Give Love a Chance - 1994 Miata

In reply to Pete Gossett :

But they sell upper joints........

And I have a press.........

Yes you can replace the upper ball joints.  I had to do one on my other 94. 

Moog has one for the NA miata and 949 just came out with one for all NA/NB miata's (NB fit with a extra spacer for fitting on an NA because they use a different ball joint)

https://supermiata.com/SuperMiata-Upper-Ball-Joint.aspx

Thanks! This is the first I’ve heard of it, but I’m glad there’s a cheaper option now. 

The radio doesn't work. Since part of this is to make the Maita good at being a car, this has somehow become important to me. I pulled things apart (had to look up the tombstone screws) and figured out that the radio chassis wasn't grounded. I found the ground wire, made a jumper, and we're back in business. No pictures because stock radios are boring. 
Next problem was the antenna being wobbly. Some searching found a flexible ruler that the kids put in the discard pile. That nicely took up the space between the antenna and the body and things are snug again. Even gets good signal. 

Only the drivers side speaker was working so I popped the passenger door apart and hooked up the spare speaker that's from the Insight that's supposed to go in the Subaru. It works, but there's no good mounting solution without drilling holes. 

The drivers door card was good when I pulled it to mess with the windows, but the passenger one is getting soft and several clips pulled out. That'll need to be dealt with. 

Also pulled the gauge binnacle which was rattling because all but one attachment point is broken. I improvised with a longer screw and a washer on the broken bottom side and it's much better, but still broken. 

Also changed the oil since it was on the lift and then took it for a drive. It's better and being a car than it was yesterday which is a victory. All these years and I was just a hard top and three inches of foam from really liking NA Miatas. Who knew? 

I'm frequently surprised by how much automotive stuff I haven't done yet. I pulled all of the front suspension off yesterday and in the process one of the bolts holding a wheel speed sensor broke off in the upright. I've broken a LOT of bolts in my day but never one that required me to drill and tap a new hole. I had to go buy a tap set and then go out again to buy the right size drill bit. It wasn't as easy as you guys make it look, taking a bit of effort to get the tap started. In the end the bolt threads in smoothly and everything looks good. 

moxnix said:

Yes you can replace the upper ball joints.  I had to do one on my other 94. 

Moog has one for the NA miata and 949 just came out with one for all NA/NB miata's (NB fit with a extra spacer for fitting on an NA because they use a different ball joint)

https://supermiata.com/SuperMiata-Upper-Ball-Joint.aspx

Regardless of the manufacturer, I’d strongly recommend you tack weld that new ball joint in place. I’ve seen them pop out. The arm isn’t designed to have them pressed in and out, I think it deforms. 

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Not saying that I doubt any of the advice here, but how do we collectively feel about the fact that Moog put a snap ring groove on the bottom side of the ball joint to prevent it popping out? 

On a bit of a whimsical note, since it's Thanksgiving we're hanging around cooking and eating today, it's what we do. Digging through the new cabinets to get an obscure baking implement I was struck with a bit of inspiration. 
On top of the stock exhaust manifold are these little guys. Without the heat shield in place they're rather ugly, but maybe they could be useful if one hovered over the engine bay with a cup of coffee and pondered them long enough. 

We all know exhaust gets hot. That's usually undesirable, but can maybe sometimes be useful. What I found in the cabinet is my sliding top bread pan. I use it when I make rye type breads. The top keeps them from over-browning on top. The shape of the pan in general is good for making sandwich loaves in white bread. That's not really the point though, the point is that it's just about the perfect size and shape. 

The lid even slides open. It would require a bit of PVC nipple massaging, but I think that's doable. 

I don't think you could actually bake good bread in the car, it would be too hard to get even heating, but there's enough room in there to build something like a bratwurst rack. Or a breakfast taco warmer. Or lots of stuff. Cook a roast on a long road trip? I'd need a thermocouple and a dash gauge of course so I could calculate cooking times on the road. 

I'm going to put this idea on the back burner so to speak, but I think it has real merit. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

mazdeuce - Seth said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Not saying that I doubt any of the advice here, but how do we collectively feel about the fact that Moog put a snap ring groove on the bottom side of the ball joint to prevent it popping out? 

I like it. Moog knows more about replacing ball joints than small specialty shops do.

I’d still tack weld, though. 

I can confirm the weld is a good idea. Had one pop out on me. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

 

Imagine the boost to your concourse score when you bribe the judges with food cooked on the exhaust of your challenge car.

I've reheated food by wrapping it in foil and hanging it down against the exhaust manifolds.  With a small wire rack for the bottom this would be much more consistent heat.

I had a hot dogger on my snowmobile, just an aluminum box clamped to the expansion chamber, worked great! Please make a taco holder! 

I keep plugging away and not taking a lot of pictures. Since I had everything apart I hit it with a little paint before assembly. Things are just a bit scaly. 

Front shocks got new spring isolators too. Everything still comes apart nicely which is good. 

This car spent just enough time around corrosive stuff that I'm using the taps and dies to clean up a lot of things before reassembly. I should have bought a set of these a long time ago. 

And......it's back together. New ball joints and all that. I took it for a drive and all of the suspension noise is gone. Not sure if it was the spring seats or the ball joints or what, but it feels and sounds good. And then this little guy popped up on my way home from the grocery store. 

Got to satisfy my long held urge to stick a paper clip in something. 

Counted the blinks and I have a 16 and a 17. The internet says they are EGR and O2 sensor. I cleared them and we'll see if they come back. OBD1 is such a guessing game. 

NickD said:

Want a used FM front shock tower brace? I have the one out of my car just languishing in the basement, because it no longer fits with all the supercharger science project stuff going on under the hood.

Still interested in this? I know you sent me a PM, and then I was out of town exploding the 5-speed in my Miata, and then I got back and sent you a message and it presumably got lost in the shuffle.

In reply to NickD :

Totally my fault. Sending you an email right now. 

After sending that email I spent a few minutes on the car. 
As much as I like the Rallycross banner, I can see just enough of it through the windshield to bother me. It's also so old that it's cracking. Off it comes. 

Then I went to work on the plastidip on the roof where I had a brilliant idea. Maybe the 3M sticker eraser would work on plastidip? I used this one on my wife's FJ so I know they're good with paint, what could go wrong? 

It doesn't bother the factory paint, but it does strip the other coat right off. Maybe that's good? It certainly gives me more work to do before the car doesn't look terrible. Yay. While I was in there I hit the silver front fender, which is gooey plastidip, then crappy silver, then factory white. 

Mineral spirits and laquer thinner and a razor blade strip gooey plastidip pretty good. As evidenced by the miata I'm stripping....

mazdeuce - Seth said:

The drivers door card was good when I pulled it to mess with the windows, but the passenger one is getting soft and several clips pulled out. That'll need to be dealt with. 

Here's your solution:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/272312172/mazda-miata-forever-door-panels-abs?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=miata+door&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1&bes=1

Mine were WAY worse than that when i got it.  For ~$90 (including a trip to Hobby Lobby to grab some interior pattern of your choice), now i have door panels that look rad!

In reply to bdashrian :

I want those. I was looking at the door cards and I figured that it wouldn't be too hard to make a set out of kydex once I get the big sheets to play with aero, but there is a lot less work with these. I'm surprised at how simple the Miata interior is and how easy it is to customize it. Reminds me of my 911. 

After spending two days with the new Miata, I'm all fired up about this one. My new goal is to someday have my wonderful wife say "No, let's take your Miata." Just once.
Along that same line, there were a bunch dirt pull offs and fairly gentle dirt roads and other fun things that I just couldn't take the new Miata down which drastically limited shenanigans. Current ride height on this Miata with proper tall sidewalls will continue to make it more versatile and vastly superior, obviously. Just need to make it nice is all. 

Started by putting in the new speakers. They sound slightly better. Or not. A least as good anyway. 

While I was inside the drivers door I noticed this was unplugged. It goes to the mirror. Now both of my power mirrors work. Basically a luxury car. 

Gradually making my way through the car finding and fixing little things. In this corner the computer is a bit floppy, the old roll bar holes are open to the outside, and the wiring is loose. 

If you can't fix it with vinyl, velcro and a zip tie then it's not worth fixing. 

For my door panels, I went with the LRB Speed full door panels, which ditch the bulky armrest/door pull and the floppy upper door pad, and adds cool doorpull straps

Then I went a step further and had Spinnywhoosh Graphics vinyl wrap them with a custom Gundam graphic.

It's delightfully wild and people responded really positively suprisingly

In reply to NickD :

That's awesome. Not my bag, but I can appreciate how cool it is. 

I'm torn with door panels. And carpet. And a bunch of interior stuff. I know sort of what I'm looking for, but I can't quite put my finger on the one piece that will start the avalanche. I'm leaning toward a light blue/blue plaid theme but I'm worried that it won't work well with the factory black bits and I'm damn tempted to order a Tilett carbon seat and I'm not sure how that's going to go either. I keep driving and thinking. 

Im doing green/tan plaid for tge roll bar padding covers in mine.....

Before I bought this car everyone told me that the more I drive a Miata the better I will like it. I think they were wrong. What's happening is I'm enjoying driving this as much as I ever have, but everything else in the fleet is starting to feel crappy and uninspired. 
Since I pulled the soft top I've been amazed by the space on the parcel shelf. I could almost sleep back there. However, since the car was never meant to not have a soft top in it, there is a bit of ugliness that's bothering me. Mainly this area behind the seat belt towers. 

Time to get out the cardboard and scissors and markers and what not. 

After LOTS of trial and error a pattern emerged that seemed to do what I wanted it to. 

Eventually I'd like to make these out of kydex sheet as it's supposed to cut and form nicely. For now the old garbage can will do, because GRM. 

A little heat for bending and in it goes. 

In the end this will have carpet glued to it, but in the end this is just a test piece, so I didn't get that far. I want to make caps for each side and a bit long piece that will go from the top weather stripping down to the shelf. Insulating everything on the back side and gettting nice fitting carpet should quiet down the car a bit more and give everything a nicer finished look. 

One more with the top in place because I'm so happy with how this looks. 

I really like that! Never seen it before. 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

Please make 4 and send two my way for the Molvo!

I have that exact same project on the to-do list for the interior.

Pete