of m6 bolts, because the ones used to mount my current radiator were m8...the joys of working on old cars, I suppose.
I had to pause to get the right hose type to fix an ancient power steering return hose, so once that's done I'll finish buttoning everything up and fill it with coolant. Hopefully it won't leak.
Got the ps line replaced, and only dumped some of the fluid everywhere thanks to my ingenious use of a cool whip container.
I cut the reroute hose down to the right length and tried to take out the CAS so I could get my hands back there to reach the clamp - only to discover that it no longer has clearance to come out without taking off the valve cover. So that's awesome. Would have been good to know in advance.
I pushed through, got all the hoses on, checked the clamps, put the intake all back together, and started filling it with water.
Wait, what's that noise? Sounds like....water streaming out the back of the head?
Yeah.
I guess I didn't clean well enough, because the adapter is in no way sealed. So now I'm pulling everything apart again to give it another shot.
I had to walk away last night, but I'm feeling pretty anxious about getting it all together before Miatas at Laguna Seca. I was really counting on having this weekend for sorting and test driving, since it's also my son's third birthday, I really don't have time to work on it more.
Frustrated.
I got it pulled apart again. See the problem here?
How about in this one? Right up against the stud.
That seems to be a chunk of old gasket. So, I did what I should have done the first time - pulled out the stud, cleaned up the threads, cleaned up the mating surface with a brass brush, and took a lot of pictures with night sight so I could actually see what was going on back there. We ended up here.
Which I think looks pretty decent. The cursed water plug is still flexible and feels ok, so I left it alone. Got the reroute housing back on with new sealant and got the hoses back on. Tomorrow, before putting everything back together, I'll pour some water through the hoses and see if it leaks. Fingers crossed.
Notes for anyone else doing this - I don't think you need to do anything crazy like unbolt the ppf and jack up the transmission, but it did help a lot to pull the valve cover, coil, and CAS. It makes it a lot easier to see what you're doing and maneuver the housing in there, which is the hard part in a lot of ways.
In reply to cmcgregor :
What!!! You were right there at the cursed water plug and you didn’t replace it!!! You know it’s just as old and near to failure as all of those other hoses you did replace, and, btw, how a rubber hose or nipple feels is a notoriously unreliable way to evaluate its condition.
That cursed water plug isn’t so named only because it’s difficult to replace (it’s really not that bad with extra long HF angle pliers), but because when it does fail it as often as not leads to an overheat and engine damage.
I commend you on your perseverance sir. I'd've run away screaming a long time ago. Or with a big enough garage would've done my first engine pull.
Then run away screaming.
Those jack stands. I think I used 3 tons for a much delayed 10k oil change recently because I don't have spare 6 tons. I don't know why anything less than 6 tons exist to be honest. I feel so much safer under them.
Keep it up. I think the corkscrew is something we should all experience at some point in our lives even if at the most pedestrian pace possible. 
no doubt that was a leak if not THE leak - and hopefully it wasn’t as bad to get back in there as it felt when the water started to gush!
Don’t give up on it.... still a good chance you can make it.
Ive only been on it on motorcycles but it’s a cool track.
Keep updating!
I had no idea this car has been wrecked when I had it, but it was already old by that point in time. I'm glad you stuck with it!
Theodore Roosevelt
I made it. The car ran flawlessly, didn't use any fluids, and was a joy to drive. We camped at the track with both kids, which was super fun but our youngest is not much of an outdoorsman (he's turning 1 tomorrow, so we'll cut him a break for now) so we ended up leaving Sunday afternoon instead of Monday as planned. Otherwise, it was a great weekend.
I only managed to start my GoPro for the 2 afternoon sessions, and from that it looks like I was running ~2 minute laps. I was in the slowest group and there was a lot of slow moving traffic, so I'm pretty happy with that for my first ever outing.
The brakes were totally fine, but I did manage to fade them once. If there had been less traffic I probably would have overwhelmed them, so they're on the list for next time.
Then, I parked the car, unpacked, and got back to daily life - and someone broke into the car and stole my steering wheel, helmet, and prescription sunglasses. So it's been sitting.
Brett_Murphy said:I had no idea this car has been wrecked when I had it, but it was already old by that point in time. I'm glad you stuck with it!
It has certainly had a long and interesting life! It's a member of the family now - we have great memories of that trip, thank you so much for helping to make it happen!
One more - I took the top off for the last session. Looks like I need to find lower seats (again).
Hover mode, activate!
Details tomorrow.
New wheels!
I traded for 15x7.5 Rota Slipstreams that are basically brand new. I've always liked these and I was getting bored of the Koseis. I think the white actually works on the car, too!
White wheels look great until you use the brakes a few times.
I must have used the brakes at least 3 times on the way to work this morning, and they still look ok 
I think I can live with it.
The car looks great! Are you planning more track time soon? Buttonwillow is a friendly, fun track.
In reply to accordionfolder :
Thanks! I'd certainly like to, time and finances permitting. I need to buy a new helmet and I'd like to upgrade to 1.8 brakes, so we will see if those can get past the finance committee.
Buttonwillow looks super fun, but at ~4 hours is a little further than I'm willing to drive without a backup plan. Thunderhill is only about 2 hours away, and Sonoma is super close, so either of those are possibilities.
In reply to cmcgregor :
Ah, you went to Laguna Seca, so I assumed further south. Sonoma IS the best track. Go out with Nasa-norcal, cheap days and their instructors are top-notch, but you have to sign up early to get in with them. Totally worth it though.
White wheels look great. When will fenders be body color?
In reply to mr2s2000elise :
Someday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The whole car needs paint and body work and I don't currently have a garage that it will fit in. I may pull the fenders off again this winter so I can get some paint on them, but it's not super high on the priority list.
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