In reply to wvumtnbkr :
Not concered so much about "offset" so much as angle.
And it is impossible to measure "angle" against the chassis when the chassis is visibly bent. It has been a long time, but I think this car has the front end shoved a half-inch to an inch over to one side, from the front bumper relative to the firewall. The hood never lined up right, nor did the fenders. And for the life of me I can't remember if it was bent to the left or to the right.
When I bought the car, it had been sideswiped hard enough to trash the left fender, door, and quarter panel, and the rearend had taken a hard enough side hit that the Watts pivot cracked the front of the rearend housing like an egg. But it was only $975 on eBay.
The funny: It was originally listed for like $1975. Then $1775. It kept getting zero bids and re-listed for $200 less. The car had a running 12A and a Holley carb setup, both of which a friend wanted, and I wanted the shell. When it got to $975, we said okay we have to bid on this because if it goes lower, there will be a bid frenzy. We got the car at $975. The next summer, after he got the carb setup and I got the shell and I swapped a good Nikki carb on the very tired 12A, I rallycrossed it. One of our locals (Ken Moellman) saw it and said "YOU'RE the guy who got it!". He was one of the people watching, and was planning to bid on it when it got to $775...
The mess I have to sort out.
As best as I can figure, the drivetrain is centered now. It doesn't look like it because rotaries as built by Mazda have more mass and volume to the left of center. I measured some engine parts to be sure, there is about 10mm more engine to the left than to the right, even more if you go by the ports face instead of the oil pan rails. Check out the bellhousing on the trans and it makes sense.
No Batcave action because of a lot of reasons. But things are happening in the steering and suspension front, which is Good, because Koni shocks suck if you like the tires to stay in contact with the ground. Also, I'm doing something about the horribly slow steering.
Meanwhile, this is required listening when in The Batcave. Or driving long distance.
For some reason, every time I went to Nationals since 2012, I had to post an in car video of driving home with the last track playing. Even that time I had to drive someone else's car home, and also that time we picked up a new car from Alabama by way of Nashville
In reply to EvanB :
Wrong version though. More like this one
*cough*
This reminds me, the neighbor at the Batcave with the Audis moved out. He left behind a pair of 12" subwoofers. They will find their way into the '84.
TIL that the Internet is wrong.
According to the Internet, Miatas (and by extension, RX-7s) do not have 5/8-36 splines in the steering, they have "16.5mm" 36 splines, a trait shared by Euro-based GMs. So I acquired some Euro-based GM steering shaft bits.
Nope. They don't fit.
In reply to Knurled. :
Pretty sure I still have some amps at my parents place from the good old days of cadillac with 12’s and huge bandpass box
In reply to Patrick :
Included with a large stash of "stuff" I bought a couple years ago was a 2 channel amplifier that makes the 4-channel amp in the S60R look tiny. He threw it in with all the other stuff he kept shoveling into my car until I began to have serious doubts about my ability to navigate public roads.
Between that, the new radiator fans I still need to make room for (was hoping the engine setback would have helped, but it wouldn't) and the EPAS that I am apparently going to be running, I need some serious alternator help. Subarus have the same form factor alternator but the largest Subaru alternator I can find is only 110a. I'm already burning out 80a Mazda alternators, I'd like to find something in the 150+ amp range.
In reply to Knurled. :
13.49? a stock FD runs quicker than that...
when are you gonna run an NHRA event anyways?
In reply to fidelity101 :
I do my engine tuning at the dragstrip. Usually shift to 2nd as soon as possible (60' lights is a good spot) and then run it out to the 660 before hitting 3rd. Power improvements can thus be quantified. Shifting at the 660 usually means running out to 10k or so...
Last time I ran for time, I ran something like a 13.6 at 104, crossing the traps in 3rd at all the RPM. On fifteen year old all season tires. With grip I might have seen a high twelve, maybe.
No updates because it it cold as hell and it is also permanent end of month because of a pay calculation shift at work. My last paycheck was a little over $200. So I am too busy trying to figure out how to make buterbrod with a half a moldy potato to worry about my toys other than trying to scrape up funds to keep up with the rent.
I might actually monetize a YouTube channel. A friend of mine does that and makes enough from it that he only keeps his day job for the health insurance.
In reply to Knurled. :
Subarus have the same form factor alternator but the largest Subaru alternator I can find is only 110a. I'm already burning out 80a Mazda alternators, I'd like to find something in the 150+ amp range
There's an old automotive electrical shop around here that rewinds alternators to spec. Cramming extra capability into stock housings somehow. Murray Auto electric is the local shop, but maybe you know someone around you that can do the same thing?
Don't ask me how or what they do, I truly don't know, but if you're stuck with a housing it could help.
The driveway is so soupy that if it were a rallycross, it would be canceled.
Always paranoid about vacuum leaks, especially with the super thin margins around the ports.
Finally got around to doing this. There was a coolant nipple here for throttle body heat. Drill to 7/16", tap to 1/4 NPT, insert temp gauge bulb. For the first time since 2010 or so my mechanical gauge will tell me more than underhood temps!
Interestingly, the carbureted engines have the boss here, even though the castings predate EFI applications by a decade or so.
At 5:40pm, February 14th, 2019, it came to life.
In a panic, they tried to pull the plug.
Hmm, an update is missing.
Just needs a hood and laptop time at this point. Found that the right front caliper is siezed so it may be Wilwood time after all.
why did you leave the goop off of the inbetween ports on the center iron?
I always use aviation form a gasket, messy as berkeley and bleeds away (excess) but so far good success.
In reply to fidelity101 :
That stuff never really dries, so it could cause a vacuum leak.
i did not goop the port divider since the silicone is proof against dust intrusion to make extra sure that the gasket seals.
No Batcave again this weekend, finishing up paying side-work.
Audi runs now! Some minor wiring tweaks/repairs need to be done (dealing with a lot of "WTF, FPO?" and un-berking questionable mods) and reinstallation of the lights/bumper/grille, but that is next weekend at the earliest.
My new work hours and distance from work to the garage mean that in all realisticness, I won't be able to work on anything except for Wednesdays and Fridays, so I'm going to go in to work on Wednesday prepared to do some tuning. Assuming that there isn't eight feet of snow on the ground or something.
Reference photos. Somewhat rare Series 3 RX-7 power steering column, vs. NA Miata column.
The BatCAVE should have BatMETAL.
The time has come... to awake him.
I command you to rise!
Did lots of cleaning/organizing/moving stuff around, went to go change the calipers and discovered that somehow the pistons are NOT siezed today (huh), and since I no longer needed to work under the hood with the car on stands, I then did this:
But not before removing a chunk of hood support. The new intake manifold sits 30-40mm higher and the air filter base was hitting almost exactly on the reinforcement. 15 seconds with the angle grinder fixed that.
Started up my laptop and got to the task of tuning. Aaaaand, the wideband is dead. Not sure if the controller finally died or if it's a bad sensor. I can't afford to buy a sensor and then find out it was the controller, and all new controllers use a 4.9 sensor and not the 4.2 that my LC1 uses, so it looks like I get to use that $25 off coupon from Summit.
THOON
"End of month" is almost over. Lots of debt racked up while trying to exist on a pay schedule that was more or less "thanks for 15 years of service but berk you" but making mad bank now, to paraphrase a meme from the days when we used to play NFS:Carbon all the time. It was a sometimes fun place to work, but I knew I was making about half what I was worth. My last paycheck at my new employer was much larger than anything I'd had before, and this was both on a short week and before a substantial raise took effect.
In short: Paypal Credit is already paid off, and once Capital One gets their due, expect great things from the Batcave in 2019.
Credit cards suck. Once you smack that Capital One down you will feel better.
Oh ands its great that you are finally getting paid what you are worth!
The Audi pic made me laugh, I started watching Audi youtube stuff last week, then obviously to CL dreaming of a $2000 build. Surprisingly there are a few candidates out there. Turbo, AWD and ALL the autocross cones will be mine! What? I'm not supposed to collect them in the wheel wells? 
You’re getting paid better AND working closer to me. What could possibly go wrong?
